What Adam Curry is reading

Russia Launches British Satellite
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: RIA Novosti
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:51
  MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti) '' A Russian Proton-M carrier rocket with a British telecoms satellite blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Sunday, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
  The launch occurred at 16:12 Moscow Time [12:12 GMT], as planned. The orbital unit (the Breeze M upper stage and the satellite) has separated from the rocket, a Roscosmos spokesman told RIA Novosti.
  The Inmarsat-5 F1 satellite's separation is due in some 15 hours, on Monday.
  The satellite, built by Boeing Satellite Systems, provides a wide range of voice and data services through an established global network of distributors and service providers. Its expected service life is 15 years in geostationary orbit.
  This was the third satellite of the Inmarsat series launched with the help of a Proton-M carrier rocket.
  (C) RIA Novosti.
  Proton Carrier Rocket
  According to NASA, the satellite is one of three Ka-band Inmarsat-5 satellites ordered from Boeing by UK-based satellite operator Inmarsat at a price of some $1 billion. Each Inmarsat-5 satellite will carry 89 Ka-band beams that will operate in geosynchronous orbit providing flexible global coverage.
  When operational, the Inmarsat-5 group will provide the operator with a comprehensive range of global mobile satellite services, including in-flight connectivity for airline passengers, mobile broadband communications for deep-sea vessels, and streaming high-resolution video, voice and data.
>> Highest Radiation Level Ever, Lethal In 20 Minutes, Recorded Outside Fukushima Reactor >> WTF RLY REPORT
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:27
  ZeroHedge
  With all the excitement about Japan's soaring stock market (if plunging wages), crashing non-digital currency (leading to soaring energy prices), recent passage of an arbitrary secrecy bill (''Designed by Kafka & Inspired By Hitler''), and ongoing territorial spat with China, it is almost as if the Abe administration is desperately doing everything in its power, including some of the most ridiculous decisions taken by a government in recent history, to hide some key development behind the scenes. Such as this one perhaps: NHK reported today that TEPCO said radiation levels are extremely high in an area near a ventilation pipe at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. TEPCO found radiation of 25 sieverts an hour on a duct, which connects reactor buildings and the 120-meter-tall ventilation pipe.
  Putting this number in context the estimated radiation level is the highest ever detected outside reactor buildings. People exposed to this level of radiation would die within 20 minutes.
  The exhaust pipe in question was used to release radioactive gases following the outbreak of the accident 2 years ago.
  TEPCO says radioactive substances could remain inside the pipes. Given TEPCO's safety record, they could also leak outside of the pipes. And given the company's ''credibility'' the world would be sure to learn about this'... anywhere between 2 and 3 years after the fact.
  In the meantime, we urge Japan to follow the bouncing, and so pleasantly distracting, Topix and Nikkei 225 balls, while sticking its head in the glow in the dark sand and completely ignore the radioactive monster in the closet.
  From NHK:
  '... Which reminds us: on Thursday the following headline hit the Bloomberg tape:
  FUKUSHIMA RADIATION TO REACH U.S. COAST AT SAFE LEVEL: NRCWe are sure it is nothing, and the NRC is telling the truth.
  ZeroHedge
Ghost Of 1929 Re-Appears '' Pay Attention To The Signals
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WTF RLY REPORT
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:23
  ZeroHedgeby Anthony Mirhaydari
  Crowd of people gather outside the New York Stock Exchange following the Crash of 1929.
  They say those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.
  As a student of market history, I've seen that maxim made true time and again. The cycle swings fear back to greed. The overcautious become the overzealous. And at the top, the story is always the same: Too much credit, too much speculation, the suspension of disbelief, and the spread of the idea that this time is different.
  It doesn't matter whether it was the expansion of railroads heading into the crash of 1893 or the excitement over the consolidation of the steel industry in 1901 or the mixing of speculation and banking heading into 1907. Or whether it involves an epic expansion of mortgage credit, IPO activity, or central-bank stimulus. What can't continue forever ultimately won't.
  The weaknesses of the human heart and mind means the swings will always exist. Our rudimentary understanding of the forces of economics, which in turn, reflect ultimately reflect the fallacies of people making investing, purchasing, and saving decisions, means policymakers will never defeat the vagaries of the business cycle.
  So no, this time isn't different. The specifics may have changed, but the themes remain the same.
  In fact, the stock market is right now tracing out a pattern eerily similar to the lead up to the infamous 1929 market crash. The pattern, illustrated by Tom McClellan of the McClellan Market Report, and brought to his attention by well-known chart diviner Tom Demark, is shown below.
  Excuse me for throwing some cold water on the fever dream Wall Street has descended into over the last few months, an apparent climax that has bullish sentiment at record highs, margin debt at record highs, bears capitulating left and right, and a market that is increasingly dependent on brokerage credit, Federal Reserve stimulus, and a fantasy that corporate profitability will never again come under pressure.
  On a pure price-analogue basis, it's time to start worrying.
  Fundamentally, it's time to start worrying too. With GDP growth petering out (Macroeconomic Advisors is projecting fourth-quarter growth of just 1.2%), Americans abandoning the labor force at a frightening pace, businesses still withholding capital spending, and personal-consumption expenditures growing at levels associated with recent recessions, we've past the point of diminishing marginal returns to the Fed's cheap-money morphine.
  All we're doing now is pushing on the proverbial string. Trillions in unused bank reserves are piling up. The housing market has stalled after the ''taper tantrum'' earlier this year caused mortgage rates to shoot from 3.4% to 4.6% between May and August. The Treasury market is getting distorted as the Fed effectively monetizes a growing share of the national debt. Emerging-market economies are increasingly vulnerable to a currency crisis once the taper finally starts.
  The Fed knows it. But they're trapped between these risks and giving the market '-- the one bright spot in the post-2009 recovery '-- serious liquidity withdrawals.
  But the specifics of the run up to the 1929 crash provide true bone-chilling context for what's happening now.
  The Bernanke-led Fed's enthusiasm for avoiding the mistakes that worsened the Great Depression'--- a mistimed tightening of monetary conditions '-- has led him to repeat the mistakes that caused it in the first place: Namely, continuing to lower interest rates via Treasury bond purchases well into an economic expansion and bull market justified by low-to-no inflation.
  (Side note here: As economist Murray Rothbard of the Austrian School wrote in America's Great Depression, prices dropped then, as now, because of gains in productivity and efficiency.)
  Here's the kicker: The Fed (mainly the New York Fed under Benjamin Strong) was knee deep in quantitative easing in the late 1920s, expanding the money supply and lowering interest rates via direct bond purchases. Wall Street then, as now, was euphoric.
  It ended badly.
  Fed policymakers felt like heroes as they violated that central tenant of central banking as outlined in 1873 by Economist editor Walter Bagehot in his famous Lombard Street: That they should lend freely to solvent banks, at a punitive interest rate in exchange for good quality collateral. Central-bank stimulus should only be a stopgap measure used to stem panics, a lender of last resort; not act as a vehicle of economic deliverance via the printing press.
  It's being violated again now as the mistakes of history are repeated once more. Bernanke will be around to see the results of his mistakes and his misguided justification that quantitative easing is working because stock prices are higher, ignoring evidence that the ''wealth effect'' isn't working.
  Strong died in 1928, missing the hangover his obsession with low interest rates and credit expansion caused after bragging, in 1927, that his policies would give ''a little coup de whisky to the stock market.''
  Via The Burning Platform
Germans tune in for weekly dose of murder mystery
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The Local
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:19
  Photo: DPA
  Published: 08 Dec 2013 10:14 GMT+01:00Updated: 08 Dec 2013 10:14 GMT+01:00
  Another Sunday evening, another crime. More than 10 million Germans regularly tune in for the hit TV whodunnit "Tatort" whose popularity with its down-to-earth plots spanning the country has endured for more than four decades.
  Unlike many an American cop show, "Tatort" (Crime Scene) does not go in for story lines packed with blood and gore, unfeasible high-speed chases or one central, sexy but tortured character.
  Nor, unusually, has the weekly 90-minute show updated its opening sequence -- a dated blue and white target set to a haltering theme tune -- since its November 1970 launch.
  But its success in Germany is unrivalled; its formulaic approach beloved.
  "It's a great Sunday evening activity," enthuses 22-year-old Jan B¼ltermann, taking a chair upfront at Volksbar, one of dozens of spots in Berlin where fans congregate on Sundays at 8:15 pm to watch what many consider a cult show.
  As a child he had little choice but to fall in with his family's tradition of watching the series on its only television set. Nowadays, the apprentice watches it out of his own free will.
  Marita Gelbe-Kruse, 55, who has taken time out from visiting Berlin to watch the 887th episode of "Tatort" at the bar with her 25-year-old son, Simon, agrees that it's a ritual that brings family together.
  "It's a mother-son point in common, a thing we can do together," she told AFP.
  Produced by Germany's public ARD TV channel and its regional branches, "Tatort" alternately portrays about 20 police chiefs or their teams from different German cities, as well as from German-speaking Switzerland and Austria, in their hunt for the perpetrators of a crime.
  With cities such as Munich, Bremen, Leipzig or Stuttgart taking it in turns to set the stage and even regional accents playing a role, the show holds back on violence, doesn't much ponder on the private lives of its hero investigators and aims for realism.
  "The series is forged on Germany's federalism," Stefan Scherer, literature professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology said.
  While some of the show's police inspectors have been catapulted into cultural icons, such as Horst Schimanski, played by actor Goetz George, Scherer said the principle behind "Tatort" was the ability to replace ageing police inspectors and switch cities.
  "One can always create new episodes," he said.
  The "Tatort" phenomenon has also been the subject of a study.
  Political monthly magazine Cicero last year quoted Dennis Graef from Passau University in southern Germany, who published a study on "Tatort", as describing it as a "secular mass".
  Certainly as the opening credits begin to roll in the Volksbar the hush that descends has a veil of religiosity -- beer is relegated to second-fiddle, banter fades and all eyes turn to the mysterious on-screen death, which this week is set on the windswept shores of a North Sea island.
  If the scenery and characters change each week, the format remains tried and tested -- an opening scene, the discovery of a body, investigators arrive, the obvious suspect turns out not to be guilty and a last-minute arrest.
  Next morning comes the verdict. Some 10.7 million viewers, or around one in eight Germans, watched the November 24 episode.
  Audiences of "Tatort"and its former East German equivalent "Polizeiruf 110", which still sometimes takes a turn in the same time slot, can reach up to 12 million when Til Schweiger -- an actor known to international audiences from Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" -- assumes his police inspector's role in the northern port city of Hamburg.
  For Berliner Andreas Klaffke, 54, the show is more than just a routine. "It's a bit like a mirror of Germany, a mirror of society and that speaks to people," he commented.
  It reflects current and social affairs too, delving into issues such as the trauma of returning soldiers from Afghanistan, rising rents or secret bank accounts in Switzerland. The series rivals the weather for Monday morning small talk at the office coffee machine.
  But, while German crime drama "Derrick" has been broadcast in several other countries, "Tatort" has made fewer inroads abroad.
  "It must be very German somehow," B¼ltermann said.
  For more stories about Germany, join us on Facebook and Twitter
  SPD: half of our ministers will be womenThe leader of the Social Democrats pledged a 50-50 male-female split of the party's cabinet posts in a planned new ...
  Telekom puts up to 8,000 jobs in firing lineDeutsche Telekom is planning to cut at least 6,000 and possibly as many as 8,000 jobs at its IT subsidiary ...
  Brewers bid to give beer purity law Unesco statusThe German Brewers Union has made a renewed bid to get the country's 16th-century beer purity law designated a Unesco ...
  Steffi's father Peter Graf dies after cancer battleSteffi Graf's father, who championed her and arguably turned around German tennis in the 1980s, has died, it was announced ...
  Munich for beginners: Furnished rentals with Mr. LodgeAnyone who has looked for a new home in Munich knows that the road to the perfect property can be ...
  Germany to ban elective beauty ops for minorsGermany's next government will ban plastic surgery on children and minors unless it can be justified on medical grounds, according ...
  How should expats invest in Germany?Lucky enough to have something left over from wages each month? Would it be best to put it in property ...
  States try again to ban neo-Nazi partyGermany's states are making a renewed push to ban the country's best-known neo-Nazi party, arguing it is basically the same ...
  Germany backs Ukraine's 'impressive' protestsGermany said on Monday that mass anti-government rallies in Kiev showed that "the heart of the Ukrainian people beats in ...
  Daimler faces EADS insider trading trialGerman auto giant Daimler and French conglomerate Lagardere have been sent for trial in France for alleged insider trading in ...
  Today's headlines
  Photo: DPA
  Another Sunday evening, another crime. More than 10 million Germans regularly tune in for the hit TV whodunnit "Tatort" whose popularity with its down-to-earth plots spanning the country has endured for more than four decades. READ () >>
  Photo: DPA
  EADS, the maker of Airbus, is set to announce a draconian restructuring plan to unions on Monday that may include thousands of job cuts and strain relations with shareholders Germany and France. READ () >>
  Photo: DPA
  Germany coach Joachim Loew said his side will need to adapt to hot and humid conditions against Ghana, USA and Portugal at the World Cup. READ () >>
  Photo: DPA
  Germany is "confident" EU ministers will make progress at talks next week on a planned banking union, a spokesman said Friday, as the government hosted a high-level meeting. READ () >>
  Photo: DPA/EPA/Leszek Szymanski/POLAND OUT
  A German court on Friday found a 94-year-old alleged former guard at Nazi death camp Auschwitz unfit to stand trial and released him from his pre-trial detention. READ () >>
  Germany's week in pictures
  Foreign Minister Westerwelle meets Vitali Klitschko in Kiev. Photo: DPA
  This week Germany's news has been dominated by the weather. But before hurricane Xaver hit there were strange visits by mythical beasts and a showdown in the Ukraine with Germany's foreign minister. READ () >>
  Photo: DPA
  A German soldier serving jail time for deliberately infecting a sexual partner with HIV was in court again on Thursday. He is accused of giving the virus to a second soldier after having sex with him in a Bavarian barracks. READ () >>
  Vehicles burn after an explosives-packed car hit Yemen's Defense Ministry complex. Photo: EPA/stringer
  Germany's Foreign Ministry told its citizens to leave Yemen on Friday after a suicide bomb attack and gun battle killed at least 52 people, including two German doctors. READ () >>
  Mandela meets Merkel in South Africa in 2007. Photo: DPA
  Nelson Mandela died on Thursday night aged 95. The Local looks back at the anti-apartheid leader's complex relationship with Germany. READ () >>
  Online retailer Amazon is also testing delivery drones. Photo: DPA/Amazon
  Just like Amazon, Germany's Deutsche Post-DHL is also testing mini-drones as a way to deliver packages across the skies to your doorstep, the group said on Thursday. READ () >>
Insight: Family, politicians battle over "Brand Mandela"
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Reuters: World News
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:12
  By Peroshni Govender, Jon Herskovitz and David Dolan
  JOHANNESBURGSun Dec 8, 2013 5:42am EST
  1 of 2. A poster depicting former South African President Nelson Mandela is displayed during a special service in his honour at the Holy Family Church in the West Bank city of Ramallah December 8, 2013.
  Credit: Reuters/Mohamad Torokman
  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - From political posters to bottles of wine and kitchen aprons, the face and name of Nelson Mandela are a potent commercial and political brand in South Africa. Little wonder it's so sought after - and the source of occasional squabbles.
  Following his death on Thursday at the age of 95, the scramble for control of the Mandela legacy - both financial and moral - will involve his family, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), and the Nelson Mandela Foundation he set up to protect his broader message.
  At stake is the inheritance that will go to Mandela's more than 30 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, some of whom already use the Mandela name and image to market everything from clothing to reality TV.
  There are also the Mandela brands and trademarks that help fund the Foundation. And for the ANC, Mandela's reputation as an anti-apartheid hero is worth votes for years to come.
  There are no available public figures of Mandela's wealth, making it difficult to put an exact value on his estate, which includes an upscale house in Johannesburg, a modest dwelling in his rural Eastern Cape home province, and royalties from book sales including his autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom".
  Several South African branding experts have declined to estimate the annual value of Mandela's trademark and brands.
  Maintaining control over the copyrights is already a difficult business; protecting the Mandela brand may be even harder now that he is gone.
  "The beauty of the Nelson Mandela brand is that it has been lived by him exactly as it has been presented by him. His behavior is his brand," said Jeremy Sampson, the executive chairman of Interbrand Sampson de Villiers.
  "In the rush to commercialize it, we run the risk of watering down or destroying the good that the brand stood for purely with the crassness of finance," he added.
  "GOOD LORD"
  Mandela divided the management of his legacy between a series of trusts to handle his finances and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which serves as custodian of his wider moral legacy.
  In total, he set up about two dozen trusts, mostly to pay for the education of his grandchildren and great grandchildren.
  It hasn't all been straight forward.
  A legal tussle between Mandela's long-time friend, lawyer George Bizos, and two of Mandela's daughters became public this year as the daughters sought to have Bizos and other Mandela associates ousted from companies set up to sell his handprint for use in art and memorabilia.
  According to an affidavit filed by Bizos and the others, the two daughters, Makaziwe Mandela and Zenani Dlamini, had been trying to gain control of the main Mandela Trust since 2005 and eventually became trustees without Mandela's knowledge.
  Mandela became angry when he found out what the daughters had done, Bizos and the other associates said in the affidavit.
  "Mr. Mandela was shocked and used a common expression 'Good Lord!' He was most infuriated and wanted to know what had happened."
  A portion of the revenue from the Foundation's 46664 clothing line - named after Mandela's prisoner number on Robben Island - and the artworks also goes to pay for family members' education, according to Bizos.
  "The trust has adopted the procedure of requiring the applicant for money to furnish an invoice," Bizos said, adding that every request accompanied by proper paperwork has been granted.
  But some family members have asked for a lump sum payment of 12 million rand ($1.2 million), he added.
  Such demands fuel the notion, widely held in South Africa, that some of Mandela's children have exploited their father. Makaziwe, Mandela's eldest daughter, bristles at that.
  "This is what we are, in a sense, entitled to, that my father worked for, and he did it with his own hands to create something for the welfare and upkeep of himself and his children," she told the Financial Times in April.
  "If everybody wants a little bit of the Madiba magic, why is it so sacrilegious for the rightful owners ... to use the Madiba magic?" she said, referring to her father by his clan name.
  MARKETING A MEMORY
  The Nelson Mandela Foundation, which runs the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in Johannesburg, was set up as the official custodian of Brand Mandela. It owns more than a dozen copyrights and trademarks for Mandela, which it uses for fundraising and charitable works.
  As well as the "46664" number, its copyrights include the "Nelson Mandela" name, the clan name "Madiba" by which he is widely known, and "Rolihlahla", which was Mandela's given name.
  Income those brands generate - "46664" runs as a charity that sells wristbands and mobile phone starter packs, for instance - helps pay for the running of the Foundation's Centre of Memory, which is the main research and archive center for Mandela, and which often spoke on his behalf as his health faded.
  In all, the foundation had net income of 22 million rand ($2.2 million) in 2012 and assets of 290 million rand. In 2011 net income totaled 33 million rand and assets came to 262 million.
  It paid Mandela 2.8 million rand in 2011 and 2.9 million rand last year for the book it published with his help called "Conversations with Myself," which was a follow-up to his autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom."
  "We do not commercialize our trademarks, however we do undertake publications like 'Conversations with Myself' ... for educational purposes," said Heather Henriques, intellectual property and governance manager at the Centre of Memory.
  Separately, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund has rights to use the Mandela name for fundraising. Between 1995 and 2012 the fund brought in 1.2 billion rand in income and paid out 462 million rand in grants.
  "NOT LIKE COCA-COLA"
  But not everything that uses Mandela's name was sanctioned by him.
  There are at least 40 companies officially registered with the South African government that use the Mandela name. The companies appear to have no link to either Nelson Mandela, any of his relatives or any geographic area that has the Mandela name. The list includes the Gandhi-Mandela Nursing Academy, Mandela Truck Shuttle Services, Mama Mandela Marketing Company, Thanks Mandela Toiletries and Mandela's Shed, a restaurant.
  The "Madiba" name has been used by more than 140 registered companies, including Madiba Truck Stop, Madiba Wines, Madiba's Driving School, Madiba Chickens, Madiba Cash and Madiba Bottle Store.
  The Foundation may own the website "nelsonmandela.org", but "mandela.org" belongs to a Brazilian, who told Reuters he is using it for a personal project, which is a tool for computers.
  There are also regularly scams where fake charities use Mandela's name to raise funds. The South African government in mid-2013 issued a statement warning people not to be duped by such groups.
  Against all this, the Mandela Foundation picks its battles with care, only rarely suing firms that use his name of image.
  "The brand Nelson Mandela is not like the brand Coca-Cola. It's huge, it's complex, there are many sub-brands within that brand. We implement protections in a relatively small space," said Verne Harris, the director and archivist at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
  "Madiba has given permission for his name to be used by close to 50 institutions around the world. Only in the last decade there was a system put in place for managing that and a set of criteria applied and then a code of conduct developed for those institutions to subscribe to," Harris said.
  Because copyrights are owned by the person who creates the work - and not the subject - copyright law does not prevent the depiction of Mandela's image on T-shirts or other items, said Likonelo Magagula, an intellectual property attorney at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright in Johannesburg.
  Trademark lawyers also say there is little to stop family members using the Mandela name, as long as they link the name to themselves and not exclusively to Nelson Mandela.
  Makaziwe and one of her daughters have launched a "House of Mandela" range of wines, even if Mandela himself once said he did not want to be associated with alcohol or tobacco.
  Some of his grandchildren have started a line of caps and sweatshirts that feature his image under the brand "Long Walk to Freedom," borrowed from the title of his autobiography, while two of his U.S.-based granddaughters starred in a reality television show called "Being Mandela."
  "BIGGER THAN THE ANC"
  The other group keen to use Mandela's image is the ruling African National Congress.
  After Mandela was imprisoned in 1964, the ANC made a conscious decision to use him and his young wife Winnie as symbols of the struggle against the racist government - the first time the party had chosen to elevate the individual above the collective.
  When Mandela walked out of prison in 1990, he became a figure of reconciliation, calming the white minority who had been told for years he was the terrorist face of the "swart gevaar", or "black danger".
  Today the ANC needs that magic more than ever.
  "The ANC made the brand and the brand became bigger than the ANC," author and political analyst William Gumede said.
  "Unfortunately, a lot of rank-and-file ANC leaders right now see Mandela as their own, rather than as belonging to the whole of South Africa and the broader world."
  When President Jacob Zuma visited Mandela at his Johannesburg home in April, some in the Mandela family accused the current president of manipulating a frail old man to shore up his own battered image.
  Makaziwe called news footage from that visit showing her father resting his head against a pillow and staring vacantly as Zuma grinned beside him "undignified and in bad taste".
  The ANC defended the visit. Mandela "belongs to the ANC first and then to the whole country," ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu told South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper.
  Even the opposition Democratic Alliance, still seen by many as a party of white privilege, has laid claim to his legacy, using his picture in campaign material to the outrage of ANC members. With a general election next year, both parties are likely to work hard to capture a slice of the 'Mandela magic'.
  "We may be exposed to the sordid spectacle of different political parties turning Mandela into a prop," said Aubrey Matshiqi, a political analyst at the Helen Suzman Foundation, a public interest think tank.
  "Turning him into a political commodity from which they can profit - that would be the worst insult, especially if political parties attach his legacy to lies that they want to tell the electorate to get votes."
  (Additional reporting by Ed Cropley; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Simon Robinson and Anna Willard)
  (This story was refiled to fix grammar in the first paragraph)
  Link thisShare thisDigg thisEmailPrintReprints
Greece parliament approves 2014 budget
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: euronews
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:11
  The Greek parliament has approved its 2014 budget plan. It includes over 3 billion euros worth of cuts as the country hopes to emerge from a six-year recession next year.
  The 300 seat-house voted 153 in favour.
  The Prime Minister called it an historic day, saying that people's sacrifices had borne fruit. His finance minister Yannis Stournaras announced: ''The Greek economy has adjusted at a very fast rate, and in a very decisive manner, and most importantly, 80 percent of the necessary distance in the fiscal adjustment has been crossed, in order for the public debt to become sustainable.''
  After years of cuts imposed in return for bailout money, Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the opposition Syriza party, made his thoughts known on further austerity.
  ''Never has the country, in the last 60 years, found itself in the dire situation it is in today. There is no doubt that the bailout is not the happiest of documents, as Mr. Stournaras called it, but that it has destroyed Greece and will go down in history as a tragedy.''
  The government hopes to win more leeway from its international lenders and secure the release of a further 5.9 billion euros in bailout money. The troika are expected to visit Athens in January, however, it is unclear whether this budget will be enough to win them over.
Bassiehof - "In dit dossier zit echt niets geks"
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: GeenStijl
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:09
  ''Edwin de Roy van Zuydewijn, de ex-man van prinses Margarita, is vrijdag door de regionale recherche verhoord over een mogelijke aanslag op een lid van de koninklijke familie van Spanje. De aanslag zou zaterdag hebben moeten plaatsvinden in Brussel, bij het royaltyhuwelijk van Prins Carlos - zoon van prinses Irene en een broer van Margarita - en Annemarie Gualth(C)rie van Weezel.'' Dat schreef de Volkskrant op maandag 22 november 2010. De AIVD, noch de DKDB hebben onderzoek gedaan naar deze kwestie. Dat zou je wel verwachten: een woord als 'aanslag', de aanwezigheid van de gehele koninklijke familie (C)n een bevriend koningshuis zou toch een alarmbel moeten doen afgaan. Toch hebben beide diensten geen onderzoek gedaan. Bizar, vindt u niet? Want het lijkt er toch ernstig op dat de veiligheid van de koninklijke familie in het geding was. Toch was het niemand minder dan minister-president Mark Rutte (VVD) die dit afgelopen woensdag tegenover de Tweede Kamer onthulde.
  Uit de handelingen:
  ''Verder is gevraagd of ik kan uitsluiten dat na het Tweede Kamerdebat van 12 maart (2003, BP) onderzoeken zijn gedaan. Dat kan een onderzoek zijn, zo neem ik aan, van de AIVD, de DKDB, kortom van alles, behalve een onderzoek van het OM, want de onderzoeken van het OM zijn openbaar. Voor wat betreft de relatie van de heer De Roy van Zuydewijn met het Oranjehuis kan ik de Kamer zeggen dat dit honderd procent niet het geval is. Sinds het Kamerdebat geldt er immers een nieuwe procedure waarin de directeur van het Kabinet van de Koning de SG van AZ informeert. Verder wordt de AIVD gevraagd om het onderzoek te doen. Vervolgens vindt er terugmelding plaats. Het gaat nu allemaal heel transparant. Ik kan echter nooit garanderen '-- dat geldt voor iedereen op de publieke tribune '-- dat er na 2003 geen onderzoek is gedaan door de AIVD tegen de heer De Roy van Zuydewijn om een andere reden. Die heeft in ieder geval niets te maken met deze kwestie. Ik heb daar geen enkele aanwijzing voor, nul komma nul. Ik kan geen honderd procent garantie geven dat er geen andere aanleiding is geweest om met het oog op de staatsveiligheid onderzoek te doen. Die 100 procent garantie kan ik dus niet geven. Ik zou het kunnen navragen, maar dan kan ik de informatie niet aan de Kamer geven. Is dit zo in relatie tot het Oranjehuis? Nee. Heb ik enige aanleiding om te vermoeden dat de AIVD nog ander onderzoek heeft gedaan? Het antwoord daarop is nul komma nul.''
  U begrijpt, het verhaal van Rutte afgelopen woensdag in de Nationale Vergaderzaal klopt van geen kant. Zowel DKDB als AIVD zouden geen knip voor de neus waard zijn als zij deze dreiging niet hadden onderzocht. En het kan niet anders dan dat zij dit hebben gedaan. Dat het naderhand een onzinverhaal van een AT5-cameraman/politie-informant bleek doet daar niets aan af.
  Wellicht is het inderdaad beter dat Rutte eens navraag doet bij de AIVD. De premier lijkt sowieso met een informatieachterstand te kampen. Bekijkt u dit filmpje, opgenomen na het debat: de eerste minister is zich niet bewust van een conflict tussen de koninklijke familie en Edwin de Roy van Zuydewijn:
  Grappig, het waren toch echt tw(C)(C) Oranjes die recent in het juridische stof beten nadat zij aangifte tegen De Roy van Zuydewijn hadden gedaan. De rechter oordeelde tweemaal dat De Roy ten onrechte verdacht was (C)n recht had op schadevergoeding.
  "In dit dossier zit echt niets geks", besloot Rutte het debat.
  Bas Paternotte | 08-12-13 | 11:11 | Link | Reageer ookJe bent ingelogd als: (Uitloggen)
  Probeer trouwens eens de totaal officieuze niet-ondersteunde third-party GeenStijl extension die compleet niet door ons ondersteund wordt en volledig op eigen risico is.
  Je bent niet ingelogd, klik hier om dat wel te doen: login of doe een CookieSync.
Storm Xaver blizzards claim more lives in Poland
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: euronews
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:07
  The powerful storm sweeping across northern and central Europe has claimed several more lives.
  At least five people died in Poland on Saturday; three of them were killed when high winds hurled a tree against a car in the northwest, where Storm Xaver has brought heavy snow.
  Power cuts affected tens of thousands of homes after cables were brought down.
More UK flight delays possible after air traffic computer chaos
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: euronews
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:06
  There are warnings of further delays at UK airports on Sunday after a computer error caused severe disruption on Saturday.
  Thousands of passengers suffered delays throughout the day after the computer glitch disrupted hundreds of flights and forced dozens to be cancelled.
  A technical fault at an air traffic control centre in Hampshire meant the national system failed to switch from nighttime mode, leaving it unable to handle the busier daytime schedule.
  The National Air Traffic Service said the problem had been resolved by the early evening, but there are warnings of a knock-on effect from the disruption.
LOL. Rutte en Timmerfrans aan het rellen in Isral
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: GeenStijl
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:05
  Oeioeioei wat een blamage weer. Nederland heeft miljoenen ge¯nvesteerd in containerscanners 'om de Palestijnse handel te bevorderen'. Maar MinPres Rutte mag het feestelijke lintje niet doorknippen omdat Isral helemaal geen zin heeft om export vanuit Gaza toe te staan. Kan aan ons liggen, maar dat klinkt weer alsof Den Haag voor een paar miljoen aan polderidealen in het Palestijnse conflict wilde pompen zonder zich de vraag te stellen of het doelwit van deze drammerige diplomatie daar eigenlijk wel op zat te wachten. Ondertussen is opstandige onverlaat Timmerfrans in Hebron ruzie aan het maken omdat hij zonder Isralische militaire begeleiding de Palestijnse markt wilde bezoeken. Dat mocht niet, dus wilde de mokkende minister niet meer naar de markt. Kortom: we staan weer lekker met onze kaasdiplomatieke pik in het zand op het internationale toneel. Iemand nog een blokje jong belegen?(Foto: minister Timmerfrans houdt zich bij het openen van een kaasfabriek in Hebron bij zaken waar hij wel kaas van gegeten heeft - ANP)
  Van Rossem | 08-12-13 | 12:59 | Link | Reageer ookJe bent ingelogd als: (Uitloggen)
  Probeer trouwens eens de totaal officieuze niet-ondersteunde third-party GeenStijl extension die compleet niet door ons ondersteund wordt en volledig op eigen risico is.
  Je bent niet ingelogd, klik hier om dat wel te doen: login of doe een CookieSync.
Dutch premier's Israel trip hit by Gaza row
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: ynet - News
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:04
  Visit from Dutch PM goes bad after 'Dutch make unexpected demands' before ceremonial installation of equipment aimed at easing movement of goods into GazaAFP
  A visit to Israel by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte Sunday was marred by a dispute over a new security scanner on the Gaza border, an Israeli official said.
  Rutte was to have inaugurated the scanner on the frontier with the Palestinian Islamist-ruled enclave, but the ceremony was put off because of the row.
  Related stories:
  "Installation of the Dutch scanner, which would have been used to verify the contents of containers from Gaza destined for export, was postponed after the Netherlands made unexpected demands," the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
  "Technically, there is no problem about the scanner at the Kerem Shalom crossing through which goods originating in Gaza pass," the official said.
  "But the Dutch suddenly imposed political conditions, notably on the percentage of merchandise destined for the West Bank or abroad.
  "These are political issues that need to be resolved at the highest level, which will delay the start-up of the scanner."
  Media reports said the row meant the ceremony at the crossing originally due for Sunday, with Rutte present, was cancelled.
  The focus of the dispute is exports from Gaza to the West Bank, which is controlled by the Palestinian Authority under president Mahmoud Abbas .
  Despite attempts by Egypt, Israel and some in the PA to isolate the two Palestinian regions, the Dutch officials had hoped the scanner might boost commerce between them, the media reports said.
  After Gilad Shalit was captured in 2006 by Gaza-based terrorists, a blockade was imposed on the Palestinian enclave.
  It reinforced this in 2007 after Hamas violently ousted secular Fatah forces loyal to Abbas.
  Receive Ynetnews updates directly to your desktop
IT'S THE GOLD AGAIN FOLKS: PART ONE: A LOOK BACK
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Giza Death Star
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 13:58
  TweetTweetWell gold is in the news again folks, or rather, it is always in the news, but since there's only one of me, it gets rather difficult to cover everything all the time. So, a little catching up is in order over the next few days. This article was shared by many of you, and it seems Mr. ''Tyler Durden'' of Zero Hedge has gone back and done some digging, and found this:
  Enders to Kissinger: We Should look Hard At Substantial Sales & Raid The Gold Market Once And For All''
  Now, if you scroll all the way to the bottom, you'll find a link to the same article here:
  Foreign Relations of the United States, 1973''1976 Volume XXXI, Foreign Economic Policy, Document 63
  Now let's look closely at a few passages:
  U.S. objectives for world monetary system'--a durable, stable system, with the SDR [ZH: or USD] as a strong reserve asset at its center '-- are incompatible with a continued important role for gold as a reserve asset.'... It is the U.S. concern that any substantial increase now in the price at which official gold transactions are made would strengthen the position of gold in the system, and cripple the SDR[ZH: or USD].Now as ''Durden'' accurately summarizes it, the USA's objective was to de-couple gold from money and to maintain the US dollar as reserve currency:''In other words: gold can not be allowed to dominated a ''durable, stable system'', and a rising gold price would cripple the reserve currency du jour: well known by most, but always better to see it admitted in official Top Secret correspondence.''But wait, there's more: Just how was the USA to do this? Answer: start using the bullion reserves of its various front organizations and selling massive amounts to suppress the price of gold:''Mr. Enders: Well, there are several ways. One way is we could say to them that they would accept this kind of arrangement, provided that the gold were channelled out through an international agency'--either in the IMF or a special pool'--and sold into the market, so there would be gradual increases.Secretary Kissinger: But the French would never go for this.
  Mr. Enders: We can have a counter-proposal. There's a further proposal'--and that is that the IMF begin selling its gold'--which is now 7 billion'--to the world market, and we should try to negotiate that. That would begin the demonetization of gold.
  Secretary Kissinger: Why are we so eager to get gold out of the system?
  Mr. Enders: We were eager to get it out of the system'--get started'--because it's a typical balancing of either forward or back. If this proposal goes back, it will go back into the centerpiece system.
  Secretary Kissinger: But why is it against our interests? I understand the argument that it's against our interest that the Europeans take a unilateral decision contrary to our policy. Why is it against our interest to have gold in the system?
  Mr. Enders: It's against our interest to have gold in the system because for it to remain there it would result in it being evaluated periodically. Although we have still some substantial gold holdings'--about 11 billion'--a larger part of the official gold in the world is concentrated in Western Europe. This gives them the dominant position in world reserves and the dominant means of creating reserves. We've been trying to get away from that into a system in which we can control'--
  '...
  Mr. Enders: Yes. But in order for them to do it anyway, they would have to be in violation of important articles of the IMF. So this would not be a total departure. (Laughter.) But there would be reluctance on the part of some Europeans to do this. We could also make it less interesting for them by beginning to sell our own gold in the market, and this would put pressure on them.''
  Et voila! we have at least a part of an answer, a long-term historically rooted answer, to part of what's been going on since President Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard in 1971: Europe was making unilateral moves to pull away from the U.S dollar reserve status, a move apparently initiated by the French, and indeed, a little digging will reveal that this process was being pushed as far back as the government of President Charles de Gaulle. Reading further into the document, the attitude of Henry Kissinger, then the U.S. Secretary of State, is revealing:
  ''Secretary Kissinger: If they go ahead on their own against our position on something that we consider central to our interests, we've got to show them that that they can't get away with it. Hopefully, we should have the right position. But we just cannot let them get away with these unilateral steps all the time.''
  In other words, the USA was opposed to sovereign European nations acting like sovereign nations.
  So we have a basic premise: in order to prop up the dollar, various US controlled or influenced institutions were to sell bullion reserves to suppress gold prices and buttress the dollar. Given the attitude, would this have possibly involved the the covert, and quite illegal, sale of the bullion reserves of other countries, such as Germany? and is this why the US fed has been ''reluctant'' to repatriate that country's gold?
  Well, by the above premise, repatriating Germany's (or anyone else's gold), would allow such a nation to exercise greater independence. But you cannot repatriate what isn't there'... which leads us to make a little prediction. Watch for some nation '' possibly from the BRICSA nations '' to call for an international audit of the US Federal Reserve system. Of course, it won't happen, but watch for it anyway, because if the Vatican can be audited, why not the Fed, which never has been? To refuse an audit, however, will further weaken the already strained system'...
  See you'.... oh wait, there's one more thing:
  POSTSCRIPT: Some of you have been emailing me and asking ''Just who is this 'Tyler Durden' anyway?'' Well, I cannot say I know, but, I'll share the following information, though I cannot verify if the individual mentioned in the following quotation is the current ''Tyler Durden'' of Zero Hedge or not:
  ''Dan Ivandjiiski was traveling in Poland when he received an e-mail'... A former trader himself, he'd been railing against high-speed trading for months on his new blog, called Zero Hedge. From his spare apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, he'd been posting under the pseudonym Tyler Durden, the name of the psychopathic character in Chuck Palahiuk's novel Fight Club. Few outside his inner circle knew his true identity, but his savvy, numbers-centric analysis made it obvious to his blog's faithful readers that he'd been a Wall Street insider who couldn't take all the bull**** anymore.
  ''Durden's primary target '' some might even say morbid obsession '' was Goldman Sachs. He'd become convinced that the powerful bank was manipulating markets for its own benefit'....
  ''By the summer of2009, Zero Hedge had become a must-read for Wall Street insiders.''(Scott Patterson, Dark Pools: The Rise of the Machine Traders and the Rigging of the U.S. Stock Market, [New York: Crown Business, 2013], p. 251.)
  And one more thing, ''Durden,'' like many others, increased his attentions to the issue of High-Speed Trading, or High Frequency Trading, after the May 6, 2010 ''Flash Crash.''
  See you on the flip side.
Lift off for £1bn UK space project
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 13:54
  8 December 2013Last updated at 07:30 ET By Jonathan AmosScience correspondent, BBC NewsThe roll-out has begun for Britain's single biggest commercial space project.
  The London-based Inmarsat company has launched the first spacecraft in what will be a new global telecommunications network for its on-the-move customers.
  Inmarsat plans to launch up to three further spacecraft in its Ka-band Global Xpress (GX) system, representing an investment of £1bn ($1.6bn).
  The initial I-5 F1 satellite was launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
  Its Proton rocket left the pad at 18:12 local time (12:12 GMT) on a long flight due to last over 15 hours.
  Separation from the Proton's Breeze-M upper-stage on Monday (GMT) should put the I-5 in a supersynchronous transfer orbit that runs out to 65,000km above the planet.
  The Boeing-built, 6.1-tonne satellite will then use its own electric propulsion system to circularise this trajectory and move itself into a "stationary" position at 63 degrees East, some 36,000km above the Indian Ocean.
  Inmarsat has become the dominant force in the so-called Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) market.
  Its principle customer base is the shipping sector, but the company also caters for any groups that need connectivity away from a fixed line. These include oil and gas installations, the aviation sector, armed forces, aid agencies and NGOs in disaster areas, and TV news crews reporting from trouble zones.
  Customers can use Inmarsat services to make phone calls, to transfer audio-visual material or simple data.
  Traditionally, the company has served these customers using the L-band part of the radio spectrum. However, the new GX constellation will operate in the higher-frequency Ka-band, enabling much higher bandwidth connections - up to 50Mbps download, and 5Mbps upload.
  "When we started thinking about this project five years ago, we'd come to the conclusion that you could not grow much further the L-band franchise - not in terms of revenue, but in terms of capacity," explained Ruy Pinto, Inmarsat's chief technical officer.
  "We have hit the limits of all-you-can-eat high-data-rate packages in L-band; there simply isn't enough spectrum. Ka is the natural next step to deliver the types of packages our customers want," he told BBC News.
  The I-5 satellites will not replace the existing Inmarsat L-band spacecraft; rather, they will augment them, and hopefully also drive new types of services.
  Although Ka will accommodate higher data rates, its signals can become degraded in poor weather, and Inmarsat plans to switch customers seamlessly between the bands if some locations on the globe are experiencing particular difficulties.
  "The physics of Ka allows higher throughput. It has had a vulnerability in the past because of its susceptibility to 'rain fade', to bad weather, but technology has largely taken care of this problem," added Inmarsat's Michele Franci.
  "And for the maritime sector, where you might experience extreme weather, we offer a service onboard the ship where you have a router that is connected to the network management system and chooses Ka or L-band depending on the strength of the signal."
  One key and fast-growing market likely to benefit from the introduction of the Global Xpress system is the aviation sector.
  Inmarsat already provides mobile connectivity to enable airlines to offer on-board wifi for passengers. Ka should mean those passengers can do more on their laptops, tablets and smartphones while in the air.
  Of all Inmarsat's revenue streams, this one is currently growing fastest - in double digits.
  Three satellites, separated from each other by roughly 120 degrees, are required to complete the GX network. Inmarsat will launch the I-5 F2 and F3 models next year, with the aim of having 90% of services up and running by the end of 2014.
  The company has also exercised an option to buy a fourth spacecraft from Boeing.
  This additional platform will initially provide insurance against any failure in the first three, be that a loss on launch or a major malfunction in orbit. But the intention is certainly to put it in orbit at some point.
  Richard Roithner from the space consultancy Euroconsult said the GX roll-out was a big moment for Inmarsat.
  He told the BBC: "With this trend towards the higher data-rate needs of customers, Inmarsat has increasingly faced competition from Fixed Satellite Service operators, such as Intelsat and SES with what is called VSAT in the Ku and C-band. This has taken away some high-end customers.
  "These operators are all now thinking about their next-generation, high-throughput systems. And in the future, Intelsat will probably be the main competition with a system called Epic," he said.
  Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
Clutha hate comments investigated
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 13:51
  8 December 2013Last updated at 07:48 ET Online hate comments about the Glasgow helicopter crash which left nine people dead are being investigated by police.
  Scotland's senior prosecutor said guidance would be issued this week on dealing with allegations linked to the Clutha bar tragedy.
  Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland said prosecutors "must take a hard line" against this kind of hate crime.
  The first of the funerals of the victims of the crash, which happened 10 days ago, took place on Saturday.
  The Lord Advocate's office said Police Scotland were investigating allegations of crimes arising from hateful comments posted online.
  Procurators Fiscal will be told that where offences have been motivated by a reaction to the Clutha bar crash there will be a presumption in favour of criminal proceedings.
  Mr Mulholland said: "It is important that COPFS [Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service] demonstrates a robust prosecution policy towards such offences committed as a reaction to the incident in recognition of the fact that people died and the impact such crimes will have on their families and friends.
  "This is also in consideration of the other people who were in the Clutha bar and those who attended the scene in the aftermath."
  The Lord Advocate added: "I have made it clear that prosecutors must take a hard line against this kind of hate crime."
  In the days after the crash one teenager was detained over alleged comments on social networking site Twitter.
  Last week the attorney general's office said it would start to publish guidance on Twitter to help prevent social media users from committing contempt of court when commenting on legal cases in England and Wales.
Artists For A New South Africa Remember Nelson Mandela
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Look To The Stars News: Latest
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 13:49
  Artists for a New South Africa is mourning the death of Nelson Mandela, and has released the following statement.
  Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) mourns the loss of our beloved Madiba. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and comrades, and to the people of South Africa and the world who held him dear.
  Actress/activist Alfre Woodard, ANSA's cofounder, said, ''I am mourning deeply the passing on of my elder and cherished friend Nelson Mandela. He is more than an icon. He was a delightful human being, with a rich sense of humor and a big generous laugh. I am recommitting my life to the insistence on justice that living in the time of Mandela has inspired in me. I will miss you, Tata.''
  Founded in 1989, ANSA is a nonprofit coalition of artists and activists working in the U.S. and Africa to combat HIV/AIDS, empower youth, advance democracy and civil rights, preserve the legacies and values of anti-apartheid leaders, and build bonds between nations through arts, culture, and the shared pursuit of social justice.
  ''Like activists the world over, we've been inspired and led by Madiba, who always guided us toward a higher road. Nelson Mandela symbolized the best of humankind and now it's up to each of us to carry on his work, building a fairer society. Madiba will live on in the hearts of those who cherish his progressive values; his spirit will shine through anyone who takes brave, generous action to bring those values to life,'' said ANSA executive director Sharon Gelman.
  Other ANSA founders, board, advisors, and supporters include Gillian Anderson, Harry Belafonte, Donna Brown, Jackson Browne, Jonathan Butler, Don Cheadle, Johnny Clegg, Danny Glover, Robert Guillaume, Barbara Hogan, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Jensen, Ahmed Kathrada, Kitsaun King, Ron Kunene, Artis Lane, Vusi Mahlasela, Hugh Masekela, Alexandra Paul, Sarah Pillsbury, Sidney Poitier, CCH Pounder, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Mark Rutstein, Albie Sachs, Carlos Santana, Deborah Santana, Marlene Saritzky, Bradley Silver, Anant Singh, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Roderick Spencer, Mary Steenburgen, Desmond Tutu, Cicely Tyson, Blair Underwood, Pauletta & Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Stevie Wonder, and more.
SPY SCHOOL?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: aangirfan
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 13:46
  What links Edward Snowdon, Julian Assange and the former head of Britain's spy service MI5?Jonathan Evans, the former boss of MI5, was a pupil at the expensive Sevenoaks School in the UK.
  Sarah Harrison, who led Edward Snowden to Moscow, was a pupil at Sevenoaks School.Sarah Harrison, of the spooky Wikileaks, is said to be a former lover Julian Assange.Sarah Harrison is currently living in spooky Berlin.
  The late Gerd Sommerhoff, who sexually abused boys, was a teacher at Sevenoaks school.Sommerhoff worked at the spooky BBC and in spooky Cambridge, and, like Jimmy Savile, was given a knighthood.Gerd SommerhoffSome of the above people may secretly be assets of Mossad, the CIA and MI5/MI6.Sir John Sawers
  Sir John Sawers, the current boss of MI6, is a former parent at Sevenoaks.
  Sir John Sawers, MI6 boss, is a former parent at Sevenoaks.Some of the children involved are believed to have been ­trafficked to Holland by Cooke's gang.The former cabinet minister had been photographed by police in 1986 entering a property where one of the sex parties was being held.
  Sidney Cooke, whose pedophile ring has been linked to up to 20 child murders. In 1998, Cooke was let out of prison eight years early.Peter Power, who was also 'involved in' the London Bombings of 7/7In 1987 a fire hit King's Cross underground station in London.
  Allegedly, certain juvenile members of a pedophile ring were in a cafe, underground, when the fire broke out."Just two months before the King's Cross Fire, pop duo, The Pet Shop Boys released their second record entitled Actually.
  "The final track on the album is a melancholy song entitled, King's Cross which, in a rather bizarre coincidence, appears to foresee a disaster at the station with the lyric:
  "'Only last night I found myself lost, by the station called King's Cross'... dead and wounded on either side, you know it's only a matter of time'...'"
  Tales From the Terminals: King's Cross (Part 1, History & Film)
  Allegedly, certain juvenile members of a pedophile ring were in a cafe, underground, when the fire broke out.
  Allegedly, the fire was started deliberately.King's Cross.
  1987: Disaster underground: the Kings Cross Fire
  "Inspector Peter Power was sent to the scene of the King's Cross fire to co-ordinate the efforts of the emergency services.
  "He ran the Metropolitan Police's forward command post for much of the evening and most of the night on 18 November 1987."
Busted: Bluffdale Mayor Lied about NSA water Contract, documents prove | Nullify NSA!Nullify NSA!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 13:11
  SALT LAKE CITY, December 7, 2013 '-- Grassroots efforts to thwart what opponents are calling ''mass spying'' by the National Security Agency (NSA) are heating up in Utah.
  The OffNow coalition of organizations is calling on the state to pass legislation to ban the state or any of its political subdivisions from providing resources to the NSA while it continues its current surveillance programs. The new NSA data center, located in the city of Bluffdale, is reported to require 1.7 million gallons of water every single day to operate. The water, according to reports, is needed to keep the supercomputers in the facility from overheating.
  The local CBS affiliate reported on the effort, noting the increased buzz surrounding it. Bluffdale Mayor Derk Timothy brushed off the idea of turning the water off, noting that the city had signed a contract with the NSA. He said, ''We have a contract. They negotiated in good faith. We negotiated in good faith.'' Timothy also told reporter Brian Mullahy that the city would not even consider turning the water off because of that contract.
  Mullahy said, ''I asked the Mayor, how long does the contract last? He said, 'In perpetuity. It keeps going, and going and going.'''
  But documents obtained by Connor Boyack of the Utah-based Libertas Institute, a policy think-tank supporting the effort to shut the water off, prove that Timothy is wrong. The contract expires.
  Mike Maharrey, national communications director for the Tenth Amendment Center, also noted that no one is actually asking Bluffdale to turn the water off. Instead, the coalition is working to require them to do it through state legislation.
  ''The proposed Utah 4th Amendment Protection Act would ban any city or state agency from providing material resources, like water, to the NSA while it continues its warrantless mass-spying program. So that would take the decision over it out of the Mayor's hands,'' said Maharrey.
  ''On top of it,'' he continued, ''If the Act is signed into law, the local contract will be immediately in conflict with the state law. At that point, it can no longer be renewed, and could actually be deemed invalid in a Utah court of law.''
  The documents provided by Boyack and Libertas Institute show that the contract between Bluffdale and the NSA are for a period of ten years, starting September 30, 2011. While the contract could continue beyond that time without ''further notice,'' passage of the Utah 4th Amendment Protection Act would stop that from happening.
  A legal expert who wishes to remain anonymous said that if the state were to pass such a law, it could also invalidate the water contract with the NSA. In its opinion on Salt Lake County v. Holliday Water Co., the Utah Supreme Court wrote that ''when a legislative enactment renders preexisting contract terms illegal the contract may be deemed unenforceable.''
  While such invalidation is rare, the court does hold that it has the power to invalidate such a contract should the ''preservation of the public welfare'' require it. Historically, though, Utah courts appear to lean more strongly towards preserving ''the freedom to contract.''
  At very least, passage of the Utah 4th Amendment Protection Act would turn what Timothy considers a perpetual contract into one that would definitely expire no later than Sept. 30, 2021. It would also create an environment where the current contract could come under a legal challenge to invalidate it.
  Article by Michael Boldin, originally published at Washington Times communities.
  Documents Prove that Bluffdale, UT water Contract with NSA does expire by Tenth Amendment Center
  TAKE ACTIONTake these steps today to help stop NSA spying in your state1. Get the model 4th Amendment Protection Act for your state (pdf):HERE
  2. Contact your STATE representative/assemblyperson AND State Senator. Strongly, but respectfully, encourage them to introduce the act for your state. A phone call is much more powerful than an email. Or do both. Contact info HERE.
  3. Join the coalition. Are you part of a grassroots group? Encourage your group's leadership to sign on in support of the coalition here: http://offnow.org/coalition
  4. Get Flyers to help spread the word!Here: http://offnow.org/product/flyers-4th-amendment-protection-act/
  Like this:LikeLoading...
VIDEO-FILIP '' THE WORLD'S FIRST SMART LOCATOR AND PHONE FOR KIDS
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 13:08
  Remember when you wore your first phone? Your kids will. Here's how it works:
  Using the FiLIP app, you pre-program five phone numbers that your child can call. Your child can scroll through the five numbers and call the one they want with the touch of a button. It's that simple.
  You and any of the five people you pre-authorized can call your child's FiLIP directly. You can also see their precise location on a map. For parents with multiple children, you can simply create a profile for each child in the FiLIP app. So if you play 'hide and go seek' with your kids, this is the competitive advantage that you've been waiting for!
  A SafeZone is a virtual radius which you can set using the FiLIP app. SafeZones are a virtual radius around a destination. When a SafeZone is set, notifications will be sent to the parent's smartphone via a push notification from the FiLIP app whenever your child enters or leaves a SafeZone.
  You can also send a short message to your child's FiLIP. This feature is one way from parent to child, there is plenty of time for texting when they are teenagers.
  There are two buttons on the FiLIP watch '' one that's the same color as the wristband and one that's red. You can guess which one is the emergency button.
  In the event of an emergency, your child can press the red button for 3 seconds. This will:
  1) Initiate a call to the first designated number and if there is no answer, calls the other four designated numbers in succession.
  2) Automatically start a recording of ambient sound around the child's FiLIP device
  3) Send push notification to the primary account holder with a link to the child's current location.
  Give FiLIP's emergency mode a try with you and your child to make sure if there is ever an emergency you both will know what to do.
linux-show-player - Linux Show Player - Sound player designed for stage productions - Google Project Hosting
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 06:48
  Project Information
  Links
  LiSP (Linux Show Player) is a sound player specifically designed for stage productions.
  The goal of the project is to provide a stable and complete playback software for musical plays, theatre shows and similar.
  It's still under development but enough stable for daily use
  Downloads
  Features v0.2
  Button matrix user interface, suited for touchscreens;List based user interface, suited for keyboards;Multiple tracks playback;Sound FX: gain, equalization, pitch shift, speed control and compression applied in real time on each trackRemote control over IP of slave/backup PC;Simple scenes programming for create autoplay-queues;Triggers programming, based on track playback time;Reversible actions (do/undo operations);In development v0.3
  Better GStreamer backend (output selection, ...);Better event programming features (timeline view, ...);Screenshot (v0.2)
  Screenshot (v0.1)
Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 06:22
  1. Intel® vPro' technology is sophisticated and requires setup and activation. Availability of features and results will depend upon the setup and configuration of your hardware, software, and IT environments. To learn more visit: www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/vpro/vpro-technology-general.html.
  2. Requires activation and a system with a corporate network connection, an Intel® AMT-enabled chipset, network hardware, and software. For notebooks, Intel AMT may be unavailable or limited over a host OS-based VPN, when connecting wirelessly, on battery power, sleeping, hibernating, or powered off. Results dependent upon hardware, setup, and configuration. For more information, visit www.intel.com/technology/vpro/index.htm.
  3. KVM Remote Control (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) is only available with the Intel® Xeon® processor family, Intel® Core' i5 vPro' processor, and Intel® Core' i7 vPro' processor running activated and configured Intel® Active Management Technology with integrated graphics. Discrete graphics are not supported.
Intel Chips allow remote access to your PC, OFFLINE! | Veraxity Radio
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 06:21
  So'...you've locked your PC, Powered it down, disabled all the features, password encrypted everything on your HDD, stuffed it back in its case and locked it in your closet. Safe right? Wrong.
  Since 2011, Intel has been implanting a 3G chipset into your Intel Core i3, i5, i7 processors which allows for remote viewing of all features on your system, even while powered down. The chip, phantom powered, is ONLY not in effect while there is no power supply- and it is unknown at this time what kind of capacity may be reserved after the battery is dead or removed.
  The 3G chip allows for remote access of every feature on your system- bypassing all encoded passwords and other ''security'' features installed on the HDD. It can remotely turn your PC on, Turn it off, access your camera, microphone, and even accessories linked through your USB ports'.... ALL WITHOUT WIFI EVEN BEING ENABLED.
  Your Laptop or PC with Intel Chipset does not have to be connected to a network AT ALL to have your privacy completely nulled. This chipset can be remote accessed by hackers, government agencies, and coders in the computer realm who know how to work the 3G network'... Its own firmware is installed right on the microchip too- so they literally never have to run your windows to steal, corrupt, erase, or manipulate your information.
  How is this possible? Intel is advertising the chipsets right on their website under the guise of easy remote access for computer technicians.
  While the VPro processor sets are the primary concern, it is impossible to tell how many PC's and Laptops were produced with this experimental technology inside during the course of these two years. If you think any Anti-Virus, Anti-Hack software is going to protect you from intrusion of your new Intel Chipset computer'... You're wrong. Hackers and Government spies can simply bypass EVERY security measure you have the ability to install on your software.
  ''Intel actually embedded the 3G radio chip in order to enable its Anti Theft 3.0 technology. And since that technology is found on every Core i3/i5/i7 CPU after Sandy Bridge, that means a lot of CPUs, not just new vPro, might have a secret 3G connection nobody knew about until now,''- Softpedia.
  ''If you think encryption, Norton, or anything else is going to ensure your privacy, including never hooking up to the web at all, think again. There is now more than just a ghost in the machine.''- - Jim Stone
  If you liked what you read, Try THESE!Category: New in the World Order, NEWSTags: 3G, government, intel, laptop, nsa, privacy, processor, security, spy chips, vpro, wirelessAbout Steven KnichelStationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Steve writes to you as a conspiratorially conscious individual. It is his hope that the episodes and articles posted on this site will promote self research and personal development to assist in weaning the public off of Mainstream Media dependency, and inherently absorbing false truths.
>> ''Secret'' 3G Intel Chip Gives Snoops Backdoor PC Access Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 06:18
  vPro processors allow remote access even when computer is turned off
  Paul Joseph WatsonInfowars.comSeptember 26, 2013
  Intel Core vPro processors contain a ''secret'' 3G chip that allows remote disabling and backdoor access to any computer even when it is turned off.
  Image: Intel Core vPro.
  Although the technology has actually been around for a while, the attendant privacy concerns are only just being aired. The ''secret'' 3G chip that Intel added to its processors in 2011 caused little consternation until the NSA spying issue exploded earlier this year as a result of Edward Snowden's revelations.
  In a promotional video for the technology, Intel brags that the chips actually offer enhanced security because they don't require computers to be ''powered on'' and allow problems to be fixed remotely. The promo also highlights the ability for an administrator to shut down PCs remotely ''even if the PC is not connected to the network,'' as well as the ability to bypass hard drive encryption.
  ''Intel actually embedded the 3G radio chip in order to enable its Anti Theft 3.0 technology. And since that technology is found on every Core i3/i5/i7 CPU after Sandy Bridge, that means a lot of CPUs, not just new vPro, might have a secret 3G connection nobody knew about until now,''reports Softpedia.
  Jeff Marek, director of business client engineering for Intel, acknowledged that the company's Sandy Bridge'' microprocessor, which was released in 2011, had ''the ability to remotely kill and restore a lost or stolen PC via 3G.''
  ''Core vPro processors contain a second physical processor embedded within the main processor which has it's own operating system embedded on the chip itself,'' writes Jim Stone. ''As long as the power supply is available and in working condition, it can be woken up by the Core vPro processor, which runs on the system's phantom power and is able to quietly turn individual hardware components on and access anything on them.''
  Although the technology is being promoted as a convenient way for IT experts to troubleshoot PC issues remotely, it also allows hackers or NSA snoops to view the entire contents of somebody's hard drive, even when the power is off and the computer is not connected to a wi-fi network.
  It also allows third parties to remotely disable any computer via the ''secret'' 3G chip that is built into Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. Webcams could also be remotely accessed.
  ''This combination of hardware from Intel enables vPro access ports which operate independently of normal user operations,'' reports TG Daily. ''These include out-of-band communications (communications that exist outside of the scope of anything the machine might be doing through an OS or hypervisor), monitoring and altering of incoming and outgoing network traffic. In short, it operates covertly and snoops and potentially manipulates data.''
  Not only does this represent a privacy nightmare, it also dramatically increases the risk of industrial espionage.
  The ability for third parties to have remote 3G access to PCs would also allow unwanted content to be placed on somebody's hard drive, making it easier for intelligence agencies and corrupt law enforcement bodies to frame people.
  ''The bottom line? The Core vPro processor is the end of any pretend privacy,'' writes Stone. ''If you think encryption, Norton, or anything else is going to ensure your privacy, including never hooking up to the web at all, think again. There is now more than just a ghost in the machine.''
  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: Thursday, September 26, 2013 at 5:56 am
  Tags: big brother, domestic spying, technology
Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 06:08
  Thread Rating:6 Votes - 5 Average12345Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!
  ÏšHAIRMAN MÎ£OWÐšÐ¾Ñ‚ Ð¸ ÐÑ‹Ð>>ÐµÑÐ¾ÑUser ID: 204698Today 03:07 AM Posts: 4,876 Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!New Intel Chips Contain Back-Door Processor, Hackable Even When Computer is Turned OffBy Jim Stone, jimstonefreelance.comSeptember 19th, 2013
  New Intel-Based PC's Permanently Hackable
  So you think no one can access your data because your computer is turned off. Heck it's more than turned off, you even took the main hard drive out, and only the backup disk is inside. There is no operating system installed at all. So you KNOW you are safe. Frank from across the street is an alternative operating systems hobbyist, and he has tons of computers. He has Free BSD on a couple, his own compilation of Linux on another, a Mac for the wife, and even has Solaris on yet another. Frank knows systems security, so he cannot be hacked . . . or so he thinks.
  The government does not like Frank much, because they LOVE to look at everything. Privacy is a crime don't you know, and it looks like Frank's luck with privacy is about to run out. The new Intel Core vPro processors contain a new remote access feature which allows 100 percent remote access to a PC 100 percent of the time, even if the computer is turned off. Core vPro processors contain a second physical processor embedded within the main processor which has it's own operating system embedded on the chip itself. As long as the power supply is available and and in working condition, it can be woken up by the Core vPro processor, which runs on the system's phantom power and is able to quietly turn individual hardware components on and access anything on them.
  This is being touted as something that makes IT administration easy. It is being advertised as something that will allow IT professionals the ability to remotely troubleshoot a PC no matter what is wrong with it. It allows IT professionals to view the contents of hard drives, check the memory, or hunt for problems on a machine without actually being in front of it. And to that, I call B.S, outside of snooping it's only real world applications would involve accessing a recovery partition and restoring the computer to out of box state, installing software outside the knowledge of the main operating system, and secretly placing or deleting files.
  But the intelligence agencies LOVE THIS. Because Frank is going on vacation soon and they know it. They have listened to all of his calls. They KNOW frank is a terrorist, because they have never been able to access anything Frank has done with a PC, and who would hide their use, other than a criminal? Frank keeps his computers up to date, and THREE of them now have Core vPro processors in them, and when Frank is gone, they are going to get their chance to access ALL of his files because the main backup hard disk went into the newest machine.Real world use for Core vPro processors will involve the following:
  Accessing any PC anywhere, no matter what operating system is installed, even if it is physically disconnected from the internet. You see, Core vPro processors work inconjunction with Intel's new Anti Theft 3.0, which put 3g connectivity into every Intel CPU after the Sandy Bridge version of the I3/5/7 processors. Users do not get to know about that 3g connection, but it IS there. Frank was not stupid so he unplugged his router. Unfortunately for Frank, that won't work, because anti theft 3.0 always has that 3g connection on also, even if the computer is turned off. Sorry frank, you were good with operating systems, but did not know everything about hardware. And now the real reason for your finicky security habits will be known to the NSA '' you found a way to route photons to any place in the world without any sort of cable. You revolutionized communications. You were going public when you returned from your vacation, but thanks to your new Core vPro processors, a major communications firm is going to go public with your invention BEFORE you get home, and your research will be deleted and replaced with ''criminal activity'' so you will be arrested when you get back and unable to speak about the theft of your invention. Fascism is GREAT.
  If a system has the ram chips pulled, a Core vPro processor will read the hard disk anyway because it has all the ram it needs embedded in the vPro core. If you encrypted your hard drive, a Core vPro processor will read it anyway, because it snagged your encryption key. If your system has been taken apart, and has no video card, ram, floppy, or hard drive, your Core vPro processor nailed you, because you left a flash drive plugged in. Or a CD in the CD drive. And what about that web cam?The bottom line? The Core vPro processor is the end of any pretend privacy. If you think encryption, Norton, or anything else is going to ensure your privacy, including never hooking up to the web at all, think again. There is now more than just a ghost in the machine. The Zionist, Globalist, Banker scamming war mongering cabal has a history of using the marketing of security as a means to remove ALL security and nail you. If you believe Intel's cheerful hype about these processors making things more secure than ever, think again, because any processor which allows a machine to be accessed even when it's turned off equates to an information tyrant's dream come true Please engage your brain while watching this, the security pitch is unadulterated B.S. These processors in fact represent an ABSOLUTE BREACH of security no matter HOW they are marketed. From the techinical viewpoint of someone who worked for an intelligence agency, I call B.S. on Intel, avoid these processors like the plague!
  Editor note: Guess which chipmakers are the biggest zionist trash scumbag Israel-firster walking maggots supporter of Israel and Zionism? Yep. Intel. Stay tuned for my follow-up post. ~CM
  It was fun. Thanks for the fish.LoP Guestlop guestUser ID: 191667Today 03:11 AM
  Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!oh ffs
  ÏšHAIRMAN MÎ£OWÐšÐ¾Ñ‚ Ð¸ ÐÑ‹Ð>>ÐµÑÐ¾ÑUser ID: 204698Today 03:12 AM Posts: 4,876Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!RESEARCH FINDINGS :Intel are one of the biggest supporters of Israel. Their very first development centre outside the US was opened in Haifa in 1974. Since then they have continued pouring investment in to Israel.[2] By year 2000 they employ over 4000 israelis. Exports from their Lachish-Qiryat Gat plant in israel (opened feb 99) total $ 3 million a day at peak capacity - approximately $ 1 billion a year. [1]
  Al-Awda (Palestine Right to Return Coalition) have pointed out that the Intel plant at"Qiryat Gat" is built on land Israel confiscated from the Palestinian villages of Iraq al Manshiya. Iraq al Manshiya was a village of 2000 people living in 300 houses with two mosques and one school. The original Palestinian inhabitants were terrorised out of the village and then the whole village was razed to the ground to prepare the way for the new israeli settlement of Qiryat Gat. Today the remaining population from Iraq al Manshiya is still not allowed to return.[4][5][6]. Legal action against Intel for building on looted land is being considered [7].
  ADDITIONAL INFO & REFs :[1] Intel in Israel, from intel website:http://www.intel.com/intel/community/isr...utsite.htm
  1974: IDC - Intel's first design and development center outside the USA, was set up in Haifa.1985: Fab 8 - Intel's first facility outside the USA for the manufacture of microprocessors and memory began operations in Har Hotzvim, Jerusalem.1998: A development center in Jerusalem (formerly "Digital") was purchased and integrated into Intel Israel.1999: Fab 18, the new plant in Lachish-Qiryat Gat, began manufacturing processors using 0.18 micron technology.
  A branch for the development of network and communications products was opened in Omer, close to Beersheba.Intel International acquired two companies operating in Israel:
  DSPC: A leading international developer and supplier of chip systems and software for the manufacture of cellular telephones for CDMA and TDMA devices. Most of 2000 DSPC's development efforts are currently directed at the 3G (third generation) market, which will integrate cellular phones with multimedia and Internet capabilities. DSPC develops, markets and sells integrated circuits (ASIC) based on DSP technology. Its customers include Motorola, Philips, Kenwood, Sanyo and Sharp.
  Dialogic Israel Ltd. (DIL): DIL develops solutions for computerized telephony and Internet telephony. Founded in 1993 in the Tefen Industrial Park as an R&D subsidiary of Dialogic, DIL employs 35 engineers. Its products are used in voice, fax, data, voice identification and synthesis, call center management and IP telephony applications - in CPE and in a public network environment.
  $810 million: The sum of Intel Israel's exports in 1999, a 92% increase in comparison with 1998.2000: Exports from the Intel Lachish-Qiryat Gat plant total $ 3 million a day at peak capacity - approximately $ 1 billion a year.
  [2] Investments in Israel
  From Embassy of Israel website:http://www.israelemb.org/economic/uscompanies.htm
  - Fabrication facility in Jerusalem - $1.6b- New facility in Kiryat Gat- Design Center in Haifa.- 5% holding in RADVision for $1m (4/97).- Acquired Shani.- Invested in RADGuard (5/98).- Owns 100% of Intel Israel (1974) Ltd.- Inaugurated $20m development campus in Haifa(1998).- Invested in TelesciCOM of Holon (4/99)- Acqires DSP for $1.6b (10/99)
  [3] Intels investments in apartheid education in Israel:http://www.intel.com/intel/community/isr...cation.htm
  ".. Intel invests in the promotion of higher education in Israel. In addition to scholarships for students, it allocates considerable resources to funding research and purchasing laboratory equipment."
  More: http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-intel.html
  It was fun. Thanks for the fish.A Ghost of Mike'd TeeVeewhite spectral dogUser ID: 90250Today 03:21 AM Posts: 125Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!I was once shown that the more layers of external technology that are present... the less spiritual the society...So the joke is to those that know... having to rape a users turned off computer because "the "they" lack communication skills and self esteem" is hardly screaming of confidence for those with eyes to see and ears to hear!!!
  So what happens if I turn all my power strips off every night and have no battery running the laptop???
  My guess would be nothing!!!
  You are most profoundly loved!!!
  If you cannot understand the unified concept some call "god"... perhaps you can identify with gravity??? What is behind that??? And then...I still eat shadows...
  LoP Guestlop guestUser ID: 151189Today 03:24 AM
  Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!It doesn't stop there. It doesn't stop until you realize the voices in your head are real, and they are telling you exactly what to do and when, and they sound perfectly logical.That is when you realize, it's ok to just let go.
  .
  Casual BystanderUnregistered UserUser ID: 193183Today 03:27 AM Posts: 3,834Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!Use hibernate instead of sleep and pull the battery.
  ___________________________________The right to buy weapons is the right to be free!LoP Guestlop guestUser ID: 174568Today 03:31 AM
  Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!"Toodles Inside"?
  The only "ghost" I know of is the Holy Ghost...he choose his own "host system", if you know what i mean...
  http://freebies2deals.com/wp-content/upl...kadoer.png
  Zech.8[1] Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,[2] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.[3] Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.[4] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.[5] And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.[6] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
  Joshua Flynnwhile(CENSORED){printf("%s\n",Ideas);}User ID: 204594Today 03:50 AM Posts: 16,659
  Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!ÏšHAIRMAN MÎ£OW Wrote:(Today 03:07 AM)New Intel Chips Contain Back-Door Processor, Hackable Even When Computer is Turned Off
  Part of the 'always on'' schema.Do people seriously think that within 30 years you could have jumped from paper corn-powered biplanes to jet fighters, but not have a 'computer within a computer' Russian doll scenario? No? Think how small the computer on your phone or MP3 player is (sure, it's simple: the MP3 player might only 'record everything' but it's still a computer doing calculations whenever it reads the variable input files etc).
  Everyone still thinks of a computer as this network of centralised devices. If a mass-produced iPad (which most people will comment probably has a 1000% profit margin or something) can produce computing capabilities (camera, microphone, GPS, websurfing, battery life, graphics etc) superior to that of the average computer perhaps not even 5 years earlier (remember when MP4 players were that bulky devices with no touchscreen? Yeah, I don't either), imagine if you stripped all of the 'unnecessary' technology (no screen, no battery, remove sim card, excessive storage, graphics card etc).
  You could probably fit a readily simplified iphone inside the excess space of a desktop computer without anyone noticing, and assuming you could strip it down further (simple command interface for camera, microphone, GPS etc that simply 'piggybacks' the system) probably could hide in a circuit board smaller than the average MP3 player attached to the motherboard as a self-encased chip: and no-one would be any wiser.
  Don't believe me? Matchstick sized microphones:http://www.microphonemadness.com/product...micbom.htm
  Smaller than matchstick sized camera:http://www.techhive.com/article/226605/w..._head.html
  Smaller than even camera smaller than a matchstick:http://www.extremetech.com/computing/840...t-computer
  Quote: Checking in at just over one cubic millimeter, the system houses an ultra low-power microprocessor, a pressure sensor, memory, a thin-film battery, a solar cell, and a wireless radio with an antenna that can transmit data to an external reader placed near the eye.
  Note the part that it's 'solar powered' and 'wireless' (this is only on millimeter scale: go somewhat bigger and most problems go away).Naturally people will argue perhaps one of two directions: you're not interesting enough (that's not the point: interest or not, it doesn't justify any sort of piggy backdoor tech, And it's there for when you *do* become interesting: and what defines the social norm of interest depends on which type of dictator you're dealing with. Criticise the government? That's probably of interest. They set the net first then try to catch you with it later on).
  It's too technologically difficult/expensive/challenging/unnecessary. This doesn't stop the NSA from wasting $1 million a month in electricity bills in a SINGLE data centre alone, or any of the other legal wranglings, backdoor deals and overpriced projects they pay for. Most people in economics will know that mass production reduces cost prices to within pennies (especially if the unit is well designed, used pre-existing and cheap materials, and only uses 'what it has to'), and that retail prices aren't actually reflective of bulk prices. Better yet, as it's a consumer product, the consumer is actually the one paying for the additional cost, not the state.
  All the state has to do is build a reasonably sufficient system that is both small (we've covered small on all counts so size is not a problem) and cheap, and can simply be 'tacked on' to the mass production of said unit. A clever engineer and designer could easily make use of pre-existing computer materials (IE you can eliminate microphones and cameras as they're already built in, and you exploit the 'grey area' on poorly maintained harddrives and caches as either temporary memory storage or long-term: reasonable compression algorithm would make that storage go miles). Consumer pays for the device but also inherits the cost of implementing their own backdoor.
  The capabilities of a tacked in backdoor computer system are only limited by the physical capabilities of the system it's attached to. Physical tampering is discouraged (voids the warranty, they say: not they gave one, especially when each system has 'planned fail' involved), probably wouldn't want you to find what is secretly attached anyway.
  How to filter radioactive water:http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p919.htmIran Video
  ÏšHAIRMAN MÎ£OWÐšÐ¾Ñ‚ Ð¸ ÐÑ‹Ð>>ÐµÑÐ¾ÑUser ID: 204698Today 04:01 AM Posts: 4,876Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!Mr. Flynn, it's interesting study to build a hypothesis on the earlier days of consumer market electronics, namely personal computers, and the shift in attitude which occurred in the mid-nineties. It was a strange, notable occurrence when the puppet-media authority slowed, and eventually ceased talking about saving electricity, and phased into the benefits of leaving the computer on, because it was harmful to boot it up everyday... Like it was a fragile hadron collider with 5 cycles prior to MTBF.It's obvious that prior to the cellular mesh being what it is today, that in order to increase the "saturation" levels of candidate targets, they needed to promote the sleep / hibernation modes.
  No, hell, they not only seal the battery inside of the laptop housing, but they put in a "SMART" battery.... hoooo ho hoa he he hue. They define "Storage capacity" differently behind closed doors.
  It was fun. Thanks for the fish.LoP Guestlop guestUser ID: 174568Today 04:04 AM
  LoP Guestlop guestUser ID: 158523Today 04:08 AM
  Frater WRegistered UserUser ID: 152346Today 04:08 AM Posts: 4,404Ghosts in your Machine? Intel Inside!5*. I'm glad I'm not the only one around here that visits that site.
  An ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of preaching. ~ Ghandi
Alberta expands HPV vaccination program to boys | CTV Edmonton News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 05:41
  Stewart Shaw and Julia Parrish, CTV EdmontonPublished Thursday, December 5, 2013 9:56AM MSTLast Updated Thursday, December 5, 2013 7:10PM MST
  In an announcement Thursday, Health Minister Fred Horne laid out details on the province expanding the HPV vaccination program to young boys next fall.
  The immunization program, started for Alberta girls in 2008, will expand to include Grade 5 boys. A four-year catch-up program will be made available for Grade 9 boys.
  The province estimates that about 32,000 Grade 5 and 15,500 Grade 9 boys will receive the vaccination next fall.
  Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a common infection that is passed through sexual contact. Alberta Health estimates that over 70% of people will have at least one genital HPV infection in their lifetime.
  Certain types of HPV infections can cause cervical cancer in women, and throat and rectal cancer in men '' those cancers are the leading cause for nearly all head and neck cancers in Alberta in men under the age of 40.
  It's a move one woman has been pushing for.
  ''It's great that it's now part of the programs in the schools but what needs to happen next is that the public has to be educated as to why the boys are being included,'' Susan Shipley-Morgan said in a phone interview from Texas.
  Shipley-Morgan's husband has battled HPV-related cancers.
  The vaccine has been at the centre of controversy since it was first introduced in 2008, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Schools still doesn't offer the vaccine, and officials said that decision was made because they believe it promotes pre-marital sex.
  ''It's not your everyday polio, tetanus,'' Board Chair Sandra Bannard said. ''It has behaviours with it that needs other thought and reflection upon.''
  Another area school division, Elk Island Catholic, has not offered the vaccine in the past '' however, CTV News has learned the board voted in favour of offering the shot.
  Health officials stressed the importance of being vaccinated before becoming sexually active.
  ''There are strong medical reasons for picking that age group,'' Dr. James Talbot with Alberta Health Services said. ''They are basically related to making sure the vaccine is there and the body has protection.''
  Alberta will become only the second province in Canada to initiate an HPV program for boys - Prince Edward Island was the first to implement the practice for male students in April.
  Officials said the Alberta program would cost about $8 million, in addition to other costs for administering the vaccine - those numbers were not available Thursday.
  With files from Veronica Jubinville
Jessica Lessin talks about paywalls, The Information and the virtues of knowing who your audience is '-- Tech News and Analysis
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 05:17
  12 hours ago Dec. 7, 2013 - 9:14 AM PST
  Former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin got some attention when she left the newspaper six months ago to start a new online news venture, and this week she launched the project, known as The Information: a subscription-only technology and business news service that costs $399 a year and has no free content or ''leaks'' in its paywall. The hardness of the wall and the price surprised many '-- given the experiences of some other new-media outlets that tried and failed with a hard paywall model '-- but Lessin said in an interview she is convinced she can build a sustainable business based on that approach.
  ''People talk about this type of paywall is good or bad, but it really depends on the content. If you look at what Paul Carr (of NSFW Corp.) is doing, it's great, but I think he would agree that no one is going to spend $400 a year on it '-- the only type of content you're going to pay that much money for is content that helps you in your business. All the different paywall experiences are very different because the content is different and the market they are going after is different.''
  Lessin said she decided to leave the Journal and start her own publication because she saw an opportunity to go after a specific market that she felt wasn't really being served by the paper '-- primarily insiders working in the tech industry and related businesses such as venture capital. And to help nail down the audience she was aiming for, she said she identified half a dozen actual people who became archetypes for her ideal reader: product managers at Dropbox, vice presidents at Apple, sales managers at Oracle, etc.
  Professionals are willing to pay for useful info
  Figuring out the prospective audience naturally led to the business model that The Information would end up pursuing, Lessin said. Since many of the professionals she wanted to target were used to paying for information '-- provided it helped them with their business or enabled them to profit in some way '-- from a variety of sources such as Bloomberg, the Journal and other publications, she figured a subscription model would be a good fit, despite the risks of being a new entity.
  And while the $399-a-year price tag might seem high, the former WSJ writer said she felt comfortable that for the audience of business professionals she wanted to attract, ''paying as much as you pay for parking in San Francisco, or for the cost of two Uber taxi rides'' wouldn't be a huge barrier.
  ''We know the audience we want to go after '-- they're professionals inside and outside of tech, an audience that pays for information that's going to make them smarter and give them an edge and to be ahead of the curve, and many of them already expense information like that. And we knew that we wanted that kind of audience from the get-go.''
  Lessin pointed out that the audience or market that a media outlet is focused on also helps determine what stories they cover and how, and that this was one of the driving forces behind her desire to leave the Journal. When she was writing an Apple earnings story, she said, ''was I writing that for an executive who worked at Apple, or a hedge-fund trader, or a kid who wanted to know what to download? Those are all very different stories.''
  Aggregation by others is actually useful
  When it comes to attracting new readers '-- something that other new-media startups such as Matter and NSFW Corp. have said was a difficult problem with a hard paywall, and led indirectly to the failure of their attempts at running one '-- Lessin said the service has a $39-a-month plan that amounts to a trial program, and that she expects aggregation by sites like Business Insider (which has promised to do exactly that with her content) would play an important role in getting The Information's name out to new subscribers.
  ''What would happen pretty consistently at the Journal was that if there was news, someone would aggregate it and then link back to us, and I think that's an important part of the ecosystem '-- and if people see a consistent number of articles linked back to us that might pique their interest. I don't think those summaries are going to cannibalize our existing audience too much, because I don't think those are really our core users right now.''
  Lessin said she studied a lot of other publications, both in tech and business and outside of it, in order to zero in on the model she wanted to follow '-- outlets like Grant's Interest Rate Observer, a controlled-circulation newsletter that focuses on financial issues. ''If you're outside of finance you've never heard of it, but if you work in finance you just say Grant's and people's eyes light up,'' Lessin said. ''You don't go for what's happening minute by minute, you read it to get smarter.''
  The Information was also inspired by subscription research products, Lessin said '-- including our own Gigaom Research arm '-- as well as premium products such as Politico's Pro version, which costs several thousand dollars a year, or Seeking Alpha (which makes certain content available for free after a specific amount of time). And Lessin also mentioned the tight bond with an audience that Dan Primack has created with his Term Sheet at Fortune, although that is free.
  A paywall works if it fits the content
  Business Insider suggested that The Information could charge 1,800 to 2,000 people and wind up with a fairly successful business that served a small audience. So I asked Lessin whether she would be satisfied being a small but profitable outlet: she said she wanted to be ''an important media business for decades to come, but our way to do that is by finding a sustainable model for doing the kind of stuff we want to do, and I think having a fairly small number of important, intelligent, influential subscribers is the way to do that.''
  Lessin added that she wants to eventually add some form of comments and other features for subscribers that help to build community on the site, the way other niche-topic sites such as Techdirt and Talking Points Memo have, but for the moment she was focused on getting the content right and appealing to the right audience, rather than trying a lot of different variations on business models.
  ''I talked to a lot of companies that manage metered paywalls when we were looking at going down that path, but it all came back to the fact that there are many different tactics for maximizing revenue and audience at different points, and many of those make sense for different businesses at different times. But the most important thing is that a paywall works if it has the kind of content that works with it, and finding that balance is the important thing.''
  As I said in the post I wrote giving Lessin some free advice about her new venture, regardless of whether we agree with her model or not, she deserves credit for trying something new and I wish her all the best. I might have chosen to structure it differently, but if she has assessed her market correctly and the need she fills for those readers, there's a good chance she will do just fine.
  Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Shutterstock users Daniilantiq, Luiz Rocha, Voronin76 and Flickr user Giuseppe Bognanni
Save Santa's Home - join Jim Carter to help save Santa this Christmas
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 05:14
  Wow, thank you!, you're an arctic legend.
  Santa needs as much help as he can get. Will you tell your friends about this campaign on Facebook and Twitter?
  By registering you agree to our privacy policy.
  WATCHSANTA'SMESSAGEWHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT?SANTA LOVES THE NORTH POLE.It's his home, and where he, the Elves and Mrs Claus produce, organise and deliver presents for all the children of the world. But the North Pole is only a frozen ocean and it's melting away faster and faster. Santa can no longer function. His warehouse is flooded. All the presents are ruined.
  That's bad enough. But oil companies are trying to drill in the Arctic Ocean around him. They want to extract the oil that - when it's used - will make the melting of the Arctic all the quicker.
  World leaders are ignoring the reindeer's cries for help as they sink in the melting ice. Even the threat of being on Santa's naughty list hasn't prompted a rescue operation.
  YOU CAN HELP SAVE SANTA'S HOME.If you sign up you will be joining Vivienne Westwood, Jude Law, Paul McCartney and Madonna in helping create a sanctuary around the North Pole. This would leave Santa in peace to spread joy around the world on Christmas Day.
  In 1991 the world came together to protect the Antarctic and we can save the Arctic too!
VIDEO- An urgent message from Santa - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 05:13
No Wonder China is Nervous as Obama Pivots
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 04:40
  Part I: China a military threat?To read the mainstream Western media, one would conclude that China has become an economic giant now intent on flexing its military muscle and making a massive arms buildup to do so. China's designated new President, Xi Jinping, has just won both the top Communist party post from predecessor Hu Jintao as well as the head of the powerful Central Military Commission, giving Xi a full takeover of party and armed forces.
  A recent BBC analysis, in an article titled ''China extending military reach,'' is typical of Western media coverage of China's military program: ''China's first aircraft carrier will begin sea trials later this year. Late last year, the first pictures were leaked of the prototype of Beijing's new "stealth" fighter. And US military experts believe that China has begun to deploy the world's first long-range ballistic missile capable of hitting a moving ship at sea.'' [1]
  China's first aircraft carrierIn Japan, nationalist politicians like politically ambitious Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara and Toru Hashimoto, the mayor of Osaka, are gaining popularity with anti-China rhetoric and by claiming Japan must develop capacities to oppose Chinese military ascendency. In May the authoritative New York Times ran an alarming story to the effect that China announced a ''double-digit increase'' in military spending. In the actual text of the article they report an 11% increase over the previous budget, far less than even the rate of inflation.
  However, when we examine in detail the actual redeployment and military moves of US Armed Forces in the Asia region following President Obama's announcement of a new ''Asia Pivot'' refocus of US military capacities from Western Europe to the Asia region, it becomes clear China is re-acting, in order to attempt to deal with quite real threats to its future sovereignty rather than acting in an aggressive posture.
  The mere fact that a standing President, Obama, during nationally televised Presidential debates labeled China as an ''adversary'' is indicative of the US military posture change. The depth and nature of the US pivot to China is crystal clear when one takes a closer look at the recent developments in an Asian US Missile Defense deployment, clearly aimed at China and no other.
  China officially spent barely 10% of what the US does on its defense, some $90 billion, or if certain defense-related arms import and other costs are included, perhaps $111 billion a year. Even if the Chinese authorities do not publish complete data on such sensitive areas, it's clear China spends a mere fraction of the USA and is starting from a military-technology base far behind the USA.
  The US defense budget is not just by far the world's largest. It dominates everyone else, completely independent of any perceived threat. In the nineteenth century, the British Royal Navy built the size of its fleet according to the fleets of Britain's two most powerful potential enemies; America's defense budget strategists declare it will be "doomsday" if the United States builds its navy to anything less than five times that of China and Russia combined. [2]
  If we include the spending by Russia, China's strongest ally within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, their combined total annual defense spending is barely $142 billion. The world's ten top defense spending nations in addition to the USA as largest, and China as second largest, include the UK, France, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Germany, India and Brazil. In 2011 the military spending of the United States totaled a staggering 46% of total spending by the world's 171 governments and territories, almost half the entire world. [3]
  Clearly, for all its rhetoric about peace-keeping missions and ''democracy'' promotion, the Pentagon is pursuing what its planners refer to as ''Full Spectrum Dominance,'' the total control of all global air, land, ocean, space, outer-space and now cyberspace. [4] It is clearly determined to use its military might to secure global domination or hegemony. No other interpretation is possible.
  China today, because of its dynamic economic growth and its determination to pursue sovereign Chinese national interests, merely because China exists, is becoming the Pentagon new ''enemy image,'' or adversary, now replacing the no longer useful ''enemy image'' of Islam used after September 2001 by the Bush-Cheney Administration to justify the Pentagon's global power pursuit.
  After almost two decades of neglect of its interests in East Asia, in 2011, the Obama Administration announced that the US would make ''a strategic pivot'' in its foreign policy to focus its military and political attention on the Asia-Pacific, particularly Southeast Asia, that is, China.
  Part II: 'Obama Doctrine' and Asian BMDTo date the heart of the initial stages of the China Pivot involve building a massive anti-Ballistic Missile Defense ring around China to neutralize China's nuclear strike potential. During the final months of 2011 the Obama Administration clearly defined a new public military threat doctrine for US military readiness in the wake of the US military failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. During a Presidential trip to the Far East, while in Australia, the US President unveiled what is being termed the Obama Doctrine. [5]
  The following sections from Obama's speech in Australia are worth citing in detail:
  With most of the world's nuclear power and some half of humanity, Asia will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict or cooperation'...As President, I have, therefore, made a deliberate and strategic decision '-- '...the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future'...I have directed my national security team to make our presence and mission in the Asia Pacific a top priority... We will preserve our unique ability to project power and deter threats to peace'...The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay. Indeed, we are already modernizing America's defense posture across the Asia Pacific. ..We see our new posture here in Australia'...I believe we can address shared challenges, such as proliferation and maritime security, including cooperation in the South China Sea. [6]
  On August 24, 2012 the New York Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama Administration as part of its newly-announced policy of China Pivot, will expand its missile-defense shield, Ballistic Missile Defense or BMD as it is known in the military, in the Asia-Pacific region. [7]
  The official reason given by the Pentagon for its new BMD deployment to the Asian theater is to protect Japan, South Korea and other US allied countries in the region against a North Korean nuclear missile attack. That argument doesn't stand close scrutiny.
  In reality, according to numerous reports, Washington has decided to invest in a major Ballistic Missile Defense network using Japan, South Korea and Australia. The real target of the BMD system is not North Korea, but rather the Peoples' Republic of China, the only power in the region possessing even a potential nuclear threat with serious long-range delivery capabilities. It is part of the new Pentagon strategy of imposing full control over the future development of China.
  The Washington BMD offensive has to be viewed as well in the light of the well-timed Japanese government decision to deliberately provoke tension with China over the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, a region believed to be vastly rich in natural gas reserves. [8]
  Part III: Japan Missile Defense KeyAir Self Defense Force Patriot III anti-missile air defense interceptor missile systemIn September 2012, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that the United States and Japan had reached a major agreement to deploy a second major advanced missile-defense radar on Japanese territory. [9] In his announcement Panetta declared, "The purpose of this is to enhance our ability to defend Japan. It's also designed to help forward-deployed US forces and it also will be effective in protecting the US homeland from the North Korean ballistic missile threat." [10] A glance at the map shows the nuclear holes in Panetta's statement. Chinese missile sites are just across the Korean border, well in range of the US-Japan new BMD installation.
  The Washington decision to place advanced BMD infrastructure in Japan was made long ago as part of a US strategy of global military dominance. The BMD cooperation with Japan began in earnest on December 19, 2003, when the Japanese government issued the cabinet decision "On Introduction of Ballistic Missile Defense System and Other Measures." Ever since, establishing a robust missile defense system has been a Japan national security priority.
  Under the current Japanese government's interpretation of Article 9 of Japan's Constitution, Japan's participation in collective self-defense is prohibited, as is using missile defense capabilities to defend a third country'--even an ally such as the United States. Shinzo Abe, head of the Liberal Democratic Party, almost certain to become Prime Minister after the December 16 Lower House elections, is a strong advocate of BMD and of changing Article 9. That means we can expect a major shift to a more militant anti-China military posture from Tokyo. [11]
  According to US military press accounts, the most important feature of the new Japanese BMD project will be installation of a powerful early-warning radar, 'X-band', made by Raytheon Co. It's ''a large, phased-array fire control sensor, featuring precision discrimination and interceptor support,'' designed to counter threats from 'rogue states.' It will be installed on an unnamed southern Japanese island. [12]
  U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (L) shakes hands with Japan's Minister of Defense Satoshi Morimoto at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, September 17, 2012REUTERS/Shizuo Kambayashi/PoolJapan's defense minister Satoshi Morimoto confirmed that Tokyo and Washington "have had various discussions over missile defenses, including how to deploy the US's X-Band radar system." [13] Japan already hosts one X-Band radar in the northern prefecture of Aomori, since 2006. It's heavily opposed by local residents who fear, not without good reason, that the presence of the radar makes them a target for potential enemy attacks. [14]
  Part IV: BMD across AsiaThe US move to prioritize its BMD installation in Asia involves not only Japan. Washington is also helping India improve its new missile defense system. The Indians want to build a multi-layer missile defense network with US help. Publicly India's government cites Pakistan as the reason. Privately, it's China. India test-fired its Agni-V intermediate range ballistic missile earlier this year and the Indian press openly cited the system's ability to strike anywhere in China as the most important feature. [15]
  According to Steven Hildreth, a missile-defense expert with the Washington Congressional Research Service, the USA is "laying the foundations" for a region-wide missile defense system that would consist of US ballistic missile defenses combined with those of regional powers, particularly Japan, South Korea and Australia. Although supposedly aimed at containing threats from North Korea, Hildreth also stated, "the reality is that we're also looking longer term at the elephant in the room, which is China." According to a report in the Wall Street Journal the X-band arc would allow the US to 'peer deeper' into China, in addition to North Korea. [16]
  As well, there are reports from unnamed US Defense Department officials that a third X-Band radar would be positioned in the Philippines, allowing the Pentagon to accurately track ballistic missiles launched from North Korea but also from large parts of China. [17]
  In addition to Japan, Washington has invited South Korea and Australia to join the Asian BMD program. The official Chinese English language daily, Global Times, pointed out, ''Among the nuclear powers, China has the smallest number of nuclear weapons. It is also the only country to make a 'no first use' commitment. Installing a missile defense system in Asia disrespects China's nuclear policy.''
  The Global Times article notes further, ''If Japan, South Korea and Australia join the system, a vicious arms race in Asia may follow. It is not what China wants to see, but it will have to deal with it if the arms race happens. The US is creating waves in Asia. The region may see more conflicts intensify in the future. China should make utmost efforts to prevent it, but prepare for the worst.'' [18]
  Part V: BMD encourages Nuclear First StrikeThe US BMD strategy in Asia follows a decision by the Bush and Obama Administrations to first deploy BMD in a ring surrounding Russia with installations in Poland, the Czech Republic and Turkey, aimed at Russia's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile arsenal. As prominent retired US military officers have warned, deploying Ballistic Missile Defense against a potential nuclear opponent, whether Russia or China or North Korea or Iran is madness in strict military strategy terms.
  With even a primitive missile defense shield, the US could launch a first strike attack against Russian or Chinese missile silos and submarine fleets with less fear of effective retaliation; the few remaining Russian or Chinese nuclear missiles would be unable to launch a response sufficiently destructive.
  During the Cold War, the ability of the Warsaw Pact and NATO to mutually annihilate one another had led to a nuclear stalemate dubbed by military strategists, MAD'--Mutually Assured Destruction. It was scary but, in a bizarre sense, more stable than what would come with a unilateral US pursuit of nuclear primacy. MAD was based on the prospect of mutual nuclear annihilation with no decisive advantage for either side; it led to a world in which nuclear war had been 'unthinkable.'
  Now the US, with BMD in Europe against Russia and in Asia against China, is pursuing the possibility of nuclear war as 'thinkable.' That is really and truly 'mad.'
  The first nation with a ballistic missile 'defense' shield (BMD) would de facto have 'first strike ability,' making BMD not defensive but offensive in the extreme. Lt. Colonel Robert Bowman, Director of the US Air Force Missile Defense Program during the Reagan era, recently called missile defense, ''the missing link to a First Strike.'' [19] BMD gives an incentive to make a first nuclear strike, something never before imaginable owing to the lack of certainty one's nation would not become nuclear radioactive rubble. In military terms, BMD is offensive, not defensive contrary to the name, and should properly be named Ballistic Missile Offense.
  Bowman further notes:
  Under Reagan and Bush I, it was called the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). Under President Clinton, it became the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO). Now Bush II made it the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and has given it the freedom from oversight and audit previously enjoyed only by the black or top secret programs. If Congress doesn't act soon, this new independent agency may take their essentially unlimited budget and spend it outside of public and Congressional scrutiny on weapons that we won't know anything about until they're in space. In theory, then, the space warriors would rule the world, able to destroy any target on earth without warning. Will these new super weapons bring the American people security? Hardly. [20]
  Washington's major deployment of BMD across Asia is a major reason likely for the sudden decision to delay the 18th Party Congress until after the US elections to see whether China faced a President Romney or President Obama. What has materialized in terms of US military decisions in the few months since Obama first proclaimed his Asia Pivot and Obama Doctrine makes clear why China is increasingly nervous about Obama 'pivots.'
Turkey, China mull $35 bln joint high-speed railway project - Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 04:21
  Turkish and Chinese officials explored a possible deal for the Edirne-Kars project during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan's visit to Beijing last week. The AkÅŸam daily reported on Thursday the details of talks regarding the railway in an interview with Transportation Minister Binali YÄ±ldÄ±rÄ±m.
  YÄ±ldÄ±rÄ±m was in China to accompany ErdoÄŸan and a large group of businessmen, in the first visit on the prime ministerial level in 27 years to the East Asian country.
  Endeavoring to create a market in European countries, China considers Turkey an area to promote itself with large-scale projects. With the planned connection of the Marmaray project under the Bosporus to the Edirne-Kars railway, a train line from China to Spain and England would be completed. This is a major reason behind China's strong interest in Edirne-Kars, eventually aiming to reach Europe via a railway line. Ä°stanbul is currently connected to the European cities of Bucharest and Belgrade with the conventional railway line, the Bosporus-Europe Express. Observers argued this line could also be upgraded to high-speed following possible deals between the governments involved.
  ''Chinese officials are expecting the details of the Edirne-Kars project to become clearer. Chinese firms asked us whether it would be possible to split the Edirne-Kars high-speed line into separate projects between certain provinces so different contractors could bid for separate tenders. We [the government] are studying the possibility of offering separate tenders instead of asking one single company or venture to build the entire line,'' YÄ±ldÄ±rÄ±m explained.
  The minister also indicated both sides discussed other projects in Turkey, including a third bridge over the Bosporus and Kanal Ä°stanbul, during last week's visit in Beijing. ''China is seriously interested in Turkish construction projects. The parties will meet in separate visits in the coming weeks to further elaborate on possible deals,'' he noted. Turkey expects to attract as much foreign capital as possible for construction projects worth $80 billion for the next decade. Chinese firms that have a great deal of capital -- along with Gulf companies -- are on the Turkish government's radar in this regard. Turkish officials are in close contact with these investors in anticipation of coaxing as many of them as they can to part with their capital in Turkey.
  Edirne-Kars, the country's largest railway project ever, was introduced in 2010. The line is designed to pass through 29 provinces, connecting the east and west of Turkey and reducing the duration of travel from the current 36 hours to 12. With the completion of the planned Edirne-Kars line, the total length of high-speed rail inside Turkey is expected to reach 10,000 kilometers by 2023. Under an agreement signed between China and Turkey in October 2010, China agreed to extend loans of $30 billion for the planned rail network. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway connecting Azerbaijan's capital city of Baku to Kars, currently under construction, increases the strategic importance of the Edirne-Kars line.
  Economy Minister Zafer ‡aÄŸlayan, who also participated in last week's China visit, on Thursday said in a written statement that he met with 27 of China's largest companies and that all of them expressed interest in projects in Turkey. ''The executives of 27 Chinese firms with a total turnover of $465 billion said they would like to benefit from recently introduced government incentives for new investments in Turkey,'' ‡aÄŸlayan's statement read. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Beijing last week, Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) CEO Temel Kotil said Chinese involvement is also possible for a planned third airport in Ä°stanbul. ''The planned airport will have an annual passenger capacity of 120 million, making Ä°stanbul the largest air travel hub in Europe, outpacing the 90-million passenger capacity of Frankfurt.
  In separate comments on Turkish-Chinese partnerships in new projects, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner YÄ±ldÄ±z said on Friday in Ankara Turkey would hold official talks on construction of a nuclear power plant with Japan, South Korea and China.
  Although he defined his visit to China as ''fruitful,'' YÄ±ldÄ±z did not rule out the possibility of Japan or South Korea winning a tender for construction of a second nuclear plant. Turkey plans to build two power plants, one in Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast and another in Sinop on the Black Sea coast. It made an agreement with a consortium led by state-controlled Russian builder Atomstroyexport to build Akkuyu. "We prefer the bidder country that offers the best deal," YÄ±ldÄ±z said. He added officials from his ministry would visit China in the coming week to discuss details, adding that the nuclear power plant would be built in line with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and EU standards.
  Meanwhile, YÄ±ldÄ±z said the government agreed to establish a new electricity generation plant in the Southeast, planning to sell electricity to Iraq's northern cities. ''They will in return send us natural gas,'' he noted. The minister did not give a specific timeline for the new plan.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 04:19
  Coordinates: 50°52'²34.16'"N4°25'²19.24'"E>> / >>50.8761556°N 4.4220111°E>> / 50.8761556; 4.4220111
  The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO (simplified Chinese: ä¸Šæµ·åä½'ç>>ç>>‡; traditional Chinese: ä¸Šæµ·åä½'çµç¹--; pinyin: Sh nghÇŽi H(C)zu² ZÇ--zhÄ; Russian: Ð¨Ð°Ð½Ñ…Ð°Ð¹ÑÐºÐ°Ñ Ð¾ÑÐ"Ð°Ð½Ð¸Ð·Ð°Ñ†Ð¸Ñ ÑÐ¾Ñ‚ÑÑƒÐ´Ð½Ð¸Ñ‡ÐµÑÑ‚Ð²Ð° (Ð¨ÐžÐ), Shankhayskaya organizatsiya sotrudnichestva) is a Eurasian political, economic and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation.
  Official names[edit]The official working languages of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are Chinese and Russian. The official names of the organisation in the two languages, abbreviations in parentheses, are:
  Chinese:
  Russian:
  Cyrillic: Ð¨Ð°Ð½Ñ…Ð°Ð¹ÑÐºÐ°Ñ Ð¾ÑÐ"Ð°Ð½Ð¸Ð·Ð°Ñ†Ð¸Ñ ÑÐ¾Ñ‚ÑÑƒÐ´Ð½Ð¸Ñ‡ÐµÑÑ‚Ð²Ð° (Ð¨ÐžÐ)Romanisation: Shankhayskaya organizatsiya sotrudnichestva (ShOS)Membership[edit]Member States[1]
  Origins[edit]The Shanghai Five grouping was originally created 26 April 1996 with the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in Shanghai by the heads of states of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. April 24, 1997 the same countries signed the Treaty on Reduction of Military Forces in Border Regions in a meeting in Moscow.
  Subsequent annual summits of the Shanghai Five group occurred in Almaty (Kazakhstan) in 1998, in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) in 1999, and in Dushanbe (Tajikistan) in 2000.
  In 2001, the annual summit returned to Shanghai, China. There the five member nations first admitted Uzbekistan in the Shanghai Five mechanism (thus transforming it into the Shanghai Six). Then all six heads of state signed on 15 June 2001, the Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, praising the role played thus far by the Shanghai Five mechanism and aiming to transform it to a higher level of cooperation. On 16 July 2001, Russia and the PRC, the organisation's two leading nations, signed the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation.
  In June 2002, the heads of the SCO member states met in Saint Petersburg, Russia. There they signed the SCO Charter which expounded on the organisation's purposes, principles, structures and form of operation, and established it officially from the point of view of international law.
  Its six full members account for 60% of the land mass of Eurasia and its population is a quarter of the world's. With observer states included, its affiliates account for half of the human race.
  In July 2005, at its fifth and watershed summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, with representatives of India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan attending an SCO summit for the first time, the president of the host country, Nursultan Nazarbayev, greeted the guests in words that had never before been used in any context: "The leaders of the states sitting at this negotiation table are representatives of half of humanity".[3]
  By 2007 the SCO had initiated over twenty large-scale projects related to transportation, energy and telecommunications and held regular meetings of security, military, defence, foreign affairs, economic, cultural, banking and other officials from its member states.
  The SCO has established relations with the United Nations, where it is an observer in the General Assembly, the European Union, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
  Structure[edit]The Council of Heads of State is the top decision-making body in the SCO. This council meets at the SCO summits, which are held each year in one of the member states' capital cities. The current Council of Heads of State consists of:
  The Council of Heads of Government is the second-highest council in the organisation. This council also holds annual summits, at which time members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation. The council also approves the organisation's budget.
  The council of Foreign Ministers also hold regular meetings, where they discuss the current international situation and the SCO's interaction with other international organisations.[4]
  As the name suggests, the Council of National Coordinators coordinates the multilateral cooperation of member states within the framework of the SCO's charter.
  The Secretariat of the SCO is the primary executive body of the organisation. It serves to implement organisational decisions and decrees, drafts proposed documents (such as declarations and agendas), function as a document depository for the organisation, arranges specific activities within the SCO framework, and promotes and disseminates information about the SCO. It is located in Beijing. The current SCO Secretary-General is Muratbek Imanaliyev of Kyrgyzstan, a former Kyrgyz Minister of Foreign Affairs and professor at the American University of Central Asia.[5]
  The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. The Head of RATS is elected to a three-year term. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS.[6]
  Activities[edit]Cooperation on security[edit]The SCO is primarily centered on its member nations' Central Asian security-related concerns, often describing the main threats it confronts as being terrorism, separatism and extremism. However evidence is growing that its activities in the area of social development of its member states is increasing fast.[citation needed][7]
  At 16''17 June 2004 SCO summit, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the Regional Antiterrorism Structure (RATS) was established. On 21 April 2006, the SCO announced plans to fight cross-border drug crimes under the counter-terrorism rubric.[8]
  Grigory Logninov claimed in April 2006 that the SCO has no plans to become a military bloc; nonetheless he argued that the increased threats of "terrorism, extremism and separatism" make necessary a full-scale involvement of armed forces.[9]
  In October 2007, the SCO signed an agreement with the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.[10] Joint action plans between the two organisations are planned to be signed by early 2008 in Beijing.[11]
  The organisation is also redefining cyberwarfare, saying that the dissemination of information "harmful to the spiritual, moral and cultural spheres of other states" should be considered a "security threat". An accord adopted in 2009 defined "information war", in part, as an effort by a state to undermine another's "political, economic, and social systems".[12]
  Military activities[edit]Over the past few years, the organisation's activities have expanded to include increased military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and counterterrorism.[13]
  There have been a number of SCO joint military exercises. The first of these was held in 2003, with the first phase taking place in Kazakhstan and the second in China. Since then China and Russia have teamed up for large-scale war games in 2005 (Peace Mission 2005), 2007 and 2009, under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. More than 4,000 Chinese soldiers participated at the joint military exercises in 2007 (known as "Peace Mission 2007") which took place in Chelyabinsk Russia near the Ural Mountains, as was agreed upon in April 2006 at a meeting of SCO Defence Ministers. Air forces and precision-guided weapons were also likely to be used. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said that the exercises would be transparent and open to media and the public. Following the war games' successful completion, Russian officials began speaking of India joining such exercises in the future and the SCO taking on a military role. Peace Mission 2010, conducted September 9''25 at Kazakhstan's Matybulak training area, saw over 5,000 personnel from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan conduct joint planning and operational maneuvers.[14]
  The SCO has served as a platform for larger military announcements by members. During the 2007 war games in Russia, with leaders of SCO member states in attendance including Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russia's President Vladimir Putin used the occasion to take advantage of a "captive" audience: Russian strategic bombers, he said, would resume regular long-range patrols for the first time since the Cold War. "Starting today, such tours of duty will be conducted regularly and on the strategic scale", Putin said. "Our pilots have been grounded for too long. They are happy to start a new life".
  Economic cooperation[edit]All SCO members but China are also members of the Eurasian Economic Community. A Framework Agreement to enhance economic cooperation was signed by the SCO member states on 23 September 2003. At the same meeting the PRC's Premier, Wen Jiabao, proposed a long-term objective to establish a free trade area in the SCO, while other more immediate measures would be taken to improve the flow of goods in the region.[15][16] A follow up plan with 100 specific actions was signed one year later, on 23 September 2004.[17]
  On 26 October 2005, during the Moscow Summit of the SCO, the Secretary General of the Organisation said that the SCO will prioritise joint energy projects; such will include the oil and gas sector, the exploration of new hydrocarbon reserves, and joint use of water resources. The creation of an Inter-bank SCO Council was also agreed upon at that summit in order to fund future joint projects. The first meeting of the SCO Interbank Association was held in Beijing on 21''22 February 2006.[18][19] On 30 November 2006, at The SCO: Results and Perspectives, an international conference held in Almaty, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia is developing plans for an SCO "Energy Club".[20] The need for this "club" was reiterated by Moscow at an SCO summit in November 2007. Other SCO members, however, have not committed themselves to the idea.[21] However on 28 August 2008 summit it was stated that "Against the backdrop of a slowdown in the growth of world economy pursuing a responsible currency and financial policy, control over the capital flowing, ensuring food and energy security have been gaining special significance".[22]
  On 16 June 2009, at the Yekaterinburg Summit, China announced plans to provide a US$10 billion loan to SCO member states to shore up the struggling economies of its members amid the global financial crisis.[23][24] The summit was held together with the first BRIC summit, and the China-Russia joint statement said that they want a bigger quota in the International Monetary Fund.[25]
  At the 2007 SCO summit Iranian Vice President Parviz Davudi addressed an initiative that has been garnering greater interest and assuming a heightened sense of urgency when he said, "The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a good venue for designing a new banking system which is independent from international banking systems".[26]
  The address by Putin also included these comments: "We now clearly see the defectiveness of the monopoly in world finance and the policy of economic selfishness. To solve the current problem Russia will take part in changing the global financial structure so that it will be able to guarantee stability and prosperity in the world and to ensure progress".
  "The world is seeing the emergence of a qualitatively different geo-political situation, with the emergence of new centers of economic growth and political influence".
  "We will witness and take part in the transformation of the global and regional security and development architectures adapted to new realities of the 21st century, when stability and prosperity are becoming inseparable notions".[27]
  Cultural cooperation[edit]Cultural cooperation also occurs in the SCO framework. Culture ministers of the SCO met for the first time in Beijing on April 12, 2002, signing a joint statement for continued cooperation. The third meeting of the Culture Ministers took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 27''28 April 2006.[28][29]
  An SCO Arts Festival and Exhibition was held for the first time during the Astana Summit in 2005. Kazakhstan has also suggested an SCO folk dance festival to take place in 2008, in Astana.[30]
  Summits[edit]According to the Charter of the SCO, summits of the Council of Heads of State shall be held annually at alternating venues. The locations of these summits follow the alphabetical order of the member state's name in Russian.[31] The charter also dictates that the Council of Heads of Government (that is, the Prime Ministers) shall meet annually in a place previously decided upon by the council members. The Council of Foreign Ministers is supposed to hold a summit one month before the annual summit of Heads of State. Extraordinary meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers can be called by any two member states.[31]
  List of Summits[edit]Future membership possibilities[edit]In June 2010, the SCO approved the procedure of admitting new members, though new members have yet to be admitted.[37] Several states, however, participate as observers, some of whom have expressed interest in becoming full members in the future. The implications of Iran joining the organisation have garnered both academic attention.[38] In early September 2013 Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said during his meeting with his Chinese counterpart that Armenia would like to obtain an observer status in the SCO.[39]
  Current observers[edit]Dialogue Partner[edit]The position of Dialogue Partner was created in 2008 in accordance with Article 14 of the SCO Charter of 7 June 2002. This article regards Dialogue Partner as a state or an organisation who shares the goals and principles of the SCO and wishes to establish relations of equal mutually beneficial partnership with the Organisation.[47]
  Relations with the West[edit]Western media observers believe that one of the original purposes of the SCO was to serve as a counterbalance to NATO and the United States and in particular to avoid conflicts that would allow the United States to intervene in areas bordering both Russia and China.[52][53] And although not a member state, the former President of IranMahmoud Ahmadinejad has used his speeches at the SCO to make verbal attacks against the United States.[54]
  The United States applied for observer status in the SCO, but was rejected in 2006.[55]
  At the Astana summit in July 2005, with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq foreshadowing an indefinite presence of U.S. forces in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the SCO urged the U.S. to set a timetable for withdrawing its troops from SCO member states. Shortly afterwards, Uzbekistan asked the U.S. to leave the K-2 air base.[56]
  The SCO has made no direct comments against the U.S. or its military presence in the region; however, some indirect statements at the past summits have been viewed by the western media as "thinly veiled swipes at Washington".[57]
  Geopolitical aspects of the SCO[edit]There have been many discussions and commentaries about the geopolitical nature of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Matthew Brummer, in the Journal of International Affairs, tracks the implications of SCO expansion into the Persian Gulf.[58]
  Iranian writer, Hamid Golpira, had this to say on the topic: "According to Zbigniew Brzezinski's theory, control of the Eurasian landmass is the key to global domination and control of Central Asia is the key to control of the Eurasian landmass....Russia and China have been paying attention to Brzezinski's theory, since they formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2001, ostensibly to curb extremism in the region and enhance border security, but most probably with the real objective of counterbalancing the activities of the United States and NATO in Central Asia".[59]
  At a 2005 summit in Kazakhstan the SCO issued a Declaration of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation which addressed their "concerns" and contained an elaboration of the organisation's principles. It included: "The heads of the member states point out that, against the backdrop of a contradictory process of globalisation, multilateral cooperation, which is based on the principles of equal right and mutual respect, non-intervention in internal affairs of sovereign states, non-confrontational way of thinking and consecutive movement towards democratisation of international relations, contributes to overall peace and security, and call upon the international community, irrespective of its differences in ideology and social structure, to form a new concept of security based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and interaction."[60]
  In November 2005 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated that the "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is working to establish a rational and just world order" and that "The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation provides us with a unique opportunity to take part in the process of forming a fundamentally new model of geopolitical integration".[61]
  A Chinese daily expressed the matter in these terms: "The Declaration points out that the SCO member countries have the ability and responsibility to safeguard the security of the Central Asian region, and calls on Western countries to leave Central Asia. That is the most noticeable signal given by the Summit to the world".[62]
  Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has concluded that the United States is manoeuvring "to preserve its status as the world's sole superpower and will not allow any country the chance to pose a challenge to it".[63]
  An article in The Washington Post in early 2008 reported that President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia could aim nuclear missiles at Ukraine if Russia's neighbour and former fraternal republic in the Soviet Union joins the NATO alliance and hosts elements of a U.S. missile defence system. "It is horrible to say and even horrible to think that, in response to the deployment of such facilities in Ukrainian territory, which cannot theoretically be ruled out, Russia could target its missile systems at Ukraine", Putin said at a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who was visiting the Kremlin. "Imagine this just for a second".[64][65]
  The International Federation for Human Rights has called SCO a "vehicle" for Human rights violations.[66]
  See also[edit]References[edit]^ abc"The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation". Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Retrieved 2012-09-18. ^ abcd"SCO accepts Afghanistan as observer, Turkey dialogue partner". Xinhua. June 7, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-07. ^Kazinform, July 5, 2005^Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers from Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Embassy of the Russian Federation in Malaysia^SCO Secretariat in Brief SCO Website^Information on Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO Website^Zaidi, Mujtaba Haider. "The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation and US Supremacy" African Herald Express. August 20, 2013 URL: http://africanheraldexpress.com/blog8/2013/08/20/the-shanghai-co-operation-organisation-and-us-supremacy/^SCO to intensify fight against cross-border drug crimes Xinhua.net^SCO gets ready for joint military exercise World Student Press Agency^Security alliances led byRussia, China link up Daily Times^Kazakhstan Notes Afghanistan's Emerging Security Agenda Eurasia Daily Monitor^Tom Gjelten (September 23, 2010). "Seeing The Internet As An 'Information Weapon'". National Public Radio. Retrieved September 23, 2010. ^http://www.cfr.org/publication/10883/^Boland, Julie. "Learning From The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's 'Peace Mission-2010' Exercise", The Brookings Institution, October 29, 2010^Central Asian powers agree to pursue free-trade zone^"China Intensifies Regional Trade Talks". Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)^Joint Communique of the Council of the Governmental Heads (Prime Ministers) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Member States University of Hawaii^Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Eyes Economic, Security Cooperation The Jamestown Foundation^SCO Ministers of Foreign Economic Activity and Trade to meet in Tashkent National Bank of Uzbekistan^Russia's Foreign Ministry develops concept of SCO energy club Gazeta.kz^Russia Urges Formation of Central Asian Energy Club Eurasianet^Chronicle of Main Events of "Shanghai Five" and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation^(Xinhua)^http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ghofWsw6596hiWFv-WS4u6L84TGAD98RLUG80^Yan (June 18, 2009). "China, Russia sign five-point joint statement". Retrieved June 23, 2009. "They also said that a new round of the IMF quota formula review and the reform schemes of the World Bank should be completed on time and that the emerging markets and developing countries should have a bigger say and broader representation in the international financial institutions." ^Mehr News Agency, October 31, 2008^Russia Today, October 30, 2008^Culture Ministers of SCO Member States Meet in Beijing People's Daily^SCO Culture Ministers to Meet in Tashkent Gazeta.kz^Kazakhstan Backs Promotion of SCO Cultural Ties www.kazinform.kz^ abCharter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO Website^Joint Communiqu(C) of Meeting of the Council of the Heads of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO Website^SCO vows to strengthen cooperation with its observers, dialogue partners Xinhua^http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-14-voa14.cfm^SCO Heads of Government Council meets in Beijing^"SCO Meeting Expected to Boost Cooperation Among Members". The Gazette of Central Asia (Satrapia). December 2, 2012. ^ abWu Jiao and Li Xiaokun (June 12, 2010). "SCO agrees deal to expand". China Daily. Retrieved June 15, 2010. ^Journal of International Affairs. 2007. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and Iran: A Power-full Union. Matthew Brummer http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/25069441/THE-SHANGHAI-COOPERATION-ORGANIZATION-AND-IRAN-A-POWERFULL-UNION^http://armenianow.com/news/48402/armenia_shanghai_cooperation_prime_minister_tigran_sargsyan^Shanghai Cooperation Organisation '' Towards New Dynamism '' Mainstream Weekly^India has right to join SCO, not Pakistan: Russian envoy '' News^"China welcomes proposed accession of India in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation". The Times Of India. May 23, 2012. ^Iran applies for membership Press TV^http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/11/russia-endorses-full-sco-membership-for-pakistan/^http://geo.tv/10-14-2009/50915.htm^http://dawn.com/2011/11/07/russia-endorses-full-sco-membership-for-pakistan/^Regulations on the Status of Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation^ abSri Lanka gains partnership in SCO members welcome end to terror in country^The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation acquires military character Kommersant^Bedi, Rahul (June 2, 2007). "Sri Lanka turns to Pakistan, China for military needs". IANS (Urdustan.com Network). Retrieved June 2, 2007. ^Galip Dalay (May 14, 2013). "Turkey between Shanghai and Brussels". The New Turkey. Retrieved 2013-07-01. ^Tannock, Charles (February 18, 2008). "Backing Kazakhstan's 'great game'". London: Guardian Weekly. ^Fels, Enrico (2009), Assessing Eurasia's Powerhouse. An Inquiry into the Nature of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Winkler Verlag: Bochum, p. 23''27.^Ahmadinejad stresses need for a new world orderPress TV^Shanghai surprise Guardian Unlimited^Central Asia: China and Russia up the ante The Hindu^Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summiteers Take Shots at US Presence in Central Asia Eurasianet^Journal of International Affairs. 2007. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and Iran: A Power-full Union. Matthew Brummer^Tehran Times, November 20, 2008^"The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation". July 13, 2005. [dead link]^UzReport, November 28, 2005^People's Daily, July 8, 2008^American Legion Magazine, March 1, 2010^Maheen Mirza, Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO): A New Platform '' TRCB, TRCB.com '' Article Marketing for Massive Exposure and Reward, http://www.trcb.com/news-and-society/international/shanghai-corporation-organization-sco-a-new-platform-2531.htm (accessed April 7, 2010).^Peter Finn, "Putin Threatens Ukraine on NATO '' Russian Raises Issues of U.S. Missile Shield", washingtonpost.com, February 13, 2008, archives 2010.^"Group Says SCO 'Vehicle' For Rights Abuses."RFE/RL, September 2, 2012.Further reading[edit]Kalra, Prajakti and Saxena, Siddharth "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and Prospects of Development in Eurasia Region" Turkish Policy Quarterly, Vol 6. No.2, 2007Sznajder, Ariel Pablo, "China's Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Strategy", University of California Press, May 2006Oresman, Matthew, "Beyond the Battle of Talas: China's Re-emergence in Central Asia" PDF (4.74 MiB), National Defence University Press, August 2004Gill, Bates and Oresman, Matthew, China's New Journey to the West: Report on China's Emergence in Central Asia and Implications for U.S. Interests, CSIS Press, August 2003Fels, Enrico (2009), Assessing Eurasia's Powerhouse. An Inquiry into the Nature of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Winkler Verlag: Bochum. ISBN 978-3-89911-107-1Yom, Sean L. (2002). "Power Politics in Central Asia: The Future of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation". Harvard Asia Quarterly6 (4) 48''54.Stakelbeck, Frederick W., Jr. (August 8, 2005). "The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation". FrontPageMagazine.com.Navrozov, Lev. (February 17, 2006). "The Sino-Russian 'Shanghai Cooperation Organisation'"[dead link]. NewsMax.com.Daly, John. (July 19, 2001). "'Shanghai Five' expands to combat Islamic radicals". Jane's Terrorism & Security Monitor.Colson, Charles. (August 5, 2003). "Central Asia: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Makes Military Debut". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.Cohen, Dr. Ariel. (July 18, 2001). "The Russia-China Friendship and Cooperation Treaty: A Strategic Shift in Eurasia?". The Heritage Foundation.Cohen, Dr. Ariel. (October 24, 2005). "Competition over Eurasia: Are the U.S. and Russia on a Collision Course?". The Heritage Foundation.John Keefer Douglas, Matthew B. Nelson, and Kevin Schwartz; "Fueling the Dragon's Flame: How China's Energy Demands Affect its Relationships in the Middle East". PDF (162 KiB), United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, October 2006.Baris Adibelli. "The Eurasia Strategy of China" IQ Publishing House, Ä°stanbul, 2007.Baris ADIBELLI, " The Great Game in Eurasian Geopolitics", IQ Publishing House, Ä°stanbul, 2008.Baris Adibelli, "Turkey-China Relations since the Ottoman Period", IQ Publishing House, Ä°stanbul,2007.Baris Adibelli, The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Dream of Turkey, Cumhuriyet Strateji,Ä°stanbul, 2007.Baris ADIBELLI, "Greater Eurasia Project", IQ Publishing House, Ä°stanbul,2006.Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: a vehicle for human rights violationsFIDH 2012External links[edit]
Central African Republic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 04:13
  Central African RepublicK¶d¶r¶sªse t® Bªafr®kaR(C)publique centrafricaineMotto: "Unit(C), Dignit(C), Travail" (French)"Unity, Dignity, Work"Anthem: E Zingo (Sango)La Renaissance (French)The RenaissanceCapitaland largest cityBangui4°22'²N18°35'²E>> / >>4.367°N 18.583°E>> / 4.367; 18.583Official languagesSango and FrenchEthnic groupsDemonymCentral AfricanGovernmentMilitary junta - PresidentMichel Djotodia - Prime MinisterNicolas TiangayeLegislatureNational Assembly (suspended)Independence - from France13 August 1960 Area - Total622,984 km2 (45th)240,534 sq mi - Water (%)0Population - 2009 estimate4,422,000[1] (124th) - 2003 census3,895,150 - Density7.1/km2 (223rd)18.4/sq miGDP (PPP)2012 estimate - Total$3.891 billion[2] - Per capita$800[2]GDP (nominal)2012 estimate - Total$2.172 billion[2] - Per capita$446[2]Gini (2008)56.3[3]highHDI (2011)0.343low ·179thCurrencyCentral African CFA franc (XAF)Time zoneWAT(UTC+1) - Summer (DST)not observed (UTC+1)Drives on theright[4]Calling code+236ISO 3166 codeCFInternet TLD.cfThe Central African Republic (CAR; Sango: K¶d¶r¶sªse t® Bªafr®ka;French: R(C)publique centrafricaine pronounced: [Êepyblik sÉ‘ÌƒtÊafÊikÉ›n], or Centrafrique[sÉ‘ÌƒtÊafÊik]) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the northeast, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about 620,000 square kilometres (240,000 sq mi) and has an estimated population of about 4.4 million as of 2008. The capital is Bangui.
  France called the colony it carved out in this region Oubangui-Chari, as most of the territory was located in the Ubangi and Chari river basins. It became a semi-autonomous territory of the French Community in 1958 and then an independent nation on 13 August 1960, taking its present name. For over three decades after independence, the CAR was ruled by presidents or an emperor, who either were unelected or who took power by force. Local discontent with this system was eventually reinforced by international pressure, following the end of the Cold War.
  The first multi-party democratic elections in the CAR were held in 1993, with the aid of resources provided by the country's donors and help from the United Nations. The elections brought Ange-F(C)lix Patass(C) to power, but he lost popular support during his presidency and was overthrown in 2003 by the French-backed General Fran§ois Boziz(C), who went on to win a democratic election in May 2005.[5] Boziz(C)'s inability to pay public sector workers led to strikes in 2007, which led him to appoint a new government on 22 January 2008, headed by Faustin-Archange Touad(C)ra. In February 2010, Boziz(C) signed a presidential decree which set 25 April 2010 as the date for the next presidential election. This was postponed, but elections were held in January and March 2011, which were won by Boziz(C) and his party. Despite maintaining a veneer of stability, Boziz(C)'s rule was plagued with heavy corruption, underdevelopment, nepotism and authoritarianism, which led to an open rebellion against his government. The rebellion was led by an alliance of armed opposition factions known as the S(C)l(C)ka Coalition during the Central African Republic Bush War (2004''2007) and the 2012''2013 Central African Republic conflict. This eventually led to his overthrow on 24 March 2013. As a result of the coup d'etat and resulting chaos, governance in the CAR has all but disappeared and Prime MinisterNicolas Tiangaye has said the country is an "anarchy, a non-state."[6]
  Most of the CAR consists of Sudano-Guinean savannas but it also includes a Sahelo-Sudanian zone in the north and an equatorial forest zone in the south. Two thirds of the country lies in the basins of the Ubangi River, which flows south into the Congo, while the remaining third lies in the basin of the Chari, which flows north into Lake Chad.
  Despite its significant mineral and other resources, such as uranium reserves in Bakouma, crude oil in Vakaga, gold, diamonds, lumber and hydropower,[7] as well as arable land, the Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world and is among the ten poorest countries in Africa. The Human Development Index for the Central African Republic is 0.343, which puts the country at 179th out of those 187 countries with data.
  History[edit]Early history[edit]Between about 1000 BCE and 1000 CE, Ubangian-speaking peoples spread eastward from Cameroon to Sudan, settling in most of what is now known as the Central African Republic. During the same period, a much smaller number of Bantu-speaking immigrants settled in south-western CAR and a number Central Sudanic-speaking people settled along the Oubangi. As a result of these early migrations, the majority of the CAR's present population speak Ubangian languages, or Bantu languages that belong to the Niger''Congo family. A minority speak Central Sudanic languages of the Nilo-Saharan family.
  Exposure to the outside world[edit]Before the 19th century, the people living in what is now the CAR lived beyond the expanding Islamic frontier in the Sudanic zone of Africa and thus had relatively little contact with Abrahamic religions or northern economies. During the first decades of the 19th century, Muslim traders penetrated the region and cultivated relations with local leaders to facilitate trade and settlement in the region.
  The arrival of Muslim traders in the early 19th century was relatively peaceful and depended upon the support of local peoples, but after about 1850, Arab slave traders with well-armed soldiers began to penetrate the region. The Bobangi people became major slave traders, they sold their captives to the Americas using the Ubangi river to reach the coast.[8] From about 1860 to 1910, slave traders from Sudan, Chad, Cameroon, Dar al-Kuti in northern CAR and Nzakara and Zande states in south-eastern CAR permanently depopulated the eastern CAR.[9]
  French colonial period[edit]Main article: Ubangi-ShariThe European penetration of Central African territory began in the late 19th century, during the so-called Scramble for Africa.[10] Count Savorgnan de Brazza established the French Congo and sent expeditions up the Ubangi River from Brazzaville in an effort to expand France's claims to territory in Central Africa. Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom also competed to establish their claims to territory in the region.
  In 1889, the French established a post on the Ubangi River at Bangui. In 1890''91, De Brazza sent expeditions up the Sangha River, in what is now south-western CAR, up the center of the Ubangi basin toward Lake Chad, and eastward along the Ubangi River toward the Nile, with the intention of expanding the borders of the French Congo to link up other the French territories in Africa. In 1894, the French Congo's borders with Leopold II of Belgium's Congo Free State and German Cameroon were fixed by diplomatic agreements. In 1899, the French Congo's border with Sudan was fixed along the Congo-Nile divide. This situation left France without her much coveted outlet on the Nile.
  Once European negotiators had agreed upon the borders of the French Congo, France had to decide how to pay for the costly occupation, administration and development of the territory it had acquired. The reported financial successes of Leopold II's concessionary companies in the Congo Free State convinced the French government to grant 17 private companies large concessions in the Ubangi-Shari region in 1899. In return for the right to exploit these lands by buying local products and selling European goods, the companies promised to pay rent to France and to promote the development of their concessions. The companies employed European and African agents, who frequently used brutal methods to force the Africans to work for them. At the same time, the French colonial administration began to force the local population to pay taxes and to provide the state with free labor. The companies and the French administration at times collaborated in forcing the Central Africans to work for them. Some French officials reported abuses committed by private company militias, and their own colonial colleagues and troops, but efforts to bring these criminals to justice almost always failed. When any news of atrocities committed against Central Africans reached France and caused an outcry, investigations were undertaken and some feeble attempts at reform were made, but the situation on the ground in Ubangi-Shari remained essentially the same.
  During the first decade of French colonial rule, from about 1900 to 1910, the rulers of the Ubangi-Shari region increased both their slave-raiding activities and the selling of local produce to Europe. They took advantage of their treaties with the French to procure more weapons, which were used to capture more slaves: much of the eastern half of Ubangi-Shari was depopulated as a result of slave-trading by local rulers during the first decade of colonial rule.[citation needed]
  During the 1910s, armed employees of private companies and the colonial state dealt brutally with any local resistance, but after the power of local African rulers was destroyed, slave raiding greatly diminished. In 1911, the Sangha and Lobaye basins were ceded to Germany, as part of an agreement which gave France a free hand in Morocco. Western Ubangi-Shari remained under German rule until World War I, after which France reconquered this territory using Central African troops.
  From 1920 to 1930, a network of roads was built, cash crops were promoted and mobile health services were formed to combat sleeping sickness. Protestantmissions were established in different parts of the country. New forms of forced labor were also introduced, however, as the French conscripted large numbers of Ubangians to work on the Congo-Ocean Railway, and many of these recruits died of exhaustion and illness. In 1925, the French writer Andr(C) Gide published Voyage au Congo, in which he described the alarming consequences of conscription for the Congo-Ocean railroad. He exposed the continuing atrocities committed against Central Africans in Western Ubangi-Shari by such employers as the Forestry Company of Sangha-Ubangi. In 1928 a major insurrection, the Kongo-Wara rebellion or 'war of the hoe handle', broke out in Western Ubangi-Shari, which continued for several years. The extent of this insurrection, which was perhaps the largest anti-colonial rebellion in Africa during the interwar years, was carefully hidden from the French public, because it provided evidence of strong opposition to French colonial rule and forced labor.
  During the 1930s, cotton, tea, and coffee emerged as important cash crops in Ubangi-Shari and the mining of diamonds and gold began in earnest. Several cotton companies were granted purchasing monopolies over large areas of cotton production and were able to fix the prices paid to cultivators, which assured profits for their shareholders. In September 1940, during the Second World War, pro-Gaullist French officers took control of Ubangi-Shari.[11]
  Independence[edit]On 1 December 1958 the colony of Ubangi-Shari became an autonomous territory within the French Community and took the name Central African Republic. The founding father and president of the Conseil de Gouvernement, Barth(C)l(C)my Boganda, died in a mysterious plane accident in 1959, just eight days before the last elections of the colonial era.
  On 13 August 1960, the Central African Republic gained its independence and two of Boganda's closest aides, Abel Goumba and David Dacko, became involved in a power struggle. With the backing of the French, Dacko took power and soon had Goumba arrested. By 1962, President Dacko had established a one-party state.
  Bokassa and the Central African Empire[edit]On 31 December 1965, Dacko was overthrown in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'(C)tat by Colonel Jean-B(C)del Bokassa, who suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly. President Bokassa declared himself President For Life in 1972, and named himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire (as the country was renamed) on 4 December 1976. A year later, Emperor Bokassa crowned himself in a lavish and expensive ceremony that was ridiculed by much of the world.[12] In April 1979, young students protested against Bokassa's decree that all school attendees would need to buy uniforms from a company owned by one of his wives. The government violently suppressed the protests, killing 100 children and teenagers. Bokassa himself may have been personally involved in some of the killings.[13] In 1979, France carried out a coup against Bokassa and "restored" Dacko to power (the name of the country was subsequently restored to Central African Republic). Dacko, in turn, was overthrown in a coup by General Andr(C) Kolingba on 1 September 1981.
  Central African Republic under Kolingba[edit]Kolingba suspended the constitution and ruled with a military junta until 1985. He introduced a new constitution in 1986 which was adopted by a nationwide referendum. Membership in his new party, the Rassemblement D(C)mocratique Centrafricain (RDC) was voluntary. In 1987, semi-competitive elections to parliament were held and municipal elections were held in 1988. Kolingba's two major political opponents, Abel Goumba and Ange-F(C)lix Patass(C), boycotted these elections because their parties were not allowed to compete.
  By 1990, inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, a pro-democracy movement became very active. In May 1990, a letter signed by 253 prominent citizens asked for the convocation of a National Conference but Kolingba refused this request and detained several opponents. Pressure from the United States, more reluctantly from France, and from a group of locally represented countries and agencies called GIBAFOR (France, USA, Germany, Japan, EU, World Bank and UN) finally led Kolingba to agree, in principle, to hold free elections in October 1992, with help from the UN Office of Electoral Affairs. After using the excuse of alleged irregularities to suspend the results of the elections as a pretext for holding on to power, President Kolingba came under intense pressure from GIBAFOR to establish a "Conseil National Politique Provisoire de la R(C)publique" (Provisional National Political Council, CNPPR) and to set up a "Mixed Electoral Commission" which included representatives from all political parties.
  When elections were finally held in 1993, again with the help of the international community, Ange-F(C)lix Patass(C) led in the first round and Kolingba came in fourth behind Abel Goumba and David Dacko. In the second round, Patass(C) won 53% of the vote while Goumba won 45.6%. Most of Patass(C)'s support came from Gbaya, Kare and Kaba voters in seven heavily populated prefectures in the northwest while Goumba's support came largely from ten less-populated prefectures in the south and east. Furthermore, Patass(C)'s party, the Mouvement pour la Lib(C)ration du Peuple Centrafricain (MLPC) or Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People gained a simple but not an absolute majority of seats in parliament, which meant Patass(C) needed coalition partners.
  Patass(C) Government (1993''2003)[edit]Patass(C) relieved former President Kolingba of his military rank of general in March 1994 and then charged several former ministers with various crimes. Patass(C) also removed many Yakoma from important, lucrative posts in the government. Two hundred mostly Yakoma members of the presidential guard were also dismissed or reassigned to the army. Kolingba's RDC loudly proclaimed that Patass(C)'s government was conducting a "witch hunt" against the Yakoma.
  A new constitution was approved on 28 December 1994 and promulgated on 14 January 1995, but this constitution, like those before it, did not have much impact on the practice of politics. In 1996''1997, reflecting steadily decreasing public confidence in its erratic behaviour, three mutinies against Patass(C)'s government were accompanied by widespread destruction of property and heightened ethnic tension. On 25 January 1997, the Bangui Agreements were signed which provided for the deployment of an inter-African military mission, the Mission Interafricaine de Surveillance des Accords de Bangui (MISAB). Mali's former president, Amadou Tour(C), served as chief mediator and brokered the entry of ex-mutineers into the government on 7 April 1997. The MISAB mission was later replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping force, the Mission des Nations Unies en RCA (MINURCA).
  In 1998, parliamentary elections resulted in Kolingba's RDC winning 20 out of 109 seats, constituting a comeback. However, in 1999, notwithstanding widespread public anger in urban centers at his corrupt rule, Patass(C) won free elections to become president for a second term.
  On 28 May 2001, rebels stormed strategic buildings in Bangui in an unsuccessful coup attempt. The army chief of staff, Abel Abrou, and General Fran§ois N'Djadder Bedaya were shot, but Patass(C) regained the upper hand by bringing in at least 300 troops of the rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba (from across the river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and by Libyan soldiers.
  In the aftermath of this failed coup, militias loyal to Patass(C) sought revenge against rebels in many neighborhoods of the capital, Bangui, that resulted in the destruction of many homes as well as the torture and murder of many opponents. Eventually Patass(C) came to suspect that General Fran§ois Boziz(C) was involved in another coup attempt against him and so Boziz(C) fled with loyal troops to Chad. In March 2003, Boziz(C) launched a surprise attack against Patass(C), who was out of the country. Libyan troops and some 1,000 soldiers of Bemba's Congolese rebel organization failed to stop the rebels, who took control of the country and thus succeeded in overthrowing Patass(C).
  Central African Republic since 2003[edit]Fran§ois Boziz(C) suspended the constitution and named a new cabinet which included most opposition parties. Abel Goumba, known as "Mr. Clean",[citation needed] was named vice-president, which gave Boziz(C)'s new government a positive image. Boziz(C) established a broad-based National Transition Council to draft a new constitution and announced that he would step down and run for office once the new constitution was approved. A national dialogue was held from 15 September to 27 October 2003, and Boziz(C) won a fair election that excluded Patass(C), to be elected president on a second ballot, in May 2005.
  In November 2006, the Boziz(C) government requested French military support to fend off rebels who had taken control of towns in the country's north.[14] Though the initially public details of the agreement pertained to logistics and intelligence, the French assistance eventually included strikes by Mirage jets against rebel positions.[15]
  Boziz(C) was reelected in an election in 2011 which was widely considered fraudulent.[16]
  In November 2012, a coalition of rebel groups took over towns in the north and center of the country. These groups eventually reached a peace deal with the Boziz(C)'s government in January 2013 involving a power sharing government.[16] This peace deal was later broken when the rebels who had joined the power sharing government left their posts and rebel groups stormed the capital. Boziz(C) fled the country and Michel Djotodia took over the presidency. In September 2013, Djotodia officially disbanded Seleka but many rebels refused to disarm and veered further out of government control.[17]
  In November 2013, the UN warned the country was at risk of spiraling into genocide[18] and France described the country as "..on the verge of genocide."[19] The increasing violence was largely from reprisal attacks on civilians from Seleka's mainly Muslim fighters and Christian militias called "anti-balaka", meaning 'anti-machete' or 'anti-sword'.[17] Christians make up half the population and Muslims 15 percent, according to the CIA World Factbook. As many Christians have sedentary lifestyles and many Muslims are nomadic, claims to the land were yet another dimension of the conflict.[20]
  Geography[edit]The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation within the interior of the African continent. It is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. The country lies between latitudes 2° and 11°N, and longitudes 14° and 28°E.
  Much of the country consists of flat, or rolling plateau savanna, typically about 500 metres (1,640 ft) above sea level, of which most of the northern half lies within the World Wildlife Fund's East Sudanian savannaecoregion. As well as the Fertit Hills in the northeast of the CAR, there are scattered hills in the southwest. To the northwest is the Yade Massif, a granite plateau with an altitude of 1,143 feet (348 m).
  At 622,941 square kilometres (240,519 sq mi), the Central African Republic is the world's 45th-largest country. It is comparable in size to Ukraine, and is somewhat smaller than the US state of Texas.
  Much of the southern border is formed by tributaries of the Congo River, with the Mbomou River in the east merging with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River. In the west, the Sangha River flows through part of the country. The eastern border lies along the edge of the Nile Riverwatershed.
  It has been estimated that up to 8% of the country is covered by forest, with the densest parts in the south. The forest is highly diverse in nature and includes commercially important species of Ayous, Sapelli and Sipo.[21] The deforestation rate is 0.4% per annum, and lumber poaching is commonplace.[22]
  In the November 2008 issue of National Geographic, the Central African Republic was named the country least affected by light pollution.
  Prefectures and sub-prefectures[edit]A clickable map of the fourteen prefectures of the Central African Republic.The Central African Republic is divided into 14 administrative prefectures (pr(C)fectures), along with two economic prefectures (pr(C)fectures economiques) and one autonomous commune. The prefectures are further divided into 71 sub-prefectures (sous-pr(C)fectures).
  The prefectures are Bamingui-Bangoran, Basse-Kotto, Haute-Kotto, Haut-Mbomou, K(C)mo, Lobaye, Mamb(C)r(C)-Kad(C)¯, Mbomou, Nana-Mamb(C)r(C), Ombella-M'Poko, Ouaka, Ouham, Ouham-Pend(C) and Vakaga.
  The two economic prefectures are Nana-Gr(C)bizi and Sangha-Mba(C)r(C), while the commune is the capital city Bangui.
  Climate[edit]The climate of the Central African Republic is generally tropical, with a wet season that lasts from June to September in the north of the country, and from May to October in the south. During the wet season there are rainstorms on an almost daily basis and there is often early morning fog. Maximum annual precipitation is 71 inches (1,800 mm) in the upper Ubangi region.[23]
  The northern areas are hot and humid from February to May,[24] but can be subject to the hot, dry and dusty trade wind known as the Harmattan. The southern regions have a more equatorial climate but are subject to desertification, while the northeast of the country already is a desert.
  Demographics[edit]The population of the Central African Republic has almost quadrupled since independence. In 1960, the population was 1,232,000; as of a 2009 UN estimate, it was 4,422,000.[1]
  The United Nations estimates that approximately 11% of the population aged between 15 and 49 is HIV positive.[25] Only 3% of the country has antiretroviral therapy available, compared to a 17% coverage in the neighbouring countries of Chad and the Republic of the Congo.[26]
  The nation is divided into over 80 ethnic groups, each having its own language. The largest ethnic groups are the Baya, Banda, Mandjia, Sara, Mboum, M'Baka, Yakoma, and Fula or Fulani,[27] with others including Europeans of mostly French descent [7]
  Religion[edit]Fifty percent of the population of CAR are Christians (Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%), while 35% of the population maintain indigenous beliefs. Islam is practiced by 15% of the country's population,[7] but by nearly all members of the ruling Seleka group, including the President. There are many missionary groups operating in the country, including Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, Grace Brethren, and Jehovah's Witnesses. While these missionaries are predominantly from the United States, France, Italy and Spain, many are also from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African countries. Missionaries left the country when fighting broke out between rebel and government forces in 2002''3, but many of them have now returned to continue their work.[28]
  Language[edit]The Central African Republic's two official languages are Sangho, a Ngbandi-based creole, and French.
  Government and politics[edit]Like many other former French colonies, the Central African Republic's legal system is based upon French law.[29]
  A new constitution was approved by voters in a referendum held on 5 December 2004. Full multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections were held in March 2005,[30] with a second round in May. Boziz(C) was declared the winner after a run-off vote.[31]
  A couple of years later, the Central African Republic fell victim to one of Africa's many civil wars, rebellions and revolutions. In February 2006, there were reports of widespread violence in the northern part of the country.[32] Thousands of refugees fled their homes, caught up in the crossfire between government troops and rebel forces. More than 7,000 people fled to neighboring Chad. Those who remained in the CAR told how government troops systematically killed men and boys that they suspected of cooperation with the rebels.[33] The French military supported the Boziz(C) government's response to the rebels in November 2006.[14][15]
  In March 2010, Boziz(C) signed a decree declaring that presidential elections were to be held on 25 April 2010.[34] The elections were postponed, firstly until 16 May and then indefinitely.[35] Finally, the general election was set for 23 January 2011. Despite serious organizational problems,[36] the election proceeded as scheduled.[citation needed] A second round was held on 27 March 2011.[citation needed] The general elections were partly funded by the European Union and United Nations Development Programme. The 'Observatoire National des Elections' monitored the election process.[37] Both Boziz(C) and his party scored major victories.[citation needed]
  Recent events[edit]Despite the veneer of stability during that era, Boziz(C)'s rule was plagued with heavy corruption, underdevelopment, nepotism, and authoritarianism, leading to an open rebellion against the Boziz(C) government by an alliance of armed opposition factions known as the S(C)l(C)ka Coalition during the Central African Republic Bush War and the 2012''2013 Central African Republic conflict that eventually led to his overthrow on 24 March 2013.
  In December 2012, S(C)l(C)ka Coalition rebels advanced towards the capital, prompting protests at the French embassy and the evacuation of the US embassy.[38] After several days of clashes and rebel advances, and following the refusal by the French government to intervene, the Boziz(C) government agreed to holding talks with rebels.[39] On 24 March 2013, the S(C)l(C)ka rebels marched into the capital and stormed the presidential palace, forcing Boziz(C) to flee to Cameroon via the Democratic Republic of Congo.[40][41]
  The rebel leader Djotodia proclaimed himself President after conquering the capital of Bangui. Nicolas Tiangaye remained as the prime minister: he was recently appointed and was allowed by the S(C)l(C)ka rebels to retain his post, as he was endorsed by the opposition.[42]
  Resistance against the new rulers consisted mostly of armed youths, and soldiers in a base 60 kilometres (37 mi) from the capital. By 27 March, normal life in the capital had begun to be resumed.[43] Top military and police officers recognized Djotodia as President on 28 March 2013, in what was viewed as "a form of surrender".[44]
  A new government was appointed on 31 March 2013, which consisted of members of S(C)l(C)ka and representatives of the opposition to Boziz(C), one pro-Boziz(C) individual[45][46] and a number representatives of civil society. On 1 April, the former opposition parties declared that they would boycott the government.[47] After African leaders in Chad refused to recognize Djotodia as President, proposing instead the formation of an transitional council and the holding of new elections, Djotodia accordingly signed a decree on 6 April for the formation of a council that would act as a transitional parliament. The council was tasked with electing a president to serve prior to elections in 18 months.[48]
  In November 2013 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that the security situation in the country remained precarious with government authority nonexistent outside of Bangui[49] and Jan Eliasson, the UN deputy secretary general said that the CAR was "...descending into complete chaos.."[50]
  Human rights[edit]The 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted that, in general, the CAR's human rights record remained poor. Concerns were expressed over numerous government abuses.[51] Freedom of speech is addressed in the country's constitution, but there were incidents of government intimidation with the intent to limit media criticism.[51] A report by the International Research & Exchanges Board's media sustainability index noted that "the country minimally met objectives, with segments of the legal system and government opposed to a free media system".[51]
  From 1972 to 1990, and in 2002 and 2003, the CAR was rated 'Not Free' by Freedom House. It was rated 'Partly Free' in 1991''2001 and from 2004 to the present.[52] On the United Nations Human Development Index, it ranks 179 out of 187 countries.[53]
  According to the U.S. State Department, major human rights abuses occur in the country. These include: extrajudicial executions by security forces; the torture, beating and rape of suspects and prisoners; impunity, particularly among the armed forces; harsh and life-threatening conditions in prisons and detention centers; arbitrary arrest and detention, prolonged pretrial detention and denial of a fair trial; restrictions on freedom of movement; official corruption; and restrictions on workers' rights. The State Department report also cites: widespread mob violence that often results in fatalities; the prevalence of female genital mutilation; discrimination against women and Pygmies; trafficking in persons; forced labor; and child labor. Freedom of movement is limited in the northern part of the country "because of actions by state security forces, armed bandits, and other nonstate armed entities" and due to fighting between government and anti-government forces, many persons have been internally displaced.[54]
  Foreign relations and military[edit]The Central African Armed Forces were established in 1960. In 2009, the Central African Republic began seeking investments from China.
  Foreign aid[edit]The Central African Republic is heavily dependent upon multilateral foreign aid and the presence of numerous NGOs which provide services which the government fails to provide. As one UNDP official put it, the CAR is a country "sous serum", or a country metaphorically hooked up to an IV. (Mehler 2005:150). The very presence of numerous foreign personnel and organizations in the country, including peacekeepers and even refugee camps, provides an important source of revenue for many Central Africans.[citation needed]
  Much of the country is self-sufficient in food crops. Livestock development is hindered by the presence of the tsetse fly.
  In 2006, due to ongoing violence, over 50,000 people in the country's northwest were at risk of starvation.[55] This was only averted thanks to United Nations support.[citation needed]
  Peacebuilding Commission[edit]On 12 June 2008, the Central African Republic became the fourth country to be placed on the agenda of the UN Peacebuilding Commission,[56] which was set up in 2005 to help countries emerging from conflict avoid the slide back into war or chaos. The 31-member body agreed to take up the situation after a request from the government.
  Peacebuilding Fund[edit]On 8 January 2008, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon declared that the Central African Republic was eligible to receive assistance from the Peacebuilding Fund.[57] Three priority areas were identified: firstly, the reform of the security sector; secondly, the promotion of good governance and the rule of law; and, thirdly, the revitalization of communities affected by conflicts.
  Economy[edit]Banks in the Central African Republic dispense the CFA franc, which is accepted in a number of different countries. Agriculture is dominated by the cultivation and sale of food crops such as cassava, peanuts, maize, sorghum, millet, sesame, and plantain. The annual real GDP growth rate is just above 3%. The importance of food crops over exported cash crops is indicated by the fact that the total production of cassava, the staple food of most Central Africans, ranges between 200,000 and 300,000 tonnes a year, while the production of cotton, the principal exported cash crop, ranges from 25,000 to 45,000 tonnes a year. Food crops are not exported in large quantities, but they still constitute the principal cash crops of the country, because Central Africans derive far more income from the periodic sale of surplus food crops than from exported cash crops such as cotton or coffee.[citation needed]
  The Republic's primary import partner is Netherlands (19.5%). Other imports come from Cameroon (9.7%), France (9.3%) and South Korea (8.7%). Its largest export partner is Belgium (31.5%), followed by China (27.7%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (8.6%), Indonesia (5.2%) and France (4.5%).[7]
  The per capita income of the Republic is often listed as being around $300 a year, said to be one of the lowest in the world, but this figure is based mostly on reported sales of exports and largely ignores such unregistered sale of foods, locally produced alcohol, diamonds, ivory, bushmeat and traditional medicine. For most Central Africans, the informal economy of the CAR is more important than the formal economy.[citation needed] Among the mining industry, diamonds constitute the country's most important export, accounting for 40''55% of export revenues, but it is estimated that between 30% and 50% of those produced each year leave the country clandestinely. Export trade is hindered by poor economic development and the country's location away from the coast.[citation needed]
  The wilderness regions of this country represent potential ecotourist destinations. In the southwest, the Dzanga-Sangha National Park is located in a rain forest area. The country is noted for its population of forest elephants and western lowland gorillas. To the north, the Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park is well-populated with wildlife, including leopards, lions, and rhinos. The Bamingui-Bangoran National Park is located in the north-east of CAR. The parks have been badly affected by the activities of poachers, in particular from Sudan, over the past two decades.[citation needed]
  CAR is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).[58] In the 2009 World Bank Group's report Doing Business, it was ranked 183rd of 183 as regards 'ease of doing business', a composite index that takes into account regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.[59]
  Infrastructure[edit]Science and technology[edit]The Central African Republic has active television service and radio stations.
  Transportation[edit]The Central African Republic has over 1,800 motor vehicles on the road, although a limited quantity of land has been developed into highways.
  Energy[edit]The Central African Republic primarily uses hydroelectricity because there are few resources for energy.
  Education[edit]Public education in the Central African Republic is free and compulsory from ages 6 to 14.[60] About half the adult population of the country is illiterate.[61] The University of Bangui, a public university located in Bangui, and Euclid University, an international university in Bangui are the two institutions of higher education in the Central African Republic.
  Health[edit]In 2007, female life expectancy at birth was 48.2 years and male life expectancy at birth was 45.1 years.[62] The fertility rate is about five births per woman.[62] According to 2009 estimates, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is about 4.7% of the adult population (ages 15''49).[63] Government expenditure on health was at US$ 20 (PPP) per person in 2006.[62] There were 0.05 physicians per 1000 people in 2009.[64] Government expenditure on health was at 10.9% of total government expenditure in 2006.[62]
  Culture[edit]Music[edit]Sports[edit]The Central African Republic national football team, which is governed by the F(C)d(C)ration Centrafricaine de Football, stage matches at Barthelemy Boganda Stadium.
  References[edit]^ abWorld Population Prospects, Table A.1 (PDF). 2008 revision. United Nations. 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2009. "Note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected."^ abcd"Central African Republic". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 17 April 2013. ^"Gini Index". World Bank. Retrieved 2 March 2011. ^Which side of the road do they drive on? Brian Lucas. August 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2009.^CELEBRATING, LOOTING FOLLOW COUP, U.N. CONDEMNS TAKEOVER IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Lexington Herald-Leader, 18 March 2003^Violent and Chaotic, Central African Republic Lurches Toward a Crisis. (August 7, 2013) Adam Nossiter. New York Times.^ abcd"CIA World Factbook Central African Republic". Retrieved 14 August 2012. ^"Central African Republic". Encyclop...dia Britannica.^Culture of Central African Republic '' history, people, clothing, women, beliefs, food, family, social, dress. Everyculture.com. Retrieved on 6 April 2013.^French Colonies '' Central African Republic. Discoverfrance.net. Retrieved on 6 April 2013.^Central African Republic: The colonial era '' Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 6 April 2013.^ ab'Cannibal' dictator Bokassa given posthumous pardon. The Guardian. 3 December 2010^"'Good old days' under Bokassa? ". BBC News. 2 January 2009^ ab"CAR hails French pledge on rebels". BBC. 14 November 2006. Retrieved 26 December 2012. ^ ab"French planes attack CAR rebels". BBC. 30 November 2006. Retrieved 26 December 2012. ^ ab"Central African Republic". CIA. Retrieved 22 April 2013. ^ abSmith, David (22 November 2013) Unspeakable horrors in a country on the verge of genocide The Guardian, Retrieved 23 November 2013^"UN warning over Central African Republic genocide risk". bbcnews.com. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013. ^"France says Central African Republic on verge of genocide". reuters.com. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013. ^"'We Live and Die Here Like Animals'". foreignpolicy.com. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013. ^Sold Down the River (English) March 2001, Forests Monitor^The Forests of the Congo Basin: State of the Forest 2006. CARPE 13 July 2007^Central African Republic: Country Study Guide volume 1, p. 24.^Ward, Inna, ed. (2007). Whitaker's Almanack (139th ed.). London: A & C Black. p. 796. ISBN 0-7136-7660-4. ^"Central African Republic". Unaids.org. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2010. ^ANNEX 3: Country progress indicators. 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic. unaids.org^In Fula: FulÉ'e; in French: Peul^"Central African Republic. International Religious Freedom Report 2006". U.S. Department of State. ^"Legal System". The World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency). ^"Reuters AlertNet '' CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Poll results to be announced on 22 May, official says". Alertnet.org. 11 May 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2010. ^"Timeline: Central African Republic". BBC News. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010. ^"Thousands flee new CAR 'rebels'". BBC News. 24 February 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2010. ^"Thousands flee from CAR violence". BBC News. 25 March 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2010. ^"Central African Republic to hold April 25 elections | Top News | Reuters". Af.reuters.com. 25 February 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010. ^"BozizÄ‚Å prend ses prÄ‚Å cautions Afrique Subsaharienne, Politique". Jeuneafrique.com. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010. ^"Les probl¨mes de gestion la Commission Electorale Ind(C)pendante seraient-ils un frein au bon d(C)roulement du processus (C)lectoral?". Journal des Elections. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010. ^"Les publications de l'ONE". Journal des Elections. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010. ^"Central African Republic's Bozize in US-France appeal". BBC. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012. ^"Central African Republic to hold talks with rebels". BBC. 28 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012. ^"Central African Republic president flees capital amid violence, official says". CNN. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013. ^Polgreen, Lydia (25 March 2013). "Leader of Central African Republic Fled to Cameroon, Official Says". The New York Times. ^Fort, Patrick (26 March 2013). "Looters rampage in CAR as strongman set to unveil government". Mail and Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2013. ^Pockets of resistance still in Central African Republic^Ange Aboa, "C.African Republic army chiefs pledge allegiance to coup leader", Reuters, 28 March 2013.^"Rebels, opposition form government in CentrAfrica: decree", Agence France-Presse, 31 March 2013.^"Centrafrique : Nicolas Tiangaye pr(C)sente son gouvernement d'union nationale", Jeune Afrique, 1 April 2013 (French).^Ange Aboa, "Central African Republic opposition says to boycott new government", Reuters, 1 April 2013.^"C. Africa strongman forms transition council", AFP, 6 April 2013.^Rick Gladstone (18 November 2013), Central African Republic Stirs ConcernThe New York Times^(26 November 2013) Central African Republic 'descending into chaos' '' UN BBC News Africa, Retrieved 26 November 2013^ abc2009 Human Rights Report: Central African Republic. U.S. Department of State, 11 March 2010.^"FIW Score". Freedom House. Retrieved January 26, 2013. ^"Central African Republic". International Human Development Indicators. Retrieved January 26, 2013. ^"2010 Human Rights Report: Central African Republic". US Department of State. Retrieved January 26, 2013. ^CAR: Food shortages increase as fighting intensifies in the northwest. irinnews.org, 29 March 2006^"Peacebuilding Commission Places Central African Republic On Agenda; Ambassador Tells Body 'CAR Will Always Walk Side By Side With You, Welcome Your Advice'". Un.org. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2010. ^Central African Republic Peacebuilding Fund '' Overview. United Nations.^"OHADA.com: The business law portal in Africa". Retrieved 22 March 2009 ^Doing Business 2010. Central African Republic, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8213-7961-5, doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-7961-5. |accessdate=22 November 2013^"Central African Republic". Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (2001). Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor (2002). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.^"Central African Republic '' Statistics". UNICEF. Retrieved 27 June 2010. ^ abcd"Human Development Report 2009 '' Central African Republic". Hdrstats.undp.org. Retrieved 27 June 2010. ^CIA World Factbook: HIV/AIDS '' adult prevalence rate. Cia.gov. Retrieved on 6 April 2013.^"WHO Country Offices in the WHO African Region '' WHO | Regional Office for Africa". Afro.who.int. Retrieved 27 June 2010. Further reading[edit]Doeden, Matt, Central African Republic in Pictures (Twentyfirst Century Books, 2009).Kalck, Pierre, Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic, 2004.Petringa, Maria, Brazza, A Life for Africa (2006). ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0.Titley, Brian, Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa, 2002.Woodfrok, Jacqueline, Culture and Customs of the Central African Republic (Greenwood Press, 2006).External links[edit]GovernmentOverviewsNewsOther International membership
Feedly is Now Hijacking Shared Links And Cutting Out Original Publishers - The Digital Reader
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 04:05
  Feedly is known as the leading replacement for the now deceased Google Reader but they are also beginning to get a reputation for making absolutely bone-headed decision.
  Last month Feedly had the bright idea of forcing all their users to have a Google+ account in order to use Feedly, and today Feedly has found a way to piss off bloggers everywhere.
  I have just discovered that Feedly has rolled out an unannounced update that changes how users share links.
  Instead of sharing a link which leads to a publisher's website, Feedly users are now sharing links that lead to the same content, only now it is hosted on Feedly's website.
  This change happened around midnight Friday night. Any link shared from Feedly before midnight links to the original source, but any link shared after about 10am links to Feedly. For example, the following link leads to a copy of one of my blog posts which Feedly is hosting and distributing:
  http://feedly.com/e/dCAnCBil
  It looks like this:
  Just to be clear, I don't know of any other service that pulls this kind of stunt. This is very much not okay with me and I would bet that I am not the only one.
  This bothers me both as a publisher and as a reader. And just to add insult to injury the ''open site'' button at the top of the screen won't actually take you to my blog. It takes you deeper into Feedly.
  I'm not sure how many of my readers remember but a similar problem occurred last year when the save-for-later service Readability was criticized for having users share links that led to the Readability website and not the source publisher's website (AppAdvice).
  Readability was roundly criticized and quickly changed how their sharing option worked, but before that happened ReadWrite spelled out exactly why one is always supposed to share a link to the source:
  I'm not moaning about page views here. That's not my point. I'm a blogger, but I don't care about blogging nearly as much as I care about reading and sharing.
  The problem with this is that it breaks sharing. It forces mobile users to use Readability instead of their link-saving app of choice, which might be Instapaper, a service that does treat publishers with more distance and respect. It might be Pinboard or another bookmarking service. A shared link should always, always, always be the original URL, so that users can do with it as they please.
  Instead, Readability skipped ads for publishers and showed ads for itself instead. Even on the desktop, though it loads the original page below, it puts the linked story in a Readability.com frame, so the URL still isn't right.
  And that's not the only reason why one should be allowed to share a link to the original source.
  I have contacted Feedly and confirmed that this is a new feature they are testing (and not a bug). Instead, they think it will boost engagement:
  This is a tool we are building to help publishers increase the engaged readership in feedly. This also helps mobile users consume content a lot faster. This is still experimental but I will be happy to completely opt you out.
  I really have to wonder about Feedly; it's almost as if they don't realize that publishers want to engage with readers directly and not have Feedly engage with readers at our expense.It's kinda the reason I have a website rather than posting everything on (for example) Facebook. Furthermore, what if said reader wants to engage via email, Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments section?
  Feedly can't help in those areas, and in fact by changing the way their links work Feedly has actually hurt my ability to engage with readers.
  Why they would think this was a good idea escapes me, but I have high hopes that Feedly will drop this publisher hostile policy.
Protests widen against Obama-backed Common Core education reforms - Washington Times
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 03:54
  A fierce battle in New York is the latest sign that populist resistance to the Obama administration-backed Common Core education reforms shows no signs of slowing '-- and that the opposition isn't limited to red states.
  Since 2010, 45 states have adopted the Common Core benchmarks for proficiency in English and math for schoolchildren at the end of each grade.
  Critics say several states are experiencing buyers' remorse after complaints from parents and scholars that the reforms are untested and poorly designed and put additional burdens on teachers and students. They also say Common Core represents a federal government intrusion into an area traditionally operated at the state and local levels.
  Common Core, backed by $4.35 billion offered to states through President Obama's 2009 stimulus, appeared to be overcoming opposition when it was implemented.
  Now, however, backlash has been gaining force. Blogger Michele Zipp of The Stir last week said Common Core ''is kind of turning into the Obamacare of education.''
  Common Core opponents have organized a social media campaign to make Monday a ''National Don't Send Your Child to School Day'' and have planned protests at local education administration buildings. A Facebook page for protesters had more than 5,500 supporters by Sunday.
  Opposition to Common Core has been roiling in recent weeks since New York state Education Commissioner John King conducted a series of meetings that highlighted deep concerns about the reforms.
  ''We are abusing the children in the state of New York,'' Beth Dimino, president of the Port Jefferson Station Parent Teacher Association, said at a forum last week at Ward Melville High School, according to an account on Patch.com.
  Lana Ajemian, the head of New York's Parent Teacher Association, said standards have moved far too quickly for students to keep up. ''It's like the train's pulling out of the station without everybody on board,'' Ms. Ajemian told NBC New York during the public forum on Long Island.
  Conservative education scholars have led opposition to Common Core reforms, but the resistance appears to have taken the Obama administration and the education establishment by surprise. The bipartisan National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers have led state-by-state adoption of the standards.
  ''Development of these standards was not driven by the federal government, but by the states,'' wrote Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association. ''Governors on both sides of the aisle, the business community, and most importantly educators, came together to ensure one thing: that students learn what they need to live a successful life in a 21st century global economy.''
  Although adoption of Common Core was voluntary, states that rejected the standards were considered effectively ineligible for federal stimulus funds tied to President Obama's Race to the Top initiative.
  The four states that have rejected Common Core completely are Alaska, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia. Minnesota has accepted the English standards but not the math standards.
  But much of the energy in recent months has come from opponents, who include an unusually broad mix of scholars, teachers, parents and state legislators.
  In one of the first signs of resistance, the Republican National Committee unexpectedly adopted a resolution opposing Common Core. At its spring meeting, the RNC called Common Core an ''inappropriate overreach to standardize and control the education of our children so they will conform to a preconceived 'normal.'''
VIDEO-Adama Lanza's Aunt Gives First Interview - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 03:32
VIDEO-Marsha Lanza, Newtown Shooting Suspect's Aunt, 'Worried' For Her Family
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 03:31
  Twenty-seven small U.S. flags adorn a large flag on a makeshift memorial on the side of Highway 84 near the Newtown, Conn., town line as residents mourn victims killed by gunman Adam Lanza, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. On Friday, authorities say Lanza killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  In this photo taken with a fisheye lens, a message honoring the victims that died a day earlier when a gunman opened fire at an elementary hang from a bridge near Hawley Pond, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  Mourners carry ornaments to decorate the Christmas trees at one of the makeshift memorials for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Monday,Dec. 17, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
  Crayons sit on a table outside of a barbershop a day after a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  Crayons sit on a table outside of a barbershop a day after a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  Tamara DohertyShop owner Tamara Doherty, paces outside her store just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
  Tamara Doherty, Jackie GaudetShop owners Tamara Doherty, left, and Jackie Gaudet, right, meet outside their stores for the first time since being neighbors, just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
  Kristin HoytKristin Hoyt, 18, of Danbury, Conn., ties a balloon to an overpass up the road from the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
  A Newtown, Conn., resident, who declined to give her name, sits at an intersection holding a sign for passing motorists up the road from the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
  A snowflake ornament with the name of 6-year-old Noah Pozner hangs on a Christmas tree at a makeshift memorial in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn., Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, as the town mourns victims killed in Friday's school shooting. Pozner, who was killed Friday when gunman Adam Lanza opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School, will be buried Monday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  Twenty-seven small U.S. flags adorn a large flag on a makeshift memorial on the side of Highway 84 near the Newtown, Conn., town line as residents mourn victims killed by gunman Adam Lanza, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. Authorities say Lanza killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life, on Friday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  Jamie Duncan, 16, of Newtown, Conn., lights a candle at one of the makeshift memorials for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Monday,Dec. 17, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
  A mourner carries a giant Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal to place at one of the makeshift memorials for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Monday,Dec. 17, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
  A hearse arrives at B'nai Israel Cemetery with the body of Noah Pozner, a six-year-old killed in an elementary school shooting, during funeral services, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Monroe, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  People arrive at B'nai Israel Cemetery during burial services for Noah Pozner, a six-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Monroe, Conn. Authorities say gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home on Friday and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  Veronika PoznerVeronique Pozner waves to the assembled media as she leaves after a funeral service for her 6-year-old son Noah Pozner, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Fairfield, Conn. Noah Pozner was killed when Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingTwenty seven wooden stand in a yard down the street from the Sandy Hook School December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were shot dead, including twenty children, after a gunman identified as Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lanza also reportedly had committed suicide at the scene. A 28th person, believed to be Nancy Lanza, found dead in a house in town, was also believed to have been shot by Adam Lanza. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingNewtown residents Claire Swanson, Kate Suba, Jaden Albrecht, Simran Chand and New London, Connecticut residents Rachel Pullen and her son Landon DeCecco, hold candles at a memorial for victims on the first Sunday following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingU.S. President Barack Obama waits to speak at an interfaith vigil for the shooting victims from Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 16, 2012 at Newtown High School in Newtown, Connecticut. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingEknoor Kaur, 3, stands with her father Guramril Singh during a candlelight vigil outside Newtown High School before an interfaith vigil with President Barack Obama, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingNew London, Connecticut resident Rachel Pullen (C) kisses her son Landon DeCecco at a memorial for victims near the school on the first Sunday following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingUS President Barack Obama speaks during a memorial service for the victims and relatives of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were killed when a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary and began a shooting spree. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingA woman covers her face as US President Barack Obama reads out the names of children killed during Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting at a interfaith memorial for victims and relatives at the Newtown High School on December 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were killed when a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary and began a shooting spree. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingA woman pays respects at a memorial outside of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. On Friday, a gunman allegedly killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingResidents wait for the start of an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012 at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingCheryl Girardi, of Middletown, Conn., kneels beside 26 teddy bears, each representing a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, at a sidewalk memorial, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children.(AP Photo/David Goldman)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingConnecticut State Police officers respond to a bomb threat outside of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. Worshippers hurriedly left the church Sunday, not far from where a gunman opened fire Friday inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingAva Staiti, 7, of New Milford, Conn., looks up at her mother Emily Staiti, not pictured, while visiting a sidewalk memorial with 26 teddy bears, each representing a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingThis photo provided by the family shows Jessica Rekos. Rekos, 6, was killed Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 children and adults at the school, before killing himself. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Rekos Family)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingA U.S. flag flies at half staff outside the Newtown High School before President Barack Obama is scheduled to attend a memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingDavid Freedman, right, kneels with his son Zachary, 9, both of Newtown, Conn., as they visit a sidewalk memorial for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingA man reacts at the site of a makeshift memorial for school shooting victims in Newtown, Conn., Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. A gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the town, killing 26 people, including 20 children before killing himself on Friday. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingPeople wait in line to attend an interfaith vigil with President Barack Obama, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingResidents greet each other before the start of an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012 at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingResidents greet each other before the start of an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into the school Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. President Barack Obama is to scheduled to speak at the event. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingResidents greet each other before the start of an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. A gunman walked into the elementary school Friday and opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak during the vigil. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingThis image provided by the family shows Grace McDonnell posing for a portrait in this family photo taken Aug. 18, 2012. Grace McDonnell was killed Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 children and adults at the school. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the McDonnell Family)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingThis Nov. 18, 2012 photo provided by John Engel shows Olivia Engel, 6, in Danbury, Conn. Olivia Engel, was killed Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 children and adults at the school. (AP Photo/Engel Family, Tim Nosezo)
  Emilie Alice ParkerThis 2012 photo provided by the family shows Emilie Alice Parker. Parker was killed Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn., killing 26 children and adults at the school. (AP Photo/Courtesy of the Parker Family)
  Noah PoznerThis Nov. 13, 2012 photo provided by the family via The Washington Post shows Noah Pozner. The six-year-old was one of the victims in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Family Photo)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingThis handout image provided by ABC News, shows Nancy J. Lanza mother of suspected mass shooter Adam Lanza at an unspecified time and place. Twenty six people were shot dead, including twenty children, after a gunman identified as Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lanza also reportedly had committed suicide at the scene. A 28th person, believed to be Nancy Lanza was found dead in a house in town, was also believed to have been shot by Adam Lanza. (Family of Nancy Lanza / ABC News / Getty Images)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingLauren Rousseau, 30, had started a job as a full-time teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School this fall. She was killed in the Dec. 14 shooting at the school.
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingSchool psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, was killed during an attempt to stop gunman Adam Lanza during the Dec. 14 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Sherlach and school principal Dawn Hochsprung reportedly both lunged at Lanza in an attempt to protect the school's students and teachers. Both Sherlach and Hochsprung were killed.
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingVictoria Soto, a 27-year-old teacher, was killed in the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Her cousin, Jim Wiltsie, told ABC that Soto, a teacher, died while shielding her young students from the gunman, according to the AP.
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingSandy Hook Elementary School Principal Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, 47, was killed as she, along with school psychologist Mary Sherlach, attempted to overtake gunman Adam Lanza during the Dec. 14 mass shooting at the school. Hochsprung and Sherlach reportedly both lunged at Lanza in an effort to defend the students and teachers at the school. Both women were killed.
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingThis photo posted to the Emilie Parker Fund Facebook page shows Emilie Parker. Fighting back tears and struggling to catch his breath, Robbie Parker the father of 6-year-old Emile Parker who was gunned down in Friday's school shooting in Connecticut told the world about a little girl who loved to draw and was always smiling, and he also reserved surprising words of sympathy for the gunman. (AP Photo/Emilie Parker Fund)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingShop owner Tamara Doherty paces outside her store just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at the school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingThis photo posted to the Emilie Parker Fund Facebook page shows Emilie Parker and her father Robbie Parker. Fighting back tears and struggling to catch his breath, Robbie Parker the father of 6-year-old Emile Parker who was gunned down in Friday's school shooting in Connecticut told the world about a little girl who loved to draw and was always smiling, and he also reserved surprising words of sympathy for the gunman. (AP Photo/Emilie Parker Fund)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingRobbie Parker, the father of six-year-old Emilie who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, fights back tears as he speaks during a news conference, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingIsabella Jimenez, 12, reacts while talking to reporters about the shooting rampage from a day earlier when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. Jimenez said she might know the victims because she has done volunteer work with small children. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
  Sandy Hook Elementary School ShootingNewtown, Connecticut mass shooter Adam Lanza is third from right in this 2008 yearbook photo. (ABC News)
VIDEO- "Is There Anyway To Protect Ourselves? (Against The EVIL That Is The NSA) That's A Good Question!" - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 03:21
VIDEO- CBS: The Story That The Tapes Tell (Sandy Hook 911 Calls) - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 03:12
Tomicah Tillemann - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 03:05
  Dr. Tomicah Sterling Tillemann-Dick serves as the Senior Advisor for Civil Society and Emerging Democracies to Secretary of State John Kerry.[1] He and his team work like venture capitalists to identify ideas that can strengthen new democracies and civil society groups, and then bring together the talent, technology, and resources needed to translate promising concepts into reality. Tillemann often refers to his work as "policy entrepreneurship." Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Tillemann as the key architect behind many of her flagship initiatives to engage partners beyond governments,[2] harness the power of technology,[3] promote strategic philanthropy,[4] and remake the Community of Democracies.
  Early Life, Academic Work and Family[edit]Tillemann grew up as the oldest of ten children in Denver, Colorado. An Eagle Scout, he was accepted to college at age 14 and received his BA magna cum laude from Yale University.[5] He went on to earn a doctorate with distinction from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University (SAIS).[6] Tillemann was a graduate instructor in American foreign policy at SAIS and lectured at Yale and Princeton. His academic awards include a Fulbright-Hays Scholarship and a Mellon Research Grant. Tillemann is the oldest grandson of Tom Lantos, the former Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress. Tillemann's paternal grandmother, Nancy Dick, served as the first woman Lieutenant Governor of Colorado.
  Policy, Civil Society and Political Work[edit]Before coming to the State Department, Tillemann spent four years on the professional staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as the principal advisor on European and Eurasian affairs to former Committee chairmen Joe Biden and John Kerry. He also facilitated the work of the Senate's Subcommittee on European Affairs, then chaired by Barack Obama. Earlier in his career, he worked as a reporter with Reuters New Media, hosted a commercial radio program in Denver, Colorado, served in the White House Office of Media Affairs, and spent time as a senior staffer on four U.S. Senate and Congressional campaigns.[7] Tillemann helped to found and lead numerous civil society groups and served on the board of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. He has also testified repeatedly before Congress.[8] In 2009, he came together with John McCain and Nancy Pelosi to deliver the closing speech at the inaugural presentation of the Lantos Human Rights Prize to the 14th Dalai Lama.[9]
  State Department[edit]Tillemann moved to the State Department shortly after Hillary Clinton was appointed Secretary of State to serve as speechwriter in her office.[10] He collaborated with Clinton on over 200 speeches and often accompanied her on international travel. In October 2010, Clinton promoted Tillemann to Senior Advisor and asked him to create and lead a new office reporting to her that would be devoted to strengthening civil society and emerging democracies worldwide. In this capacity, he and his team worked on behalf of the Secretary to develop over a dozen major initiatives. These include remaking the Community of Democracies into a leading platform for multilateral democracy support, developing the Strategic Dialogue with Civil Society into the State Department's flagship effort to collaborate with partners outside of government, launching the LEND Network to provide a global technology platform for information sharing among leaders in new democracies, developing a new "race to the top" program to encourage reform in emerging democracies, and streamlining rules around cross-border grantmaking to support international civil society organizations.[11]
  Technology[edit]Together with his late father and two brothers, Tillemann is a co-holder of four patents related to the IRIS engine, an advanced clean technology that has won awards from NASA, ConocoPhillips, and Dow.
  References[edit]External links[edit]Office of the Senior Advisor for Civil Society and Emerging Democracies [12]
Promoting Human Rights Worldwide - Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 02:55
  Annette Lantos is the Chairman of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. Annette, the wife of the late Congressman Tom Lantos, worked full-time in her husband's office throughout his nearly three decades in the U.S. House of Representatives. She served as the unpaid Executive Director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which Congressman Lantos co-founded. She has spearheaded numerous efforts to help human rights victims, including those persecuted for religious and political reasons, and to further human rights causes. She has also been instrumental in fighting for animal rights and assisted her husband in co-founding the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus.
  Annette is the distinguished founder of the International Free Wallenberg Committee, established in 1977 to raise awareness of Raoul Wallenberg's incredible humanitarian mission in Hungary during the Second World War. Her efforts to locate and free Wallenberg from the Soviet Union resulted in several interviews on national news programs such as CBS's 60 Minutes. She also spoke directly with President Jimmy Carter about Wallenberg's case. Although the Swedish humanitarian was never found, Annette and Congressman Lantos have been instrumental in honoring his legacy through numerous legislative initiatives.
  Born in Budapest, Hungary, Annette came to the United States at age 16. After graduating from an American high school, Annette went on to obtain her bachelor's degree and teaching certificate from San Francisco State University. She and Tom were married for nearly 58 years. Annette has two daughters, Annette Jr. and Katrina, eighteen grandchildren, and an ever increasing number of great-grandchildren.
  Board of TrusteesAnnette LantosChairmanAmbassador Richard SwettTreasurerEvelyn SzelenyiSecretaryEric SchnapperPhilip FriedmanDr. Katrina Lantos SwettPresidentDenise L. PerronExecutive Director Advisory BoardHonorable Shimon Peres, ChairPresident of IsraelAnnette Lantos Tillemann-Dick, Co-ChairAmbassador John ShattuckPresident and Rector of Central European UniversityDr. Elie WieselNobel Peace Prize LaureateBonoMusician/Activist, Co-founder of ONE and (RED)Richard GereFounder and President, The Gere FoundationHon. John BroderickDean of UNH Law SchoolFormer Chief Justice, NH Supreme CourtDr. Kay Atkinson King Former Director, Office of Inter Parliamentary AffairsUS House of RepresentativesAmbassador Nancy G. BrinkerHon. John BroderickDean of UNH Law SchoolFormer Chief Justice, NH Supreme CourtAmbassador Richard Holbrooke2008-2010Ambassador Mark Palmer2008-2013
VIDEO- Hillary Clinton "Two Causes Near And Dear To My Heart Women's Rights And Internet Freedom" - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 02:19
Tom Lantos - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 02:16
  Tom LantosChairman of the House Committee on International RelationsIn officeJanuary 3, 2007 '' February 11, 2008Preceded byHenry HydeSucceeded byHoward BermanMember of the U.S. House of Representativesfrom California's 12th districtIn officeJanuary 3, 1993 '' February 11, 2008Preceded byTom CampbellSucceeded byJackie SpeierMember of the U.S. House of Representativesfrom California's 11th districtIn officeJanuary 3, 1981 '' January 3, 1993Preceded byWilliam RoyerSucceeded byRichard PomboPersonal detailsBornLantos Tams P(C)ter(1928-02-01)February 1, 1928Budapest, HungaryDiedFebruary 11, 2008(2008-02-11) (aged 80)National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MarylandPolitical partyDemocraticSpouse(s)Annette LantosAlma materUniversity of Washington, University of California, BerkeleyOccupationpolitician, college professor, international affairs analyst, business consultantReligionJudaismThomas Peter "Tom" Lantos (February 1, 1928 '' February 11, 2008)[1] was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from California, serving from 1981 until his death as the representative from a district that included the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of southwestern San Francisco. Lantos had announced in early January 2008 that he would not run for reelection because of cancer of the esophagus,[2][3] but died before finishing his term. Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to have served in the United States Congress.[4]
  In speaking before the House of Representatives after his death, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated that Lantos "devoted his public life to shining a bright light on the dark corners of oppression... He used his powerful voice to stir the consciousness of world leaders and the public alike."[5] U2 lead singer Bono called him a ''prizefighter,'' whose stamina would make him go ''any amount of rounds, with anyone, anywhere, to protect human rights and common decency."[6]
  In 2008, after his death, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which he founded in 1983, was renamed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Its mission is partly to "to promote, defend and advocate internationally recognized human rights." In 2011, the Tom Lantos Institute was set up in Budapest to promote tolerance and support minority issues in central and eastern Europe and in the world.[7]
  Early years[edit]World War II[edit]Thomas Peter Lantos (Hungarian pronunciation: [ËlÉ'ntoÊƒ ËtÉ'maËÊƒ ËpeËtÉ›r]) was born to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. Many of his family members were teachers, including an uncle who was a professor at the University of Budapest, and a grandmother who was a high school principal. His life in Hungary would change after the Third Reich annexing of Austria in 1938, with the Austrian border just 100 miles from Budapest. Lantos remembered this period and a newspaper headline he read when he was only 10, "Hitler Marches into Austria." Even at a young age, he understood the significance of this invasion:[8]
  "I sensed that this historic moment would have a tremendous impact on the lives of Hungarian Jews, my family, and myself."
  Six years later, in March 1944, the German military invaded Hungary and occupied Budapest, its capital. Lantos, then 16, was arrested because he was Jewish and sent to a forced labor camp outside of Budapest. He escaped but was soon caught by the Germans and beaten severely, to be returned to the labor camp. He again escaped but this time made his way back to Budapest, 40 miles away. There, he hid with an aunt in a safe house set up by Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat.[8]
  Lantos then joined the anti-Nazi resistance movement and was able to move around freely due to his having blond hair and blue eyes, which to the Nazis were physical signs of Aryanism. As a result, he acted as a courier for the underground movement and delivered food and medicine to Jews living in other safe houses, and where he met his future wife, Annette Tillemann. In January 1945, less than a year later, Russian military forces fought door-to-door battles and liberated Hungary from Nazi occupation. However, Lantos, then 17, returned home only to discover that his mother and other family members had all been killed by the Germans, along with 450,000 other Hungarian Jews, during the preceding 10 months of their occupation.[8] Wallenberg, for his part, was later credited with saving the lives of thousands of other Hungarian Jews.[9]
  Lantos described some of his experiences in the Academy Award winning documentary film, The Last Days (1998), produced by Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation. In his floor speeches as a congressman, he sometimes referred to himself as one of the few living members of Congress who had fought against fascism. In 1981, Lantos sponsored a bill making Wallenberg an Honorary Citizen of the United States and became a member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
  In January 2006, he traveled to Hungary and attended a ceremony commemorating the 61st anniversary of the liberation of the Budapest Ghetto. The event was held at the Great Synagogue in Budapest,[10](photo), today the largest synagogue in Europe.[11]
  Education[edit]In 1946, Lantos enrolled at the University of Budapest. As a result of writing an essay about Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was awarded a scholarship by the Hillel Foundation to study in the United States. He then emigrated to the U.S. and studied economics at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he earned a B.A. in 1949 and an M.A. in 1950. He continued his post-graduate education at the University of California, Berkeley, and received a Ph.D in economics in 1953.
  Early career[edit]After graduation from Berkeley, he became a professor of economics at San Francisco State University. In subsequent years, he worked as a business consultant and television commentator on subjects of foreign policy. He eventually became a senior advisor to various U.S. Senators and in 1980 was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he remained until his death in February 2008.[8] Recalling his early life, he announced his retirement by stating to Congress, "I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country."[8]
  Personal and family life[edit]Lantos spoke English fluently, but retained his native Hungarian accent. During the German occupation of Hungary he met Annette Tilleman (or Tillemann), whose family escaped to Switzerland. They used Swedish passports issued by Raoul Wallenberg. After Hungary was liberated, she and her family returned to Budapest where she and Lantos met again. They married in 1950 after emigrating to the U.S. and remained married until his death from cancer in 2008.[12] Annette Lantos is a niece of Jolie Gabor, whose brother Sebastian was Mrs. Lantos' father, making actresses Zsa Zsa, Magda and Eva Gabor, Jolie's daughters, all originally from Budapest, Annette Lantos's cousins.[13]
  Lantos and his wife Annette had two daughters, Annette and Katrina, and 17 grandchildren. His daughter Annette was married to Timber Dick, "an independent businessman in Colorado",[14] until his accidental death in 2008.[15][16]
  Their daughter Katrina, is married to ambassador and former U.S. Representative from New Hampshire, Richard Swett, and was herself a candidate for Congress in New Hampshire. One of Lantos' grandchildren, Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, is a noted opera singer and activist for organ donation. Lantos considered himself a secular Jew.[17] His wife and two daughters converted to Mormonism.[18]
  Political career and positions[edit]Lantos made his first run for office in 1980, challenging Republican Congressman Bill Royer, who had won a 1979 special election after DemocratLeo Ryan was killed in the Jonestown massacre. Lantos defeated Royer by 5,700 votes. He never faced another contest nearly that close, and was reelected 13 times.
  Lantos earned a reputation in the Congress as a champion for various human rights causes, such as having Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang testify at a congressional hearing, when the company turned over the email records of two Chinese dissidents to the Chinese government, allowing them to be traced and one sentenced to jail.[19][20]
  Lantos was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus[21] and repeatedly called for reforms to the nation's health-care system, reduction of the national budget deficit and the national debt, repeal of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. He opposed Social Security privatization efforts. He supported same-sex marriage rights and marijuana for medical use, was a strong proponent of gun control[22] and was adamantly pro-choice.[23]
  Lantos was a well-known advocate on behalf of the environment, receiving consistently high ratings from the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental organizations for his legislative record.[24] His long-standing efforts to protect open space brought thousands of acres under the protection of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, including Mori Point, Sweeney Ridge and '-- most recently '-- Rancho Corral de Tierra, which will keep its watersheds and delicate habitats free from development permanently.[25][26] In 2005 he opposed an effort to expand public use of the Farallon Islands, a protected wildlife haven.
  Lantos consistently championed local transportation projects that need federal funds and, given his seniority in Congress, proved successful at delivering this support.
  Lantos initially supported the Iraq War, but from 2006 onward made increasingly critical statements about the conduct of the war, and as the chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs he held 20 oversight hearings on the war in 2007. (See separate section below about the war in Iraq.)
  Foreign affairs issues[edit]Lantos served as the chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
  Through its more than 20 years of work, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus[27] '-- of which Lantos was co-chair with Representative Frank Wolf '-- has covered a wide range of human rights issues, including speaking for Christians in Saudi Arabia and Sudan to practice their faith, helping Tibetans to retain their culture and religion in Tibet, and advocating for other minorities worldwide. Lantos's efforts to protect religious freedom in 2004 resulted in a bill to attempt to stop the spread of anti-semitism.[28]
  Lantos was involved with his colleagues on the International Relations Committee on many decisions that affected other aspects of American foreign policy. Lantos spoke out against waste, fraud and abuse in the multi-billion-dollar U.S. reconstruction program in Iraq, and warned that the U.S. could lose Afghanistan to the Taliban if the Bush administration failed to take decisive action to halt the current decline in political stability there.
  Lantos, as the ranking Democrat on the International Relations Committee, tried to disrupt U.S. military aid to Egypt, argued that the Egyptian military had made insufficient efforts to stop the flow of money and weapons across the Egyptian border to Hamas in Gaza, and had not contributed troops to internationally-supported peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Lantos was a strong advocate for Israel.
  1991 Gulf War[edit]Lantos was a strong supporter of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. During the run-up to the war, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, of which Lantos was co-chairman, hosted a young Kuwaiti woman identified only as "Nurse Nayirah", who told of horrific abuses by Iraqi soldiers, including the killing of Kuwaiti babies by taking them out of their incubators and leaving them to die on the cold floor of the hospital. These alleged atrocities figured prominently in the rhetoric at the time about Iraqi abuses in Kuwait.
  The girl's account was later challenged by independent human rights monitors.[29] "Nurse Nayirah" later turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States.[29] Asked about his having allowed the girl to give testimony without identifying herself, and without her story having been corroborated, Lantos replied, "The notion that any of the witnesses brought to the caucus through the Kuwaiti Embassy would not be credible did not cross my mind... I have no basis for assuming that her story is not true, but the point goes beyond that. If one hypothesizes that the woman's story is fictitious from A to Z, that in no way diminishes the avalanche of human rights violations."[29]
  Lantos and John R. MacArthur, the foremost critic of the Nayirah issue, each had op-eds in The New York Times, in which each accused the other of distortion. In 1993 MacArthur received the Mencken Award for best editorial/op-ed column for his New York Times expos(C) of "Nayirah", the Kuwaiti diplomat's daughter who helped fake the Iraqi baby-incubator atrocity.[30] MacArthur suggested that Lantos may have materially benefited from his having accommodated Nayirah.[31]
  The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation sent investigators to Kuwait who went through the hospital and counted the incubators and they found that "except for one or two that may have been misplaced" all of the incubators were still in the hospital. The investigators concluded that there were no deaths resulting from stolen equipment. And the doctor who provided Amnesty International with the number of babies killed dropped from 312 to 72 and then 30, 19 of which died before the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. After the war The New York Times in an editorial entitled DECEPTION ON CAPITOL HILL wrote, "It's plainly wrong for a member of congress to collaborate with a public relations firm to produce knowingly deceptive testimony on an important issue. Yet Representative Tom Lantos has been caught doing exactly that. His behavior warrants a searching inquiry by the House Ethics Committee." (ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times [1851 - 2007] pg. A20)[31]
  War in Iraq[edit]On October 4, 2002, Lantos led a narrow majority of Democrats on the House International Relations Committee to a successful vote in support of the Resolution for the Use of Force, seeking the approval of the United Nations and under the condition that President George W. Bush would allow UN weapons inspectors to finish their work and that Bush would need to return to Congress for an actual declaration of war before invading Iraq. The resolution later passed the House and the Senate with a total of 373 members of Congress supporting it. "The train is now on its way," said Lantos after his '-- and Bush's '-- victory.[32] In later hearings on the war, Lantos continued his enthusiastic support. At one point he was confronted by witnesses who questioned the likelihood of enthusiastic Baghdadis welcoming the invading Americans; Lantos called this a kind of racism, to suggest the Iraqis might be so ungrateful.
  Starting in early 2006, Lantos distanced himself from the Bush Administration's Iraq policy, making critical statements at hearings, on the House floor and in published media interviews about the conduct of the war. During hearings of the House International Relations Committee, where he was then the ranking member, Lantos repeatedly praised the investigative work of the office of the Special Inspector of Iraq Reconstruction General Stuart Bowen, which uncovered evidence of waste, fraud and abuse in the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars intended to help secure and rebuild Iraq.
  Lantos was an immediate and consistent critic of the troop surge advocated by President Bush. On the night in January 2007 that Bush announced his plan, Lantos responded, "I oppose the so-called surge that constitutes the centerpiece of the President's plan. Our efforts in Iraq are a mess, and throwing in more troops will not improve it." And during a joint House hearing on September 10, 2007, featuring General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Lantos said,
  The Administration's myopic policies in Iraq have created a fiasco. Is it any wonder that on the subject of Iraq, more and more Americans have little confidence in this Administration? We can not take ANY of this Administration's assertions on Iraq at face value anymore, and no amount of charts or statistics will improve its credibility. This is not a knock on you, General Petraeus, or on you, Ambassador Crocker. But the fact remains, gentlemen, that the Administration has sent you here today to convince the members of these two Committees and the Congress that victory is at hand. With all due respect to you, I must say ... I don't buy it.
  At the same hearing, Lantos drew comparisons between some of the current U.S. activities in Iraq to U.S. support two decades ago of Islamic militants in Afghanistan:
  America should not be in the business of arming, training and funding both sides of a religious civil war in Iraq. Did the Administration learn nothing from our country's actions in Afghanistan two decades ago, when by supporting Islamist militants against the Soviet Union, we helped pave the way for the rise of the Taliban? Why are we now repeating the short-sighted patterns of the past?[33]
  Human rights advocate[edit]Tibet[edit]As co-founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1983 and as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Lantos would "stir the consciousness of world leaders and the public alike," according to Representative Nancy Pelosi. She adds: ''Wherever there was injustice or oppression, he used his expertise and moral authority to put the United States on the side of justice and human rights.''[34]
  In 2007, in his effort to help the people of China and Tibet, he presented the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal. He also worked to help the people of Burma by asking for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner held under house arrest for almost 15 years until her release in November 2010.[34]
  Darfur[edit]On April 28, 2006, Lantos and four other Democratic U.S. Representatives (Sheila Jackson Lee, Jim McGovern, Jim Moran, and John Olver), along with six other activists, took part in a civil disobedience action in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C. They were protesting the role of the Sudanese government in carrying out genocide in the Darfur conflict and were arrested for disorderly conduct.[35] Lantos proclaimed, "We have been calling on the civilized world to stand up and to say, 'Enough,' The slaughter of the people of Darfur must end."[34]
  Hungarian minorities[edit]Tom Lantos stood up for the rights of Hungarian minorities several times[36][37] as a member of the US House of Representatives. In a 2007 letter he asked Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia to distance themselves from the BeneÅ decrees, a reasonable process in the Hedvig Malina case, and to treat members of the Hungarian minority as equal.[38][39] He indirectly blamed the Slovak government for ethnically motivated attacks on Hungarians because the country's governing coalition included ultra-nationalist parties.[40]
  The American Hungarian Federation recognized Congressman Lantos for his "Leadership in Support of Democracy, Human Rights and Minority Rights in Central and Eastern Europe,'' awarding him the organization's highest award, the "Col. Commandant Michael Kovats Medal of Freedom," at the October 19, 2005, Congressional Reception commemorating the 49th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.[41]
  Lebanon[edit]On August 27, 2006, at the Israeli Foreign Ministry building in Israel, Lantos said he would block a foreign aid package promised by President George W. Bush to Lebanon until Beirut agrees to the deployment of international troops on the border with Syria and Lebanon takes control of its borders with Syria to prevent arms smuggling to Hezbollah guerrillas.[42]
  Morocco and Western Sahara[edit]Lantos supported Morocco's demand to gain sovereignty over Western Sahara, and criticized the Polisario Front, which demands independence for the disputed region. In 2007, he backed Morocco's proposal to make the region autonomous under Moroccan rule, saying: "I urge the leadership of the Polisario to realize that they will never again get such a good deal for the population they purport to represent."[43]
  Death and legacy[edit]On January 2, 2008, after having been diagnosed with esophageal cancer, Lantos announced he would not run for a 15th term in the House but planned to complete his final term, and thanked Congress:
  It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family, and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a Member of Congress. I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country."[44][45]
  Lantos died of complications from esophageal cancer on February 11, 2008, before finishing his term. A special election was held to fill his seat on April 8, 2008 and was won by former State SenatorJackie Speier, whom Lantos had endorsed as his successor.[46] Shortly after his death, Roy Blunt, the House Republican Whip, stated that "Chairman Lantos will be remembered as a man of uncommon integrity and sincere moral conviction '-- and a public servant who never wavered in his pursuit of a better, freer and more religiously tolerant world."[47]
  A memorial service was held for Lantos on February 14, 2008 at Statuary Hall in the Capitol. Speakers included Senator Joe Biden, Bono of U2, Rep. Steny Hoyer, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice, Rep. Christopher Shays, Elie Wiesel, and his grandson, Tomicah Tillemann, senior adviser to former Secretary of StateHillary Clinton.[48]
  On June 19, 2008, President George W. Bush posthumously awarded Lantos the Medal of Freedom. In a ceremony at the White House, Bush stated "We miss his vigorous defense of human rights and his powerful witness for the cause of human freedom. For a lifetime of leadership, for his commitment to liberty, and for his devoted service to his adopted nation, I am proud to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously, to Tom Lantos, and proud that his loving wife Annette will receive the award on behalf of his family."[49] That same year, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which he founded in 1983, was renamed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Its mission is partly to "to promote, defend and advocate internationally recognized human rights."
  The first Lantos Human Rights Prize, named in the congressman's memory, was presented to the 14th Dalai Lama in 2009.[50]
  In 2011, the Tom Lantos Institute was set up in Budapest to promote tolerance and support minority issues in central and eastern Europe and in the world.[7] At the opening ceremonies in June, 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to the Hungarian Parliament:
  Now when Tom grew up here in this country that he loved so much, the only debate that mattered was the one between freedom and fascism, and then between freedom and communism. Tom believed that in our country there were partisan political differences, of course, between Republicans and Democrats or between a President Reagan and a President Clinton, just to pick one. (Laughter.) But Tom always believed that regardless of our political party, we were fundamentally on the same side. We were for freedom. We were for democracy. And that through debate, sometimes contested, we would keep working toward what our founders set as the goal, a more perfect union.[51]
  On Saturday, September 10, 2011, the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA officially opened the new Tom and Annette Lantos Center for Compassion, located at 1450 Rollins Rd. in Burlingame, CA. The facility was funded with a naming gift in the Lantos's honor by Oracle founder, Larry Ellison, and his wife Melanie.[52]
  The Tom Lantos Tunnels south of San Francisco have been named after the late Congressman.
  Additionally, a BBYO inc. chapter honored Tom Lantos' legacy by naming the chapter in his honor. Lantos AZA #2539 now thrives in the Rockville, Maryland area.
  Congressional scorecards[edit]See also
  Project Vote Smart provides the following results from congressional scorecards.[53]
  Controversies[edit]During a 1996 Congressional inquiry into the "Filegate" scandal, Lantos told witness Craig Livingstone that "with an infinitely more distinguished public record than yours, Admiral Boorda committed suicide when he may have committed a minor mistake." Boorda, the Chief of Naval Operations, had taken his own life after his right to wear Combat V decorations had been questioned. Lantos was criticized by some (including fellow Congressman Joe Scarborough) who interpreted the remark as a suggestion that Livingstone too should kill himself.[55] Craig Livingstone forgave Lantos for his remark by stating to the gallery, "He (Lantos) obviously learned much from the Nazis and speaks like them today."[citation needed]
  On May 3, 2000, Lantos was involved in an automobile accident while driving on Capitol Hill. Lantos drove over a young boy's foot and then failed to stop his vehicle. He was later fined over the incident for inattentive driving.[56]
  In 2002, Lantos, who was on the House Committee on International Affairs, took Colette Avital, a Labor Party member of the Israeli Knesset, by the hand and, according to Ha'aretz, tried to reassure her with these words: "My dear Colette, don't worry. You won't have any problem with Saddam. We'll be rid of the @#!*% soon enough. And in his place we'll install a pro-Western dictator, who will be good for us and for you."[57] He later denied saying this, but Avital confirmed it, according to Ben Terrall, an adviser to Maad H. Abu-Ghazalah, a Libertarian Party candidate who ran against Lantos that year.[58]
  In June 2007, Lantos called former German Chancellor Gerhard Schr¶der a "political prostitute" at the dedication ceremony of the Victims of Communism Memorial, which caused a political backlash from the German government. Lantos was referring to Schr¶der's ties to energy business in Russia, and remarked that this appellation would offend prostitutes.[59]
  In October 2007, Dutch parliament members said Lantos insulted them while discussing the War on Terror by stating that the Netherlands had to help the United States because it liberated them in World War II, while adding that "Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay."[60]
  Electoral history[edit]California's 11th congressional district: Results 1980''1990[61]YearDemocratVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct1980Tom Lantos85,82346%Bill Royer80,10043%Wilson BranchPeace and Freedom13,7237%William S.Wade, Jr.Libertarian3,8162%*1982Tom Lantos109,81257%Bill Royer76,46240%Chuck OlsonLibertarian2,9202%Wilson BranchPeace and Freedom1,9281%*1984Tom Lantos147,60770%Jack Hickey59,62528%Nicholas W. KudrovzeffAmerican Independent3,8832%1986Tom Lantos112,38074%Bill Quraishi39,31526%1988Tom Lantos145,48471%Bill Quraishi50,05024%Bill WadeLibertarian4,6832%Victor MartinezPeace and Freedom2,9061%*1990Tom Lantos105,02966%Bill Quraishi45,81829%June R. GenisLibertarian8,5185%*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1980, Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff, American Independent Party, received 1,550 votes (1%). In 1982, Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff, American Independent Party, received 1,250 votes (1%). In 1988, Nicholas W. Kudrovzeff, American Independent Party, received 1,893 votes (1%).California's 12th congressional district: Results 1992''2006[61]YearDemocratVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct1992Tom Lantos157,20569%Jim Tomlin53,27823%Mary WeldonPeace and Freedom10,1424%George O'BrienLibertarian7,7823%1994Tom Lantos118,40867%Deborah Wilder57,22833%1996Tom Lantos149,04972%Storm Jenkins49,27624%Christopher V.A. SchmidtLibertarian6,1113%Richard BorgNatural Law3,4722%1998Tom Lantos128,13574%Robert Evans, Jr.36,56221%Michael J. MoloneyLibertarian8,5155%2000Tom Lantos158,40475%Mike Garza44,16221%Barbara J. LessLibertarian6,4313%Rifkin YoungNatural Law3,5592%2002Tom Lantos105,59768%Michael Moloney38,38125%Maad H. Abu-GhazalahLibertarian11,0067%2004Tom Lantos171,85268%Mike Garza52,59321%Pat GrayGreen23,0389%Harland HarrisonLibertarian5,1162%2006Tom Lantos138,65076%Michael Moloney43,67424%References[edit]^"AP News Alert". Associated Press. 2008-02-11. "Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress, died early Monday morning, his spokeswoman said." [dead link]^Lantos, stricken with cancer, to retire at the end of the yearSan Francisco Chronicle, January 2, 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2008.^Simon, Richard (January 3, 2008). "California's Lantos says cancer will prevent another House run". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008. ^Louis Sandy Maisel et al. (2001). Jews in American Politics. Rowan & Littlefield. Retrieved 21 May 2011. "The only Holocaust survivor to serve in the United States Congress, Tom Lantos was born February 1, 1928, in Budapest. Just 16 years old when the Nazis invaded Hungary, Lantos was active in the underground resistance before he was imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp in Hungary."^Representative Nancy Pelosi, "The World Lost One Of Its Greatest Champions Of Human Rights" video, 7 min.^"Bono Remembers the Honorable Tom Lantos" video clip, 2 minutes^ ab"Tom Lantos Institute set up in Budapest", Politics.hu, May 2, 2011^ abcde"Tom Lantos Biography, Biography Channel, 2010^"Lantos's list". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2007-02-15. "Born in Hungary in 1928 to assimilated Jewish parents, he escaped from a forced-labor brigade, joined the resistance and was eventually, with his later-to-be-wife Annette, among the tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews rescued by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg." ^"Congressman Lantos Commemorates Liberation of Budapest Ghetto", U.S. Dept. of State, 2006^Steves, Rick. Rick Steves' Budapest, Public Affairs publ. (2009) pp. 72-73^Timmerman, Kenneth R. Countdown to crisis: the coming nuclear showdown with Iran, Random House (2005)^"Lantos the master storyteller, communicator"SFGate.com, January 1, 2007^"Tom Lantos for Congress '' Biography". Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-19. ^Pankratz, Howard (April 11, 2008). "Denver inventor Dick dies after crash". Denver Post. ^Timber Dick, a former city council candidate, dies, Rocky Mountain News, April 11, 2008.^"Project Vote Smart: Tom Lantos". Votesmart.org. Retrieved 2010-06-15. ^jta.org 2008 article^"Yahoo Criticized in Case of Jailed Dissident". New York Times. Associated Press. November 7, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-19. "'While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies,' Tom Lantos, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said angrily after hearing from the two executives, Jerry Yang, the chief executive, and Michael J. Callahan, the general counsel." ^Janine Zacharia, Lantos's List, Jerusalem Post, dated 13 April but year not given, presumably 2001. Janine Zacharia,D.C. office is a Living Tribute to Wallenberg, originally from Jewish Bulletin of Northern California (credited as aJerusalem Post Service story, and appears to be a reworking of the previous story), April 20, 2001; reproduced on Lantos's congressional web site. Aleza Goldsmith,challenges Lantos in three-way race, j. (formerly Jewish Bulletin of Northern California), October 4, 2002. All accessed 25 September 2006.^Congressional Progressive Caucus membership list. Retrieved 25 September 2006.^Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Gun issues. Retrieved 25 September 2006.^Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Abortion issues. Retrieved 25 September 2006.^Vote Smart: Tom Lantos: Environmental Issues. Retrieved 25 September 2006.^Edward Epstein, BAY AREA: Recreation area about to get bigger: Historic rancho near Devil's Slide a deal at $15 million, San Francisco Chronicle, December 7, 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2006.^Bush signs Lantos' open space bill, San Mateo Daily Journal, December 22, 2005. Retrieved 25 September 2006.^Index of Congressional Human Rights Caucus stories on Lantos's congressional site. Retrieved 25 September 2006.^Chronicle Washington Bureau, Bush inks Jewish bill by Lantos, San Francisco Chronicle, October 19, 2004. Retrieved 25 September 2006.^ abcCONGRESSMAN SAYS GIRL WAS CREDIBLE, The New York Times. January 12, 1992^Kuwaiti Gave Consistent Account of Atrocities, The New York Times. January 27, 1992^ abDeception on Capitol Hill, The New York Times. January 15, 1992^"THREATS AND RESPONSES: THE CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION; LAWMAKERS BEGIN PUSH TO GIVE BUSH AUTHORITY ON IRAQ," by Alison Mitchell, The New York Times, October 4, 2002^Petraeus Hearing, Opening Statement by Chairman Lantos at hearing With General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. September 10, 2007^ abcPelosi, Nancy. Democratic Leader.gov^Jim Doyle, Five members of Congress arrested over Sudan protest, San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2006.^"Letter of Lantos, titled "The Arrest Of Hungarian Intellectual Mikl"s Duray By The Government Of Czechoslovakia"". US Congressional Record. Retrieved 2008-03-25. ^"Official Letter from Tom Lantos to Vojislav Kostunica". Congress of the United States, Committee on International Relations. Retrieved 2008-03-25. ^"Official Letter from Tom Lantos to Robert Fico" (PDF). Congress of the United States, Committee on Foreign affairs. Retrieved 2008-03-25. ^"Chairman of U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee Calls on Slovakian Prime Minister to disavow BeneÅ decrees, ensure justice for Hungarian minority". Washington, D.C.: Hungarian-American Coalition. October 22, 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-19. (Press release)^"U.S. lawmaker blames Slovak government for ethnically motivated attacks on Hungarians". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2008-02-25. ^"Honoring Congressman Tom Lantos". The American Hungarian Federation. 2008-06-12. Retrieved 2008-09-30. ^"Lantos: Withhold aid to Lebanon until troops secure border", Haaretz, August 27, 2006^Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of House of Representatives. ''U.S. Policy Challenges in North Africa.'' Serial No. 110-76, June 6, 2007, Pgs 1''2. http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/35873.pdf Accessed March 21, 2010^Congressman Tom Lantos to Complete his Congressional Service at the End of Current Term^"California Dems Expected to Vie for Lantos Seat". CQ Politics. Retrieved 2010-06-15. ^"Inside Bay Area '' Lantos endorses Speier as 'our best candidate'". Insidebayarea.com. Retrieved 2010-06-15. ^"'' Rep. Tom Lantos of California dies at 80". Cnn.com. 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2010-06-15. ^"Funeral: Tom Lantos (2008)". Nndb.com. Retrieved 2010-06-15. ^Jewish Telegraph Agency '' Bush awards Lantos freedom medal[dead link]^"Sindh Today '' Online News >> Dalai Lama shunned by Obama, gets award from speaker Pelosi". Sindhtoday.net. 2009-10-06. Retrieved 2010-06-15. [dead link]^"Tom Lantos Institute Inauguration In Budapest", Xpatloop.com, July 5, 2011^"New Peninsula Humane Society Opens in Burlingame", burlingame.patch.com, September 9, 2011^"Representative Tom Lantos (CA)". vote-smart.org. Project Vote Smart. Archived from the original on 2006-03-01. Retrieved 2007-12-31. [dead link]^"Scorecard for the 109th Congress U.S. House of Representatives". Secular.org. Secular Coalition for America. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-31. ^George Lardner, Jr, Panel Sputters; Immunity Vote Fails, The Washington Post, May 14, 1998. Retrieved September 11, 1997.^Jackie Kucinich, In trouble with the law: run-ins with police are fact of Capitol life, The Hill, May 11, 2006. Accessed February 15, 2008.^Akiva Eldar, They're jumping in head firstHa'aretz, September 30, 2002^Ben Terrall, Tom Lantos' Big Lie: The Pro-War Congressman Calls for Replacing Saddam with a Pro-West "Dictator"CounterPunch, October 25, 2002^US Lawmaker's "Prostitute" Remarks Provokes Germany | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 13.06.2007^The Associated Press, Senior US Democratic lawmaker offends Dutch counterparts with historical remarks, International Herald Tribune, October 27, 2007. Retrieved October 27, 2007.^ ab"Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Retrieved 2008-01-10. External links[edit][1] death threats"Congressman Tom Lantos Dies", video, Associated Press news, February 11, 2008Congressional hearings 15 video clipsBiography at the Biographical Directory of the United States CongressCongressional profile at GovTrackFinancial information (federal office) at the Federal Election CommissionFinancial information (federal office) at OpenSecrets.orgIssue positions and quotes at On the IssuesVoting record at The Washington PostTom Lantos at the Internet Movie DatabaseNotable Names DataBase '-- Tom LantosSourceWatch Congresspedia '-- Tom Lantos profileTom Lantos for Congress, Campaign siteThey're jumping in head first Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz, September 30, 2002Lantos' D.C. office is a living tribute to Wallenberg Janine Zacharia, Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, April 20, 2001Lantos Lashes Out at Germany and FranceLantos set to retire after 27 years in public office '' Article in the Canadian Hungarian JournalFinding Aid to the Tom Lantos Papers, 1944-2008, The Bancroft Library
VIDEO- "CIA Colluded With The Apartheid Regime To Find Mandela When He Was Disguised As A Chauffeur" - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 02:06
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 01:42
  The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged on June 11, 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. It was also referred to as Freedomfest, Free Nelson Mandela Concert and Mandela Day. In the US, the Fox television network heavily censored the political aspects of the concert.[1][2][3]
  First of two Mandela events[edit]The Birthday Tribute was regarded by many, including the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the African National Congress, as raising worldwide consciousness of the imprisonment of ANC leader Mandela and others by the South African apartheid government and forcing the regime to release Nelson Mandela earlier than would otherwise have happened.[4][5][6][7]
  Eighteen months after the event, with a release now thought to be approaching, Mandela asked for the organisers of the event to create a second concert as an official international reception at which, after 27 years in prison, he would address the world. The second event, Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa, was, like the first, conceived to be shown on television across the world and was broadcast from Wembley Stadium to more than 60 countries on April 16, 1990.
  The first concert, according to Robin Denselow, music critic and presenter of the BBC broadcast, writing in 1989,[8] was the "biggest and most spectacular pop-political event of all time, a more political version of Live Aid with the aim of raising consciousness rather than just money."
  The organiser and risk-funder of the two events was producer and impresario Tony Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth also conceived the idea for the first event.[9][10]
  Starting point[edit]Hollingsworth developed the plan for the first Mandela concert after talking to singer Jerry Dammers of The Specials ska band, who had written the song Free Nelson Mandela in 1984 and founded the Artists Against Apartheid organisation the following year. In early 1986, Hollingsworth contacted Dammers to say that the Greater London Council, for which Hollingsworth was producing a number of festivals and concerts, might be able to fund the AAA. The authority was due to be abolished at the end of March and had spare cash to give away. But a grant turned out to be impossible because the AAA was not a legal entity and Dammers had no interest in making it one.
  Hollingsworth told Dammers that he would put on an anti-apartheid concert if the singer could find a big name. Dammers did not phone back until June 1987, although in the summer of 1986 he had organised a free anti-apartheid concert, Freedom Beat, in London's Clapham Common attended by 200,000 people.[11]
  Dammers told Hollingsworth that he had received a letter from Simple Minds, the Glasgow rock band, agreeing to perform at an event which Hollingsworth had suggested for the previous year. The two agreed to go to Edinburgh, where Simple Minds were performing, to talk about a deal for a new event.
  Hollingsworth had in mind a major event, a birthday tribute for Mandela, who would be 70 the following year. The event would seek worldwide television and would call for his release '' the first step in ending apartheid. Simple Minds was interested in the proposal but only if Hollingsworth brought in another top group.
  Persuading the Anti-Apartheid Movement[edit]At the same time, Hollingsworth started what turned out to be a series of meetings with Mike Terry, head of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in London. Also of note was the work of Robert Hughes, Baron Hughes of Woodside, whom led the AAM (Anti-Apartheid Movement) at the time these concerts were organized.[12] If the concert was to be successful, it was important to win the support of the movement and, with it, the implicit support of Mandela. But Terry and his senior officials firmly resisted Hollingsworth's proposal, insisting on three conditions, based on the policies of the African National Congress.
  First, the concert must focus on all political prisoners in South Africa, not just Mandela. Mandela had himself told the ANC that he did not wish to be singled out from other prisoners in the organisation's campaigning. Second, the event must campaign against apartheid as a whole and this was to be in its title. Third, it must call for sanctions against South Africa.
  Hollingsworth argued that the concert could not be effective under those terms. They would not work for an event that was intended for the mass media across the world, including in countries where there might be little knowledge of Mandela, let alone support for him. The event should not be "angry", but a "positive" birthday tribute, calling only for Mandela to be freed.
  Many broadcasters, Hollingsworth argued, would not televise a Mandela concert if it followed the AA and ANC campaign policies. They would regard it as a political event. Other broadcasters would provide only limited airtime. But a positive birthday tribute would conform to the broadcasters' entertainment mandate and there would be a good chance they would show the full day's event. Hollingsworth was not seeking ANC backing because that would have put off broadcasters. He wanted the AA's backing but, for similar reasons, did not want the movement's name on the event.
  Terry was the first to come round to Hollingsworth's view, but needed some time before persuading the rest of his team. On the other hand, he quickly won the approval of Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, the AA president and a former priest in southern Africa.
  Signing up first artists[edit]By the time that the Anti-Apartheid Movement had agreed to support the concert, Hollingsworth had booked Wembley Stadium for the following June and had approached several artists in addition to Simple Minds. Few were saying a definite no, but hardly anyone would commit.
  Hollingsworth wanted Dire Straits, one of the largest acts in the world and the kind of act that was needed if broadcasters across the world were to sign up for the event, to head the bill. The group took the same line as Simple Minds. The band's manager Ed Bicknell said that Dire Straits would perform if other top acts also agreed, but Hollingsworth was not to mention Dire Straits in persuading the other acts.
  Hollingsworth signed up other big names, albeit on a provisional basis, put them in touch with one another and finally they all, including Dire Straits, agreed to perform. With clearly enough talent on board, Hollingsworth announced the bill in March, three months before the June 11 event. The list included Dire Straits, Simple Minds, George Michael, Whitney Houston, Aswad, Sly and Robbie, Bee Gees, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela. The announcement of the list made it easier to bring in further artists, including the Eurythmics who had earlier refused three times, but other big names also.
  There were some difficulties. Bicknell, for instance, was shocked when Hollingsworth told him there was one condition to Dire Straits playing. The band must rehearse for the event because it had not been on tour for some time and had even disbanded, albeit temporarily. Hollingsworth, in fact, told most of the artists they must rehearse, offering to pay for all rehearsal costs. Dire Straits, like the others, complied. In the event, the band had to bring in a guest guitarist to replace Jack Sonni, who had just become the father of twin girls. The new man was Eric Clapton.
  A week after the first bill was announced, Simple Minds threatened to quit, arguing that there was not enough grit in it: Whitney Houston and George Michael, for instance, should not be there. Hollingsworth argued that there was plenty of grit but that Whitney Houston and George Michael were needed to broaden the audience to include people who were not so likely to know about Mandela and apartheid. Simple Minds accepted the argument.
  Harry Belafonte, Sting and Stevie Wonder[edit]Harry Belafonte: Hollingsworth went to New York to ask Harry Belafonte to give the opening address of the concert. Belafonte made it clear he was upset that, with so many musicians appearing, he was being asked only to talk.
  Hollingsworth told him the audience was not the right culture for him. He feared that Belafonte's singing would turn the clock back 30 years and would lose much of the television audience across the world. He was already worried about losing the audience as a result of using African singers and dancers whom many people would not have heard of. On the other hand, Belafonte, as a highly respected, internationally known personality, would be an effective speaker. Belafonte told him he would think about it, but Hollingsworth should also think about him performing.
  The two spoke a week later, with each taking much the same position, although Hollingsworth added that Belafonte could sing if he could get a category A artist, such as Bruce Springsteen or Mick Jagger or Elton John, to sing with him. Belafonte did not get any of those, but came back with a list which Hollingsworth said was not good enough. Eventually, Belafonte agreed just to give the opening speech.
  Sting: Hollingsworth went to great lengths to get Sting to perform at the concert. The singer was associated with human rights issues, partly as a result of his song They Dance Alone about the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and was at the height of his popularity. Sting's manager Miles Copeland, however, refused even to put the proposition to the singer because he would be on a world tour at the time and the Wembley concert would not fit in. The final tour schedule showed Sting due to perform in Berlin the night before Wembley and elsewhere in Europe on the evening of the Wembley concert.
  Several weeks before Wembley, Hollingsworth went to Switzerland where Sting was playing and booked himself into the same hotel. He got reception to put him through to Sting (using the singer's actual name, Gordon Sumner), told Sting that his management had refused to let him talk to the singer, and asked to meet him. Sting told him to come round to his room.
  Hollingsworth told Sting that he would fly the singer and his band to London on a private plane after his Friday evening Berlin concert, drive him to Wembley in the morning where an identical set of equipment would be set up on stage for him. Sting would then do a sound check and open the show a few minutes after mid-day, the first act of the concert (after an opening speech and a set of South African show dancers). As soon as he had done his half-hour slot, he would be driven to the airport and put on the private plane taking him back to the continent. Sting agreed.
  Copeland was furious about the agreement and shocked that Sting would open the show rather than be one of the closing acts. But the event was being organised not as a live concert but as a television show and that, according to Hollingsworth, meant a top act at the beginning when "the largest audience tunes in to see how it's going to be". At least one big act was planned for each hour of the 11-hour day in a bid to keep the audience.
  Stevie Wonder: One of the first artists that Hollingsworth tried to sign up was Stevie Wonder. He could never get through to the singer, though he phoned him every Friday at his studio. Senior members of the team told him each time that the matter was "under consideration".
  On the Wednesday before the concert, Wonder phoned back, asking whether there was still space for him. Hollingsworth told him there was a 25-minute slot '' time that had originally been kept open for Prince and Bono to sing a duet together but which the two singers turned down. Wonder agreed the booking. This was never announced but was to be a surprise for the audience. In the event, the singer caused a major backstage drama when the equipment used to play his prerecorded music was lost. He refused to play and walked out of the stadium '' though he returned later using Whitney Houston's instruments.
  Broadcast politics[edit]Once the first set of artists had signed up, broadcasters were approached, starting with the BBC. Alan Yentob, recently appointed controller of BBC2, said that he would provide five hours of airtime '' and more if the bill improved. After several more top artists were added, the BBC agreed to televise the whole show.
  Before the concert, 24 Conservative MPs put down a House of Commons motion, criticising the BBC for giving "publicity to a movement that encourages the African National Congress in its terrorist activities".[13] However, no appeal was either planned or made. Further, the artists' contracts '' which in many cases were signed backstage at Wembley '' laid down that no proceeds from the income of the event should go "towards the purchase of or in any other connection with armaments".
  What problems there were came from the other side. Both the Anti-Apartheid Movement and Hollingsworth received bomb threats warning them not to go ahead with the event. Nearer the event, there was a threat to blow up the power station distributing electricity to Wembley.
  With the BBC on board, it was easier to persuade other broadcasters to buy the rights for the concert. The show was in most cases sold to the entertainment divisions of broadcasters as a birthday tribute that would not be political. As a result, they could agree to show the event without referring the question upwards or to the news or current-affairs divisions. According to Hollingsworth, once they had agreed to show the concert, the news divisions would have to stop referring to Mandela as a terrorist leader, thereby helping to ensure that Mandela was looked upon in a more favourable light. This was said to be a campaign objective which was beginning to be achieved by March.
  Even so, given the subject matter, the event was bound to be political in a broad sense. Thus, a week before the event, the Chicago Sun-Times said that the concert would have "the most overtly political theme since the 1960s...It's a confrontational political event aimed at the government of South Africa and its practice of apartheid".[14]
  Broadcasters were also told that the concert would use two stages, enabling acts to follow each other without a break, with top acts on the main stage and lesser-known groups on the second. There would therefore be no need for broadcasters to add material between events. The reasoning was that, first, the concert would look like a television show without awkward gaps encouraging audiences to switch off; and, second, broadcasters would be less likely to impose their own narrative on the event. The use of film stars to introduce major acts also helped achieve these objectives. Some broadcasters did send presenters to carry out backstage interviews for the presumed gaps but stopped doing so after a couple of hours.
  Most broadcasters showed the event live. Others, particularly in the Americas, showed it delayed because of the time difference. Most gave more or less full coverage.
  In the US, the Fox Television network showed only six hours in what was referred to as a "significantly de-radicalised version".[1] A number of artists had their songs or speeches cut. One US newspaper objected that Fox "cut out some of the most passionate - and especially most political - moments of the day".[3]Steven Van Zandt was appalled when he saw a recording of the Fox broadcast on his return to the US. He complained to the press, describing it as "a totally Orwellian experience".[2] His own contribution, including a strident rendering of the song, Sun City, was one of those that were cut. Fox was worried about its sponsors and advertisers, particularly Coca-Cola which had booked six advertising spots for each hour.
  Whitney Houston, who was contracted to make advertisements for Coca-Cola, did her act in front of a black backdrop instead of the usual picture of Nelson Mandela. But, according to Hollingsworth, this was nothing to do with censorship but the result of an electricity generator failing.
  Fox also refused to use the concert title, Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute. Instead, it billed the show as Freedomfest, objecting to the pleas of the organisers to at least add "for Nelson Mandela".
  A further issue was highlighted by film actor Whoopi Goldberg when she came on stage to introduce one of the acts, saying that she had been told to say nothing political. The request did not come from the concert organisers but from the Fox TV producer at Wembley who, unbeknown to the organisers, told the Hollywood film stars to avoid saying anything political because an election was coming up in the States. After the event, the producer '' in charge of his own editing team for the US broadcast '' took out a full-page advertisement in a US trade magazine thanking American artists for participating in his show.
  The producer had been flown in a week before the Wembley concert to replace Fox's original choice who had been working on the production for three weeks but was thought by the network to have become infected by the political ethos of the concert organisation.
  On-stage politics[edit]There were supposed to be no political speeches at the event except for the message that Nelson Mandela should be freed '' coming from Harry Belafonte in his opening speech, from the film stars and musicians introducing the acts or the next piece of music and from the slogans around the stage. The principle '' aimed at ensuring that broadcasters would, first, buy the television rights and, second, continue to show the proceedings '' was more or less followed.
  Early on, the organisers stopped an insistent Jesse Jackson, the black American politician, from going on stage to make a speech. To have agreed to the request would have made it very difficult to say no to others. Jackson was, instead, shepherded to the Royal Box, joining Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock and Liberal leader David Steel along with a number of actors and musicians.
  Nonetheless, the posters, the political references from the actors and musicians, the music itself, the way the singers worked the audience and the audience response almost certainly got across a wider political message about apartheid. One or two artists took a harder line. Stephen Van Zandt, for instance, in the run-up to singing Sun City with Simple Minds, declared that "we the people will no longer tolerate the terrorism of the government of South Africa" and that "we will no longer do business with those who do business with the terrorist government of South Africa".
  Stevie Wonder walks out[edit]Stevie Wonder landed in England on the Saturday morning of the concert and went straight to Wembley Stadium, where a room was prepared for him and his band to warm up. He was to appear in the evening after UB40. His appearance had not been announced.
  UB40 were finishing their set on the main stage, and Wonder's equipment was set up, plugged in and ready to be rolled on after a 10-minute act on a side stage. He was about to walk up the ramp to the stage when it was discovered that the hard disc of his synclavier, carrying all 25 minutes of synthesised music for his act, was missing. He said he could not play without it, turned round, walked down the ramp crying, with his band and other members of his entourage following him, and out of the stadium.
  There was an urgent need to fill the gap he had left and Tracy Chapman, who had already performed her act, agreed to appear again. The two appearances shot her to stardom, with two songs from her recently released first album, "Fast Car" and "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution". Before the concert, she had sold about 250,000 albums. In the following two weeks, she was said to have sold two million.
  Wonder returned to the stadium, but turned down the request to use the same equipment as the present act on the main stage, Whitney Houston. Other members of the band said they would use other people's equipment. Finally, with time running out, Wonder agreed.
  Whitney finished with three encores and the next act, Salt-N-Pepa (SNP), started on the side stage using 3 minutes and 30 seconds of pre-approved stage time. Following SNP's performance, there was no announcement, no sound from the main stage until, out of the darkness, came the opening lines of "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and a huge roar from the audience. The lights came on and Wonder went into the rest of the set. With the loss of the programmed hard disc, he shouted the change of notes to the band.
  Resonant music[edit]The concert included several well-known protest songs and others which received an added resonance from the occasion. The songs included:
  Funding and organisation[edit]The initial funding for Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute came from Hollingsworth and, specifically, from the money which he had put into the production company, Elephant House, set up with television producer Neville Bolt. But the money amounted only "to 75 per cent of what was needed as a minimum". Funding to help pay the deposit on Wembley Stadium came from a trade-union loan organised by the Anti Apartheid Movement.
  Wembley agreed to the unusual procedure of handing over ticket revenue as soon as it came in, and some television companies agreed to pay rights fees earlier than usual (although the BBC did not pay cash but provided facilities).
  Although the aim of the day was to raise consciousness about South Africa and Mandela, the event also made a profit of $5 million. One half went to the AAM to cover its costs, including a protest march the following day; and one half to seven charities named by Archbishop Huddleston on condition that none of the money went towards the purchase of armaments.
  The seven charities were: Oxfam, Christian Aid, War on Want, Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, Save the Children, Bishop Ambrose Reeves Trust and the International Defence and Aid Fund. With the charities in mind, a company, Freedom Productions, was set up to which the artists rights were assigned.
  Rights in the event are held by Tribute Inspirations Limited.
  Postscript[edit]The estimated audience for the Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute of 600 million in 67 countries was arguably an underestimate in that several broadcasters in Africa were given a free licence. However, the apartheid government did not allow the event to be broadcast in South Africa. But news of the event and its popularity reached Mandela and other political prisoners. In time, the strong ripple effect is thought to have increased pressure on the government to release Mandela, and it became increasingly likely that he would be released, albeit 20 months after the concert and 27 years after he was put in prison.
  Shortly before Mandela's release, Hollingsworth, Terry and Mandela's lawyer sat down in London to plan another broadcast event to celebrate Mandela's release and to call for the end of Apartheid.
  Performers and Speakers[edit]In order of appearance:
  The Farafina DrummersSting (introduced by Harry Belafonte) '' "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free", "They Dance Alone", "Every Breath You Take", "Message in a Bottle"George Michael (introduced by Lenny Henry) '' "Village Ghetto Land", "If You Were My Woman", "Sexual Healing"Sir Richard Attenborough - speechWhoopi Goldberg and Richard Gere - speechEurythmics (introduced by Richard Gere) '' "I Need a Man", "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)", "Here Comes the Rain Again", "You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart", "When Tomorrow Comes", "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", "Brand New Day"Graham Chapman - speechThe Arnhemland DancersWhoopi Goldberg - speechAmabutho Male ChorusLenny Henry doing a Michael Jackson parodyAl Green (introduced by Lenny Henry) '' "Let's Stay Together"Joe Cocker '' "Unchain My Heart"Jonathan Butler - "True Love Never Fails"Freddie Jackson - "Jam Tonight"Ashford & Simpson - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"Natalie Cole - "Pink Cadillac"Al Green, Joe Cocker, Jonathan Butler, Freddie Jackson, Ashford & Simpson, and Natalie Cole - "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", "Higher and Higher"Lenny Henry - Introduction for Stephen Fry and Hugh LaurieFry & Laurie (Stand-up comedy)Phil Collins All Stars (House Band)The Phantom Horns - Johnny Thirkell, Gary Barnacle, Peter Thoms, Simon GardnerTracy Chapman (1st appearance) - "Why?", "Behind the Wall", "Talkin' Bout a Revolution"Wet Wet Wet (introduced by Daryl Hannah) - "Wishing I Was Lucky"Tony Hadley - "A Harvest for the World"Joan Armatrading - "Love and Affection"Midge Ure - "Dear God" (w/Phil Collins & Mark Brzezicki)Paul Carrack - "How Long?"Fish - "Kayleigh"Paul Young - "Don't Dream It's Over"Curt Smith - "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"Bryan Adams - "Somebody"Bee Gees - "You Win Again", "I've Gotta Get a Message to You"Ali MacGraw and Philip Michael Thomas - Introduction for Jonas GwangwaJonas GwangwaSalif Keita (introduced by Lenny Henry)Youssou N'Dour - "Pitche Mi"Jackson Browne and Youssou N'Dour - "When the Stone Begins to Turn"Sly & Robbie and Aswad - "Set Them Free"Mahlathini and the Mahotella QueensUB40 (introduced by Gregory Hines) - "Rat in Mi Kitchen", "Red Red Wine"UB40 and Chrissie Hynde - "I Got You Babe", "Breakfast in Bed", "Sing Our Own Song"Whoopi Goldberg - One Woman ShowTracy Chapman (2nd appearance) - "Fast Car", "Across the Lines"Billy Connolly - speechHugh Masekela/Miriam Makeba - "Soweto Blues"Miriam Makeba - "Pata Pata"Courtney Pine & IDJ DancersSimple Minds (introduced by Emily Lloyd & Denzel Washington) - "Waterfront"Simple Minds featuring Johnny Marr - "Summertime Blues"Simple Minds - "Mandela Day", "Sanctify Yourself", "East at Easter", "Alive and Kicking"Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds & Youssou N'Dour - "Biko"Steven van Zandt, Simple Minds, Peter Gabriel, Meat Loaf, Jackson Browne, Youssou N'Dour & Daryl Hannah - "Sun City"Jerry Dammers, Simple Minds - "Free Nelson Mandela"Harry Enfield (Stand-up comedy)AmampondoWhitney Houston (introduced by Corbin Bernsen and Jennifer Beals) - "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "Love Will Save the Day", "So Emotional", "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", "How Will I Know", "He/I Believe" (duet with her mother Cissy Houston), "I Wanna Dance with Somebody", "Greatest Love of All"Salt-N-Pepa (introduced by Meat Loaf) - "Push It"Derek B - "Free Mandela"Stevie Wonder - "I Just Called to Say I Love You", speech, "Dark 'n Lovely"Fat Boys and Chubby Checker - "The Twist"Harry Enfield (Stand-up comedy)Billy Connolly (Stand-up comedy)Dire Straits featuring Eric Clapton (introduced by Billy Connolly) - "Walk of Life", "Sultans of Swing", "Romeo and Juliet", "Money for Nothing", "Brothers in Arms", "Wonderful Tonight", "Solid Rock"Jessye Norman - "Amazing Grace" (Finale)Further appearances included Grupo Experimental de Dansa, H. B. Barnum, Mick Karn, Mark Kelly[disambiguation needed], Ray Lema, and Steve Norman.
  See also[edit]References[edit]^ abThe Art of Protest, by T.V Reed, p174. University of Minnesota Press, 2005)^ abUnreliable Sources: A guide to Detecting Bias in News Media, by Martin A Lee and Norman Solomon. ISBN 0-8184-0561-9. Quoted by Norman Solomon in Political and Corporate Censorship in the Land of the Free, by John Shirley, Gauntlet No.3 1992.^ abBoston Globe, June 13, 1988, By Steve Morse, Globe Staff^Mike Ketchum. "The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Concert, Wembley Stadium, London, 11 June 1988". African National Congress. ^Letter from Mike Terry, Executive Secretary, Anti-Apartheid Movement, January 18, 2003: "Before the first event, the prospect of Nelson Mandela's imminent release from prison seemed completely unrealistic. Yet within 20 months he walked free and I have no doubt that the first event played a decisive role in making this happen. This was implicitly acknowledged by Nelson Mandela, himself, by his decision to participate in the second event."^Letter from Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, July 12, 1995: "The result of his efforts helped to generate the pressures which secured the release of Nelson Mandela."^ANC website message: "...the worldwide campaign for the release of Nelson Mandela and political prisoners made a decisive contribution...One event in particular symbolised that campaign - the 'Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute'...The ANC owes an enormous debt of gratitude to the artists and performers and all those who made that event possible...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Nelson_Mandela_70th_Birthday_Tribute#Accuracy[dead link]^Denselow, R. When The Music's Over: The Story of Political Pop, p276. Faber and Faber, 1990. ISBN 0-571-13906-X^Letter from Mike Terry, Executive Secretary, Anti-Apartheid Movement, January 18, 2003: "...he performed multiple roles of creator, risk taker, executive producer, producer and artists recruiter. He never claimed such an array of titles nor pushed himself in front of the media preferring to let the media focus on the cause at hand."^Letter to Hollingsworth from AAM, signed by Archbishop Huddleston, Dr Allan Boesak, Robert Huges MP, Andimba Toivo ja Toivo and Oliver Tambo, president of the African National Congress, June 12, 1988, the day after the first Mandela concert: "On behalf of all of us who got the credit for the marvellous Anti Apartheid concert and all that will follow from it - a thousand thanks!"^Anti-racism education for Australian schools^http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hughes,_Baron_Hughes_of_Woodside^Denselow, R (1990) When The Music's Over: The Story of Political Pop, p279. Faber and Faber, 1990. ISBN 0-571-13906-X^John Swenson, "Big pop concert will seek Nelson Mandela's release", Chicago Sun-Times, June 4, 1988Further reading[edit]M. Rainbird Pub. in association with Associated Media: Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute : with Artists Against Apartheid in support of the anti apartheid movement, Wembley Stadium, Saturday 11 June, London. Concert booklet. OCLC 23081366Lahusen, Christian. 1996. The rhetoric of moral protest public campaigns, celebrity endorsement, and political mobilization. De Gruyter studies in organization, 76. Berlin: W. de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-015093-3External links[edit]
VIDEO- Ridding Mandela of the Terrorist Label - Tony Hollingsworth's Interview with Carte Blanche - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 01:30
Pierre Omidyar in 2009: ''Anybody who publishes stolen info should help catch the thief'' | PandoDaily
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 08 Dec 2013 01:16
  By Paul CarrOn December 7, 2013
  As regular readers will know, over the past few weeks, Pando has published arguments on bothsides of the debate around the fact that Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, the only two people will access to Snowden's NSA Secrets (TM), have both been hired by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar to run his new journalism site.
  One of the most controversial questions is whether Omidyar's pro-business, apparently libertarian worldview means his reporters will be encouraged to report on government wrong-doing but discouraged from applying the same scrutiny to business. It's an important question, not only because it was big business who tanked the global economy in 2007, but also, as Yasha Levine wrote this morning, because the government is increasingly contracting private companies to do its dirtiest work.
  Even Greenwald supporters like Pando's David Sirota have admitted that, at best, we don't know what Omidyar's approach to reporting on business will be. In our debate on the subject earlier this week, he advocated a ''wait and see'' approach.
  It's certainly true that, to know how Omidyar would react if a Snowden-esque source arrived with a cache of leaked corporate documents, we'd need a concrete example of that happening.
  Fortunately, thanks to Twitter-troll-turned-Greenwald-critic OhTarzie, we now have an answer. Tarzie found the following Tweet from Omidyar, posted back in 2009 after TechCrunch published leaked documents from Twitter.
  Omidyar's position on journalists publishing corporate leaks?
  So there you go. A definitive answer, direct from Glenn Greenwald's new boss. ''TechCrunch and anybody else who pubs stolen info should help catch the thief. Shldnt pub in the 1st place.''
  Rest easy, corporate America, your secrets will be perfectly safe with Pierre Omidyar. And if anyone is considering approaching Greenwald or his new boss with leaked corporate documents, don't be surprised if their first call is to the FBI.
A very middle class enemy of the State: How DID an ex-pupil of £30k-a-year Sevenoaks School in Kent end up in exile in Berlin... clutching a laptop of UK state secrets...via a 'romance' with Julian Assange? | Mail Online
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 22:51
  Sarah Harrison is wanted by British and American secret servicesThe former public school girl led Edward Snowden to MoscowIf she returns to UK she fears she will be detained and interrogatedBy Sarah Oliver
  PUBLISHED: 17:17 EST, 7 December 2013 | UPDATED: 17:23 EST, 7 December 2013
  'Activism is not terrorism': Sarah Harrison says she she has been 'spat out' by the British Government
  A very middle class enemy of the State: How DID an ex-pupil of £30k-a-year Sevenoaks School in Kent end up in exile in Berlin...clutching a laptop of UK state secrets...via a 'romance' with Julian Assange?
  Like all the best characters in a Cold War thriller, Sarah Harrison '' currently exiled in Berlin '' is hiding in plain sight. Muffled in a knitted beanie hat and a fake fur jacket against the slicing cold of the German winter, she is lost among the capital's crowds.
  Yet for 40 days and 40 nights '' 'pretty biblical', she jokes '' she was the woman most wanted by both British and American secret services.
  Harrison, 31, is the public school girl from the Home Counties who led American National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden to Moscow after he revealed the most extraordinary cache of Western secrets ever seen.
  The WikiLeaks journalist, and rumoured former lover of its boss Julian Assange, remained by Snowden's side in the transit area of Russia's Sheremetyevo airport for those 40 days until President Putin granted him temporary asylum.
  A month ago she relocated to Germany where she remains in a stand-off with our intelligence agencies, a self-proclaimed enemy of the British State.
  Harrison cannot return to the UK for fear of being detained and interrogated under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, and surrendering the contents of her encrypted computer. She has been 'spat out' as she sees it, by her own Government.
  And while expatriation is the traditional price of treachery, it's not one she believes she deserves to pay.
  'Whistleblowing and publishing should not be seen as a crime and certainly not as terrorism. I should feel welcome to come home without the risk of detention,' she told me, in her first interview since that June flight from Hong Kong to Russia which stunned the world.
  'I'm not in an airport any more but I am still in transit and I find that very sad since I have done nothing wrong. As a British citizen I would like to come back to the UK to see my family and friends, but I have no idea when that will be possible.
  Trusted adviser: with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in London in 2010
  'It's crazy that the Terrorism Act is being used for this. It's making terrorism any act designed to influence government behaviour but that's journalism or activism, not terrorism.
  This is a terrible betrayal of the last 200 years of freedom of the press but the Government doesn't seem to care about that or the rule of law. It's launched a brutal attack on both.'
  She is building a new '' albeit she hopes temporary '' life in Berlin. It's a city which historically stood on a fault line between two worlds, one a place of state surveillance and popular repression, the other of individual liberty. This metaphor for the conflicting demands of national security and freedom of information is not lost on her.
  The myth around Harrison is one of a zealous, unafraid, intelligent but enigmatic blonde. What is true is that she has devoted the last three years of her life to forensic analysis of the classified material leaked to WikiLeaks.
  In limbo: Sarah Harrison meets MoS writer Sarah Oliver in Berlin
  Whether that makes her a naive idealogue co-opted by those willing to compromise Britain's national security or a very contemporary heroine depends on your politics.
  Faced with accusations that she orchestrated the flight of a man who betrayed secrets harmful to Britain's national interests '' including the names of live foreign agents '' she is unrepentant.
  It was confirmed last week by Guardian newspaper Editor Alan Rusbridger, when he appeared before the Home Affairs Select Committee, that those names had been sent to US journalists by his newspaper in the course of its reporting of the Snowden files.
  But Harrison says: 'The UK government is embarrassed because journalists have done their job properly while the government has failed to do its job.
  The government originally sent these documents to the US where they were made available to the tens of thousands of contractors in US companies who do more than 80 per cent of the NSA's work.
  'It is because of journalists that we now know what the State does with our privacy.
  'The UK government has a responsibility to keep secrets in some circumstances. It also has a responsibility not to abuse that power for other purposes. It failed both. Our job is to document how governments go wrong, not to cover up for them.
  'It's precisely because I believe what we're doing is right that I don't want the British Government to take my laptop. It would interfere with the public's right to know about the important abuses we are researching.
  'The Guardian let GCHQ destroy its computers. We fought the Second World War to prevent the UK becoming a state where the government could seize journalists' notebooks '' it's time that such behaviour stopped.'
  In person she is funnier and franker than you might expect for someone whose life's work is dealing with secrets and lies. She's also contradictory.
  She's not in it for the money. She declines to say how much she earns but confirms that she took a 40 per cent pay cut when WikiLeaks was subject to a global banking blockade.
  Nor is she in it for fame. With her slim figure, long ringlets of dark blonde hair and a foxy gap-toothed grin, she could easily trade on her looks in an otherwise geeky world she inhabits but she doesn't. She is 'too busy' for a relationship but does have a loyal core of friends who are planning to visit her in Berlin.
  She was in Melbourne on a WikiLeaks project in June when Snowden, in her words, 'reached out' to the organisation. For legal reasons she will supply only the scantest detail of the following days.
  'It was early in the morning in Australia for me when Julian got in contact. He said, ''Wake up, we're busy with Snowden,'' and I thought, ''What's happened to the mountain in Wales, then?'' Once I'd established the mountain was all right I realised he meant the NSA guy.
  'On a basic human level, I wanted to help someone who was potentially going to prison for the rest of their life. I knew what I risked. I did it in the knowledge it would upset the governments of the USA and the UK but believed it was the right thing to do.'
  Sanctuary: Whistleblower Snowden with Harrison in Moscow
  She met Snowden in Hong Kong and travelled with him to Moscow en route to Ecuador. But on arrival in Russia they discovered the US had revoked his passport. Did she not want to quit then? 'No,' she says adamantly, 'I could have continued but I didn't feel it was the ethical thing to do.'
  That decision left her stranded for almost six weeks in the transit area of Sheremetyevo, administering her day-to-day life from there and surviving on burgers and pizza. She was able to see the outside world through a window but not re-join it.
  She had an internet connection so was able to follow news of the face-off between President Obama and President Putin and the forced landing in Austria of a plane carrying President Evo Morales of Bolivia in the mistaken belief that the fugitive Snowden was on board.
  She made 21 asylum applications on behalf of Snowden without expecting them to be granted, more to stress test global government reaction.
  'Very few countries stood up in support although in the end Russia did the right thing,' she says. 'Saving Edward Snowden from prison is one of WikiLeaks' achievements of which I am most proud.
  'I am fascinated to see how it ends. He is safe now but the United States will seek revenge for decades to come,' she said.
  She believes so many more intelligence secrets will have been spilled by the close of Snowden's year in Russia that world opinion '' he has faced caustic criticism for endangering the work of the NSA and Britain's GCHQ '' will have softened.
  She cites as an example the fury in Germany over the revelation that American listened in to Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.
  Wanted: Snowden worked at the National Security Agency for four years
  So what's her opinion of Snowden? 'I think he is hugely courageous and he will be well judged by history.'
  And if she'd known she'd be trapped in transit with him for 40 days and 40 nights and then indefinitely exiled in Berlin would she have made the same decision to help? 'Yes. Absolutely.'
  I believe her, although she'd be the first to admit she's an unlikely candidate for this kind of life.
  Born into an upper middle-class family and raised in a large home near Sevenoaks, she attended the £29,600-a-year Sevenoaks school before enjoying a gap year backpacking and skiing.
  She is the eldest of three daughters of Ian and Jennifer Harrison, a retired Burton executive and a reading support teacher.
  Her sisters Kate, 29, and Alex, 23, live and work in the Far East, moving in the glamorous worlds of fashion and PR respectively.
  Harrison describes her family as 'traditional; normal and loving.' Her parents delighted her by publicly articulating their faith in her judgment and tellingly, will be visiting her over Christmas.
  She was a deeply moral child who perpetually looked beyond her own good fortune, volunteering to help blind and disadvantaged youngsters.
  So motivated was she by the television programme Challenge Anneka that, as a ten-year-old, she wrote to the then Prime Minister Sir John Major telling him that if he used Britain's unemployed to build houses for the homeless he'd solve two social problems simultaneously.
  This anecdote is instructive because it reveals she was born rather than inculcated with a belief in her own ability to create real strategic change.
  It was this belief which drove her to dump her early ambitions to become a doctor, quitting a degree in Biological Science at Edinburgh University for an English Literature degree at Queen Mary, University of London. She switched her focus to investigative journalism but the cool scientist's brain is still at work.
  It's there in her love of data, her ability to be dispassionate when necessary and the quick, clean analysis of complex legal issues which has made her one of Assange's most trusted advisers.
  She took a position as an intern at the Centre for Investigative Journalism at London's City University and then moved across as a junior researcher at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which is also affiliated to City. She was seconded to WikiLeaks and then joined its staff three years ago.
  'I was finally able to fulfil the things I wanted in a job '' this was work on a massive scale.
  'With my logical scientific background I have to know how something works. The work of WikiLeaks is with principal documentary evidence, that's where the truth lies.
  'Saving Edward Snowden from prison is one of WikiLeaks' achievements of which I am most proud.'I am fascinated to see how it ends. He is safe now but the United States will seek revenge for decades to come'
  'It gets to the heart of the matter. It educates people and in turn empowers them.'
  But that career devoted to empowering others has made her vulnerable, as evinced by her European exile. She refuses to have a mobile phone on the assumption that all her communications are monitored.
  She won't discuss her personal security but says she does not feel threatened physically although she believes her movements are watched.
  So does she share Assange's view that the world is sleepwalking towards a dystopian future?
  'To know we are being spied on by our own Government, and to have someone else's government collaborating on that, to know that data storage is so cheap your information can be kept for years and used to create any kind of story, to me that's a grave attack on human rights. The question is where is it all going to end?
  'People don't yet fully understand the repercussions of this, they are not outraged. Not yet.
  'The Government is behind in its understanding that the internet is everywhere, it doesn't see that this generation grew up online and that accessing information freely and being connected is now part of their psyche. It needs to catch up.
  'Its response to the revelations made by Edward Snowden made me ashamed. He stands accused of treachery '' but who has truly betrayed whom?'
  I spoke to Harrison in an office off Wilhelmstrasse in central Berlin. Beneath a railway bridge in perfect English someone has spray-painted the slogan: 'Better to be a lion for one day than to be a sheep your whole life.'
  For all the controversy she courts and has caused, no one can deny that Harrison has seized her moment to live as a lion roaring at the rest of us to wake up.
  Share or comment on this article
As a School Shooting's First Anniversary Nears, Newtown Asks for Privacy - NYTimes.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 22:25
  NEWTOWN, Conn. '-- The people here are adamant: They do not want a return to their streets of the antenna-topped vans from an international array of news media, and reporters holding microphones to their faces.
  So intent is the town on suppressing attention that officials are urging businesses, churches and institutions to not let TV vans use their parking lots. The police will also be on the lookout for any such vans parked along the winding roads outside of town.
  The town will not mark the anniversary of the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which occurred on Dec. 14, 2012, with a public remembrance.
  Schools or houses of worship may mark the day with speeches or prayers for the 20 first graders and six adults who were killed, but there will be no globally broadcast roll call of names, no playing of bagpipes, no honor guards.
  Michele Gay, who relocated to Massachusetts this year after losing her daughter Josephine in the shooting.
  Evan McGlinn for The New York Times
  ''All of these children, they need a chance to be happy,'' said Maria Ruggiero, an employee at the Village Perk Cafe, speaking of the town's children. ''This constant reminder of sadness, it needs to stop. That's why we want the media to stay away.''
  Normally, the first anniversary of such a tragedy would draw hordes of journalists, as happened with the mass killings at Aurora, Colo., and Virginia Tech. And each year since the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001, there has been extensive, live coverage by the news media as the names of the dead are read at a solemn ceremony in downtown Manhattan.
  But at least two TV networks '-- NBC and ABC '-- say they have no plans to dispatch fully equipped crews through Newtown that day. One TV executive said that parents had urged his network to stay away because children were still suffering from anxiety, and the sight of TV vans triggered reminders of the shootings.
  ''NBC News is respecting the town's wishes and our broadcasts have no plans to be in Newtown for the anniversary,'' said Erika Masonhall, a spokeswoman for the network.
  CBS News plans to be there, though it has already been turned down for some spots to park trucks.
  ''Our goal is to have the smallest footprint possible,'' said Tim Gaughan, director of special events for CBS News. ''We don't want to be intrusive, but we're confident we can report the story and not get in the way.''
  Beyond the desire for keeping their grief private, the town's business owners are concerned about their economic well-being. Last December, media vehicles clogged streets, making it difficult to get to shops during the important Christmas season.
  ''Even the places you could get to, you didn't want to because you'd have a microphone or TV camera in your face,'' said Jim Morely, a board member of Newtown Savings Bank.
  Patricia Llodra, Newtown's first selectman, equivalent to a mayor, said she had unanimous support for lowering the day's temperature. In a town of 28,000 people, she said, almost everybody is regularly reminded of the lost children and teachers by the faces and places they see.
  ''The difference with 9/11 is that it happened in a city of millions of people,'' said Ms. Llodra, who was at the firehouse when parents were told one by one that their children had been killed. ''It is possible to have a life in New York without continual reminders '-- for us, we live this tragedy every day.'' ''We need our own time to heal,'' she said. ''We're in this journey of recovery, 28,000 of us.''
  The town could not help but be reminded last month when the Connecticut state's attorney in Danbury released a 48-page report that chronicled the rampage by the gunman, Adam Lanza, and painted a disturbing portrait of his obsession with guns and mass shootings, and his willful isolation, even from his parents. Then, on Wednesday, recordings of the calls to 911 from inside the school were released.
  The townspeople say they do not want to be forever defined by tragedy.
  ''We're not victims,'' Ms. Llodra said. ''We don't see ourselves as broken and we want to be able to have a positive future.''
  The town has demolished one likely media focus, the school, where Mr. Lanza, 20, shot his way through a locked door, opened fire on the principal, staff members and two classrooms of first graders before shooting himself with a handgun. The town made it virtually impossible to take mementos from the building's remains '-- it had the structural steel melted '-- or to photograph it close up. The news media had to fly in helicopters overhead as the school was razed.
  One singularly affected group, the parents of the 12 children who were in the invaded classrooms but survived, will no longer speak to reporters, though two confided to The Associated Press in September about the nightmares, anxious moments and curiosity about perished classmates that their children still experienced.
  Parents of the slain children as well as unnerved neighbors '-- ''it struck everyone with such intimacy,'' said John Woodall, a local psychiatrist '-- continue to devote themselves to philanthropic projects and advocacy that reflect themes that were dear to their children or were a motif in the tragedy. Thirteen sets of parents have started memorial foundations to raise money for art instruction, mental health research, physical fitness, horseback riding lessons, even lessons in compassion, according to Sharon Cohen, a local writer who has compiled a book about the projects.
  With Joey's Fund, Michele Gay raised $200,000 for families with autistic children like her 7-year-old, Josephine, a girl who loved Barbie dolls, swinging with her sisters, and the color purple. And Ms. Gay worked with another parent, Alissa Parker, whose daughter Emilie was also killed, to help improve school security.
  ''It doesn't take away the pain of missing her, the heartache of how we lost her,'' Ms. Gay said of her efforts. ''But at the very least it allows us to help others.''
  Mark Barden started ''What Would Daniel Do?'' to promote what he calls acts of kindness. Daniel, his son, was a child who would pick a worm up from the driveway and return it to the grass, Mr. Barden said, or help a classmate with a stuck jacket zipper.
  ''We're not going to have his presence in our life so we're going to do what we can do to do the things he would have done,'' he said.
  Townspeople who did not lose a family member have also channeled their emotions into action. Po Murray, who lived 50 yards from the killer's house, has met Congressional representatives to push for laws to deter gun violence. Last March, Monte Frank, a lawyer, and two dozen cyclists rode 375 miles to Washington for the same cause.
  The families of victims support the decision to observe the anniversary out of the limelight, even if, paradoxically, they are grateful to the media for the blizzard of condolences. Ms. Gay said that every encounter with journalists had been respectful. Still, she said, Dec. 14 should not be a day to be swamped.
  ''It's difficult enough to have to go through this and no one should, but it's very important to all the families that they own their own grieving process,'' she said.
PJ Lifestyle >> Raining on the Nelson Mandela Parade
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 22:18
  That ''armed wing'' carried out terror attacks at shopping centers, movie theaters and other civilian targets, not just ''establishment'' ones like courts and banks.
  These attacks blew many innocent whites and blacks to bits.
  (Note: some of these crime scene photos are disturbing.)
  And when Mandela was arrested, the authorities claimed to have uncovered ''210,000 hand grenades, 48,000 anti-personnel mines, 1,500 time devices, 144 tons of ammonium nitrate, 21.6 tons of aluminium powder and 1 ton of black powder.''
  Governments around the world, such as the ones in the U.S. and Great Britain, placed the ANC on their terror lists, along with the PLO, the IRA and the FLQ.
  So when the Left adopted the destruction of apartheid as its new fashionable cause in the late 1980s, the organizer of that ''Free Nelson Mandela'' concert, Tony Hollingsworth, knew he needed to ''personalize'' the cause, and give that particular person a big makeover, pronto.
  Hollingsworth now admits that the all-star extravaganza ''had everything to do with ridding Mandela of his terrorist tag and ensuring his release. ('...) Mandela and the movement should be seen as something positive, confident, something you would like to be in your living room with.''
  Mandela danced out of prison less than two years after the concert.
  Oh, and not long after that, he was filmed singing an ANC song about killing white people:
Terrorist to Icon
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 22:18
  Published: Thursday, June 13, 2013
  Afp, Johannesburg
  So revered is Nelson Mandela today that it is easy to forget that for decades he was considered a terrorist by many foreign governments, and some of his now supporters.The anti-apartheid hero was on a US terror watch list until 2008 and while still on Robben Island, Britain's late ''Iron Lady'' Margaret Thatcher described his African National Congress as a ''typical terrorist organisation.''That Mandela's image has been transformed so thoroughly is a testament to the man's achievements, but also, in part, to a concert that took place in London 25 years ago this week.For organiser Tony Hollingsworth the June 11, 1988 gig at London's Wembley Stadium had very little to do with Mandela's 70th birthday, as billed.It had everything to do with ridding Mandela of his terrorist tag and ensuring his release.Hollingsworth convinced Simple Minds, Dire Straits, Sting, George Michael, The Eurythmics, Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder into the 83-artist line up to perform.With that musical firepower came contracts for a more than 11 hour broadcast.The gig at Wembley attracted broadcasters in nearly 70 countries and was watched by more than half a billion people around the world, still one of the largest audiences ever for an entertainment event.Nelson Mandela was released from jail 19 months later, after 27 years in prison. A second concert was later held to celebrate.''Before the first event, the prospect of Nelson Mandela's imminent release from prison seemed completely unrealistic,'' Terry would later say.''Yet within 20 months he walked free and I have no doubt that the first event played a decisive role in making this happen,'' Hollingsworth said.
  Last Modified: 178 days ago
Nothing Beyond the Octopus Reach; Republican Author of Patriot Act Seeks Prosecution of Obama's Intelligence Director for Lying to Congress
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 22:11
  Obama's National Intelligence Director, James Clapper, blatantly lied to Congress last Spring when in response to a question stated the NSA does not "not wittingly" collect information on Americans in bulk. The lie was revealed thanks to American hero and true patriot, Edward Snowden.
  Proven a liar, Clapper now freely admits he gave the "least untruthful" answer he could without revealing classified information.
  The Hill reports Patriot Act author says "Obama's intel czar should be prosecuted"
  Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the original author of the Patriot Act, says Director of National Intelligence James Clapper should be prosecuted for lying to Congress.
  "Lying to Congress is a federal offense, and Clapper ought to be fired and prosecuted for it," the Wisconsin Republican said in an interview with The Hill.
  He said the Justice Department should prosecute Clapper for giving false testimony during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in March.
  During that hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked Clapper whether the National Security Agency (NSA) collects data on millions of Americans. Clapper insisted that the NSA does not '-- or at least does "not wittingly" '-- collect information on Americans in bulk.
  After documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA collects records on virtually all U.S. phone calls, Clapper apologized for the misleading comment.
  The intelligence director said he tried to give the "least untruthful" answer he could without revealing classified information.
  Sensenbrenner said that explanation doesn't hold water and argued the courts and Congress depend on accurate testimony to do their jobs.
  "The only way laws are effective is if they're enforced," Sensenbrenner said. "If it's a criminal offense '-- and I believe Mr. Clapper has committed a criminal offense '-- then the Justice Department ought to do its job."
  Nothing Beyond the Octopus ReachInfowars reports Spying Spooks Throw It In Americans' Faces With New Octopus-Engulfing-World Logo
  Following this year's further revelations on the NSA actively spying on Americans' communications, along with the president's promise to ''reign in'' the powers of US spooks, one would have expected that the government would be engaged in a damage control campaign going forward.
  However, this is the criminally insane military industrial complex usurped government we're referring to, so Instead they're putting world-eating Octopus logos on the side of spy satellites and tweeting about it.
  Here's a photograph of the launch of NROL-39, the latest government spy satellite being overseen by The National Reconnaissance Office, which provides signals intelligence to the NSA, among other agencies. The NRO is considered one of the ''big 5'" spy agencies.
  NRO Spy Satellite
  Let's hone in on the logo.
  The logo reads "nothing beyond our reach".
  Obviously that includes Merkel's phone, and anything else the NSA wants to spy on.
  The NRO claims "The octopus, is a versatile, adaptable, and highly intelligent creature. Emblematically, enemies of the United States can be reached no matter where they choose to hide."
  To me that sounds like the "least untruthful" response without admitting what the symbol really means and what they really intend to do: spy on literally everything.
  Anti-Patriot Act
  The Patriot Act was anything but. It should be scrapped. James Clapper should be prosecuted and spend the rest of his life in prison where he can think about the true meaning of patriotism.
  Meanwhile, those looking for a true patriot ought to stand up and salute Edward Snowden. He risked his life, security, and personal freedom to protect the US constitution. What's more patriotic than that?
  Mike "Mish" Shedlockhttp://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
aangirfan: THE MURDEROUS MANDELAS
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 22:10
  Stompie Stompie was reportedly a Mandela victim.6'4" tall Mandela and his first wife Evelyn Mase in 1944
  Victim of MandelaNelson Mandela's terrorists planted bombs in public places, thus killing women and children.
  Victims of Mandela.
  Mandela's first wife was Evelyn.
  Mandela flaunted his girl friends in front of Evelyn.
  According to Evelyn: "There was another woman and this one started coming home, walking into our bedroom, following him into the bathroom .'‰.'‰. I declared that I would not allow it."
  The ballroom dancing ladies' man with a very tempestuous love life
  It was reported that Mandela had an illegitimate son.
  In her divorce petition Evelyn accused Mandela of beating her, throttling her, and threatening to attack her with an axe.
  Nelson and Winnie
  Before the divorce, in 1958, Mandela had taken up with Winnie and they eventually married.
  Winnie was Mandela's sort of woman.
  In 1964 Mandela was jailed for life.
  When Winnie was allowed to return to Johannesburg in 1986 she became a murderous gangster.
  Winnie called for her followers to attack their enemies with 'matches and their necklaces' - tyres filled with petrol, put around people's necks, and set on fire.
  Winnie set up Mandela United, a militia which recruited thugs from the townships.
  These thugs were used to terrorise Black people.
  These thugs would kidnap Blacks and take them to Winnie's home, a large mansion surrounded by electric fences.
  Winnie liked to whip her captives, put plastic bags over their heads and then have them disposed of.
  Stompie (right) The Truth About South Africa.
  Winnie was accused, by one of her bodyguards, of having played a part in the murder of Stompie Sepei Moetesky, a 14-year-old boy.
  Stompie was tortured and his throat was cut.
  His body was found next to Winnie's house in 1989.
  The ballroom dancing ladies' man
  Many other boys were murdered, reportedly by Winnie's gang.
  In 1998, Mandela married Graca Machel, the former wife of Mozambique's president.
  Nelson Mandela has been accused of giving no affection to his children, some of whom have died in tragic circumstances.
  Read more: http://www.dailymail.
  At least two of these people are said to be spooks: Jemima Khan, Imran Khan, Naomi Campbell, Charles Taylor (CIA), Nelson Mandela (MI6), Gracha Machel, Quincy Jones, Mia Farrow and Tony Leung
  Nelson Mandela is said to have worked for MI6.
  MANDELA THE SPOOK
  Above we see Nelson Mandela and his friend Charles Taylor.
  Charles Taylor helped to finance the attacks of 9 11 in the USA.
  Mandela the capitalist terrorist5. Mandela said to Pilger:"We do not want to challenge big business that can take fright and take away their money . . .
  "You can call it Thatcherite but, for this country, privatisation is the fundamental policy."Pilger writes of Mandela that "as the first liberation president, he ordered a ridiculous and bloody invasion of tiny Lesotho.
  "He allowed South African armaments to be sold to Algeria, Colombia and Peru, which have notorious human rights records.
  "He invited the Indonesian mass murderer General Suharto to South Africa and gave him the country's highest award . . . He recognised the brutal Burmese junta as a legitimate government."
  Mandela was anti-communist.Winnie Mandela has claimed that the Mandela faction within the African National Congress conspired with the people who murdered the South African Communist leader, Chris Hani in 1992.
  "There are some in the ANC who believe ANC members had something to do with Hani's assassination."Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was reported in the London Sunday Times, a week after the assassination, to have told confidants she believed moderate ANC leaders had conspired with the National Party government to eliminate Hani.
  "The report said: 'according to her, details of Hani's movements, including critical information about when his bodyguards would be absent, were passed to government security agents, who in turn made this known to Waluz [Hani's killer, FB]'." Who Killed Chris Hani?
The Morality of Listening to the Newtown 911 Tapes. Is it Wrong? | TIME.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 21:44
  We're horrified, but sometimes we can't turn away. Is that ever O.K?
  Spencer Platt / Getty ImagesTwenty seven wooden angles are viewed in a yard down the street from the Sandy Hook School Dec. 16, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut.
  Correction made 12/5/13
  If you're careful, you'll get through today without doing something morally monstrous. If you're not careful, you won't. It's as simple as that.
  It doesn't matter whether you consider yourself a virtuous person, a well-intentioned but flawed person, or'--at least in your private reflections'--something of a louse. You have a fair chance of being morally good or morally monstrous every day'--in part because the definition of monstrous can be such a slippery thing. Murder? Check. Looting a pension fund and bankrupting hundreds of retirees? Sure. How about ignoring a starving street person begging in front of a supermarket while you're on your way home to tuck into a roast leg of lamb? To you, that's a misdemeanor. To the hungry guy? It's something else.
  So what does it say about you if you listened to the 911 tapes of the Newtown school shooting when they became available today? What does it say if you not only listened to them but first went looking for them? Plenty of news outlets, including Time.com, have chosen not to post links to the audios. But they're out there, and maybe you found them, listening to the terror of the callers and the gunfire in the background and knowing that children'--babies, really'--were being murdered by the bullets that each of those popping sounds represented.
  (MORE: Want More-Tolerant Kids? Keep Them Away From the TV)
  Does it make it better if you were horrified by what you heard? If it made you even more committed to stopping this kind of horror in the future? If it made you hug your kids and give thanks for their safety? Maybe, but there were other things you probably felt too: a sense of can't-turn-away fascination; a guilty thrill that you were listening to an unfolding drama whose outcome you know (exactly how many will die, exactly who they will be) even though the participants in it didn't. The JFK anniversary is over and you've had your fill of the slo-mo Zapruder film (the president had three seconds to live; the president had two seconds to live'--and he didn't know it!) and now the Newtown recordings come along. If you listened to the tapes'--or you've been gaping at Zapruder'--and didn't come away feeling at least a little disgusted with yourself, well, you're not thinking very hard.
  Certainly you have a few moral lifelines to use. We are curious creatures'--always have been and always will be'--and we find it hard to resist things that are stunning and moving and unfamiliar. ''Our lives are circumscribed by our everyday circumstances,'' says Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist and ethicist at New York University's Stern School of Business. ''When bad things happen, we want to know about them. This is why people rubberneck at traffic accidents.''
  But there's more going on than mere gawking. One of the reasons we rubberneck is the same reason we go to the theater. Haidt cites both Aristotle and the Hindu sage Bharata asking why we choose to spend an evening watching a tragedy. Why do we want to feel bad? ''The answer,'' Haidt says, ''is that in the theater, we get to taste unfamiliar emotions from a distance. They're not a result of bad things that are really happening to us; they're not even really happening to the people on the stage. They're as-if emotions.''
  (MORE: The Selfish Reasons Behind Why We Give)
  The problem in the case of Newtown is that there wasn't any as-if about it. Twenty children and six faculty members lost their very real lives in a very real way. ''In this case,'' says Haidt, ''we're not dealing with aesthetic emotions. This was real horror, a real atrocity. I would not dream of listening to these tapes and I assume that most people with small children wouldn't either.''
  But that argument can be turned on its head: if we cut ourselves off from horror, if we refuse to look at it, aren't we in some ways failing to bear proper witness to it? The best ways to prevent such savagery from happening again may be to face the fact that it happened in the first place. If that's so, aren't we almost morally bound to listen to the sounds of Newtown'--and isn't failing to listen a form of moral cowardice?
  Sorry, no'--at least not in this case.''Some people are motivated by collective guilt at what happened so they might listen to help them deal with that,'' says Richard Shweder, an anthropologist and professor at the University of Chicago's Department of Comparative Human Development. ''Some people listen because it gets them feeling indignant about guns or mental health issues or other things they care about.''
  (MORE: Yom Kippur, Germany and the Moral Do-Over)
  But stoking your personal outrage or cleansing yourself of guilt is, in neither case, about the victims. It's about making yourself feel better. Nice try, but it's morally greedy.
  Shweder does feel that if the outcome had been different'--if the police had stormed in or the killer had been subdued before he could commit his slaughter'--there might at least be a colorable argument in favor of hearing the tapes. ''Defeating evil is one thing,'' he says, ''but bearing witness to its triumph is a form of degradation.''
  Disturbingly, in a culture that's always on camera'--whether it's reality shows or smartphone videos or the ubiquitous security cameras in public and not-so-public places'--bearing such witness is becoming easier and easier. That, Shweder fears, is just coarsening us further, giving everything the emotional distance of a movie'--and leaving us with the same kind of emotional depth. Newtowns will happen'--and happen and happen, it's starting to seem. The more we respect them as private tragedies, not public circuses, the closer we may come to bringing them to an end.
  (MORE: Blame Game: Why We Hate to Feel Guilty)
  Correction: The original version of this story included the wrong name for one of the experts cited. He is Richard Shweder, not Robert.
  Jeffrey KlugerJeffrey Kluger, senior editor, oversees TIME's science and technology reporting.
  Kluger's latest book is The Sibling Effect: What the Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us.
VIDEO-Obama Speaks on Passing of Nelson Mandela
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 21:28
  Expert analysis on the most pressing issues facing the transatlantic community from the Council's staff, board, affiliated scholars, and friends.The views expressed in New Atlanticist are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.
MK - Umkhonto We Sizwe (Spear of the Nation)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 21:19
  Samples in periodicals archive:
  In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence.Stunned and disgusted, she joined the Congress of Democrats, which was aligned to the African National Congress, and was one of the first women recruited into the Umkhonto we Sizwe - Spear of the Nation.He had recently returned from a trip across Africa drumming up support for the new Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), or "Spear of the Nation".When Miliband made his remarks, he was defending the actions of Joe Slovo, a white Marxist who was one of the leaders of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), the military wing of the African National Congress, during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.Mr Slovo, a friend of Mr Miliband's academic father Ral-phwas one of the leaders of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), the armed military wing of the ANC.It is worth noting that theAa military wing of the National African Congress called Umkhonto we Sizwe or Spear of the Nation (abbreviated to MK) was created in 1961 following the massacre of Sharpeville.Afrika fought on the Allied side in the Second World War and later as part of Umkhonto we Sizwe (or "Spear of the Nation" in Zulu, the name of the armed wing of the African National Congress) in the anti-apartheid struggle.Inspired by a trade unionist family member, he became involved in politics at an early age, joined the African National Congress in 1959 and became an active member of the military wing Umkhonto We Sizwe in 1962, following the banning of the ANC in 1960.
Baidu Stops Accepting Bitcoins After China Ban >> WTF RLY REPORT
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 21:18
  Bloomberg
  Baidu Inc., China's biggest search engine, stopped accepting Bitcoins after the nation's central bank barred financial institutions from handling transactions, triggering a drop in the virtual currency.
  Bitcoin fell more than 20 percent and was quoted at 4,250 yuan ($863) as of 3:25 p.m. Shanghai time on BTC China, the most active online exchange where it's traded. It lost 30 percent to $575 on Bitstamp, another web platform where the digital money is exchanged for dollars and other currencies.
  A Baidu website-hosting venture started accepting the digital money on Oct. 14 as Bitcoins gained popularity in China, fueling a global rally. Prices topped $1,000 last week, compared with about $138 two months ago on Bitstamp. The People's Bank of China said Bitcoin isn't a currency with ''real meaning'' and can't be accorded the same legal status.
  Read more
allAfrica.com: South Africa: Mandela, Pacifist or Rebel? (Page 1 of 2)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 21:15
  Photo: MediaClubSAMandela burning his pass book as a sign of protesting against the law
  Perhaps it's a false contradiction. But today there are many who stress the pacifist message with which South Africa's Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) emerged from prison in 1990, while few put an emphasis on his rebellion against apartheid, including armed rebellion, which landed him in prison.
  Mandela was a political activist and a revolutionary at least since 1942. Two years later he joined the African National Congress, becoming a founding member of the Youth league, and leading the movement, which had been inconsequential for decades, to more radical positions.
  Mandela was a rebel when he headed the civil disobedience campaign against the unjust laws of the white segregationist regime in 1952, and when, although he was a poor student, he qualified as a lawyer and set up the country's first black law firm.
  Because he was a rebel he was banned more than once, arrested and prosecuted in the Treason Trial, before he was finally acquitted in 1961. He was a rebel when he went underground.
  But above all he stayed true to his rebelliousness after the Sharpeville massacre of 69 unarmed demonstrators during a Mar. 21, 1960 protest against the apartheid laws, the subsequent state of emergency, the arrest of 18,000 people and the banning of the ANC and other organisations.
  He understood then that demonstrations, strikes and civil disobedience were not enough to shake the foundations of apartheid, whose structure had become more sophisticated, to the absurd extent of creating the Bantustans or territories set aside for blacks.
  It was an act of rebellion to lead the armed struggle in 1961 and help create the military wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). And to secretly leave the country and seek support and guerrilla training.
  South Africa was a useful bridgehead for the Western powers - the same ones that today honour Mandela as a hero - in a region convulsed by anti-colonial liberation struggles and the Cold War.
  In the 1970s the United States, France and Britain, trading partners of the regime, vetoed a motion to expel South Africa from the United Nations. And although the United Nations Security Council established a voluntary arms embargo against South Africa in 1963, it only became mandatory in 1977.
  By the 1980s, apartheid had made South Africa an international pariah. But it wasn't until 1985 that the authorities in the United States, Britain and the European Community adopted economic sanctions against the regime - in large part to appease the growing public outrage in their countries.
  Mandela spent years in prison, starting in 1962. In 1964 he was tried for sabotage and sentenced to life. His rebelliousness sustained him for 27 years in prison, during which time he turned down three offers of parole.
  The universal right to rebel against oppression has often been the object of suppression and above all of distortion and misrepresentation.
  In the case of South Africa, it took the United States a long time to think it through. Not until 2008 did it remove the ANC from the State Department list's of terrorist organisations - nine years after the end of Mandela's term as president.
Olivia Newton-John Chops $500,000 Off Asking Price Of Suicide Mansion
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Radar Online Radar Online
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 21:13
  The suicide that took place at Olivia Newton-John's mansion in August has made the Florida estate difficult to sell.
  The singer has just knocked down the price by $500,000 to $5.7 million, GossipExtra is reporting.
  PHOTOS: Olivia Newton-John Lowers Asking Price On Florida Mansion
  The singer/actor and her husband John Easterling bought the waterfront house in 2009 for $4.1 million and then paid contractor Christopher Pariseleti $2 million for a top-to-bottom renovation.
  Tragically, Pariseleti, who reportedly was suffering serious financial problems, committed suicide on the property in August.
  Houses where murders or suicides take place are notoriously difficult to sell and often have major price reductions before they do.
BBC NEWS | Africa | Mandela's Hand of Africa on show
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 21:11
  A Nelson Mandela handprint which contains an image resembling the African continent in the centre is on show as part of a London exhibition.
  The shape of the African continent is visible
  The former South African president's "Hand of Africa" piece was said to have been created by accident while working on a sketch inspired by his 27 year imprisonment on Robben Island.
  Anna Hunter, owner of the Belgravia Gallery, where the paintings are displayed, said at the launch: "He got his hands dirty when he was producing 'The Lighthouse' and he wiped his hands on a piece of card."
  "You can see the image of Africa in the palm of his hand."
  Hand analyst Lori Read was quoted by The Times newspaper as saying it was very interesting in a symbolic way.
  "It is almost as if the continent is imprinted on his soul."
  The other image of Mr Mandela's on display is a handprint of his, surrounded by the smaller handprints of HIV-positive children.
  Mr Mandela has received some teaching from a professional artist and has done a number of colourful impressions of his prison.
  New career?
  The gallery owner added that Mr Mandela told them that when he retires this summer he will take up his paintbrush as a full-time artist.
  "I don't know whether he was joking or not."
  Also on display at the gallery are watercolours from Prince Charles.
  Signed copies of images by both artists are on sale to raise money for their respective trusts.
  Proceeds from Mr Mandela's work benefit the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, which helps HIV sufferers and orphaned and homeless youngsters in South Africa.
VIDEO-Cornel West: 'We Are Witnessing the Santa Clausification of Nelson Mandela' | MRCTV
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 21:08
  MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them '-- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
  MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 1900 Campus Commons Drive, Reston, VA 20194. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
  Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
Hong Kong quarantines 19 people over second bird flu case
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BlackListedNews.com
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 20:57
  Hong Kong on Saturday quarantined an additional 19 people after the city confirmed its second human case of the deadly H7N9 bird flu, less than five days after it confirmed its first, officials said.
  The 19 people were close contacts of the second carrier of H7N9 in the city -- an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who had been living in the neighbouring mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
  The man developed a fever and was found to be infected with the virus on Friday after he was admitted to the city's Tuen Mun hospital on Tuesday due to underlying medical conditions.
  "Nineteen close contacts of the patient have been quarantined," a government statement released late Saturday said.
  >>Read More...
WikiLeaks' Sarah Harrison: 'How can you take Pierre Omidyar seriously?' | Technology | theguardian.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 20:33
  The WikiLeaks staffer and Snowden collaborator Sarah Harrison has criticised Pierre Omidyar, the eBay founder who is setting up a new journalism venture with Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill, for his involvement in the 2010 financial blockade against WikiLeaks.
  In her first interview since leaving Moscow for Berlin last month, Harrison told German news weekly Stern: "How can you take something seriously when the person behind this platform went along with the financial boycott against WikiLeaks?"
  Harrison was referring to the decision in December 2010 by PayPal, which is owned by eBay, to suspend WikiLeaks' donation account and freeze its assets after pressure from the US government. The company's boycott, combined with similar action taken by Visa and Mastercard, left WikiLeaks facing a funding crisis.
  "His excuse is probably that there is nothing he could have done at the time," Harrison continued. "Well, he is on the board of directors. He can't shake off responsibility that easily. He didn't even comment on it. He could have said something like: 'we were forced to do this, but I am against it'."
  Harrison joined WikiLeaks from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and worked with the organisation on the Afghan war logs and leaked cables projects. She now works on the WikiLeaks legal defence team, although she has no legal qualifications, and was catapulted to fame when she accompanied Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower, on his flight from Hong Kong to Russia in June 2013.
  Referring to Omidyar's plans to set up a new media organisation, in which the former Guardian writer Greenwald '' who wrote a number of stories from the Snowden revelations '' will play a central part, Harrison said: "If you set up a new media organisation which claims to do everything for press freedom, but you are part of a blockade against another media organisation, then that's hard for us to take it seriously. But I hope that they stick to their promises".
  Harrison also suggests that Omidyar could have carried the legal costs of the 14 Anonymous hacktivists who were sent to prison for attacking PayPal over the boycott. "That would have been a nice gesture".
  Jail sentences for hacktivismOn Thursday, 11 of the so-called "PayPal 14" pleaded guilty in a court in California to one felony count of conspiracy and one misdemeanour count of damaging a computer. They stood accused of organising a "distributed denial-of-service" (DDoS) attack, knocking PayPal's servers offline by overloading them with traffic in 2010, causing what the company estimated to be $5.5m of damage.
  Two of the remaining defendants did not take the plea bargain offered, and pleaded guilty only to the misdemeanour charge, meaning they will be required to serve a 90-day jail term. The final defendant, Dennis Collins, did not attend the hearing as he was in Virginia facing similar charges over attacks on other websites at the same time.
  In January, four British members of Anonymous were sentenced for the same campaign. Chris Weatherhead was given an 18-month sentence, Ashley Rhodes was handed a seven-month jail sentence, Peter Gibson was given a six month suspended sentence, and 18-year-old Jake Burchall was given an 18 month youth rehabilitation order.
  "Vastly different"Omidyar, however, argues that the tools used in a DDoS attack render them "vastly different than other forms of protest".
  "The problem in this case," he wrote on the Huffington Post website on 3 December, "is that the tools being distributed by Anonymous are extremely powerful. They turn over control of a protester's computer to a central controller which can order it to make many hundreds of web page requests per second to a target website.
  "It's like each protester can bring along 6,000 phantom friends without going to the trouble of convincing each of them to take an afternoon off and join the protest in the street."
  But the eBay founder said that the law was too hard on the 14 defendants in the case. "It would be unjust to hold fourteen people accountable for the actions of a thousand'... Each person should be accountable for the damage they personally caused.
  "Second, the law allows prosecutors to calculate damage in a way that seems overstated. An appropriate damage estimate includes the pay and overtime pay required for employees to respond to the attack.
  "But the damage estimate apparently being used by prosecutors in this case includes the cost of upgrading equipment to better defend against similar future attacks. To me, that doesn't make sense."
  In the Stern interview, Harrison, who is British, also stated that she had chosen to move to Berlin because her lawyers had advised her that anti-terror laws had made it unsafe for her to travel back to the UK.
  "Any activity which endangers the public order or could change the government's course of action can be interpreted as terrorism. The fight for women's right to vote, and the political protests that came with it, would under the current interpretation of the law be seen as terrorism. The rule of law is effectively disabled, and I believe that many people who are politically active feel unsafe in such an environment, not just me."
  In Berlin, on the other hand, Harrison said she had a good network of friends and was able to continue working for WikiLeaks. "The German public is very well disposed towards Edward Snowden and what he has done. Personally and legally, I consider the risk I am under here as low."
  ' This article was amended on 6 December 2013 to correct the number of British members of Anonymous who were sentenced in January, and to correct the date of the decision by PayPal to suspend WikiLeaks' donation account.
  ' "Why DDoS is free speech".
star interview with Snowden-companion Sarah Harrison: On the run from America - Politics | STERN.DE
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 20:33
  Wikileaks-Mitarbeiterin Sarah Harrison ist der Link zwischen den beiden ber¼hmtesten digitalen Dissidenten der Welt: Edward Snowden und Julian Assange.(C) Gian Paul Lozza/Sunshinepress/stern
  Wieder einmal hatte sie niemand erkannt. Als Wikileaks-Mitarbeiterin Sarah Harrison vor einem Monat in Berlin landete, blieb sie unbehelligt, obwohl ihr Gesicht mitunter t¤glich in den Nachrichten auftauchte.
  Sie war die Frau an seiner Seite. Die junge Wikileaks-Mitarbeiterin Sarah Harrison lotste den Whistleblower Edward Snowden von Hongkong aus nach Moskau. Das urspr¼ngliche Ziel war Lateinamerika. "Wir haben ziemlich get¼ftelt. Wir wollten nicht ¼ber ein westeurop¤isches Land fliegen, und ein Umsteigen in den USA, was f¼r die Mehrheit der Verbindungen n¶tig gewesen w¤re, war nat¼rlich auch keine Option", sagt sie in einem Interview mit dem stern. "Und dann war die Entscheidung auch abh¤ngig von den m¶glichen Fluggesellschaften - wem geh¶rt das Flugzeug, mit dem wir fliegen, wer hat m¶glicherweise die Macht, eine Abweichung der Route zu erzwingen."
  Nach Hause kann sie nicht40 Tage und N¤chte verbrachte Harrison mit Amerikas Staatsfeind Nummer eins im Transitbereich und begleitete ihn dann zu seinem geheimen Aufenthaltsort in Russland. Jetzt hat sie Moskau verlassen, aber nach Hause kann sie nicht. "Unsere Anw¤lte haben davon abgeraten", sagt sie. Die britischen Terrorgesetze seien sehr weit gefasst. "Wenn sie mich zum Beispiel an einem britischen Flughafen oder einem Seehafen festsetzen, gilt noch mal anderes Recht. Ich habe nicht die M¶glichkeit zu schweigen, schon das gilt als Verbrechen."
  Im stern-Interview erz¤hlt die couragierte 31-j¤hrige Britin von der dramatischen Flucht, von den Tagen im Transit, vom Verlust der Heimat und von Angst und Mut. Harrison arbeitet seit 2010 f¼r die Enth¼llungsplattform Wikileaks. Der Gr¼nder und enge Freund Harrisons, Julian Assange, sitzt immer noch im Exil in der ecuadorianischen Botschaft in London.
  "Ich bereue nichts"Sarah Harrison ist nun der Link zwischen den beiden ber¼hmtesten digitalen Dissidenten der Welt. "Eigentlich kann ich gleich mit einer Zielscheibe auf dem Kopf herumlaufen", sagt sie. Unterkriegen l¤sst sie sich allerdings nicht. Im Gegenteil: "Ich bereue nichts. Und ich liebe einen guten Fight".
  Das ganze Interview ab Donnerstag im stern
Arthur Goldreich - Telegraph
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 20:13
  But after offering a bribe to a guard, whom he was to pay more than 20 years later, Goldreich escaped and then eluded a nationwide manhunt. Disguised as a priest, he survived a number of close shaves to make it to Swaziland, and thence to Israel, where he settled and made a life as an artist.
  Arthur Goldreich was born in 1929 in Pietersburg, South Africa. Aged 11 he wrote an excoriating letter to the then South African Prime Minister, Jan Smuts, complaining about his school's decision to teach German rather than Hebrew. He had been particularly offended by the college's decision to make use of Hitler Youth magazines to help their students' progress in the language. Goldreich was victorious: German (and the magazines) were removed from the syllabus by order of the government.
  After the Second World War Goldreich moved to Palestine, taking part in the insurgency against the British and later in the war that accompanied Israel's creation, before returning to the country of his birth.
  ''The reason I went to Israel was the Holocaust and the struggle against British colonialism,'' he later said. ''But the Nats [apartheid National Party] winning the election [in South Africa] left me no doubt about what I had to do.'' His abstract pictures earned him, in 1955, the accolade of Best Young Painter in South Africa.
  He went on to become head of the design department at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. He also evolved into an outspoken critic of Israel, whose foundation he had fought for, comparing its treatment of Palestinians to apartheid in South Africa and claiming that successive ''Zionist'' governments had become more interested in territory than in peace. He spoke before his death of ''the abhorrent racism in Israeli society''.
  Arthur Goldreich is survived by four sons.
Judaic Communism: The Documentary Record
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 20:12
  Judaic Communism: The Documentary RecordRevisionistHistory.orgThe Prop-MastersPerpetrators of the holocaust against Christian Russia transform themselves into "survivors" of "the Holocaust"The portraits above are of the same man but in two different incarnations. On the left we see Martin "Gray" in retirement after a successful career peddling fake antiques to gullible collectors. He is holding his mass market paperback, For Those I Loved, which is filled with his exploits as a saintly "Holocaust Survivor" who was supposedly forced to help clear bodies out of the Treblinka "gas chamber." The earlier portrait on the right is of the youthful Gray as a decorated officer in the Soviet NKVD (the forerunner of the KGB), responsible for the murder of millions of Christians and gentiles in Russia and Eastern Europe. Even Establishment researchers have had to admit that Gray's book is as phony as the antiques he peddled. But Gray's scam is symbolic of countless other Communist ghouls who have managed to land on their feet in the West, disguised as poor, persecuted "Survivors of the Holocaust" and feted as the saints and martyrs of the universe. Meanwhile the holocaust they perpetrated against millions of Christians slips further down the dark environs of Orwell's memory hole.
  In chapter 13 of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Dickens notes that Fagin has an inexhaustible supply of props and disguises.
  by Michael A. Hoffman IICopyright 2006. All Rights Reserved
  "The only two non-Jews in the communist conspiracy were Chambers and Hiss...Every other one was a Jew and it raised hell with us."
  Statement of President Richard Nixon in 1971, as recorded at the White House on tape and released by the National Archives in 1999. The reference is to Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss. (Sources: N.Y. Times, Oct. 7, 1999 and Newsweek, Oct. 18, 1999, p. 30)
  "It is legitimate to adopt a critical attitude toward the relatively large number of Jews who particularly in the first decade after the Bolshevik revolution collaborated with the Soviet Government in the persecution of other peoples."
  Statement of researcher Michael Mills, an official of the government of Australia at Canberra. (Source: Forward, March 10, 2000)
  Judaic Professor Arno Mayer of Princeton in his important book, Why Did the Heavens Not Darken? states that the German invasion of Russia was carried out with the intention to eradicate Bolshevik (Soviet Communist) ideology. The Germans were hardly the only ones in the West to believe that, "Soviet Russia is a dictatorship of Jewry."
  On Feb. 8, 1920 a young British writer made a similar observation in the Illustrated Sunday Herald:
  "There is no need to exaggerate the part played in the creation of Bolshevism and in the actual bringing about of the Russian Revolution by these international and for the most part atheistical Jews."
  The writer was Winston Churchill. Though he would later sell his soul for considerably more than thirty pieces of silver, his analysis of the authentic nature of Soviet communism remains trenchant.
  Churchill expressed the crucial insight that the crimes perpetrated by Jewish communists against Germans and Russians instilled in those people a desire for retribution:
  "In the Soviet institutions the predominance of Jews is even more astonishing. And the prominent, if not indeed, the principal, part in the system of terrorism applied by the Extraordinary Commissions for Combating Counter-Revolution has been taken by Jews, and in some notable cases by Jewesses.
  "The same evil prominence was obtained by Jews in the brief period of terror during which Bela Kun ruled in Hungary. The same phenomenon has been presented in Germany (especially in Bavaria), so far as this madness has been allowed to prey upon the temporary prostration of the German people.
  "...The fact that in many cases Jewish interests and Jewish places of worship are excepted by the Bolsheviks from their universal hostility has tended more and more to associate the Jewish race in Russia with villainies which are now being perpetrated...Needless to say, the most intense passions of revenge have been excited in the breasts of the Russian people." (End quote from Churchill).
  "...a letter sent to the Vatican by Pius XII in 1919, when he was Bishop Eugenio Pacelli and papal nuncio in Munich...reports on his deputy's unpleasant encounter with Bolshevik revolutionaries who were then terrorizing Catholic priests and the German bourgeoisie. The letter describes the leader, Max Lieven as a '... Russian and a Jew.' The letter also describes Mr. Lieven's companions, '...Jews like the rest of them.'...Bishop Pacelli's description of Jewish Communists...was hardly uncommon 80 years ago." (N.Y. Times, Nov. 3, 1999).
  Chaim Bermant, writing in the Jewish Chronicle (Aug. 30, 1991), says: "It was Communism which toppled the hated Czars, Communism which removed Jewish disabilities and proscribed anti-Semitism and Communism which, in its early days at least, opened the doors to Jewish advancement."
  Lenin, whose maternal grandfather, Israel Blank, was Judaic, said that Judaics made the best revolutionaries: "The clever Russian is almost always a Jew or has Jewish blood in him." (Dmitri Volkogonov, Lenin: A New Biography, p. 112). Lenin was both clever and a revolutionary. He was surely referring to himself.
  Researcher Wayne McGuire of Harvard University writes: "Lenin was a Jew by the standards of Israel's Law of Return: he possessed a Jewish grandparent. It would seem that not only was Lenin a Jew, but that he was a Jewish racist and chauvinist, although he kept his ideas on this volatile subject far in the background, probably because they were in radical conflict with the supposed universalism of Marxism. ...Lenin was a Jewish racist who deliberately gave Jews especially, the most 'intellectually demanding tasks.' He admitted that 50% of the communist terrorist vanguard in the south and west of Russia was comprised of Jews."
  Lenin declared, "We are exterminating the bourgeoisie as a class." His partner in crime, Apfelbaum (Zinoviev) stated: "The interests of the revolution require the physical annihilation of the bourgeoisie class." Who were these bourgeoisie? Certainly not Jews. Trotsky gave a clue to their identity in a 1937 interview in the New York Jewish newspaper, Daily Forward: "The longer the rotten bourgeoisie society lives, the more and more barbaric will anti-Semitism become everywhere."
  Bourgeoisie was a Bolshevik code-word for Gentile. The first law passed after the Communists seized power in Russia made anti-semitism a crime punishable by death. (Izvestia, July 27, 1918).
  The top Communist Judaic official Zinoviev stated: "Without mercy, without sparing, we will kill our enemies in scores of hundreds. Let them be thousands; let them drown themselves in their own blood. For the blood of Lenin and Uritzky, Zinoviev and V"lodarsky, let there be floods of the blood of the bourgeoisie--more blood! As much as possible!" (Krasnaya Gazeta, Sept. 1, 1918).
  The Judaic Bolsheviks regarded politics as a branch of Gentile pest control. Hatred of Christians, especially the peasant "bourgeoisie" was their prime motivation. The systematic destruction of the Christian peasantry of Russia as so many vermin, beginning with Lenin's attack on them in the summer of 1918 and his forced starvation in 1921, has been almost completely ignored in Western history.
  According to the London, England "Jewish Chronicle" (Literary Supplement, Sept. 3, 1999, pp. iv and v) Jewish Communist writer Isaac Babel was present at a Soviet Communist gathering, "A meeting of...Jews...is being addressed by Commissar Vinogradov who is enthusiastically telling the...Jews: 'You are in power. Everything is yours." Babel also wrote of the "unbounded" Jewish "contempt for the Polish gentry."
  According to the "Jewish Chronicle," Babel wrote for the Communist publication "Red Trooper" and a Soviet commissar related to him how they intended to deal with Cossacks: "The revolutionary curve has thrown into the first rank the free Cossacks soaked in many prejudices, but the Central Committee's maneuvering will rub them down with a brush of iron.' Babel expresses no opinion on the chances of successfully rubbing out the Cossacks' 'soaked-in prejudices,' a euphemistic term for vicious anti-Semitism..." ("Jewish Chronicle," Ibid.)
  "In the last years of the '20s and the early '30s, Babel was regarded as one of the most notable talents in Soviet literature. Speaking at the first writers' congress in 1934...he made the expected avowals of loyalty and devotion to the revolution, the government and the state. He even praised Stalin's literary style." ("Jewish Chronicle," Ibid.)
  In his story, "The Rabbi's Son," Babel places the portraits of Lenin and Rabbi Moses Maimonides side by side. He notes that the margins of Communist leaflets are crowded with "Hebrew verse."
  The Siberian novelist Valentin Rasputin wrote in 1990: "I think today the Jews here in Russia should feel responsible for the sin of having carried out the revolution and for the shape it took. They should feel responsible for the terror--for the terror that existed during the revolution and especially after the revolution...their guilt is great. They perpetrated the relentless campaign against the peasant class whose land was brutally expropriated by the state and who themselves were ruthlessly murdered."
  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's biographer recounts what it was like to grow up as a Russian Christian child among the children of the Jewish communist elite: "By the age of ten he had the cross ripped from his neck by jeering Pioneers and for over a year was held up to ridicule... Solzhenitsyn was, as a boy, exposed to students whose parents had an officially superior status. Most of the members of the Young Pioneers and Komsomol movements, at least in Rostov, were Jewish children..." (Michael Scammell,Solzhenitsyn: A Biography, p. 64).
  According to the internationally-syndicated RNS wire service (reprinted in "The Christian News," Jan. 8, 1996, p. 2), "Some 200,000 (Christian) clergy, many crucified, scalped and otherwise tortured, were killed during the approximately 60 years of communist rule in the former Soviet Union, a Russian commission reported Monday (Nov. 27, 1995)...40,000 churches (were) destroyed in the period from 1922 to 1980..."
  Here is the most genocidal political movement in world history, which created the largest concentration camps and the most horrendous slave labor system of the 20th century, in which millions of gentiles and Christians were slaughtered (on the size of the Gulag concentration camp system cf. C. Andrew and O. Gordievsky, KGB: The Inside Story and N.Y. Times, Oct. 22, 1990, p. 82. None of these camps are being preserved for posterity. Most were destroyed long ago by special military brigades; cf. Michael Specter, "Cold Reminder," N.Y. Times, Dec. 3, 1994).
  This was a movement staffed in its upper echelons by Judaic Communists and yet the world is comparatively silent about the holocaust and war crimes this thoroughly kosher system inflicted and the identity of the persons who were its architects.
  Auschwitz is on the tip of every tongue but who has heard of Kolyma, Magadan, the Solovetsky islands and the other infernal Soviet centers of human destruction in eastern Siberia? Who has seen films and books about the millions of human beings worked, frozen and starved to death in the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, over which stood a triumphant, colossal statue of the Judaic Communist mass murderer Genrikh Yagoda?
  The Judaic Communist epoch of mass murder has disappeared into history in one of the great vanishing acts of all time. Only practiced deceivers, with all the sleight of hand of the most accomplished stage magicians, could pull off such a coup against the rest of humanity. To trick mankind into focusing nearly all expiatory sentiment, monuments and commemoration on Judaic victims and brand the Mark of Cain--the very words war crime and holocaust itself--on Germany and upon Germans alone as their proprietary trademark, must be regarded as one of the most masterful achievements of psychological warfare in the annals of illusion.
  Israeli power has expanded commensurate with the expansion of "Holocaust" propaganda, as noted by the Israeli author Moshe Leshem: "Israelis and American Jews fully agree that the memory of the Holocaust is an indispensable weapon--one that must be used relentlessly against their common enemy...Jewish organizations and individuals thus labor continuously to remind the world of it. In America, the perpetuation of the Holocaust memory is now a $100-million-a-year enterprise, part of which is government-funded." ( Balaam's Curse, p. 228)
  This is why Edgar Bronfman, the billionaire Canadian Seagram's whiskey merchant and chairman of the powerful World Jewish Congress says, "The growing numbers of revisionist supporters cannot be ignored. We must use every resource to stop revisionism now, before it's too late."
  The reason it must be stopped is because revisionism could prevent the holy people from finishing the job they started in Russia and Bavaria, only this time they are using intellectual means to achieve the same end.
  Consider the fact that the people who bear the brunt of contemporary Jewish racist hatred and invective, the Germans, have among the lowest birthrates and the highest abortion rates of any nation in the world. Far more Germans die every year than are born.
  The self-hating Germans are not the only targets of corrosive gas chamber guilt, however. Organized Christianity (more accurately called Churchianity) nowadays is little more than one huge turkey flock, truckling, toadying and crawling in search of Judaic sanctification and approbation. Their savior called the Jewish leadership of his time, "the children of hell" (Matthew 23:15) but those who presume to speak in His name today, call them the saints and sages of the cosmos.
  Only in such a profoundly falsified world soaked in fraud could the international media sit by, uninterested, as the great-great grandson of the blood-drenched Jewish Red Army commander Leon Trotsky, David Axelrod, shot to death an elderly Palestinian couple in November of 1990, as part of an Israeli, "Kach" terror group raid.
  But imagine--if you can--the hubbub if a grandson of a Nazi war criminal had shot a Turkish couple in Germany. The weeping, wailing and never-ending references to "Never Forget" and "lessons of history" would seep out of the collective TV sets of the earth like waste from a toxic septic tank, because what is clear from such a double standard is that the true lessons of history are not being learned and recollection itself is hostage to the diorama of Zionist monomania.
  Sixteen million ethnic Germans were forcibly expelled from Silesia, Moravia and the Volga regions of the eastern territories at the end of the Second World War. On this trail of tears, two million perished--shot to death, starved, raped and beaten. Ask one in one thousand, one in ten thousand people on the street today-- "Have you heard?" The answer will be no.
  The Steven Spielberg movie images of cattle cars jammed with human cargo are reserved for Jewish victims alone. The 800,000 mostly Muslim Chechens deported by Judaic commissars and savagely stuffed into railway cars to Kazakhstan, where a quarter of a million died enroute, do not meet Hollywood's standard of cinematic focus.
  The Soviet cattle car deportations afflicted more than a half-million Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Christians who were shipped to the Gulag. 12% of the entire Baltic population was either deported to Siberia or executed by the Jewish Soviet Secret Police. Who knows of it? Who cares? Who tries to keep this history from repeating? Instead, in 1995 the president of Lithuania made a pilgrimage to the Israeli gas chamber shrine at Yad Vashem to grovel and beg "forgiveness" for his people who were the victims of the Jewish Communist murderers. To seek forgiveness in all humility is ordained when it is predicated on the truth. To do so based on false witness in order to idolize the Pharisees is a mockery of justice.
  In the Bolshevik era, 52 percent of the membership of the Soviet communist party was Jewish, though Jews comprised only 1.8 percent of the total population (Stuart Kahan, The Wolf of the Kremlin, p. 81)
  The following is a list of some top Judaic Communist murderers, commissars, spies, assassins and propagandists (aliases are listed in parentheses). This list is by no means comprehensive. To catalog all of the Judaic Communist involved in crimes would require hundreds of pages.
  Judaic CommunistsV.I. Lenin, supreme dictator. Leon Bronstein (Trotsky): supreme commander of the Soviet Red Army. Grigory Apfelbaum (Zinoviev): executive, Soviet Secret Police. Solomon Lozovsky: deputy Soviet foreign minister. Maxim Wallach (Litvinov): Soviet foreign minister. Yuri Andropov: director, Soviet KGB, later supreme dictator of the Soviet Union.
  Jacob Sverdlov: first president of the Soviet Union. Sverdlov ordered the massacre of the Czar's family--women and children--in the town named after Catherine the Great, Yekaterinburg, (renamed Sverdlovsk in 1924 in honor of the murderer).
  Jacob Yurovsky: commander, Soviet Secret Police. Yurovsky led the death squad which carried out Sverdlov's order for the murder of the Czar's family, including the bayoneting to death of the Czar's daughters. The Ipatyev house, where, in the basement, the massacre had occurred, stood intact until 1977, when the local Communist party boss at that time, Boris Yeltsin, ordered it demolished, lest it become a shrine to anti-Jewish sentiment.
  Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (pictured at left): chief mass murderer for Stalin, ordered the deaths of millions and the wholesale destruction of Christian monuments and churches, including the great Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Standing amid the rubble of the cathedral, Kaganovich proclaimed, "Mother Russia is cast down. We have ripped away her skirts." (N.Y. Times, Sept. 26, 1995).
  Mikhail Kaganovich: deputy commissar of heavy industry, supervisor of slave labor, brother of Lazar. Rosa Kaganovich: Stalin's mistress; sister of Lazar. Paulina Zhemchuzina: member of the Central Committee and wife of Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov. Olga Bronstein: officer, Soviet Cheka Secret Police, sister of Trotsky, wife of Kamenev.
  Genrikh Yagoda: chief of Soviet Secret Police, mass murderer extraordinaire. (Jewish poet Romain Rolland, winner of the Nobel Prize, wrote a hymn of praise to Yagoda).
  Matvei Berman and Naftaly Frenkel: founders, the Gulag death camp system.
  Lev Inzhir, commissar for Soviet death camp transit and administration. Boris Berman: executive officer of the Soviet Secret Police and brother of Matvei. K.V. Pauker: chief of operations, Soviet NKVD Secret Police.
  Firin, Rappoport, Kogan, Zhuk: commissars of death camps and slave labor, supervised the mass deaths of laborers during the construction of the White Sea--Baltic Canal.
  M.I. Gay: commander, Soviet Secret Police. Slutsky and Shpiegelglas: commanders, Soviet Secret Police. Isaac Babel: officer, Soviet Secret Police.
  Leiba Lazarevich Feldbin (Aleksandr Orlov): commander, Soviet Red Army; officer, Soviet Secret Police. Feldbin was chief of Soviet Security in the Spanish Civil War. He supervised the massacre of Catholic priests and peasants in Spain.
  Yona Yakir: general, Soviet Red Army, member of the Central Committee. Dimitri Shmidt: general, Soviet Red Army. Yakov ("Yankel") Kreiser: general, Soviet Red Army. Miron Vovsi: general, Soviet Red Army.
  David Dragonsky: general, Soviet Red Army, Hero of the Soviet Union. Grigori Shtern: general, Soviet Red Army. Mikhail Chazkelevich: general, Soviet Red Army. Shimon Kirvoshein: general, Soviet Red Army. Arseni Raskin: deputy-commander, Soviet Red Army. Haim Fomin, commander of Brest-Litovsk, Soviet Red Army. At least one hundred Soviet generals were Jewish (cf. Canadian Jewish News, April 19, 1989).
  Generals who were not themselves Jewish often had Jewish wives. Among these were Marshal Voroshilov, Marshal Bulganin, Marshal Peresypkin and General Pavel Sudoplatov (Sudoplatov assassinated hundreds of Christian leaders including Ukranian Catholic Archbishop Teodor Romzha). This Jewish wife "insurance policy" extended to Politburo members such as Andrei Andreyev and Leonoid Brezhnev.
  Sergei Eisenstein: director of communist propaganda films which depicted Christian peasants (kulaks) as hideous, money-grabbing parasites. The kulaks were subsequently massacred. (Cf. for example Eisenstein's Bezhin Meadow).
  KOMZET: commission for the settlement of Jewish Communists on land seized from murdered Christians in Ukraine; funded by Jewish-American financier Julius Rosenwald.
  Ilya Ehrenburg, Minister of Soviet Propaganda and disseminator of anti-German hate material dating from the 1930s. Ehrenburg instigated the Soviet Red Army rape and murder of German civilians. Referring to German women, Ehrenburg gloated to the advancing Red Army troops, "that blonde hag is in for a bad time."
  In a leaflet addressed to Soviet troops, Ehrenburg wrote: "...the Germans are not human beings...nothing gives us so much joy as German corpses." (Anatol Goldberg, Ilya Ehrenburg, p. 197). Goldberg concedes that Ehrenburg, "...had always disliked the Germans...now that there was a war on he turned his old prejudice into an asset." (Ibid., p. 193).
  Another publication distributed to the Red Army, this time as the soldiers approached Danzig, was described by a historian: "Millions of leaflets were air-dropped on the troops with a message composed by the propagandist Ilya Ehrenburg and signed by Stalin: 'Soldiers of the Red Army! Kill the Germans! Kill all Germans! Kill! Kill! Kill!" (Christopher Duffy, Red Storm on the Reich).
  The Soviet leadership acknowledged that Ehrenburg sought the extermination of the entire German people (cf. Pravda, April 14, 1945. [Pravda was also published in a Yiddish edition, Einikeyt). Ehrenburg won the Order of Lenin and the Stalin Prize. He willed his papers to the Israeli Yad Vashem 'Holocaust' Museum.
  Solomon Mikhoels: commissar of Soviet propaganda. Soviet film propagandists: Mark Donsky, Leonid Lukov, Yuli Reisman, Vasily Grossman,Yevgeny Gabrilovich, Boris Volchokand Lillian Hellman (old movies written by her continue to be broadcast on American telelvision).
  Soviet propagandist: Yevgeny Khaldei who staged the photo of the raising of the hammer and sickle flag over the Reichstag in Berlin, May 2, 1945. Afterward, a special plane was waiting to fly Khaldei, Stalin's top Tass photographer, to a Moscow lab, where his photo was further doctored (loot displayed on one of the Soviet soldier's wrists was removed in the negative and Khaldei added clouds and smoke to the scene for dramatic effect (see photo of Khaldei and his beloved flag at left). Khaldei continued to work as a premier Soviet propagandist until his retirement from Pravda in 1972. His Communist propaganda is proudly on display at the Jewish Museum of New York and the Jewish Museum of San Francisco. N.Y. Times writer Vicki Goldberg exulted in the raising of the blood-drenched Soviet flag, emblem of the slaughter of millions of peasants and Christians; describing it as, "...a national (and worldwide) symbol of triumph, justice and revenge." (Jan. 31, 1997, p. B-26).
  Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC): new form of the Bolshevik YEVKOM, Stalin's recruiting conduit for funding money, supplies and political influence for Soviet Russia from world Jewry as well as the dissemination of gas chamber atrocity propaganda (cf. The Black Book).
  Nikolai Bukharin: Lenin's chief theorist. Samuel Agursky: commissar. Karl Radek: member, Central Committee. Mikhail Gruzenberg (Borodin) commissar. A.A. Yoffe: commissar. David Ryazanov: advisor to Lenin. Lev Grigorievich Levin: physician, poisoner of Stalin's enemies. Lev Rosenfeld (Kamenev): member of the Central Committee.
  Ivan Maisky: Soviet Ambassador to Britain. Itzik Solomonovich Feffer: commissar, Soviet Secret Police. Abraham Sutskever: Soviet terrorist-partisan. Mark Osipovich Reizen: Soviet propagandist, winner of three Stalin Prizes. Lev Leopold Trepper: Soviet espionage officer.
  Bela Kun (Kohen): supreme dictator of Hungary in 1919. Kun was later Stalin's chief terrorist in the Crimea. Kun's eventual successor was Matyas Rakosi, Jewish Communist mass murderer of Christians in Hungary. According to the Jewish Telegraph Agency of May 14, 1997, Jews "...played key roles in ushering Communist rule into Hungary. In fact, during the brutal oppression of the early 1950s, the regime's top five leaders were Jews. "
  Zakharovich Mekhlis: top executioner for Stalin. Henrykas Zimanas: leader of Lithuanian communist terrorists, butcher of Christians.
  Moshe Pijade (sometimes spelled Piade): commander, Yugoslav Communist People's Army. Tito's top butcher of hundreds of thousands of Croatian Christians. Pijade later served as president of the Yugoslav Communist Parliament. At least eighteen generals in the Yugoslav Communist People's Army were Jewish. The Yugoslavian communist party sent massive arms shipments to Jewish fighters in Palestine in the 1940s.
  In post-war Poland that nation was completely dominated by Jewish communists: the torturer Jacek Rozanski, head of the Secret Police; the Politboro commander Jacob Berman (pictured at right)
  and commissars Minc, Specht (Olszewski) and Spychalski. These men murdered or deported to Kolyma and the other Arctic death camps, tens of thousands of Catholic Poles.
  According to Jewish researcher John Sack, "In 1945 many Poles felt (and not without reason) that Jews ran the Office of State Security...the chief of the Office was Jacob Berman, a Jew, and all or almost all the department heads were Jews." Sack reports that 75% of the officers of the Communist Secret Police in Silesia were Jews. He noted that many Jews in the Communist terror apparatus in Poland changed their names to Polish ones like General Romkowski, Colonel Rozanski, Capt. Studencki and Lt. Jurkowski. (cf. John Sack, The New Republic, Feb. 14, 1994, p. 6. Sack in this article also refutes some shoddy research performed by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of Hitler's Willing Executioners, who, in the double standard typical of the Jewish mentality, refuses to accept the proven fact that Jews ran the Polish Communist secret police even as Goldhagen asserts the racist myth that the entire German nation was guilty of genocide. Sack does a good job of proving Goldhagen wrong about Poland).
  In Poland, "...a disproportionate number of Communists were Jews. In 1930, at its peak, 35% of the members of the party were Jewish. In Communist youth organizations, Jewish membership was even higher, while Communists of Jewish origin occupied most of the seats on the central committee. Communism appealed to some Jews because it opposed anti-Semitism more vigorously than any other Polish party...Jewish Communists reached their apogee in the years immediately after World War Two, when the party leadership was totally in the hands of the prewar Communist leadership that abhorred anti-Semitism." (Sheldon Kirshner, The Canadian Jewish News, Nov. 5, 1992, p. 16).
  Of course when one encounters the issue of Judaics, Communists and Catholics in Poland in the Establishment media or universities today, the mass murder of the Polish Catholics at the hands of the Jewish Communists, is never raised. Instead, a minor attack on Jews by Polish peasants enraged at the role of Jews in Communist terror, which occurred in July, 1946 at Kielce and which has come to be called the "Kielce pogrom" will be the centerpiece of the "discussion. " The motivation for the attack is not usually mentioned. Rather, the Catholic peasantry are painted in terms of "fiendish bigots" whose "blind, irrational hate" for the "poor, persecuted Jews" resulted in "yet another martyrdom of God's Chosen."
  But the Catholic Primate of Poland at the time, Cardinal Hlond, a brave prelate in a stalwart tradition of Christian resistance to Jewish tyranny in Poland, so different from the traitorous philo-Judaism of the current Pontiff, stated that the attack in Kielce occurred because of resentment 'due to the Jews who today occupy leading positions in Poland's (Communist) government and endeavor to introduce a governmental structure that the majority of Poles do not wish to have." (Ibid., Kirshner).
  As Piotr S. Wandycz of Yale University observes, "The average Pole could not but notice in the Stalinist era that the two most powerful men in the country--Berman and Minc--were both Jewish as was the dreaded security official Rozanski." (N.Y. Review of Books, Aug. 18, 1983, p. 51).
  With this record it is interesting to note that the Polish occupant of the papacy, John Paul II, consistently lent his prestige and his presence to canonizations and commemorations of politically correct victims of the Nazis. Nowhere did this Pope breath a word about the openly Jewish, Communist massacres of Polish Catholics, Spanish Catholics, Croatian Catholics, Lithuanian Catholics--he was too busy, intoning the Shoah, referring to the heirs of the Pharisees as "our Elder Brothers in the Faith" giving official recognition to an Israeli state which even many orthodox, Haredi rabbis regard as a blasphemous and abominable entity, and attacking the German people as "the image of the beast."
  Solomon Morel (pictured at left): commandant of a post-war Communist concentration camp for Germans in Poland. Stalin deliberately put Jews in charge of such camps. Morel tortured and murdered thousands of Germans, sometimes with his bare hands (cf. "The Wrath of Solomon," Village Voice, March 30, 1993 and John Sack, An Eye for an Eye). Morel is comfortably esconsed in Tel Aviv. German survivors of Morel's camp have demanded he be tried as a war criminal, but for the Establishment media and the phony, partisan, "human rights" groups, bringing Morel to justice is simply a non-issue. After all, he murdered helpless Germans, so what's the problem?
  Julius Hammer, M.D.: New York abortionist and co-founder of the American communist party. Armand Hammer: fundraiser and financier for Lenin and Stalin, son of Julius. "The Communist Party was also the most Jewish party in America. At least nineteen percent of the Young Communist League were Jews and never less than forty percent of its leadership." (Source: "Pakn Treger: From Yiddish Roots to the Frontiers of Jewish Culture," Fall 1997, p. 18).
  Lev Davidovich Landau: Stalinist physicist, co-father of the Soviet atomic bomb. Klaus Fuchs: helped steal atomic bomb secrets for Stalin. Ruth Werner: colonel, Red Army GRU intelligence, assisted Fuchs. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: stole American atomic bomb secrets for Stalin. Morris Cohen (Peter Kroger): assisted the Rosenbergs. Markus Wolf: chief of German Communist Stasi Secret Police.
  Howard Fast: American communist propagandist for Stalin. David Dubinsky: Stalin's ally, head of the U.S. International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Nahum Goldmann: founder, World Jewish Congress, communist propagandist. Rabbi Moses Rosen: agent, Romanian communist party. Victor Rothschild: top British espionage agent for Stalin.
  Mark Zborowski: "...considered by historians of Soviet terror operations to have been the most fearsome...(Soviet) spy of all time" (Stephen Schwartz, Forward, Jan. 26, 1996). Zborowski, a medical researcher, murdered a dissident with a poisoned orange at the Soviet-run hospital in Paris. Zborowski was implicated in several other assassinations in 1936 and 1937. In the 1940s worked for both the American Jewish Committee and the KGB. In the 1960s Zborowski worked as a medical researcher at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco. He trained numerous psychiatrists and medical specialists in the Bay Area. He died in 1990 (cf. "The Strange Case of Doctor Zborowski and Monsieur Etienne" by Philippe Videlier, in Le Monde Diplomatique, Dec. 1992).
  From 1936-1939, when Stalin's "International Brigade" forces were dispatched to Spain to fight the Catholics, Jewish Communists comprised the largest faction of his troops, "More than 40,000 volunteers fought in the International Brigade...A huge number of the volunteers were Jews: between 7,000 and 10,000 of the Internationals as a whole, more than one-third of the Americans." Jewish Communist Milton Wolff was the last commander of the American contingent. Rabbi Hyman Katz joined in order to fight Spanish Christians. (cf. Jeffrey Sharlet, "Troublemakers," Pakn Treger, Fall, 1997, pp. 16, 18 and 24).
  The Communists slaughtered 6,549 Spanish priests, 283 helpless nuns and 13 bishops. "In Ciudad Real in the center of Spain, the bishop and every single priest of the diocese were murdered; not one escaped." --Dr. Warren H. Carroll, 70 Years of the Communist Revolution, pp. 184-185, 188-189. (Also cf. Justo Perez de Urbel, Catholic Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War [Kansas City, Missouri: The Angelus Press, 1993).
  Stalin's propaganda agent in Spain was New Yorker Leon Rosenthal.
  On Oct. 16, 1948, 50,000 Jewish communists turned out in Moscow's Red Square to welcome the first Israeli delegation to Moscow. Stalin supported Zionism's 1947 Palestine partition plan, gave crucial recognition to the newly-created state of Israel and voted for Israel's admission to the United Nations.
  In 1951 communist and Marxist parties had twenty-three seats in the Israeli Knesset. The kibbutz system was the most powerful movement in the country and the most powerful kibbutz leaders were nearly all Marxists. The biggest Israeli holiday was May Day, celebrated with rallies, marches, red banners and red songs.
  As recently as 1987 the Israelis were providing the KGB with American intelligence secrets (cf. UPI dispatch by Richard Sale, Dec. 13, 1987 and The City Paper [Washington, DC], Jan. 15, 1988). Jonathan Jay Pollard was part of one such spy ring. British traitor and Communist spy Kim Philby was assisted in obtaining safe haven in the Soviet Union by the Israeli Mossad (cf. Sunday Telegraph [England], April 16, 1989). This was most appropriate since Philby's KGB handler in Moscow was also Jewish.
  Romania's communist regime received favorable trade deals from the U.S. for years due to Israeli pressure on Congress in its behalf (N.Y. Times, Jan. 18, 1992, p. 23). The notion that the Zionist Jewish movement was anti-communist is a fallacy. The truth is more complex. There was a left wing and a right wing within Zionism. The rightists, like the terrorists Jabotinsky and Stern, took a fascist approach. Leftist Zionists like David "I am a Bolshevik" Ben-Gurion admired the Soviet model of Jewish power and sought to incorporate it as the political economy of the Israeli state.
  "National and racial chauvinism is a vestige of the misanthropic customs characteristic of the period of cannibalism. Anti-semitism, as an extreme form of racial chauvinism, is the most dangerous vestige of cannibalism...under USSR law active anti-Semites are liable to the death penalty." (Stalin, Collected Works, vol. 13, p. 30).
  The African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa was guided by two Communist Jews, Albie Sachs, "one of its foremost intellectuals"( London Sunday Times, Aug. 29, 1993) and Yossel Mashel Slovo (Joe Slovo).
  Slovo was born in a shtetl in Lithuania and grew up speaking Yiddish and studying the Talmud. He joined the ANC's terrorist wing, the Umkhonto we Sizwe, in 1961 and eventually became its commander. He was named Secretary General of the South African Communist Party in 1986. ("Joe Slovo," Jewish Chronicle, Jan. 13, 1995).
  Slovo had been the " planner of many of the ANC terrorist attacks, including the 1983 car bomb that killed 19 people and injured many others... Slovo, who had traveled to the Soviet Union many times, was awarded a Soviet medal on his 60th birthday...Slovo is a dedicated Communist, a Marxist Leninist without morality of any kind, for whom only victory counts, whatever the human cost, whatever the bloodshed...Slovo disputes little of his image as 'the Communist mastermind' behind the ANC's armed struggle. For him the fears of South Africa's whites are both a measure of the ANC's growing strength and a crucial factor in hastening what he believes will be its ultimate victory. 'Revolutionary violence has created the inspirational impact that we had intended, and it has won for the ANC its leading position,' Slovo said." ("Rebel Strategist Seeks to End Apartheid," L.A. Times, Aug. 16, 1987, p. 14). When Nelson Mandela's ANC took over South Africa, Slovo was named Minister of Housing.
  Nelson Mandela and Joe Slovo give the clenched fist salute in front of the blood-drenched Hammer and Sickle flag of Bolshevism. Slovo, a Yiddish-speaking Lithuanian 'Jew,' was Secretary General of the South African Communist Party and director of the military wing of the ANC, which perpetrated numerous terror bombings against white civilians.
  When we look at these gruesome personalities, who are only the tip of the Jewish iceberg that was Soviet Communism and who were responsible for the deaths of upwards of thirty million people; when we realize how little is written or filmed about their crimes, we begin to realize that the exclusive focus on the crimes of the Germans, real and imagined, is a function of propaganda.
  If the facts about the Jewish Communist holocaust against the peasants and Christians of Russia and Eastern Europe were given massive publicity, the supposed "special evil" of the Germans would stand exposed as a racist fraud.
  German actions during World War Two must be viewed in a vacuum in order for the New World Order to advance its covert objective of Jewish supremacy.
  When Nazi actions are placed within the context of Jewish Communism's abominable crimes against the Christian people of Russia and Eastern Europe, the public will begin to understand that Hitler and the Nazis were a reaction, however unbalanced and excessive, to the Jewish Communist genocide against millions of Christians and peasants in the East.
  This is why the crucial facts about Jewish Communism must never be documented in Hollywood films, discussed in university courses or pictured in contemporary news magazines. This is why Malcolm Muggeridge's book, an eyewitness account of the Jewish Communist holocaust against Christians, Winter in Moscow, has been tightly suppressed.
  In the Sunday Telegraph (London, England: Nov. 18, 1990) the question is asked, "Why then has it (Winter in Moscow) never been republished? The answer may lie in Muggeridge's handling of what was then called the 'Jewish question.'...Winter in Moscow is acutely concerned with Jews...It was of course the case that a very disproportionate number of the early Bolsheviks were Jews and thus of commissars and apparatchiki..."
  Our documentation of these forbiden facts constitutes the chief motivation for the suppression attempts of such Stalinist censorship groups as the A.D.L. and Simon Wiesenthal Center. Both of these organizations would, if they could, have this writer jailed for publishing the documentation herein in Germany, France, or Austria. They regularly supply "intelligence files" to those governments on pro-Christian and pro-German writers. In 1995 the ADL sought to assist the prosecution of 69 year old American writer Hans Schmidt who was imprisoned in Germany for publishing a newsletter in Florida. These Judaic censors would like to have similar laws passed worldwide, resulting in the jailing of more writers and researchers who will not toe the party line or worship the Golden Calf.
  To give the other side of history, the revisionist side--to give voice to the voiceless millions of dead victims of Judaic Communism--is regarded as "hateful" by the vain Zionists who demand for themselves the right to vomit forth a daily barrage of sewage upon the sacred memory of our grandparents and ancestors. To defend against the dishonoring of our heritage and our ancestors, is surely not hate; it is the right of self-defense against psychological warfare.
  Copyright(C)2006 by Michael A. Hoffman II. All Rights ReservedRevisionistHistory.orgRecommended ResourcesFor more information: audio-CD, "Chameleon Judaism" at our online Bookstore located at RevisionistHistory.orgwwii revisionism / bookstore / news bureau / archivesJudaic Communism: The Documentary RecordRevisionistHistory.orgThe Prop-MastersPerpetrators of the holocaust against Christian Russia transform themselves into "survivors" of "the Holocaust"The portraits above are of the same man but in two different incarnations. On the left we see Martin "Gray" in retirement after a successful career peddling fake antiques to gullible collectors. He is holding his mass market paperback, For Those I Loved, which is filled with his exploits as a saintly "Holocaust Survivor" who was supposedly forced to help clear bodies out of the Treblinka "gas chamber." The earlier portrait on the right is of the youthful Gray as a decorated officer in the Soviet NKVD (the forerunner of the KGB), responsible for the murder of millions of Christians and gentiles in Russia and Eastern Europe. Even Establishment researchers have had to admit that Gray's book is as phony as the antiques he peddled. But Gray's scam is symbolic of countless other Communist ghouls who have managed to land on their feet in the West, disguised as poor, persecuted "Survivors of the Holocaust" and feted as the saints and martyrs of the universe. Meanwhile the holocaust they perpetrated against millions of Christians slips further down the dark environs of Orwell's memory hole.
  In chapter 13 of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Dickens notes that Fagin has an inexhaustible supply of props and disguises.
  by Michael A. Hoffman IICopyright 2006. All Rights Reserved
  "The only two non-Jews in the communist conspiracy were Chambers and Hiss...Every other one was a Jew and it raised hell with us."
  Statement of President Richard Nixon in 1971, as recorded at the White House on tape and released by the National Archives in 1999. The reference is to Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss. (Sources: N.Y. Times, Oct. 7, 1999 and Newsweek, Oct. 18, 1999, p. 30)
  "It is legitimate to adopt a critical attitude toward the relatively large number of Jews who particularly in the first decade after the Bolshevik revolution collaborated with the Soviet Government in the persecution of other peoples."
  Statement of researcher Michael Mills, an official of the government of Australia at Canberra. (Source: Forward, March 10, 2000)
  Judaic Professor Arno Mayer of Princeton in his important book, Why Did the Heavens Not Darken? states that the German invasion of Russia was carried out with the intention to eradicate Bolshevik (Soviet Communist) ideology. The Germans were hardly the only ones in the West to believe that, "Soviet Russia is a dictatorship of Jewry."
  On Feb. 8, 1920 a young British writer made a similar observation in the Illustrated Sunday Herald:
  "There is no need to exaggerate the part played in the creation of Bolshevism and in the actual bringing about of the Russian Revolution by these international and for the most part atheistical Jews."
  The writer was Winston Churchill. Though he would later sell his soul for considerably more than thirty pieces of silver, his analysis of the authentic nature of Soviet communism remains trenchant.
  Churchill expressed the crucial insight that the crimes perpetrated by Jewish communists against Germans and Russians instilled in those people a desire for retribution:
  "In the Soviet institutions the predominance of Jews is even more astonishing. And the prominent, if not indeed, the principal, part in the system of terrorism applied by the Extraordinary Commissions for Combating Counter-Revolution has been taken by Jews, and in some notable cases by Jewesses.
  "The same evil prominence was obtained by Jews in the brief period of terror during which Bela Kun ruled in Hungary. The same phenomenon has been presented in Germany (especially in Bavaria), so far as this madness has been allowed to prey upon the temporary prostration of the German people.
  "...The fact that in many cases Jewish interests and Jewish places of worship are excepted by the Bolsheviks from their universal hostility has tended more and more to associate the Jewish race in Russia with villainies which are now being perpetrated...Needless to say, the most intense passions of revenge have been excited in the breasts of the Russian people." (End quote from Churchill).
  "...a letter sent to the Vatican by Pius XII in 1919, when he was Bishop Eugenio Pacelli and papal nuncio in Munich...reports on his deputy's unpleasant encounter with Bolshevik revolutionaries who were then terrorizing Catholic priests and the German bourgeoisie. The letter describes the leader, Max Lieven as a '... Russian and a Jew.' The letter also describes Mr. Lieven's companions, '...Jews like the rest of them.'...Bishop Pacelli's description of Jewish Communists...was hardly uncommon 80 years ago." (N.Y. Times, Nov. 3, 1999).
  Chaim Bermant, writing in the Jewish Chronicle (Aug. 30, 1991), says: "It was Communism which toppled the hated Czars, Communism which removed Jewish disabilities and proscribed anti-Semitism and Communism which, in its early days at least, opened the doors to Jewish advancement."
  Lenin, whose maternal grandfather, Israel Blank, was Judaic, said that Judaics made the best revolutionaries: "The clever Russian is almost always a Jew or has Jewish blood in him." (Dmitri Volkogonov, Lenin: A New Biography, p. 112). Lenin was both clever and a revolutionary. He was surely referring to himself.
  Researcher Wayne McGuire of Harvard University writes: "Lenin was a Jew by the standards of Israel's Law of Return: he possessed a Jewish grandparent. It would seem that not only was Lenin a Jew, but that he was a Jewish racist and chauvinist, although he kept his ideas on this volatile subject far in the background, probably because they were in radical conflict with the supposed universalism of Marxism. ...Lenin was a Jewish racist who deliberately gave Jews especially, the most 'intellectually demanding tasks.' He admitted that 50% of the communist terrorist vanguard in the south and west of Russia was comprised of Jews."
  Lenin declared, "We are exterminating the bourgeoisie as a class." His partner in crime, Apfelbaum (Zinoviev) stated: "The interests of the revolution require the physical annihilation of the bourgeoisie class." Who were these bourgeoisie? Certainly not Jews. Trotsky gave a clue to their identity in a 1937 interview in the New York Jewish newspaper, Daily Forward: "The longer the rotten bourgeoisie society lives, the more and more barbaric will anti-Semitism become everywhere."
  Bourgeoisie was a Bolshevik code-word for Gentile. The first law passed after the Communists seized power in Russia made anti-semitism a crime punishable by death. (Izvestia, July 27, 1918).
  The top Communist Judaic official Zinoviev stated: "Without mercy, without sparing, we will kill our enemies in scores of hundreds. Let them be thousands; let them drown themselves in their own blood. For the blood of Lenin and Uritzky, Zinoviev and V"lodarsky, let there be floods of the blood of the bourgeoisie--more blood! As much as possible!" (Krasnaya Gazeta, Sept. 1, 1918).
  The Judaic Bolsheviks regarded politics as a branch of Gentile pest control. Hatred of Christians, especially the peasant "bourgeoisie" was their prime motivation. The systematic destruction of the Christian peasantry of Russia as so many vermin, beginning with Lenin's attack on them in the summer of 1918 and his forced starvation in 1921, has been almost completely ignored in Western history.
  According to the London, England "Jewish Chronicle" (Literary Supplement, Sept. 3, 1999, pp. iv and v) Jewish Communist writer Isaac Babel was present at a Soviet Communist gathering, "A meeting of...Jews...is being addressed by Commissar Vinogradov who is enthusiastically telling the...Jews: 'You are in power. Everything is yours." Babel also wrote of the "unbounded" Jewish "contempt for the Polish gentry."
  According to the "Jewish Chronicle," Babel wrote for the Communist publication "Red Trooper" and a Soviet commissar related to him how they intended to deal with Cossacks: "The revolutionary curve has thrown into the first rank the free Cossacks soaked in many prejudices, but the Central Committee's maneuvering will rub them down with a brush of iron.' Babel expresses no opinion on the chances of successfully rubbing out the Cossacks' 'soaked-in prejudices,' a euphemistic term for vicious anti-Semitism..." ("Jewish Chronicle," Ibid.)
  "In the last years of the '20s and the early '30s, Babel was regarded as one of the most notable talents in Soviet literature. Speaking at the first writers' congress in 1934...he made the expected avowals of loyalty and devotion to the revolution, the government and the state. He even praised Stalin's literary style." ("Jewish Chronicle," Ibid.)
  In his story, "The Rabbi's Son," Babel places the portraits of Lenin and Rabbi Moses Maimonides side by side. He notes that the margins of Communist leaflets are crowded with "Hebrew verse."
  The Siberian novelist Valentin Rasputin wrote in 1990: "I think today the Jews here in Russia should feel responsible for the sin of having carried out the revolution and for the shape it took. They should feel responsible for the terror--for the terror that existed during the revolution and especially after the revolution...their guilt is great. They perpetrated the relentless campaign against the peasant class whose land was brutally expropriated by the state and who themselves were ruthlessly murdered."
  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's biographer recounts what it was like to grow up as a Russian Christian child among the children of the Jewish communist elite: "By the age of ten he had the cross ripped from his neck by jeering Pioneers and for over a year was held up to ridicule... Solzhenitsyn was, as a boy, exposed to students whose parents had an officially superior status. Most of the members of the Young Pioneers and Komsomol movements, at least in Rostov, were Jewish children..." (Michael Scammell,Solzhenitsyn: A Biography, p. 64).
  According to the internationally-syndicated RNS wire service (reprinted in "The Christian News," Jan. 8, 1996, p. 2), "Some 200,000 (Christian) clergy, many crucified, scalped and otherwise tortured, were killed during the approximately 60 years of communist rule in the former Soviet Union, a Russian commission reported Monday (Nov. 27, 1995)...40,000 churches (were) destroyed in the period from 1922 to 1980..."
  Here is the most genocidal political movement in world history, which created the largest concentration camps and the most horrendous slave labor system of the 20th century, in which millions of gentiles and Christians were slaughtered (on the size of the Gulag concentration camp system cf. C. Andrew and O. Gordievsky, KGB: The Inside Story and N.Y. Times, Oct. 22, 1990, p. 82. None of these camps are being preserved for posterity. Most were destroyed long ago by special military brigades; cf. Michael Specter, "Cold Reminder," N.Y. Times, Dec. 3, 1994).
  This was a movement staffed in its upper echelons by Judaic Communists and yet the world is comparatively silent about the holocaust and war crimes this thoroughly kosher system inflicted and the identity of the persons who were its architects.
  Auschwitz is on the tip of every tongue but who has heard of Kolyma, Magadan, the Solovetsky islands and the other infernal Soviet centers of human destruction in eastern Siberia? Who has seen films and books about the millions of human beings worked, frozen and starved to death in the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, over which stood a triumphant, colossal statue of the Judaic Communist mass murderer Genrikh Yagoda?
  The Judaic Communist epoch of mass murder has disappeared into history in one of the great vanishing acts of all time. Only practiced deceivers, with all the sleight of hand of the most accomplished stage magicians, could pull off such a coup against the rest of humanity. To trick mankind into focusing nearly all expiatory sentiment, monuments and commemoration on Judaic victims and brand the Mark of Cain--the very words war crime and holocaust itself--on Germany and upon Germans alone as their proprietary trademark, must be regarded as one of the most masterful achievements of psychological warfare in the annals of illusion.
  Israeli power has expanded commensurate with the expansion of "Holocaust" propaganda, as noted by the Israeli author Moshe Leshem: "Israelis and American Jews fully agree that the memory of the Holocaust is an indispensable weapon--one that must be used relentlessly against their common enemy...Jewish organizations and individuals thus labor continuously to remind the world of it. In America, the perpetuation of the Holocaust memory is now a $100-million-a-year enterprise, part of which is government-funded." ( Balaam's Curse, p. 228)
  This is why Edgar Bronfman, the billionaire Canadian Seagram's whiskey merchant and chairman of the powerful World Jewish Congress says, "The growing numbers of revisionist supporters cannot be ignored. We must use every resource to stop revisionism now, before it's too late."
  The reason it must be stopped is because revisionism could prevent the holy people from finishing the job they started in Russia and Bavaria, only this time they are using intellectual means to achieve the same end.
  Consider the fact that the people who bear the brunt of contemporary Jewish racist hatred and invective, the Germans, have among the lowest birthrates and the highest abortion rates of any nation in the world. Far more Germans die every year than are born.
  The self-hating Germans are not the only targets of corrosive gas chamber guilt, however. Organized Christianity (more accurately called Churchianity) nowadays is little more than one huge turkey flock, truckling, toadying and crawling in search of Judaic sanctification and approbation. Their savior called the Jewish leadership of his time, "the children of hell" (Matthew 23:15) but those who presume to speak in His name today, call them the saints and sages of the cosmos.
  Only in such a profoundly falsified world soaked in fraud could the international media sit by, uninterested, as the great-great grandson of the blood-drenched Jewish Red Army commander Leon Trotsky, David Axelrod, shot to death an elderly Palestinian couple in November of 1990, as part of an Israeli, "Kach" terror group raid.
  But imagine--if you can--the hubbub if a grandson of a Nazi war criminal had shot a Turkish couple in Germany. The weeping, wailing and never-ending references to "Never Forget" and "lessons of history" would seep out of the collective TV sets of the earth like waste from a toxic septic tank, because what is clear from such a double standard is that the true lessons of history are not being learned and recollection itself is hostage to the diorama of Zionist monomania.
  Sixteen million ethnic Germans were forcibly expelled from Silesia, Moravia and the Volga regions of the eastern territories at the end of the Second World War. On this trail of tears, two million perished--shot to death, starved, raped and beaten. Ask one in one thousand, one in ten thousand people on the street today-- "Have you heard?" The answer will be no.
  The Steven Spielberg movie images of cattle cars jammed with human cargo are reserved for Jewish victims alone. The 800,000 mostly Muslim Chechens deported by Judaic commissars and savagely stuffed into railway cars to Kazakhstan, where a quarter of a million died enroute, do not meet Hollywood's standard of cinematic focus.
  The Soviet cattle car deportations afflicted more than a half-million Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Christians who were shipped to the Gulag. 12% of the entire Baltic population was either deported to Siberia or executed by the Jewish Soviet Secret Police. Who knows of it? Who cares? Who tries to keep this history from repeating? Instead, in 1995 the president of Lithuania made a pilgrimage to the Israeli gas chamber shrine at Yad Vashem to grovel and beg "forgiveness" for his people who were the victims of the Jewish Communist murderers. To seek forgiveness in all humility is ordained when it is predicated on the truth. To do so based on false witness in order to idolize the Pharisees is a mockery of justice.
  In the Bolshevik era, 52 percent of the membership of the Soviet communist party was Jewish, though Jews comprised only 1.8 percent of the total population (Stuart Kahan, The Wolf of the Kremlin, p. 81)
  The following is a list of some top Judaic Communist murderers, commissars, spies, assassins and propagandists (aliases are listed in parentheses). This list is by no means comprehensive. To catalog all of the Judaic Communist involved in crimes would require hundreds of pages.
  Judaic CommunistsV.I. Lenin, supreme dictator. Leon Bronstein (Trotsky): supreme commander of the Soviet Red Army. Grigory Apfelbaum (Zinoviev): executive, Soviet Secret Police. Solomon Lozovsky: deputy Soviet foreign minister. Maxim Wallach (Litvinov): Soviet foreign minister. Yuri Andropov: director, Soviet KGB, later supreme dictator of the Soviet Union.
  Jacob Sverdlov: first president of the Soviet Union. Sverdlov ordered the massacre of the Czar's family--women and children--in the town named after Catherine the Great, Yekaterinburg, (renamed Sverdlovsk in 1924 in honor of the murderer).
  Jacob Yurovsky: commander, Soviet Secret Police. Yurovsky led the death squad which carried out Sverdlov's order for the murder of the Czar's family, including the bayoneting to death of the Czar's daughters. The Ipatyev house, where, in the basement, the massacre had occurred, stood intact until 1977, when the local Communist party boss at that time, Boris Yeltsin, ordered it demolished, lest it become a shrine to anti-Jewish sentiment.
  Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (pictured at left): chief mass murderer for Stalin, ordered the deaths of millions and the wholesale destruction of Christian monuments and churches, including the great Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Standing amid the rubble of the cathedral, Kaganovich proclaimed, "Mother Russia is cast down. We have ripped away her skirts." (N.Y. Times, Sept. 26, 1995).
  Mikhail Kaganovich: deputy commissar of heavy industry, supervisor of slave labor, brother of Lazar. Rosa Kaganovich: Stalin's mistress; sister of Lazar. Paulina Zhemchuzina: member of the Central Committee and wife of Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov. Olga Bronstein: officer, Soviet Cheka Secret Police, sister of Trotsky, wife of Kamenev.
  Genrikh Yagoda: chief of Soviet Secret Police, mass murderer extraordinaire. (Jewish poet Romain Rolland, winner of the Nobel Prize, wrote a hymn of praise to Yagoda).
  Matvei Berman and Naftaly Frenkel: founders, the Gulag death camp system.
  Lev Inzhir, commissar for Soviet death camp transit and administration. Boris Berman: executive officer of the Soviet Secret Police and brother of Matvei. K.V. Pauker: chief of operations, Soviet NKVD Secret Police.
  Firin, Rappoport, Kogan, Zhuk: commissars of death camps and slave labor, supervised the mass deaths of laborers during the construction of the White Sea--Baltic Canal.
  M.I. Gay: commander, Soviet Secret Police. Slutsky and Shpiegelglas: commanders, Soviet Secret Police. Isaac Babel: officer, Soviet Secret Police.
  Leiba Lazarevich Feldbin (Aleksandr Orlov): commander, Soviet Red Army; officer, Soviet Secret Police. Feldbin was chief of Soviet Security in the Spanish Civil War. He supervised the massacre of Catholic priests and peasants in Spain.
  Yona Yakir: general, Soviet Red Army, member of the Central Committee. Dimitri Shmidt: general, Soviet Red Army. Yakov ("Yankel") Kreiser: general, Soviet Red Army. Miron Vovsi: general, Soviet Red Army.
  David Dragonsky: general, Soviet Red Army, Hero of the Soviet Union. Grigori Shtern: general, Soviet Red Army. Mikhail Chazkelevich: general, Soviet Red Army. Shimon Kirvoshein: general, Soviet Red Army. Arseni Raskin: deputy-commander, Soviet Red Army. Haim Fomin, commander of Brest-Litovsk, Soviet Red Army. At least one hundred Soviet generals were Jewish (cf. Canadian Jewish News, April 19, 1989).
  Generals who were not themselves Jewish often had Jewish wives. Among these were Marshal Voroshilov, Marshal Bulganin, Marshal Peresypkin and General Pavel Sudoplatov (Sudoplatov assassinated hundreds of Christian leaders including Ukranian Catholic Archbishop Teodor Romzha). This Jewish wife "insurance policy" extended to Politburo members such as Andrei Andreyev and Leonoid Brezhnev.
  Sergei Eisenstein: director of communist propaganda films which depicted Christian peasants (kulaks) as hideous, money-grabbing parasites. The kulaks were subsequently massacred. (Cf. for example Eisenstein's Bezhin Meadow).
  KOMZET: commission for the settlement of Jewish Communists on land seized from murdered Christians in Ukraine; funded by Jewish-American financier Julius Rosenwald.
  Ilya Ehrenburg, Minister of Soviet Propaganda and disseminator of anti-German hate material dating from the 1930s. Ehrenburg instigated the Soviet Red Army rape and murder of German civilians. Referring to German women, Ehrenburg gloated to the advancing Red Army troops, "that blonde hag is in for a bad time."
  In a leaflet addressed to Soviet troops, Ehrenburg wrote: "...the Germans are not human beings...nothing gives us so much joy as German corpses." (Anatol Goldberg, Ilya Ehrenburg, p. 197). Goldberg concedes that Ehrenburg, "...had always disliked the Germans...now that there was a war on he turned his old prejudice into an asset." (Ibid., p. 193).
  Another publication distributed to the Red Army, this time as the soldiers approached Danzig, was described by a historian: "Millions of leaflets were air-dropped on the troops with a message composed by the propagandist Ilya Ehrenburg and signed by Stalin: 'Soldiers of the Red Army! Kill the Germans! Kill all Germans! Kill! Kill! Kill!" (Christopher Duffy, Red Storm on the Reich).
  The Soviet leadership acknowledged that Ehrenburg sought the extermination of the entire German people (cf. Pravda, April 14, 1945. [Pravda was also published in a Yiddish edition, Einikeyt). Ehrenburg won the Order of Lenin and the Stalin Prize. He willed his papers to the Israeli Yad Vashem 'Holocaust' Museum.
  Solomon Mikhoels: commissar of Soviet propaganda. Soviet film propagandists: Mark Donsky, Leonid Lukov, Yuli Reisman, Vasily Grossman,Yevgeny Gabrilovich, Boris Volchokand Lillian Hellman (old movies written by her continue to be broadcast on American telelvision).
  Soviet propagandist: Yevgeny Khaldei who staged the photo of the raising of the hammer and sickle flag over the Reichstag in Berlin, May 2, 1945. Afterward, a special plane was waiting to fly Khaldei, Stalin's top Tass photographer, to a Moscow lab, where his photo was further doctored (loot displayed on one of the Soviet soldier's wrists was removed in the negative and Khaldei added clouds and smoke to the scene for dramatic effect (see photo of Khaldei and his beloved flag at left). Khaldei continued to work as a premier Soviet propagandist until his retirement from Pravda in 1972. His Communist propaganda is proudly on display at the Jewish Museum of New York and the Jewish Museum of San Francisco. N.Y. Times writer Vicki Goldberg exulted in the raising of the blood-drenched Soviet flag, emblem of the slaughter of millions of peasants and Christians; describing it as, "...a national (and worldwide) symbol of triumph, justice and revenge." (Jan. 31, 1997, p. B-26).
  Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC): new form of the Bolshevik YEVKOM, Stalin's recruiting conduit for funding money, supplies and political influence for Soviet Russia from world Jewry as well as the dissemination of gas chamber atrocity propaganda (cf. The Black Book).
  Nikolai Bukharin: Lenin's chief theorist. Samuel Agursky: commissar. Karl Radek: member, Central Committee. Mikhail Gruzenberg (Borodin) commissar. A.A. Yoffe: commissar. David Ryazanov: advisor to Lenin. Lev Grigorievich Levin: physician, poisoner of Stalin's enemies. Lev Rosenfeld (Kamenev): member of the Central Committee.
  Ivan Maisky: Soviet Ambassador to Britain. Itzik Solomonovich Feffer: commissar, Soviet Secret Police. Abraham Sutskever: Soviet terrorist-partisan. Mark Osipovich Reizen: Soviet propagandist, winner of three Stalin Prizes. Lev Leopold Trepper: Soviet espionage officer.
  Bela Kun (Kohen): supreme dictator of Hungary in 1919. Kun was later Stalin's chief terrorist in the Crimea. Kun's eventual successor was Matyas Rakosi, Jewish Communist mass murderer of Christians in Hungary. According to the Jewish Telegraph Agency of May 14, 1997, Jews "...played key roles in ushering Communist rule into Hungary. In fact, during the brutal oppression of the early 1950s, the regime's top five leaders were Jews. "
  Zakharovich Mekhlis: top executioner for Stalin. Henrykas Zimanas: leader of Lithuanian communist terrorists, butcher of Christians.
  Moshe Pijade (sometimes spelled Piade): commander, Yugoslav Communist People's Army. Tito's top butcher of hundreds of thousands of Croatian Christians. Pijade later served as president of the Yugoslav Communist Parliament. At least eighteen generals in the Yugoslav Communist People's Army were Jewish. The Yugoslavian communist party sent massive arms shipments to Jewish fighters in Palestine in the 1940s.
  In post-war Poland that nation was completely dominated by Jewish communists: the torturer Jacek Rozanski, head of the Secret Police; the Politboro commander Jacob Berman (pictured at right)
  and commissars Minc, Specht (Olszewski) and Spychalski. These men murdered or deported to Kolyma and the other Arctic death camps, tens of thousands of Catholic Poles.
  According to Jewish researcher John Sack, "In 1945 many Poles felt (and not without reason) that Jews ran the Office of State Security...the chief of the Office was Jacob Berman, a Jew, and all or almost all the department heads were Jews." Sack reports that 75% of the officers of the Communist Secret Police in Silesia were Jews. He noted that many Jews in the Communist terror apparatus in Poland changed their names to Polish ones like General Romkowski, Colonel Rozanski, Capt. Studencki and Lt. Jurkowski. (cf. John Sack, The New Republic, Feb. 14, 1994, p. 6. Sack in this article also refutes some shoddy research performed by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of Hitler's Willing Executioners, who, in the double standard typical of the Jewish mentality, refuses to accept the proven fact that Jews ran the Polish Communist secret police even as Goldhagen asserts the racist myth that the entire German nation was guilty of genocide. Sack does a good job of proving Goldhagen wrong about Poland).
  In Poland, "...a disproportionate number of Communists were Jews. In 1930, at its peak, 35% of the members of the party were Jewish. In Communist youth organizations, Jewish membership was even higher, while Communists of Jewish origin occupied most of the seats on the central committee. Communism appealed to some Jews because it opposed anti-Semitism more vigorously than any other Polish party...Jewish Communists reached their apogee in the years immediately after World War Two, when the party leadership was totally in the hands of the prewar Communist leadership that abhorred anti-Semitism." (Sheldon Kirshner, The Canadian Jewish News, Nov. 5, 1992, p. 16).
  Of course when one encounters the issue of Judaics, Communists and Catholics in Poland in the Establishment media or universities today, the mass murder of the Polish Catholics at the hands of the Jewish Communists, is never raised. Instead, a minor attack on Jews by Polish peasants enraged at the role of Jews in Communist terror, which occurred in July, 1946 at Kielce and which has come to be called the "Kielce pogrom" will be the centerpiece of the "discussion. " The motivation for the attack is not usually mentioned. Rather, the Catholic peasantry are painted in terms of "fiendish bigots" whose "blind, irrational hate" for the "poor, persecuted Jews" resulted in "yet another martyrdom of God's Chosen."
  But the Catholic Primate of Poland at the time, Cardinal Hlond, a brave prelate in a stalwart tradition of Christian resistance to Jewish tyranny in Poland, so different from the traitorous philo-Judaism of the current Pontiff, stated that the attack in Kielce occurred because of resentment 'due to the Jews who today occupy leading positions in Poland's (Communist) government and endeavor to introduce a governmental structure that the majority of Poles do not wish to have." (Ibid., Kirshner).
  As Piotr S. Wandycz of Yale University observes, "The average Pole could not but notice in the Stalinist era that the two most powerful men in the country--Berman and Minc--were both Jewish as was the dreaded security official Rozanski." (N.Y. Review of Books, Aug. 18, 1983, p. 51).
  With this record it is interesting to note that the Polish occupant of the papacy, John Paul II, consistently lent his prestige and his presence to canonizations and commemorations of politically correct victims of the Nazis. Nowhere did this Pope breath a word about the openly Jewish, Communist massacres of Polish Catholics, Spanish Catholics, Croatian Catholics, Lithuanian Catholics--he was too busy, intoning the Shoah, referring to the heirs of the Pharisees as "our Elder Brothers in the Faith" giving official recognition to an Israeli state which even many orthodox, Haredi rabbis regard as a blasphemous and abominable entity, and attacking the German people as "the image of the beast."
  Solomon Morel (pictured at left): commandant of a post-war Communist concentration camp for Germans in Poland. Stalin deliberately put Jews in charge of such camps. Morel tortured and murdered thousands of Germans, sometimes with his bare hands (cf. "The Wrath of Solomon," Village Voice, March 30, 1993 and John Sack, An Eye for an Eye). Morel is comfortably esconsed in Tel Aviv. German survivors of Morel's camp have demanded he be tried as a war criminal, but for the Establishment media and the phony, partisan, "human rights" groups, bringing Morel to justice is simply a non-issue. After all, he murdered helpless Germans, so what's the problem?
  Julius Hammer, M.D.: New York abortionist and co-founder of the American communist party. Armand Hammer: fundraiser and financier for Lenin and Stalin, son of Julius. "The Communist Party was also the most Jewish party in America. At least nineteen percent of the Young Communist League were Jews and never less than forty percent of its leadership." (Source: "Pakn Treger: From Yiddish Roots to the Frontiers of Jewish Culture," Fall 1997, p. 18).
  Lev Davidovich Landau: Stalinist physicist, co-father of the Soviet atomic bomb. Klaus Fuchs: helped steal atomic bomb secrets for Stalin. Ruth Werner: colonel, Red Army GRU intelligence, assisted Fuchs. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: stole American atomic bomb secrets for Stalin. Morris Cohen (Peter Kroger): assisted the Rosenbergs. Markus Wolf: chief of German Communist Stasi Secret Police.
  Howard Fast: American communist propagandist for Stalin. David Dubinsky: Stalin's ally, head of the U.S. International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Nahum Goldmann: founder, World Jewish Congress, communist propagandist. Rabbi Moses Rosen: agent, Romanian communist party. Victor Rothschild: top British espionage agent for Stalin.
  Mark Zborowski: "...considered by historians of Soviet terror operations to have been the most fearsome...(Soviet) spy of all time" (Stephen Schwartz, Forward, Jan. 26, 1996). Zborowski, a medical researcher, murdered a dissident with a poisoned orange at the Soviet-run hospital in Paris. Zborowski was implicated in several other assassinations in 1936 and 1937. In the 1940s worked for both the American Jewish Committee and the KGB. In the 1960s Zborowski worked as a medical researcher at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco. He trained numerous psychiatrists and medical specialists in the Bay Area. He died in 1990 (cf. "The Strange Case of Doctor Zborowski and Monsieur Etienne" by Philippe Videlier, in Le Monde Diplomatique, Dec. 1992).
  From 1936-1939, when Stalin's "International Brigade" forces were dispatched to Spain to fight the Catholics, Jewish Communists comprised the largest faction of his troops, "More than 40,000 volunteers fought in the International Brigade...A huge number of the volunteers were Jews: between 7,000 and 10,000 of the Internationals as a whole, more than one-third of the Americans." Jewish Communist Milton Wolff was the last commander of the American contingent. Rabbi Hyman Katz joined in order to fight Spanish Christians. (cf. Jeffrey Sharlet, "Troublemakers," Pakn Treger, Fall, 1997, pp. 16, 18 and 24).
  The Communists slaughtered 6,549 Spanish priests, 283 helpless nuns and 13 bishops. "In Ciudad Real in the center of Spain, the bishop and every single priest of the diocese were murdered; not one escaped." --Dr. Warren H. Carroll, 70 Years of the Communist Revolution, pp. 184-185, 188-189. (Also cf. Justo Perez de Urbel, Catholic Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War [Kansas City, Missouri: The Angelus Press, 1993).
  Stalin's propaganda agent in Spain was New Yorker Leon Rosenthal.
  On Oct. 16, 1948, 50,000 Jewish communists turned out in Moscow's Red Square to welcome the first Israeli delegation to Moscow. Stalin supported Zionism's 1947 Palestine partition plan, gave crucial recognition to the newly-created state of Israel and voted for Israel's admission to the United Nations.
  In 1951 communist and Marxist parties had twenty-three seats in the Israeli Knesset. The kibbutz system was the most powerful movement in the country and the most powerful kibbutz leaders were nearly all Marxists. The biggest Israeli holiday was May Day, celebrated with rallies, marches, red banners and red songs.
  As recently as 1987 the Israelis were providing the KGB with American intelligence secrets (cf. UPI dispatch by Richard Sale, Dec. 13, 1987 and The City Paper [Washington, DC], Jan. 15, 1988). Jonathan Jay Pollard was part of one such spy ring. British traitor and Communist spy Kim Philby was assisted in obtaining safe haven in the Soviet Union by the Israeli Mossad (cf. Sunday Telegraph [England], April 16, 1989). This was most appropriate since Philby's KGB handler in Moscow was also Jewish.
  Romania's communist regime received favorable trade deals from the U.S. for years due to Israeli pressure on Congress in its behalf (N.Y. Times, Jan. 18, 1992, p. 23). The notion that the Zionist Jewish movement was anti-communist is a fallacy. The truth is more complex. There was a left wing and a right wing within Zionism. The rightists, like the terrorists Jabotinsky and Stern, took a fascist approach. Leftist Zionists like David "I am a Bolshevik" Ben-Gurion admired the Soviet model of Jewish power and sought to incorporate it as the political economy of the Israeli state.
  "National and racial chauvinism is a vestige of the misanthropic customs characteristic of the period of cannibalism. Anti-semitism, as an extreme form of racial chauvinism, is the most dangerous vestige of cannibalism...under USSR law active anti-Semites are liable to the death penalty." (Stalin, Collected Works, vol. 13, p. 30).
  The African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa was guided by two Communist Jews, Albie Sachs, "one of its foremost intellectuals"( London Sunday Times, Aug. 29, 1993) and Yossel Mashel Slovo (Joe Slovo).
  Slovo was born in a shtetl in Lithuania and grew up speaking Yiddish and studying the Talmud. He joined the ANC's terrorist wing, the Umkhonto we Sizwe, in 1961 and eventually became its commander. He was named Secretary General of the South African Communist Party in 1986. ("Joe Slovo," Jewish Chronicle, Jan. 13, 1995).
  Slovo had been the " planner of many of the ANC terrorist attacks, including the 1983 car bomb that killed 19 people and injured many others... Slovo, who had traveled to the Soviet Union many times, was awarded a Soviet medal on his 60th birthday...Slovo is a dedicated Communist, a Marxist Leninist without morality of any kind, for whom only victory counts, whatever the human cost, whatever the bloodshed...Slovo disputes little of his image as 'the Communist mastermind' behind the ANC's armed struggle. For him the fears of South Africa's whites are both a measure of the ANC's growing strength and a crucial factor in hastening what he believes will be its ultimate victory. 'Revolutionary violence has created the inspirational impact that we had intended, and it has won for the ANC its leading position,' Slovo said." ("Rebel Strategist Seeks to End Apartheid," L.A. Times, Aug. 16, 1987, p. 14). When Nelson Mandela's ANC took over South Africa, Slovo was named Minister of Housing.
  Nelson Mandela and Joe Slovo give the clenched fist salute in front of the blood-drenched Hammer and Sickle flag of Bolshevism. Slovo, a Yiddish-speaking Lithuanian 'Jew,' was Secretary General of the South African Communist Party and director of the military wing of the ANC, which perpetrated numerous terror bombings against white civilians.
  When we look at these gruesome personalities, who are only the tip of the Jewish iceberg that was Soviet Communism and who were responsible for the deaths of upwards of thirty million people; when we realize how little is written or filmed about their crimes, we begin to realize that the exclusive focus on the crimes of the Germans, real and imagined, is a function of propaganda.
  If the facts about the Jewish Communist holocaust against the peasants and Christians of Russia and Eastern Europe were given massive publicity, the supposed "special evil" of the Germans would stand exposed as a racist fraud.
  German actions during World War Two must be viewed in a vacuum in order for the New World Order to advance its covert objective of Jewish supremacy.
  When Nazi actions are placed within the context of Jewish Communism's abominable crimes against the Christian people of Russia and Eastern Europe, the public will begin to understand that Hitler and the Nazis were a reaction, however unbalanced and excessive, to the Jewish Communist genocide against millions of Christians and peasants in the East.
  This is why the crucial facts about Jewish Communism must never be documented in Hollywood films, discussed in university courses or pictured in contemporary news magazines. This is why Malcolm Muggeridge's book, an eyewitness account of the Jewish Communist holocaust against Christians, Winter in Moscow, has been tightly suppressed.
  In the Sunday Telegraph (London, England: Nov. 18, 1990) the question is asked, "Why then has it (Winter in Moscow) never been republished? The answer may lie in Muggeridge's handling of what was then called the 'Jewish question.'...Winter in Moscow is acutely concerned with Jews...It was of course the case that a very disproportionate number of the early Bolsheviks were Jews and thus of commissars and apparatchiki..."
  Our documentation of these forbiden facts constitutes the chief motivation for the suppression attempts of such Stalinist censorship groups as the A.D.L. and Simon Wiesenthal Center. Both of these organizations would, if they could, have this writer jailed for publishing the documentation herein in Germany, France, or Austria. They regularly supply "intelligence files" to those governments on pro-Christian and pro-German writers. In 1995 the ADL sought to assist the prosecution of 69 year old American writer Hans Schmidt who was imprisoned in Germany for publishing a newsletter in Florida. These Judaic censors would like to have similar laws passed worldwide, resulting in the jailing of more writers and researchers who will not toe the party line or worship the Golden Calf.
  To give the other side of history, the revisionist side--to give voice to the voiceless millions of dead victims of Judaic Communism--is regarded as "hateful" by the vain Zionists who demand for themselves the right to vomit forth a daily barrage of sewage upon the sacred memory of our grandparents and ancestors. To defend against the dishonoring of our heritage and our ancestors, is surely not hate; it is the right of self-defense against psychological warfare.
  Copyright(C)2006 by Michael A. Hoffman II. All Rights ReservedRevisionistHistory.orgRecommended ResourcesFor more information: audio-CD, "Chameleon Judaism" at our online Bookstore located at RevisionistHistory.orgwwii revisionism / bookstore / news bureau / archives
Mandela mocks idea he was MI6 man
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 20:12
  Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, has reacted angrily to a claim that he was recruited as an "agent of influence" by British intelligence and that he visited MI6 in Britain to thank them for their help in foiling assassination attempts. "I never visited the headquarters of any intelligence service," he told the Guardian yesterday.
  The allegations were made in the forthcoming book, MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations, by Stephen Dorril, a lecturer at Huddersfield University, and they were met by strong denials earlier this week from Pretoria.
  "False and nonsensical allegations against Nelson Mandela appearing in the British media and emanating from shadowy rightwing forces have been repeatedly made in a futile attempt to tarnish his image," the government said.
  "The allegations are baseless and are motivated by a difficulty in accepting that individuals other those from the 'first world' can play an important part in world affairs."
  "Some, like those making [the book's] allegations, do not realise that the colonial era is past - never to return," it said.
  The tone of the government's response reflected Mr Mandela's indignation at whites and westerners who claim credit for the achievements of the African National Congress - which led the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa - and those who cannot believe that Africans can take serious initiatives on their own.
  "They show a contempt for Africa," he said.
  It is no secret that, after Mr Mandela's release from prison in 1991, British intelligence gave some assistance to the ANC; Lord Renwick, who was British ambassador to Pretoria at the time, confirmed that he asked British intelligence experts to train Mr Mandela's bodyguards and advise on security at his home.
  "The intelligence service were involved in these activities, for which Mr Mandela was very grateful," Lord Renwick said. "But there is no truth in the suggestion that the relationship went deeper than that."
  The report that Mr Mandela was recruited is "an absolute travesty", he said.
  British intelligence sources were equally dismissive. "The idea that we recruited Mandela is crap," said one official.
  British agents were certainly involved with the exiled ANC in Lusaka, Zambia, in the years before Mr Mandela's release; they established close relations with the black leadership and were seen as being to the left of British official policy.
  At a time when Margaret Thatcher - prime minister from 1979-90 - was forbidding British diplomats to have contacts with the ANC, MI6 had its own connections to the movement and gave it information. And while Mrs Thatcher was supporting the South African Zulu leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, as an alternative to the ANC, MI6 agents took the ANC more seriously.
  But Mr Mandela was in prison at that time. And prison officials were, he says, "very strict about contacts with the world outside, as the prison records show".
  In his book, Mr Dorril says it was "not clear" whether Mr Mandela was recruited in London before he was imprisoned in South Africa. But from the evidence of British diplomatic files, it is quite clear that he was not.
  Those records show that British officials were remarkably uninterested in the ANC and uninformed about Mr Mandela, even after he became one of the most important black leaders.
  It was not until June 1961 that the Foreign Office opened a file on Mr Mandela and, thereafter, its interest was only sporadic; it kept some tracks of his movements when he fled the country in 1962.
  When he came to London in June 1962, he was questioned by an immigration official who evidently knew something about him. He was surprised to notice the same official watching him when he left 10 days later, but he had no contact with anyone in government while in London.
  By the time he was arrested and jailed in August 1962, Mr Mandela had still not made contact with any British diplomat or agent: "I don't think they knew I existed," he said yesterday.
  When he made his final speech before being sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, the information and research department in London - the offshoot of MI6 set up to provide anticommunist propaganda - belatedly recognised that "he was going to be popular figure over the whole continent whether we like it or not".
  There was still no record to suggest that the agency had a special relationship with him.
  During Mr Mandela's ensuing 27 years in prison, British intelligence remained very cautious about making contact with black politicians inside South Africa, knowing such overtures would antagonise the apartheid government.
  In fact, an MI6 agent was severely interrogated by the South Africans and declared persona non grata after it was discovered that contact had been made with the white opposition,
  There was some evidence that MI6 had frustrated an attempt by the South African secret service, BOSS, to allow Mr Mandela to be "rescued" from Robben Island and flown to the mainland, where he would be killed supposedly escaping.
  But the scope for British intelligence remained strictly limited by BOSS and it was unable to make contact with Mr Mandela in prison.
  Mr Dorril also claimed, in an interview with Scotland's Sunday Herald last weekend, that Mr Mandela helped provide MI6 with information about Libya's funding and arming of the IRA. He was said to have picked up the information when he was persuading the Libyan president, Muammar Gadafy, to hand over for trial the Libyan suspects in the Lockerbie air liner bombing. Mr Dorril also alleged that Mr Mandela "told his MI6 handlers about Libya's attempts to develop chemical and biological warfare capabilities, as well as informing them about South Africa's secret nuclear arsenal".
  This was dismissed by ANC sources, noting that the west had opposed Mr Mandela'sinitiative to embrace Libya's leader. Mr Mandela's friendship with Colonel Gadafi, who trusted the South African,was the key to a Lockerbie settlement.
IJzige storm VS zorgt voor transportproblemen
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: VK: Home
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 20:05
  07/12/13, 19:26 '' bron: ANP
  (C) ap. Een auto spint op een gladde weg in Dallas
  De Amerikaanse staten Texas en Arkansas zijn getroffen door zeer koud weer en sneeuwstormen. Honderdduizenden mensen kwamen zonder stroom te zitten, wegen zijn veelal onbegaanbaar en vluchten zijn ernstig vertraagd.
  Meer dan 3300 reizigers strandden op de luchthaven Dallas-Fort Worth waar slechts twee van de zeven start- en landingsbanen sneeuw- en ijsvrij konden worden gemaakt. Meer dan 350 vluchten zijn daarom geannuleerd.
  In Texas kwamen ongeveer 267.000 meldingen van stroomstoringen binnen bij de stroomvoorziener. In de loop van zaterdag werd het aantal minder. De leverancier hoopt alle storingen zondagavond te hebben opgelost.
  Voor de rest van het weekend is vrieskou voorspelt. Dallas liet eerder al weten een marathon te hebben afgelast die stond gepland voor zondag.
Another Good Reason to Hate the Minimum Wage
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: EconomicPolicyJournal.com
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 20:03
  As temperatures plummet across the United States, keep in mind when you are out pumping gas in the frigid temperatures that at some hourly rate it would pay for gas station operators to hire attendants to pump the gas for you. The only thing preventing them from doing so is a minimum wage that is higher than the wage it would make sense to do so at. So, you freeze and a kid willing to bundle up for his first job, stays unemployed.
How Ronald Reagan (and others) Freed Nelson Mandela And Saved South Africa
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The Ulsterman Report
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 20:02
  This week marks the passing of a great, and deeply flawed man, Nelson Mandela. It is the arc of Mandela's personal transformation from terrorist to a more dignified and effective leader of that nation's transitional era where apartheid crumbled, and the opportunity for a more true democracy was initiated. And while Nelson Mandela deserves all or most of the accolades now pouring in for him following his death from around the globe for helping to lift his country up from the too often violent and divisive era that preceded his release after nearly thirty years in prison, so too does Ronald Reagan deserve credit for doing so much to foster an environment that allowed that release from prison, and the transformative era for South Africa that followed, to happen.
  As relates to South Africa, Ronald Reagan wasn't ''on the wrong side of history'' '' he helped make that history.
  http://dwulsterman.com
  _____________________________________________________
  Now some within the liberal media have long attempted to portray the Reagan administration as being ''on the wrong side of history'' regarding the fall of apartheid in South Africa. They ignore the fact that the Soviet Union was very active throughout the African continent throughout the 1960'²s, 70'²s, and 80'²s, activity that in fact was a direct influence on the more violent, Marxist ideology that dominated the younger, (and far less noble) version of Nelson Mandela.
  So too did Ronald Reagan attempt to navigate around the too often clumsy, counter-productive generalized sanctions against the South African government in the 1980'²s. That navigation was no indication of support for the apartheid regime '' far from it. Reagan detested tyrannical government of any kind, but instinctively knew that simple sanctions would do little to nothing to quell the divisions within the country, or foster an environment of negotiation and mutual cooperation essential for a peaceful transition. Liberal history has also chosen to ignore the fact that when president, Ronald Reagan openly called for Mandela's release from prison, an act that was then repeated by other leaders from Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and others nations.
  There was no convoluted academic platform upon which Reagan's instincts in this, or so many other matters, was based upon. Rather, he simply knew in his heart what needed to be done to best prepare for an outcome that would benefit the people of South Africa. That preparation included a policy of ''constructive engagement'' where South African moderates, who Reagan believed to represent the majority within that country, would come together to prepare an end to the apartheid regime. History proved that to be exactly what happened soon after Ronald Reagan left office. Just as he demanded the Soviet Union's Gorbachev ''Tear down this wall'', only to see that very thing take place just a handful of years later, so too did Reagan's work to help end South African apartheid come about soon after Reagan's own departure from the presidency.
  The man had a knack for saying something, and then seeing that something into reality.
  When Nelson Mandela was finally released from prison, he was already playing a primary role in the Reagan initiated ''constructive engagement'' plan. Just as he was freed from the shackles of his imprisonment, Mandela also freed himself from the shackles of his more violent and militant past, including leaving his still militant wife Winnie, herself a highly divisive figure who has been charged with multiple crimes since her former husband's release.
  Ronald Reagan left office in January of 1989. It was almost exactly one year later that then South African president F.W. de Klerk ordered Mandela's release.
  Which brings us to another integral figure, and one who is again too often ignored or diminished relating to the end of South African apartheid '' F.W. de Klerk. Following Margaret Thatcher's death last year, de Klerk published a eulogy outlining the many ways Margaret Thatcher, and thus, Ronald Reagan, assisted South Africa toward its transition from apartheid to democracy. The former South African president clearly shared his belief that sanctions did little to no good in helping with that transition, something both Reagan and Thatcher understood:
  Baroness Thatcher played a constructive role in the promoting evolutionary change in South Africa throughout her period as Prime Minister.
  She was a steadfast critic of apartheid and consistently urged the South African government to release Nelson Mandela and to embark on fundamental constitutional change. However, she had a much better grasp of the complexities and geo-strategic realities of South Africa than many of her contemporaries. She realised that there would be no peaceful solution to the problems of South Africa unless the reasonable concerns of all South Africans '' including whites '' were taken into consideration.
  She was sceptical about the ability of sanctions to force the South African government to adopt changes that it believed would threaten its core interests.
  '...The stand she took on sanctions helped to buy time for South Africa until the major geostrategic changes at the end of the 1980s. By 1989 the situation was much more conducive to successful constitutional negotiations: all sides had reached the conclusion that negotiations presented the only option for the future; the Namibian independence process had been successfully implemented and the collapse of international communism had substantially reduced the threat posed by the South African Communist Party's symbiotic relationship with the ANC.
  After her retirement in 1993 Baroness Thatcher accepted my invitation to visit South Africa as an official guest of my government. During her visit I bestowed upon her the Order of Good Hope, the highest honour that South Africa could then award to any non-South African. I can think of no-one who was more deserving of such recognition.
  Subsequently '' and before her stroke in 2002 '' we met many times in the Cape and in London. I am honoured to have had Margaret Thatcher as a friend.
  De Klerk has also openly stated that ''economic sanctions delayed change in South Africa and that Ronald Reagan's ''constructive engagement'' policy was a good strategy for South Africa.'' Liberals would scoff at such a notion, but again, history reveals the truth they so willingly ignore.
  South African Apartheid was initiated in 1948. For over thirty three years, it survived, or even flourished under the administrations of other world leaders. After eight years of Ronald Reagan's policies of ''constructive engagement'' that worked to prepare the volatile nation to peacefully embrace true self rule, apartheid fell.
  Just as communism fell. Just as the Berlin Wall fell.
  Nelson Mandela took it from there, and after four years as President of South Africa, when he then willingly gave up his authority and made himself a living, breathing example of democracy, Nelson Mandela proved himself more than deserving of the opportunity Ronald Reagan and others had given him and his reborn nation.
Het ware gezicht van Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) | Niburu
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 19:56
  Wanneer mensen hun werk doen in opdracht van hun Illuminati meesters heten ze geen terroristen, maar vrijheidsstrijders.
  Echte freedom fighters echter worden geen lid van geheime ridderordes die onder controle staan van de Jezu¯eten.
  Het ANC (African National Congres) heeft 30 jaar lang een terroristische oorlog gevoerd tegen het Zuid Afrikaanse Apartheidsregime en het lot van de zwarte Afrikaan is in plaats van beter, slechter geworden sinds het ANC aan de macht is.
  Als een zaak gesteund wordt door het Illuminati Joodse bankkartel dan is terrorisme plots geen terrorisme meer. Het door dit kartel gesteunde ANC voerde van 1961 tot 1990 een terroristische oorlog tegen de Zuid Afrikaanse apartheidsregering. De door hetzelfde kartel gecontroleerde media bracht dit verhaal als een ''vrijheidsstrijd''. Als echter de Palestijnen hetzelfde doen tegen het apartheidsregime van Isral dan zijn ze ineens terroristen. Wanneer zoiets gedaan wordt door de Illuminati bankiers of hun handlangers dan zijn het ''vrijheidsstrijders'' en ''opstandelingen'' (zoals bijvoorbeeld in Syri).
  In het Zuid Afrika van de jaren '60 en '70 ging er geen week voorbij zonder terrorisme. Zoals het opblazen van een brandstofdepot of een autobom bij het hoofdkwartier van de luchtmacht. De guerrillagroepering van het ANC, bekend onder de naam MK, werd in 1961 opgericht door Nelson Mandela en zijn handler, de communistische Jood Joe Slovo.
  In het begin waren de doelwitten van MK delen van de infrastructuur, maar twee decennia later hield MK zich bezig met het doden van burgers. Zo werden er handgranaten in een hamburger restaurant gegooid of boobytraps gemaakt in winkelcentra. Mandela had hier geen enkel bezwaar tegen.
  Mandela werd gevangen genomen tijdens een overval op het hoofdkwartier van MK op een boerderij buiten Johannesburg. De ANC werd gefinancierd en gerund door communistische Joden die op hun beurt weer een dekmantel waren voor de Illuminati bankiers. Mandela was als het ware de assistent van degene die de hele zaak in feite runde, de Joodse communist Arthur Goldreich.
  Toen de overheid in 1986 aanbood om hem vrij te laten op voorwaarde dat hij terrorisme zou afzweren, weigerde Mandela. In 1990 lieten ze hem toch vrij en Mandela bezwoer dat MK door zou gaan met het creren van chaos. Maar, dat was niet meer nodig. De overheid was klaar om de macht over te dragen.
  In 1994 ontvingen Mandela en F.W. de Klerk gezamenlijk de Nobelprijs voor de vrede en in 1996 noemde koningin Elizabeth van Engeland Mandela in haar kersttoespraak ''een groot staatsman''.
  Het ANC was niets meer dan een front voor communistische Joden. Dankzij Michael Hoffman II weten we dat het ANC in Zuid Afrika werd geleid door twee communistische Joden, Albie Sachs en Yossel Mashel Slovo (Joe Slovo).
  Op de foto links zie je Mandela en Slovo met gebalde vuisten voor een communistische vlag waar het bloed vanaf druipt.
  Verpakt in een soort namaak idealisme dient het Joods sociaal en politiek activisme de geheime satanische agenda van de Illuminati. Net zoals het communisme dit deed, zo werd ook de massa door het ANC misleid om de regering omver te werpen en marionetten zoals Mandela namens de Illuminati te installeren.
  Het lot van de zwarte bevolking is veel erger dan voordat ze een ''volksregering'' kregen. Het aantal mensen dat moet rondkomen van 1 Dollar per dag is verdubbeld van twee naar vier miljoen mensen. Het werkeloosheidspercentage is verdubbelde naar 48 procent in de periode 1991 tot 2002. Inmiddels is het nu weer gezakt naar rond de 25 procent, wat nog steeds krankzinnig hoog is.
  In 2006 waren er van de 35 miljoen zwarte mensen maar 5.000 die meer verdienden dan 60.000 Dollar per jaar. Een kwart van de totale bevolking woont in krotten zonder stromend water of elektriciteit. Een kwart heeft geen beschikking over schoon water. Veertig procent heeft geen telefoon. Het percentage besmettingen van HIV/AIDS/TB is twintig procent. De gemiddelde levensverwachting is met 13 jaar gedaald. Veertig procent van de scholen heeft geen elektriciteit.
  Waar is de bezorgdheid van de ANC over het welzijn van de bevolking? Uiteraard was het een dekmantel om ervoor te zorgen dat de bankiers de controle zouden krijgen over de grondstoffen van Zuid Afrika. Vergelijkbaar met de manier waarop ze dit zeventig jaar daarvoor deden met Rusland.
  De conclusie is dan ook, wederom, dat terrorisme een instrument is van het Illuminati Joodse bankkartel, gevestigd is in Londen. Zo kan 95 procent van alle terroristische activiteiten, inclusief 9/11, terug herleid worden tot de bron via de geheimediensten van deze wereld, in het bijzonder de CIA (Amerika), Mossad (Isral) en MI-6 (Engeland).
  In 2006 kwam er een boek uit, geschreven door een erkend specialist op het gebied van veiligheidsdiensten en docent aan de Universiteit van Huddersfield, Stephen Dorril, getiteld ''MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations''. daarin wordt Mandela specifiek genoemd als agent van MI6, hoewel hij dat zelf altijd in alle toonaarden heeft ontkend.
  Uiteindelijk leiden alle wegen weer naar Rome en dan in het bijzonder naar de Jezu¯eten. Zij zijn ook degene die de controle hebben overgenomen van geheime Ridderordes zoals de Orde van Malta.
  Als Mandela een man van het volk geweest zou zijn en een vrijheidsstrijder dan zou hij nooit lid geworden zijn en gebleven van de Malteser Orde.
  De Malteser Orde is het domein van de zogenaamde Black Nobility. Een groep families die deze titel kregen omdat ze de kunst van vuil spel zo goed beheersen.
  ''The Black Nobility earned its title through dirty tricks, so when the population revolted against the monopolies in government, as anywhere else, the leaders of the uprising were quickly seized and brutally hanged. They use secret assassinations, murder, the bankrupting of opposing citizens or companies, kidnapping and rape.''
  Het zal weinigen verbazen dat het Huis van Oranje (C)(C)n van die families is. Navolgende foto: Wijlen Prins Bernhard in Malteser Orde kledij riddert zijn dochter Beatrix tot ridder in deze orde.
  Wij leven in een onvoorstelbaar hypocriete maatschappij. Maar, dat is dan ook de strategie. Om de schijn van het ene op te houden en het tegenovergestelde te doen. Spreken met dubbele tong; "To get away with crime, pretend you are a crime fighter".
  Bronnen :
  Henry MakowCurezoneBibliotheca PleyadesHerstel de RepubliekRevisonist History
Open Source Ecology - GVCS
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 19:32
  The Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) is an open technological platform that allows for the easy fabrication of the 50 different Industrial Machines that it takes to build a small civilization with modern comforts.
  Open Source - Low-Cost - Modular - User-Serviceable - DIY - Closed-Loop Manufacturing - High Performance - Heirloom Design - Flexible Fabrication
  A modern, comfortable lifestyle relies on a variety of efficient Industrial Machines. If you eat bread, you rely on an Agricultural Combine. If you live in a wood house, you rely on a Sawmill. Each of these machines relies on other machines in order for it to exist. If you distill this complex web of interdependent machines into a reproduceable, simple, closed-loop system, you get these:
  3d Printeran additive manufacturing technology where a three dimensional object is printed by laying down successive layers of material, just like a printer except in 3D.
  3d Scannera device that can generate a 3D digital scan from a real-life object, where the file can be used to reproduce the object in 3D with a device such as the 3D printer or CNC Precision Multimachine.
  50 kW Wind Turbinea device that produces electrical power from wind energy, scalable in units of 50 kW.
  Aluminum Extractor from Claya device that produces aluminum from clay by dissolving the aluminum from aluminosilicate (clay), and then electrolyzing the resulting compound to form pure aluminum.
  Backhoea piece of excavating equipment or digger consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm for digging trenches or large holes.
  Bakery Ovendevice for heating various forms of dough into breads and other baked goods.
  Balera device that compresses hay and other light and dispersed materials into more compact bales.
  Bioplastic ExtruderAn extruder takes a charge of plastic and extrudes a sheet or other profile of useful form, such as greenhouse glazing or water tubing.
  Bulldozera high-traction, heavy earth-moving machine indispensible for building ponds, berms, and other permacultural earthforms, as well as for other tasks such as building roads or clearing land.
  CEB Pressa high performance machine for producing Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) from onsite soil, at production rates of up to 16 bricks per minute.
  Cement Mixera device that homogeneously combines cement, aggregate such as sand or gravel, and water to form concrete.
  Chipper/Hammermilla machine used for reducing wood or other materials into smaller parts, such as chips or shreds.
  CNC Circuit Milla computer-controlled device that can produce electrical circuits by milling and drilling on copper-clad circuit boards.
  CNC Precision Multimachinea multipurpose, precision CNC machining and metal cutting device for milling, lathing, drilling to make precision parts; includes surface grinding and cold-cut metal sawing.
  CNC Torch/Router Tablea computer-controlled cutting table for metal where a moving torch head is used to produce precision metal parts in a fraction of the time that it takes to do so manually .
  Dairy Milkerdevice which harvests milk automatically from milk-producing livestock.
  Dimensional Sawmilla dimensional sawmill is a circular blade sawmill with 2 blades that is used for producing dimensional lumber in one pass.
  Electric Motor/Generatora device that functions as a motor when energized with a voltage, which can also function as an electrical generator when it is spun.
  Gasifier Burnera clean and efficient burner that gasifies the material that is being burned prior to combustion.
  Hay Cuttera device that cuts grass, hay, straw, or other light biomass for haying, baling, or combining.
  Hay Rakea mechanical implement for a tractor that rakes hay or other light materials into windrows or other formations for drying or baling.
  Hydraulic Motorsa mechanical actuator that converts high-pressure fluid flow into rotation.
  Induction Furnacean electrical furnace in which the heat is applied by induction heating of metal, providing clean, versatile, compact, energy-efficient, and well-controlled melting compared to flame furnaces.
  Industrial Robota robotic arm which can perform certain human tasks '' such as welding or milling '' for performing tasks that are not better done by humans.
  Ironworker Machinea device that can instantly cut steel and punch holes in metal thicknesses of 1".
  Laser Cutteran industrial machine that can make precision, finish cuts in a wide array of substrates, such as metal, wood, or plastic.
  Linear Solar Concentratoran infinitely-scalable, linear device which concentrates solar radiation onto a linear target for generating heat or steam to produce electricity.
  Loadera bucket attachment to a tractor that can be used for digging or loading of soil and other loose materials.
  Metal Rollinga metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through a pair of rolls to produce a desired shape, such as flat bar, angle, or u-channel.
  Microcombinea small-scale harvester-thresher for mechanical harvesting of any grain crops, with a cutting swath of about 3 feet in width.
  Microtractora small, 18 hp version of the full-sized tractor for powering a wide range of implements in agriculture and utility duties.
  Modern Steam Enginean engine where an external heat source is used to turn water into steam, and the steam in turn moves reciprocating pistons to provide shaft power.
  Nickel Iron Batterieslong-life batteries that have a track record of lasting 50 or more years.
  Open Source Automobilea wheeled motor vehicle for transporting people.
  Open Source Trucka larger version of an automobile with a bed for transporting loads.
  Open Source Weldera device used to make strong, permanent bonds in metal by melting and fusing the metal.
  Pelletizera device that compresses shredded pieces of biomass or other substances to compact, flowable pellets.
  Plasma Cuttera device to cut metal using a plasma torch.
  Power Cubea multipurpose, self-contained, hydraulic power unit that consists of an engine coupled to a hydraulic pump.
  Press Forgea device for shaping metal by the application of a shaping die and a continuous pressure or force.
  Rod and Wire Milla subset of metal rolling, used to make shafts, rebar, thin rods, and down to wire.
  Rototiller and Soil Pulverizera tractor implement that tills soil with blades via rotary action.
  Spadera set of mechanical shovels that prepare soil for planting without causing a hardpan typical of rototiller tilling.
  Heat Exchangera device that transfers thermal energy from one medium to another, such as combustion heat to generate steam from water.
  Tractora versatile, 4-wheel drive, hydraulically-driven, skid-steering tractor with 18 to 200 horsepower capacity for agriculture, construction and other utility duties.
  Trenchera piece of construction equipment that uses a cutting wheel for digging trenches, laying pipe, cable, or drainage.
  Universal Power Supply (UPS)This is a combination power supply for applications from off-grid power to supplying power to welders, induction furnaces, and plasma cutters.
  Universal Rotora tractor-mounted rotor that can be fitted with a wide array of toolheads, such as string trimmer, posthole digger, tree planting auger, slurry mixer, and many others.
  Universal Seedera tractor-pulled seeder than can plant any seed, from small seeds like clover to large seeds such as potatoes.
  Well-Drilling Riga device for digging deep water wells.
Steve Biko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 16:35
  Stephen Bantu Biko (18 December 1946 '' 12 September 1977)[3] was an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s.
  A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement.[4] While living, his writings and activism attempted to empower black people, and he was famous for his slogan "black is beautiful", which he described as meaning: "man, you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being".[5]
  Even though Biko was never a member of African National Congress (ANC), ANC has included him in the pantheon of struggle heroes, going as far as using his image for campaign posters in South Africa's first non-racial elections in 1994.[6]
  Early lifeBiko was born to parents Mzingayi Mathew and Alice 'Mamcete' Biko in Ginsberg Township, in the present-day Eastern Cape province of South Africa.[7] His father was a government clerk, while his mother did domestic work in surrounding white homes.[8] The third of four children, Biko grew up with his older sister Bukelwa; his older brother Khaya; and his younger sister Nobandile.[9] In 1950, at the age of four, Biko suffered the loss of his father who was studying law.[10][11] As a child, he attended Brownlee Primary School and Charles Morgan Higher Primary School.[12]
  He was sent to Lovedale High School in 1964, a prestigious boarding school in Alice, Eastern Cape, where his older brother Khaya had previously been studying.[13] During the apartheid era, with no freedom of association protection for non-white South Africans, Biko was expelled from Lovedale for his political views, and his brother arrested for his alleged association with Poqo (now known as the Azanian People's Liberation Army).[14] After being expelled, he then attended and later graduated from St. Francis College, a Roman Catholic institution in Mariannhill, Natal.[7]
  He studied to be a doctor at the University of Natal Medical School. Biko was a Xhosa. In addition to Xhosa, he spoke fluent English and fairly fluent Afrikaans.
  He was initially involved with the multiracial National Union of South African Students, but after he became convinced that Black, Indian and Coloured students needed an organization of their own, he helped found the South African Students' Organisation (SASO), whose agenda included political self-reliance and the unification of university students in a "black consciousness."[15] In 1968 Biko was elected its first president. SASO evolved into the influential Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). Biko was also involved with the World Student Christian Federation.
  Biko married Ntsiki Mashalaba in 1970.[16] They had two children together: Nkosinathi, born in 1971, and Samora. He also had two children with Dr Mamphela Ramphele (a prominent activist within the BCM): a daughter, Lerato, born in 1974, who died of pneumonia when she was only two months old, and a son, Hlumelo, who was born in 1978, after Biko's death.[1] Biko also had a daughter with Lorraine Tabane, named Motlatsi, born in May 1977.[citation needed]
  In the early 1970s Biko became a key figure in The Durban Moment.[17] In 1972 he was expelled from the University of Natal because of his political activities[15] and he became honorary president of the Black People's Convention. He was banned by the apartheid regime in February 1973,[18] meaning that he was not allowed to speak to more than one person at a time nor to speak in public, was restricted to the King William's Town magisterial district, and could not write publicly or speak with the media.[15] It was also forbidden to quote anything he said, including speeches or simple conversations.
  When Biko was banned, his movement within the country was restricted to the Eastern Cape, where he was born. After returning there, he formed a number of grassroots organizations based on the notion of self-reliance: Zanempilo, the Zimele Trust Fund (which helped support former political prisoners and their families), Njwaxa Leather-Works Project and the Ginsberg Education Fund.
  In spite of the repression of the apartheid government, Biko and the BCM played a significant role in organising the protests which culminated in the Soweto Uprising of 16 June 1976. In the aftermath of the uprising, which was crushed by heavily armed police shooting school children protesting, the authorities began to target Biko further.
  Death and aftermathOn 18 August 1977, Biko was arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 and interrogated by officers of the Port Elizabeth security police including Harold Snyman and Gideon Nieuwoudt. This interrogation took place in the Police Room 619 of the Sanlam Building in Port Elizabeth. The interrogation lasted twenty-two hours and included torture and beatings resulting in a coma.[15] He suffered a major head injury while in police custody at the Walmer Police Station, in a suburb of Port Elizabeth, and was chained to a window grille for a day.
  On 11 September 1977, police loaded him in the back of a Land Rover, naked and restrained in manacles, and began the 1100 km drive to Pretoria to take him to a prison with hospital facilities. He was nearly dead owing to the previous injuries.[19] He died shortly after arrival at the Pretoria prison, on 12 September. The police claimed his death was the result of an extended hunger strike, but an autopsy revealed multiple bruises and abrasions and that he ultimately succumbed to a brain hemorrhage from the massive injuries to the head,[15] which many saw as strong evidence that he had been brutally clubbed by his captors. Then Donald Woods, a journalist, editor and close friend of Biko's, along with Helen Zille, later leader of the Democratic Alliance political party, exposed the truth behind Biko's death.[20][better source needed]
  Because of his high profile, news of Biko's death spread quickly, opening many eyes around the world to the brutality of the apartheid regime. His funeral was attended by over 10,000 people, including numerous ambassadors and other diplomats from the United States and Western Europe. The liberal white South African journalist Donald Woods, a personal friend of Biko, photographed his injuries in the morgue. Woods was later forced to flee South Africa for England. Donald Woods later campaigned against apartheid and further publicised Biko's life and death, writing many newspaper articles and authoring the book, Biko, which was later turned into the film Cry Freedom.[21] Speaking at a National Party conference following the news of Biko's death then''minister of police, Jimmy Kruger said, "I am not glad and I am not sorry about Mr. Biko. It leaves me cold (Dit laat my koud). I can say nothing to you ... Any person who dies ... I shall also be sorry if I die."
  After a 15-day inquest in 1978, a magistrate judge found there was not enough evidence to charge the officers with murder because there were no eyewitnesses.[22][23] On 2 February 1978, based on the evidence given at the inquest, the attorney general of the Eastern Cape stated he would not prosecute.[24] On 28 July 1979, the attorney for Biko's family announced that the South African government would pay them $78,000 in compensation for Biko's death.[23]
  On 7 October 2003, the South African justice ministry announced that the five policemen accused of killing Biko would not be prosecuted because the time limit for prosecution had elapsed and because of insufficient evidence.[22]
  The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was created following the end of minority rule and the apartheid system, reported that five former members of the South African security forces who had admitted to killing Biko were applying for amnesty. Their application was rejected in 1999.[22]
  A year after his death, some of his writings were collected and released under the title I Write What I Like.[25]
  Influences and formation of ideologyLike Frantz Fanon, Biko originally studied medicine, and, like Fanon, Biko developed an intense concern for the development of black consciousness as a solution to the existential struggles which shape existence, both as a human and as an African (see N(C)gritude). Biko can thus be seen as a follower of Fanon and Aim(C) C(C)saire, in contrast to more multi-racialist ANC leaders such as Nelson Mandela after his imprisonment at Robben Island, and Albert Luthuli who were first disciples of Gandhi.[26][27][28][29]
  Biko saw the struggle to restore African consciousness as having two stages, "Psychological liberation" and "Physical liberation". The nonviolent influence of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. upon Biko is then suspect, as Biko knew that for his struggle to give rise to physical liberation, it was necessary that it exist within the political realities of the apartheid regime, and Biko's nonviolence may be seen more as a tactic than a personal conviction.[30]
  Biko's relevance in the presentIn the present post-Apartheid South Africa, Biko is now revered across the political spectrum despite obvious ideological differences. Many of these people see Biko's philosophy as irrelevant after 1994. However, in 2004, he was voted 13th in the SABC3's Great South Africans.
  However, many present-day social movements, activists, and academics continue to stress the relevance of Biko's black consciousness. This includes a strong critique of voting by academic Andile Mngxitama who has said that if Biko were alive today, he would not be supporting any political party, would not even vote, but would be marching with the social movements against government.[31][32][33]
  TributesBiko is buried in King William Town, Eastern Cape Province in the town cemetery near the railroad tracks.[citation needed]
  Apart from Donald Woods' book called Biko, his name has been honoured at several universities. Locally, the main Student Union buildings of the University of Cape Town are named in his honour and each year a commemorative Steve Biko lecture, open to all students, is delivered on the anniversary of his death. Internationally, the University of Manchester's student union, the Steve Biko Building, on the Oxford road campus, is named in his honour. Ruskin College, Oxford has a Biko House student accommodation. The bar at the University of Bradford was named after Biko until its closure in 2005. Numerous other venues in Students Unions around the United Kingdom also bear his name. The Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative has a house named after Steve Biko, themed to provide a safe, respectful space for people of colour. A street in Hounslow, West London, is named "Steve Biko Way". At the University of California, Santa Cruz, there is a section of dormitories named "Biko House" located in the Oakes College Multicultural Theme Housing. The Steve Biko Institute was founded in Salvador, Brazil to support the education and pride of Black Brazilians.[34] The Pretoria Academic Hospital was renamed the Steve Biko Academic Hospital[35] in 2008. Durban University of Technology has acknowledged Steve Biko's contribution to South African Society by naming its largest campus after him. A bronze bust of Steve Biko was unveiled in Freedom Square on this campus as a tribute to him. Peter Gabriel wrote the song "Biko" in honour of Steve Biko, and the Hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest named a song in his honour.
  References in the artsLiteratureBenjamin Zephaniah wrote a poem titled "Biko The Greatness", included in Zephaniah's 2001 collection, Too Black, Too Strong."The Compound Arcane" is a poem written in 1975 by Jack Hirschman, subtitled Hommage to Steve Biko, which is published in The Arcanes. This poem is notable by the fact that it was composed prior to Biko's death, yet already the poet was inspired enough by Biko's life to recognize him as a martyr."In Detention" by Chris van Wyk (b. 1957)Theatre, film and televisionIn 1978, Malcolm Clarke[36] recounted Biko's story in a documentary called, The Life and Death of Steve Biko.A 1979 play titled The Biko Inquest, written by Norman Fenton and Jon Blair. In 1985, a television adaptation of the original stage play was created, directed by Albert Finney and originally aired in the US through HBO in 1985.[37]In 1987, Richard Attenborough directed the movie Cry Freedom, a biographical drama about Biko starring Denzel Washington and Kevin Kline.In the Disney channel movie The Color of Friendship, Biko's death is used as a plot turner in breaking the two teens apart.In Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, while Brian Potter is on Crimetime and is grabbed by a following interviewee he makes a reference to Biko.Within the Star Trek canon, the USS Biko is named in his honour. It is a supply ship referenced in the Season Six episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, entitled A Fistful of Datas.In the manga and anime Planetes, a presumably co-lateral descendant, James Biko, is the navigator of the Werner von Braun Jupiter Explorer.MusicBiko has been the subject of many tributes in many different genres of music, including rap, hip hop, jazz, reggae and rock
  In 1978, Peter Hammill on his album The future Now in the song "A motor bike in Afrika" was the first to mention Biko (after his death) in England.The album Song for Biko by South African improviser, composer, and bandleader Johnny Dyani (Johnny Mbizo Dyani) features a composition written by Dyani of the same name.Tom Paxton released the song "The Death of Stephen Biko" on his 1978 album Heroes.Tapper Zukie released the song "Tribute To Steve Biko" on his 1978 album Peace In The Ghetto on the Frontline Records label.[38]Steel Pulse released the song "Biko's Kindred Lament" on their 1979 album Tribute to the Martyrs.Peter Gabriel recorded his song "Biko" on his 1980 album Peter Gabriel. The song was later covered by Robert Wyatt on his 1984 EP Work in Progress.Sweet Honey in the Rock's 1981 album, Good News, contains tracks titled "Biko" and "Chile Your Waters Run Red Through Soweto", which compares Biko's death to that of Chilean musician Victor Jara and was covered by Billy Bragg in 1992.Christy Moore sang a song about Biko called "Biko Drum" which makes several references to the South African hero. The song was written by Wally Page.Biko is referenced in the Public Enemy song "Show 'Em Whatcha Got" on the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.Randy Stonehill sings about Biko in the song "Stand Like Steel" on his 1989 album Return to Paradise (produced by Mark Heard).[39]The album, Midnight Marauders (1993) by A Tribe Called Quest includes the song "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)" in which Biko is mentioned very briefly during the song, mostly in the 20 second chorus. Phife Dawg raps: "I'm radical with this like the man this song is after".Beenie Man's 1997 album Many Moods of Moses includes the song "Steve Biko".German singer Patrice sings about Biko in the song "Jah Jah Deh Deh" which appears on his album How Do You Call It?.Dead Prez's album Let's Get Free references Steve Biko in the track "I'm a African".Dave Matthews wrote the song "Cry Freedom" in honour of Biko.[40]Dirty district's song "Steve Biko" is based on the death of Steve Biko. The song is recorded on their debut album, Pousse Au Crime et Longueurs de Temps.Groundation's song "Silver Tongue Show" references Biko.Simphiwe Dana's second album is The One Love Movement on Bantu Biko Street.Stevie Wonder mentions the struggle in South Africa and Stephen Biko in a tribute concert to Bob Dylan in his song "Blowing in the Wind".Willy Porter mentions Biko in his song "The Trees Have Soul". He sings: "Even Stephen Biko knows, the trees have soul".Johnny Clegg mentions Steve Biko, Victoria Mxenge and Neil Aggett in his song "Asimbonanga" about Apartheid and Nelson Mandela.Wyclef Jean compares Biko's horrific events to the ones of Amadou Diallo in his tribute song name "Diallo" on the album The Ecleftic: Two Sides of a Book.Banda Bassotti - Figli Della Stessa RabbiaLowkey's 2009 album Dear Listener references Steve Biko in the track "I Believe".Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson mentions him on the song "Mal Sacate". Kristofferson sings: "They killed so many heroes / Like Zapata (presente!) and Fonseca (presente!) / and Sandino (presente!) and Guevarra (presente!)/ and sdazSteve Biko (presente!)/ but they can never kill the human spirit in Nicaragua."Senegal's Youssou N'Dour mentions Steve Biko in his song "New Africa".Saul Williams mentions Biko along with other notable figures such as Buddha, Bob Marley, John Lennon, Khalil Gibran, Shiva in the song "Coded Language".Vybz Kartel, in his song "Licensed to Kill", sings: "Mi wi do di time like Mandela, fi murda di whole a dem like Stephen Biko".PaintingsNumerous works have paid homage to Steve Biko, and keep awareness of him alive. These include:
  Homage to Steve Biko'--Bester, Willie.[41]
  Who killed Steve Biko? -- Ashton, Tony.[42]
  See alsoReferences^ abMothibeli, Tefo. "Mamphela Ramphele: Academic Giant and Ray of Hope", Financial Mail, Johannesburg, 7 July 2006.^Daley, Suzanne. "The Standards Bearer", NY Times, New York, 13 April 1997.^"Stephen Bantu Biko". South African history on-line. September 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007. ^"Background: Steve Biko: martyr of the anti-apartheid movement". BBC News. 8 December 1997. Retrieved 16 April 2007. ^Biko, Steve (1986). I Write What I Like. San Francisco: Harper & Row. pp. 103''104. ^See, for instance, Rian Malan's book My Traitor's Heart^ abElizabeth J. Verwey; HSRC Press (1995). "New Dictionary of South African Biography, Volume 1". books.google.com. ISBN 978-07969-1648-8. ^Leslie M. Alexander, Walter C. Rucker; ABC-CLIO (2010). "ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY 3 VOLUME". books.google.com. p. 643. ISBN 978-1851097692. ^Lindy Wilson; Ohio University Press (2012). "Steve Biko (Ohio Short Histories of Africa)". books.google.com. pp. 19, 22. ISBN 978-0821420256. ^Rutgers University. "Black Consciousness and the Quest for True Humanity". eden.rutgers.edu. ^"Biko, Stephen Bantu (1946''1977)". blackwellreference.com. 24 June 2013. ^F. Abiola Irele, Biodun Jeyifo; Oxford University Press (2010). "The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Thought, Volume 1". books.google.com. p. 155. ISBN 978-0195334739. ^Lindy Wilson; Ohio University Press (2012). "Steve Biko (Ohio Short Histories of Africa)". books.google.com. p. 23. ISBN 978-0821420256. ^Peter Joyce (2007). "The Making of a Nation: South Africa's Road to Freedom". books.google.com. p. 142. ISBN 978-1770073128. ^ abcdeAppiah, Kwame Anthony; Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (1997). The Dictionary of Global Culture. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 76''77. ISBN 0-394-58581-X. ^"King William's Town's hero: Steve Biko 1946 - 1977". Buffalo City government. Retrieved 2 September 2007. ^Black Consciousness in Dialogue: Steve Biko, Richard Turner and the 'Durban Moment' in South Africa, 1970 '' 1974, Ian McQueen, SOAS, 2009^"Martyr of Hope: A Personal Memoir" by Aelred Stubbs C.R., in Biko, Steve (2002). I Write What I Like. Chicago: Harper & Row. p. 161. ^Pillay, Verashni (12 September 2007). "Keeping Steve Biko alive was really hard but we succeeded". News24. Retrieved 19 September 2007. [dead link]^Helen, Zille (9 September 2007). "Steve Biko's legacy lives on". IOL.co.za. ^Blandy, Fran (31 Dec 2007). "SA editor's escape from apartheid, 30 years on". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2011. ^ abcWhitaker, Raymond (8 October 2003). "No prosecution for death of anti-apartheid activist Biko". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 October 2012. ^ ab"South Africa Will Pay Biko Kin $78,000". Youngstown Vindicator. Associated Press. 28 July 1979. Retrieved 13 October 2012. ^"No prosecution of Biko's interrogators". The Calgary Herald. Reuter. 2 February 1978. Retrieved 13 October 2012. ^Biko, Steve; Mpumlwana, Thoko (1997). Aelred Stubbs, ed. I write what I like: a selection of his writings. London: Bowerdean Pub. ISBN 9780906097496. ^Stiebel, Lindy (2005). Still beating the drum: critical perspectives on Lewis Nkosi. Rodopi. p. 80. ^Kee, Alistair (2006). The rise and demise of black theology. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ^Heinrichs, Ann (2001). Mahatma Gandhi. Gareth Stevens. p. 12. ^Lens, Sidney (1963). Africa '-- awakening giant. Putnam. p. 180. ^Wiredu, Kwasi; William E. Abraham, Abiola Irele, Ifeanyi A. Menkiti (2003). Companion to African philosophy. Blackwell Publishing. ^"Why Steve Biko wouldn't vote". Andile Mngxitama. Pambazuka News. ^Mngxitama, Andile; Andile Mngxitama, Amanda Alexander, and Nigel C. Gibson (2008). BIKO LIVES! Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko. Palgrave Macmillan. ^"A homemade politics' Rights, democracy and social movements in South Africa". Matt Birkinshaw. Abahlali baseMjondolo. ^Martins, Alejandra (25 May 2005). "Black Brazilians learn from Biko". BBC News. Retrieved 19 June 2011. ^Newsbeat. "The Steve Biko Academic Hospital". Pah.org.za. Retrieved 19 June 2011. ^[1][dead link]^"The Biko Inquest". IMDb. ^"Tapper Zukie - Peace In The Ghetto". Discogs.com. Retrieved 19 June 2011. ^"Welcome To Paradise". Nifty-music.com. Retrieved 19 June 2011. ^Antsmarching.org list of Dave Matthews Band song inspirations/meanings^"Homage to Steve Biko". Entertainment.webshots.com. Retrieved 19 June 2011. ^"Who Killed Steve Biko?". Tonyashtonart.co.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2011. Further reading1972 Interview with Steve BikoI Write What I Like, by Steve Biko, Harper & Row, 1986, San Francisco.Steve Biko: Black Consciousness in South Africa; ed. Millard Arnold; Random House, New York. 1978.Biko, by Donald Woods; originally published by Paddington Press, London and New York, 1978; later edition published by Henry Holt, New York, 1987.New Introduction to I Write What I Like by Lewis GordonBlack Consciousness: The dialectics of liberation in South Africa by Nigel GibsonGoodwin, June; Schiff, Ben (13 November 1995). "Who Killed Steve Biko?: Exhuming Truth in South Africa". The Nation (New York: The Nation Company) 261 (16): 565''568. ISSN 0027-8378 No. 46: Steve Biko by Hilda Bernstein (Victor Kamkin, 1978, ISBN 0-317-36653-X)Mngxitama, Andile; Andile Mngxitama, Amanda Alexander, and Nigel C. Gibson (2008). BIKO LIVES! Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko. Palgrave Macmillan. Google Books Preview version(link)External links
US government considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist until 2008 - Investigations
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 16:28
  Doug Mills / AP
  President George H. W. Bush shakes hands with South African national leader Nelson Mandela at the White House in Washington, June 25, 1990.
  By Robert Windrem, Investigative Producer, NBC News
  From the White House to the halls of Congress, U.S. government officials have responded to the death of Nelson Mandela with a hail of testimonials to the late South African president's leadership in the struggle for freedom and human rights.
  Until five years ago, however, the U.S. officially considered Mandela a terrorist. During the Cold War, both the State and Defense departments dubbed Mandela's political party, the African National Congress, a terrorist group, and Mandela's name remained on the U.S. terrorism watch list till 2008.
  Presidents Carter and Reagan and Congress had all instituted sanctions against the white minority South African government because of its policy of racial apartheid. But in 1986, Reagan condemned Mandela's group, the ANC, which was leading the black struggle against the apartheid regime, saying it engaged in "calculated terror ... the mining of roads, the bombings of public places, designed to bring about further repression."
  After the apartheid regime in South Africa declared the ANC a terrorist group, the Reagan administration followed suit.
  In August of 1988, the State Department listed the ANC among "organizations that engage in terrorism.'' It said the group ''disavows a strategy that deliberately targets civilians,'' but noted that civilians had ''been victims of incidents claimed by or attributed to the ANC.''
  Five months later, in January 1989, the Defense Department included the ANC in an official publication, "Terrorist Group Profiles," with a foreword by President-elect George H.W. Bush. The ANC was listed among 52 of the "world's more notorious terrorist groups." (One of the others listed, Yasser Arafat's Fatah, is now the ruling party in the West Bank.)
  The publication referred to Mandela, who had once led the ANC's military wing, as part of the "leadership," though by then he had spent more than a quarter century in prison. It also accepted the apartheid regime's claim that "ANC's operations -- which heretofore had sought to avoid civilian casualties -- abruptly changed. Attacks became more indiscriminate, resulting in both black and white civilian victims." Five months before the report was issued, the ANC had taken responsibility for some attacks that resulted in civilian deaths but had pledged to prevent a recurrence.
  Leaders around the globe remember Nelson Mandela's fearless generosity, leadership, and remarkable force for change. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
  The report cited 13 attacks during the 1980s, many of which targeted government facilities, including a military command headquarters, an unfinished nuclear plant, a courthouse and SASOL, the government-owned coal-to-oil conversion facility. Of those incidents that resulted in deaths, the biggest was a car-bombing of the South African Air Force headquarters in Pretoria that killed 19 and wounded 200.
  The report also claimed significant links between the ANC and Communist countries, noting that the ANC "receives support from the Soviet bloc, Cuba and a number of African nations in addition to contributions from the West." The DoD report added that the ANC received many of its weapons from the "Soviet Bloc" and listed among its "political objectives" the establishment of a "multiracial Socialist government in South Africa."
  When the Defense Department's report was issued, State quickly distanced itself from the harsh, Cold War rhetoric. Despite its own earlier dire characterization of the ANC, it called the group "a politically diverse organization, representing a range of views. It is the oldest black nationalist movement in South Africa."
  But the Defense Department stood by its language, and Mandela and other ANC officials remained on the terror watch list even as President Bush welcomed Mandela, newly released from prison, to the White House in 1990. Because of what was described as a "bureaucratic snafu," their names were kept on the list until 2008, 14 years after Mandela had been elected president and nine years after he had left power. He was 90 at the time.
  The terrorist designation finally proved too embarrassing for the U.S. government to ignore. In April 2008, during the last year of the George W. Bush administration, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a Senate committee that her department had to issue waivers for ANC members to travel to the United States.
  Kim Ludbrook / EPA
  Mourners pay tribute to South Africa's revered anti-apartheid icon, who died on Dec. 5, 2013.
  "This is a country with which we now have excellent relations, South Africa, but it's frankly a rather embarrassing matter that I still have to waive in my own counterpart, the foreign minister of South Africa, not to mention the great leader Nelson Mandela," Rice said.
  Later that year, the terrorist designation was dropped after a bill, proposed by then-Senator now secretary of State John Kerry, passed both houses of Congress and was signed by President Bush.
  Mandela was imprisoned in 1964 after being arrested and charged with sabotage, specifically a campaign against the country's power grid, and plotting to overthrow the government. No one was injured in the sabotage campaign. He was released in 1990, at age 71. He was elected president of South Africa in 1994, in the country's first full and free elections, and served until 1999.
  More from NBC News Investigations:
  Follow NBC News Investigations on Twitter and Facebook
  Investigate this!Read and vote on readers' story tips and suggested topics for investigation or submit your own.
Christina Curry twijfelt aan mannelijkheid Dave Roelvink - Priv(C) | Het laatste nieuws over de sterren [prive]
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:58
  Exclusieve artikelen van de Telegraaf redactie
  za 07 dec 2013, 13:39
  van onze redactieAMSTERDAM - VIDEO - In Welkom bij de Kamara's wordt Dave Roelvink opgeleid als medicijnman. Wanneer dat niet helemaal volgens plan loopt, twijfelt Christina Curry sterk aan zijn mannelijkheid.
  (C) 1996-2013 TMG Landelijke Media B.V., Amsterdam.Alle rechten voorbehouden.e-mail: redactie-i@telegraaf.nlGebruiksvoorwaarden | Privacy | Cookies | Cookie-voorkeuren
Bangui - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:51
  Bangui (French pronunciation: '‹[bÉ‘ÌƒÉi]) is the capital of and the largest city in the Central African Republic. As of 2012 it had an estimated population of 734,350. Established by the French in 1889 as 'Bongai', which means 'rapids', it is located on the northern bank of the Ubangi River, and grew into a town during its period as part of French Equatorial Africa. The majority of the population of the Central African Republic lives in the western parts of the country, in Bangui and the area surrounding it.
  The city forms an autonomous commune (commune autonome) of the Central African Republic which is surrounded by the Ombella-M'Poko prefecture. The commune has an area of 67 square kilometres (26 sq mi) and it is the smallest high-level administrative division in the country, but the highest in terms of population. The city consists of 8 urban districts ('arrondissements'), 16 groups ('groupements') and 205 neighbourhoods ('quartiers'). As the capital of the Central African Republic, Bangui serves as an administrative, trade, and commercial centre. It is served by the Bangui M'Poko International Airport. The National Assembly, government buildings, banks, foreign enterprises and embassies, hospitals, hotels, main markets and the Ngaragba Central Prison are all located here. Bangui manufactures textiles, food products, beer, shoes and soap. The Cath(C)drale Notre-Dame is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangui. The city is also home to the University of Bangui, inaugurated in 1970.
  Bangui has been the scene of intense rebel activity and destruction during decades of political upheaval, including the current rebellion. Due to political unrest, the city was named in 1996 as one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
  Archaeological studies in and around Bangui have yielded at least 26 ancient Iron Age sites that contain many metallurgical tools and objects, illuminating the pre-European history of the city and surrounding area.[2] These archaeological sites were added to the UNESCOWorld Heritage Tentative List on 11 April 2006 in the Cultural category.[2] The site closest to Bangui is Pendere-Sengue, 800 metres (2,600 ft) from modern Independence Avenue, where archaeologists and conservation agencies have carried out studies. It is a paleo-metallurgical site where, apart from several thousand shards of ceramics, iron tools, pottery, and an iron spatula weighing 9 kilograms (20 lb) have been unearthed; the iron outcrops here have been noted in a length of 200 metres (660 ft) along a stream bed. Its dating, compared with similar sites in Nigeria and Sudan, could be closer to the 9th century BC.[2]
  Bangui was founded in 1889 in what was the French colony of Haut-Oubangui, later called Ubangi-Chari and made part of French Equatorial Africa. Named after the rapids of the river, the city grew due to the proximity of a French military post situated on the Ubangi River. Bangui served as the administration centre in the colonial era and continues to be the administrative centre of the Central African Republic.
  The French established radio communications in Bangui, which was described in 1932 as "the most remote radio station in Africa".[4]
  In 1970, President Jean-B(C)del Bokassa established the University of Bangui. In 1971 he established the national airline, Air Centrafrique, and ordered the construction of two new luxury hotels in Bangui. With tensions mounting between Bangui and Paris as a result of Bokassa's uncontrollable expenditures, western banks refused to loan him any more money. Relations with the French worsened still further in April 1974, when Brigette Miroux's body was discovered in a hotel room in Bangui and it was reported in the French media that she had been Bokassa's mistress and that he was responsible for her murder. As a result, Bokassa banned imports of French newspapers and assumed control of the Agence France-Presse office in Bangui. By 1975, Bangui had a population of 300,723.[6]
  In March 1981, widespread violence took place in Bangui following elections, after Operation Caban led the French to drop Bokassa (by then calling himself Emperor Bokassa I), and replaced him with David Dacko. Opponents of the President met in Bangui and were forced to flee the country. Bokassa went on trial, but returned voluntarily to Bangui in the autumn of 1986. Initially sentenced to death, this was commuted to life imprisonment in February 1988. His successor, was General Andr(C) Kolingba, army chief of staff of Decko's army, who took over control from the local French military on 1 September 1981 under the pretext that the country was heading towards civil war. Though he was attempting to remove corruption and bring a semblance of control on the CAR's economic conditions, he could not continue with his reforms. By the middle of the 1980s the country's economic situation had deteriorated as 80% of the revenue went towards meeting the salaries of the staff. Generation of revenue by levying additional tax on diamonds proved counterproductive. Eventually, following on the foot steps of the earlier leaders of the country he also declared himself as the ''Chief of the nation'' in 1986. However, under pressure from France and other western countries, Kolingba restored democracy in the country in 1991 with a multiparty government but elections could be held only three years later in August 1994. In the elections Angel Felix Potasse was elected to the post of president. Since he was from north CAR, southern group of Kolingba started a rebellion during 1996.
  In May 1996, about 200 soldiers of the Central African Republic mutinied in Bangui, demanding salary increases and the abdication of Ange-F(C)lix Patass(C). In the aftermath, the renegades plundered and killed more than 50 people. Following this, the French troops stationed in the country suppressed the rebellion and restored the dictatorial power. After being elected, President Patass(C) announced a national unity government in early 1997. The Patass(C) government, the opposition parties, and religious groups signed the Bangui Agreements in January 1997 which were a "series of measures designed to reconcile competing political factions, reform and strengthen the economy. The same year, the rebel troops refused a military base in Bangui and in June a new revolt broke out.
  In view of frequent political unrest the city was named in 1996 as one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
  On 25 October 2002, several towns in the country and later Bangui were attacked by the forces of General Fran§ois Boziz(C), backed with international support.[12] Boziz(C) "refused to accept an arrest warrant, defected with about a hundred troops, engaged in street battles in the northern neighborhoods of Bangui (traditionally supporting Patasse), and moved to the north of the country." Boziz(C) went into exile in Chad but his troops returned to Bangui and fighting continued. Peace keeping forces were ineffective. Potasse was completely isolated. And Bozize's troops with support from Chad were successful in removing Potasse's government. Potasse who was returning from Niger after attending a conference was not permitted to land in Bangui and he took asylum in Togo. Bozize, who had taken over power, suspended the constitution. An all-party National Transitional Government was set up which functioned as an interim legislative body. However, the ''climate of distrust continued.''
  2013 rebellionEditIn late 2012 the Seleka coalition rebelled against his autocratic rule and entered the city. After capturing Bria, Sibut, and other important towns, they were on the verge of capturing Damara, the last strategic town before Bangui. France and the US refused to support the president and neighboring countries reinforced the Central African Multinational Force (Fomac).[15]
  In January 2013, the rebels stopped their operations, hoping for a negotiated settlement.[15] Following a ceasefire and a power-sharing agreement, Seleka and Boziz(C) agreed to honour the rebel's demands for the release of rebel prisoners and the expulsion of foreign troops from the country. The agreement allowed for Boziz(C) to complete his term in office and to include members of Seleka in a new government. It was also agreed that fresh elections would be held in 2016.[16] The agreement was not honored and the rebels captured Bangui on 23 March 2013, forcing Boziz(C) to flee the capital.[17]
  Geography and climateEditBangui lies on the northern banks of the Ubangi River just below a series of rapids that limit major commercial shipping farther upriver, on the southern border. It is the only major city of some significant size in the country along the river. It covers an area of 67 square kilometres (26 sq mi). The navigable Ubangi River, with the back drop of lush green hills, turns sharply south below Bangui and connects to the Congo River just south of the equator near Brazzaville as its chief northern tributary. The river marks the border between the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Congolese town of Zongo sits opposite the river from Bangui. The river flows to the east of downtown Bangui. The traditional boat plied on the river is called pirogues, which is a pleasant way to ride on the river. During the rainy season the discharge in the river is three times more than than its normal flow during the rest of the year. The city was also known as La Coqutte (the beautiful city) in the 1970s.
  The city centre lies near the river and features a large triumphal arch dedicated to Bokassa, the Presidential Palace and the central market. Lying 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) further north, the heart of the residential area has the largest market and the most nightlife. A significant colony of Nigerian expatriates has sprung up in a neighborhood known as New Ikoyi. However, many people live in the suburbs of Bangui in houses known as Kodros, which are built of mud bricks with a thatched roof.
  A particular feature in Bangui is the Bangui Magnetic Anomaly, a name given to one of the earth's largest crustal anomalies. It is a magnetic feature, the largest in Africa, and has its centre at Bangui. The anomaly is in the shape of an ellipse with size of 700 kilometres (430 mi) x 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) with its central point at 6 degrees north and 18 degrees east. It is formed of three parts or segments, which comprise the northern, the southern and the central anomalies. The magnetic equator passes through the center of this feature. It is a very well documented feature but the reason for its creation is still not fully understood.
  The Central African Republic is situated just north of the Equator and consequently throughout the year daily high temperatures rarely fall below 30 degrees Celsius. Bangui, being in the south of the country and thus closest to the equator, is slightly hotter and wetter than the northern parts of the country[23] It has a tropical savanna climate (K¶ppen: Aw)[24] with dry winters. While the warm season is from 23 January to 18 March, the cold season lasts from 20 June 20 to 17 August. Rainfall occurs from 20 June to 27 August during the cold season with thunderstorms. During the warm season also rainfall is recorded. Humidity over the yearsvaries from a low of 31% to a very high of 99% but it does not go below 13% (a very dry condition). Wind speeds varies from 0 (calm condition) to 10 mph (gentle breeze); the highest recorded wind speed is 7 mph while the lowest is 2 mph.[25] The city is surrounded by thick tropical rainforests on the river banks.[26] Several of the neighborhoods of Bangui are in low-lying areas and are prone to recurrent urban flooding. For instance, severe rains in June and July 2009 left 11,000 people homeless.[27]
  Climate data for BanguiMonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYearRecord high °C (°F)37(99)38(100)38(100)37(99)36(97)35(95)34(93)34(93)34(93)34(93)34(93)36(97)38(100)Average high °C (°F)32.8(91)34(93)33.2(91.8)32.7(90.9)31.9(89.4)30.8(87.4)29.7(85.5)29.9(85.8)30.7(87.3)30.8(87.4)31.2(88.2)32(90)31.64(88.97)Daily mean °C (°F)26.1(79)27(81)27.1(80.8)27(81)26.5(79.7)25.9(78.6)24.9(76.8)25.1(77.2)25.4(77.7)25.5(77.9)25.5(77.9)25.4(77.7)25.95(78.78)Average low °C (°F)19.5(67.1)20.1(68.2)21.1(70)21.3(70.3)21.2(70.2)21(70)20.1(68.2)20.3(68.5)20.2(68.4)20.3(68.5)19.9(67.8)18.8(65.8)20.32(68.58)Record low °C (°F)14(57)14(57)18(64)18(64)18(64)18(64)18(64)17(63)18(64)18(64)17(63)14(57)14(57)Precipitation mm (inches)25(0.98)43(1.69)127(5)135(5.31)188(7.4)114(4.49)226(8.9)206(8.11)150(5.91)201(7.91)125(4.92)5(0.2)1,545(60.82)Avg. rainy days351110151217191619112140 % humidity70.569.57475.5798183.58481.58078.569.577.21Mean monthly sunshine hours2171961861801861801241241501551802172,095Source #1: Climate-Data.org, altitude: 350m[24]Source #2: BBC Weather for records, precipitation, humidity and sunshine[28]AdministrationEditBangui is an autonomous commune (commune autonome) of the Central African Republic. With an area of 67 square kilometres (26 sq mi), it is by far the smallest high-level administrative division of the CAR in area but the highest in population as of 2003[update].[29] The city of Bangui consists of 8 urban districts ('arrondissements'), 16 groups ('groupements') and 205 neighborhoods ('quartiers').[30] The International Criminal Court opened office in Bangui in October 2007.[32] The National Assembly of CAR, a multiparty republic, with its headquarters in Bangui, is a unitary legislative body with 105 members.[26] The country's ministries, Civil Services, Labour and Social Security; Communication, National Reconciliation and Democratic and Civic Culture; Economy, Finance, the Budget, Planning and International Co-operation; Equipment and Transport; Foreign and Francophone Affairs, and Regional Integration; Justice, Human Rights and Good Governance; and Mines, Energy and Hydraulics, are all based in Bangui.
  DemographicsEditAfter the Central African Republic attained independence in 1960, developmental activities began, and the urbanization of Bangui ensued. This is evidenced by the population growth from 279,800 in 1975 to 427,435 in 1988[6] to 524,000 by 1994.[34] and to 652,000 in 2001. Apart from the ethnic people of the country, the city is also home for a minority group of Greek, Portuguese, Yemeni traders, and also a small community of the French people. The Bangui resident community includes diamond traders of western Africa and Chad, traders of many African countries, and refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.[26]
  The official languages of the country are French and Sango; the latter is the language spoken by 90% of its people (originally a language spoken in the Ubangi River region). Some of the other languages spoken are Baya (Gbaya), Banda, Ngbaka, Sara, Mbum, Kare, and Mandjia. Sango was simplified by Christian missionaries and is widely used now.[26]
  Bangui serves as an administrative, trade, and commercial center. During the Second World War the country became wealthier as exports of rubber, cotton, coffee, uranium and diamonds increased. After the war, the employment of local people in mainstream administration lead to the development of the country's infrastructure, which increased trade and slowed down the national movement for independence.
  During the rule of David Dacko as president, from 1960 to 1966, the production of diamonds increased significantly. This happened because the monopoly of the French concessionary companies was ended and a law to permit any CAR citizen to dig for diamonds was passed. Dacko set up a diamond cutting factory at Bangui, which enabled diamonds to become the country's leading export product. But by the end of his five year's tenure, rampant corruption and financial indiscipline had resulted in workers being left unpaid and civil unrest ensued. Bokassa then seized power in a military coup in 1966. Concurrently, Bangui also became the key center for social and cultural activity in the region, when new institutions came to be established in the city. However, political turmoil in the country, rampant corruption, and the dictatorial rule of President Bokassa centered in the city, brought in economic recession in the 1970s due to fall of international prices of its major exports. This caused impoverishment of the people and severe conflict, further compounded by the influx of people migrating as refugees from troubled neighboring countries.
  Bangui received its first bank branch in 1946 when the Bank of West Africa (BAO) established a branch there. Arab sellers dominate the city, and it was an important market place for ivory trading historically.[37] Bangui manufactures include textiles, food products, beer, shoes, and soap. The main exports are cotton, rubber, timber, coffee, and sisal. Because of the ongoing strife, unemployment hovered near 23% in the city as of 2001[update]. Ngaragba Central Prison, the national prison for men is located in Bangui. As of 2007, the Ngaragba prison had 476 inmates; prison conditions are reported to be poor.
  A General Hospital is located in the eastern side of the city. Modern health care facilities exist only in Bangui but the facilities are poor and hence provides for minimal care. The wealthier people of Bangui go to private clinics.[38] The risk of catching AIDS in the city is reportedly high, and many truck drivers stopping in the city for sexual services pose a major risk to the spreading of the disease to other parts of the country. The risk of catching malaria in Bangui and pygmy camps is also much higher than in the rest of the country.
  A conference of public health officials including representatives of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) was held in Bangui in October 1985. The conference evolved a diagnostic definition of AIDS which came to be known as the Bangui definition for AIDS.[6] The conference defined symptoms of AIDS in Africa as "prolonged fever for a month or more, weight loss of over 10% and prolonged diarrhea". The Bangui definition proved problematic as immune suppression can also be caused by malnutrition.
  LandmarksEditThe old town of Bangui has retained the colonial design of town planning with wide boulevards oriented towards central market square.[43] Attractions in Bangui include Boganda Museum, Bangui Zoo,[44] and the Presidential Palace, formerly the Bokassa Palace. The Cath(C)drale Notre-Dame in Bangui is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangui.[45] The Boganda Museum, also known as the Mus(C)e de Boganda, has displays of traditional musical instruments, war weapons, architectural features of villages, ancient tools used in hunting, pottery, and also many religious antiques. It has a good collection of bark cloth, material used to cover Emperor Bokasa's bed.
  Though subject to intense political strife, the city is known for its "vibrant nightlife and a diverse musical culture".[26] Bangui has several hotels, all of them small by developed world standards. The Ledger Plaza Bangui on the outskirts claims to be a five-star hotel, and has an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court.[46] The National Hotel was established in 1970 and has 30 rooms. Also of note is the Golf Palace Hotel, Hotel du Centre with 72 rooms, JM Residence, Oubangui Hotel, established in 1985, and Hotel Somba, which has 23 rooms.
  In addition to the landmarks within Bangui, some important places within 100 kilometres (62 mi) range from the city are; the Chutse de Baali or Waterfall (fall of about 25 metres (82 ft) spread over 250 metres (820 ft) length) which comes alive only during rainy season; the Lac des Crocodile (Crocodile Lake) where villagers lure crocodiles to the shore with chicken; Berengo on the National Highway 8, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Bangui where Bokassa's ruined palace retreat, his huge statue, and also his grave are located; and Babangi, which contains the memorial tomb of the hero of the country's independence movement, Barth(C)lemy Boganda. Boganda and Bokassa were born in this village. Bokassa's statue has been described as an "enormous coronation throne, fashioned in the image of a rampant eagle and once swathed with twenty-four-karat gold." The statue is now rusting and was kept in an open basement in an abandoned stadium.
  CustomsEditPolygamy is an accepted practice among men but not encouraged among women. When a person dies in Bangui, a representative from his/her village always attends the funeral. ''This person is charged with indicating to the deceased the way (a way for example) back home so that the deceased may avenge himself and herself and demonstrate the power of the family.'' The representative who attends the funeral also carries a little dust from the grave to the village, and gives it to the village holy Medicine man so that he could ascertain the reasons for his death.
  Most of the holidays in Bangui are festivals related to the Christian and Muslim faiths and are the same as observed in other parts of the world. National holidays include independence day and the birthdays of Boganda and several other national heroes.
  CuisineEditThe staple diet of the people is cassava, rice, squash, pumpkins and plantains served with a sauce and grilled meat. Okra or gombo is a popular vegetable. Peanuts and peanut butter are widely used. Game is popular, as are the fish-based dishes mabok(C) and soussou. Manioc flour is used for preparing fufu.[51] There are three types of restaurants in Bangui. Some focus on foreign cuisine, such as 'Relais des Chasses', 'La Tentation' and 'L'Escale', which are orientated towards French food, and 'Ali Baba' and 'Beyrouth', which serve Lebanese food. There are a large number of African restaurants, such as the celebrated "Madame M'boka", which are especially popular among locals. A number of bars and street food stalls compliment Bangui's culinary scene.Alcoholic beverages served are locally brewedbeer, palm wine and banana wine. Non-alcoholic beverages that are drunk include ginger beer.[38]
  ArtEditBangui's artisans' market has traditional wares representing the art products from different regions of the country. Some of the important handicraft items found include woven mats and baskets, wooden utensils of simple design, carved stools, pottery, and musical instruments, tanned skins, and wood products. The balafon, similar to a xylophone, is made out of the horns of animals. Some innovative arts designed include butterfly wings stuck with gum on paper, and ebony and hardwood carvings from wood of the tropical region. Artwork also covers carvings of animals and people.[44] The crafts center in Bangui provides training to about 100 students in artistic crafting in leather, ivory and ebony wares.[51]
  MusicEditBangui has a rich music tradition and show cases the music of the country. The musicians of the country also perform in many countries abroad. The Bangui band groups have been largely influenced by Zokela in the 1980s. The innovative music is based on dance bands who have adopted the Congolese music with electronic medium. The music is rhythmic and blends with the rumba, cha-cha, and merengue. The popular Central African music groups or dance bands who perform in the city are Musiki, Zokela, Makembe, Cool Stars, Cannon Stars, and Super Stars.[44] Bokassa, during his tenure as President, established a music recording studio in Bangui and employed musicians to sing his praise through songs extolling his qualities as an Emperor and to develop his cult image among his people.
  SportsEditThe popular sports are football (soccer) and basketball. Both men and women from Bangui and the country have participated in the Olympic Games since 1968 and also in many international competitions.[44] The locals also organize boat races with hundreds of participants on the Ubangi River, which is a significant attraction.
  EducationEditThe French system of education is the norm and French is the language of teaching. However, the Sango language is being promoted in schools. A substantial percentage of the population is literate. Schooling is compulsory for children in the age group of 6 to 14. Bangui is home to the University of Bangui, founded in 1969 by President Jean-B(C)del Bokassa who named it after himself; it started functioning in 1970.[38][53] A public institution, the University of Bangui, monopolizes non-agricultural college education in the Central African Republic. The other educational institutions are the National School of Arts and the Central School of Agriculture, in addition to many religious and technical schools.[38] Since 1981, the University Library has been located in a separate building that houses its science, literature, and law collections. The medical school of the university has its own library. The Universit(C) Palais des Sports complex is the largest sports complex in the city. A school in the eastern part of the city, Lyc(C)e Charles de Gaulle, was established by the French and is named after President Charles de Gaulle. Several notable Africans, including writers such as Calixthe Beyala, have studied in the city. Beyala studied at the Lyc(C)e des Rapides.
  TransportEditLeft: Transportation trucks in Bangui. Right:Bangui airport.
  Bangui is the transport hub of the Central African Republic. As of 1999, eight roads connected the city to other main towns in the country, Cameroon, Chad and South Sudan; of these, only the toll roads are paved. During the rainy season from July to October, some roads are unpassable. The road network in the city emanates from the Palace de la Republique.
  River ferries sail from the river port at Bangui to Brazzaville and Zongo. The river can be navigated most of the year between Bangui and Brazzaville. From Brazzaville, goods are transported by rail to Pointe-Noire, Congo's Atlantic port.[63] The river port handles the overwhelming majority of the country's international trade and has a cargo handling capacity of 350,000 tons; it has 350 metres (1,150 ft) length of wharfs and 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft) of warehousing space.
  The first airstrip in Bangui was built between 1920-25. Bangui M'Poko International Airport (IATA airport code BGF) is located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the north of the old town, on the Avenue of Martyrs between the Koudoukou Avenue and the University of Bangui, in 600 hectares (1,500 acres) of deforested land. There are plans to connect Bangui by rail with the Transcameroon Railway which would be beneficial to the country.
  Several periodicals and three daily newspapers are published in Bangui: E le Songo, the country's first newspaper, began publication in 1982. The other main newspapers are Le Novateur, Le Citoyen and L'Echo de Centrafrique.[44] Most of the country's institutions have offices in Bangui, including French ones such as ‰lectricit(C) de France (EDF).
  Radio stations operating in Bangui include Radio centrafrique, Radio Nehemie, Radio Naotre-Dame, Radio Voix de la paix, Radio Ndeke Luka, RFI, Radio Voik de la grace, Radio Linga FM, Africa no.1, and Tropic FM.BBC World Service is the only English broadcasting station that is heard in the city on 90.2 FM, as all other local channels broadcast in either French and or Sango. For reliable news, the channel of UN run Radio Ndeke Luka is on 100.8 FM.
  Notable peopleEditReferencesEditBibliographyEditBenavides, David D­az; P(C)rez-Ducy, Ellen (1 January 2002). Tourism in the Least Developed Countries (in French). World Tourism Organization. ISBN 978-92-844-0451-3. Bethell, Tom (2005). The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science. Regnery Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89526-031-4. Booth, Graham; McDuell, G. R.; McDuell, Bob; Sears, John (1 May 1999). World of Science: 2. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-914698-7. Courting history: the landmark International Criminal Court's first years. Human Rights Watch. 2008. p. 129. GGKEY:PZJC9QCXFZL. Dharwadker, Aparna Bhargava (1 November 2009). Theatres of Independence: Drama, Theory, and Urban Performance in India Since 1947. University of Iowa Press. ISBN 978-1-58729-642-0. Eur (31 October 2002). Africa South of the Sahara 2003. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-85743-131-5. Eur (2003). Africa South of the Sahara 2003. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-85743-131-5. Egyes¼lt, llamok (2007). Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007. Government Printing Office. p. 87. GGKEY:5QXCANS2SXR. Doeden, Matt (2009). Central African Republic in Pictures. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 978-1-57505-952-5. Europa Publications (2003). Africa and South of the Sahara 2004. Psychology Press. pp. 212''. ISBN 978-1-85743-183-4. Eyoh, Dickson; Zeleza, Paul Tiyambe (30 October 2002). Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century African History. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-98657-8. Gailey, Harry A. (1989). History of Africa: From 1945 to present. R.E. Krieger. ISBN 978-0-89464-296-8. Gubbins, David; Herrero-Bervera, Emilio Herrero-Bervera (19 July 2007). Encyclopedia of Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4020-4423-6. Haggett, Peter (2002). Encyclopedia of World Geography: West Africa. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 978-0-7614-7306-0. Ham, Anthony (2010). Africa. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74220-308-9. Holmberg, Scott D. (2008). Scientific Errors and Controversies in the U. S. HIV/AIDS Epidemic: How They Slowed Advances and Were Resolved. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-34717-7. Jenkins, Sharron Kay (24 June 2009). AIDS: Education and Prevention. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-4389-9264-8. Kalck, Pierre (2005). Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic: Third Edition. Scarecrow Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-8108-4913-6. Law, Diane (18 August 2011). The Secret History of the Great Dictators: Idi Amin and Emperor Bokassa I. Constable & Robinson Limited. ISBN 978-1-78033-337-3. McKenna, Amy (2011). The History of Central and Eastern Africa. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-61530-396-0. Mouchet, Jean; Carnevale, Pierre; Manguin, Sylvie (2008). Biodiversity of Malaria in the World: English version completely updated. John Libbey Eurotext. GGKEY:EK02BYUHW98. Parekh, Pushpa N.; Jagne, Signa Fatima (1998). Postcolonial African Writers: A Bio-bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29056-5. Pritchard-Jones, Sin; Gibbons, Bob (2009). Africa Overland, 5th: 4x4, Motorbike, Bicycle, Truck. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-84162-283-5. Publications, Europa (2003). Africa and South of the Sahara 2004. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-85743-183-4. Riley, Laura; Riley, William (2005). Nature's Strongholds: The World's Greatest Wildlife Reserves. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12219-9. Runge, J. (1 December 2007). Dynamics of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa. During the Holocene: Past '' Present '' Future: Palaeoecology of Africa, An International Yearbook of Landscape Evolution and Palaeoenvironments. Taylor & Francis US. ISBN 978-0-203-93042-7. Kevin Shillington (2004). Encyclopedia of African History. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-57958-245-6. Raffaele, Paul (6 October 2009). Among the Cannibals. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-198327-6. Titley, Brian (25 March 1997). Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. ISBN 978-0-7735-7046-7. Villal"n, Leonardo A.; VonDoepp, Peter (1 September 2005). The Fate of Africa's Democratic Experiments: Elites and Institutions. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-00311-9. Wedeworth, Robert (1993). World Encyclopedia of library and information services. American Library Association. ISBN 978-0-8389-0609-5. Woodfork, Jacqueline Cassandra. Culture And Customs of the Central African Republic. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33203-6. Yapp, Peter (1983). The Traveller's Dictionary of Quotations: Who Said What, about Where. Routledge, Chapman & Hall, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-415-02760-1. External linksEdit Abuja, NigeriaAccra, GhanaAddis Ababa, EthiopiaAlgiers, AlgeriaAntananarivo, MadagascarAsmara, EritreaBamako, MaliBangui, Central African RepublicBanjul, GambiaBissau, Guinea-BissauBrazzaville, Rep. of the CongoBujumbura, BurundiCairo, EgyptConakry, GuineaDakar, SenegalDjibouti, DjiboutiDodoma, TanzaniaEl Aaiºn, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic1Freetown, Sierra LeoneGaborone, BotswanaHarare, ZimbabweHargeisa, Somaliland1Jamestown, St Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha2Juba, South SudanKampala, UgandaKhartoum, SudanKigali, RwandaKinshasa, D.R. CongoLibreville, GabonLilongwe, MalawiLom(C), TogoLuanda, AngolaLusaka, ZambiaMalabo, Equatorial GuineaMamoudzou, Mayotte3Maputo, MozambiqueMaseru, LesothoMbabane(executive) ' Lobamba(legislative), SwazilandMogadishu, SomaliaMonrovia, LiberiaMoroni, ComorosNairobi, KenyaN'Djamena, ChadNiamey, NigerNouakchott, MauritaniaOuagadougou, Burkina FasoPort Louis, MauritiusPorto-Novo, BeninPraia, Cape VerdePretoria(executive) ' Cape Town(legislative) ' Bloemfontein(judicial), South AfricaRabat, MoroccoSaint-Denis, R(C)union3S£o Tom(C), S£o Tom(C) and Pr­ncipeTripoli, LibyaTunis, TunisiaVictoria, SeychellesWindhoek, NamibiaYamoussoukro, C´te d'IvoireYaound(C), Cameroon
  Last modified on 17 November 2013, at 23:05
Bangui (Central African Republic) -- Encyclopedia Britannica
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:50
  —Update or expand this article!In Edit mode, you will be able to click anywhere in the article to modify text, insert images, or add new information.
  Once you are finished, your modifications will be sent to our editors for review.
  You will be notified if your changes are approved and become part of the published article!
  Go to Edit Mode
  Got it! Don't show me this again.—Update or expand this article!In Edit mode, you will be able to click anywhere in the article to modify text, insert images, or add new information.
  Once you are finished, your modifications will be sent to our editors for review.
  You will be notified if your changes are approved and become part of the published article!
  Go to Edit Mode
  Got it! Don't show me this again.Leave Edit ModeSubmit
  We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles.You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind:Encyclopaedia Britannica articles are written in a neutral, objective tone for a general audience.You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered.Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources.At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are best.)Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions.Article Free PassBangui, city, capital of the Central African Republic, located on the west bank of the Ubangi River. It is connected by an extended 1,100-mile (1,800-km) river-and-rail transport system with Pointe-Noire on the west-central African coast and with Brazzaville (both in the Republic of the Congo). The river port development includes a quay 1,300 feet (400 metres) long and an oil port downstream. Diamonds, cotton, timber, coffee, and sisal are shipped from Bangui. The city is served by Bangui-Mpoko International Airport and by ferry service to Zongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is also a network of roads connecting Bangui with Cameroon, Chad, and the upper Central African Republic. Industries in Bangui include soap making and brewing, but the city is mainly a commercial and administrative centre.
  Bangui is the site of the University of Bangui (1969), the National School of Arts (1966), and several scientific and technological research institutes. The Boganda Museum in Bangui exhibits traditional musical instruments, weapons, village architecture, hunting tools, pottery, and religious objects. The city suffered significant looting and damage during the coup attempts of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Pop. (2003) 622,771; (2009 est.) 701,597.
Franse troepen onthaald in Centraal-Afrikaanse Republiek
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: VK: Home
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:47
  Bewerkt door: redactie '' 07/12/13, 13:55 '' bron: ANP
  (C) afp.
  Franse troepen zijn vandaag door de plaatselijke bevolking in het westen van de Centraal-Afrikaanse Republiek (CAR) als bevrijders onthaald. Ruim 200 militairen staken de grens van Kameroen met de geplaagde CAR over. Ze vormen onderdeel van de Franse troepenmacht die zaterdag zijn volle omvang, 1200 man, heeft bereikt volgens een legerwoordvoerder in Parijs.
  Vandaag zijn er ook Franse militairen buiten de hoofdstad Bangui actief. In de stad van 750.000 inwoners zijn nu naar schatting 800 Franse militairen op patrouille ten einde het geweld te stoppen. Sinds donderdag zijn er alleen al in de hoofdstad zeker 300 mensen gedood.
  Het aantal doden als gevolg van het geweld tussen moslims en christenen in de Centraal-Afrikaanse Republiek is opgelopen tot boven de 280. Dat werd vrijdag bekendgemaakt door de staatsomroep van het land, die zich baseerde op cijfers van het Rode Kruis.
  Het geweld concentreert zich in de hoofdstad Bangui. Het is het zwaarste geweld van de afgelopen negen maanden en de vrees bestaat dat het bloedbad van de afgelopen dagen zal leiden tot vergeldingsacties.
  De burgemeester, Cath(C)rine Samba-Panza zei vandaag te hopen dat het herstel van de orde snel wordt gevolgd door wederopbouw.
Israel orders two German destroyers to defend gas fields
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: DEBKAFile
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:42
  Israel orders two German destroyers to defend gas fieldsDEBKAfileDecember 7, 2013, 4:11 PM (GMT+02:00)
  A deal was signed the sale of two German guided missile destroyers to the Israel Navy at a cost of 2 bn euros, Der Spiegel reports. National Security Adviser Yosef Cohen signed for Israel. The vessels will be part of the air-naval force guarding Israel's Mediterranean offshore gas fields. DEBKAfile: This is will be its first purchase abroad missile destroyers. Until now the Israeli Navy consisted of a fleet of missile boats of home manufacture.
Weekly Address: Calling on Congress to Extend Unemployment Benefits this Holiday Season
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:41
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  December 07, 2013
  WASHINGTON, DC'--In this week's address, President Obama said that before Congress leaves for vacation, they should extend unemployment benefits for 1.3 million hardworking Americans who will lose this lifeline at the end of the year. For families, unemployment benefits can mean the difference between hardship and catastrophe, and it is also one of the most effective ways to boost our economy. This holiday season, Congress should do the right thing for the American people and make it easier for our economy to keep growing and adding jobs.
  The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, December 7, 2013.
  Remarks of President Barack ObamaWeekly AddressThe White HouseDecember 7, 2013
  Hi, everybody. The holiday season is a time for remembering the bonds we share, and our obligations to one another as human beings.
  But right now, more than one million of our fellow Americans are poised to lose a vital economic lifeline just a few days after Christmas if Congress doesn't do something about it.
  Our top priority as a country should be restoring opportunity and broad-based economic growth for all Americans. And yesterday, we learned that our businesses created about 200,000 jobs in the month of November. That's more than 8 million new jobs in the last 45 months. And the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in five years.
  But we need to do everything we can to help businesses create more good jobs that pay good wages even faster. Because the hole that we're still digging out of means that there are still millions of Americans looking for work '' often because they've been laid off through no fault of their own.
  We also have to look out for the Americans working hard to get those jobs. That's why, as a country, we offer temporary unemployment insurance '' so that job-seekers don't fall into poverty, and so that when they get that job, they bounce back more quickly.
  For many families, it can be the difference between hardship and catastrophe. It makes a difference for a mother who suddenly doesn't know if she'll be able to put food on the table for her kids. It makes a difference for a father who lost his job and is looking for a new one. Last year alone, it lifted 2.5 million people out of poverty, and cushioned the blow for many more.
  But here's the thing: if Members of Congress don't act before they leave on their vacations, 1.3 million Americans will lose this lifeline. These are people we know. They're our friends and neighbors; they sit next to us in church and volunteer in our communities; their kids play with our kids. And they include 20,000 veterans who've served this country with honor.
  If Congress refuses to act, it won't just hurt families already struggling '' it will actually harm our economy. Unemployment insurance is one of the most effective ways there is to boost our economy. When people have money to spend on basic necessities, that means more customers for our businesses and, ultimately, more jobs. And the evidence shows that unemployment insurance doesn't stop people from trying hard to find work.
  Just this week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that allowing benefits to expire will be a drag on our economic growth next year. A report by the Department of Labor and my Council of Economic Advisors estimated that it could cost businesses 240,000 jobs. And without the ability to feed their families or pay the bills, many people currently looking for work could stop looking for good.
  So extending unemployment insurance isn't just the right thing to do for our families '' it's the smart thing to do for our economy. And it shouldn't be a partisan issue. For decades, Congress has voted to offer relief to job-seekers '' including when the unemployment rate was lower than it is today.
  But now that economic lifeline is in jeopardy. All because Republicans in this Congress '' which is on track to be the most unproductive in history '' have so far refused to extend it.
  So this holiday season, let's give our fellow Americans who are desperately looking for work the help they need to keep on looking. Let's make it easier for businesses to attract more customers, and our economy to grow. And together, let's keep doing everything we can to make this country a place where anyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead
  Thanks, and have a great weekend.
  ###
Beanie Babies Creator Cries, Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion - DailyFinance
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:40
  by The Associated Press Oct 2nd 2013 12:33PMUpdated Oct 2nd 2013 4:38PM
  By MICHAEL TARMCHICAGO -- The billionaire who created Beanie Babies broke down crying in court Wednesday as he pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion for hiding $25 million in income in secret Swiss bank accounts.
  H. Ty Warner, 69, also apologized as he stood before a federal judge in Chicago, removing his designer tortoise-shell glasses and wiping away tears as he struggled to regain his composure.
  "I have so much to be thankful for," said the suburban Chicago businessman, his voice breaking as he cited his Illinois-based stuffed-toy company, TY Inc. "There is no excuse for my actions."
  The toymaker's 18-page plea deal says guidelines call for a prison term of around four years -- a calculation that makes it likely he'll serve time behind bars. It also requires he pay a $53 million civil penalty.
  As Judge Charles Kocoras began questioning Warner about his intention to plead guilty, Warner cupped his hand over his ear, asking the judge if he could speak up. "My hearing isn't so good," Warner said.
  When asked if he understood the potential penalties included prison, Warner replied quietly, "Yes, sir."Beanie Babies first appeared in the 1990s, triggering a craze for the plush toys fashioned into bears and other animals. An explosion of sales made Warner rich; Forbes recently put his net worth at $2.6 billion.
  As an emotional Warner continued to apologize during Wednesday's hearing, his head bowed over a courtroom podium, before Kocoras finally stopped him, telling him he could elaborate at his Jan. 15 sentencing.
  "There will be time for you to bare your soul [later]," the judge said.
  Warner admitted he evaded paying $5 million in taxes due to the IRS over an 11-year period by setting up the secret accounts. At one point, he was concealing as much as $107 million, prosecutors said.
  Who he is: Co-founder of Curves International
  How he lost his money: In 1976, Heavin dropped out of college at age 20 and started his first gym, Women's World of Fitness. Success came right away, and he was a millionaire by age 25. However, Heavin's aggressive expansion plans didn't add up. He added amenities to the gym, such as tanning beds and swimming pools, that were expensive to maintain. "At 25, it was all about me, and that's a foundation for disaster," Heavin told Kiplinger. By 1986, overhead costs began to exceed the amount the company was bringing in from new memberships, and at age 30 his business went bankrupt.
  How he came back: Tried again with the same business idea, applying lessons learned from his initial failure.
  Marrying his future business partner, Diane, gave Heavin the motivation he needed to give entrepreneurship a second try. In 1992, the couple opened the first Curves, a women-only gym, in Harlingen, Texas. Heavin once again found immediate success. In 1995, the pair turned the business into a franchise; today, there are 10,000 Curves locations across the world. In 2000, he released his first book, "Permanent Results without Permanent Dieting: The Curves for Women Weight Loss Method," and it became a New York Times bestseller. On finding success a second time around, Heavin says, "I had to lose everything I owned before I was capable of running a business the right way." Today, he's a billionaire.
  Gary HeavinWho he is: Entrepreneur, author, founder and former CEO of the debt-collection firm Commercial Financial Services (CFS)
  How he lost his money: In 1998, Bartmann, a one-time billionaire, was forced to shut down CFS and file for bankruptcy. He and his business partner, Jay Jones, were charged with accounting fraud and conspiracy for allegedly inflating sales reports to ratings agencies. "We were doing so well, and then one afternoon it was all over," Bartmann told Kiplinger. Jones was convicted; Bartmann was cleared of any wrongdoing.
  How he came back: Wrote books about his lessons learned.
  After his acquittal in 2003, he slowly started to piece his life back together. In 2005, he wrote his first book, "Billionaire Secrets to Success." Bartmann followed up with "Bailout Riches" in 2009, which became a bestseller on Amazon. In July 2010, he returned to the debt-collection business and launched a new version of his former company, calling it CFS II.
  CFS II took in $10 million in revenue last year. When asked how his previous ordeal helped shape how he runs CFS II, Bartmann told Kiplinger, "I'd be remiss in my duties if I assumed everyone is doing a great job . . . Don't walk away from your ability to supervise a relationship just because you like someone as a person."Bill BartmannWho she is: Olympic gold medal figure skater and television personality
  How she lost her money: At the height of her career in the 1980s, Hamill was reportedly raking in $1 million a year to skate in prime-time TV specials. However, after years of excessive spending, which included a weakness for expensive jewelry, and a series of bad investments, including the purchase of the fledgling Ice Capades franchise, Hamill had to file for bankruptcy in 1996.
  How she came back: Parlayed her strong brand into related new opportunities.
  Hamill toured the professional ice skating circuit for several years to help pay off her debt. She also returned to television, appearing in the 1998 NBC special "The Christmas Angel: A Story on Ice." In October 2007, her autobiography, "A Skating Life: My Story," hit bookstores and made the New York Times bestseller list. That same year, she appeared in "Blades of Glory," an ice skating parody film starring comedian Will Ferrell. Recently, Hamill has found herself back in the spotlight as a contestant on season 16 of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." She also continues to perform in professional ice skating shows and is currently on tour with "Stars on Ice."Dorothy HamillWho he is: Grammy award-winning rap artist and television personality
  How he lost his money: At the height of his fame in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hammer's net worth was valued at around $33 million. However, he was reportedly spending $500,000 a month on his 200-person staff. Other costly expenses included the mortgage on his $10 million mansion, the maintenance and upkeep on 17 luxury cars, and the acquisition and care of 21 racehorses. When Hammer eventually filed chapter 11 in 1996, he claimed $1 million in assets and $10 million in debt.
  How he came back: Reinvented himself.
  After his superstar status faded, Hammer became an entrepreneur. He created a handful of record labels, has dabbled in tech start-ups and is currently the CEO of Alchemist Management, a Los Angeles-based athlete management and marketing firm specializing in mixed-martial-arts fighters. Hammer, who has more than three million followers on Twitter, often lectures about social media and marketing at business schools, including Stanford University and Harvard University. In 2009, he produced his own reality TV show on A&E, called "Hammertime," and he performed at the 2012 American Music Awards, as well as on ABC's "New Year's Rocking Eve 2013."MC HammerWho he is: Emmy-winning broadcast journalist and former host of CNN's "Larry King Live"
  How he lost his money: During his early days in radio in the 1960s, King's low-level salary didn't support his big spending habits, including a fondness for gambling. By 1978, he had to file for bankruptcy after accumulating more than $350,000 in debt.
  How he came back: Capitalized on early opportunities in an emerging industry -- cable TV.
  The same year that he declared bankruptcy, King was hired by WIOD Radio in Miami to host a national nighttime talk show that eventually caught the attention of CNN founder Ted Turner. In 1985, Turner hired him to host his own television show, "Larry King Live." King would host the cable show for 25 years, making as much as $10 million a year before signing off for good in 2010.
  Larry KingWho he is: Entrepreneur and founder of Famous Amos cookies
  How he lost his money: Amos started a cookie business after deciding to leave his cushy job as a talent manager for the William Morris Agency in New York in 1975. By the early 1980s, Famous Amos hit $12 million in sales. However, his ego and lack of business acumen eventually brought the company down.
  How he came back: Despite hitting hard times, Amos's entrepreneurial spirit never died. In 1993, he founded Uncle Noname Cookie Company (he'd lost the right to use "Famous Amos" as the result of his earlier failure), and in 1995 he changed it to Uncle Wally's, with a focus on muffins. Last year, Amos returned to his roots with the launch of Wamos Cookies. When discussing how to become a successful entrepreneur and stay that way, he told Kiplinger, "You can't be profitable unless you have a team that's working as a unit. I learned that lesson from losing Famous Amos."Wally AmosMore from Kiplinger:
Lamborghini Newport Beach Blog: We just sold our very first vehicle with Bitcoin as payment!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:37
  Bitcoin, a fully encrypted and fully digital currency, has been used by a recent client of ours to pay for a Tesla Model S Performance we had in our inventory. That's right, an electronic currency was used to purchase a fully electric vehicle.In case you're wondering what Bitcoin is, Bitcoin is an open source person-to-person electronic tender that uses cryptography to secure transactions. Many failsafes are in place to prevent double-spending and are impossible to duplicate. Bitcoins have been around years but it wasn't until a year or two ago that they came into the public's eye.Exchanges are the intermediary house that turns cash into Bitcoins and vice versa. They serve as a market maker that buys and sells Bitcoins to keep the flow constant. Like the stock market, prices for Bitcoins fluctuate just as you would see on a currency exchange stock chart. Below is the chart via Mt. Gox, a popular Bitcoin exchange house.
  Lamborghini Newport Beach is proud to announce that we are fully capable of accepting Bitcoin as payment for vehicles. We are excited to be opening the door to this new currency.
Men have started to talk like WOMEN: Study finds that males are rising in pitch at the end of sentences | Mail Online
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:27
  Scientists from the University of California, San Diego, recorded the voices of 24 young people and found that the 12 men they studied 'uptalked'Uptalking or speaking like a 'valley girl' involves rising in pitch at the ends of sentences and is often associated with insecure and shallow girlsThe researchers came across the finding as they tried to investigate the difference between uptalkers making a statement and asking a questionBy Sarah Griffiths
  PUBLISHED: 08:14 EST, 6 December 2013 | UPDATED: 08:52 EST, 6 December 2013
  1,128shares
  179
  Viewcomments
  The speech pattern is associated with young women from southern California, notably Clueless lead character Cher Horowitz (pictured)
  First men became enamoured with grooming regimes, but now it seems the metrosexual man has started talking in a more feminine way too.
  A new study has revealed that modern men are starting to 'uptalk' by rising in pitch at the ends of sentences.
  The speech pattern is associated with young women from southern California, notably Clueless lead character Cher Horowitz, but is now common amongst younger people.
  Scientists came across the finding when they were trying to investigate the difference between uptalkers making a statement and asking a question.
  Uptalkers are stereotypically parodied as insecure, shallow and not very clever females.
  However, scientists from the University of California, San Diego, who recorded the voices of 24 young southern Californians, found that the 12 men they studied also uptalked and the speakers came from different backgrounds - not just mansions in Beverley Hills.
  They were given several speech tasks, such as providing directions from a map, or recounting what happened after watching a clip from a popular sitcom.
  'We found use of uptalk in all of our speakers, despite their diverse backgrounds in socio-economic status, ethnicity, bilingualism and gender,' study leader Dr Amanda Ritchart, a linguist at the university said.
  The research, which was presented at the annual meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in San Francisco, identified a crucial difference between uptalkers making a statement and asking a question.
  In a statement, the rise in pitch began significantly later than in a question.
  Scientists discovered that Californian men have begun to 'uptalk' by rising in pitch at the ends of sentences when they set out to investigate the difference between uptalkers making a statement and asking a question
  But the difference was so subtle that non-uptalkers often missed it, according to Professor Amalia Arvaniti, formerly at the University of California, San Diego, who is now at the University of Kent.
  'Our study busts the stereotype associated with uptalk that those who speak uptalk actually ask questions instead of make statements, a tendency that is supposed to be linked to insecurity,' she said.
  'But native southern California speakers know the difference based on the exact location of the rise start, and the extent to which pitch changes in the rise.'
  COULD UPTALKING DAMAGE MEN'S CAREER POTENTIAL?It would appear that the key to climbing the career ladder doesn't include what - or who - you know.
  The essential ingredient for a man to become a successful boss lies in a deep voice.
  Research by Duke University in North Carolina has discovered that men with lower voices make more money, run larger companies, and stay in their jobs longer - although they did not examine the way in which someone speaks beyond pitch.
  Specialists studied 792 male chief executives of American companies and found a distinct correlation between wages and the pitch of voices.
  Those with deeper voices had a distinct advantage over their high-pitched peers, as they were found to earn more.
  The median CEO of the study was a 56-year-old with a 125.5 Hz vocal frequency and earned £2.4 million ($3.7 million) for leading a £1.5 billion ($2.4 billion) company, The Times reported.
  Executives with voices on the deeper end of the scale earned, on average, £121,000 ($187,000) more in pay and ran operations with £286 million ($440 million) more in assets.
  Researchers claim that lower pitched voices are linked to dominant behaviour, because deep voices are related to high testosterone levels, The Times reported.
  Share or comment on this article
CNNMoney | Business, financial and personal finance news.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:25
  A Florida man bought a Tesla Model S from a Lamborghini dealeship in Newport Beach, Calif., this week using Bitcoin.
  NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
  A Florida man bought a Tesla Model S from a Lamborghini dealership in Newport Beach, Calif., this week. It was the first time the dealer had accepted Bitcoin, it said.
  "That's right, an electronic currency was used to purchase a fully electric vehicle," the dealer's blog stated.
  The buyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought the top-of-the-line Tesla(TSLA) for $103,000, which was equivalent to 91.4 Bitcoins on Tuesday, the day of the sale, said Cedric Davy, marketing director at the dealership.
  The sale came about after the man contacted the dealership on Monday asking if he could use Bitcoin to pay for the Tesla, explaining that he had been turned down by other sellers, Davy said.
  Related: What is Bitcoin?
  "We had heard about it before, but we weren't extremely familiar, so we basically did our homework and looked for ways for us to convert it into dollars," he said.
  After checking into any legal issues and other research, the dealership worked with Bitcoin payment processor BitPay to handle the transaction.
  Timing was on the buyer's side. The digital currency, known for its wide price swings, dropped sharply in value on Friday, just days after the purchase.
  8 things you can buy with bitcoins right now
  But the dealer didn't need to worry about the risks associated with the volatile currency. BitPay locked in Tuesday's Bitcoin price for both the buyer and the dealership, Davy said.
  "We're not in the business of speculating so at the end of the day we want to sell the car as priced," he said.
  After news broke of the sale, the dealer fielded about 10 phone calls from more car shoppers interested in purchasing a car using the digital currency, Davy said.
  "All these people have Bitcoins," he said. "I think some people are trying to spend it."
  Most Teslas are sold online directly to customers by the company. Even in Tesla-owned and -run stores, the transaction is conducted online. Tesla has been fighting in several states in order to sell its cars directly to consumers from coast to coast.
  In fact, Tesla head Elon Musk came to fame (and riches) as a co-founder of PayPal, a leading digital payment service.
  Tesla declined to comment on whether or not the company plans to accept Bitcoin as payment anytime soon.
  First Published: December 6, 2013: 6:20 PM ET
Civil defense - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:23
  Civil defense, civil defence (see spelling differences) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation and recovery. Programmes of this sort were initially discussed at least as early as the 1920s and were implemented in many countries, but only became widespread after the threat of nuclear weapons was realized.
  Since the end of the Cold War, the focus of civil defense has largely shifted from military attack to emergencies and disasters in general. The new concept is described by a number of terms, each of which has its own specific shade of meaning, such as crisis management, emergency management, emergency preparedness, contingency planning, emergency services, and civil protection.
  In some countries, civil defense is seen as a key part of "total defense". For example in Sweden, the Swedish wordtotalf¶rsvar refers to the commitment of a wide range of resources of the nation to its defense - including to civil protection. Respectively, some countries (notably the Soviet Union) may have or have had military-organized civil defense units (Civil Defense Troops) as part of their armed forces or as a paramilitary service.
  In most of the NATO states, such as the United States, the United Kingdom or Germany as well as the [then] Soviet Bloc, and especially in the neutral countries, such as Switzerland and in Sweden during the 1950s and 1960s, many civil defense practices took place to prepare for the aftermath of a nuclear war, which seemed quite likely at that time. Such efforts were opposed by the Catholic Worker Movement and by peace activists such as Ralph DiGia, on the grounds that these programs gave the public false confidence that they could survive a nuclear war.[1]
  In many western countries there was never strong civil defense policies implemented because it was fundamentally at odds, and violated the West's doctrine of "mutual assured destruction" (MAD) by making provisions for survivors. It was also considered that a fully fledged total defense would have been very expensive and not worth the expense. Above all, compared to the power of destruction a defense was seen by much of the public, for whatever reason, to be fundamentally ineffective and therefore a waste of time and money. Despite evidence that detailed scientific research programmes lay behind the much-mocked government civil defence pamphlets of the 1950s and 1960s.[2]
  There are not supposed to be many survivors in a belligerents country following a MAD scenario for a civil defense system to assist (thus the acronym). Governments in most Western countries, with the sole exception of Switzerland, therefore sought to mostly underfund Civil Defense but nevertheless implement effective, but commonly dismissed civil defense measures against nuclear attack, in the face of popular apathy and scepticism of authority.
  However the USSR military strategy during the cold war was contrary to MAD ideology, and the Soviets recognized that winning a nuclear war was possible.[3][4][5] To this effect the Soviets planned to minimize, as far as possible, the effects of nuclear weapon strikes on its territory and therefore spent considerably more thought on civil defense preparations than in the US, with therefore, defense plans that have been assessed to be far more effective than those in the US.[6][7][8]
  Civil defense has different sirens like the Federal Signal Thunderbolt siren to warn people of a coming attack.
  Public service announcements including children's songs were created by government institutes and then distributed and released by radio stations to educate the public in case of nuclear attack.
  During the Cold War, civil defense was seen largely as defending against and recovering from an attack involving nuclear weapons. After the end of the Cold War, the focus moved from defense against nuclear war to defense against a terrorist attack possibly involving chemical or biological weapons; in the context of the United States this eventually led to the replacement of the United States´ civil defense with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
  Soviet Civil Defense Troops played the main role in the massive disaster relief operation following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. Defense Troops reservists were officially mobilized (as in a case of war) from throughout the USSR to join the Chernobyl task force formed on basis of the Kiev Civil Defense Brigade. The task force performed some high-risk tasks, including manual removal of lethally-radioactive debris.
  After the September 11 attacks in 2001, in the United States the concept of civil defense has been revisited under the umbrella term of homeland security and all-hazards emergency management.
  In Europe, the triangle CD logo continues to be widely used. The old US civil defense logo was used in the FEMA logo until recently and is hinted at in the United States Civil Air Patrol logo. Created in 1939 by Charles Coiner of the N. W. Ayer Advertising Agency, it was used throughout World War II and the Cold War era. In 2006, the National Emergency Management Association'--a U.S. organisation made up of state emergency managers'--"officially" retired the Civil Defense triangle logo, replacing it with a stylised EM (standing for Emergency management).[1]. The name and logo, however, continue to be used by Hawaii State Civil Defense [2] and Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense [3].
  The term "civil protection" is currently widely used within the European Union to refer to government-approved systems and resources tasked with protecting the non-combat population, primarily in the event of natural and technological disasters. In recent years there has been emphasis on preparedness for technological disasters resulting from terrorist attack. Within EU countries the term "crisis-management" emphasises the political and security dimension rather than measures to satisfy the immediate needs of the population.
  In Australia, civil defence is the responsibility of the volunteer-based State Emergency Service.
  In Russia, and most former Soviet countries, civil defence is the responsibility of Governmental Ministry, Like the MChS in Russia.
  The abolished Civil Defence Symbol survives in the Universal Prepper Patch UPP symbology of today.
  ImportanceEditRelatively small investments in preparation can speed up recovery by months or years and thereby prevent millions of deaths by hunger, cold and disease.[citation needed] According to human capital theory in economics, a country's population is more valuable than all of the land, factories and other assets that it possesses. People rebuild a country after its destruction, and it is therefore important for the economic security of a country that it protect its people. According to psychology, it is important for people to feel like they are in control of their own destiny, and preparing for uncertainty via civil defense may help to achieve this.
  In the United States, the federal civil defense program was authorised by statute and ran from 1951 to 1994. Originally authorised by Public Law 920 of the 81st Congress it was repealed by Public Law 93-337 in 1994. Small portions of that statutory scheme were incorporated into the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 100-707) which superseded in part, amended in part, and supplemented in part the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-288). In the portions of the civil defense statute incorporated into the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act the primary modification was to use the term "Emergency Preparedness" wherever the term "Civil Defence" previously appeared in the statutory language.
  An important concept initiated by President Jimmy Carter was the so-called "Crisis Relocation Program" administered as part of the federal civil defense program. That effort largely lapsed under President Ronald Reagan who discontinued the Carter initiative because of opposition from areas potentially hosting the relocated population. SEE Presidential Review Memorandum/NSC-32 [4] (September 30, 1977) and Presidential Decision Memorandum 42 [5].
  Threat assessmentEditThreats to civilians and civilian life include NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical warfare) and others, like the more modern term CBRN, Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear. Threat assessment involves studying each threat so that preventative measures can be built into civilian life.
  ConventionalThis would be conventional explosives. A blast shelter designed to protect only from radiation and fall-out, however, would be much more vulnerable to conventional explosives,also see fallout shelter.
  NuclearShelter intended to protect against nuclear blast effects would include thick concrete and other sturdy elements which are resistant to conventional explosives. The biggest threats from a nuclear attack are effects from the blast, fires and radiation. One of the most prepared countries for a nuclear attack is Switzerland. Almost every building in Switzerland has an abri (shelter) against the initial nuclear bomb and explosion followed by the fall-out. Because of this, many people use it as a safe to protect valuables, photos, financial information and so on. Switzerland also has air-raid and nuclear-raid sirens in every village.
  Dirty BombA "radiologically enhanced weapon," or "dirty bomb" uses an explosive to spread radioactive material. This is a theoretical risk, and such weapons have not been used by terrorists. Depending on the quantity of the radioactive material, the dangers may be mainly psychological. Toxic effects can be managed by standard hazmat techniques.
  BiologicalThe threat here is primarily from disease-causing microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses.
  ChemicalVarious chemical agents are a threat such as nerve gas (VX, Sarin, and so on.).
  MitigationEditMitigation is the process of actively preventing the war or the release of nuclear weapons. It includes policy analysis, diplomacy, political measures, nuclear disarmament and more military responses such as a National Missile Defense and air defense artillery. In the case of counter-terrorism, mitigation would include diplomacy, intelligence gathering and direct action against terrorist groups. Mitigation may also be reflected in long-term planning such as the design of the interstate highway system and the placement of military bases further away from populated areas.
  PreparationEditPreparation consists of building blast shelters, and pre-positioning information, supplies and emergency infrastructure. For example, most larger cities in the U.S. now have underground emergency operations centres that can perform civil defense coordination. FEMA also has many underground facilities located near major railheads such as the one in Denton, Texas and Mount Weather, Virginia for the same purpose.
  Other measures would include continuous government inventories of grain silos, the Strategic National Stockpile, the uncapping of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the dispersal of lorry-transportable bridges, water purification, mobile refineries, mobile de-contamination facilities, mobile general and special purpose disaster mortuary facilities such as Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) and DMORT-WMD, and other aids such as temporary housing to speed civil recovery.
  On an individual scale, one means of preparation for exposure to nuclear fallout is to obtain potassium iodide (KI) tablets as a safety measure to protect the human thyroid gland from the uptake of dangerous radioactive iodine. Another measure is to cover the nose, mouth and eyes with a piece of cloth and sunglasses to protect against alpha particles, which are only an internal hazard.
  To support and supplement efforts at national, regional and local level with regard to disaster prevention, the preparedness of those responsible for civil protection and the intervention in the event of disaster
  To establish a framework for effective and rapid cooperation between different civil protection services when mutual assistance is needed (police, fire service, healthcare service, public utilityprovider, voluntary agencies).To set up and implement training programs for intervention and coordination teams as well as assessment experts including joint courses and exchange systems.To enhance the coherence of actions undertaken at international level in the field of civil protection especially in the context of cooperation.Preparing also includes sharing information:
  To contribute to the information of the public in view of increasing the level of self-protection of citizensTo collect and disseminate validated emergency informationTo pool information on national civil protection capabilities, military and medical resources.To ensure efficient information sharing between the different authorities.ResponseEditResponse consists first of warning civilians so they can enter Fallout Shelters and protect assets.
  Staffing a response is always full of problems in a civil defense emergency. After an attack, conventional full-time emergency services are dramatically overloaded, with conventional fire fighting response times often exceeding several days. Some capability is maintained by local and state agencies, and an emergency reserve is provided by specialised military units, especially civil affairs, Military Police, Judge Advocates and combat engineers.
  However, the traditional response to massed attack on civilian population centres is to maintain a mass-trained force of volunteer emergency workers. Studies in World War II showed that lightly trained (40 hours or less) civilians in organised teams can perform up to 95% of emergency activities when trained, liaised and supported by local government. In this plan, the populace rescues itself from most situations, and provides information to a central office to prioritize professional emergency services.
  In the 1990s, this concept was revived by the Los Angeles Fire Department to cope with civil emergencies such as earthquakes. The program was widely adopted, providing standard terms for organization. In the U.S., this is now official federal policy, and it is implemented by community emergency response teams, under the Department of Homeland Security, which certifies training programmes by local governments, and registers "certified disaster service workers" who complete such training.
  RecoveryEditRecovery consists of rebuilding damaged infrastructure, buildings and production. The recovery phase is the longest and ultimately most expensive phase. Once the immediate "crisis" has passed, cooperation fades away and recovery efforts are often politicised or seen as economic opportunities.
  Preparation for recovery can be very helpful. If mitigating resources are dispersed before the attack, cascades of social failures can be prevented. One hedge against bridge damage in riverine cities is to subsidise a "tourist ferry" that performs scenic cruises on the river. When a bridge is down, the ferry takes up the load.
  ImplementationEditSome advocates believe that government should change building codes to require autonomous buildings in order to reduce civil societies' dependence on complex, fragile networks of social services.[citation needed]
  An example of a crucial need after a general nuclear attack would be the fuel required to transport every other item for recovery. However, oil refineries are large, immobile, and probable targets. One proposal is to preposition truck-mounted fuel refineries near oil fields and bulk storage depots. Other critical infrastructure needs would include road and bridge repair, communications, electric power, food production, and potable water.
  Civil defense organizationsEditCivil Defense is also the name of a number of organizations around the world dedicated to protecting civilians from military attacks, as well as to providing rescue services after natural and human-made disasters alike.
  In a few countries such as Jordan and Singapore (see Singapore Civil Defence Force), civil defense is essentially the same organisation[clarification needed] as the fire brigade. In most countries however, civil defense is a government-managed, volunteer-staffed organisation, separate from the fire brigade and the ambulance service.
  As the threat of Cold War eased, a number of such civil defense organisations have been disbanded or mothballed (as in the case of the Royal Observer Corps in the United Kingdom and the United States civil defense), while others have changed their focuses into providing rescue services after natural disasters (as for the State Emergency Service in Australia). However the ideals of Civil Defense[clarification needed] have been brought back in the United States under FEMA's Citizen Corps and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Template:United States Civil Defense Association.
  In the United Kingdom the roles carried out by Civil Defence fall to voluntary groups such as RAYNET, Search and Rescue Teams and 4x4 Response. In Ireland, the Civil Defence is still very much an active organisation and is occasionally called upon for its Auxiliary Fire Service and ambulance/rescue services when emergencies such as flash flooding occur and require additional manpower. The organisation has units of trained firemen and medical responders based in key areas around the country.
  By countryEditUK:
  US:
  Notes and referencesEdit^McReynolds, David (2008). "Ralph DiGia, 1914-2008". The Catholic WorkerLXXV (March''April): 6. ^http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7805718 Architects of Armageddon: the Home Office Scientific Advisers' Branch and civil defence in Britain, 1945''68^Richard Pipes (1977). "Why the Soviet Union Thinks It Could Fight and Win a Nuclear War". Commentary Reed College. Retrieved September 4, 2013. ^Richard Pipes (1977). "Why the Soviet Union thinks it can fight and win a Nuclear War". Commentary. Retrieved April 21, 2013. ^Burr, William; Savranskaya, Svetlana, eds. (September 11, 2009). "Previously Classified Interviews with Former Soviet Officials Reveal U.S. Strategic Intelligence Failure Over Decades". Washington, DC. Retrieved April 21, 2013. ^Captain John W. Dorough, Jr. "Soviet Civil Defense U.S.S.R. preparations for industrial-base war survival.". Air University Review, March''April 1977. Retrieved September 4, 2013.. ^Leon Gour(C) Reviewed by John C. Campbell (1977). "War Survival in Soviet Strategy: USSR Civil Defense". Foreign Affairs magazine. ^Richard Pipes (1977). "Why the Soviet Union Thinks It Could Fight and Win a Nuclear War". CommentaryReed College. Retrieved September 4, 2013. ^http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/^http://www.pompiers.gouv.mc/321/wwwnew.nsf/1909!/x1Fr?OpenDocument&1Fr^http://www.sanmarinosite.com/eng/corpimilitari.html^http://www.unob.cz/en/fem/k106/Default.aspxExternal linksEditLarge gallery of Bulgaria's Civil Defense MechanizationThe UK Civil Defence Project - History & PhotosNational Civil Defence College, Nagpur INDIA link by Ajoy VU2JHMSpecial Event Amateur Ham Radio Station operated from Bangalore, INDIAProtezione Civile Italian Civil DefenseDublin Civil Defence IrelandSEBEV Search and Rescue (originally a Civil Defence team in the UKCivil Protection (Ministry of Interior, Spain).Civil Protection Villena - SpainCivil Defense Logo dies at 67, and Some Mourn its Passing, The New York Times, 1 December 2006 by David Dunlap.Cold War Era Civil Defense Museum '' Features much historical information about Civil Defense history, its equipment and methods, and many historical photographs and posters.Annotated bibliography for civil defense from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear IssuesThe American Civil Defense AssociationCivil Defense Caves '' Cold War community getaway in case of nuclear war located in IdahoComprehensive Emergency Management Reference Material RepositoryReady.gov - The official preparedness site of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security"Civil Defence" '' A site with details of the UK's Civil Defence preparations, including those implemented during the Cold War such as the Burlington Central Government War HQ., at Corsham, Wiltshire.Emergency Planning in LincolnshireThe official Civil Defence site for the Republic of IrelandThe official Civil Defense site of S£o Paulo State - BrazilDoctors for Disaster PreparednessPhysicians for Civil DefenseDutch civil defense instructions in EnglishEmergency Management Portal - online resources for emergency planners and managersThe Norwegian Civil DefenceCoordinates: 47°23'²31'"N8°31'²37'"E>> / >>47.39194°N 8.52694°E>> / 47.39194; 8.52694
  Last modified on 23 November 2013, at 01:14
Copyright at the Bedside '' Stanford Technology Law Review
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 14:10
  We recently published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine describing a crisis in cognitive testing, as doctors and medical researchers increasingly face copyright claims in sets of questions used for testing mental state. We encouraged the creation of a cultural norm in medicine, in which medical researchers would ensure continued availability of their tests through open source licensing for any copyrights that might exist.
  In this piece, we consider the legal side of the question. Although copyrights are being copiously asserted in medical testing, are those rights valid, and should they be upheld? The legal precedents in this area are anything but clear, and the courts are divided in the few analogous circumstances that have arisen.
  We examine analogies in standardized testing, computer compilations and baseball pitching forms to consider the marvelous question of how to conceptualize a process'--which is the purview of patent law'--when that process consists of words'--which are the purview of copyright law. We also look from an economics perspective at the issue of investment and value creation in the development of de facto standards.
  Legal scholars are so often in the position of looking backwards, teasing out solutions to problems that have developed within a doctrinal or theoretical area. Rarely does one have the opportunity to affect the course of events before problems become so deeply entrenched that they are intractable. This is such a moment, and the legal and medical fields should take advantage of the opportunities presented.
oswald of guadalupe '-- I came to the conclusion that as violence in this...
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 06:55
  I came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic to continue preaching peace and non-violence. This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle. I can only say that I felt morally obliged to do what I did.
Veterans Today >> Nelson Mandela
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 06:43
  '--
  '--
  Mandela, like JFK, was a charismatic leader who believed in freedom. There the comparison ends. Now that his death has been confirmed officially, I extend my condolences to his family and to the people of South Africa. There is no doubt that many white South Africans will mourn his passing and that his commitment to reconciliation was genuine.
  I never met Mandela, although I got to see his charming daughter Zenani up close when I was a steward at an Anti-Apartheid Movement concert, possibly the 75th anniversary bash at the Alexandra Palace in 1987. I was rather sorry not to have been a steward at the great 70th birthday concert at Wembley the following year. I would not have needed the hymn-sheet to sing the great African hymn N'Kosi Sikelele Afrika in Xhosa, not then, anyway. (I'm a little rusty now!)
  I am sure that I spent a lot more time in my youth on Anti-Apartheid activities than Barack Obama. I even got a nice letter from that lovely man Alfred Nzo, the ANC Secretary-General who became the first post-apartheid Foreign Minister, after his appointment. In the BBC tribute being broadcast as I am writing this I was amused to see footage of a City of London Anti-Apartheid Group demo outside South Africa House. I might even have been in it '' I used to go along quite regularly. I was even called as a witness once, when a fellow demonstrator was arrested rather too forcibly by the rozzers. I spent an entire night outside South Africa House when three young Umkhonto We Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) militants were due to be hanged. I still think they should not have been executed.
  The late Adelaide Tambo was on that vigil. She was a warm, wonderful character and a lovely lady, if I may say so. I have a reputation for being marginally to the right of centre (I can't imagine why!) and not terribly cuddly, but at an AAM AGM one year, when Adelaide was speaking, she passed me on her way up to the platform and gave me a great big hug. I could see mouths drop. Nelson Mandela attended her funeral.
  As you may see, I had a bit of a left-wing youth, but I don't regret opposing apartheid. It was both hateful and irrational. Special Branch misunderstood my opposition to apartheid and marked me down as far more left-wing than I actually was. My opposition to apartheid was fundamentally a moral, not a political, choice. It was the right choice, even if the ANC have made many wrong choices in power.
  I use the formula 'now that his death has been confirmed' advisedly. My understanding is that the poor man died some time ago and was kept on a ventilator for political reasons. He should have been allowed to die in peace. He may even have died in the military ambulance taking him to hospital. It stopped en route whilst instructions were sought. How many times do you see ambulances on an emergency call stopped by the roadside whilst everybody has a discussion about what to do?
  Most in INTELCOM know that he was a hero with feet of clay. There is much to come out, e.g. about his dealings with BOSS, and the role of the DVD in threatening to block South African access to MTN trading programs as a pressure tactic, when they switched support from the Nats to the ANC. Certain favors, e.g. over cocaine trafficking through South Africa, had to be given in return. It was all very sad for such an enthusiastic AAM member. There have been unexplained deaths, including Adelaide Tambo's in 2007.
  However the requirements of good manners dictate that discussion of these matters is deferred. Now is a time to mourn the passing of a great man and acknowledge his many qualities. These included high intelligence, tremendous personal charisma, statesmanship and indomitable courage. He was also a powerful orator and a great communicator. Yes, he made mistakes (who doesn't), but the man had real class.
  Sgt Alexander Blackman RM
  Sgt Blackman too is a man of courage. His conviction and sentence for the 'murder' of a dying Taliban terrorist has shocked public opinion in Britain and further shaken confidence in our failing military justice system. I call for him to be granted a Royal Pardon.
  I very much hope that his conviction will be overturned. It was clearly an abuse of process, as no autopsy was ever performed. It follows that the prosecution could not show that the terrorist had not been fatally wounded. So far as we know he was hit by fragments from a 30mm cannon round, so he wasn't likely to have been terribly well.
  I do not for one moment buy the rozzers' story that they came across a video of the incident 'accidentally'. It is far more likely that Sgt Blackman was set up, to smear the Royal Marines, rather like the US Marines Corps was smeared over al-Haditha. There too, wild allegations were made without any autopsy or ballistic evidence.
  The time has come to scrap prosecutions for murder on the battlefield that are not supported by autopsy evidence. Dispatching mortally wounded enemy combatants on the battlefield, let alone unlawful combatants, should never be regarded as murder, indeed it is usually a kindness. The Royal Marines have wrought great execution and slaughter on the terrorist enemy in the Global War on Terror, much to their credit.
  Like Nelson Mandela Sgt Blackman is effectively a political prisoner, imprisoned as a result of a seriously flawed legal process, notwithstanding that each conviction was supported by evidence. Alex Blackman should be freed, restored to the ranks without loss of seniority and paid massive compensation. Many thanks to the nice Royal Marine Commando who contributed to this section.
  Response to Comments
  'Dieter the Hun' and I have found something else to agree on '' we both think that Konrad Adenauer was dodgy. Well spotted 'Dieter'. The man was a DVD asset, who sanctioned the Munich operation against Manchester United. He only survived the Nazi period because of his connections to the Abwehr. It's a great pity that Heinrich Himmler didn't have him executed, preferably with piano wire, no offense intended. He was a right bastard (Heinrich was a bit of a bastard as well of course, but much more charming than Konrad '' he also threw a nicer drinks party, an observation based on the recollections of someone who was at the drinks party at Nuremberg in '37 to which Sir Edward Heath was invited).
  There were some sensible comments on Inga, the saucy girlfriend of both Adolf Hitler and JFK, to whose assassination I shall be returning next week. The public confirmation of Nelson Mandela's death has put back The Kennedy Conspiracy (4) by a week of course.
  I am sure that J. Edgar's eyebrows were raised so high that his mascara ran when the G-Men confirmed that a US naval intelligence officer was shagging one of Adolf Hitler's ex-girlfriends. It wasn't a coincidence and JFK wasn't a Nazi. He was a Democrat, who just happened to have shared a lady friend with the F¼hrer. It happens all the time.
  Dear old Inga, who was a stunner by the way, was one of that wily old bird Admiral Canaris's birds. She honey-trapped both a F¼hrer and a future President. If she'd managed Edward VIII as well she'd have had the full set.
  I would not be astonished to learn that JFK spotted her coming, no pun intended, a mile off, called it in to ONI and was ordered to play along to see what he could find out. You guys had some good personal stuff on Hitler, which could only have come from someone who was close to him.
  I am sorry that not all commenters enjoyed We Dive at Dawn. It's a great war movie, once you make the allowances you have to make for a Brit movie shot in black and white in 1943. The Admiralty had a strange prejudice against lending warships and facilities to movie producers and kept insisting that there was a war on.
  I am sorry that no one took me up on my challenge to go out and buy a non-German intelligence DVD set of Magnum PI and come up with a better date for USS Wedderburn's visit to Pearl Harbor.
  Classic Movie of the Week '' Heartbreak Ridge
  This is a heartwarming war movie, directed by Clint Eastwood (1986). Based on the US invasion of Grenada in 1983 Eastwood also plays the hero, Gunny Highway. His character had won the Medal of Honor in the Battle of Heartbreak Bridge in Korea, a classic example of the screw-ups that can result from faulty intelligence.
  Gunny Highway is an immensely sympathetic character, an old soldier who whips his recon platoon into shape with compassion and sensitivity, before going into combat with them with a bunch of bad-ass Cubans. The supporting cast is strong '' I particularly liked Everett McGill as Major Powers and Richard Venture as Colonel Meyers. There is a lot of humor, as well as pathos. It's Clint Eastwood on fine form, and that should be enough of a recommendation for any movie. Enjoy.
  Related Posts:Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=280202
  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 Gordon Duff on Dec 6 2013, With 0 Reads, Filed under Editor, Living. 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
BBC News - Mandela death: How a prisoner became a legend
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 06:40
  6 December 2013Last updated at 19:11 ET As the imprisoned Nelson Mandela became the face of a global campaign against apartheid, within South Africa a ban on his image meant people weren't sure what he looked like - and he became a mythological figure, recalls author William Gumede.
  Nelson Mandela was very fond of telling a story of how, in the early 1980s, while at the windswept Robben Island prison where he had been banished for opposing the apartheid regime, he was taken to the mainland in Cape Town for a medical check-up.
  His prison warders generously agreed to his request that he be allowed to stroll on the beach for a few minutes. Walking on the beach, Mandela, the world's most famous political prisoner, was anonymous. Having been in jail since the early 1960s, and his pictures banned from being circulated in public or published in the media, very few people knew his appearance.
  On the beach that day no-one as much as glanced at him. Later, with a glint in his eye, Mandela said he'd wondered what would have happened had he suddenly shouted: "I am Nelson Mandela."
  The images of Mandela imprinted on people's minds were, by then, 20 years old. They were from the last photos to be taken of the defiant activist before he had been carted off to jail in 1962.
  Continue reading the main storyAbout the authorWilliam Gumede is a South African writer, trade unionist and former youth leader. He was deputy editor of The Sowetan newspaper, and has authored a number of bestselling books including Restless Nation: Making Sense of Troubled Times and Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC. He has also edited a collection of Nelson Mandela's writings, No Easy Walk to Freedom
  In prison he had been allowed only a select few visitors, mostly immediate family. Fellow inmates, who were released earlier, would try to describe him - but it was not quite good enough.
  Such was the level of security that by the 1980s no-one appeared to have been able to smuggle out an up-to-date photo of Mandela from Robben Island.
  By then, Mandela had become one of the world's most quoted public figures. But in apartheid South Africa his words and teachings, like those of other ANC activists - were banned.
  There were injunctions that came with heavy penalties for those who broke them. Carrying the image of Mandela or being overheard saying his name could result in torture and a prison sentence.
  Books about Mandela were banned - unless they portrayed him as a terrorist. Media organisations were prevented from reporting on him or using his pictures.
  He was not the only prisoner subject to these restrictions, but the way the state tried to erase his image, his words and his name ensured activists revered him even more.
  This enforced silence had ultimately done nothing to quell the curiosity of a new emerging generation of anti-apartheid activists in the late 70s and early 80s, in South Africa and overseas.
  The long-term imprisonment of most of the ANC's top leaders in the early 1960s, the banning and locking-up of lower level leaders and the brutal campaign of fear pursued by the apartheid government were a crushing blow and threatened the group's very existence.
  Then, in the late 1960s, the ANC's overseas wing decided to change the direction of the anti-apartheid struggle. It launched a global movement as an attempt to give the campaign new momentum, energy and focus.
  It fell upon Nelson Mandela to be the face of this new global campaign. His release from custody became the central pillar of the anti-apartheid campaign.
  Continue reading the main story'I am prepared to die'At his 1964 trial, Mandela chose to make a speech rather than testify. These are the closing words:
  "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
  At the time of his arrest on 5 August 1962, Mandela was by no means the ANC's top leader. He was at best below the likes of Walter Sisulu, the ANC general secretary, and Oliver Tambo, its deputy president. Yet this elevation of Mandela to be the face of the ANC also propelled him to the number one spot in the organisation.
  The Free Mandela campaign in the West became one of the most effective global media movements. It was also one of the most fashionable causes. World figures such as Bertrand Russell, Simone de Beauvoir and Ilya Ehrenburg put their names to the campaign.
  The ANC allowed overseas satellite groups relative freedom to adapt their campaigns for their particular local circumstances, nuances and protest movements.
  In the UK, the local anti-apartheid movement hosted an annual Bicycle for Mandela event. In the Netherlands, they issued a Mandela coin in opposition to the Krugerrands. In the US, the committee launched an "Unlock Apartheid's Jails" campaign, under the chairmanship of actor Bill Crosby.
  So successful had the global Free Mandela campaign become that in 1978, the prime minister of apartheid South Africa, John Vorster, bemoaned the fact that the world was seeing Mandela as the "real" leader of black South Africa.
  By the mid-80s musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and Miles Davis were sprinkling some stardust on the anti-apartheid movement. The song Free Nelson Mandela became a Top 10 hit in Britain.
  The image of Mandela the silenced global statesman was starting to set. Back in South Africa, however, his progression to the top took a different course.
  Mandela's long spell of incarceration had led him to deep reflection.
  At the start of his prison term on Robben Island, Mandela wrote: "In prison you come face to face with time. There's nothing more terrifying."
  Under the tutelage of Walter Sisulu, one of the underrated ANC leaders, Mandela overcame his own "feelings of rage and impotence".
  His genius was in his pragmatism - his generosity of spirit. What set him apart from his fellow detainees was that he was wise enough to be influenced by new ideas and in turn was able to soften and broaden the minds of other young radicals, helping him recruit activists from opposing ideologies to the ANC.
  Eventually, these new converts, when they were released from Robben Island, spread Mandela's ideas to a wider audience outside.
  In the early 80s, to me and my fellow black student activists, Mandela was still a radical, the "Black Pimpernel" who had co-founded Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC.
  The rest of the world was becoming acquainted with a more statesmanlike figure. But in the free-speech vacuum of the apartheid state, our Mandela had been freeze-frozen on the day he was arrested on 5 August 1962, for his clandestine attempts to plan sabotage against the state.
  It was this Mandela who so appealed to us high school radicals, who came to political awakening in the 80s, leading us to embark on a school boycott between 1984 and 1985.
  Defiance was our core value. We dismissed teachers and parents as too submissive to apartheid authorities, who should be defied in the same way we defied the regime.
  As youths we attacked symbols of apartheid and white oppression. We threw stones at the police and army, barricaded roads with burning tyres and "redistributed" to the community the contents of delivery vans of companies perceived to be collaborating with apartheid government.
  Senior ANC and anti-apartheid leaders, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, publicly disapproved, but as in William Golding's Lord of the Flies, the children would now be in charge, not only of our education, but also our own upbringing.
  Our slogans were "No education without liberation", "Victory or death" and "Free Mandela our real leader".
  We divided ourselves into cells which met in secret. And in these cells we would talk about Mandela, the ANC and lessons from other people's struggles around the world.
  Invoking Mandela's name or his image risked severe retribution. But doing so became an act of defiance for anti-apartheid activists. We wore T-shirts and badges, and carried flags, all with Mandela's face on, knowing we could be arrested and tortured.
  The apartheid police had its omnipresent networks of spies or "impipis" in the black community who would rush to inform on anyone who dared mention Mandela's name at church prayer, school or community meeting,
  In high school, in 1985, at the height of the student revolt, one of my fellow teen anti-apartheid activists was arrested and given a 30-day jail sentence for drinking out of a mug which had the face of Mandela painted on it.
  Another spent three days in jail for writing "Free Mandela" on her school dress.
  I was sjambokked - beaten with a traditional South African leather whip which police carried during the apartheid era - kicked and klapped (slapped) by police for drawing a rather crude image of Mandela, next to the words "Liberation Before Education", on my tattered canvas school bag.
  But we students weren't the first to get behind the Mandela charge.
  In 1980, Percy Qoboza, the editor of the Sunday Post, a black newspaper in Johannesburg, launched a local campaign for the release of Mandela. It led to a wider call which raised Mandela's name again within South Africa after the blanket of silence enforced by the authorities.
  Some 86,000 people publicly signed a petition sponsored by the Sunday Post to release Mandela - opening themselves up to prosecution for promoting a banned person.
  The Free Nelson Mandela campaign became the glue that brought together many of the disparate grounds whose common goal was to overturn white minority rule, under the name of the United Democratic Front (UDF).
  Enuga Sreenivasulu Reddy, the former secretary of the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid, wrote in 1988: "The release of Mandela became an issue uniting the broadest segments of the South African people. All black leaders with any following, as well as several white leaders, expressed support."
  The UDF launched a new, more energetic domestic campaign to release Mandela, vowing that unless the Nationalist Party government freed him, there would be no peace in South Africa. Overnight "Release Mandela" committees were set up across the country, in every region, town and township, by UDF activists.
  Our curiosity about Mandela remained insatiable.
  Comrades who were released from Robben Island, having been in secret meetings where messages from Mandela were clandestinely distributed, were eagerly questioned on the leader's views.
  Those who were lucky enough to have seen Mandela, even from a distance at Robben Island, let alone to have met or talked to him, were treated like royalty by us youth activists.
  Continue reading the main storyThe High OrderWalter Sisulu (1912-2003): Served 26 years imprisonment on Robben Island; released in 1989 and was elected ANC deputy president Govan Mbeki (1910-2001): Imprisoned on terrorism and treason charges from 1964 until 1987; served in South Africa's post-apartheid senate Raymond Mhlaba (1920-2005): Member of ANC and South Africa Communist Party; jailed alongside Mandela and released in 1989 Lawyers visiting the island prison were a particularly rich source of information for those hungry for news.
  But while beyond the shores of his island prison Mandela had unquestionably become the face of the fight against South Africa's racist government, inside the jail he was locked in a decades-long battle to have his vision for what the organisation stood for, accepted by fellow inmates.
  On Robben Island the ANC leadership decided to set up a leadership structure to support activists who could have lost faith in the face of long jail sentences. This was called the "High Order", and consisted of Mandela, Govan Mbeki - father of the future South African President Thabo Mbeki - and two others. Mandela was elected spokesperson.
  After his release from Robben Island in 1987, Govan Mbeki admitted that "nobody [on the island] could guess" that Mandela would become such an international figure and would rise to such heights.
  Mbeki was Mandela's great rival while in prison on the island. Before he was imprisoned, Mbeki was a powerful figure in the ANC and Mandela's senior by a mile.
  He later admitted that he "differed very strongly" with Mandela on a great many issues.
  Mbeki had challenged Albert Luthuli for the ANC presidency and lost narrowly. On Robben Island Mandela and members of the High Order would secretly circulate their ideas on paper (often toilet paper) to the seven jails of the island prison, or in code in letters to family and to the ANC on the outside. They used every opportunity while doing hard labour, breaking stones on the island's quarry, to clandestinely disseminate their ideas. While doing this, they had to evade the prying eyes of the prison guards and the prison censors.
  For three decades in Robben Island there was an epic leadership battle in the ANC for supremacy between the African nationalists, led by Mandela, and the ANC Left, led by African communists such as Mbeki.
  Mbeki's group argued that the ANC should seize power through military means, nationalise all industry, pursue Nuremberg-like trials to prosecute apartheid leaders for crimes against humanity, and set up a communist state with the South African Communist Party at its head at the southernmost tip of Africa.
  Mandela and his leadership group argued that the ANC was a broad church of all colours, ideologies and classes who were united in their fights against apartheid and racial prejudice. Mandela argued for a negotiated settlement between the apartheid government and the liberation movements, which would cobble together a constitutional, non-racial democracy.
  Mbeki feared Mandela was about to sell out, to strike a compromise deal with the Nationalist Party in return for his freedom. He smuggled an SOS to the ANC leadership in exile to express his fears.
  Mandela, in turn, smuggled an answer to the exiled leaders, assuring them he was not selling out and that he was acting in the best interests of the ANC members and supporters.
  According to Mbeki, who was released ahead of Mandela, it took a long time before fellow Robben Islanders were convinced that Mandela was not selling out.
  By the late 80s, my generation, the 1985 generation who were active in the internal struggle, had become suspicious of Mandela, fearing a compromise with the apartheid rulers was about to be agreed.
  Even at Mandela's release in February 1990, there was a lingering suspicion among some comrades that he might have turned.
  It would immediately be proven wrong. In fact, Mandela had entered Robben Island a good leader, and returned a great leader.
  Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook
Minstens 300 doden binnen twee dagen in Bangui
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: VK: Home
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 06:26
  07/12/13, 02:47 '' bron: ANP, Belga
  (C) photo news.
  Het geweld dat donderdag is uitgebroken in Bangui, de hoofdstad van de Centraal-Afrikaanse Republiek, heeft minstens driehonderd doden geist. Dat zegt een woordvoerder van het Centraal-Afrikaanse Rode Kruis, die anoniem wou blijven.
  Na telling van de stoffelijke overschotten in mortuaria van ziekenhuizen, in gebedshuizen, en op straat, loopt de voorlopige balans op tot 281 doden. De woordvoerder benadrukte dat de hulpdiensten er niet in waren geslaagd alle door geweld geteisterde wijken te bereiken voor het ingaan van de avondklok. Volgens getuigenissen van bewoners liggen er daar nog veel lichamen op straat.
  Christelijke militieleden, die zich verzetten tegen de islamitische rebellen die in maart de macht grepen, vielen de hoofdstad Bangui donderdag aan. In de hoop door de Franse soldaten beschermd te worden, hebben honderden mensen zich vrijdag verzameld in een veld bij het vliegveld in Bangui.
  Franse militairen hebben vrijdag een onbekend aantal strijders gedood bij gevechten in Bangui. Volgens minister van Defensie Jean-Yves Le Drian was er sprake van 'legitieme zelfverdediging'. Dat gebeurde v""rdat de Verenigde Naties toestemming gaven om geweld te gebruiken om burgers te beschermen in Centraal-Afrika.
Bitcoin Crash on News Major Chinese Web Site Has Stopped Accepting Bitcoin
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: EconomicPolicyJournal.com
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 06:23
  Major Chinese search and web services provider Baidu is no longer accepting bitcoin for service payment, , reports NewsBTC.com. The following is the service's message to music users today (roughly translated using Google):Dear acceleration music users:
  Due to the recent fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin larger unable to protect the interests of users, in response to the risk of state-controlled bitcoin spirit Baidu music accelerate decision to suspend with immediate effect from accepting bitcoin buy accelerate music services.
  As of 11:00 ET, the price for a bitcoin at Mt Gox was $774.00, the low was $650.00. Earlier in the day the price was $1,118.98.The real translation: The Chinese government is cracking down on the use of Bitcoin.
AT&T aims to sidestep shareholder request on surveillance data
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Reuters: Technology News
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 06:22
  Fri Dec 6, 2013 11:08pm EST
  TweetShare thisEmailPrintThe AT&T logo is pictured by its store in Carlsbad, California, April 22, 2013.
  Credit: Reuters/Mike Blake
  (Reuters) - AT&T has asked regulators to let it ignore a shareholder request for details of its customer-information sharing with government agencies, a move that could forestall a heated debate at the telecommunications giant's annual meeting.
  The No. 2 U.S. mobile operator made the request in a December 5 letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in response to shareholder activists pressing it on the matter. Among them is New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who is the trustee of the state retirement fund.
  DiNapoli and other shareholders of AT&T and its biggest rival Verizon Communications Inc last month sought details on sharing of personal data and communications from the two companies following revelations from former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
  The shareholders cited media reports of intelligence agencies' involvement with the companies and criticism from foreign leaders and others.
  The activists said the companies could lose credibility with customers and asked them to schedule a vote on a measure calling for the publication of semi-annual reports with details such as how often customer information was shared with U.S. or foreign government agencies, and what type of information was shared.
  In its letter, AT&T outlined arguments about why the agency should grant its request to exclude the activists' measure from the agenda of its 2014 annual meeting. AT&T said the matter relates to "ordinary business operations" and should not be controlled by shareholders, according to the letter obtained by Reuters.
  The more significant public debate is about government surveillance practices, AT&T said, and noted it and other carriers are obliged to comply with court orders.
  AT&T also said it faces at least one lawsuit that contends it violated customer privacy rights by providing information to government agencies. It said any information it were to provide in response to the shareholder measure could interfere with its legal strategy.
  Jonas Kron, Senior Vice President for Trillium Asset Management, a co-filer of the AT&T resolution, said his firm had hoped for a different response from the telecommunications giant.
  "We're disappointed that the company is demonstrating an unwillingness to have a public discussion with its shareholders about a matter of such importance," Kron said in a telephone interview on Friday.
  A Verizon spokesman declined to comment on Friday. Verizon had previously said it was evaluating the proposal.
  (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bangalore and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Ken Wills)
  Tweet thisLink thisShare thisDigg thisEmailPrintReprints
Jay Carney: Yes, President Obama did live with Uncle Omar after all
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Twitchy » US Politics
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 06:20
  At Thursday's press briefing, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the president had indeed stayed with his uncle Omar Obama while a student at Harvard Law School. The question arose because Uncle Omar had testified to that fact at a deportation hearing, while the White House had previously denied that the two men had ever met.
  Carney's explanation: nobody at the White House spoke to the president about it, and no one had asked him in the past. Weird, huh?
A Macabre Assist for Weinstein's 'Mandela' - NYTimes.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 01:11
  LOS ANGELES '-- Harvey Weinstein is a master at using publicity to build buzz around his movies, whether that means ginning up a controversy or concocting a cultural tie-in.
  This time the PR came to him.
  The death of Nelson Mandela on Thursday night eerily coincided with the Weinstein Company's release of the biopic ''Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.'' The film was having its London premiere '-- attended by two of Mr. Mandela's daughters '-- when news outlets first reported his death. And in the United States, some Oscar voters found in Thursday's mail a ''for your consideration'' DVD of the film. ''Long Walk to Freedom'' arrived in four theaters last weekend and will expand nationally on Christmas Day. An ad campaign is in full motion; television spots, for instance, ran during Thursday night basketball on TNT.
  As much opportunity as Mr. Mandela's death gives ''Long Walk to Freedom,'' it also could complicate plans Mr. Weinstein has for promoting the film, either as a must-see movie or as an Oscar hopeful. A famously unsubtle impresario, Mr. Weinstein has a subtle line to walk: nurturing his investment but not looking as if he were trying to cash in on the death of a beloved historical figure.
  Idris Elba, left, and Tony Kgoroge in the new "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom."
  Keith Bernstein / Weinstein Company
  Since Mr. Mandela's death, the Weinstein Company has turned down requests from theater owners to speed up the release of the film, a spokeswoman said.
  Mr. Weinstein said in an email, ''Our release plan has not changed from the day we set it in March to now.''
  Sudden global interest in Mr. Mandela's life already seems to be helping ''Long Walk to Freedom'' at the box office. The online ticket seller Fandango.com said advance sales accelerated after the former South African president's death.
  And it may also give the film a boost on the Oscar trail. The movie, which was in development for more than 15 years and was ultimately directed by Justin Chadwick, has received sharply mixed reviews. Yet it is a conceivable contender in the categories of best actor, best supporting actress and best song, ''Ordinary Love,''by U2.
  ''Voters only have time to watch so many of these movies,'' said Scott Feinberg, a longtime Oscar prognosticator who writes for The Hollywood Reporter. ''In terms of motivating Academy members to at least see the movie, this can only help.''
  Mr. Feinberg added: ''An argument will be made that a vote for 'Mandela' will be a vote for the person. I'm not saying that is necessarily legitimate, but I'm certain that argument will be made.''
  Film historians could not recall a moment of such morbidly uncanny timing. ''Nothing, absolutely nothing, comes to mind,'' said the author and critic Leonard Maltin. The closest example some cinema historians could offer was the death of Ray Charles a few months before the theatrical release of ''Ray'' in 2004, giving an inadvertent boost to its DVD.
  ''Long Walk to Freedom'' is just the latest in a string of movies that have explored Mr. Mandela's life and career. Based on Mr. Mandela's autobiography and starring Idris Elba, the movie tries to distinguish itself by including some of his early, not-so-positive behavior. Naomie Harris plays Mr. Mandela's fiery ex-wife, Winnie.
  Snarky comments about the timing of Mr. Mandela's death and the release of ''Long Walk to Freedom'' immediately began circulating in Hollywood, where Mr. Weinstein's publicity instincts are both admired and scorned. In an indication of the tightrope he faces, a mini-controversy broke out on Twitter after a blogger, Nikki Finke, tweeted a comment linking Mr. Mandela's death with the film.
  Some Hollywood insiders have speculated that Mr. Weinstein bought the rights to ''Long Walk to Freedom'' in February partly because he saw an opportunity in Mr. Mandela's failing health. ''Not at all,'' a Weinstein spokeswoman said on Friday. ''When we saw the footage, we all fell in love with it.''
  In a telephone interview, the director, Mr. Chadwick, said marketing for his film would not change based on Mr. Mandela's death. He left open the possibility that he might add a few words to the end of his film, acknowledging Mr. Mandela's death, but said that he was leaning toward leaving it alone.
  ''This film honors his legacy, so I think it stands as it is,'' Mr. Chadwick said.
  He said he spoke to one of Mr. Mandela's daughters, Zindzi, on Friday and asked her, ''What do we do now?''
  ''She told me,'' he added, '' 'Be proud of the film that you made and continue to share it with the world. My father would want that.''
  Correction: December 6, 2013
  An earlier version of this article misstated the timing of Ray Charles's death in relation to the theatrical release of the movie ''Ray'' in 2004. He died a few months before the release, not a few months after it.
VIDEO-Edison's Revenge on the Dollar
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 00:49
  Copyright - 2013 Money Map Press, LLC. The Money Map Press is a publishing company that does not act as a personal investment advisor for any specific individual. Nor do we advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment for any specific individual. The proprietary recommendations and analysis we present to readers is for the exclusive use of subscribers. Readers should be aware that although our track record is highly rated, and has been legally reviewed for presentation in this invitation, investment markets have inherent risks and there can be no guarantee of future profits. Likewise, past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Stocks, futures, currencies, commodities, CFDs, options and all types of investment trading can have large potential rewards, but also carry large potential risks. We make absolutely no representation that gains or losses demonstrated in services published by Money Map Press LLC are likely or achievable. Please Note: Any performance results described herein are not based on actual trading of securities but are instead based on a hypothetical trading account which entered and exited the suggested positions in securities at the times and prices referenced. Hypothetical performance results have many inherent limitations. In fact, there are frequently sharp differences between hypothetical performance results and the actual results that may subsequently be achieved. One of the limitations of hypothetical performance results is that they are generally prepared with the benefit of hindsight. In addition, hypothetical trading does not involve financial risk, and no hypothetical trading record can completely account for the impact of financial risk in actual trading. For example, hypothetical trading examples cannot possibly take into account the impact of liquidity or buyer and seller demand, and do not allow for slippage and associated trading costs and concerns. One must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the markets. One should never trade with money that one cannot afford to lose, and one must accept that there will be losses, and one must be able to sustain these losses, both from a financial as well as an emotional perspective. Recommendations are for the exclusive use of subscribers and can change at any time. This work is based on SEC filings, current events, interviews, corporate press releases, and what we've learned as financial journalists. It may contain errors and you shouldn't make any investment decision based solely on what you read here. It's your money and your responsibility.
More men chat in girls' 'dialect'
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 00:45
  5 December 2013Last updated at 20:37 ET By Melissa HogenboomScience reporter, BBC NewsMore young men in California rise in pitch at the end of their sentences when talking, new research shows.
  This process is known as "uptalk" or "valleygirl speak" and has in the past been associated with young females, typically from California or Australia.
  But now a team says that this way of speaking is becoming more frequent among men.
  The findings were presented at the Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in California.
  "We found use of uptalk in all of our speakers, despite their diverse backgrounds in socioeconomic status, ethnicity, bilingualism and gender," said Amanda Ritchart, a linguist at the University of California who led the research.
  "We believe that uptalk is becoming more prevalent and systematic in its use for the younger generations in Southern California," she added.
  The team recorded and analysed the voices of 23 native Californians aged between 18 and 22. The researchers were therefore not able to infer similar language patters in older Californians.
  Sounding ditzyPeople who speak uptalk are often misunderstood to be insecure, shallow or slightly dim, according to the team, who say this was not necessarily the case.
  Speaking to the BBC's Inside Science programme, co-author Amalia Arvanati, from the University of Kent, said it was hard to know how this process started.
  "People talk about Frank Zappa's song, Valley Girl. Finding out where it started is very difficult because we don't have good records of how people use pitch.
  "One possibility is that this is an extension of a pitch pattern that we actually find in most varieties of English which is used when you're making a statement but you're [also] asking indirectly for the interlocutor to confirm if they are with you," Prof Arvaniti said.
  She added that "uptalk" had negative connotations which made men less likely to admit to using it, but what was clear was that it was spreading.
  "It grates on people, some people think it sounds really ditzy or insecure. This does not accurately come across like that to the native speakers."
  Women leadersClaire Nance at Lancaster University, commented that the research reinforced the fact that uptalk was "increasingly widespread across all kinds of people".
  "Typically, women are trail-blazers in language change and take up innovative features first, then males start using them later.
  "No spoken language ever remains stable and constant change is very much the norm. However, change often causes alarm among people who do not use an innovative feature, and uptalk appears to be another example of this trend," Dr Nance added.
  She explained that speakers may use uptalk to convey politeness or empathy with the listener, but that this was not always understood by non-uptalkers, perhaps due to its similarity to question intonation.
  Inside Science is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursdays at 16:30 and 21:00. Listen to the full Inside Science programme here or download the podcast here.
More men speaking in girls' 'dialect', study shows
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BlackListedNews.com
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 00:45
  More young men in California rise in pitch at the end of their sentences when talking, new research shows.
  This process is known as "uptalk" or "valleygirl speak" and has in the past been associated with young females, typically from California or Australia.
  But now a team says that this way of speaking is becoming more frequent among men.
  The findings were presented at the Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in California.
  "We found use of uptalk in all of our speakers, despite their diverse backgrounds in socioeconomic status, ethnicity, bilingualism and gender," said Amanda Ritchart, a linguist at the University of California who led the research.
  "We believe that uptalk is becoming more prevalent and systematic in its use for the younger generations in Southern California," she added.
  The team recorded and analysed the voices of 23 native Californians aged between 18 and 22. The researchers were therefore not able to infer similar language patters in older Californians.>>
  Read More...
Study finds geoengineering research 'free for all' - SciDev.Net
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 00:44
  The 'plan B' of using geoengineering to rescue humanity from the impact of climate change exists in a 'vacuum' of international regulations, according to a recent review. Proposals to counteract the effects of global warming by engineering the planet, with methods such as spraying chemicals into the atmosphere to block solar radiation, are largely theoretical and lacking in research. But they prompt debate, with some scientists rejecting particular geoengineering proposals altogether, and others calling for developing nations to have a bigger say in any such plans. A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognised that, though there could be unintended consequences, geoengineering may have the potential to substantially offset a global temperature rise. Against this backdrop, Jesse Reynolds, a researcher at Tilburg Law School in the Netherlands, has explored the legal status of geoengineering research by studying the details of several international environmental treaties, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity. His study, due to be published in 2014 in the Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment, finds that existing international law not only permits geoengineering field research to go ahead, but also encourages it. This is because, though field trials may present risks to the environment and health, the deployment of geoengineering could reduce the much greater risks of climate change. But Reynolds adds that international regulation is necessary because both research and deployment pose risks that would cross national borders. ''It remains unclear what the form and substance of that regulation should be, because we don't know what climate engineering will actually look like,'' Reynolds tells SciDev.Net. ''We don't know the form it will take, the risks it might pose or what we want to get out of it. Right now, it's almost all modelling and hypothetical scenarios. But I think we're at a stage where there can start to be serious conversations,'' he says. The UNFCCC's Conference of the Parties meetings, such as the one last month in Warsaw, Poland, may not be the best forum to discuss the issue, he adds. ''The UNFCCC is primarily driven by national governments and elected officials,'' he explains. ''So it remains unclear exactly how, in such a politicised context, it could address an uncertain and controversial topic like climate engineering in a productive way.'' Instead, Reynolds believes scientific institutions, including the IPCC, should have a greater role in feeding their expertise and findings into regulations. For example, the UNFCCC could be in a better position for useful discussion after the IPCC presents its Fifth Assessment Report in 2014, which may include more detail on climate engineering. Andrew Parker, a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, United States, and contributor to a recent report on African perspectives on the governance of solar geoengineering research, says the need for international agreement is more important when embarking on international tests. However, in the meantime, he says that low-risk field research that could help with decisions should go ahead. But he adds that ''in the medium term, there needs to be ongoing discussion between the relevant scientific bodies in various governments to have a shared set of standards for research''. These include standards for communicating research and environmental impact assessments. Link to article in Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment
International Law Encourages Use of Geoengineering Weather Modification
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dprogram.net
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 00:34
  (ConsciousResistance) '' According to a new study due to be published in 2014, Geoengineering field research is not only allowed, it is encouraged.
  The study was authored by Jesse Reynolds at Tilburg Law School in the Netherlands. Reynolds researched the legal status of geoengineering research by analyzing international documents and treaties.
  Geo-engineering is the science of manipulating the climate for the stated purpose of fighting mad made climate change. These include Solar Radiation Management (SRM), the practice of spraying aerosols into the sky in an attempt to deflect the Sun's rays and combat climate change.
  According to a recent congressional report:
  ''The term ''geoengineering'' describes this array of technologies that aim, through large-scale and deliberate modifications of the Earth's energy balance, to reduce temperatures and counteract anthropogenic climate change. Most of these technologies are at the conceptual and research stages, and their effectiveness at reducing global temperatures has yet to be proven. Moreover, very few studies have been published that document the cost, environmental effects, socio-political impacts, and legal implications of geoengineering. If geoengineering technologies were to be deployed, they are expected to have the potential to cause significant transboundary effects.
  In general, geoengineering technologies are categorized as either a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) method or a solar radiation management (SRM) method. CDR methods address the warming effects of greenhouse gases by removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. CDR methods include ocean fertilization, and carbon capture and sequestration. SRM methods address climate change by increasing the reflectivity of the Earth's atmosphere or surface.
  Aerosol injection and space-based reflectors are examples of SRM methods. SRM methods do not remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, but can be deployed faster with relatively immediate global cooling results compared to CDR methods.''
  Reynolds' study will be published in the Journal of Energy, Climate and the Environment around the same time that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change presents its Fifth Assessment Report. The study continues the calls for an international body to regulate the controversial weather modification techniques.
  Some believe the answer is international agreement for international tests but low-risk domestic research should continue to assist in the overall decision of what to do with geoengineering.
  One of the many dangers of manipulating the weather are the loss of blue skies. According to a report by the New Scientist, Ben Kravitz of the Carnegie Institution for Science has shown that releasing sulphate aerosols high in the atmosphere would scatter sunlight into the atmosphere. He says this could decrease the amount of sunlight that hits the ground by 20% and make the sky appear more hazy.
  Although a number of authorities have warned about the dangers of geoengineering techniques, the risks are seen as secondary to the perceived risks of climate change. The interesting thing to note is that although proponents of geoengineering hail it as the solution to climate change and sustaining life, studies show that geoengineering could actually have the reverse effect of heating the Earth.
  According to a recent study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, if geoengineering programs were started and then suddenly halted the planet could see immediate rise in temperatures, particularly over land. The study, titled ''The impact of abrupt suspension of solar radiation management'', seems to indicate that once you begin geoengineering you cannot suspend the programs without causing the very problem you were seeking to resolve.
  As the dangers around this technology begin to emerge, some critics believe there is more than meets the eye. A growing group of concerned activists believe the SRM programs are not only in the developmental research phase but are currently active. Weather modification techniques in the form of cloud-seeding programs are active in China, for example. With researchers warning that the very initiation of geoengineering programs could cause global temperatures to rise it does make sense that governments would work to keep quiet about domestic geoengineering programs. Geoengineering in one country could cause drought in another part of the world after all, and no government wants that responsibility.
  Despite the claims that these programs are still in their research stage there is some information that points to aerosol spraying, weather modification programs being active. In a 1996 document entitled ''Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather by 2025'', the U.S. Air Force discusses a number of proposals for using the weather as a weapon. The document warrants your attention and research. (http://csat.au.af.mil/2025/volume3/vol3ch15.pdf)
  We also have companies like Weather Modification, Inc. On this corporations site you can peruse different planes that you can pay to run a cloud seeding operation. They even offer a list of clients and sites that are active. There is also the Environmental Modification Treaty signed by the United States to halt global weather modification.
  The United States and allied governments do have a history of covertly testing controversial technologies and apologizing later. Is it possible that in an attempt to save the planet from tragedy some rogue government(s) and/or corporation(s) have been quietly testing out geoengineering programs only to find out they cannot stop the programs without risking heating the entire planet? Is their purpose more nefarious? Or are these programs really only in the research phase, still being worked out on the drawing board?
  Whether the programs are active now or not, the evidence continues to pile up that geoengineering is at the least a haphazard attempt to fix environmental issues. If we are to look for solutions concerning the health of our planet and our society as a whole, let us look inward. Let us look to our communities for solutions. Technology can be of great assistance as we maneuver forward into a more ecocentric view but we should not become so enamored with gadgets that we detach from nature and wreak havoc on the planet we co-exist with.
  Please continue to do research on geoengineering programs. For the sake of us all, look up and ask questions.
  Other sources:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/17/geoengineering-research-climate-change-rules_n_2896566.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/31/earth-cooling-schemes-global-signoff
  Derrick Broze is an investigative journalist, community activist, gardener and promoter from Houston, Texas. He is the co-founder of The Houston Free Thinkers, and co-host of Free Thinker Radio. Broze also hosts and produces a weekly podcast under the name the Conscious Resistance Live. His writing can be found on The Conscious Resistance, The Liberty Beat, Activist Post, and other independent media sources.
Nelson Mandela Said WHAT?!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 07 Dec 2013 00:15
  By Debbie Schlussel
  If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings.
  ''Nelson Mandela
  I already told you what a scumbag, anti-White racist, Islamic terrorist lovin', Jew-hating creature Nelson Mandela was. But to further your education, for all the ignorami gushing over Nelson Mandela''which includes President George W. Bush (stick with painting, dude), Senator Ted Cruz, Sean Hannity, and his coming replacement Michael Savage (who, last night, called Mandela a ''peacemaker'' on his nationally syndicated radio show)''apparently they simply cannot do the tiniest bit of homework, which includes checking out this famous quote from Mandela about America (without which he'd never have been freed)''yes it bears repeating:
  ''If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings.''
  And here are some other Mandela ''gems'':
  * There is no doubt that the United States now feels that they are the only superpower in the world and they can do what they like.
  * We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.
  * If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers.
  Hmmm . . . gee, I wonder why they need ''observers'' for South African elections. I mean, nothing is ever stolen in that country based on race, right? Like nationalized White farmland and so on.
  And here's a tip: we do want observers at certain election polling places in America because voters are harassed and violently threatened by Mandela's fans in the New Black Panther Party here. Sadly, Mandela's superfan, Barack Hussein Obama, refuses to prosecute them.
Apartheid: A Crime; or Race Realism?: 'MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations' names Mandela as MI6 [KGB Double?] Agent
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 23:22
  MI6: 50 Years of Special Operations, By Stephen Dorril [*Amazon*]
  Considering Mr. Mandela's expressed views in How to be a Good Communist, by Nelson Mandela:
  A Communist is a member of the Communist Party who understands and accepts the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism as explained by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin , and who subjects himself to the discipline of the Party.
  The goal of Communism is a classless society based on the principle: from each according to his ability and to each according to his needs. The aim is to change the present world into a Communist world where there will be no exploiters and no exploited, no oppressor and oppressed, no rich and no poor. Communists fight for a world where there will be no unemployment, no poverty and starvation, disease and ignorance. In such a world there will be no capitalists, no imperialists, no fascists. There will be neither colonies nor wars.
  How shall we interpret his communist deception status in MI6? Double agent?Mandela is named as MI6 agent
  By Neil Mackay Home Affairs Editor, ExclusiveSunday Herald (Glasgow, Scotland)Publication Date: Mar 19 2000
  NELSON Mandela is to be named as an MI6 agent who aided British intelligence officers with operations against Colonel Gadaffi's Libyan weapons programmes, supplied his handlers with details of arms shipments to Ulster terrorists and allowed UK spying operations to be based in South Africa.
  Allegations of Mandela's recruitment by the British intelligence service will be revealed in a controversial new book, MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations, by the acclaimed intelligence expert Stephen Dorril. The book is due to be published at the end of this month.
  MI6 launched an unsuccessful legal challenge to get the book's publisher, Fourth Estate, to release its contents. Special Branch officers also raided the London publishing house and seized computer equipment, but did not unearth details of Mandela's recruitment by MI6.British intelligence chiefs are outraged that they failed to access the contents of Dorril's book after an Old Bailey judge ordered on Friday that the Guardian and Observer newspapers hand over documents relating to the former MI5 officer David Shayler. The ruling was made on the grounds that the papers could help police prosecute the rogue spy under the Official Secrets Act. Shayler had made claims that MI6 was involved in a plot to assassinate Colonel Gaddafi.
  Stephen Dorril's book will stun the world with its allegations about Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. It is thought that Mandela's recruitment would have been motivated partly by his virulent anti-communism. In return MI6 offered information about potential assassination attempts on his life.
  Dorril claims highly-placed MI6 officers told him about Mandela's recruitment by the Secret Intelligence Service - the arm of British intelligence which undertakes espionage activities overseas, recruits foreign spies and engages in counter- espionage against foreign agents working in the UK.
  Sources within the Foreign Office and the intelligence service have said that Dorril's claim "is entirely credible". Last night, the Foreign Office did nothing to deny the allegation that Mandela worked for MI6.
  There were also no denials, or threats of legal action against the book, from either Nelson Mandela's office in Johannesburg, South Africa or his London-based lawyers.
  MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, By Stephen Dorril [*Amazon*]
  Part of Dorril's book, on the activities of MI6 in Africa, reads:
  "Another MI6 catch was ANC leader Nelson Mandela. Whether Mandela was recruited in London before he was imprisoned in South Africa is not clear, but it is understood that on a recent trip to London he made a secret visit to MI6's training section to thank the service for its help in foiling two assassination attempts directed against him soon after he became president."
  Dorril says the assassination attempts referred to probably included one from within a faction of the African National Congress (ANC) which was bitterly opposed to Mandela's successful manoeuvring to oust Communist Party leaders from under the umbrella of the African National Congress. Another is believed to have been planned by a covert operations wing of the apartheid government's military.Dorril, a writer on intelligence issues and a lecturer at Huddersfield University, claims Mandela was of use to MI6 as his friendliness with Colonel Gadaffi's Libyan government paved the way for the hand-over of the two Libyan agents accused of the Lockerbie bombing.
  Both the British and American governments are keen to rebuild relations with Libya to exploit the country's rich oil fields. "Mandela was the key to turning Libya from a terrorist state to one open to the West," Dorril told the Sunday Herald. "The result of his actions will be a huge economic boost to western economies. It can be said that he charmed Gaddafi for western economic interests." He claimed MI6's psychological warfare, or IOps, department - responsible for propaganda - helped massage international opinion allowing Mandela to visit Gadaffi without courting virulent western opprobrium.
  Dorril added: "Mandela helped MI6 with information over Libya's funding and arming of the IRA, and the sending of arms to loyalist terrorists in Ulster from apartheid South Africa." Dorril claimed Mandela told his MI6 handlers about Libya's attempts to develop chemical and biological warfare capabilities, and informed them about South Africa's own secret nuclear arsenal.
  World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World; By Christopher Andrew, Vasili Mitrokhin [*Amazon*]
  Dorril claims in his book that Britain did not push for full disclosure of South Africa's biological weapons programme as part of its plan to support Mandela when he was president, and Mandela helped stem the tide of South African scientists being recruited by Libya to build Gadaffi's bio-weapons programme.
  One of MI6's biggest overseas stations is in South Africa. It was a key spy centre during the Cold War as Russia and America fought to take countries like neighbouring Mozambique and Angola into their sphere of influence. South Africa is also key to Britain's economic interests because of its natural uranium, gold and platinum deposits.
  It is unclear exactly when Mandela was recruited. Nor is it clear whether MI6 courted Mandela with warnings about assassination attempts in order to lure him into the service's clutches, or if he was recruited and provided MI6 with information and then received the warnings in return.
  The publisher of the book, Fourth Estate, has been under intense pressure to reveal the contents of Dorril's 900 page work to MI6 prior to its publication on March 30. MI6 made a request through its lawyers for a full disclosure of the contents but Fourth Estate successfully fended off the challenge. However, the publishing house was raided under a search warrant by Special Branch officers who seized the computer of Fourth Estate editor-in-chief Clive Priddle which contained notes on the book.
  According to Nicky Eaton, Fourth Estate's publicist, the intelligence service is unaware of the Mandela claim. The book has been meticulously poured over for accuracy by Fourth Estate's own lawyers. Both Neil Harold, from Mandela's personal office, and Mandela's London lawyer, Iqbal Meer, of Meer Care Desai, were stunned by the allegations coming to light. They were both unable to contact Mandela last night to brief him on the claims. It is thought he is holidaying in the South African countryside, and is not contactable. Dorril claims his revelations are not damaging to Mandela's reputation. "There is nothing defamatory about being a recruit for MI6," he said.
  Officially the Foreign Office said it could not comment on the allegation as it was a secu rity matter. However, unofficially senior Foreign Office sources hinted that the recruitment claim was credible.
  One said: "If we focus on the allegations referring to assassination claims, it is not surprising that the ANC would have sought security advice from the UK, or its intelligence services, to protect key individuals."
  KGB Alpha Team Training Manual: How The Soviets Trained For Personal Combat, Assassination, And Subversion, By K.G.B. [*Amazon*]
  Foreign analysts and African experts also claim that Mandela's recruitment into MI6 is not only credible but will also have a seismic effect internationally.
  One expert on Southern Africa said: "His life history shows how he would have been attractive to MI6 and MI6 would have been attractive to him. Mandela is deeply anti- communist. As a young man he would break up Communist Party meetings with his fists. Later in life, he came to realise that to end apartheid he needed every ally he could get and he pragmatically decided to get into bed with the Communists.
  "Mandela admires Britain, its parliamentary democracy and its judicial system. Once he went into jail, Mandela moved further and further away from the Communists, privately pouring scorn on their policies. When he was freed, a struggle began for the soul of the ANC between the Communists and the 'democrats', like Mandela."
  There has been intense speculation, including allegations by Winni Mandela, that the South African Communist leader, Chris Hani, who was assassinated in 1992, apparently by white extremists, may in fact have been a victim of this internal feud. "Many of the democrats in the ANC certainly hated the Communists enough to have them killed.
  "British diplomats were also central to smoothing the end of apartheid during negotiations between Mandela and President De Klerk. It can not be underestimated how many MI6 and CIA officers were working in this area. Their numbers were colossal."
  >> >> >> >> [Sunday Herald]
  Secrets and spies
  Mark Hollingsworth on Stephen Dorril's revealing history of MI6 (MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations)
  The Guardian,Saturday 8 April 2000 01.39 BST
  Defending the Realm: MI5 and the Shayler Affair, By Mark Hollingsworth, Nick Fielding [*Amazon*]
  At the heart of this exceptionally well researched book is the notion that MI6 has operated as the covert interventionist instrument of British foreign policy. In forensic detail Stephen Dorril shows how, since 1945, our secret service has engaged in what he politely calls "disruptive actions": attempted assassinations (Egypt, Libya), coup d'(C)tats (Albania, Iran, Oman), forging Swiss bank account documents (East Germany) and psychological warfare (planting of false information, secret funding of propaganda and smearing opponents).
  Many MI6 officers believed in the 50s and 60s that they were the true arbiters of the national interest. As former deputy chief George Young stated: "It is the spy who has been called upon to remedy the situation created by deficiencies of ministers, diplomats, generals and priests." So, for the past 50 years, argues Dorril, MI6 has operated as a state within a state, influencing and manipulating foreign policy to suit its jaundiced view of the world.
  Like most western leaders, MI6 believed that nationalism in the Middle East and Africa would inevitably lead to communism. That baseless but popular preconception, alongside a desire to protect US/UK oil interests, coloured their operations, and Dorril catalogues just how far the service was prepared to go to ensure that a government was to its liking. A recurring theme is MI6's dependence on the CIA, whose financial fire-power often gave it the edge, notably in funding European anti-communist networks and technical intelligence-gathering.
  But their joint covert actions were not always successful. The 1949 attempt to overthrow the communist regime in Albania ended in abject failure. "It is a gruesome story," wrote defence specialist John Keegan, "made all the more so by the perception, apparently denied to the masterminds of subversion, that the Albanian communists were far more adept at deciding the future of their country than a bunch of romantic meddlers with a public-school education and a free supply of plastic explosives."
  Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, By Steve Coll [*Amazon*]
  A more effective operation was the MI6-controlled coup in Iran, which removed the popular and moderate prime minister, Mohammed Mossadeq, despised by the British because he nationalised the Iranian oil industry. MI6 and the CIA armed, funded and directed the conspirators, and Mossadeq was ousted in 1953.
  A crucial component of what MI6 calls "special political action" is the use of psychological warfare. According to Dorril, MI6 planted false stories, secretly subsidised news agencies and radio stations, manipulated opinion polls and smeared opponents by leaking forged documents. Known as "black propaganda", this was a combination of covert news management and sinister dirty tricks.
  What emerges from Dorril's exhaustive research is that MI6 has been a law unto itself. A group of senior operatives were obsessed with Britain's decline as a world power, and would resort to any illegal operation to reverse it; they appeared to think foreign policy should be founded on the maxim "God is an Englishman" (as stated by ex-operative Julian Amery). Former MI6 controllers admit that the period 1948-1958 was a horrific dark age, but they claim that the service was cleaned up by Harold Macmillan and has been under ministerial control ever since. Any controversial "black arts" operation needs full Foreign Office sanction. Is this credible?
  Dorril provides evidence to the contrary. He cites MI6's involve ment in the 1970 coup in Oman and, to a lesser extent, in Yemen, and relates how, in 1965, MI6 conspired with the CIA to "liquidate" Indonesia's president Sukarno. Margaret Thatcher showed no reluctance in sharing the burden of policing the world; Dorril claims that, in 1980, Thatcher "authorised MI6 to undertake 'disruptive actions' " during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
  KGB Lexicon: The Soviet Intelligence Officer's Handbook, By Vasili Mitrokhin [*Amazon*]
  More recently, former MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson described how, in 1992, he saw an internal document that described a plan to assassinate President Milosevic. Three years later, according to former MI5 officer David Shayler, MI6 plotted to murder Colonel Gaddafi by funding and running Libyan agents who opposed the regime. As more evidence emerges to support Shayler's allegation, it appears that MI6 has not quite relinquished its self-appointed role as an international enforcer of British foreign policy.
  If it is to be effective in its new role - investigating the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons, tracking drug smugglers and countering money-laundering - MI6 will need to lift the veil of secrecy behind which it has hidden for too long. The lesson of this book is that, unless there is more transparency and accountability, a revival of unofficial bomb-and-blast foreign policy cannot be ruled out.
  Dorril, co-author of books on the Profumo scandal and MI5's plot against Harold Wilson, has read an enormous amount. He has interviewed some former MI6 officers who have not spoken before; however, the book relies largely on published sources and there are some gaps. For example, there is not enough on MI6's organisation, its internal structure and how special operations were authorised.
  It also suffers from inadequate editing, and Dorril has a tendency to bombard the reader with a bewildering array of facts and names. Given its ambitious scope, though, this is a remarkable achievement and an encyclopedic post-war history which any student of the secret world should read.
  Mark Hollingsworth is the author, with Nick Fielding, of Defending the Realm: MI5 and the Shayler Affair (Andre Deutsch).
  >> >> >> >> [Guardian.UK]
aangirfan: MANDELA THE SPOOK
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 23:21
  Above, we see the CIA's Charles Taylor and MI6's Nelson Mandela.Mandela, or his double, was an agent of MI6, according to "MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations", by the 'acclaimed' intelligence expert Stephen Dorril.
  MI6 used Mandela to spy on its enemies in Libya, in South Africa and in the United Kingdom.Nelson Mandela persuaded Gaddafi to hand over the two Libyans to the Scottish Court in the Netherlands, where they faced trial in 1999.Mandela allowed MI6 to operate in South Africa.According to Dorril's book:"Another MI6 catch was ANC leader Nelson Mandela.
  "Whether Mandela was recruited in London before he was imprisoned in South Africa is not clear..."'MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations' names Mandela as MI6
HUMMER-Vanity Fair Quietly Wonders: Does Marissa Mayer Have Asperger's?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 23:15
  SThis recent profile in Vanity Fair is very, very strange, in that it obsesses over Marissa Mayer being very, very strange. It hits all the usual notes about the Yahoo! CEO (She's a geek! She loves fashion! Math, too! Google!) But it also, not-so-subtly, makes repeated innuendos about Mayer possibly being autistic.
  For an article entitled "Yahoo's Geek Goddess," the author sure has a lot of quirks and foibles to flag:
  Another executive who worked with her agrees that she is a hard person to understand. "There are some parts of Marissa World that are just inexplicably weird," he says. "It doesn't add up."
  [...]
  There are two things about Marissa Mayer upon which everyone agrees. One is that she's among the smartest people they've ever met. The other is that she has a superhuman capacity for work.
  [...]
  She had a nervous tic, an nnnhh sound she made when she paused, that made her seem almost a parody of a stereotypical nerd.
  And then, from nowhere, this doozy paragraph:
  Her demeanor in a work setting can be a shock to people who are expecting the Marissa Mayer they see onstage or read about in profiles. She doesn't display much, if any, warmth (at least not to those who aren't in her inner orbit) and often won't meet people's eyes. In Silicon Valley, where having Asperger's has almost become a badge of honor'--aren't all super-smart people a little socially awkward?'--that shouldn't matter so much. The rules are always different for women, but Mayer's quirks go beyond coldness. She became infamous for holding office hours during which even peers would have to wait in line to see her. "She had absolutely no regard for anyone else's time," says an industry executive who is well versed in all things Google. "She would keep 30 or 40 people waiting for hours. She had to sign off on every single decision, and they had to wait.
  Emphasis added. It's weird to think it's weird that a woman would be weird'--everyone is strange, or cold, or unfriendly, sometimes or all the time. Men are cold! Women are cold! Humans can be very unfeeling! But invoking Asperger's puts the article beyond personality critique, and into psychopathology. Like her more successful counterpart at Facebook, rumors of Marissa Mayer's possible Asperger's status have floated for some time now, but never before alluded to in a print magazine. And it goes on: we see repeated references to Mayer "alienating" coworkers and underlings, and a systemic unwillingness (or inability) to emote. Mayer is no doubt difficult to work with, and not an interpersonal champ'--it's why she fizzled at Google, and has struggled at Yahoo! from time to time. These are things we've long known, but not always looked at alongside the spectrum:
  Indeed, some of the stories coming out of Yahoo bear a striking similarity to those about her tenure at Google. She can still be cold to executives who report to her. One former executive recalls warning team members before they went into a meeting with Mayer that they weren't going to get what they expected. "Despite the warning, people, very experienced people with decades of experience, walked out and said, 'That was the worst meeting of my entire career,' " this person says. "She will bring a tub of blueberries to a meeting and just stare at you, popping blueberries into her mouth. People feel so dismissed."
  Eating fresh fruit at work has never been a red flag, but in the context of this article'--There's just something strange about Marissa, cough cough'--we're pressed to wonder, luridly so, what's going on in this strange exec's head. If only Vanity Fair would say what's on its mind.
  Photo: Getty
Stormy waters
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: OECD Observer
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 23:13
  Water and Climate Change Adaptation, Policies to Navigate Uncharted Waters, part of the OECD Studies on Water series, sets out the challenges facing freshwater resources in a changing climate, and provides policy guidance on how to navigate this new ''waterscape''.
  Some climate change is unavoidable, regardless of future greenhouse gas emissions, and this has already had a significant impact. Changing precipitation patterns are shifting rainy seasons and affecting the timing and quantity of melt water from snowpack and glaciers. In many cases, this has an impact on flood protection, water storage, urban drainage, water supply and treatment, making them more costly. Shifts in extremes are likely to create a bigger challenge for climate change adaptation than shifts in averages. That means ever severer weather. These shifts are also likely to drive up the costs of adapting water infrastructure. Freshwater ecosystems and the services they provide are especially vulnerable.
  Climate change is also projected to influence when and where it rains, with some regions becoming wetter, others drier. In general, regions with high rainfall are projected to receive even more precipitation, the report suggests, while arid and semi-arid regions are projected to become drier. More frequent and intense rain will increase erosion and sediment loads in rivers, lakes and coastal zones, while reducing water quality. In arid and semi-arid regions, any reduction in rainfall has serious implications for rivers and lakes, even causing them to dry up, as in the case of Lake Chad. Many of these areas, which include the Mediterranean basin, the western parts of the US, southern Africa, and north-eastern Brazil, are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change and are expected to suffer a drop in water resources.
  Water and Climate Change Adaptation: Policies to Navigate Uncharted Waters, in OECD Studies on Water series, OECD Publishing.
  See also www.oecd.org/water
  (C) OECD Observer No 296 Q3 2013
France and PISA: spurring reform?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: OECD Observer
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 23:12
  What do you make of the PISA study, and what is France doing in particular to improve student performance?
  The PISA 2012 findings confirm the trends that have been emerging for several years now from other national and international assessments of the state of the French education system: despite a massive opening-up of secondary education, we have been unable to help all of our students reach a satisfactory level. Too many students are experiencing difficulties''and that proportion has even grown over the past 10 years''and what our schools are doing is worse than perpetuating social inequalities; they are actually exacerbating those inequalities.
  Over the past year and a half we have undertaken a profound overhaul of our school system, with the aim of reducing inequalities and promoting successful schooling for all. PISA 2012 corroborates our analysis and highlights the fact that we are heading in the right direction; in fact, it prompts us to speed up our reforms.
  To stop the declining average level of our students, the first task is to take care of those in greatest difficulty. It is important to understand that the attention paid to students experiencing the greatest difficulties does not adversely affect those who do well''quite the opposite. Indeed, the best students do not need others to fail in order to succeed. Moreover, the teaching methods that have been developed to guide those struggling to learn are a benefit to all. PISA comparisons bear this out: the systems that are most egalitarian, that are most effective in combating forms of social determinism and differential educational levels, are in many cases the ones that perform the best''I am thinking here of Canada or Finland.
  We have therefore decided to concentrate the new resources at our disposal on combating difficulty at school and social inequalities. We know that seeds of academic failure are sown when basic skills are not assimilated during early years. Therefore we are assigning top priority to primary schools. This priority has led to several thousand new primary-school teaching positions, making it possible to institute innovative and effective teaching methods: for example, we are allocating more teachers than classes in some schools to monitor students' progress as closely as possible; we are increasing the enrolment of children under 3 years of age, to foster language learning and prepare very young children for the acquisition of basic skills, especially in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
  What teacher-specific measures could make a difference?
  The OECD emphasises this in all of its reports: well-trained teachers are the main key to success. We are therefore re-orienting teacher training towards pedagogical skills so that new teachers can ease gradually into their profession. To get results more quickly, we are also devoting substantial effort to continuing training, using digital technology in particular. In addition, the current curricula do not enable teachers to ensure that their students master the most basic core skills. Henceforth, curricula will be formulated in cycles, and their complete overhaul will make them coherent and effective tools which teachers can put to practical use, rather than catalogues of knowledge and skills to be acquired. And the ongoing discussions on the teaching profession will lead to better recognition of teachers' commitments, within the schools, to their students' success.
  What are the main virtues of the French education system, and how do you plan to leverage them?
  You are right to draw attention to this; our system has some great strengths which warrant recognition and should be developed. I am thinking in particular of our nursery schools, which need backing in their missions. Clearly, our policy towards schooling in disadvantaged neighbourhoods is facing many difficulties, but it constitutes an essential sphere of innovation; we shall be improving working conditions for the educators concerned. This is a project that I shall be launching next January. Lastly, we have achieved highly encouraging results in combatting early school-leaving, which we expect to see continuing.
  See how France got on in the 2012 PISA survey at http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/PISA-2012-results-france.pdf
  See also www.oecd.org/pisa/
  and www.education.gouv.fr/
  (C) OECD Observer Q4 2013
Elton John tells Russia to end gay prejudice - Yahoo News UK
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 22:29
  British pop icon Elton John at his Moscow concert on Friday called on Russia to end discrimination against gays and lesbians, the Interfax news agency reported.
  The openly gay singer said he was "sad to learn" about a Russian "anti-gay law" which bans what it calls homosexual propaganda to minors, Interfax reported.
  "He called for renouncing all discrimination, including that based on non-traditional sexual orientation," the agency said, using an expression in Russia for describing homosexuality.
  According to Interfax and several messages on social networks, John dedicated his concert to Vladislav Tornovoi, a 23-year-old man tortured to death in May in Volgograd, in southwest Russia, apparently for being gay.
  That sordid crime raised an outcry from the gay community and gay rights activists.
  John was the first major Western star known for strong support of gay rights to play in Russia since President Vladimir Putin in June signed a national law banning "propaganda of homosexuality" to minors.
  The loosely-worded law, aggressively lobbied by conservative lawmakers, can be used to ban any gay rights event, critics say.
  John, 66, publicly announced his homosexuality in 1988 and is in a civil partnership. He and his partner, David Furnish, have two children born to a surrogate mother. The singer is a major backer of programmes to help those with AIDS. In 2009, Ukraine refused to let him adopt an HIV-positive toddler.
  Before Russia's national law was signed, US pop stars Madonna and Lady Gaga last year used concerts in Saint Petersburg to speak out on stage against local legislation that went in the same direction.
  The promoters of Lady Gaga's concert were fined last month by a Saint Petersburg court under a child protection law which includes a ban on gay propaganda.
  Russia decriminalised homosexuality in 1993, but its medical institutions continued to class homosexuality as a mental disorder until 1999.
  Russian society remains deeply homophobic, with a survey by the Levada independent polling centre in March finding that 34 percent thought homosexuality was an illness that should be treated.
VIDEO-Cyber's Most Wanted: FBI adds to its hacker list
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 22:23
  Fugitives added to FBI Cyber's Most Wanted List
  Friday, 6 Dec 2013 | 4:00 PM ETCNBC's Scott Cohn reports that the FBI doubled the number of fugitives on its Cyber's Most Wanted list. Collectively, the new fugitives comprised millions of computers to gain millions of dollars.
  The FBI has put out its new "Cyber's Most Wanted" list, doubling its size with five new names whom the bureau says are responsible for collectively compromising millions of computers.
  "The ultimate goal of Cyber's Most Wanted is to help us capture these criminals and bring them to justice," said Emily Odom, a supervisory special agent with the FBI's Cyber Division.
  Choosing people for the list, which was updated in November, was a complicated and lengthy process, Odom said. "We began by asking all 56 field offices to provide candidates to be reviewed. We then had special agents review this list and select specific criminals based on different elements to include the sophistication of the crime," she said, "as well as the number of victims affected, as well as the amount of damages caused by the crime."
  Historically, the majority of hacker suspects have come from China and Eastern Europe. Three new people on the list hail from countries like El Salvador and Pakistan.
  Many come from countries that are less than helpful with the process of bringing suspects to the United States, Odom said.
  (Read more:More bitcoins. more problems: Hackers stealing bitcoins)
  "There are definitely complications to bringing these people to justice from countries where they may not extradite their own citizens. But we are having success in capturing these individuals as they travel between countries," she said.
  Here are the newest names on the "Cyber's Most Wanted" list:
NYPD Orders Precincts to Deny Journalists Access to Crime Reports - Civic Center - DNAinfo.com New York
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 22:05
  NEW YORK '-- The NYPD has ordered the city's 77 police precincts to stop giving out any information to the media about crimes taking place in their neighborhoods, cutting off a long-standing source of information for New Yorkers.
  According to a terse NYPD edict transmitted citywide, precinct commanders were instructed: ''Any requests by media to view complaint reports be referred to the office of the Deputy Commissioner For Public Information.''
  The NYPD's public information office, known as DCPI, typically disemminates only select major crimes such as murders, sexual assaults and grand larcenies, but often does not include lower level neighborhood crimes. Those complaints could traditionally be found at the precinct, a reliable source for information of interest for residents.
  According to sources, the latest media restriction was sent last week to the precinct supervisors from their borough commanders, who received the transmission from the NYPD's Chief of Patrol James Hall.
  Reporters from DNAinfo New York, and other local news sites, experienced the crackdown this week when they were told that access to the precinct's reports were suddenly revoked. The crackdown was first reported by The Nabe.
  "It's a big policy change," a source said
  However, the source questioned whether DCPI would be able to cope with the influx of media requests if reporters couldn't get information from the precincts. ''DCPI is a small unit, so I don't know how they're going to handle it."
  The move is the latest '-- and perhaps not the last '-- taken against the media by outgoing Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
  Under his stewardship, DCPI has systematically diminished the type of information it provides as well as overall access to department personnel. The clampdown evolved even though Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a media mogul, pledged that his administration would be a beacon of open government and transparency.
  Kelly made himself the face of the NYPD and, with rare exception, the only police person permitted to speak to television, radio and print reporters about department matters, large and small.
  Leaked information not sanctioned by the NYPD has led to what critics call "witch hunts" inside the department, including suspected leakers being grilled by the Internal Affairs Bureau.
  Kelly went so far as to attempt to oust the city's in-house press corps, including the New York Times, the AP, the Daily News and the New York Post, among others, from their offices within Police Headquarters several years ago.
  The news came in a two paragraph letter that gave barely one month's notice, claiming there was no longer room for them inside One Police Plaza. The eviction was halted, only after owners of several news outlets complained to Mayor Bloomberg.
  The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
  The NYPD has ordered police precincts to stop giving out details about local crimes to reporters, sources told DNAinfo N...
  NEW YORK '-- The NYPD has ordered the city's 77 police precincts to stop giving out any information to the media about crimes taking place in their neighborhoods, cutting off a long-standing source of information for New Yorkers.
  According to a terse NYPD edict transmitted citywide, precinct commanders were instructed: ''Any requests by media to view complaint reports be referred to the office of the Deputy Commissioner For Public Information.''
  The NYPD's public information office, known as DCPI, typically disemminates only select major crimes such as murders, sexual assaults and grand larcenies, but often does not include lower level neighborhood crimes. Those complaints could traditionally be found at the precinct, a reliable source for information of interest for residents.
  According to sources, the latest media restriction was sent last week to the precinct supervisors from their borough commanders, who received the transmission from the NYPD's Chief of Patrol James Hall.
  Reporters from DNAinfo New York, and other local news sites, experienced the crackdown this week when they were told that access to the precinct's reports were suddenly revoked. The crackdown was first reported by The Nabe.
  "It's a big policy change," a source said
  However, the source questioned whether DCPI would be able to cope with the influx of media requests if reporters couldn't get information from the precincts. ''DCPI is a small unit, so I don't know how they're going to handle it."
  The move is the latest '-- and perhaps not the last '-- taken against the media by outgoing Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
  Under his stewardship, DCPI has systematically diminished the type of information it provides as well as overall access to department personnel. The clampdown evolved even though Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a media mogul, pledged that his administration would be a beacon of open government and transparency.
  Kelly made himself the face of the NYPD and, with rare exception, the only police person permitted to speak to television, radio and print reporters about department matters, large and small.
  Leaked information not sanctioned by the NYPD has led to what critics call "witch hunts" inside the department, including suspected leakers being grilled by the Internal Affairs Bureau.
  Kelly went so far as to attempt to oust the city's in-house press corps, including the New York Times, the AP, the Daily News and the New York Post, among others, from their offices within Police Headquarters several years ago.
  The news came in a two paragraph letter that gave barely one month's notice, claiming there was no longer room for them inside One Police Plaza. The eviction was halted, only after owners of several news outlets complained to Mayor Bloomberg.
  The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Study: Sexually active gay teens at high risk for HPV | Al Jazeera America
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 20:25
  December 6, 20131:15AM ET
  Rates of anal infection rise with increasing number of partners with whom young gay men have received anal sex
  Topics:HealthPublic health
  The CDC recommends boys and girls get vaccinated against HPV at age 11 or 12, before becoming sexually active.2011 Getty Images
  Gay teenagers who've had at least four sexual partners are at increased risk of contracting human papillomavirus (HPV), a recent study published online in November in the The Journal of Infectious Diseases suggests.
  Researchers in Australia tested 200 young gay men ages 16 to 20 for HPV and genital warts, and gave them a sexual history questionnaire. HPV, which previous research suggests is carried by most adult gay men, is usually cleared by the immune system, but can cause genital warts and anal cancer, as well as cervical cancer among women.
  "In this study we found rates of anal infection increased rapidly with increasing numbers of partners with whom they have received anal sex," said Marcus Y. Chen, senior author of the study and associate professor in the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne in Australia. "The virus is presumably being transmitted from penis to anus."
  One-third of men participating in the study tested positive for high-risk forms of the sexually transmitted virus, and 11 percent tested positive for two or more forms.
  Men who had vaginal or anal sex were more likely to test positive for penile HPV, according to results published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
  Among men who had never received anal sex, 10 percent tested positive for anal HPV. That compared to nearly half of those who said they'd had at least four anal sex partners.
  The finding that some young men who reported never receiving anal sex tested positive for anal HPV suggests the virus can be transmitted in other ways, the authors write.
  At least half of sexually active people get HPV at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  The CDC recommends boys and girls get vaccinated against HPV at age 11 or 12, before becoming sexually active. There are two versions of the HPV vaccine, one of which is available for boys.
  The vaccine is very effective if given before a person is exposed to HPV, but provides "diminishing protection" after that, Dr. Ross D. Cranston told Reuters Health.
  "Thus if there is a high rate of HPV acquisition, as we also see in girls, there is a lost opportunity to provide protection if the HPV vaccine is not given early," he said.
  Cranston, who was not involved in the new study, directs the Anal Dysplasia Clinic and Research Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania.
  About 7,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with anal cancer in 2013, according to the American Cancer Society. Rates are higher among gay men than heterosexual people, Chen noted.
  Of the many types of the HPV virus, HPV 16 is most commonly associated with anal cancers.
  Reuters
Gauteng road users woke up to e-toll highways
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 20:16
  It will cost them the same amount to send you a R10 bill or a R500 bill. Rather make it uneconomical for them to bill you by just doing one gantry every week.
  Unfortunately will not work.For this theory to work, you need a few things:
  1. All road users must work together.2. Nobody should be registered.3. The cheapest toll gate must be used. (as the amount doubles if you are not registered)4. All other gantries must be avoided for as long as this continues.5. Do only 1 gantry per month. (4 per week will give you a bill of about R28, more than enough for them to print a bill and mail it off)
  If you have registered e-Toll users and other people using other gantries, their fees will just make up for the short-fall of the few users who do this.
Nelson Mandela - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 20:02
  Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosa pronunciation: [xoËliËÉ¬aÉ¬a manËdeËla]; 18 July 1918 '' 5 December 2013) was a South Africananti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first black South African to hold the office, and the first elected in a fully representative election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.
  A Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family, Mandela attended the Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial politics, joining the ANC and becoming a founding member of its Youth League. After the South African National Party came to power in 1948, he rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign, was appointed superintendent of the organisation's Transvaal chapter and presided over the 1955 Congress of the People. Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and, with the ANC leadership, was unsuccessfully prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961. Although initially committed to non-violent protest, he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961 in association with the South African Communist Party, leading a sabotage campaign against the apartheid government. In 1962 he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the government, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.
  Mandela served 27 years in prison, initially on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. An international campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990 amid escalating civil strife. Mandela published his autobiography and opened negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory. As South Africa's first black president Mandela formed a Government of National Unity in an attempt to defuse racial tension. He also promulgated a new constitution and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses. Continuing the former government's liberal economic policy, his administration introduced measures to encourage land reform, combat poverty, and expand healthcare services. Internationally, he acted as mediator between Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, and oversaw military intervention in Lesotho. He declined to run for a second term, and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. Mandela subsequently became an elder statesman, focusing on charitable work in combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
  Although Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life, he became widely popular following his release. Despite right-wing critics who continued to denounce him as a communist sympathiser and terrorist, he gained international acclaim for his activism, having received more than 250 honours, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father"); he is often described as "the father of the nation".
  Early lifeChildhood: 1918''1936Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo in Umtatu, then a part of South Africa's Cape Province.[1] Given the forename Rolihlahla, a Xhosa term colloquially meaning "troublemaker",[1] in later years he became known by his clan name, Madiba.[2] His patrilineal great-grandfather, Ngubengcuka, was ruler of the Thembu people in the Transkeian Territories of South Africa's modern Eastern Cape province.[3] One of this king's sons, named Mandela, became Nelson's grandfather and the source of his surname.[4] Because Mandela was only the king's child by a wife of the Ixhiba clan, a so-called "Left-Hand House", the descendants of his cadet branch of the royal family were morganatic, ineligible to inherit the throne but recognized as hereditary royal councillors.[4] Nonetheless, his father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a local chief and councillor to the monarch; he had been appointed to the position in 1915, after his predecessor was accused of corruption by a governing white magistrate.[5] In 1926, Gadla, too, was sacked for corruption, but Nelson would be told that he had lost his job for standing up to the magistrate's unreasonable demands.[6] A devotee of the god Qamata,[7] Gadla was a polygamist, having four wives, four sons and nine daughters, who lived in different villages. Nelson's mother was Gadla's third wife, Nosekeni Fanny, who was daughter of Nkedama of the Right Hand House and a member of the amaMpemvu clan of Xhosa.[8]
  "No one in my family had ever attended school [...] On the first day of school my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name I have no idea."
  Later stating that his early life was dominated by "custom, ritual and taboo",[10] Mandela grew up with two sisters in his mother's kraal in the village of Qunu, where he tended herds as a cattle-boy, spending much time outside with other boys.[11] Both his parents were illiterate, but being a devout Christian, his mother sent him to a local Methodist school when he was about seven. Baptised a Methodist, Mandela was given the English forename of "Nelson" by his teacher.[12] When Mandela was about nine, his father came to stay at Qunu, where he died of an undiagnosed ailment which Mandela believed to be lung disease.[13] Feeling "cut adrift", he later said that he inherited his father's "proud rebelliousness" and "stubborn sense of fairness".[14]
  His mother took Mandela to the "Great Place" palace at Mqhekezweni, where he was entrusted under the guardianship of Thembu regent, Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo. Although he would not see his mother again for many years, Mandela felt that Jongintaba and his wife Noengland treated him as their own child, raising him alongside their son Justice and daughter Nomafu.[15] As Mandela attended church services every Sunday with his guardians, Christianity became a significant part of his life.[16] He attended a Methodist mission school located next to the palace, studying English, Xhosa, history and geography.[17] He developed a love of African history, listening to the tales told by elderly visitors to the palace, and becoming influenced by the anti-imperialist rhetoric of Chief Joyi.[18] At the time he nevertheless considered the European colonialists as benefactors, not oppressors.[19] Aged 16, he, Justice and several other boys travelled to Tyhalarha to undergo the circumcision ritual that symbolically marked their transition from boys to men; the rite over, he was given the name "Dalibunga".[20]
  Clarkebury, Healdtown, and Fort Hare: 1936''1940Intending to gain skills needed to become a privy councillor for the Thembu royal house, Mandela began his secondary education at Clarkebury Boarding Institute in Engcobo, a Western-style institution that was the largest school for black Africans in Thembuland.[21] Made to socialise with other students on an equal basis, he claimed that he lost his "stuck up" attitude, becoming best friends with a girl for the first time; he began playing sports and developed his lifelong love of gardening.[22] Completing his Junior Certificate in two years,[23] in 1937 he moved to Healdtown, the Methodist college in Fort Beaufort attended by most Thembu royalty, including Justice.[24] The headmaster emphasised the superiority of English culture and government, but Mandela became increasingly interested in native African culture, making his first non-Xhosa friend, a Sotho language-speaker, and coming under the influence of one of his favourite teachers, a Xhosa who broke taboo by marrying a Sotho.[25] Spending much of his spare time long-distance running and boxing, in his second year Mandela became a prefect.[26]
  With Jongintaba's backing, Mandela began work on a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree at the University of Fort Hare, an elite black institution in Alice, Eastern Cape, with around 150 students. There he studied English, anthropology, politics, native administration, and Roman Dutch law in his first year, desiring to become an interpreter or clerk in the Native Affairs Department.[27] Mandela stayed in the Wesley House dormitory, befriending Oliver Tambo and his own kinsman, K.D. Matanzima.[28] Continuing his interest in sport, Mandela took up ballroom dancing,[29] and performed in a drama society play about Abraham Lincoln.[30] A member of the Students Christian Association, he gave Bible classes in the local community,[31] and became a vocal supporter of the British war effort when the Second World War broke out.[32] Although having friends connected to the African National Congress (ANC) and the anti-imperialist movement, Mandela avoided any involvement.[33] Helping found a first-year students' House Committee which challenged the dominance of the second-years,[34] at the end of his first year he became involved in a Students' Representative Council (SRC) boycott against the quality of food, for which he was temporarily suspended from the university; he left without receiving a degree.[35]
  Arriving in Johannesburg: 1941''1943Returning to Mqhekezweni in December 1940, Mandela found that Jongintaba had arranged marriages for him and Justice; dismayed, they fled to Johannesburg via Queenstown, arriving in April 1941.[36] Mandela found work as a night watchman at Crown Mines, his "first sight of South African capitalism in action", but was fired when the induna (headman) discovered he was a runaway.[37] Staying with a cousin in George Goch Township, Mandela was introduced to the realtor and ANC activist Walter Sisulu, who secured him a job as an articled clerk at law firm Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman. The company was run by a liberal Jew, Lazar Sidelsky, who was sympathetic to the ANC's cause.[38] At the firm, Mandela befriended Gaur Redebe, a Xhosa member of the ANC and Communist Party, as well as Nat Bregman, a Jewish communist who became his first white friend.[39] Attending communist talks and parties, Mandela was impressed that Europeans, Africans, Indians and Coloureds were mixing as equals. However, he stated later that he did not join the Party because its atheism conflicted with his Christian faith, and because he saw the South African struggle as being racially based rather than class warfare.[40] Becoming increasingly politicised, in August 1943 Mandela marched in support of a successful bus boycott to reverse fare rises.[41] Continuing his higher education, Mandela signed up to a University of South Africa correspondence course, working on his bachelor's degree at night.[42]
  Earning a small wage, Mandela rented a room in the house of the Xhoma family in the Alexandra township; although rife with poverty, crime and pollution, Alexandra always remained "a treasured place" for him.[43] Although embarrassed by his poverty, he briefly courted a Swazi woman before unsuccessfully courting his landlord's daughter.[44] In order to save money and be closer to downtown Johannesburg, Mandela moved into the compound of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, living among miners of various tribes; as the compound was a "way station for visiting chiefs", he once met the Queen Regent of Basutoland.[45] In late 1941, Jongintaba visited, forgiving Mandela for running away. On returning to Thembuland, the regent died in winter 1942; Mandela and Justice arrived a day late for the funeral.[46] After passing his BA exams in early 1943, Mandela returned to Johannesburg to follow a political path as a lawyer rather than become a privy councillor in Thembuland.[47] He later stated that he experienced no epiphany, but that he "simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise."[48]
  Revolutionary activityLaw studies and the ANC Youth League: 1943''1949Beginning law studies at the University of Witwatersrand, Mandela was the only native African student, and though facing racism, he befriended liberal and communist European, Jewish, and Indian students, among them Joe Slovo, Harry Schwarz and Ruth First.[49] Joining the ANC, Mandela was increasingly influenced by Sisulu, spending much time with other activists at Sisulu's Orlando house, including old friend Oliver Tambo.[50] In 1943, Mandela met Anton Lembede, an African nationalist virulently opposed to a racially united front against colonialism and imperialism or to an alliance with the communists.[51] Despite his friendships with non-blacks and communists, Mandela supported Lembede's views, believing that black Africans should be entirely independent in their struggle for political self-determination.[52] Deciding on the need for a youth wing to mass mobilise Africans in opposition to their subjugation, Mandela was among a delegation that approached ANC President Alfred Bitini Xuma on the subject at his home in Sophiatown; the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) was founded on Easter Sunday 1944 in the Bantu Men's Social Centre in Eloff Street, with Lembede as President and Mandela as a member of the executive committee.[53]
  At Sisulu's house, Mandela met Evelyn Mase, an ANC activist from Engcobo, Transkei, who was training at the time to become a nurse. Married on 5 October 1944, after initially living with her relatives, they rented House no. 8115 in Orlando from early 1946.[54] Their first child, Madiba "Thembi" Thembekile, was born in February 1946, while a daughter named Makaziwe was born in 1947, dying nine months later of meningitis.[55] Mandela enjoyed home life, welcoming his mother and sister Leabie to stay with him.[56] In early 1947, his three years of articles ended at Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman, and he decided to become a full-time student, subsisting on loans from the Bantu Welfare Trust.[57]
  In July 1947, Mandela rushed Lembede to hospital, where he died; he was succeeded as ANCYL president by the more moderate Peter Mda, who agreed to co-operate with communists and non-blacks, appointing Mandela ANCYL secretary.[58] Mandela disagreed with Mda's approach, in December 1947 supporting an unsuccessful measure to expel communists from the ANCYL, considering their ideology un-African.[59] In 1947, Mandela was elected to the executive committee of the Transvaal ANC, serving under regional president C.S. Ramohanoe. When Ramohanoe acted against the wishes of the Transvaal Executive Committee by co-operating with Indians and communists, Mandela was one of those who forced his resignation.[60]
  In the South African general election, 1948, in which only whites were permitted to vote, the Afrikaner-dominated Herenigde Nasionale Party under Daniel Fran§ois Malan took power, soon uniting with the Afrikaner Party to form the National Party. Openly racialist, the party codified and expanded racial segregation with the new apartheid legislation.[61] Gaining increasing influence in the ANC, Mandela and his cadres began advocating direct action against apartheid, such as boycotts and strikes, influenced by the tactics of South Africa's Indian community. Xuma did not support these measures and was removed from the presidency in a vote of no confidence, replaced by James Moroka and a more militant cabinet containing Sisulu, Mda, Tambo and Godfrey Pitje; Mandela later related that "We had now guided the ANC to a more radical and revolutionary path."[62] Having devoted his time to politics, Mandela failed his final year at Witwatersrand three times; he was ultimately denied his degree in December 1949.[63]
  Defiance Campaign and Transvaal ANC Presidency: 1950''1954Mandela took Xuma's place on the ANC National Executive in March 1950.[64] That month, the Defend Free Speech Convention was held in Johannesburg, bringing together African, Indian and communist activists to call an anti-apartheid general strike. Mandela opposed the strike because it was not ANC-led, but a majority of black workers took part, resulting in increased police repression and the introduction of the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, affecting the actions of all protest groups.[65] In 1950, Mandela was elected national president of the ANCYL; at the ANC national conference of December 1951, he continued arguing against a racially united front, but was outvoted.[66] Thenceforth, he altered his entire perspective, embracing such an approach; influenced by friends like Moses Kotane and by the Soviet Union's support for wars of independence, Mandela's mistrust of communism also broke down. He became influenced by the texts of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, and embraced dialectical materialism.[67] In April 1952, Mandela began work at the H.M. Basner law firm,[68] though his increasing commitment to work and activism meant he spent less time with his family.[69]
  In 1952, the ANC began preparation for a joint Defiance Campaign against apartheid with Indian and communist groups, founding a National Voluntary Board to recruit volunteers. Deciding on a path of nonviolent resistance influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, some considered it the ethical option, but Mandela instead considered it pragmatic.[70] At a Durban rally on 22 June, Mandela addressed an assembled crowd of 10,000, initiating the campaign protests, for which he was arrested and briefly interned in Marshall Square prison.[71] With further protests, the ANC's membership grew from 20,000 to 100,000; the government responded with mass arrests, introducing the Public Safety Act, 1953 to permit martial law.[72] In May, authorities banned Transvaal ANU President J. B. Marks from making public appearances; unable to maintain his position, he recommended Mandela as his successor. Although the ultra-Africanist Bafabegiya group opposed his candidacy, Mandela was elected regional president in October.[73] On 30 July 1952, Mandela was arrested under the Suppression of Communism Act and stood trial as a part of the 21 accused '' among them Moroka, Sisulu and Dadoo '' in Johannesburg. Found guilty of "statutory communism", their sentence of nine months' hard labour was suspended for two years.[74] In December, Mandela was given a six-month ban from attending meetings or talking to more than one individual at a time, making his Transvaal ANU presidency impractical. The Defiance Campaign meanwhile petered out.[75] In September 1953, Andrew Kunene read out Mandela's "No Easy Walk to Freedom" speech at a Transvaal ANC meeting; the title was taken from a quote by Indian independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru, a seminal influence on Mandela's thought. The speech laid out a contingency plan for a scenario in which the ANC was banned. This Mandela Plan, or M-Plan, involved dividing the organisation into a cell structure with a more centralised leadership.[76]
  Mandela obtained work as an attorney for the firm Terblanche and Briggish, before moving to the liberal-run Helman and Michel, passing qualification exams to become a full-fledged attorney.[77] In August 1953, Mandela and Oliver Tambo opened their own law firm, Mandela and Tambo, operating in downtown Johannesburg. The only African-run law firm in the country, it was popular with aggrieved blacks, often dealing with cases of police brutality. Disliked by the authorities, the firm was forced to relocate to a remote location after their office permit was removed under the Group Areas Act; as a result, their custom dwindled.[78] Though a second daughter, Makaziwe Phumia, was born in May 1954, Mandela's relationship with Evelyn became strained, and she accused him of adultery. Evidence has emerged indicating that he was having affairs with ANC member Lillian Ngoyi and secretary Ruth Mompati; persistent but unproven claims assert that the latter bore Mandela a child. Disgusted by her son's behaviour, Nosekeni returned to Transkei, while Evelyn embraced the Jehovah's Witnesses and rejected Mandela's obsession with politics.[79]
  Congress of the People and the Treason Trial: 1955''1961Main article: Treason Trial"We, the people of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know:That South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people."
  '-- The opening of the Freedom Charter[80]Mandela came to the opinion that the ANC "had no alternative to armed and violent resistance" after taking part in the unsuccessful protest to prevent the demolition of the all-black Sophiatown suburb of Johannesburg in February 1955.[81] He advised Sisulu to request weaponry from the People's Republic of China, but while supporting the anti-apartheid struggle, China's government believed the movement insufficiently prepared for guerilla warfare.[82] With the involvement of the South African Indian Congress, the Coloured People's Congress, the South African Congress of Trade Unions and the Congress of Democrats, the ANC planned a Congress of the People, calling on all South Africans to send in proposals for a post-apartheid era. Based on the responses, a Freedom Charter was drafted by Rusty Bernstein, calling for the creation of a democratic, non-racialist state with the nationalisation of major industry. When the charter was adopted at a June 1955 conference in Kliptown attended by 3000 delegates, police cracked down on the event, but it remained a key part of Mandela's ideology.[83]
  Following the end of a second ban in September 1955, Mandela went on a working holiday to Transkei to discuss the implications of the Bantu Authorities Act, 1951 with local tribal leaders, also visiting his mother and Noengland before proceeding to Cape Town.[84] In March 1956 he received his third ban on public appearances, restricting him to Johannesburg for five years, but he often defied it.[85] His marriage broke down as Evelyn left Mandela, taking their children to live with her brother. Initiating divorce proceedings in May 1956, she claimed that Mandela had physically abused her; he denied the allegations, and fought for custody of their children. She withdrew her petition of separation in November, but Mandela filed for divorce in January 1958; the divorce was finalised in March, with the children placed in Evelyn's care.[86] During the divorce proceedings, he began courting and politicising a social worker, Winnie Madikizela, who he married in Bizana on 14 June 1958. She later became involved in ANC activities, spending several weeks imprisoned.[87]
  On 5 December 1956, Mandela was arrested alongside most of the ANC Executive for "high treason" against the state. Held in Johannesburg Prison amid mass protests, they underwent a preparatory examination in Drill Hall on 19 December, before being granted bail.[88] The defence's refutation began on 9 January 1957, overseen by defence lawyer Vernon Berrang(C), and continued until adjourning in September. In January 1958, judge Oswald Pirow was appointed to the case, and in February he ruled that there was "sufficient reason" for the defendants to go on trial in the Transvaal Supreme Court.[89] The formal Treason Trial began in Pretoria in August 1958, with the defendants successfully applying to have the three judges '' all linked to the governing National Party '' replaced. In August, one charge was dropped, and in October the prosecution withdrew its indictment, submitting a reformulated version in November which argued that the ANC leadership committed high treason by advocating violent revolution, a charge the defendants denied.[90]
  In April 1959, militant Africanists dissatisfied with the ANC's united front approach founded the Pan-African Congress (PAC); Mandela's friend Robert Sobukwe was elected president, though Mandela thought the group "immature".[91] Both parties campaigned for an anti-pass campaign in May 1960, in which Africans burned the passes that they were legally obliged to carry. One of the PAC-organized demonstrations was fired upon by police, resulting in the deaths of 69 protesters in the Sharpeville massacre. In solidarity, Mandela publicly burned his pass as rioting broke out across South Africa, leading the government to proclaim martial law.[92] Under the State of Emergency measures, Mandela and other activists were arrested on 30 March, imprisoned without charge in the unsanitary conditions of the Pretoria Local prison, while the ANC and PAC were banned in April.[93] This made it difficult for their lawyers to reach them, and it was agreed that the defence team for the Treason Trial should withdraw in protest. Representing themselves in court, the accused were freed from prison when the state of emergency was lifted in late August.[94] Mandela used his free time to organise an All-In African Conference near Pietermaritzburg, Natal, in March, at which 1,400 anti-apartheid delegates met, agreeing on a stay-at home protest to mark 31 May, the day South Africa became a republic.[95] On 29 March 1961, after a six-year trial, the judges produced a verdict of not guilty, embarrassing the government.[96]
  Umkhonto we Sizwe and African tour: 1961''1962Disguising himself as a chauffeur, Mandela travelled the country incognito, organising the ANC's new cell structure and a mass stay-at-home strike for 29 May. Referred to as the "Black Pimpernel" in the press '' a reference to Emma Orczy's 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel '' the police put out a warrant for his arrest.[97] Mandela held secret meetings with reporters, and after the government failed to prevent the strike, he warned them that many anti-apartheid activists would soon resort to violence through groups like the PAC's Poqo.[98] He believed that the ANC should form an armed group to channel some of this violence, convincing both ANC leader Albert Luthuli '' who was morally opposed to violence '' and allied activist groups of its necessity.[99]
  Inspired by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement in the Cuban Revolution, in 1961 Mandela co-founded Umkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation", abbreviated MK) with Sisulu and the communist Joe Slovo. Becoming chairman of the militant group, he gained ideas from illegal literature on guerilla warfare by Mao and Che Guevara. Officially separate from the ANC, in later years MK became the group's armed wing.[100] Most early MK members were white communists; after hiding in communist Wolfie Kodesh's flat in Berea, Mandela moved to the communist-owned Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, there joined by Raymond Mhlaba, Slovo and Bernstein, who put together the MK constitution.[101] Although Mandela himself denied ever being a Communist Party member, historical research has suggested that he might have been for a short period, starting from the late 1950s or early 1960s.[102] Operating through a cell structure, the MK agreed to acts of sabotage to exert maximum pressure on the government with minimum casualties, bombing military installations, power plants, telephone lines and transport links at night, when civilians were not present. Mandela noted that should these tactics fail, MK would resort to "guerilla warfare and terrorism."[103] Soon after ANC leader Luthuli was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the MK publicly announced its existence with 57 bombings on Dingane's Day (16 December) 1961, followed by further attacks on New Year's Eve.[104]
  The ANC agreed to send Mandela as a delegate to the February 1962 Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central and Southern Africa (PAFMECSA) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[105] Traveling there in secret, Mandela met with Emperor Haile Selassie I, and gave his speech after Selaisse's at the conference.[106] After the conference, he travelled to Cairo, Egypt, admiring the political reforms of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and then went to Tunis, Tunisia, where President Habib Bourguiba gave him £5000 for weaponry. He proceeded to Morocco, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal, receiving funds from Liberian President William Tubman and Guinean President Ahmed S(C)kou Tour(C).[107] Leaving Africa for London, England, he met anti-apartheid activists, reporters and prominent leftist politicians.[108] Returning to Ethiopia, he began a six-month course in guerrilla warfare, but completed only two months before being recalled to South Africa.[109]
  ImprisonmentArrest and Rivonia trial: 1962''1964On 5 August 1962, police captured Mandela along with Cecil Williams near Howick.[110] Jailed in Johannesburg's Marshall Square prison, he was charged with inciting workers' strikes and leaving the country without permission. Representing himself with Slovo as legal advisor, Mandela intended to use the trial to showcase "the ANC's moral opposition to racism" while supporters demonstrated outside the court.[111] Moved to Pretoria, where Winnie could visit him, in his cell he began correspondence studies for a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of London.[112] His hearing began on 15 October, but he disrupted proceedings by wearing a traditional kaross, refusing to call any witnesses, and turning his plea of mitigation into a political speech. Found guilty, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment; as he left the courtroom, supporters sang Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika.[113]
  "In a way I had never quite comprehended before, I realized the role I could play in court and the possibilities before me as a defendant. I was the symbol of justice in the court of the oppressor, the representative of the great ideals of freedom, fairness and democracy in a society that dishonoured those virtues. I realized then and there that I could carry on the fight even in the fortress of the enemy."
  On 11 July 1963, police raided Liliesleaf Farm, arresting those they found there and uncovering paperwork documenting MK's activities, some of which mentioned Mandela. The subsequent Rivonia Trial began at Pretoria Supreme Court on 9 October, with Mandela and his comrades charged with four counts of sabotage and conspiracy to violently overthrow the government. Their chief prosecutor was Percy Yutar, who called for them to receive the death penalty.[115] Judge Quartus de Wet soon threw out the prosecution's case for insufficient evidence, but Yutar reformulated the charges, presenting his new case from December until February 1964, calling 173 witnesses and bringing thousands of documents and photographs to the trial.[116]
  With the exception of James Kantor, who was innocent of all charges, Mandela and the accused admitted sabotage but denied that they had ever agreed to initiate guerilla war against the government. They used the trial to highlight their political cause; one of Mandela's speeches '' inspired by Castro's "History Will Absolve Me" speech '' was widely reported in the press despite official censorship.[117] The trial gained international attention, with global calls for the release of the accused from such institutions as the United Nations and World Peace Council. The University of London Union voted Mandela to its presidency, and nightly vigils for him were held in St. Paul's Cathedral, London.[118] However, deeming them to be violent communist agitators, South Africa's government ignored all calls for clemency, and on 12 June 1964 de Wet found Mandela and two of his co-accused guilty on all four charges, sentencing them to life imprisonment rather than death.[119]
  Robben Island: 1964''1982Mandela and his co-accused were transferred from Pretoria to the prison on Robben Island, remaining there for the next 18 years.[120] Isolated from non-political prisoners in Section B, Mandela was imprisoned in a damp concrete cell measuring 8 feet (2.4 m) by 7 feet (2.1 m), with a straw mat on which to sleep.[121] Verbally and physically harassed by several white prison wardens, the Rivonia Trial prisoners spent their days breaking rocks into gravel, until being reassigned in January 1965 to work in a lime quarry. Mandela was initially forbidden to wear sunglasses, and the glare from the lime permanently damaged his eyesight.[122] At night, he worked on his LLB degree, but newspapers were forbidden, and he was locked in solitary confinement on several occasions for possessing smuggled news clippings.[123] Classified as the lowest grade of prisoner, Class D, he was permitted one visit and one letter every six months, although all mail was heavily censored.[124]
  The political prisoners took part in work and hunger strikes '' the latter considered largely ineffective by Mandela '' to improve prison conditions, viewing this as a microcosm of the anti-apartheid struggle.[125] ANC prisoners elected him to their four-man "High Organ" along with Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and Raymond Mhlaba, while he also involved himself in a group representing all political prisoners on the island, Ulundi, through which he forged links with PAC and Yu Chi Chan Club members.[126] Initiating the "University of Robben Island," whereby prisoners lectured on their own areas of expertise, he debated topics such as homosexuality and politics with his comrades, getting into fierce arguments on the latter with Marxists like Mbeki and Harry Gwala.[127] Though attending Christian Sunday services, Mandela studied Islam.[128] He also studied Afrikaans, hoping to build a mutual respect with the warders and convert them to his cause.[129] Various official visitors met with Mandela; most significant was the liberal parliamentary representative Helen Suzman of the Progressive Party, who championed Mandela's cause outside prison.[130] In September 1970 he met British Labour PartyMPDennis Healey.[131] South African Minister of Justice Jimmy Kruger visited in December 1974, but he and Mandela did not get on.[132] His mother visited in 1968, dying shortly after, and his firstborn son Thembi died in a car accident the following year; Mandela was forbidden from attending either funeral.[133] His wife was rarely able to visit, being regularly imprisoned for political activity, while his daughters first visited in December 1975; Winnie got out of prison in 1977 but was forcibly settled in Brandfort, still unable to visit him.[134]
  Mandela's cell and the prison yard at Robben Island, where he was imprisoned
  From 1967, prison conditions improved, with black prisoners given trousers rather than shorts, games being permitted, and food quality improving.[135] In a FIFA documentary, Mandela commented on how football gave hope to his fellow inmates; "the game made us feel alive and triumphant despite the situation we found ourselves in".[136] In 1969, an escape plan for Mandela was developed by Gordon Bruce, but it was abandoned after being infiltrated by an agent of the South African Bureau of State Security (BOSS), who hoped to see Mandela shot during the escape.[137] In 1970, Commander Piet Badenhorst became commanding officer. Mandela, seeing an increase in the physical and mental abuse of prisoners, complained to visiting judges, who had Badenhorst reassigned.[138] He was replaced by Commander Willie Willemse, who developed a co-operative relationship with Mandela and was keen to improve prison standards.[139] By 1975, Mandela had become a Class A prisoner,[140] allowing greater numbers of visits and letters; he corresponded with anti-apartheid activists like Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Desmond Tutu.[141] That year, he began his autobiography, which was smuggled to London, but remained unpublished at the time; prison authorities discovered several pages, and his study privileges were stopped for four years.[142] Instead he devoted his spare time to gardening and reading until he resumed his LLB degree studies in 1980.[143]
  By the late 1960s, Mandela's fame had been eclipsed by Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). Seeing the ANC as ineffectual, the BCM called for militant action, but following the Soweto uprising of 1976, many BCM activists were imprisoned on Robben Island.[144] Mandela tried to build a relationship with these young radicals, although he was critical of their racialism and contempt for white anti-apartheid activists.[145] Renewed international interest in his plight came in July 1978, when he celebrated his 60th birthday.[146] He was awarded an honorary doctorate in Lesotho, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in India in 1979, and the Freedom of the City of Glasgow, Scotland in 1981.[147][148][149] In March 1980 the slogan "Free Mandela!" was developed by journalist Percy Qoboza, sparking an international campaign that led the UN Security Council to call for his release.[150] Despite increasing foreign pressure, the government refused, relying on powerful foreign Cold War allies in US President Ronald Reagan and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; Thatcher considered Mandela a communist terrorist and supported the suppression of the ANC.[151]
  Pollsmoor Prison: 1982''1988In April 1982 Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai, Cape Town along with senior ANC leaders Walter Sisulu, Andrew Mlangeni, Ahmed Kathrada and Raymond Mhlaba; they believed that they were being isolated to remove their influence on younger activists.[152] Conditions at Pollsmoor were better than at Robben Island, although Mandela missed the camaraderie and scenery of the island.[153] Getting on well with Pollsmoor's commanding officer, Brigadier Munro, Mandela was permitted to create a roof garden,[154] also reading voraciously and corresponding widely, now permitted 52 letters a year.[155] He was appointed patron of the multi-racial United Democratic Front (UDF), founded to combat reforms implemented by South African President P.W. Botha. Botha's National Party government had permitted Coloured and Indian citizens to vote for their own parliaments which would have control over education, health, and housing, but black Africans were excluded from the system; like Mandela, the UDF saw this as an attempt to divide the anti-apartheid movement on racial lines.[156]
  Violence across the country escalated, with many fearing civil war. Under pressure from an international lobby, multinational banks stopped investing in South Africa, resulting in economic stagnation. Numerous banks and Thatcher asked Botha to release Mandela '' then at the height of his international fame '' to defuse the volatile situation.[157] Although considering Mandela a dangerous "arch-Marxist",[158] in February 1985 Botha offered him a release from prison on condition that he '"unconditionally rejected violence as a political weapon". Mandela spurned the offer, releasing a statement through his daughter Zindzi stating "What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people [ANC] remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts."[159]
  In 1985 Mandela underwent surgery on an enlarged prostate gland, before being given new solitary quarters on the ground floor.[160] He was met by "seven eminent persons", an international delegation sent to negotiate a settlement, but Botha's government refused to co-operate, in June calling a state of emergency and initiating a police crackdown on unrest. The anti-apartheid resistance fought back, with the ANC committing 231 attacks in 1986 and 235 in 1987. Utilising the army and right-wing paramilitaries to combat the resistance, the government secretly funded Zulu nationalist movement Inkatha to attack ANC members, furthering the violence.[161] Mandela requested talks with Botha but was denied, instead secretly meeting with Minister of Justice Kobie Coetsee in 1987, having a further 11 meetings over 3 years. Coetsee organised negotiations between Mandela and a team of four government figures starting in May 1988; the team agreed to the release of political prisoners and the legalisation of the ANC on the condition that they permanently renounce violence, break links with the Communist Party and not insist on majority rule. Mandela rejected these conditions, insisting that the ANC would only end the armed struggle when the government renounced violence.[162]
  Mandela's 70th birthday in July 1988 attracted international attention, notably with the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at London's Wembley Stadium.[163] Although presented globally as a heroic figure, he faced personal problems when ANC leaders informed him that Winnie had set herself up as head of a criminal gang, the "Mandela United Football Club", who had been responsible for torturing and killing opponents '' including children '' in Soweto. Though some encouraged him to divorce her, he decided to remain loyal until she was found guilty by trial.[164]
  Victor Verster Prison and release: 1988''1990Recovering from tuberculosis caused by dank conditions in his cell,[165] in December 1988 Mandela was moved to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. Here, he was housed in the relative comfort of a warders house with a personal cook, using the time to complete his LLB degree.[166] Allowed many visitors, Mandela organised secret communications with exiled ANC leader Oliver Tambo.[167] In 1989, Botha suffered a stroke, retaining the state presidency but stepping down as leader of the National Party, to be replaced by the conservative F. W. de Klerk.[168] In a surprise move, Botha invited Mandela to a meeting over tea in July 1989, an invitation Mandela considered genial.[169] Botha was replaced as state president by de Klerk six weeks later; the new president believed that apartheid was unsustainable and unconditionally released all ANC prisoners except Mandela.[170] Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, de Klerk called his cabinet together to debate legalising the ANC and freeing Mandela. Although some were deeply opposed to his plans, de Klerk met with Mandela in December to discuss the situation, a meeting both men considered friendly, before releasing Mandela unconditionally and legalising all formerly banned political parties on 2 February 1990.[171] The first photographs of Mandela were allowed to be published in South Africa for 20 years.[172]
  Leaving Victor Verster on 11 February, Mandela held Winnie's hand in front of amassed crowds and press; the event was broadcast live across the world.[173] Driven to Cape Town's City Hall through crowds, he gave a speech declaring his commitment to peace and reconciliation with the white minority, but made it clear that the ANC's armed struggle was not over, and would continue as "a purely defensive action against the violence of apartheid." He expressed hope that the government would agree to negotiations, so that "there may no longer be the need for the armed struggle", and insisted that his main focus was to bring peace to the black majority and give them the right to vote in national and local elections.[174] Staying at the home of Desmond Tutu, in the following days Mandela met with friends, activists, and press, giving a speech to 100,000 people at Johannesburg's Soccer City.[175]
  End of apartheidEarly negotiations: 1990''1991Mandela proceeded on an African tour, meeting supporters and politicians in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Libya and Algeria, continuing to Sweden where he was reunited with Tambo, and then London, where he appeared at the Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa concert in Wembley Stadium.[176] Encouraging foreign countries to support sanctions against the apartheid government, in France he was welcomed by President Fran§ois Mitterrand, in Vatican City by Pope John Paul II, and in England he met Margaret Thatcher. In the United States, he met President George H.W. Bush, addressed both Houses of Congress and visited eight cities, being particularly popular among the African-American community.[177] In Cuba he met President Fidel Castro, whom he had long emulated, with the two becoming friends.[178] In Asia he met President R. Venkataraman in India, President Suharto in Indonesia and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Malaysia, before visiting Australia to meet Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Japan; he notably did not visit the Soviet Union, a longtime ANC supporter.[179]
  In May 1990, Mandela led a multiracial ANC delegation into preliminary negotiations with a government delegation of 11 Afrikaner men. Mandela impressed them with his discussions of Afrikaner history, and the negotiations led to the Groot Schuur Minute, in which the government lifted the state of emergency. In August Mandela '' recognising the ANC's severe military disadvantage '' offered a ceasefire, the Pretoria Minute, for which he was widely criticised by MK activists.[180] He spent much time trying to unify and build the ANC, appearing at a Johannesburg conference in December attended by 1600 delegates, many of whom found him more moderate than expected.[181] At the ANC's July 1991 national conference in Durban, Mandela admitted the party's faults and announced his aim to build a "strong and well-oiled task force" for securing majority rule. At the conference, he was elected ANC President, replacing the ailing Tambo, while a 50-strong multiracial, multi-gendered national executive was elected.[182]
  Mandela was given an office in the newly purchased ANC headquarters at Shell House, central Johannesburg, while moving with Winnie to her large Soweto home.[183] Their marriage was increasingly strained as he learned of her affair with Dali Mpofu, but he supported her during her trial for kidnapping and assault. He gained funding for her defence from the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa and from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, but in June 1991 she was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison, reduced to two on appeal. On 13 April 1992, Mandela publicly announced his separation from Winnie, while the ANC forced her to step down from the national executive for misappropriating ANC funds; Mandela moved into the mostly white Johannesburg suburb of Houghton.[184] Mandela's reputation was further damaged by the increase in "black-on-black" violence, particularly between ANC and Inkatha supporters in KwaZulu-Natal, in which thousands died. Mandela met with Inkatha leader Buthelezi, but the ANC prevented further negotiations on the issue. Mandela recognised that there was a "third force" within the state intelligence services fuelling the "slaughter of the people" and openly blamed de Klerk '' whom he increasingly distrusted '' for the Sebokeng massacre.[185] In September 1991 a national peace conference was held in Johannesburg in which Mandela, Buthelezi and de Klerk signed a peace accord, though the violence continued.[186]
  CODESA talks: 1991''1992The Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) began in December 1991 at the Johannesburg World Trade Center, attended by 228 delegates from 19 political parties. Although Cyril Ramaphosa led the ANC's delegation, Mandela remained a key figure, and after de Klerk used the closing speech to condemn the ANC's violence, he took to the stage to denounce him as "head of an illegitimate, discredited minority regime". Dominated by the National Party and ANC, little negotiation was achieved.[187] CODESA 2 was held in May 1992, in which de Klerk insisted that post-apartheid South Africa must use a federal system with a rotating presidency to ensure the protection of ethnic minorities; Mandela opposed this, demanding a unitary system governed by majority rule.[188] Following the Boipatong massacre of ANC activists by government-aided Inkatha militants, Mandela called off the negotiations, before attending a meeting of the Organisation of African Unity in Senegal, at which he called for a special session of the UN Security Council and proposed that a UN peacekeeping force be stationed in South Africa to prevent "state terrorism". The UN subsequently sent special envoy Cyrus Vance to the country to aid negotiations.[189] Calling for domestic mass action, in August the ANC organised the largest-ever strike in South African history, while supporters marched on Pretoria.[190]
  Following the Bisho massacre, in which 28 ANC supporters and one soldier were shot dead by the Ciskei Defence Force during a protest march, Mandela realised that mass action was leading to further violence and resumed negotiations in September. He agreed to do so on the conditions that all political prisoners be released, that Zulu traditional weapons be banned, and that Zulu hostels would be fenced off, the latter two measures to prevent further Inkatha attacks; under increasing pressure, de Klerk reluctantly agreed. The negotiations agreed that a multiracial general election would be held, resulting in a five-year coalition government of national unity and a constitutional assembly that gave the National Party continuing influence. The ANC also conceded to safeguarding the jobs of white civil servants; such concessions brought fierce internal criticism.[191] The duo agreed on an interim constitution, guaranteeing separation of powers, creating a constitutional court, and including a US-style bill of rights; it also divided the country into nine provinces, each with its own premier and civil service, a concession between de Klerk's desire for federalism and Mandela's for unitary government.[192]
  The democratic process was threatened by the Concerned South Africans Group (COSAG), an alliance of far-right Afrikaner parties and black ethnic-secessionist groups like Inkatha; in June 1993 the white supremacist Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) attacked the Kempton Park World Trade Centre.[193] Following the murder of ANC leader Chris Hani, Mandela made a publicised speech to calm rioting, soon after appearing at a mass funeral in Soweto for Tambo, who had died from a stroke.[194] In July 1993, both Mandela and de Klerk visited the US, independently meeting President Bill Clinton and each receiving the Liberty Medal.[195] Soon after, they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.[196] Influenced by young ANC leader Thabo Mbeki, Mandela began meeting with big business figures, and played down his support for nationalisation, fearing that he would scare away much-needed foreign investment. Although criticised by socialist ANC members, he was encouraged to embrace private enterprise by members of the Chinese and Vietnamese Communist parties at the January 1992 World Economic Forum in Switzerland.[197] Mandela also made a cameo appearance as a schoolteacher reciting one of Malcolm X's speeches in the final scene of the 1992 film Malcolm X.[198]
  General election: 1994With the election set for 27 April 1994, the ANC began campaigning, opening 100 election offices and hiring advisor Stanley Greenberg. Greenberg orchestrated the foundation of People's Forums across the country, at which Mandela could appear; though a poor public speaker, he was a popular figure with great status among black South Africans.[199] The ANC campaigned on a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) to build a million houses in five years, introduce universal free education and extend access to water and electricity. The party's slogan was "a better life for all", although it was not explained how this development would be funded.[200] With the exception of the Weekly Mail and the New Nation, South Africa's press opposed Mandela's election, fearing continued ethnic strife, instead supporting the National or Democratic Party.[201] Mandela devoted much time to fundraising for the ANC, touring North America, Europe and Asia to meet wealthy donors, including former supporters of the apartheid regime.[202] He also urged a reduction in the voting age from 18 to 14; rejected by the ANC, this policy became the subject of ridicule.[203]
  Concerned that COSAG would undermine the election, particularly in the wake of the Battle of Bop and Shell House Massacre '' incidents of violence involving the AWB and Inkatha, respectively '' Mandela met with Afrikaner politicians and generals, including P.W. Botha, Pik Botha and Constand Viljoen, persuading many to work within the democratic system, and with de Klerk convinced Inkatha's Buthelezi to enter the elections rather than launch a war of secession.[204] As leaders of the two major parties, de Klerk and Mandela appeared on a televised debate; although de Klerk was widely considered the better speaker at the event, Mandela's offer to shake his hand surprised him, leading some commentators to consider it a victory for Mandela.[205] The election went ahead with little violence, although an AWB cell killed 20 with car bombs. Mandela voted at the Ohlange High School in Durban, and though he was elected President, he publicly accepted that the election had been marred by instances of fraud and sabotage.[206] Having taken 62% of the national vote, the ANC was just short of the two-thirds majority needed to unilaterally change the constitution. The ANC was also victorious in 7 provinces, with Inkatha and the National Party each taking another.[207]
  Presidency of South Africa: 1994''1999Mandela's inauguration took place in Pretoria on 10 May 1994, televised to a billion viewers globally. The event was attended by 4000 guests, including world leaders from disparate backgrounds.[208] South Africa's first black President, Mandela became head of a Government of National Unity dominated by the ANC '' which alone had no experience of governance '' but containing representatives from the National Party and Inkatha. In keeping with earlier agreements, de Klerk became first Deputy President, while Thabo Mbeki was selected as second.[209] Although Mbeki had not been his first choice for the job, Mandela would grow to rely heavily on him throughout his presidency, allowing him to organise policy details.[210] Moving into the presidential office at Tuynhuys in Cape Town, Mandela allowed de Klerk to retain the presidential residence in the Groote Schuur estate, instead settling into the nearby Westbrooke manor, which he renamed "Genadendal", meaning "Valley of Mercy" in Afrikaans.[211] Retaining his Houghton home, he also had a house built in his home village of Qunu, which he visited regularly, walking around the area, meeting with locals, and judging tribal disputes.[212]
  Aged 76, he faced various ailments, and although exhibiting continued energy, he felt isolated and lonely.[213] He often entertained celebrities, such as Michael Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, and the Spice Girls, and befriended a number of ultra-rich businessman, like Harry Oppenheimer of Anglo-American, as well as British monarch Elizabeth II on her March 1995 state visit to South Africa, resulting in strong criticism from ANC anti-capitalists.[214] Despite his opulent surroundings, Mandela lived simply, donating a third of his 552,000 rand annual income to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, which he had founded in 1995.[215] Although speaking out in favour of freedom of the press and befriending many journalists, Mandela was critical of much of the country's media, noting that it was overwhelmingly owned and run by middle-class whites and believing that it focused too much on scaremongering around crime.[216] Changing clothes several times a day, after assuming the presidency, one of Mandela's trademarks was his use of Batik shirts, known as "Madiba shirts", even on formal occasions.[217]
  In December 1994, Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, was finally published.[218] In late 1994 he attended the 49th conference of the ANC in Bloemfontein, at which a more militant National Executive was elected, among them Winnie Mandela; although she expressed an interest in reconciling, Nelson initiated divorce proceedings in August 1995.[219] By 1995 he had entered into a relationship with Gra§a Machel, a Mozambican political activist 27 years his junior who was the widow of former president Samora Machel. They had first met in July 1990, when she was still in mourning, but their friendship grew into a partnership, with Machel accompanying him on many of his foreign visits. She turned down Mandela's first marriage proposal, wanting to retain some independence and dividing her time between Mozambique and Johannesburg.[220]
  National reconciliationPresiding over the transition from apartheid minority rule to a multicultural democracy, Mandela saw national reconciliation as the primary task of his presidency.[221] Having seen other post-colonial African economies damaged by the departure of white elites, Mandela worked to reassure South Africa's white population that they were protected and represented in "the Rainbow Nation".[222] Mandela attempted to create the broadest possible coalition in his cabinet, with de Klerk as first Deputy President while other National Party officials became ministers for Agriculture, Energy, Environment, and Minerals and Energy, and Buthelezi was named Minister for Home Affairs.[223] The other cabinet positions were taken by ANC members, many of whom '' like Joe Modise, Alfred Nzo, Joe Slovo, Mac Maharaj and Dullah Omar '' had long been comrades, although others, such as Tito Mboweni and Jeff Radebe, were much younger.[224] Mandela's relationship with de Klerk was strained; Mandela thought that de Klerk was intentionally provocative, while de Klerk felt that he was being intentionally humiliated by the president. In January 1995, Mandela heavily chastised him for awarding amnesty to 3,500 police just before the election, and later criticised him for defending former Minister of Defence Magnus Malan when the latter was charged with murder.[225]
  Mandela personally met with senior figures of the apartheid regime, including Hendrik Verwoerd's widow Betsie Schoombie and the lawyer Percy Yutar; emphasising personal forgiveness and reconciliation, he announced that "courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace."[226] He encouraged black South Africans to get behind the previously hated national rugby team, the Springboks, as South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After the Springboks won an epic final over New Zealand, Mandela presented the trophy to captain Francois Pienaar, an Afrikaner, wearing a Springbok shirt with Pienaar's own number 6 on the back. This was widely seen as a major step in the reconciliation of white and black South Africans; as de Klerk later put it, "Mandela won the hearts of millions of white rugby fans."[227] Mandela's efforts at reconciliation assuaged the fears of whites, but also drew criticism from more militant blacks. His estranged wife, Winnie, accused the ANC of being more interested in appeasing whites than in helping blacks.[228]
  More controversially, Mandela oversaw the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate crimes committed under apartheid by both the government and the ANC, appointing Desmond Tutu as its chair. To prevent the creation of martyrs, the Commission granted individual amnesties in exchange for testimony of crimes committed during the apartheid era. Dedicated in February 1996, it held two years of hearings detailing rapes, torture, bombings, and assassinations, before issuing its final report in October 1998. Both de Klerk and Mbeki appealed to have parts of the report suppressed, though only de Klerk's appeal was successful.[229] Mandela praised the Commission's work, stating that it "had helped us move away from the past to concentrate on the present and the future".[230]
  Domestic programmesMandela's administration inherited a country with a huge disparity in wealth and services between white and black communities. Of a population of 40 million, around 23 million lacked electricity or adequate sanitation, 12 million lacked clean water supplies, with 2 million children not in school and a third of the population illiterate. There was 33% unemployment, and just under half of the population lived below the poverty line.[231] Government financial reserves were nearly depleted, with a fifth of the national budget being spent on debt repayment, meaning that the extent of the promised Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was scaled back, with none of the proposed nationalisation or job creation.[232] Instead, the government adopted liberal economic policies designed to promote foreign investment, adhering to the "Washington consensus" advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.[233]
  Under Mandela's presidency, welfare spending increased by 13% in 1996/97, 13% in 1997/98, and 7% in 1998/99.[234] The government introduced parity in grants for communities, including disability grants, child maintenance grants, and old-age pensions, which had previously been set at different levels for South Africa's different racial groups.[234] In 1994, free healthcare was introduced for children under six and pregnant women, a provision extended to all those using primary level public sector health care services in 1996.[235] By the 1999 election, the ANC could boast that due to their policies, 3 million people were connected to telephone lines, 1.5 million children were brought into the education system, 500 clinics were upgraded or constructed, 2 million people were connected to the electricity grid, water access was extended to 3 million people, and 750,000 houses were constructed, housing nearly 3 million people.[236]
  The Land Restitution Act of 1994 enabled people who had lost their property as a result of the Natives Land Act, 1913 to claim back their land, leading to the settlement of tens of thousands of land claims.[237] The Land Reform Act 3 of 1996 safeguarded the rights of labour tenants who live and grow crops or graze livestock on farms. This legislation ensured that such tenants could not be evicted without a court order or if they were over the age of sixty-five.[238] The Skills Development Act of 1998 provided for the establishment of mechanisms to finance and promote skills development at the workplace.[239] The Labour Relations Act of 1995 promoted workplace democracy, orderly collective bargaining, and the effective resolution of labour disputes.[240] The Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 improved enforcement mechanisms while extending a "floor" of rights to all workers,[240] while the Employment Equity Act of 1998 was passed to put an end to unfair discrimination and ensure the implementation of affirmative action in the workplace.[240]
  Many domestic problems however remained. Critics like Edwin Cameron accused Mandela's government of doing little to stem the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country; by 1999, 10% of South Africa's population were HIV positive. Mandela later admitted that he had personally neglected the issue, leaving it for Mbeki to deal with.[241] Mandela also received criticism for failing to sufficiently combat crime, South Africa having one of the world's highest crime rates; this was a key reason cited by the 750,000 whites who emigrated in the late 1990s.[242] Mandela's administration was mired in corruption scandals, with Mandela being perceived as "soft" on corruption and greed.[243]
  Foreign affairsFollowing the South African example, Mandela encouraged other nations to resolve conflicts through diplomacy and reconciliation.[245] He echoed Mbeki's calls for an "African Renaissance", and was greatly concerned with issues on the continent; he took a soft diplomatic approach to removing Sani Abacha's military junta in Nigeria but later became a leading figure in calling for sanctions when Abacha's regime increased human rights violations.[246] In 1996 he was appointed Chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and initiated unsuccessful negotiations to end the First Congo War in Zaire.[247] In South Africa's first post-apartheid military operation, Mandela ordered troops into Lesotho in September 1998 to protect the government of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili after a disputed election prompted opposition uprisings.[248]
  In September 1998, Mandela was appointed Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement, who held their annual conference in Durban. He used the event to criticise the "narrow, chauvinistic interests" of the Israeli government in stalling negotiations to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and urged India and Pakistan to negotiate to end the Kashmir conflict, for which he was criticised by both Israel and India.[249] Inspired by the region's economic boom, Mandela sought greater economic relations with East Asia, in particular with Malaysia, although this was scuppered by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[250] He attracted controversy for his close relationship with Indonesian President Suharto, whose regime was responsible for mass human rights abuses, although privately urged him to withdraw from the occupation of East Timor.[251]
  Mandela faced similar criticism from the west for his personal friendships with Fidel Castro and Muammar Gaddafi. Castro visited in 1998, to widespread popular acclaim, while Mandela met Gaddafi in Libya to award him the Order of Good Hope.[252] When western governments and media criticised these visits, Mandela lambasted the criticisms as having racist undertones.[253] Mandela hoped to resolve the long-running dispute between Libya and the US and Britain over bringing to trial the two Libyans, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, who were indicted in November 1991 and accused of sabotaging Pan Am Flight 103. Mandela proposed that they be tried in a third country, which was agreed to by all parties; governed by Scots law, the trial was held at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands in April 1999, and found one of the two men guilty.[254]
  Withdrawing from politicsThe new Constitution of South Africa was agreed upon by parliament in May 1996, enshrining a series of institutions to check political and administrative authority within a constitutional democracy.[255] De Klerk however opposed the implementation of this constitution, withdrawing from the coalition government in protest.[256] The ANC took over the cabinet positions formerly held by the National Party, with Mbeki becoming sole Deputy President.[257] When both Mandela and Mbeki were out of the country in one occasion, Buthelezi was appointed "Acting President", marking an improvement in his relationship with Mandela.[258]
  Mandela stepped down as ANC President at the December 1997 conference, and although hoping that Ramaphosa would replace him, the ANC elected Mbeki to the position; Mandela admitted that by then, Mbeki had become "de facto President of the country". Replacing Mbeki as Deputy President, Mandela and the Executive supported the candidacy of Jacob Zuma, a Zulu who had been imprisoned on Robben Island, but he was challenged by Winnie, whose populist rhetoric had gained her a strong following within the party; Zuma defeated her in a landslide victory vote at the election.[259]
  Mandela's relationship with Machel had intensified; in February 1998 he publicly stated that "I'm in love with a remarkable lady", and under pressure from his friend Desmond Tutu, who urged him to set an example for young people, he set a wedding for his 80th birthday, in July.[260] The following day he held a grand party with many foreign dignitaries.[261] Mandela had never planned on standing for a second term in office, and gave his farewell speech on 29 March 1999, after which he retired.[262]
  RetirementContinued activism and philanthropy: 1999''2004Retiring in June 1999, Mandela sought a quiet family life, to be divided between Johannesburg and Qunu. He set about authoring a sequel to his first autobiography, to be titled The Presidential Years, but it was abandoned before publication.[263] Finding such seclusion difficult, he reverted to a busy public life with a daily programme of tasks, meeting with world leaders and celebrities, and when in Johannesburg worked with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, founded in 1999 to focus on combating HIV/AIDS, rural development and school construction.[264] Although he had been heavily criticised for failing to do enough to fight the pandemic during his presidency, he devoted much of his time to the issue following his retirement, describing it as "a war" that had killed more than "all previous wars", and urged Mbeki's government to ensure that HIV+ South Africans had access to retrovirals.[265] In 2000, the Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament was founded, hosted by Gary Player.[266] Mandela was successfully treated for prostate cancer in July 2001.[267]
  In 2002, Mandela inaugurated the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, and in 2003 the Mandela Rhodes Foundation was created at Rhodes House, University of Oxford, to provide postgraduate scholarships to African students. These projects were followed by the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and the 46664 campaign against HIV/AIDS.[268] He gave the closing address at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000,[269] and in 2004, spoke at the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.[270]
  Publicly, Mandela became more vocal in criticising Western powers. He strongly opposed the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo and called it an attempt by the world's powerful nations to police the entire world.[271] In 2003 he spoke out against the plans for the US and UK to launch the War in Iraq, describing it as "a tragedy" and lambasting US President George W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for undermining the UN. He attacked the US more generally, asserting that it had committed more "unspeakable atrocities" across the world than any other nation, citing the atomic bombing of Japan; this attracted international controversy, although he would subsequently reconcile his relationship with Blair.[272] Retaining an interest in Libyan-UK relations, he visited Megrahi in Barlinnie prison and spoke out against the conditions of his treatment, referring to them as "psychological persecution".[273]
  "Retiring from retirement", illness: 2004''2013In June 2004, aged 85 and amid failing health, Mandela announced that he was "retiring from retirement" and retreating from public life, remarking "Don't call me, I will call you."[274] Although continuing to meet with close friends and family, the Foundation discouraged invitations for him to appear at public events and denied most interview requests.[275]
  He retained some involvement in international affairs. In 2005, he founded the Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust,[276] travelling to the U.S., to speak before the Brookings Institute and the NAACP on the need for economic assistance to Africa.[276][277] He spoke with U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and President George W. Bush and first met then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama.[277] Mandela also encouraged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to resign over growing human rights abuses in the country. When this proved ineffective, he spoke out publicly against Mugabe in 2007, asking him to step down "with residual respect and a modicum of dignity."[278] That year, Mandela, Machel, and Desmond Tutu convened a group of world leaders in Johannesburg to contribute their wisdom and independent leadership to some of the world's toughest problems. Mandela announced the formation of this new group, The Elders, in a speech delivered on his 89th birthday.[279]
  Mandela's 90th birthday was marked across the country on 18 July 2008, with the main celebrations held at Qunu,[280] and a concert in his honour in Hyde Park, London.[281] In a speech marking the event, Mandela called for the rich to help the poor across the world.[280] Throughout Mbeki's presidency, Mandela continued to support the ANC, although usually overshadowed Mbeki at any public events that the two attended. Mandela was more at ease with Mbeki's successor Jacob Zuma, although the Nelson Mandela Foundation were upset when his grandson, Mandla Mandela, flew him out to the Eastern Cape to attend a pro-Zuma rally in the midst of a storm in 2009.[282]
  In 2004, Mandela had successfully campaigned for South Africa to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, declaring that there would be "few better gifts for us in the year" marking a decade since the fall of apartheid. Mandela emotionally raised the FIFA World Cup Trophy after South Africa was awarded host status.[283] Despite maintaining a low-profile during the event due to ill-health, Mandela made what would be his final public appearance during the World Cup closing ceremony, where he received a "rapturous reception".[284][285] Between 2005 and 2013, Mandela, and later his family, were embroiled in a series of legal disputes regarding money held in family trusts for the benefit of his descendants.[286] In mid-2013, as Mandela was hospitalised for a lung infection in Pretoria, his descendants were involved in intra-family legal dispute relating to the burial place of Mandela's deceased children, and ultimately Mandela himself.[287][288][289]
  In February 2011, he was briefly hospitalised with a respiratory infection, attracting international attention,[290] before being re-hospitalised for a lung infection and gallstone removal in December 2012.[291] After a successful medical procedure in early March 2013,[292] his lung infection recurred, and he was briefly hospitalised in Pretoria.[293] On 8 June 2013, his lung infection worsened, and he was rehospitalised in Pretoria in a serious condition.[294] After four days, it was reported that he had stabilised and remained in a "serious, but stable condition".[295] En route to the hospital, his ambulance broke down and was stranded on the roadside for 40 minutes. The government was criticised for the incident, but Zuma countered that throughout, Mandela was given "expert medical care."[296]
  On 22 June 2013, CBS News stated that he had not opened his eyes in days and was unresponsive, and the family was discussing how much medical intervention should be given.[297] Former bodyguard Shaun van Heerden, described by CBS News as "Mandela's constant companion for the last 12 years", had publicly asked the family to "set him free" a week prior.[298] On 23 June 2013, Zuma announced that Mandela's condition had become "critical".[299][300][301] Zuma, accompanied by the Deputy President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, met Mandela's wife Gra§a Machel at the hospital in Pretoria and discussed his condition.[302] On 25 June Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba visited Mandela at the hospital and prayed with Gra§a Machel Mandela "at this hard time of watching and waiting".[303] The next day, Zuma visited Mandela in the hospital and canceled a visit scheduled for the next day to Mozambique.[304] A relative of Mandela told The Daily Telegraph newspaper he was on life support.[305]
  On 4 July, it was reported that David Smith, a lawyer acting on behalf of Mandela family members, claimed in court on 26 June that Mandela was in a permanent vegetative state and life support should be shut off.[306][307][308] The South African Presidency stated that the doctors treating Mandela denied that he was in a vegetative state.[309][310] On 10 July, Zuma's office announced that Mandela remained in critical but stable condition, and was responding to treatment.[311]
  On 1 September 2013, Mandela was discharged from hospital[312] although his condition remained unstable.[313]
  Death and funeralMandela died of a lung infection on 5 December 2013 at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg surrounded by his family. He was 95 years of age.[314] His death was announced by President Jacob Zuma.[314][315] On 6 December Zuma announced a national mourning period of ten days, with the main event being an official memorial service to be held at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 10 December 2013. Mandela's body will lie in state from 11 to 13 December at the Union Buildings in Pretoria and a state funeral will be held on 15 December 2013 in Qunu.[316][317]
  Personal and public lifeImageAcross the world, Mandela came to be seen as "a moral authority" with a great "concern for truth".[318] Considered friendly and welcoming, Mandela exhibited a "relaxed charm" when talking to others, including his opponents.[319] Although often befriending millionaires and dignitaries, he enjoyed talking with their staff when at official functions.[320] In later life, he was known for looking for the best in everyone, even defending political opponents to his allies, though some thought him too trusting of others.[321] He was renowned for his stubbornness and loyalty,[322] and exhibited a "hot temper" which could flare up in anger in certain situations, also being "moody and dejected" away from the public eye.[323] He also had a mischievous sense of humour.[324]
  Very conscious of his image, throughout his life he sought fine quality clothes, carrying himself in a "regal style" stemming from his childhood in the Thembu royal house, and during his presidency was often compared to a constitutional monarch.[325] Considered a "master of imagery and performance", he excelled at presenting himself well in press photographs and producing soundbites.[326]
  In late 1996 Mandela was asked by friends if he was religious, Mandela explained he was a Methodist but he felt at ease in any house of prayer.
  Political ideologyMandela was an African nationalist, an ideological position he held since joining the ANC,[327] also being "a democrat, and a socialist".[328] Although he presented himself in an autocratic manner in several speeches, Mandela was a devout believer in democracy and would abide by majority decisions even when deeply disagreeing with them.[329] He held a conviction that "inclusivity, accountability and freedom of speech" were the fundamentals of democracy,[330] and was driven by a belief in natural and human rights.[331] This belief drove him to not only pursue racial equality but also to promote gay rights as part of the post-apartheid reforms.[332]
  A democratic socialist, Mandela was "openly opposed to capitalism, private land-ownership and the power of big money".[333] Influenced by Marxism, during the revolution Mandela advocated scientific socialism,[334] although he denied being a communist during the Treason Trial.[335] Biographer David James Smith thought this untrue, stating that Mandela "embraced communism and communists" in the late 1950s and early 1960s, though was a "fellow traveller" rather than a party member.[336] In the 1955 Freedom Charter, which Mandela had helped create, it called for the nationalisation of banks, gold mines, and land, believing it necessary to ensure equal distribution of wealth.[337] Despite these beliefs, Mandela nationalised nothing during his presidency, fearing that this would scare away foreign investors. This decision was in part influenced by the fall of the socialist states in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc during the early 1990s.[338]
  FamilyMandela was married three times, fathered six children, had 17 grandchildren[339] and a growing number of great-grandchildren.[340] He could be stern and demanding of his children, although he was more affectionate with his grandchildren.[341]
  Mandela's first marriage was to Evelyn Ntoko Mase, who was also from the Transkei, although they met in Johannesburg before being married in October 1944.[54] The couple broke up in 1957 after 13 years, divorcing under the multiple strains of his adultery and constant absences, devotion to revolutionary agitation, and the fact that she was a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, a religion requiring political neutrality.[86] The couple had two sons, Madiba "Thembi" Thembekile (1946''1969) and Makgatho Mandela (1950''2005), and two daughters, both named Makaziwe Mandela (known as Maki; born 1947 and 1953). Their first daughter died aged nine months, and they named their second daughter in her honour.[citation needed] Mase died in 2004, and Mandela attended her funeral.[342] Makgatho's son, Mandla Mandela, became chief of the Mvezo tribal council in 2007.[343]
  Mandela's second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, also came from the Transkei area, although they, too, met in Johannesburg, where she was the city's first black social worker.[344] They had two daughters, Zenani (Zeni), born 4 February 1958, and Zindziswa (Zindzi) Mandela-Hlongwane, born 1960.[344] Zindzi was only 18 months old when her father was sent to Robben island. Later, Winnie would be deeply torn by family discord which mirrored the country's political strife; separation (April 1992) and divorce (March 1996), fueled by political estrangement.[345] Mandela was still in prison when his daughter Zenani was married in 1973 to Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini, a brother of both King Mswati III of Swaziland[346] and of Queen Mantfombi of the Zulus.[347] Although she had vivid memories of her father, from the age of four up until sixteen, South African authorities did not permit her to visit him.[348] In July 2012, Zenani was appointed ambassador to Argentina, becoming the first of Mandela's three remaining children to enter public life.[349]
  Mandela remarried on his 80th birthday in 1998, to his third wife, Gra§a Machel (n(C)e Simbine), widow of Samora Machel, the former Mozambican president and ANC ally who was killed in an air crash 12 years earlier.[350]
  LegacyOrders, decorations, and monumentsWithin South Africa, Mandela was widely considered to be "the father of the nation",[351] and "the founding father of democracy",[352] being seen as "the national liberator, the saviour, its Washington and Lincoln rolled into one".[353] In 2004, Johannesburg granted Mandela the freedom of the city,[354] and the Sandton Square shopping centre was renamed Nelson Mandela Square, after a Mandela statue was installed there.[355] In 2008, another Mandela statue was unveiled at Groot Drakenstein Correctional Centre, formerly Victor Verster Prison, near Cape Town, standing on the spot where Mandela was released from the prison.[356]
  He has also received international acclaim. In 1993, he received the joint Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk.[357] In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed Mandela's birthday, 18 July, as "Mandela Day", marking his contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle. It called on individuals to donate 67 minutes to doing something for others, commemorating the 67 years that Mandela had been a part of the movement.[358]
  Awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom,[359] and the Order of Canada,[360] he was the first living person to be made an honorary Canadian citizen.[361] The last recipient of the Soviet Union's Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union,[362] and first recipient of the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights,[363] in 1990 he received the Bharat Ratna Award from the government of India,[364] and in 1992 received Pakistan's Nishan-e-Pakistan.[365] In 1992 he was awarded the Atat¼rk Peace Award by Turkey. He refused the award, citing human rights violations committed by Turkey at the time,[366] but later accepted the award in 1999.[362] Elizabeth II awarded him the Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of St. John and the Order of Merit.[367]
  Tributes by musiciansMany artists have dedicated songs to Mandela. One of the most popular was from The Special AKA who recorded the song "Free Nelson Mandela" in 1983, which Elvis Costello also recorded and had a hit with. Stevie Wonder dedicated his 1985 Oscar for the song "I Just Called to Say I Love You" to Mandela, resulting in his music being banned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.[368] In 1985, Youssou N'Dour's album Nelson Mandela was the Senegalese artist's first US release. Other artists who released songs or videos honouring Mandela include Johnny Clegg,[369]Hugh Masekela,[370]Brenda Fassie,[371]Beyond,[372]Nickelback,[373]Raffi,[374] and Ampie du Preez and AB de Villiers.[375] South African songstress Zahara, who happens to be an ambassador of the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital, released Nelson Mandela, an extended play that pays tribute to Mandela whilst celebrating his lifetime accomplishments. The EP's lead single titled "Nelson Mandela" was released at a time when Mandela was critically ill but stable at the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria.[376][377]
  Cinema and televisionMandela has been depicted in cinema and television on multiple occasions. In HBO's 1987 TV film, "Mandela (1987 film)", he was portrayed by Danny Glover.[378] The 1997 film Mandela and de Klerk starred Sidney Poitier as Mandela,[379] while Dennis Haysbert played him in Goodbye Bafana (2007).[380] In the 2009 BBC television film Mrs Mandela, Nelson Mandela was portrayed by David Harewood,[381] and Morgan Freeman portrayed him in Invictus (2009).[382] He is portrayed by Idris Elba in the 2013 film, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.[383]
  References^ abMandela 1994, p. 3; Sampson 2011, p. 3; Smith 2010, p. 17.^Mandela 1994, p. 4; Smith 2010, p. 16.^Guiloineau & Rowe 2002, p. 23; Mafela 2008.^ abGuiloineau & Rowe 2002, p. 26; Mafela 2008.^Smith 2010, p. 19.^Mandela 1994, pp. 8''9; Sampson 2011, p. 4; Smith 2010, pp. 21''22.^Mandela 1994, p. 17.^Mandela 1994, pp. 7''8; Sampson 2011, p. 4; Smith 2010, pp. 16, 23''24.^Mandela 1994, p. 19.^Mandela 1994, p. 15.^Mandela 1994, p. 12; Smith 2010, pp. 23''24.^Mandela 1994, pp. 18''19; Sampson 2011, pp. 5,7; Smith 2010, p. 24.^Mandela 1994, pp. 20; Sampson 2011, p. 7; Smith 2010, p. 25.^Mandela 1994, pp. 8, 20.^Mandela 1994, pp. 22''25; Sampson 2011, pp. 7''9; Smith 2010, pp. 26''27.^Mandela 1994, pp. 27''29.^Mandela 1994, p. 25; Smith 2010, p. 27.^Mandela 1994, pp. 31''34; Smith 2010, p. 18.^Mandela 1994, p. 43.^Mandela 1994, pp. 36''42; Sampson 2011, p. 14; Smith 2010, pp. 29''31.^Mandela 1994, pp. 45''47; Sampson 2011, p. 15; Smith 2010, p. 31.^Mandela 1994, pp. 48''50.^Sampson 2011, p. 17.^Mandela 1994, p. 52; Sampson 2011, pp. 17''18; Smith 2010, pp. 31''32.^Mandela 1994, pp. 53''54; Sampson 2011, pp. 18''21; Smith 2010, p. 32.^Mandela 1994, p. 56; Smith 2010, p. 32.^Mandela 1994, pp. 62''65; Sampson 2011, pp. 21, 25; Smith 2010, pp. 33''34.^Mandela 1994, pp. 62''63; Sampson 2011, pp. 24''25; Smith 2010, pp. 33''34.^Mandela 1994, pp. 67''69; Sampson 2011, p. 25; Smith 2010, p. 34.^Mandela 1994, p. 68; Sampson 2011, p. 25; Smith 2010, p. 35.^Mandela 1994, p. 68^Mandela 1994, pp. 70''71; Sampson 2011, p. 26.^Sampson 2011, p. 25.^Mandela 1994, p. 66; Smith 2010, p. 34.^Mandela 1994, pp. 78''86; Sampson 2011, pp. 26''27; Smith 2010, pp. 34''35.^Mandela 1994, pp. 73''76; Sampson 2011, pp. 27''28; Smith 2010, pp. 36''39.^Mandela 1994, pp. 89''94; Sampson 2011, pp. 29''30; Smith 2010, p. 40.^Mandela 1994, pp. 96''101; Sampson 2011, pp. 30''31; Smith 2010, p. 41.^Mandela 1994, pp. 104''105; Sampson 2011, pp. 32''33; Smith 2010, pp. 43, 48.^Mandela 1994, p. 106; Smith 2010, pp. 48''49.^Mandela 1994, pp. 122''123; Sampson 2011, p. 37; Smith 2010, p. 48.^Mandela 1994, p. 100; Sampson 2011, p. 34; Smith 2010, p. 44.^Mandela 1994, pp. 99, 108''110; Sampson 2011, p. 33; Smith 2010, pp. 44''45.^Mandela 1994, pp. 113''116; Sampson 2011, p. 33; Smith 2010, pp. 45''46.^Mandela 1994, pp. 118''119; Sampson 2011, p. 34.^Mandela 1994, pp. 116''117, 119''120; Sampson 2011, p. 33; Smith 2010, p. 47.^Mandela 1994, pp. 122, 126''27; Sampson 2011, p. 34; Smith 2010, p. 49.^Mandela 1994, p. 135.^Mandela 1994, pp. 127''131; Sampson 2011, pp. 34''35; Smith 2010, pp. 64''65.^Mandela 1994, p. 136; Smith 2010, p. 53.^Mandela 1994, pp. 137''139; Sampson 2011, pp. 38''39; Smith 2010, p. 53.^Mandela 1994, pp. 142''143; Smith 2010, p. 54.^Mandela 1994, pp. 139''143; Sampson 2011, pp. 39''41; Smith 2010, pp. 52''56.^ abMandela 1994, pp. 144, 148''149; Sampson 2011, p. 36; Smith 2010, pp. 59''62.^Mandela 1994, pp. 149, 152; Sampson 2011, p. 36; Smith 2010, pp. 60''64.^Mandela 1994, pp. 150, 210; Sampson 2011, p. 36; Smith 2010, p. 67.^Mandela 1994, p. 151; Smith 2010, p. 64.^Mandela 1994, pp. 153''154; Sampson 2011, p. 48; Smith 2010, p. 66.^Mandela 1994, p. 154; Sampson 2011, p. 42.^Mandela 1994, pp. 154''157; Sampson 2011, p. 49; Smith 2010, p. 66.^Mandela 1994, pp. 159''162; Sampson 2011, pp. 51''52; Smith 2010, pp. 70''72.^Mandela 1994, pp. 162''165; Sampson 2011, pp. 53''55; Smith 2010, pp. 72''73.^Sampson 2011, p. 35; Smith 2010, pp. 68''70.^Mandela 1994, p. 168; Sampson 2011, pp. 55''56.^Mandela 1994, pp. 165''167; Sampson 2011, pp. 61''62; Smith 2010, pp. 74''75.^Mandela 1994, p. 176; Sampson 2011, pp. 63''64; Smith 2010, p. 78.^Mandela 1994, pp. 177''172; Sampson 2011, pp. 64''65; Smith 2010, pp. 75''76.^Mandela 1994, p. 165; Smith 2010, p. 77.^Mandela 1994, p. 170; Smith 2010, p. 94.^Mandela 1994, pp. 182''183; Sampson 2011, pp. 66''67; Smith 2010, pp. 77, 80.^Mandela 1994, pp. 183''188; Sampson 2011, p. 69; Smith 2010, pp. 81''83.^Mandela 1994, pp. 188''192; Sampson 2011, p. 68.^Mandela 1994, pp. 194''195; Sampson 2011, pp. 72''73; Smith 2010, p. 85.^Mandela 1994, pp. 195''198; Sampson 2011, pp. 71''72; Smith 2010, pp. 83''84.^Mandela 1994, pp. 199''200, 204; Sampson 2011, p. 73; Smith 2010, p. 86.^Mandela 1994, pp. 205''207, 231; Sampson 2011, pp. 81''82, 84''85; Smith 2010, pp. 116''117.^Mandela 1994, pp. 209''210; Sampson 2011, p. 7; Smith 2010, p. 87.^Mandela 1994, pp. 210''216; Sampson 2011, pp. 77''80; Smith 2010, pp. 87''93.^Mandela 1994, pp. 293''294; Sampson 2011, pp. 76''77; Smith 2010, pp. 95''99, 105''106.^Sampson 2011, p. 92.^Mandela 1994, pp. 218''233, 234''236; Sampson 2011, pp. 82''84; Smith 2010, pp. 120''123.^Mandela 1994, pp. 226''227; Sampson 2011, p. 84; Smith 2010, p. 118.^Mandela 1994, pp. 243''249; Sampson 2011, pp. 87''95; Smith 2010, pp. 118''120, 125''128.^Mandela 1994, pp. 253''274; Sampson 2011, pp. 96''99; Smith 2010, pp. 130''132.^Mandela 1994, p. 275; Sampson 2011, pp. 101''102.^ abMandela 1994, p. 296; Sampson 2011, p. 110; Smith 2010, pp. 99''104.^Mandela 1994, pp. 306''311; Sampson 2011, pp. 110''113; Smith 2010, pp. 104, 132''145.^Mandela 1994, pp. 283''292; Sampson 2011, pp. 103''106; Smith 2010, pp. 163''164.^Mandela 1994, pp. 299''305; Sampson 2011, pp. 116''117; Smith 2010, pp. 167''168.^Mandela 1994, pp. 331''334; Sampson 2011, pp. 122''123; Smith 2010, p. 167.^Mandela 1994, pp. 327''330; Sampson 2011, pp. 117''122; Smith 2010, pp. 171''173.^Mandela 1994, pp. 342''346; Sampson 2011, pp. 130''131; Smith 2010, pp. 173''175.^Mandela 1994, pp. 347''357; Sampson 2011, pp. 132''133; Smith 2010, p. 175.^Mandela 1994, pp. 357''364; Sampson 2011, pp. 134''135; Smith 2010, p. 177.^Mandela 1994, pp. 373''374; Sampson 2011, pp. 140''143; Smith 2010, pp. 183''185.^Mandela 1994, pp. 377''380; Sampson 2011, p. 143; Smith 2010, p. 178.^Mandela 1994, pp. 283''287; Sampson 2011, pp. 144''146, 154; Smith 2010, pp. 186''188, 193.^Mandela 1994, pp. 289''291; Sampson 2011, pp. 147''149; Smith 2010, pp. 188''189.^Mandela 1994, pp. 393''396; Sampson 2011, pp. 150''151; Smith 2010, pp. 206''210.^Mandela 1994, pp. 397''398; Sampson 2011, pp. 151''154; Smith 2010, pp. 209''214.^Mandela 1994, pp. 397''409; Sampson 2011, pp. 154''156; Smith 2010, pp. 191, 222''229.^Ellis 2011, pp. 667''668.^Mandela 1994, pp. 411''412.^Mandela 1994, pp. 413''415; Sampson 2011, pp. 158''159; Smith 2010, pp. 239''246.^Mandela 1994, pp. 418''425; Sampson 2011, pp. 160''162; Smith 2010, pp. 251''254.^Mandela 1994, pp. 427''432; Sampson 2011, pp. 163''165; Smith 2010, pp. 255''256.^Mandela 1994, pp. 432''440; Sampson 2011, pp. 165''167; Smith 2010, pp. 256''259.^Mandela 1994, pp. 441''443; Sampson 2011, pp. 167''169; Smith 2010, pp. 259''261.^Mandela 1994, pp. 443''445; Sampson 2011, pp. 169''170; Smith 2010, pp. 261''262.^Mandela 1994, pp. 435''435; Sampson 2011, pp. 170''172; Smith 2010, pp. 275''276.^Mandela 1994, pp. 456''459; Sampson 2011, pp. 172''173.^Mandela 1994, pp. 463''465; Sampson 2011, pp. 173''174; Smith 2010, pp. 292''293.^Mandela 1994, pp. 468''482; Sampson 2011, pp. 174''176.^Mandela 1994, p. 458.^Mandela 2004, pp. 27''32; Sampson 2011, pp. 183''186; Smith 2010, pp. 292''295.^Mandela 2004, pp. 33''42; Sampson 2011, pp. 186''190.^Mandela 2004, pp. 42''57; Sampson 2011, pp. 190''194; Smith 2010, pp. 300''302.^Mandela 2004, p. 62; Sampson 2011, pp. 194''195; Smith 2010, p. 303.^Mandela 2004, pp. 63''68; Sampson 2011, pp. 196''197; Smith 2010, p. 306.^Mandela 2004, pp. 75''78; Sampson 2011, p. 204; Smith 2010, pp. 307''308.^Mandela 2004, pp. 79''80; Sampson 2011, p. 205; Meredith 2010, p. 279.^Mandela 2004, pp. 82''84, 108''116; Sampson 2011, pp. 206''207; Meredith 2010, pp. 281''283, 290''291^Mandela 2004, p. 126; Sampson 2011, pp. 205, 258; Meredith 2010, p. 299.^Mandela 2004, pp. 102''108; Sampson 2011, p. 205; Meredith 2010, p. 283.^Mandela 2004, pp. 83, 90, 136''138; Meredith 2010, pp. 284, 296''298.^Sampson 2011, pp. 210''214; Meredith 2010, pp. 298''299.^Sampson 2011, pp. 236''241, 288''294; Meredith 2010, pp. 292''295.^Sampson 2011, p. 232; Meredith 2010, pp. 301, 313.^Sampson 2011, p. 229; Meredith 2010, pp. 295, 299''301.^Sampson 2011, p. 221; Meredith 2010, pp. 301''302.^Sampson 2011, p. 222; Meredith 2010, p. 337.^Sampson 2011, p. 241; Meredith 2010, p. 334.^Sampson 2011, pp. 246''247; Meredith 2010, pp. 303''304.^Sampson 2011, pp. 248''254, 302; Meredith 2010, pp. 287''288, 304''310^Sampson 2011, pp. 222, 235; Meredith 2010, p. 301.^"Nelson Mandela: How sport helped to transform a nation". BBC. Retrieved 6 December 2013^Sampson 2011, p. 231.^Sampson 2011, pp. 223''225; Meredith 2010, pp. 308''310.^Sampson 2011, pp. 226''227.^Sampson 2011, p. 228.^Sampson 2011, pp. 314''315.^Sampson 2011, pp. 242''243; Meredith 2010, p. 317.^Sampson 2011, pp. 285''286.^Sampson 2011, pp. 259''276; Meredith 2010, pp. 324''327.^Sampson 2011, pp. 277''283; Meredith 2010, pp. 327''328.^Sampson 2011, p. 296.^Sampson 2011, pp. 315''316.^"List of the Recipients of the Jawaharlal Nehru Award". ICCR. Retrieved 29 June 2013. ^Reddy, ES (July 1988). "Free Nelson Mandela '' an account of the Campaign to Free Nelson Mandela and all other Political Prisoners in South Africa". ANC. Retrieved 29 June 2013. "In August 1981, the City of Glasgow awarded the Freedom of the City to Nelson Mandela." ^Sampson 2011, pp. 319''320; Meredith 2010, pp. 338''339.^Sampson 2011, p. 321.^Sampson 2011, pp. 324''325; Meredith 2010, p. 340.^Sampson 2011, pp. 324''325; Meredith 2010, pp. 346''347.^Sampson 2011, p. 326; Meredith 2010, p. 347.^Sampson 2011, pp. 329.^Sampson 2011, pp. 335''336; Meredith 2010, pp. 341''346.^Sampson 2011, pp. 338''342; Meredith 2010, pp. 249''256.^Meredith 2010, p. 340.^Sampson 2011, pp. 330''332; Meredith 2010, pp. 351''352; "Mandela's response to being offered freedom". ANC. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2008. ^Sampson 2011, pp. 343''345; Meredith 2010, p. 358.^Sampson 2011, pp. 347''355; Meredith 2010, pp. 359''360.^Sampson 2011, pp. 363''378; Meredith 2010, pp. 362''368.^Sampson 2011, p. 368; Ketchum, Mike. "The Mandela Concert, Wembley 1988". African National Congress. Archived from the original on 9 July 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008. ^Sampson 2011, pp. 373''380; Meredith 2010, pp. 371''383.^Sampson 2011, pp. 369''370; Meredith 2010, p. 369.^Sampson 2011, p. 381; Meredith 2010, pp. 369''370.^Sampson 2011, pp. 384''385, 392''393; Christopher S. Wren (8 December 1988). "Mandela Moved to House at Prison Farm". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013. ^Sampson 2011, p. 386; Meredith 2010, p. 388.^Sampson 2011, pp. 390''392; Meredith 2010, pp. 387''388.^Sampson 2011, pp. 392''397.^Sampson 2011, pp. 399''402; Meredith 2010, pp. 369''397; "1990: Freedom for Nelson Mandela". BBC. 11 February 1990. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2008. ^Sampson 2011, p. 403^Sampson 2011, p. 407; Meredith 2010, pp. 399''402; Ormond, Roger (12 February 1990). "Mandela free after 27 years". The Guardian (London). Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2008. ^Sampson 2011, pp. 408''409; Meredith 2010, pp. 400''402; The text of Mandela's speech can be found at "Nelson Mandela's address to Rally in Cape Town on his Release from Prison". ANC. 11 February 1990. Archived from the original on 28 July 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2008. ^Sampson 2011, pp. 409''410; Meredith 2010, pp. 403''405.^Sampson 2011, pp. 412''414; Meredith 2010, pp. 409''410; "ITN Source website: "...Mandela onto stage..."". Itnsource.com. 16 April 1990. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2012. ^Sampson 2011, pp. 415''418.^Sampson 2011, p. 420; ; Meredith 2010, p. 410.^Sampson 2011, pp. 418''420.^Sampson 2011, pp. 424''427; Meredith 2010, pp. 412''413.^Sampson 2011, pp. 428''429; Meredith 2010, p. 439.^Sampson 2011, pp. 429''430; Meredith 2010, pp. 439''440.^Sampson 2011, pp. 431, 448; Meredith 2010, p. 409.^Sampson 2011, pp. 431, 448; Meredith 2010, pp. 429''436, 435''460^Sampson 2011, pp. 436''442; Meredith 2010, pp. 418''424.^Sampson 2011, p. 444; Meredith 2010, pp. 425''426.^Sampson 2011, pp. 456''459; Meredith 2010, pp. 443''446.^Sampson 2011, p. 460; Meredith 2010, pp. 448, 452.^Sampson 2011, pp. 461''462; Meredith 2010, pp. 462''463.^Sampson 2011, pp. 462''463; Meredith 2010, pp. 466''467.^Sampson 2011, pp. 463''467; Meredith 2010, pp. 467''471.^Sampson 2011, p. 472; Meredith 2010, pp. 489''491.^Sampson 2011, pp. 466, 470''471; Meredith 2010, pp. 449''450, 488.^Sampson 2011, pp. 468''469; Meredith 2010, pp. 476''480.^Sampson 2011, p. 471.^Sampson 2011, p. 474; Meredith 2010, p. 494.^Sampson 2011, pp. 434''445, 473; Meredith 2010, p. 497.^Cunningham, Matthew (3 June 2004). "Creme cameos". The Guardian (London). Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2008. ^Sampson 2011, pp. 467''477; Meredith 2010, p. 495.^Sampson 2011, p. 478; Meredith 2010, pp. 495''496.^Sampson 2011, p. 479.^Sampson 2011, pp. 479''480.^Sampson 2011, pp. 477''478; Meredith 2010, p. 484.^Sampson 2011, pp. 480''489; Meredith 2010, pp. 488''489; 504''510^Sampson 2011, p. 488; Meredith 2010, pp. 500''501.^Sampson 2011, p. 490; Meredith 2010, pp. 510''512; "This Day in History: April 27, 1994: South Africa holds first multiracial elections". History. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013. ^Sampson 2011, p. 491; Meredith 2010, p. 512; Glen Levy (15 November 2010). "Top 10 Political Prisoners". Time. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013. ^Sampson 2011, pp. 492''493; Meredith 2010, p. 514.^Sampson 2011, p. 492; "Mandela becomes SA's first black president". BBC. 10 May 1994. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ^Sampson 2011, pp. 508''511; Meredith 2010, p. 566.^Sampson 2011, pp. 496''497; Meredith 2010, pp. 523, 543.^Sampson 2011, p. 502.^Sampson 2011, pp. 497''499, 510.^Sampson 2011, pp. 501, 504.^Sampson 2011, p. 517; Meredith 2010, p. 543.^Sampson 2011, pp. 525''527; Meredith 2010, pp. 547''548.^Sampson 2011, p. 503; Meredith 2010, p. 495; Khumalo, Fred (5 August 2004). "How Mandela changed SA fashion". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2008. ^Meredith 2010, p. 517^Sampson 2011, pp. 500, 507; Meredith 2010, pp. 539''542.^Sampson 2011, pp. 546''549; Meredith 2010, pp. 574''575.^Sampson 2011, p. 524.^Sampson 2011, pp. 495''496; Meredith 2010, p. 517.^Sampson 2011, pp. 507''511.^Sampson 2011, p. 508^Sampson 2011, pp. 511, 534; Meredith 2010, p. 528.^Sampson 2011, pp. 520, 522''523; Meredith 2010, pp. 523''524.^Sampson 2011, p. 524; Meredith 2010, pp. 525''527; "Mandela rallies Springboks". BBC Sport. 6 October 2003. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2008. ; Carlin, John (19 October 2007). "How Nelson Mandela won the rugby World Cup". The Daily Telegraph (London). Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2008. ; Sampson 2011, p. 516^Sampson 2011, pp. 491, 496, 524; Meredith 2010, pp. 517, 536.^Sampson 2011, pp. 528''532; Meredith 2010, pp. 527, 551''564.^Sampson 2011, p. 532; Meredith 2010, p. 563.^Meredith 2010, pp. 518''520.^Sampson 2011, pp. 514''515; Meredith 2010, p. 519.^Meredith 2010, pp. 520''521; Muthien, Khose & Magubane 2000, pp. 369''370^ abHouston & Muthien 2000, p. 62.^Meredith 2010, p. 521; Leatt, Annie; Shung-King, Maylene; and Monson, Jo. "Healing inequalities: The free health care policy" (PDF). Children's Institute. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2011. ^Herbst 2003, p. 312.^"Land Redistribution: A Case for Land Reform in South Africa". NGO Pulse. 10 February 2010. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2011. ^"Land Reform Policies in South Africa Compare To Human Rights Internationally" (PDF). Retrieved 11 February 2012. [dead link]; "No. 3 of 1996: Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act, 1996". South African Government Online. 22 March 1996. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013. ^"Faculty of Commerce at the University of Cape Town". Commerce.uct.ac.za. 25 April 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2012. [dead link]^ abc"Why workers should vote ANC". Cosatu.org.za. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2012. ^Meredith 2010, pp. 571''573; Sampson, Anthony (6 July 2003). "Mandela at 85". The Observer (London). Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ; "Can Mandela's AIDS Message Pierce the Walls of Shame?". Peninsula Peace and Justice Center. 9 January 2005. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ; Quist-Arcton, Ofeibea (19 July 2003). "South Africa: Mandela Deluged With Tributes as He Turns 85". AllAfrica. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ^Sampson 2011, pp. 510, 565''68; Meredith 2010, p. 573.^Sampson 2011, p. 510; Meredith 2010, pp. 544''547.^Sampson 2011, pp. 561''567.^Sampson 2011, p. 555.^Sampson 2011, pp. 556''557.^Sampson 2011, p. 558.^Sampson 2011, pp. 558''559;Thai, Bethuel (4 October 1998). "Lesotho to hold re-elections within 15 to 18 months". Lesotho News Online. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ^Sampson 2011, p. 559.^Sampson 2011, pp. 560''561.^Sampson 2011, p. 560.^Sampson 2011, pp. 562''563.^Sampson 2011, p. 564.^Sampson 2011, pp. 563''564; "Analysis: Lockerbie's long road". BBC. 31 January 2001. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ^Muthien, Khosa & Magubane 2000, p. 366^Sampson 2011, p. 534; Meredith 2010, pp. 529''530.^Sampson 2011, p. 535.^Sampson 2011, p. 536.^Sampson 2011, pp. 537''543; Meredith 2010, p. 568.^Sampson 2011, pp. 549''551; Meredith 2010, p. 576.^Sampson 2011, pp. 551''552.^Sampson 2011, p. 578.^Battersby 2011, pp. 587''588; Meredith 2010, p. 576.^Battersby 2011, pp. 588''589; Meredith 2010, p. 576.^Battersby 2011, pp. 590''591; Meredith 2010, pp. 584''586.^"Nelson Mandela Invitational Tees Off". GaryPlayer.com. 14 November 2003. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^Battersby 2011, p. 598; "Mandela 'responding well to treatment'". BBC. 15 August 2001. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ^Battersby 2011, pp. 589''590.^Pablo Tebas (13 July 2000). "Closing Ceremony". The Body. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013. ^"XV International AIDS Conference '' Daily Coverage". Kaisernetwork. 15 July 2004. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^Keith Weir (13 April 2003). "Equipo Nizkor '' Mandela slams Western action in Kosovo, Iraq". Derechos.org. Reuters. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2010. ^Battersby 2011, pp. 591''592; Pienaar, John (1 September 2002). "Mandela warns Bush over Iraq". BBC. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ; Cornwell, Rupert (31 January 2003). "Mandela lambastes 'arrogant' Bush over Iraq". The Independent (London). Retrieved 27 October 2008. ;Fenton, Tom (30 January 2003). "Mandela Slams Bush on Iraq". CBS. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ^Battersby 2011, p. 593.^Battersby 2011, p. 598; Meredith 2010, p. 593; "I'll call you". SouthAfrica.info. 2 June 2004. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ^Battersby 2011, p. 598.^ abKeyes, Allison (17 May 2005). "Mandela, Bush Discuss Education, AIDS in Africa". NPR. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. ^ abHennessey, Kathleen (25 June 2013). "The Obama-Mandela dynamic, reflected in a photo". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. ^Battersby 2011, p. 594.^Battersby 2011, p. 600; "Mandela joins 'Elders' on turning 89". MSNBC. Associated Press. 20 July 2007. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ; "Mandela launches The Elders". SAinfo. 19 July 2007. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^ ab"Nelson Mandela Celebrates 90th Birthday by Urging Rich to Help Poor". Fox News Channel. 18 July 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^Bingham, John (6 May 2008). "Hyde Park concert to mark Mandela's 90th". The Independent (London: Independent Print Limited). Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^Battersby 2011, pp. 594''597; Meredith 2010, p. 598.^"Blatter presents Mandela with a special FIFA World Cup Trophy". FIFA.com. Retrieved 5 December 2013^Battersby 2011, p. 600; Batty, David (11 July 2010). "Nelson Mandela attends World Cup closing ceremony". The Guardian (London). Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. ^"Nelson Mandela, South Africa's anti-apartheid icon, dies aged 95" The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 December 2013^Polgreen, Lydia (24 May 2013). "Messy Fight Over Mandela Trust Goes Public". New York Times. ^David Smith in Johannesburg. "South African courts step in over Mandela family burial row". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2013. ^Moreton, Cole. "Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla accused of grave tampering". Telegraph. Retrieved 5 July 2013. ^4 July 2013 at By Henriette Geldenhuys. "Affidavit points out Mandla's 'master plan'". IOL.co.za. Retrieved 5 July 2013. ^Battersby 2011, p. 607; "Nelson Mandela 'breathing on his own'". News 24. 18 January. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 30 January. ^Jon Gambrell (11 December 2012). "Mandela Has Lung Infection, South African Officials Say". The Huffington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2012. ; "Mandela Has Surgery for Gallstones". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2012. ^"Nelson Mandela, 94, responding positively to treatment in hospital | CTV News". Ctvnews.ca. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013. ^"Nelson Mandela arrives home in ambulance". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2013. ^"Nelson Mandela hospitalized in serious condition". CNN. 8 June 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013. ^"Nelson Mandela still in 'serious, but stable condition'". BBC News. Retrieved 11 June 2013. ^Walsh, Declan (23 June 2013). "Mandela's Condition Now Said to Be 'Critical'". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 June 2013. ^"Mandela's ambulance broke down, stranding him for 40 minutes". CBS News. Retrieved 22 June 2013. ^"Mandela's former bodyguard: 'Set him free'". CBS News. 15 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013. ^"Nelson Mandela's Condition Becomes Critical". Sky News. Retrieved 23 June 2013. ^Karimi, Faith; Norgaard, Kim (23 June 2013). "Nelson Mandela in critical condition, South Africa's presidency says". CNN. Retrieved 23 June 2013. ^"Nelson Mandela in critical condition". Al Jazeera. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013. ^Associated Press. "South Africa: Anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela's condition has turned critical". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013. ^By AFP 2 (26 June 2013). "Mandela wished a 'peaceful end' by Cape Town Archbishop". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2013. ^"Zuma Cancels Trip Amid Mandela Worry". ABC News. Retrieved 26 June 2013. ^"Report: Nelson Mandela on life support". UPI. Retrieved 27 June 2013. ^"Nelson Mandela 'in permanent vegetative state'". news.com.au. Retrieved 4 July 2013. ^"Nelson Mandela is in 'vegetative state' and life support 'should be switched off', say doctors". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 July 2013. ^Laing, Aislinn (7 July 2013). "Nelson Mandela family lawyer accused of exaggerating former president's ill health". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 September 2013. ^Laing, Aislinn (7 May 2013). "Nelson Mandela's doctors deny he was in 'permanent vegetative state'". Telegraph. Retrieved 5 July 2013. ^"Clarification on the health of former President Mandela". The Presidency. Retrieved 5 July 2013. ^"Mandela critical but responding to treatment, Zuma says". cnn.com. Retrieved 5 December 2013. ^"Nelson Mandela released from hospital". CNN. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013. ^"Mandela discharged from South Africa hospital". Al Jazeera. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013. ^ ab"South Africa's Nelson Mandela dies in Johannesburg". BBC News. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013. ^Polgreen, Lydia (5 December 2013). "Mandela's Death Leaves South Africa Without Its Moral Center". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 December 2013. ^Pillay, Verashni (6 December 2013). "Mandela's memorial service to be held on December 10". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2013. ^Vecchiatto, Paul; Stone, Setumo; Magubane, Khulekani (6 December 2013). "Nelson Mandela to be laid to rest on December 15". Business Day. Retrieved 6 December 2013. ^Sampson 2011, p. 582.^Sampson 2011, pp. 411, 498.^Meredith 2010, pp. 482''483.^Sampson 2011, pp. 431, 582.^Sampson 2011, p. 583.^Sampson 2011, pp. 431, 498; Smith 2010, p. 80^Battersby 2011, p. 599^Sampson 2011, pp. 432, 554.^Sampson 2011, pp. 582''583.^Sampson 2011, pp. 37, 584; Meredith 2010, p. 541.^Smith 2010, p. 231.^Sampson 2011, p. 433.^Battersby 2011, p. 605^Kalumba 1995, p. 162^Matisonn, John (28 June 2013). "Mandela's Graceful Departure A Hallmark of His Presidency". NPR. Retrieved 6 December 2013. ^Sampson 2011, p. 298.^Sampson 2011, p. 282.^Mandela 1994, p. 365; Sampson 2011, pp. 135''138.^Smith 2010, pp. 217''218.^Kalumba 1995, pp. 164''165^Sampson 2011, pp. 433''435.^Geoffrey York (16 April 2013). "South Africans express disgust as Mandela family members cash in on icon's name". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 28 June 2013. ^Jon Jeter (17 June 1999). "In S. Africa, a President Replaces an Icon; Mbeki Takes Over From Mandela, Nation's 'Saintly Man'". The Washington Post. '' via HighBeam Research(subscription required). Retrieved 3 February 2013. ^Sampson 2011, p. 246; Smith 2010, p. 147; Meredith 2010, p. 481.^"Madiba bids final farewell to his first wife". Independent Online. 8 May 2004. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2008. ^Andrew Quinn (16 April 2007). "Mandela's grandson becomes tribal chief, political heir". Reuters '' via HighBeam Research(subscription required). Retrieved 3 February 2013. ^ ab"Winnie Mandela". ANC. Archived from the original on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^"Nelson and Winnie Mandela divorce; Winnie fails to win $5 million settlement". Jet. 8 April 1996. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^"Swaziland prince and princess attend Boston University". WGBH Boston. 13 May 1987. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume II. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. 1980. pp. 217''218, 271, 320. ISBN 0-85011-029-7. ^"Daddy Stayed in Jail. That Was His Job'; Zenani Mandela's Life Without Father". The Washington Post. 8 November 1987. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^"Mandela daughter Zenani appointed Argentina ambassador". BBC News. 4 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013. ^"Mandela gets married on 80th birthday". CNN. 18 July 1998. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008. ^"Nelson Mandela to spend Christmas in S Africa hospital". BBC News. 24 December 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013. ^Meredith 2010, p. 565.^Fairbanks, Eve (26 August 2009). "Father Disfigure". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013. ^"Madiba conferred freedom of Johannesburg". Gauteng Provincial Government. 27 July 2004. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2008. ^"S. Africa renames Sandton Square as Nelson Mandela Square". Xinhua News Agency. 31 March 2004. Retrieved 28 October 2008. ^Stern, Jennifer (27 August 2008). "Long walk immortalised in bronze". Media Club South Africa. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2009. ^"The Nobel Peace Prize 1993". Nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2008. ^Battersby 2011, p. 601; "UN gives backing to 'Mandela Day'". BBC News. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2009. ^"President Honors Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom". The White House. 9 July 2002. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2008. ^"Canada presents Nelson Mandela with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal". Government of Canada. 23 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013. ^"Mandela to be honoured with Canadian citizenship". CBC News. 19 November 2001. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2008. ^ ab"How the awards have just kept flooding in". The Cape Times. '' via HighBeam Research(subscription required). 18 July 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2013. ^"Prizes: And the Winner Is...". Time. 8 May 1989. Retrieved 24 October 2012. ^"List of all Bharat Ratna award winners". NDTV. 21 January 2011. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013. ^"Mandela in Pakistan". The Independent (Independent Print Limited). 3 October 1992. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2010. ^"Statement on the Ataturk Award given to Nelson Mandela". African National Congress. 12 April 1992. Archived from the original on 1 October 2006. Retrieved 2 January 2007. ^"The Order of Merit". Royal Insight. November 2002. Archived from the original on 5 January 2005. Retrieved 26 October 2008. ^"Stevie Wonder Music Banned in South Africa". The New York Times. 27 March 1985. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2008. ^Drewett, Michael; Cloonan, Martin (2006). Popular Music Censorship in Africa. Ashgate Publishing. p. 30. ISBN 0-7546-5291-2. ^Guernsey, Otis L.; Sweet, Jeffrey; Kronenberger, Louis (21 May 2008). The Best Plays. University of Michigan. p. 347. ISBN 1-55783-040-1. ^Liz McGregor (10 May 2004). "Brenda Fassie". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2013. ^Lee, Carmen (16 June 2003). "20 Years Ago Today". Time. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2008. ^Lamb, Bill. "Nickelback '' If Everyone Cared". About. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2008. ^Trussell, Jeff. "Freedom Hero: Nelson Mandela". The My Hero Project. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2008. ^"AB de Villiers '' The Fan Site". Abdevilliersfan.com. 2 August 2010. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2010. ^"Zahara releases touching tribute to Mandela". City Press. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013. ^"Zahara dedicates her latest release to frail Madiba". Dispatch Online. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013. ^"IMDB "Mandela" (TV) (1987)". Retrieved 6 December 2013. ^Keller, Bill. "Mandela and de Klerk (1997)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2008. ^"The Color of Freedom (2007)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013. ^Dowell, Ben (11 March 2009). "BBC commissions Winnie Mandela drama". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2009. ^Battersby 2011, p. 601; Keller, Bill (15 August 2008). "Entering the Scrum". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2013. ^Derschowitz, Jessica (19 July 2013). "Idris Elba plays Nelson Mandela in "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" trailer". CBS News. Retrieved 21 August 2013. BibliographyBattersby, John (2011). "Afterword: Living Legend, Living Statue". In Anthony Sampson. Mandela: The Authorised Biography. London: HarperCollins. pp. 587''610. ISBN 978-0007437979. Ellis, Stephen (2011). "The Genesis of the ANC's Armed Struggle in South Africa 1948''1961". Journal of Southern African Studies37 (4): 657''676. doi:10.1080/03057070.2011.592659. Guiloineau, Jean; Rowe, Joseph (2002). Nelson Mandela: The Early Life of Rolihlahla Mandiba. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books. pp. 9''26. ISBN 1-55643-417-0. Herbst, Jeffrey (2003). "The Nature of South African Democracy: Political Dominance and Economic Inequality". In Theodore K. Rabb, Ezra N. Suleiman. The Making and Unmaking of Democracy: Lessons from History and World Politics. London: Routledge. pp. 206''224. ISBN 978-0415933810. Mafela, Munzhedzi James (2008). "The Revelation of African Culture in "Long Walk to Freedom"". In Anna Haebich, Frances Peters-Little, Peter Read. Indigenous Biography and Autobiography. Sydney: Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University. Houston, Gregory; Muthien, Yvonne (2000). "Democracy and Governance in Transition". In Yvonne Muthien, Meshack Khosa and Bernard Magubane. Democracy and Governance Review: Mandela's Legacy 1994''1999. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council Press. pp. 37''68. ISBN 978-0796919700. Kalumba, Kibujjo M. (1995). "The Political Philosophy of Nelson Mandela: A Primer". Journal of Social Philosophy26 (3): 161''171. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9833.1995.tb00092.x. Mandela, Nelson (1994). Long Walk to Freedom Volume I: 1918''1962. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0754087236. Mandela, Nelson (2004) [1994]. Long Walk to Freedom Volume II: 1962''1994 (large print edition). London: BBC AudioBooks and Time Warner Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0754087243. Muthien, Yvonne; Khosa, Meshack; Magubane, Bernard (2000). "Democracy and Governance in Transition". In Yvonne Muthien, Meshack Khosa and Bernard Magubane. Democracy and Governance Review: Mandela's Legacy 1994''1999. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council Press. pp. 361''374. ISBN 978-0796919700. Meredith, Martin (2010). Mandela: A Biography. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1586488321. Sampson, Anthony (2011) [1999]. Mandela: The Authorised Biography. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0007437979. Smith, David James (2010). Young Mandela. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0297855248. External linksPersondataNameMandela, Nelson RolihlahlaAlternative namesMandela, RolihlahlaShort descriptionSouth African politician and anti-apartheid fighter, President of South Africa (1994''1999)Date of birth1918-07-18Place of birthMvezo, Cape Province, Union of South AfricaDate of death2013-12-05Place of deathJohannesburg, South Africa
Today's God Awful Column From The Washington Post
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The Politics Blog with Charles P. Pierce RSS Feed
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 16:14
  Since the death of Nelson Mandela is pretty much going to devour the news cycle over the next few days, we should be especially watchful for evidence that the courtier press is up to its old tricks under the cover of international mourning. Come on down, Ruth Marcus, scourge of potty-mouthed children everywhere, notably weepy faux-centrist, and one of Fred Hiatt's Washington Post op-ed troopers of whom it at least can be said she does not monger war nor enthuse about torture as much as do some of her colleagues. Today, Ruth is very upset that, in his speech on income inequality, which many people counted as something of a triumph, in its rhetoric at least, the president missed a chance to walk down the golden road of The Third Way.
  Now for the tough love. On the debt and entitlement spending, Obama did not only miss an opportunity - he kicked it in the teeth. "When it comes to our budget, we should not be stuck in a stale debate from two years ago or three years ago," he said. "A relentlessly growing deficit of opportunity is a bigger threat to our future than our rapidly shrinking fiscal deficit." Yes, the deficit is shrinking, but Obama's snappy language evades the bigger point: Dealing with the long-term debt and entitlement spending should be a progressive goal. Over time, a debt of such magnitude slows the economic growth that the president correctly identifies as an essential element of solving the inequality problem. It diverts scarce resources from investing in America's future to paying interest to foreigners. And speaking of resources, the growing claims on the budget of programs for the elderly inevitably pit the nation's most vulnerable children - the very ones who the president worries are being denied the American Dream - against its seniors. Curtailing Medicare and Social Security costs in a way that protects the neediest beneficiaries ought to be a national priority. Too bad the president couldn't - wouldn't - rouse himself to say so. Speaking truth to power is easier when the power is not in your own party, and when your own power is at such a low ebb.
  They're never going to let this go. They are like dogs with a chew toy. This one touches all the bases. "I'm a liberal so everything I have always believed has been doomed by a glitchy website." In the long run, Teh Deficit will eat us in our beds. Social Security and Medicare always are lumped together, even though the former does not have anything to do with the federal budget. The best thing any Democratic president can do is reject his party's most fundamental difference with the lunatics on the other side. (You will note that Marcus treats Paul Ryan, that great fake, much more gently, wrapping him tightly in her arms against the nasty old president's nasty old citations of things Ryan actually has said.) The problem with today's youth is not that they can't find work, or that student loan scams are burying them under debt, but that some greedy old person somewhere is making $1200 a month. Kicking granny onto the ice floe is "speaking truth to power." And Ruth Marcus is a pink balloon.
  There are some signs -- not many of them, and some of them are fainter than others -- that this particular Green Room consensus may be breaking down in our politics, and that members of our courtier press like Ms. Marcus may have to think new thoughts again. The other day, I was heartened when the Third Way clowns came after Senator Professor Warren and, instead of appealing to them to "open a dialogue," she demanded to know who funded their organization and exactly how big a bunch of corporate 'ho's they were. That is a new way of doing business. Ruth Marcus can lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.
Japan's Prime Minister Wants New Secrecy Laws; What's a Secret? Anything He Wants To Be Secret
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 16:12
  I would like to use the word shocking, but hardly anything any government does anymore is shocking.
  The best I can hope for is Japanese citizens are disgusted enough to boot their fascist, economically illiterate prime minister before its too late.
  Unfortunately, I highly doubt that happens.
  Please consider Japan's Abe Seeks to Pass Secrecy Bill That Sapped Support
  Japan's government will move today to pass a bill granting it sweeping powers to declare state secrets, a measure pushed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to boost ties with the U.S. even as it sapped his public support at home.
  The bill, which is backed by the U.S. and forms part of Abe's broader push to strengthen Japan's defense policy in the face of China's military assertiveness, would stiffen penalties for bureaucrats who leak secrets and journalists who publish them. It would give government officials, rather than the courts, the power to define what constitutes a state secret under categories from defense to diplomacy, terrorism and safety threats.
  The measure, criticized by much of Japanese media, has prompted rare public protests. Demonstrators gathered outside parliament last night and organizers called for more protests today, while the ending of debate on the law sparked an outcry from opposition lawmakers.
  The approval rating of Abe's government fell 4 percentage points from a month ago to 49 percent, the first time it dropped below 50 percent since Abe's election almost a year ago, according to a recent poll by the Asahi newspaper.
  Half of those surveyed opposed the bill that punishes leaks of government information with jail terms of as much as 10 years. The newspaper polled 1,001 people by phone Nov. 30 to Dec. 1 and didn't give a margin of error.
  Public criticism heightened after Shigeru Ishiba, secretary general of the LDP, wrote a blog post Nov. 29 likening those who demonstrate against the bill to terrorists.
  U.S. officials have supported Abe's push for collective self-defense and said they welcome the secrecy bill.
  US War-Mongers Support AbeAlso disgusting (and also not surprising) is support for secrecy laws from US warmongers and NSA defenders.
  Please notice that the secretary general of the LDP, wrote a blog post Nov. 29 likening those who demonstrate against the bill to terrorists.
  Does that remind you of anything?
  Goering at the Nuremberg Trials
  Please recall what Reichsmarschall Hermann Wilhelm G¶ring (in English his name is also spelled as Hermann Goering) Nazi founder of the Gestapo, Head of the Luftwaffe, said at the Nuremberg Trials.
  Here is a clip of the interview in Goering's cell in prison, after the war.
  G¶ring: Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.
  Gilbert: There is one difference. In a democracy, the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.
  G¶ring: Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.
  And now we are told by charismatic politicians that we are under attack. We must give up our constitutional rights to prevent further attacks. [And we need more secrecy too.]Adding an additional note about secrecy, the above is a portion of my November 1, post What's the Greatest Threat to Our Constitutional Rights?
  Mike "Mish" Shedlockhttp://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
The Defense Warning Network
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Secrecy News
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 16:10
  Categories: Military Doctrine, Resources
  The structure and functions of the Defense Warning Network were outlined in a new directive issued yesterday by the Department of Defense.
  The mission of the Defense Warning Network is to provide notice ''of potential threats posed by adversaries, political and economic instability, failed or failing states, and any other emerging challenges that could affect the United States or its interests worldwide.'' See The Defense Warning Network, DoD Directive 3115.16, December 5, 2013.
The little black box bringing the internet to Kenya
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 16:08
  The little black box bringing the internet to Kenya48 minutes ago by James Smith, The ConversationSmall but powerful, the BRCK brings the web to those hard to reach places. Credit: BRCK
  The BRCK is, in a sense, just like the archetypal little black box. It does what you need and you don't have to worry about its inner workings.
  The team developing it has a simple aim '' to extend and stabilise internet access in Africa. The plan is to keep people connected when the realities of weak infrastructure, such as regular power outages and a map of internet terrestrial cabling that looks like a colonial map of Africa circa 1800 '' means that is by no means a given.
  The BRCK is a ruggedised modem and wireless access point. It mops up power from mains or battery as required; it hops from Ethernet to wi-fi to 3G or 4G networks, depending on what is available. It can be configured and adapted remotely and has the potential to help solve problems across the continent and beyond, wherever continuous flows of information are required. It can help with systematically recording disease diagnoses or can trigger alerts when technologies such as water pumps fail.
  In many respects the BRCK is the antithesis of Google's Project Loon, which proposes to literally float an entirely new hi-tech infrastructure for Africa using an armada of balloons that bounce internet signals around. This is incredibly ambitious '' possibly irredeemably so.
  The BRCK is grassroots. It can be used to incrementally extend what connection is already there, black box by black box, access point by access point. But what is remarkable about the BRCK is not what it is or even what it can do, but how it came to be.
  Silicon Kenya
  Many western countries are trying to recreate the success of Silicon Valley on their own shores by investing in regions of hi-tech specialism. Despite arguments from mainly right-wing politicians that the state stifles entrepreneurship, there is considerable evidence to show the role of the state is crucial for real innovation.
  A BRCK in its natural habitat. Credit: BRCK
  What is happening in Kenya is different. A small cluster of incubation and innovation is emerging that relies on open source software, digital tools and technology such as the BRCK. It is happening below the radar of the state and perhaps even in spite of it.
  In many ways it has to be so. The wherewithal of the state to provide the infrastructure, incentives and regulation necessary to support hi-tech innovation is limited. Kenya simply has other more pressing priorities.
  Luckily, this is an industry that is not afraid to step up. Its genesis can be traced to the efforts of Erik Hersman, David Kobia and Juliana Rotich to build a crowdsourced platform, called Ushahidi ("testimony" in Swahili) to map post-electoral violence in Kenya in 2008. The platform led to the opening of the iHub in 2010, a non-profit innovation hub where programmers, entrepreneurs and investors can build capacity, communicate and collaborate.
  The iHub is at the core of a range of partner initiatives, spinoffs and startups. Essentially, Kenya is building its cluster from the bottom up, expanding capacity as it goes. This is where the BRCK has been developed, and now similar hubs are being set up in neighbouring countries, such as Uganda.
  Innovation needs investment and typically investment capital has been hard to come by in developing countries. But the BRCK has captured the imagination of crowdfunding enthusiasts. It rapidly exceeded its original kickstarter target and is now going through a round of attracting further investment. This new type of potentially more democratic, decentralised funding is vital in the absence of the sort of investment capital that can be found in wealthier countries.
  Smartphone ownership in Africa is expanding rapidly, innovation and ideas are everywhere and there is limitless appetite for information about health, agriculture and development. But infrastructure is fraying around the edges long before it has even reached across the continent. There isn't enough funding, it is difficult to source components and bring them back to Africa and there is a lack of experts to help out. BRCK and projects of its kind help generate a sense that these problems are surmountable by Africans, using African developed technology.
  Explore further:Google eyes emerging markets networks
  This story is published courtesy of The Conversation (under Creative Commons-Attribution/No derivatives).
  More from Physics Forums - General Engineering
  Related Stories
  S.Africa behind other African states in Internet access May 29, 2012
  Internet penetration in South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse, is low compared to other leading economies in Africa due to high broadband cost and a lack of infrastructure, a study said Tuesday.
  Google eyes emerging markets networks May 24, 2013
  Google has become deeply involved in a series of projects to build and operate wireless networks in emerging markets including sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, a report said Friday.
  Africa is land of opportunity for Microsoft Mar 21, 2013
  When Microsoft announced recently that it was starting a big push to grow its market in Africa, it cited the continent's big growth opportunities, calling Africa a "game changer in the global economy."
  Polio cases found in Kenya and Somalia, WHO says May 22, 2013
  The World Health Organization says the Horn of Africa is experiencing an outbreak of polio with cases confirmed in Kenya and Somalia.
  Wind power blows into Africa May 26, 2013
  Giant turbines churning in the wind are a rare sight in Africa'--but that will not be the case for long. Until now the meagre amounts of investment in African wind energy have predominantly come from governments ...
  Psychiatrists decry mental health care in Africa Jul 18, 2013
  (AP)'--The drugs given to many of Africa's psychiatric patients are often administered to keep the patients asleep so the hurried nurses can get some rest, and those who can't sleep may have their hands or feet tied up.
  Recommended for youAT&T reduces fees for people who bring own devices 20 hours ago
  AT&T is reducing monthly fees for people who pay for their own devices.
  New Zealand's plan for faster Internet hits snag Dec 05, 2013
  A plan by the New Zealand government to upgrade the country's notoriously slow Internet service has hit a snag after accountants confirmed the main contractor is facing financial problems.
  China issues 4G mobile licences Dec 04, 2013
  China has issued licences for "fourth generation", or 4G, mobile phone services, the government said Wednesday, in a move to boost economic growth and job creation.
  Broadband in schools gets boost from tech gurus Dec 04, 2013
  The effort to get high-speed broadband in every school is getting a boost from the philanthropy of two technology gurus'--Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates.
  Low-cost Free stirs up French mobile market Dec 03, 2013
  Low-cost telecom company Free stirred up France's mobile phone market on Tuesday by announcing an offer that includes 4G data services without additional cost to the customer.
  Improving radio frequency efficiency Dec 03, 2013
  Our communication networks have to process constantly increasing volumes of data, pushing them to the limits of their capacity. An analyzer makes it possible to test new, efficient transmission formats quickly ...
  User comments : 0More news stories
  Tool detects password vulnerabilityYou could think of it as a brainteaser: Create a sequence of eight or more characters that includes at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, a digit, and a symbol, that doesn't contain any words ...
  The heat is on... or off: Having the sense to cut office energy billsOffice buildings have an enormous carbon footprint, but often energy is being wasted maintaining empty rooms and spaces at a comfortable temperature. Research to be published in the International Journal of Communication Ne ...
  Structural batteries '' a unique compromise for lighter electric carsThe weight of the battery is one of the largest obstacles to overcome for electric and hybrid vehicles. By using the battery as part of the chassis significant weight reductions are possible. In a recently ...
  EU raids electronics companies in prices probeEuropean Union antitrust regulators have raided the offices of several companies that make and sell consumer electronics and domestic appliances, in an investigation into whether they artificially boosted the prices of goods ...
  Ultrathin "diagnostic skin" allows continuous patient monitoringIt is likely that at your next visit to the doctor, a medical practitioner will start by taking your temperature. This has been part of medical practice for so long that we may see it as antiquated, with ...
  Researchers find giant convection cells on the Sun(Phys.org) '--A trio of researchers with affiliations with NASA and several U.S. institutions has found the elusive giant convection cells suspected for nearly a half century to exist on and within the sun. ...
  The brain's function in perseverancePerseverance is a quality that plays a large role in the success or failure of many pursuits. It has never been entirely clear why this trait seems more apparent in some people than others, but a new piece ...
  Smashing protons into lead ions creates quark-gluon plasma that behaves like liquidThe Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland is best known for its discovery of the Higgs boson, formed during collisions between bunches of protons ...
  Reevaluation of 2005 measurement deepens mystery of neutron lifetime discrepancy(Phys.org) '--A team of researchers from a variety of institutions in the U.S. has reevaluated a measurement made of the lifetime of a neutron back in 2005 and in doing so has reduced the uncertainty of the ...
  Women's age affects every stage of IVFA woman's age affects the outcome of every single step of IVF treatment, according to a University of Aberdeen study published today in PLOS ONE. This is the first study of its kind to break down failure rates ...
  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, Science X network
  The little black box bringing the internet to Kenya48 minutes ago by James Smith, The ConversationSmall but powerful, the BRCK brings the web to those hard to reach places. Credit: BRCK
  The BRCK is, in a sense, just like the archetypal little black box. It does what you need and you don't have to worry about its inner workings.
  The team developing it has a simple aim '' to extend and stabilise internet access in Africa. The plan is to keep people connected when the realities of weak infrastructure, such as regular power outages and a map of internet terrestrial cabling that looks like a colonial map of Africa circa 1800 '' means that is by no means a given.
  The BRCK is a ruggedised modem and wireless access point. It mops up power from mains or battery as required; it hops from Ethernet to wi-fi to 3G or 4G networks, depending on what is available. It can be configured and adapted remotely and has the potential to help solve problems across the continent and beyond, wherever continuous flows of information are required. It can help with systematically recording disease diagnoses or can trigger alerts when technologies such as water pumps fail.
  In many respects the BRCK is the antithesis of Google's Project Loon, which proposes to literally float an entirely new hi-tech infrastructure for Africa using an armada of balloons that bounce internet signals around. This is incredibly ambitious '' possibly irredeemably so.
  The BRCK is grassroots. It can be used to incrementally extend what connection is already there, black box by black box, access point by access point. But what is remarkable about the BRCK is not what it is or even what it can do, but how it came to be.
  Silicon Kenya
  Many western countries are trying to recreate the success of Silicon Valley on their own shores by investing in regions of hi-tech specialism. Despite arguments from mainly right-wing politicians that the state stifles entrepreneurship, there is considerable evidence to show the role of the state is crucial for real innovation.
  A BRCK in its natural habitat. Credit: BRCK
  What is happening in Kenya is different. A small cluster of incubation and innovation is emerging that relies on open source software, digital tools and technology such as the BRCK. It is happening below the radar of the state and perhaps even in spite of it.
  In many ways it has to be so. The wherewithal of the state to provide the infrastructure, incentives and regulation necessary to support hi-tech innovation is limited. Kenya simply has other more pressing priorities.
  Luckily, this is an industry that is not afraid to step up. Its genesis can be traced to the efforts of Erik Hersman, David Kobia and Juliana Rotich to build a crowdsourced platform, called Ushahidi ("testimony" in Swahili) to map post-electoral violence in Kenya in 2008. The platform led to the opening of the iHub in 2010, a non-profit innovation hub where programmers, entrepreneurs and investors can build capacity, communicate and collaborate.
  The iHub is at the core of a range of partner initiatives, spinoffs and startups. Essentially, Kenya is building its cluster from the bottom up, expanding capacity as it goes. This is where the BRCK has been developed, and now similar hubs are being set up in neighbouring countries, such as Uganda.
  Innovation needs investment and typically investment capital has been hard to come by in developing countries. But the BRCK has captured the imagination of crowdfunding enthusiasts. It rapidly exceeded its original kickstarter target and is now going through a round of attracting further investment. This new type of potentially more democratic, decentralised funding is vital in the absence of the sort of investment capital that can be found in wealthier countries.
  Smartphone ownership in Africa is expanding rapidly, innovation and ideas are everywhere and there is limitless appetite for information about health, agriculture and development. But infrastructure is fraying around the edges long before it has even reached across the continent. There isn't enough funding, it is difficult to source components and bring them back to Africa and there is a lack of experts to help out. BRCK and projects of its kind help generate a sense that these problems are surmountable by Africans, using African developed technology.
  Explore further:Google eyes emerging markets networks
  This story is published courtesy of The Conversation (under Creative Commons-Attribution/No derivatives).
  More from Physics Forums - General Engineering
  Related Stories
  S.Africa behind other African states in Internet access May 29, 2012
  Internet penetration in South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse, is low compared to other leading economies in Africa due to high broadband cost and a lack of infrastructure, a study said Tuesday.
  Google eyes emerging markets networks May 24, 2013
  Google has become deeply involved in a series of projects to build and operate wireless networks in emerging markets including sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, a report said Friday.
  Africa is land of opportunity for Microsoft Mar 21, 2013
  When Microsoft announced recently that it was starting a big push to grow its market in Africa, it cited the continent's big growth opportunities, calling Africa a "game changer in the global economy."
  Polio cases found in Kenya and Somalia, WHO says May 22, 2013
  The World Health Organization says the Horn of Africa is experiencing an outbreak of polio with cases confirmed in Kenya and Somalia.
  Wind power blows into Africa May 26, 2013
  Giant turbines churning in the wind are a rare sight in Africa'--but that will not be the case for long. Until now the meagre amounts of investment in African wind energy have predominantly come from governments ...
  Psychiatrists decry mental health care in Africa Jul 18, 2013
  (AP)'--The drugs given to many of Africa's psychiatric patients are often administered to keep the patients asleep so the hurried nurses can get some rest, and those who can't sleep may have their hands or feet tied up.
  Recommended for youAT&T reduces fees for people who bring own devices 20 hours ago
  AT&T is reducing monthly fees for people who pay for their own devices.
  New Zealand's plan for faster Internet hits snag Dec 05, 2013
  A plan by the New Zealand government to upgrade the country's notoriously slow Internet service has hit a snag after accountants confirmed the main contractor is facing financial problems.
  China issues 4G mobile licences Dec 04, 2013
  China has issued licences for "fourth generation", or 4G, mobile phone services, the government said Wednesday, in a move to boost economic growth and job creation.
  Broadband in schools gets boost from tech gurus Dec 04, 2013
  The effort to get high-speed broadband in every school is getting a boost from the philanthropy of two technology gurus'--Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates.
  Low-cost Free stirs up French mobile market Dec 03, 2013
  Low-cost telecom company Free stirred up France's mobile phone market on Tuesday by announcing an offer that includes 4G data services without additional cost to the customer.
  Improving radio frequency efficiency Dec 03, 2013
  Our communication networks have to process constantly increasing volumes of data, pushing them to the limits of their capacity. An analyzer makes it possible to test new, efficient transmission formats quickly ...
  User comments : 0More news stories
  Tool detects password vulnerabilityYou could think of it as a brainteaser: Create a sequence of eight or more characters that includes at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, a digit, and a symbol, that doesn't contain any words ...
  The heat is on... or off: Having the sense to cut office energy billsOffice buildings have an enormous carbon footprint, but often energy is being wasted maintaining empty rooms and spaces at a comfortable temperature. Research to be published in the International Journal of Communication Ne ...
  Structural batteries '' a unique compromise for lighter electric carsThe weight of the battery is one of the largest obstacles to overcome for electric and hybrid vehicles. By using the battery as part of the chassis significant weight reductions are possible. In a recently ...
  EU raids electronics companies in prices probeEuropean Union antitrust regulators have raided the offices of several companies that make and sell consumer electronics and domestic appliances, in an investigation into whether they artificially boosted the prices of goods ...
  Ultrathin "diagnostic skin" allows continuous patient monitoringIt is likely that at your next visit to the doctor, a medical practitioner will start by taking your temperature. This has been part of medical practice for so long that we may see it as antiquated, with ...
  Researchers find giant convection cells on the Sun(Phys.org) '--A trio of researchers with affiliations with NASA and several U.S. institutions has found the elusive giant convection cells suspected for nearly a half century to exist on and within the sun. ...
  The brain's function in perseverancePerseverance is a quality that plays a large role in the success or failure of many pursuits. It has never been entirely clear why this trait seems more apparent in some people than others, but a new piece ...
  Smashing protons into lead ions creates quark-gluon plasma that behaves like liquidThe Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland is best known for its discovery of the Higgs boson, formed during collisions between bunches of protons ...
  Reevaluation of 2005 measurement deepens mystery of neutron lifetime discrepancy(Phys.org) '--A team of researchers from a variety of institutions in the U.S. has reevaluated a measurement made of the lifetime of a neutron back in 2005 and in doing so has reduced the uncertainty of the ...
  Women's age affects every stage of IVFA woman's age affects the outcome of every single step of IVF treatment, according to a University of Aberdeen study published today in PLOS ONE. This is the first study of its kind to break down failure rates ...
  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, Science X network
The gene sequencing that everyone can afford in future
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 16:06
  The gene sequencing that everyone can afford in future1 hour agoThis is a typical nanopore sequencing process. Credit: Science China Press
  DNA sequencing is important to science. While Professor Qian Linmao and his group from Tribology Research Institute, Southwest Jiaotong University, were working on the optimization of the third-generation sequencing technique based on nanopores, they found that long-chain DNA with low salt concentration is more conducive to the nanopore sequencing process. Their paper, "Effect of chain length on the conformation and friction behaviour of DNA," was published in Science China Technological Sciences.
  When Watson and Crick proposed the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, a significant era was opened for a new stage of life sciences. Since the analysis of DNA sequences can help prevent and treat many genetic diseases, DNA sequencing technology has been a key sector of modern biological research. The Human Genome Project was proposed in the 1970s, taking more than 10 years and $1 billion to complete. In 2005, second-generation sequencing technology was developed, by which the sequencing period for an individual human genome could be reduced to only one week. In recent years, third-generation sequencing based on nanopores has been explored as a potential candidate for achieving the ''$1000 genome'' goal set by the US National Institutes of Health.
  In a typical nanopore sequencing process, when a DNA molecule passes through a nanopore, a characteristic blockade ionic current can be detected to determine the structure of the DNA molecule (shown in the image). The process is accurate, rapid, and low-cost. Nevertheless, there are several challenges in nanopore sequencing. For example, the coiled structure of a DNA molecule makes it difficult for one end of a DNA molecule to reach into a nanopore, and the high translocation speed makes it extremely difficult to distinguish the desired current signal. It is essential to solve these problems and improve nanopore sequencing techniques.
  In August 2013, Professor Qian and his team reported that low salt concentration is more conducive to the sequencing process, since it can not only make DNA molecules easier to reach into the nanopore through extended conformation, but also reduces the high friction between the DNA molecule and the wall of nanopore. In the present study, the team confirmed that, with the increase of chain length, the DNA molecule became more extended, which can make DNA molecules pass through the nanopore readily. Additionally, the effect of chain length on the friction of DNA was insignificant under low normal load, which indicated that the nanopore sequencing technique was not restricted by the chain length of DNA molecules. In summary, long-chain DNA with low salt concentration is more conducive to the third-generation nanopore sequencing technique and the expectation of longer reads could be realized in the future.
  "In the future, everyone could afford to carry out their own gene sequencing," Qian says, "Based on our results, the nanopore sequencing technique is not restricted by the chain length of DNA molecules. It may improve the efficiency of sequencing, which means that the cost of gene sequencing could be further reduced."
  On the strength of these findings, the researchers are beginning an extensive project to optimize the parameters of third-generation sequencing. The results will benefit the development of third-generation sequencing, but the benefits will likely extend further, according to Qian.
  "There is much more beyond optimization of the nanopore sequencing," Qian says. "A lot of basic research needs to be done and we will work on it."
  Explore further:New system to improve DNA sequencing
  More information: Wang M, Cui S X, Yun B J, Qian L M. Effect of chain length on the conformation and friction behaviour of DNA. SCI CHINA Tech Sci, 2013 Vol. 56 (12): 2927-2933. tech.scichina.com:8082/sciEe/EN/abstract/abstract512538.shtml
  More from Physics Forums - Biology
  Related Stories
  New system to improve DNA sequencing Apr 03, 2013
  (Phys.org) '--A sensing system developed at Cambridge is being commercialised in the UK for use in rapid, low-cost DNA sequencing, which would make the prediction and diagnosis of disease more efficient, ...
  Paper shows enzyme-controlled movement of DNA polymer through a nanopore Sep 26, 2010
  Research published this week in Nature Nanotechnology shows a new method of enzyme-controlled movement of a single strand of DNA through a protein nanopore. The paper, by researchers at the University of California Santa ...
  Nanopore opens new cellular doorway for drug transport Oct 23, 2013
  A living cell is built with barriers to keep things out '' and researchers are constantly trying to find ways to smuggle molecules in.'¬ 'ªProfessor Giovanni Maglia (Biochemistry, Molecular and Structural ...
  Improved decoding of DNA for custom medical treatments Nov 08, 2013
  One day, doctors will be able to create custom medical treatment plans based on a patient's DNA, pinpointing the root of a patient's illness and making sure treatment will not cause a fatal allergic reaction. ...
  Harvard's graphene DNA sequencing licensed Mar 11, 2011
  Oxford Nanopore Technologies today announced an exclusive agreement with Harvard University's Office of Technology Development for the development of graphene for DNA sequencing. Graphene is a robust, single ...
  Researchers improve the nanopore-based technology for detecting DNA molecules Nov 17, 2013
  If we wanted to count the number of people in a crowd, we could make on the fly estimates, very likely to be imprecise, or we could ask each person to pass through a turnstile. The latter resembles the model ...
  Recommended for you
  Turning algae into biofuels 40 minutes ago
  Pecos is usually egg-frying hot, bone dry and much of the groundwater is brackish, but Texas A&M AgriLife Research personnel know the area is prime real estate for conducting algae research, something they've ...
  Ramping up pterostilbene in crops 3 hours ago
  A team of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists has developed a way to boost production of a beneficial plant compound called pterostilbene.
  New genetic research finds shark, human proteins stunningly similar 19 hours ago
  Despite widespread fascination with sharks, the world's oldest ocean predators have long been a genetic mystery. The first deep dive into a great white shark's genetic code has fished up big surprises behind ...
  New method of DNA editing allows synthetic biologists to unlock secrets of a bacterial genome 22 hours ago
  A group of University of Illinois researchers, led by Centennial Chair Professor of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Huimin Zhao, has demonstrated the use of an innovative DNA engineering technique ...
  Crop-infecting virus uses aphids as carrier Dec 05, 2013
  (Phys.org) '--University of Cambridge researchers have shown that viruses use aphids as pawns, discouraging the insects from permanently settling on already-infected crops and using this forced migration ...
  The first decade: Team reports on US trials of bioenergy grasses Dec 04, 2013
  The first long-term U.S. field trials of Miscanthus x giganteus, a towering perennial grass used in bioenergy production, reveal that its exceptional yields, though reduced somewhat after five years of gro ...
  User comments : 0More news stories
  Functional diversity in bacterial defense mechanism against viral invasionBacteria may lack a true immune system, but this does not leave them defenseless against bacteriophage viruses and other pathogens. A system of genomic sequence elements called clustered regularly interspaced ...
  Valuable, eco-friendly Norwegian woolWool production in Norway has been documented to be more environmentally sound than in other countries. From Norwegian wool, a wide variety of pure, safe materials can be made for use in clothing, textiles, ...
  Turning algae into biofuelsPecos is usually egg-frying hot, bone dry and much of the groundwater is brackish, but Texas A&M AgriLife Research personnel know the area is prime real estate for conducting algae research, something they've ...
  Sandcastle-building fish offer evolution clue(Phys.org) '--In Lake Malawi, East Africa, there are around 200 different species of cichlid fish that once or twice a year build large sand structures (known as bowers) on which the fish mate. Each different ...
  Gene immigration continues despite fragmented landscapesHuman activity like clearing land for agriculture and mining does not threaten the ability of some plants to share genes via pollen carried by birds.
  Researchers find giant convection cells on the Sun(Phys.org) '--A trio of researchers with affiliations with NASA and several U.S. institutions has found the elusive giant convection cells suspected for nearly a half century to exist on and within the sun. ...
  The brain's function in perseverancePerseverance is a quality that plays a large role in the success or failure of many pursuits. It has never been entirely clear why this trait seems more apparent in some people than others, but a new piece ...
  Smashing protons into lead ions creates quark-gluon plasma that behaves like liquidThe Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland is best known for its discovery of the Higgs boson, formed during collisions between bunches of protons ...
  Reevaluation of 2005 measurement deepens mystery of neutron lifetime discrepancy(Phys.org) '--A team of researchers from a variety of institutions in the U.S. has reevaluated a measurement made of the lifetime of a neutron back in 2005 and in doing so has reduced the uncertainty of the ...
  Women's age affects every stage of IVFA woman's age affects the outcome of every single step of IVF treatment, according to a University of Aberdeen study published today in PLOS ONE. This is the first study of its kind to break down failure rates ...
  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, Science X network
  The gene sequencing that everyone can afford in future1 hour agoThis is a typical nanopore sequencing process. Credit: Science China Press
  DNA sequencing is important to science. While Professor Qian Linmao and his group from Tribology Research Institute, Southwest Jiaotong University, were working on the optimization of the third-generation sequencing technique based on nanopores, they found that long-chain DNA with low salt concentration is more conducive to the nanopore sequencing process. Their paper, "Effect of chain length on the conformation and friction behaviour of DNA," was published in Science China Technological Sciences.
  When Watson and Crick proposed the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, a significant era was opened for a new stage of life sciences. Since the analysis of DNA sequences can help prevent and treat many genetic diseases, DNA sequencing technology has been a key sector of modern biological research. The Human Genome Project was proposed in the 1970s, taking more than 10 years and $1 billion to complete. In 2005, second-generation sequencing technology was developed, by which the sequencing period for an individual human genome could be reduced to only one week. In recent years, third-generation sequencing based on nanopores has been explored as a potential candidate for achieving the ''$1000 genome'' goal set by the US National Institutes of Health.
  In a typical nanopore sequencing process, when a DNA molecule passes through a nanopore, a characteristic blockade ionic current can be detected to determine the structure of the DNA molecule (shown in the image). The process is accurate, rapid, and low-cost. Nevertheless, there are several challenges in nanopore sequencing. For example, the coiled structure of a DNA molecule makes it difficult for one end of a DNA molecule to reach into a nanopore, and the high translocation speed makes it extremely difficult to distinguish the desired current signal. It is essential to solve these problems and improve nanopore sequencing techniques.
  In August 2013, Professor Qian and his team reported that low salt concentration is more conducive to the sequencing process, since it can not only make DNA molecules easier to reach into the nanopore through extended conformation, but also reduces the high friction between the DNA molecule and the wall of nanopore. In the present study, the team confirmed that, with the increase of chain length, the DNA molecule became more extended, which can make DNA molecules pass through the nanopore readily. Additionally, the effect of chain length on the friction of DNA was insignificant under low normal load, which indicated that the nanopore sequencing technique was not restricted by the chain length of DNA molecules. In summary, long-chain DNA with low salt concentration is more conducive to the third-generation nanopore sequencing technique and the expectation of longer reads could be realized in the future.
  "In the future, everyone could afford to carry out their own gene sequencing," Qian says, "Based on our results, the nanopore sequencing technique is not restricted by the chain length of DNA molecules. It may improve the efficiency of sequencing, which means that the cost of gene sequencing could be further reduced."
  On the strength of these findings, the researchers are beginning an extensive project to optimize the parameters of third-generation sequencing. The results will benefit the development of third-generation sequencing, but the benefits will likely extend further, according to Qian.
  "There is much more beyond optimization of the nanopore sequencing," Qian says. "A lot of basic research needs to be done and we will work on it."
  Explore further:New system to improve DNA sequencing
  More information: Wang M, Cui S X, Yun B J, Qian L M. Effect of chain length on the conformation and friction behaviour of DNA. SCI CHINA Tech Sci, 2013 Vol. 56 (12): 2927-2933. tech.scichina.com:8082/sciEe/EN/abstract/abstract512538.shtml
  More from Physics Forums - Biology
  Related Stories
  New system to improve DNA sequencing Apr 03, 2013
  (Phys.org) '--A sensing system developed at Cambridge is being commercialised in the UK for use in rapid, low-cost DNA sequencing, which would make the prediction and diagnosis of disease more efficient, ...
  Paper shows enzyme-controlled movement of DNA polymer through a nanopore Sep 26, 2010
  Research published this week in Nature Nanotechnology shows a new method of enzyme-controlled movement of a single strand of DNA through a protein nanopore. The paper, by researchers at the University of California Santa ...
  Nanopore opens new cellular doorway for drug transport Oct 23, 2013
  A living cell is built with barriers to keep things out '' and researchers are constantly trying to find ways to smuggle molecules in.'¬ 'ªProfessor Giovanni Maglia (Biochemistry, Molecular and Structural ...
  Improved decoding of DNA for custom medical treatments Nov 08, 2013
  One day, doctors will be able to create custom medical treatment plans based on a patient's DNA, pinpointing the root of a patient's illness and making sure treatment will not cause a fatal allergic reaction. ...
  Harvard's graphene DNA sequencing licensed Mar 11, 2011
  Oxford Nanopore Technologies today announced an exclusive agreement with Harvard University's Office of Technology Development for the development of graphene for DNA sequencing. Graphene is a robust, single ...
  Researchers improve the nanopore-based technology for detecting DNA molecules Nov 17, 2013
  If we wanted to count the number of people in a crowd, we could make on the fly estimates, very likely to be imprecise, or we could ask each person to pass through a turnstile. The latter resembles the model ...
  Recommended for you
  Turning algae into biofuels 40 minutes ago
  Pecos is usually egg-frying hot, bone dry and much of the groundwater is brackish, but Texas A&M AgriLife Research personnel know the area is prime real estate for conducting algae research, something they've ...
  Ramping up pterostilbene in crops 3 hours ago
  A team of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists has developed a way to boost production of a beneficial plant compound called pterostilbene.
  New genetic research finds shark, human proteins stunningly similar 19 hours ago
  Despite widespread fascination with sharks, the world's oldest ocean predators have long been a genetic mystery. The first deep dive into a great white shark's genetic code has fished up big surprises behind ...
  New method of DNA editing allows synthetic biologists to unlock secrets of a bacterial genome 22 hours ago
  A group of University of Illinois researchers, led by Centennial Chair Professor of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Huimin Zhao, has demonstrated the use of an innovative DNA engineering technique ...
  Crop-infecting virus uses aphids as carrier Dec 05, 2013
  (Phys.org) '--University of Cambridge researchers have shown that viruses use aphids as pawns, discouraging the insects from permanently settling on already-infected crops and using this forced migration ...
  The first decade: Team reports on US trials of bioenergy grasses Dec 04, 2013
  The first long-term U.S. field trials of Miscanthus x giganteus, a towering perennial grass used in bioenergy production, reveal that its exceptional yields, though reduced somewhat after five years of gro ...
  User comments : 0More news stories
  Functional diversity in bacterial defense mechanism against viral invasionBacteria may lack a true immune system, but this does not leave them defenseless against bacteriophage viruses and other pathogens. A system of genomic sequence elements called clustered regularly interspaced ...
  Valuable, eco-friendly Norwegian woolWool production in Norway has been documented to be more environmentally sound than in other countries. From Norwegian wool, a wide variety of pure, safe materials can be made for use in clothing, textiles, ...
  Turning algae into biofuelsPecos is usually egg-frying hot, bone dry and much of the groundwater is brackish, but Texas A&M AgriLife Research personnel know the area is prime real estate for conducting algae research, something they've ...
  Sandcastle-building fish offer evolution clue(Phys.org) '--In Lake Malawi, East Africa, there are around 200 different species of cichlid fish that once or twice a year build large sand structures (known as bowers) on which the fish mate. Each different ...
  Gene immigration continues despite fragmented landscapesHuman activity like clearing land for agriculture and mining does not threaten the ability of some plants to share genes via pollen carried by birds.
  Researchers find giant convection cells on the Sun(Phys.org) '--A trio of researchers with affiliations with NASA and several U.S. institutions has found the elusive giant convection cells suspected for nearly a half century to exist on and within the sun. ...
  The brain's function in perseverancePerseverance is a quality that plays a large role in the success or failure of many pursuits. It has never been entirely clear why this trait seems more apparent in some people than others, but a new piece ...
  Smashing protons into lead ions creates quark-gluon plasma that behaves like liquidThe Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland is best known for its discovery of the Higgs boson, formed during collisions between bunches of protons ...
  Reevaluation of 2005 measurement deepens mystery of neutron lifetime discrepancy(Phys.org) '--A team of researchers from a variety of institutions in the U.S. has reevaluated a measurement made of the lifetime of a neutron back in 2005 and in doing so has reduced the uncertainty of the ...
  Women's age affects every stage of IVFA woman's age affects the outcome of every single step of IVF treatment, according to a University of Aberdeen study published today in PLOS ONE. This is the first study of its kind to break down failure rates ...
  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, Science X network
62% of Washington state's gay marriages this year were between two women.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: All TPM News
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 16:05
  SEATTLE (AP) -- Gay weddings made up 17 percent of marriages in Washington this past year, the first year gay marriages were legal in the state, state officials reported Wednesday.
  About 7,071 same-sex couples got married in Washington between December 6, 2012, and the most recent complete month of data, September 2013. There were 42,408 total marriages in the state during that time, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
  So far, most of Washington state's same-sex marriages, 62 percent, were between two women.
  Washington is one of 15 states plus the District of Columbia where gay marriage is legal, but few have the kind of detailed data Washington released this week, in part because gay marriage is so new in most places.
  According to the 2010 Census, there were about 152,335 same-sex married couples and 440,989 same-sex unmarried couples in the United States.
  According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, during the first year and a half after gay marriage became legal, 8,181 same-sex couples got married. Between May 2004 and the end of 2012, 22,406 gay couples got married in Massachusetts.
  Both Washington and Massachusetts warn that these numbers are close estimates, but not perfectly accurate, since gender information was not properly entered on every marriage certificate.
  In California, the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute estimated 18,000 gay couples married in 2008 when same-sex marriage was legal for four and a-half months. Those numbers are not based on marriage license information because California, like many states, does not request gender information on license applications.
  One of the main sponsors of the Washington state law that led to gay marriage said the wedding numbers were higher than he expected.
  During the five years before Washington's gay marriage law, when the state had what was affectionately called "everything but marriage," only 9,500 couples registered themselves as domestic partners, including about 950 who were not gay, said state Rep. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle.
  "In terms of the uptake in marriages, that's a remarkable number," he said.
  Pedersen said he was also pleased to be proven right about a few others things: that gay marriage would drive tourism and that there was considerable interest in the institution among couples from across the state.
  All but one of Washington's 39 counties -- Garfield County -- reported same-sex marriages during the first 10 months of the law. The top five counties were King, Clark, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston counties.
  About a quarter of the gay couples who got married this past year in Washington were from another state. The biggest number, 524, came from Oregon. For 170 marriages, the couples live in Texas and 155 couples traveled from California to get married in Washington.
  In only 6 percent of marriages for opposite-sex couples, both spouses were from another state.
  ____
  Contact Donna Blankinship at https://twitter.com/dgblankinship
  Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Presidential Proclamation -- Death of Nelson Mandela
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 16:04
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  December 05, 2013
  DEATH OF NELSON MANDELA
  - - - - - - -
  BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
  A PROCLAMATION
  Today, the United States has lost a close friend, South Africa has lost an incomparable liberator, and the world has lost an inspiration for freedom, justice, and human dignity -- Nelson Mandela is no longer with us, he belongs to the ages.
  Nelson Mandela achieved more than could be expected of any man. His own struggle inspired others to believe in the promise of a better world, and the rightness of reconciliation. Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others, he transformed South Africa -- and moved the entire world. His journey from a prisoner to a President embodied the promise that human beings -- and countries -- can change for the better. His commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the life of nations or our own personal lives.
  While we mourn his loss, we will forever honor Nelson Mandela's memory. He left behind a South Africa that is free and at peace with itself -- a close friend and partner of the United States. And his memory will be kept in the hearts of billions who have been lifted up by the power of his example.
  We will not see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. It falls to us to carry forward the example that he set -- to make decisions guided not by hate, but by love; to never discount the difference that one person can make; and to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice. For now, let us pause and give thanks for the fact that Nelson Mandela lived -- a man who took history in his hands, and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice.
  As a mark of respect for the memory of Nelson Mandela, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, December 9, 2013. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.
  BARACK OBAMA
Sneaker Wars: Kanye West Signs Deal With Adidas, Drake With Jordan Brand
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: LIVE@LEEDS
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 16:03
  Jason Belzer 12/05/13 Forbes.com
  Rival hip-hop moguls Kanye West and Drake are at the center of the celebrity endorsement battle between sports brands Nike and Adidas.
  The sneaker endorsement arms race has officially reached a new level. Yesterday, after rapper Kanye West revealed he was leaving Nike to sign with Adidas, rival Drake told fans at a concert in Portland he was joining Nike's famed Jordan brand. The announcements signal an escalation in the continued battle between the two sportswear giants to acquire celebrity co-signs for their most valuable product lines.
  Rumors swirled over the last few weeks of Kanye's imminent departure from Nike due to the brand's refusal to give the rapper creative control over his Air Yeezy product line and pay him royalties as part of his compensation package. During an appearance on Hot 97 last week, Kanye explained that during negotiations, he told Nike, '''I need royalties.' It's not even like I have a joint venture. At least give me some royalties. Michael Jordan has 5% and that business is $2 billion. He makes a 100 million dollars a year off of 5% royalties. Nike told me, 'We can't give you royalties because you're not a professional athlete.' I told them, 'I go to the Garden and play one-on-no one. I'm a performance athlete.'''
  Of course, Nike's immediate signing of Drake is no coincidence. With Kayne's negotiations coming to an impasse, the brand almost certainly realized it would have to move quickly to find a replacement in the genre who would be willing to abide by their terms. While Drake, who ranks five spots behind Kanye on Forbes' ranking of the World's Highest-Paid Hip-Hop Artists, may not yet come with the same size following, the Toronto star's meteoric rise to the top of the Hip-Hop charts positions him incredibly well to be a powerful counter-punch to Adidas' future Kanye line. Moreover, Drake's recent deal to be the face of the NBA's Toronto Raptors franchise provides for synergies between the artist's music brand and sports that West simply could not offer.
  The practice of sportswear brands aligning themselves with endorsers out-side the athlete world is nothing new, and can be traced back to Adidas' deal with Run DMC almost 30 years ago. That partnership allowed Adidas to tap into the growing Hip-Hop counter-culture of the time and mitigate the effects of Nike's rise to prominence under Michael Jordan. While other consumer brands have attempted to emulate Nike's success with Jordan over the last three decades by finding their own super-stars to align with, only now have sportswear brands realized that endorsements by cultural icons outside their own industry might provide more bang for the buck than adding just another athlete to their stable. That being said, because it is far easier to judge a professional athletes performance over that of a music star, deals like the ones made with Drake and Kanye will be judged by the industry with far greater scrutiny.
  Jason Belzer is Founder of GAME, Inc. and CSA, and a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Sports Law at Rutgers University. Follow him on Twitter @JasonBelzer.
  Like this:LikeLoading...
  Tags: Drake, Kanye West
  This entry was posted on December 6, 2013 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Advertising, Marketing, Musicians. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
VIDEO- Lindsey Williams on Goldseek Radio with Chris Waltzek - 4th December 2013 - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:56
Google, Omidyar, and Ashton Kutcher lead investments in civic tech, says new Knight report | PandoDaily
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:53
  By Hamish McKenzieOn December 4, 2013
  Google, the Omidyar Network, and Ashton Kutcher are among the leading investors in civic technology according to the Knight Foundation's first report on the subject, which is being released today.
  In ''The Emergence of Civic Tech: Investments in a Growing Field,'' the first report of its kind, the Knight Foundation sheds a light on an emerging field of technology that until now has been not well understood. The report tracks more than $430 million of investments, philanthropic contributions, and grants by private funders and foundations in technology that spurs citizen engagement, improves cities, and makes government more effective. The report, which covers organizations funded between January 2011 and May 2013, is the most comprehensive review of civic technology activity in the US to date.
  The Foundation partnered with San Francisco-based data analysis specialists Quid and data visualization firm Fathom to map the data in an easy-to-digest interactive graphic that tracks investments by themes, clusters, and organizations.
  Quid's interactive graphic showing the spread of civic technology organizations.
  Central to the Foundation's findings is that there has been solid growth in civic technology, which can be broadly broken down in to ''open government'' and ''community action'' categories, with a 23 percent annual growth rate in the launch of related companies since 2008. However, the report's authors note that private investors and foundations ought to coordinate their efforts and pursue co-investment opportunities to advance the field. Of the 177 projects that the Foundation identified as receiving funding, 76 found their money via private investments, and 101 were funded by grants.
  Of the financial investors, most of which follow a venture capital model, Pierre Omidyar's Omidyar Network was the most active organization, with 16 investments in civic tech startups. Google, with six investments, topped the corporate investment category, while Ashton Kutcher, with three investments, was the most civic-minded individual investor, ahead of Sean Parker, who made two civic tech investments in the two-year time period. The Knight Foundation itself was the most active of the foundations, with 43 investments in the period, more than seven times the number netted by the next group, the MacArthur Foundation. The Knight Foundation has invested $25 million in civic technologies since 2010.
  The government and civil service sector is one of the last remaining sectors to feel the full brunt of disruptive technology, in part because investors and entrepreneurs have long seen it as highly regulated and prone to bureaucratic obstacles. Indeed, despite the promise shown in this report, it is a sector that is still under-served by tech startups and the investment community. While that 23 percent annual growth rate and the $430 million aggregate sum might seem healthy, it is distorted by the Knight Foundation's decision to include peer-to-peer sharing startups such as Airbnb and Lyft in the civic technology category. (Meanwhile, by comparison, the mobile health sector brought in $907 million in venture investments in 2012 alone.) Crowdsourced traffic data startup Waze, which was recently acquired by Google for $1 billion, was also included in the set.
  The Foundation's definition of civic technology was broad enough to include those companies on the grounds that they enabled people to take action in their communities. If they relied on assets that were owned by a community member, rather than a business, the Foundation reason, they could be counted. So, Lyft and Airbnb made the cut, but Zipcar and Uber didn't.
  Businesses in the peer-to-peer category, which accounts for Airbnb and Lyft, made up $234 million of the $430 million that the Foundation counted. All the other categories combined '' a list that includes resident feedback, data utility, data access, public decision-making, mapping, voting, community organizing, information crowdsourcing, neighborhood forums, and civic crowdfunding '' pulled in $196 million between them. Leading civic tech organizations outside of the sharing economy group include NationBuilder, Nextdoor, Code for America, and Change.org (whose founder, Ben Rattray, is pictured above).
  While the lion's share of civic tech investment dollars has been flowing into peer-to-peer sharing and community organizing, there remains an opportunity for private firms to get more involved with open government initiatives, such as the public policy dashboard offered by Techstars alum Outline, and voting transparency nonprofit TurboVote.
  ''I think the field is wide open,'' says Mayur Patel, the Knight Foundation's vice president of strategy and assessment. ''Compared to other market sectors no one is at a level of maturity.'' He expects to see much more disruption in open government in the coming years.
  Part of the reason the Foundation worked on this report was to help it identify potential areas for future investment in the civic tech landscape. But it also wanted to bring information on the sector under one umbrella and make it available to all-comers. ''Our goal on this from the very beginning was to make all of the data publicly accessible,'' says Jon Sotsky, the Foundation's director of strategy and assessment.
  Quid's Sean Gourley sees the data visualization project as an attempt to re-think how civic technologies are funded and better assess the impact of philanthropic investments. ''This is an incredibly important problem,'' says Gourley. ''We've relied on market forces to dictate the direction of technology, and it's given us a world of technology that is oftentimes optimized toward ad revenue or consumer consumption.''
  Here is a chance, he reasons, to take a look at what the market forces sometimes miss.
  Download the full report from the Knight Foundation's website.
Nelson Mandela dead: Daughter Zindzi attends film premiere as tragic news hits | Metro News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:51
  Zindzi Mandela the daughter of Nelson Mandela poses for photographers as she arrives to attend the UK premiere of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (Picture: AP)The first black president of South Africa Nelson Mandela has died on the same night as the premiere of his biopic Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, which was attended by daughter Zindzi, lead actor Idris Elba, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and more.
  Friends, family and other guests were in the screening of the movie, a celebration of Mandela's extraordinary life, as news of his death emerged.
  Speaking with Kate alongside him after the premiere, William said: 'I just want to say it's obviously extremely sad and tragic news.
  'We were just reminded of what an extraordinary man Nelson Mandela was. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family right now.'
  Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge meets Zindzi Mandela at the Royal Premiere of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom in London (Picture: Reuters)An announcement of Mandela's death to the audience following the premiere was said to have been greeted with 'gasps and wails', while there were reports that the film's star Idris Elba was in tears.
  Ahead of the premiere, Zindzi appeared to be unaware of her father's fading health.
  Speaking on the red carpet, she said: 'My father is fine. He's 95 years old and he is pretty frail. We are hoping to see more of him.'
  She revealed Mr Mandela had seen clips of the film and added: 'I love it. I think it's authentic.'
  It was thought she left the screening early.
  The film's producer Harvey Weinstein said in a statement: 'One of the privileges of making movies is having the opportunity to immortalise those who have made a profound impact on humanity.
  'We count ourselves unspeakably fortunate to have been immersed in Nelson Mandela's story and legacy.
  'It's been an honour to have been granted such proximity to a man who will go down as one of history's greatest freedom fighters and advocates for justice.
  'I have had the privilege of spending time with President Mandela and I can say his sense of humour was as great as his optimism. We are deeply saddened by his loss; our hearts go out to his family and the entire South African nation.'
  Elba's co-stars Naomie Harris and Tony Kgoroge were also at the premiere, which was this year's Royal Film Performance in aid of the Cinema and Television Benelovent Fund.
  From left to right, Tony Kgoroge, Naomie Harris, Zindzi Mandela, her sister Zenani, and Idris Elba pose for photographers at the premiere (Picture: AP)William and Kate were the main focus for the cameras as they arrived an hour after the other guests '' once inside, the royal couple met CTBF trustees and beneficiaries as well as Ms Mandela and the actors.
  CTBF president Barry Jenkins said 'We are most grateful to the Royal Family for their continued support since the very first royal film performance event back in 1946.'
  The film will be released in British cinemas on January 3.
  Full Hey U Guys interviews with cast and family here.
  Nelson MandelaFrankie Boyle angers Twitter users with Nelson Mandela tweet
  Daniel Radcliffe: A gay sex scene held no fears for me
Dentist's Advice: Stop Flossing!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:38
  Yep, you read that right: I'm a dentist and I'm suggesting that you throw away your floss.
  When I first advise my patients to stop flossing, they usually look at me like I'm crazy'--it's been ingrained in their minds that flossing is essential to their health. Unfortunately, most dentists' advice around flossing is misguided.As you well know, an inordinate amount of food gets stuck between our teeth after meals. Traditionally, we've been taught to use a thin, waxy string to remove this food. Fair enough, since it does the job.
  However, when it comes to removing bacteria from deep under your gums, floss is subpar at best. To compound the issue, simple sugars and carbohydrates nourish the bacteria in our mouths. So when there is an excess of candy, soda, or other items with high fructose corn syrup, bacteria can thrive and multiply under your gum line. Why should you be concerned about this? Well, it's the build up of pathogenic (bad) bacteria in your mouth that leads to gum disease, cavities and root canals, and can even be seen as a risk factor for disease throughout your entire body.
  In order to have and maintain proper oral (and overall) health, you need to remove these pathogenic bacteria from your mouth. And unfortunately floss does nothing to remove bacteria; it actually only spreads it around like butter on toast.
  The Dangers of Pathogenic Bacteria
  The pathogenic bacteria grow and multiply in pockets under our gums. A pocket, just as it sounds, is a space between your gum and your tooth. Many of us don't even realize we have these pockets, but years of plaque have caused our gum lines to pull away from our teeth and form these spaces. These pockets become an ideal breeding ground for pathogenic (anaerobic) bacteria to grow and reproduce since it's a warm, nutrient-rich environment that is without oxygen.
  If these pathogenic bacteria grows out of control and enter our blood stream, they can be transported through the body and cause inflammation. Chronic inflammation of any source leads to chronic disease. Failing to take care of your teeth may set you up for a range of serious medical issues such as heart disease, diabetes, preterm birth delivery, alzheimer's and even inflammatory cancers like breast and pancreatic cancer.In order to properly remove the bacteria from your pockets and prevent these infections, you need to find out if these bacteria are present. If they are, you have an infection and these germs form a biofilm on your teeth and under your gums. This biofilm cannot be broken up with anti-microbials or even the best home care. You must see a dentist trained to deal with this biofilm and hidden infection.
  Once you've had this done, you must maintain this disinfected environment. Don't be fooled, flossing is not the answer! To me, it's common sense. How can you kill an infection with a piece of string, especially if it can't reach the bottom of the pocket where the infection lives? Therefore, you must use an advanced tool such as an oral irrigator, which will flush out the bottom of the pocket.
  Why an Oral Irrigator?
  I suggest that all my patients, instead of flossing, use an oral water irrigator daily.
  An oral irrigator uses a stream of pressurized pulsating water to clean between teeth and below the gum line. Think of it as giving your gums a daily shower. As a result, harmful deep periodontal pocket bacteria that could not otherwise be reached through brushing or flossing, is flushed out and removed. Additional benefits include: helping to control gingivitis, reducing the incidences of gum bleeding, and improving bad breath.
  Adding an oral irrigator to your morning or evening routine helps fight against gum disease.
  So go ahead, throw away your floss with a healthy smile, knowing that there are better alternatives.
Microsoft leads disruption of largest infected global PC network | Reuters
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:16
  By Joseph Menn
  SAN FRANCISCOThu Dec 5, 2013 8:37pm EST
  Men install Microsoft Corp's Windows 8 operating system on their laptops, as Windows 8 goes on sale after midnight, along a street at the Akihabara district in Tokyo October 26, 2012.
  Credit: Reuters/Toru Hanai
  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it had disrupted the largest network of compromised personal computers, involving some 2 million machines around the world, since it stepped up its battle against organized online criminals three years ago.
  The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant filed a lawsuit in Texas and won a judge's order directing Internet service providers to block all traffic to 18 Internet addresses that were used to direct fraudulent activity to the infected machines.
  Law enforcement in many European countries served warrants at the same time, seizing servers expected to contain more evidence about the leaders of the ZeroAccess crime ring, which was devoted to "click fraud."
  Such rings use networks of captive machines, known as botnets, in complicated schemes that force them to click on ads without the computer owners' knowledge. The schemes cheat advertisers on search engines including Microsoft's Bing by making them pay for interactions that have no chance of leading to a sale. Microsoft said the botnet had been costing advertisers on Bing, Google Inc and Yahoo Inc an estimated $2.7 million monthly.
  The coordinated effort marks the eighth time Microsoft has moved against a botnet and a rare instance of it doing serious damage to one that is controlled with a peer-to-peer mechanism, where infected machines give each other instructions instead of relying on a central server that defenders can hunt down and disable.
  But the ZeroAccess botnet still had a weakness: The code in the infected machines told them to reach out to one of the 18 numeric Internet addresses for details on which ads to click.
  Microsoft recently opened a new Cybercrime Center in Redmond and is using new tools in its efforts. They are helped by a provision in trademark that allows pretrial seizure of suspected counterfeit goods, including websites that, as in the present case, are spreading tainted versions of the Internet Explorer browser.
  The company is working with national computer security authorities in various countries and with Internet service providers to notify individual computer owners with infected machines, hoping to reach most of them before the fraudsters can spread new instructions.
  Microsoft has been sharing evidence with the FBI and Europol, the continent's law enforcement coordinating service. National agencies took part in seizure actions in Germany, Switzerland, Latvia, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
  For now, at least, the fraud by this network has stopped, said Microsoft Assistant General Counsel Richard Boscovich.
  The operators of the botnet are believed to be in Russia, while the author of the malicious software distributed on it could be based elsewhere, Boscovich said.
  (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Ken Wills)
  Link thisShare thisDigg thisEmailPrintReprints
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:14
  Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a biographical film directed by Justin Chadwick from a script written by William Nicholson. The film is based on the 1994 book Long Walk to Freedom by anti-apartheid revolutionary and former South African PresidentNelson Mandela.[3] The film premiered on Saturday September 7, 2013 at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival,[4] and it was released on November 29, 2013, less than a week before Mandela died. It stars Idris Elba and Naomie Harris.
  Synopsis[edit]Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is based on South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography of the same name, which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society. Idris Elba (Prometheus, Thor, Thor: The Dark World) stars as Nelson Mandela, Naomie Harris (Skyfall, 28 Days Later, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) stars as Winnie Mandela, with Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) directing.[5]
  Production[edit]Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a South African film based on Long Walk to Freedom, the 1994 autobiography by Nelson Mandela, a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and politician. Producer Anant Singh started working on the project after interviewing Mandela while he was still imprisoned two decades ago.[6] Following the publication of Mandela's autobiography, Singh was granted the rights to the film adaptation, which was completed 16 years later by screenwriter William Nicholson. The two-hour-and-thirteen-minute film is directed by Justin Chadwick.
  Music[edit]It was revealed on 17 October 2013, U2 had written a song specifically for the film entitled "Ordinary Love".[7] Subscribers of the band's official website were able to hear a short snippet first.[8]
  Release[edit]The film held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2013.[6] It premiered in South Africa on November 3, 2013 and was shown at the White House on November 7, 2013. Mandela was supposed to see the movie, but passed away before he could. It was released in South Africa on November 28 and premiered in New York and Los Angeles one day later.[9]
  Critical reception[edit]The film has received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 56% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 34 reviews.[10] Scott Foundas of Variety said the film "never opts for a light touch when a sledgehammer will do", but also praises Elba for "a towering performance, a Mandela for the ages".[11]
  Claudia Puig of USA Today agreed that Elba's performance was powerful but felt the film wasn't as strong, stating, "Earnest and ambitious, the film suffers from trying to squeeze in too many milestones of Nelson Mandela's long life as he worked to end the oppressive regime of apartheid in South Africa. But the talent of the lead actors lends it heft, particularly the commanding performance of Idris Elba as Mandela." [12] Jordan Hoffman from Film.com also gave the film a mixed to negative review, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom should have been a layup. A slow burn leading to eventual triumph, moving speeches, Idris Elba raging against injustice, the world made a better place because of one man's sacrifice. But as crazy and offensive as it may sound, you'll get more chills from Elba's idiotic speech about canceling the apocalypse in Pacific Rim than you will in this by-the-numbers bore."[13] However, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a generally positive review with 2 and a half out of 4 stars, mostly circling the performances. [14]
  References[edit]External links[edit]
Activist Post: The Chinese Want To Spend Billions Constructing A 600 Acre ''China City'' In New York State
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:10
  Michael SnyderActivist PostThe Chinese have made trillions of dollars flooding our shores with super cheap products, and now they are using some of that money to buy land and property all over America. For example, there is now a proposal to construct a multibillion dollar ''China City'' that would span approximately 600 acres in a remote area of New York state.
  This ''China City'' (that is actually what it would be called) would be located on Yankee Lake in Sullivan County, New York. The plans anticipate large numbers of Chinese businesses, plenty of homes for Chinese immigrants, a Chinese high school, a college, a casino and even a theme park. And the first 600 acres is only for ''phase one'' of the plan. Ultimately, the goal is for ''China City'' to cover more than 2,000 acres. Those promoting this plan say that it will be a great way for New Yorkers to learn to appreciate Chinese culture.
  So should we be concerned that the Chinese want to place a little slice of communist China right in the heart of New York state?
  Should we really be allowing other nations (especially ones that publish maps showing what will happen when they nuke us) to be setting up self-sustaining communities inside our own country that have no intention of integrating into the wider culture?
  David North of the Center for Immigration Studies is one of those that is sounding the alarm over this project. According to him, the eventual goal of the ''China City'' project is to essentially take over two small towns and cover a total of more than 2,000 acres'...
  The first version of the plan to emerge was a grandiose one. It would cover more than 2,000 acres (more than three square miles) spread over the towns of Mamakating and Thompson. It would include a Chinese theme park, a city full of China-related businesses, a high school, a college, and 1,000 residences. Every province in China would have an office there and the place would be replete with symbols of Chinese culture. For more on these plans see CCOA's website, festooned with golden dragons and text in both Mandarin and English. When finished it would be a $6 billion project, its backers say.
  But for now, the first phase is only going to cover about 600 acres'...A revised version of the initial offering was proposed later; this would, as a modest start to the broader project, include a college, an urban area, some family housing, and lots of student housing; it would cover less than 600 acres and would all be in the town of Thompson, whose officials, a local lawyer tells me, are somewhat less hostile to the plan than those in Mamakating.
  And this is not the first time that this kind of thing has been proposed. As I reported last year, a different Chinese group has purchased 200 acres of land in a rural area of Michigan and hopes to create a ''China City'' out there'...A Chinese group known as ''Sino-Michigan Properties LLC'' has bought up 200 acres of land near the town of Milan, Michigan. Their plan is to construct a ''China City'' with artificial lakes, a Chinese cultural center and hundreds of housing units for Chinese citizens. Essentially, it would be a little slice of communist China dropped right into the heartland of America. This ''China City'' would be located about 40 minutes from both Detroit and Toledo, and it would be marketed to Chinese business people that want to start businesses in the United States.
  You can read the full article about that project right here.Most of the time, when the Chinese gobble up our properties they do not do it in such large chunks. But make no mistake '' they are voraciously buying up real estate right now. In fact, CNN recently published an article about the cities where they are the most active'...
  New York and Los Angeles top the list of U.S. cities they are most interested in, according to Juwai.com, a website where Chinese buyers browse global real estate listings.
  More surprisingly, Philadelphia and Detroit come in at No. 3 and No. 4.
  The top 10 list is rounded out by Houston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Atlanta, San Diego and Memphis.
  Chinese buyers purchased $8.2 billion worth of U.S. property in 2012, according to Juwai.
  It has been estimated that the Chinese are now buying one out of every ten homes sold in the state of California. And this buying spree actually appears to be accelerating. The following is a brief excerpt from a recent CNBC article entitled ''Chinese buying up California housing'''...At a brand new housing development in Irvine, Calif., some of America's largest home builders are back at work after a crippling housing crash. Lennar, Pulte, K Hovnanian, Ryland to name a few. It's a rebirth for U.S. construction, but the customers are largely Chinese.
  ''They see the market here still has room for appreciation,'' said Irvine-area real estate agent Kinney Yong, of RE/MAX Premier Realty. ''What's driving them over here is that they have this cash, and they want to park it somewhere or invest somewhere.''
  So where did they get all of this cash?A lot of it came from us of course. We have lost tens of thousands of businesses and millions of jobs to the Chinese, and now they are literally buying up little pieces of America with the money that we spent on all of the cheap plastic trinkets that they exported to us.
  And they are not just buying up residential real estate. They are buying lots of commercial real estate as well. In fact, in a previous article I talked about how one Chinese firm recently purchased one of the most important landmarks in New York City'...
  Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd. (0656.HK) will buy office building One Chase Manhattan Plaza for $725 million, adding to a growing list of property purchases by Chinese buyers in New York city.
  The Hong Kong-listed firm said it will buy the property from JP Morgan Chase Bank, according to a release on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website. Chinese firms, in particular local developers, have looked overseas to diversify their property holdings as the economy at home slows. Chinese individuals also have been investing in property abroad amid tight policy measures in the mainland residential market. Earlier this month, Chinese state-owned developer Greenland Holdings Group agreed to buy a 70% stake in an apartment project next to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in what is the largest commercial-real-estate development in the U.S. to get direct backing from a Chinese firm.
  So where is all of this eventually heading?Should we all start learning how to speak Chinese?
  Please feel free to share what you think by posting a comment below'...
  This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.
  BE THE CHANGE! PLEASE SHARE THIS USING THE TOOLS BELOW
Snowden files reveal Swedish-American surveillance of Russia - Uppdrag Granskning | SVT.se
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:07
  Uppdrag granskning (Mission Investigation) and SVT is the first Swedish news outlet to get access to documents concerning Sweden leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, who left the American organization for surveillance, NSA (National Security Agency) in May this year.
  According to the documents Swedish FRA, Defence Radio Authority, are spying on the political leadership in Russia and passing this information on to the USA. NSA is regarding this intelligence as exclusive, and considers FRA as a leading partner in espionage against Russia.
  On site in Rio de Janeiro Mission: Investigation has been cooperating with the journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher to investigate Sweden's part in the American and British global mass surveillance.
  Glenn Greenwald met with whistleblower Edward Snowden in Hong Kong this year, and received tens of thousands of documents that Snowden extracted from the NSA. Greenwald is behind a majority of the revelations that has shaken several of the most powerful governments and intelligence organizations in the world throughout the fall of 2013.
  Mission: Investigation will, in cooperation with Greenwald and Gallagher, and Swedish Televisions news program: Rapport, publish further exposures and documents that gives a unique insight into Sweden's role in the global mass surveillance.
  Wednesday 11 of December Mission: Investigation will devote a full hour to the Snowden Documents and Sweden.
  LEAD-IN (News anchor)
  As the first media company, SVT can now expose the information concerning Sweden in the top-secret documents leaked by whistleblower and ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
  Tonight, Rapport can reveal documents saying that the FRA is spying on the political leadership of Russia, and forwards gathered information to the United States. The NSA sees this intelligence as something thoroughly unique, and considers the FRA to be a leading partner in the espionage on Russia. This is clear to us, after having read several documents provided to us by the programme Uppdrag Granskning.
  (News report 1)
  Speak:
  For the very first time, we can now read in plain language about the Americans' view of their very close relation with Swedish Intelligence and its' signals intelligence agency FRA. Here in Rio de Janeiro, SVT's programme Uppdrag Granskning meets with journalist Glenn Greenwald who is behind most of the Snowden leaks. Together, our job is to extract, from the unique documents, news concerning Sweden.
  Rapport can now reveal that the Unites States regard the FRA as a leading partner in the espionage on Russia - America's former archenemy. This is what one NSA document says, dated as recently as April 18 of this year:
  (Document / Graphics)
  ''The FRA provided NSA (...) unique collection on high-priority Russian targets, such as leadership, internal politics''
  Speak:
  Sweden does in fact spy on the top leaders of Russia, and shares our information with the United States. And it's not any intelligence... but intelligence of such a high value that the Americans write that it cannot be obtained in other ways. They are unique:
  (Document / Graphics)
  ''WHAT Partner provides to NSA
  Unique intelligence on Russia''
  Speak:
  The FRA's leading position in the signals intelligence gathering on Russia is established in yet another document; in an instruction to the highest leadership of the NSA prior to a high-level meeting with the FRA. The NSA should:
  (Document / Graphics)
  ''Thank Sweden for its' continued work on the Russian target, and underscore the primary role that FRA plays as a leading partner to work the Russian Target, including Russian leadership, (:::) and (...) counterintelligence. FRA's cable access has resulted in unique SIGINT reporting on all of these areas.
  When SVT:s reporter shows the documents to FRA spokesperson Fredrik Wallin and asks if they are accurate he replies "no comment".
  - Sadly I am unable to comment on this information. We are unable to comment details about our collaborations or intelligence operations, says FRA spokesperson Fredrik Wallin.
  The NSA gives the following comment in writing:
  ''We are not going to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity, and the US government has made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations"
  Reporters:
  Filip Struwe
  Glenn Greenwald
  Ryan Gallagher
  Sven Bergman
  Joachim Dyfvermark
  Fredrik Laurin
Anonymous 'PayPal 14' hackers enter guilty plea in case surrounding pro-WikiLeaks DDoS attack | End the Lie '' Independent News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:06
  (Photo courtsey of US Marshal's Service)
  '‹Accused members of the amorphous hacktivist group Anonymous appeared in federal court in California on Thursday to enter pleas pertaining to a nearly three-year-old digital protest against the website PayPal.
  The defendants '-- who admitted to participating in an Anonymous-led operation that momentarily took PayPal.com offline in late 2010 '-- entered guilty pleas before a judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California early Thursday and will be formally sentenced in one year.
  Eleven of the so-called ''PayPal 14'' members each pleaded guilty in court to one felony count of conspiracy and one misdemeanor count of damaging a computer as a result of their involvement in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack waged by Anonymous in late 2010 shortly after PayPal stopped processing donations to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. Prosecutors say the defendants used a free computer program called the Low Ion Orbit Cannon, or LOIC, to collectively flood PayPal's servers with tremendous amounts of illegitimate internet traffic for one week that winter, at moments knocking the website offline as a result and causing what PayPal estimated to be roughly $5.5 million in damages.
  WikiLeaks had started to release a trove of classified US State Department diplomatic cables that November, prompting PayPal to revoke the whistleblowing group's account due to an alleged terms-of-service violation. On their part, WikiLeaks claims PayPal installed the equivalent of an illegal financial blockade by refusing to process contributions. Combined with similar actions taken by Visa and Mastercard at the time, the transparency organization said the blockade cost an estimated $250 million in losses in the years since.
  Pending good behavior, those 11 alleged Anons will be back in court early next December for sentencing, at which point the felony charges are expected to be adjourned. Two of the remaining defendants cut deals that found them pleading guilty to the misdemeanor counts only, likely removing themselves from any lingering felony convictions but earning an eventual 90 day jail stint when they are finally sentenced. A fourth defendant, Dennis Owen Collins, did not attend the hearing due to complications involving a similar case currently being considered by a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia in which he and one dozen others are accused of conspiring to cripple other websites as an act of protest during roughly the same time.
  Speaking to RT from the courthouse in California Thursday afternoon, defense attorney Stanley Cohen said the terms of the settlement were reached following over a year of negotiations, ''based upon strength, not weakness; based upon principle, not acquiescence.''
  ''It did not involve cooperation and did not involve any of the defendants renouncing their conduct,'' Cohen said by phone. ''They all stood up and said, 'We did what you said we did . . . We believe it was an appropriate act from us and we're willing to pay the price.'''
  With regards to the newly scheduled sentencing now slated for Dec. 4, 2014, Cohen said it's comparable to what's referred to as deferred prosecution in some jurisdictions. ''Here, at the head of the day if everything works out fine, the defendants are going to get a misdemeanor.''
  ''If there are no new arrests at the end of the year, the felony is dismissed,'' Cohen said. ''The misdemeanor is left in piece and people will essentially get conditional discharges at that point with restitution in the amount of $5,600 for each person.''
  When multiplied by 14, those restitutions add up to just under $80,000 '-- only a fraction of the $5.5 million PayPal claimed the digital disturbance cost their site. Nevertheless, in an op-ed published by Huffington Post days before the hearing, Pierre Omidyar '-- the founder of PayPal's parent company, eBay '-- implored the court for leniency and said, ''In my view, they should be facing misdemeanor charges and the possibility of a fine, rather than felony charges and jail time.''
  Cohen, who represented PayPal 14 defendant Mercedes Haefer in court, said one of the hacktivists told him after Thursday's hearing concluded that ''This misdemeanor is a badge of honor and courage.''
  Source: RT
  Help Spread Alternative News
Citi: Bitcoin Could Look Attractive To Reserve Managers As A Complement To Gold
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Zero Hedge
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:05
  Bitcoin and other Internet currencies are viewed by some as a Beanie baby fad and, as Citi's Steve Englander notes, by others as revolutionizing the financial system. Market acceptance of alternative currencies now looks to be growing a lot faster than the pace at which the supply of Bitcoin and Bitcoin wannabees is expanding the Internet money supply. The responses fell into five categories which we feel are well worth considering before trading or utilizing the digital currency (including Bitcoin's role in reserves management).
  Englander's previous "Bitcoin as a currency" report generated a lot of comment. In the note, he argued that something as replicable as Bitcoin would generate a lot of imitators and that there was an infinite supply of Bitcoin-like competitors at low marginal cost. The responses generally fell into five categories:
  Citi's Steve Englander Addresses 5 key responses to his previous more negative view on Bitcoin.
  1) Bitcoin is a generic payment system as much or more than a specific store of value and has tremendous advantages over current payments systems
  2) Its run-up in price represents dissatisfaction with central banks and money printing and the desire for a currency not driven by political opportunism
  3) First mover and networking economies of scale advantage will make Bitcoin and a couple of other internet moneys dominate Internet money in the future
  4) It can keep growing as long as there was a group of individuals and businesses willing to accept it
  5) It's a tulip bubble and will collapse
  1) Bitcoin as a payments vehicle
  Many commented that Bitcoin was revolutionary as a payments mechanism, rather than as a store of value. The run-up in the price of Bitcoin could be viewed as speculative but its impact on the payments system would be durable, even if the price stabilized or fell. Bitcoin's competitors are credit card companies, wire transfer companies, weak fiat currencies and the like. Its advantage was that that its secure cryptography gives it strong security with respect to falsifying transactions and the transactions cost is almost zero. So you would not have to hold Bitcoin in order to transact in it, at least not for very long.
  Anonymity was also viewed as a plus by many, but whether governments can, will and should get some handle on internet transactions is under debate. Some also argue that its decentralization is an advantage. The 'ledger' that keeps track of Bitcoin transaction seems resistant to fraud, but there have been issues with Bitcoin exchanges and other elements of the transactions process.
  Investors who focused on the potential Impact of Bitcoin on the payments system sometimes saw the Bitcoin appreciation as a distraction. Bitcoin's sharp price run-up is attracting more involvement now, but could be a disadvantage if price ever took a big fall.
  2) Bitcoin as an alternative to fiat currencies
  When G3 central banks are expanding their balance sheets like there is no tomorrow, you can understand the search for alternative stores of value. Some make a 'wisdom of crowds' argument that monetary management is likely to be better if it reflects the judgment of a diffuse constituency of users rather than a central bank governor or board. In short, this is the gold standard, but with a lot more portability and ability to transact. That said, Bitcoin protocols are decided by a group of programmers, and their goodwill is taken for granted.
  To some investors it is perfectly clear that the combined judgments of individuals across the globe will be superior to the centralized policies made by central banks. To many holding this viewpoint, the ineptness of global central banks has made the bar for outperformance pretty low. This view probably appeals to you if you think the panics of 1837, 1873 or 1893 were preferable to the Great Recession of 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1837, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1873, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1893). In those times the absence of a central bank did not preclude private sector speculation from generating bubbles and panics. Admittedly, some of those panics started because of failed attempts to manipulate or corner certain markets, a feature Bitcoin's proponents may feel it is immune to.
  Bitcoin started as an experiment in a currency that was neither commodity-based nor backed by a governmental authority. There is a risk that participants in the Bitcoin ecosystem may become more self-interested over time, the way broadcast television started with Paddy Chayefsky and quickly morphed into The Beverley Hillbillies. Even now it is unclear to what degree the 'miners' out there should be seen as public servants.
  We are left with the possibility that the properties of a Bitcoin ecosystem that comes to be driven by individual self-interest will differ from its intended properties. Greed and panic could enter as a significant part of the ecosystem. By contrast, central banks have a mandate to stabilize the economy and financial system, even if you see their performance as inept in practice. Nevertheless, it is not so obvious that a good system driven by individual self-interest will produce a more stable economic and financial system than an imperfect system of central banks trying to stabilize economic and financial markets. Many supporters of Bitcoin argue strongly that this is the case, however.
  2a) Bitcoin as a reserves alternative
  Reserve managers are likely wondering whether Bitcoin is the answer to their most perplexing problem '' where to find a pure store of value, how to avoid currencies backed by erratic central banks and how to dethrone the USD from its perch in the international monetary system. Bitcoin is much more interesting than the IMF's SDRs from a reserve manager perspective because it is independent of major currencies. The reserve manager operational problem is two-fold: 1) how to sell a truckload of USD, and to a lesser degree EUR and JPY, without excessively depressing the value of the USD that they are selling and 2) what to buy when there are few attractive, liquid alternative. Bitcoin doesn't avoid 1) but addresses 2) to some degree.
  Bitcoin with its inelastic supply and deflationary bias would look attractive to reserve managers as a complement to gold, and in contrast to fiat currencies in unlimited supply. As a group, reserve managers are conservative and probably would like to see how Bitcoin evolves. Given the reserves management problem discussed above, there is some incentive for the biggest reserve managers to encourage development of this market to see if it is viable in the long term. Even if it ends up just as a transactions vehicle, countries may choose to transact in Bitcoin or the like, if it enables them to reduce the overhang of USD that they need to hold because of its role in international trade and finance.
  Conclusions: i) Reserve managers will not be the first to adopt Internet currencies but they have incentives not to be the last; and ii) The USD would likely be undermined on its international role, were this to occur.
  3) First mover advantages
  This may be the most contentious area. Bitcoin fans argue that being the first in any area where there are networking economies gives you an immense advantage. Replicability is not an issue because potential imitators will find that businesses and households will sign up with the network that gives them the greatest ability to interact. The analogy is drawn to Internet retail and social media businesses where the business model can be copied but where a couple of companies at most dominate the space. (On the other hand, I still have my login/passwords to a variety of 'first movers' services that no one under 40 would even recognize.)
  With respect to money, households and businesses will choose the one with the greatest acceptance, so the first mover has a big advantage even if the technology can be copied. This is a very important argument for entrepreneurs involved with Bitcoin and the few other currencies that are leading the charge to commercialize it..
  Where diseconomies of scale enter Bitcoin is through the price exposure. The maximum amount of Bitcoin is predetermined and looks likely to be hit in the 22st century. The supply of Bitcoin is set to grow relatively slowly, arguing that the price should keep rising. You can argue that the price of Bitcoin is irrelevant, since it simply reflects the unit of account for transactions. You can also see that there is a host of alternatives that may have some modest advantage over Bitcoin. Both holders of Bitcoin and transactors in Bitcoin have to assess whether the Bitcoin network advantage is strong enough to outweigh the benefits from Bitcoin alternatives. You can find examples of both, but networking situations in other domains are less dependent on reputation than are Bitcoin and other Internet currencies. And such reputational equilibria are very fragile, and probably will not survive any unaddressed issues of theft or fraud.
  Moreover, if you transact in Bitcoin, you likely will choose to hold some to facilitate transactions. The speculative surge in Bitcoin may be a disadvantage if you can find a substitute that has similar characteristics but less of a speculative component. The question is how expensive is it for a business or individual to have more than one internet currency and how much of a disincentive is it to hold a Bitcoin if the price is high, when there are good substitutes with lower prices.
  4) The Bitcoin ecosystem is growing exponentially
  There is a short to medium term Bitcoin argument that goes something like this. We are just scratching the surface of payment system/alternative currency development. Whatever the competitive environment, in a market that is growing exponentially fast, any reasonable player will get bid up. Ultimately when market growth flattens out, there will be a sorting out of winners and losers, but that flattening out is not visible anytime soon, barring disaster. If this is a repeat of the Internet bubble, we are in 1997, not 2000, so the gravitational pull of the technology will mask small warts and crevices in individual applications.
  This is not an argument most of us feel comfortable with, because there is the risk that our calculus is wrong or that some disaster either through fraud, government interference or some breakdown in the system occurs before the market flattens. However, many investors feel so confident that we are just in the takeoff stage, that they see themselves with a margin to invest. They also have incentives to advocate forcefully the widening of the market because that enhances the value of all existing applications.
  5) Tulip bubbles
  About 40% of the comments I received argued outright that Bitcoin and similar internet currencies were bubbles, or tools to evade taxes, or conduct illegal activity. Basically, the view was that the Bitcoin appreciation reflects a mixture of greed and optimism, as in Boileau (1674), ''A fool always finds a greater fool to admire him." The major issues have been touched on above '' replicability, susceptibility to government interference, security vulnerabilities outside the 'ledger' level, inability to reverse any transaction, dependence on reputation, fragility and so on. Those who think this is the internet in 1997 should recall that the NASDAQ was back to 1997 levels in 2002, and even briefly touched 1996 levels, so getting in early may mean getting in really early. Just as with the railroads and Internet, it may revolutionize society more than it makes money for investors.
  Some investors argued the reverse of most of the pro-Bitcoin commentators, seeing it as most likely a bubble but on the off chance that it wasn't, it was worth buying a couple in case the price kept shooting up. It was viewed as the high risk, high return investment, with compensation that it was good cocktail party conversation.
  Conclusions
  Bitcoin and other Internet currencies are viewed by some as a Beanie baby fad and by others as revolutionizing the financial system. Market acceptance of alternative currencies now looks to be growing a lot faster than the pace at which the supply of Bitcoin and Bitcoin wannabees is expanding the Internet money supply. That is unlikely to persist over the medium and long term, but for now it looks as if it would take a major scandal, security breach or heavy-handed governmental intervention to derail it.
  Internet currencies suffer from the absence of an anchor to determine their value and from their dependence on reputation and fashion. Replicability is an issue that the Internet currencies will not be able to overcome easily. The role in the payments system is very concrete to investors, although many also see value in a currency in inelastic supply whose value is determined by consensus rather than the monetary authority. Among skeptics, a minority think that security is a much bigger issue than proponents admit. However correct the longer-term concerns, there is nothing obvious to derail the expansion of Internet currencies in the near-term, as they are meeting both legitimate and illicit economic and social needs.
  Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 4.7(3 votes)
VIDEO- MSM Admits US Funding Al-Qaeda & Taliban Terror Attacks - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 07:04
JP Morgan in cyber hack warning
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:52
  5 December 2013Last updated at 16:02 ET JPMorgan Chase is warning 465,000 holders of pre-paid cash cards issued by the US bank that their personal data may have been hacked.
  The bank's network was attacked in July, and it was detected in September that servers had been breached.
  JP Morgan said it found no evidence that money was taken from accounts.
  However, a "small amount" of data was taken, but nothing critical such as social security numbers, birth dates and email addresses, the bank said.
  The pre-paid cards were issued for corporations to pay employees and for government agencies to issue tax refunds, unemployment compensation and other benefits.
  The almost half-a-million customers were being contacted because JPMorgan said it could not be sure which accounts had been breached.
  The warning only affects the bank's UCard users, not holders of debit cards, credit cards or pre-paid Liquid cards.
  Officials from the states of Louisiana and Connecticut said the bank notified them this week that personal information of some of their citizens may have been exposed.
  Louisiana citizens included about 6,000 people who received cards with state income tax refunds, plus 5,300 receiving child support payments and 2,200 receiving unemployment benefits, according to a statement from state Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols.
  The bank said it didn't know who was behind the attack, although agencies including the FBI were investigating the matter.
UK paves way for driverless cars
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:52
  5 December 2013Last updated at 07:07 ET The government has announced that it wants to make the UK a world centre for the development of driverless cars.
  It said it would conduct a review next year to ensure that the legislative and regulatory framework is in place for such vehicles to be incorporated on Britain's roads.
  It will also create a £10m prize to fund a town or city to become a testing ground for autonomous vehicles.
  Milton Keynes is already experimenting with driverless pods.
  By mid-2017 it is planned that 100 fully autonomous vehicles will run on the town's pathways along with pedestrians, using sensors to avoid collisions.
  The plans for self-drive cars were announced in the chancellor's National Infrastructure Plan.
  Radical changeContinue reading the main storyPeople will be like the millionaires of old where you just had a driver that did everything''
  End QuoteBrad TempletonSoftware engineerMuch of the hype around driverless cars centres around Google. Its self-drive car recently completed 500,000 miles (804,000km) of road tests.
  In the US, California, Nevada and Florida have passed legislation to allow driverless cars.
  This month Nissan carried out the first public road test of an autonomous vehicle on a Japanese highway.
  Many envisage a future when we may not own cars at all but simply hail one to fulfil all our transportation needs.
  "I call it mobility on demand. You pop out your mobile phone, say where you want to go and how many people and in a short amount of time a vehicle rolls up," said Brad Templeton, software engineer and adviser to Google on its self-drive car project.
  "People will be like the millionaires of old where you just had a driver that did everything. These cars will worry about recharging, parking and refuelling. They will drive down a road without you paying much attention to it," he said.
  Such cars will make cities both safer and greener, he thinks.
  "It will radically change the amount of energy we use, how congested our streets are and eliminate most of the parking lots that take up a huge amount of space in our cities.
  "Humans kill 1.2 million people in car accidents each year so the idea of being able to make a safer vehicle is very appealing," he said.
  Many think that the issue of who will be liable in the event of accidents will hold up the development of autonomous vehicles but Mr Templeton is not convinced.
  "I think only the barristers will find it the most interesting question," he said.
  "For me the more interesting question is whether a machine is more liable than a drunk driver. Countries that decide a machine is more liable will slow the development of this technology," he added.
  Car manufacturers suggest that autonomous vehicles will be on the roads within the decade.
  Google has given 2017 as the date its cars will hit the roads. Not to be outdone, Elon Musk, head of electric car company Tesla Motors, has said he will have such vehicles ready in 2016.
  Other car manufacturers, including Daimler and Nissan have given a 2020 date for their own versions.
  Much of the underlying technology for autonomous driving is already installed in cars such as the Mercedes S500 which uses onboard radar and 3D stereoscopic cameras to gauge the distance from other cars.
Bitcoin Tumbles After China Central Bank Bans Financial Companies From Using Digital Currency
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WTF RLY REPORT
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:51
  Zero Hedge
  As we said back in March, when Bitcoin's parabolic rise first started, it was only a matter of time before first one, then all central banks take on Bitcoin for the simple fact that it present too great a threat to the fiat system. Sure enough, on the chart below of BTC China it is quite clear just at what point overnight the People's Bank of China announced that Bitcoin is simply a virtual commodity and ''isn't a currency with any real meaning'' (paraphrasing Alan Greenspan), and that it officially bans financial companies from Bitcoin transactions.
  However, the reason why Chinese Bitcoin didn't tumble all the way to zero is because the PBOC added a loophole that the public is free to participate in internet transactions provided they bear their own risks.
  Read more
Welcome to 23andMe - DISCLAIMER
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:48
  Welcome to 23andMe.
  At this time, we have suspended our health-related genetic tests to comply with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's directive to discontinue new consumer access during our regulatory review process.
  We are continuing to provide you with both ancestry-related genetic tests and raw genetic data, without 23andMe's interpretation.
  If you are an existing customer please click the button below and then go to the health page for additional information. If you are a customer who purchased before November 22, 2013, you will still have access to your health-related results.
  We remain firmly committed to fulfilling our long-term mission to help people everywhere have access to their own genetic data and have the ability to use that information to improve their lives.
  Upon entering the site, please confirm you understand the new changes in our services.
  I understand that 23andMe only sells ancestry reports and raw genetic data at this time. I understand 23andMe will not provide health-related reports. However, 23andMe may provide health-related results in the future, dependent upon FDA marketing authorization.
  I Understand
VIDEO-BBC - Blogs - Adam Curtis - WHAT THE FLUCK!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:09
  Every month or so there is a new scandal - mass snooping by the NSA, allegations of price-fixing by giant energy companies, major banks corruptly rigging interest rates, giant modern bureaucracies like Serco and G4S ripping off the taxpayer, children's entertainers from the past charged with sexual abuse.
  But these stories never seem to add up to a bigger picture. They are isolated events . And our reaction is always the same - shock and horror, and then it all subsides and we are ready to be shocked and horrified when the next scandal comes along.
  It's like a ritualised dance - or the surprised kitty.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  There is a lurking sense that there is a kind of seedy corruption underlying a lot of public life today. But while journalism does a very good job of describing that corruption, it is failing to bring it into a bigger focus. To explain what it is all about.
  But sometimes you find an oblique angle that offers a bit more perspective.
  Tamara Mellon is best known for creating the Jimmy Choo brand - and empire. She started it back in 1996, and by 2000 it had become an incredible success. It was an entrepreneurial story of our time.
  But then Tamara Mellon wanted to expand - especially in America - and so she got involved with the system of Private Equity. A company called Phoenix Equity Partners poured in millions of dollars for a majority stake in Jimmy Choo.
  They promised a wonderful vision of the future - but Tamara Mellon found herself trapped, she says, in a corrupted system that ripped the heart out of her company. Private Equity wasn't the noble force for good it pretended to be. And it ended when, what she calls, the ruthless financial sociopaths she had let in forced her out.
  Tamara Mellon got angry and wrote an autobiography. It was full of lots of celebrity friends and catastrophic drug-taking - but it was also a full on blistering attack on the system of Private Equity.
  Here she is being interviewed about it on Newsnight.I suspect the interviewer wanted to get as soon as possible to talking about shoes - but Tamara is going to say what she wants about the corrupt financial world that destroyed her.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  But there is more to Tamara Mellon than just that. She's in the public eye because she's telling one kind of story - about Private Equity. But actually her own life story opens all sorts of other, unexpected doors that in a strange way help pull today's random scandals and corruptions into focus.
  In particular one of those doors leads you back over a hundred years to a time in America that was rather like our own. There was a realisation back then that the power of money and vast corporate wealth was overwhelming politics and corrupting public life. But journalism was struggling to make sense of the full dimensions of it - and grab the public's imagination.
  Then a small group of journalists took an imaginative leap that enabled them to, not only explain, but harness the scandalous events in such a way that created a powerful reaction among the public. A reaction that led to genuine social change.
  The very thing we might be waiting for now.
  Tamara Mellon had a fantastic father. He was called Tommy Yeardye (she was born Tamara Yeardye). Back in the 1950s Tommy Yeardye was a central figure in the louche nightclub-showbiz scene in London. He was 6ft 4" but also very handsome. One newspaper described him as having "fists like bricks and eyes like emeralds."
  He wanted to be an actor - but spent his time being a stunt double for Rock Hudson and Victor Mature. The turning point for Tommy came when his back was used as a stand-in for Victor Mature's back in a love scene with Diana Dors. She decided she liked his front and they began a passionate affair. The Daily Mail described it like this:
  "A splendid male, he satisfied Diana's sexual appetite and did his best to meet her constant need for attention and reassurance."
  PA photosDiana Dors was Britain's "sex symbol". Her real name was Diana Fluck - but her mother said she should change it because there was always the chance that her name would be up in lights outside a cinema - and one of the letters might fall off.
  She was a good actress and one of her films, called Yield To the Night is really powerful. But most of the time in the 1950s she played roles that were pantomime visions of sex. One film critic wrote that in an age where sexuality was naughty, repressed and fit to burst - "Diana Dors was a joke about sex".
  Here is a montage of Diana Dors at that time.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  Tommy Yeardye began his affair with Diana Dors in 1957. What then resulted was an extraordinary drama that was played out in the popular press and gripped the nation. But it happened at a time when popular journalism was coming under new pressures - and the drama would end with an event that transformed British journalism.
  An event that also set popular journalism on a course that would end with the phone-tapping scandals of today.
  Diana Dors was married to a failed actor called Dennis Hamilton. One of her biographers described him as "an out and out louse, a thug, gigolo and serial philanderer". Hamilton was also paranoid about Diana Dors and he kept her under secret surveillance. He installed a two-way mirror in their flat and hid small recording devices to listen to her conversations.
  From one of these tapes Hamilton discovered the affair with Yeardye - and he proceeded to smash up the flat. This culminated in a dramatic scene where Yeardye burst in to rescue a hysterical Diana Dors from Hamilton who was pointing a loaded shotgun at her.
  This was reported in the press - who also described how Yeardye drove Diana Dors to safety in a green cadillac owned by a bubblegum tycoon called John Hoey. Yeardye was the hero - "I'm no marriage breaker" he said "I am a good samaritan, I have done only what any man worth his salt would do."
  The progress of their relationship - and the disintegrating marriage to the paranoid husband - was charted in the press in the late 1950s. Apparently the person behind much of this was Yeardye himself - and he was, in a way, ahead of his time. With his connivance journalists constructed a roller-coaster story of celebrity chaos and drama.
  He even arranged a seance so Diana Dors could try and contact her dead mother.
  But Yeardye didn't last. By the end of the 50s Diana Dors had thrown him out - claiming publicly that he had been trying to steal thousand of pounds of her money. But then an event happened in Fleet Street that was to take Diana Dors further down this road of celebrity sexual drama.
  The News of the World was in trouble - it's circulation was falling. Part of the problem was television, but also its tradition of titillating court reports - randy vicars caught with their trousers down - was feeling tired and out of date. So early in 1960 Sir William Emsley Carr, the alcoholic proprietor of the News of the World appointed a new editor called Stafford Somerfield.
  On his first day as editor, Somerfield called his staff together and - as he described it - "pushed the boat out".
  "What the hell are we going to do about the circulation? It's going down the drain. We want a series of articles that will make their hair curl."
  In a brilliant book about the British Press, the writer Roy Greenslade describes what Somerfield introduced - "two new forms of provocative content: kiss-and-tell memoirs and saucy investigations"
  And right away he found the perfect combination of these in Diana Dors.
  Somerfield persuaded her to tell the intimate secrets of her life in a series of articles for the News of the World. He had been fascinated by the Yeardye - Hamilton guns and sex drama and was convinced there was far more to be mined from her life. To get the story he paid Diana Dors £35,000 which was an extraordinary amount for that time.
  But he got what he wanted. He sat Dors down with a journalist who recorded everything - and then, as Dors later plaintively complained, took "all the mucky bits" and wrote the story of a scandalous, violent and seedy life.
  In the articles Dors described how Hamilton and her had sex parties, how Hamilton used the two way mirror to watch couples having sex - taped them and then played the tape back to the entire household over breakfast the next day. She also described the violence in their marriage, and Hamilton's financial scams.
  It was a complete humiliation for Diana Dors, and it shocked the nation. The Archbishop of Canterbury described her as "a wanton hussey". And Tommy Yeardye then joined in - offering other newspapers his stories too.
  It worked brilliantly though - the circulation of the News of the World soared. But Greenslade argues that by bringing this provocative new content into journalism, Somerfield had also introduced a new "nastiness" into the popular press.
  Journalists have always been cynical and "hard-boiled" in their view of the world - but Greenslade says that underneath the froth of silly headlines there was now in the News of the World.
  "an underlying nastiness, and a willingness to traffic in human misery"
  And he wasn't the only one to think this. In 1969 Rupert Murdoch bought the News of the World. By now Stafford Somerfield had made the paper an enormous success and Murdoch kept him on. But a year later he sacked him. Murdoch later explained why:
  "I sacked the best editor of the News of the World. He was too nasty even for me."
  The BBC managed to film inside the News of the World just after Murdoch took over. Here he is at an editorial conference with Stafford Somerfield.
  They were about to publish the sex revelations of Christine Keeler. It led to even more public outrage - and Murdoch is interviewed defending their publication. I've also included a rather wonderful interview with Somerfield filmed just after Murdoch sacked him. He has a great last line.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  But sacking Somerfield didn't get rid of the virus he had brought into tabloid journalism. Nearly 20 years later - in 1988 - one of the great tabloid pioneers, Hugh Cudlipp summed up how that nastiness had spread and possessed newspapers.Cudlipp was no pompous moralist - he was a hard-boiled newsman who understood how tabloids worked. But now they had mutated into something narrower - giving way, he said, to an
  "intrusive journalism for the prurient where nothing, however personal, is any longer secret or sacred and the basic human right to privacy has been banished in the interest of public profit."
  I think it is a very interesting question why the tabloids became so nasty.
  In the wake of the phone-hacking scandal - it's possible to look back and see how an obsession with exposing hidden lives - especially the sexual aspects - grew and grew from 1960 onwards. It happened during a period of growing openness about sex in society as a whole, but rather than reflecting that openness it manifested itself instead as a weird, vicious prurience.
  It may be that we will look back and see it as the reaction of an older generation - both newspapermen and their readers - who found that when the lid was finally taken off talking about sex they didn't know how to deal properly with it. Instead they created a strange and pervy world that finally ran out of control as it became more and more desperate to pry into peoples lives.
  Meanwhile in the 1970s Diana Dors became a stalwart of British TV's "Light Entertainment". It was a strange world that mixed old music hall sauciness with this new odd perviness.
  Here is Diana Dors on a chat show discussing sexual "signals" with Desmond Morris - who had written a book called "Manwatching". Plus a rather dubious song she sings on a show with Petula Clark - both of them dressed up as little girls.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  And as "entertainment" it was also very strange. Here is another song from the Petula Clark show. It is about famous people who were born under the sign of Scorpio.
  Petula Clark walks along a row of giant boards - turning each round to reveal another giant portrait of a Scorpio that she then sings to. The list of people she serenades goes beyond weird - and the last one takes you directly to the sinister heart of this odd world.
  Heavy entertainment.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  Tommy Yeardye got over Diana Dors and went on to marry a beautiful model called Ann Davis. He set up a nightclub in London where patrons could draw nude models as they eat dinner.
  He said it was an attempt "to bring art into the average man's life". But it didn't work.
  Then he had a lucky break. He went into partnership with Vidal Sassoon - to market his haircare products. Yeardye helped turn Vidal Sassoon into a global brand, and became a multi-millionaire.
  In 1967 Tamara Yeardye was born. When she was young the family moved to Beverly Hills - then she was sent back to a posh school in Britain where she met many children of the rich and famous. Like her father she spent a lot of time in nightclubs - but it was in the early days of rave in the late 1980s, wearing DMs and cycling shorts in a famous club called Shoom.
  In the early 1990s she drifted into the fashion world, worked at Vogue, became heavily dependent on cocaine and ended up in rehab. But a year later she started Jimmy Choo and her career began.
  Then she fell in love. She met Matthew Mellon - a funny good-looking American who was incredibly rich because he was one of the heirs to the Mellon fortune. He too had been in rehab - for overdosing on crack. He claimed that the character of Julian, the drug addicted rich boy, in Less Than Zero was based on him.
  Tamara Yeardye described him:
  "Matthew Mellon was utterly beautiful and utterly goofy, which was a very endearing combination. He was also damaged goods, wounded and struggling, and that, I think, is where we made the real connection. My mistake was in assuming that, because I'd overcome my addictions, he could too."
  Getty/John StoddartShe became Tamara Mellon. Here is some video of Tamara and Matthew in 2003 working together to build the Jimmy Choo brand at the Oscars. Unfortunately the invasion of Iraq had caused the Oscar red carpet to be cancelled - but Tamara and Matthew keep going - Matthew Mellon shows his own line of shoes, called Harrys.
  Neither he nor Tamara look very happy.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  Soon after, the marriage began to fall apart. According to Tamara, Matthew Mellon took lots more cocaine and became increasingly paranoid. And as part of that paranoia, by 2004, he became increasingly suspicious about his wife.
  What Matthew Mellon then did leads you to the very heart of the giant secret industry that had grown up in Britain to spy on peoples' private lives.
  It was a world of private investigators and corrupt policemen that had originally been created to satisfy the ever-growing demands of tabloid journalists for scandalous details about peoples' private lives. A demand that Stafford Somerfield and the News of the World had done so much to kick-start back in 1960.
  But what Matthew Mellon's case shows is that this might just be the tip of a much bigger iceberg. A further scandal yet to emerge. That the secret intrusion into peoples private lives, and the surveillance of their behaviour goes far wider than previously thought.
  Matthew Mellon got in touch with a company in the City of London called Active Investigation Services - AIS. It was run by a man called Jeremy Young who said he was an ex-detective from Scotland Yard. In reality Young was still a serving Met officer who was leading a double life. He managed to do this by constantly going sick - claiming stress and anxiety, and back pain.
  Over 5 years Young took 1,640 days off on sick leave. There are 1.826 days in 5 years.
  Matthew Mellon's paranoia was now out of control. He was convinced that his wife was hiding millions of pounds from him in offshore accounts - and he asked AIS to find the hidden money. AIS - who offered a special service called "Hackers R Us", agreed.
  They tried to send Tamara Mellon emails that when she opened them would have injected a Trojan virus into her computer. This would them to read everything on the computer.
  But at the very same time the police found out that AIS was bugging phones. So the police themselves started to secretly watch and bug the private investigators. It became a gigantic effort - codenamed Operation Barbatus - that lasted 3 years and involved ten police forces and the FBI.
  The police raided AIS and seized 60 computers. The detective leading the operation said that what they uncovered was a "national network of corruption" where hundreds of blue chip companies and individuals were using AIS and their network to illegally bug, spy on and hack into individuals' computers.
  But then something strange happened - despite all this alleged illegal activity, none of AIS's clients were charged. Except for one - Matthew Mellon. The police burst into his flat and arrested him for authorizing the hacking of his wife's computer.
  It was a great trial because Tamara Mellon came up with a brilliant defence for her husband. Quite simply she said that he was too stupid to know what the private investigators were up to. She stood up in court and told everyone that he couldn't even read a comic, let alone a book. His QC helped by producing a psychologist who said that Matthew Mellon's inability to concentrate put him in the bottom 11% of the population.
  So he got off.
  Ever since Mellon's failed prosecution in 2007 there have been persistent reports that the corrupt Active Investigations network was itself part of something even bigger. The Serious Organised Crime Agency is alleged to have a report with the imaginative title:
  "THE ROGUE ELEMENT OF THE PRIVATE INVESTIGATION INDUSTRY AND OTHERS UNLAWFULLY TRADING IN PERSONAL DATA"
  It is supposed to reveal a wave of hacking and illegal "blagging" of information over the past few years that goes far beyond the simple intrusion into celebrities lives. Every now and then you get glimpses of this - like with the Tamara Mellon case. But despite calls from MPs and others, SOCA is refusing to publish the report.
  If you talk to private investigators who know this world they tell you that not only do we not have the faintest idea of how widespread it has become - but that we haven't conceptually grasped the full dimensions of what is happening. That at the same time as the police pursue the dodgy private investigators, like AIS, who are bugging and hacking their way into thousands of peoples' lives, the very same police - along with the security services, GCHQ and the NSA - are doing exactly the same to millions of other people. The only difference is that it's legal - because the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of 2000, and other laws, allow them to do it.
  And while that is happening - all of us are happily allowing giant internet companies to scan all the intimate personal data in our emails and everything we send across social media networks.
  It means that we are right to be paranoid. Just like Philip K Dick was.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  But there is a paradox here. Because many of those who are shocked by the extraordinary extent of the secret surveillance - radical journalists, cyber-revolutionaries, internet libertarians - are also argueing for total transparency of information.
  They not only accept that there is now no privacy personally online - but they believe that the way to bust open the corrupt elite structures of power in society is to release all secret information.
  In the past, they say, the old patrician power structure maintained its power by restricting access to that information. Now the technology exists to overcome the gatekeepers and make everything public - as Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden have shown.
  This transparency paradox is part of a much wider present-day confusion. Over the past few years we have been presented with scandals that seem to be evidence of powerful forces that are busy undermining both individual freedoms and the political system that is supposed to protect those freedoms.
  These range from the NSA and GCHQ, to global banks, private equity, giant international energy corporations, and parts of the media-industrial complex - like News International (and probably lots of other newspapers as well).
  But the scandals do not join up to make a bigger picture. And our reactions are sometimes confused and contradictory - as in the case of transparency and surveillance.
  It is as if the scandals are part of a giant jigsaw puzzle - and what we are waiting for is someone to come along and click those pieces together to give a clear, big picture of what is happening.
  A hundred years ago, at a time very like ours, a small group of journalists did just that. And the person who takes you back to that time is Tamara Mellon's ex-husband - Matthew Mellon
  At the end of the 19th century, Matthew Mellon's great great uncle - Andrew Mellon - was one of the most powerful and richest men in the world. He was part of a small group of bankers and industrialists who not only dominated America - but were using the power of money to undermine, corrupt and control politicians, judges and the whole system of democracy.
  They were known as Robber Barons. Men who used new technologies - like the railroads, and global systems of finance - to make themselves wealthier than anyone had ever been in history.Like John D. Rockefeller - who had ruthlessly created the giant Standard Oil of America. Rockefeller now controlled almost all the oil industry in America along with the railroads that transported the oil
  And Henry Clay Frick who built the giant US Steel corporation. He was known as The Most Hated Man in America. His special trick was to hire workers from one immigrant group to smash uppity workers from another.
  One year he hired Hungarians to break a strike by Italian workers. But less than two years later he had to hire Rumanians to get rid of the Hungarians.
  Frick had a great line about this - "The immigrant, however illiterate or ignorant he may be, always learns too soon."
  Jay Gould - the railroad king. He was even blunter than Frick - "I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half" - he said
  And the most powerful of all was the banker JP Morgan. He arranged deal after deal that allowed the Robber Barons to build giant industrial monopolies. They were called "trusts". Here is a famous cartoon of Morgan sitting on his throne holding the reins of the economic power of America in his hands
  At the same time American society was rocked by scandal after scandal along with terrible stories of the effect of growing inequalities. Politicians were bribed, policemen arrested and beat up innocent men and women, adulterated food was sold, and terrorists threw bombs. While the gap between rich and poor grew wider and wider.
  But none knew what to do about it. The genteel middle classes who believed in reform were baffled and confused.
  They knew that all these scandals were somehow a part of the enormous changes that were happening to American society. But they also knew that the new technologies and giant industries were bringing amazing benefits and transforming their world and the way they related to each other. Nobody seemed to be able to understand the true dimensions of what was happening.
  The person who did a great deal to bring it all into focus was a novelist, Frank Norris. He wrote a book in 1901 called the Octopus about the tragic fate of small farmers out on the distant prairies.
  He was recording the anger of these pioneers who had originally gone to live on the land to realise a dream of individual freedom.
  But now they found themselves trapped. Their dream was being destroyed by the power of the Pacific and Southern Railroad which was systematically entrapping and exploiting them.
  It's a brilliant and dramatic portrayal of a corrupted society. Norris shows how the railroads got the land for almost nothing in the first place - then forced the farmers to buy it from them at inflated prices. At the same time they charged the farmers more and more to transport their harvests to the ports - until they faced ruin and had to mortgage their land to the financiers behind the railroads.
  But there was nothing the farmers could do to fight against this.
  Norris describes how the tentacles of the railroad wormed their way into every part of the democratic system - bribing and corrupting judges, members of independent commissions, local and state politicians, and newspaper owners. Every institution that was supposed to help the farmers fight to preserve their freedom had fallen under the corrupt control of the railroad.
  It's a wonderful book. Other journalists and writers had described this corruption before - but Norris gave it an incredible clarity and emotional force. It became a sensation because it cut through the confusion and gave a simple, clear picture of what was happening to America.
  And it wasn't just the railroads trying to make profits. Beyond them was a new financial system that had realised that by making the farmers their servants in this way they could create a mass-industrialised system of agriculture that could both feed the world (which was good) and also make a few individuals so rich and powerful that they destroyed democracy (which was not good).
  Here is part of a television history of America made in the 1970s that explains this extraordinary shift. It's done in an old-fashioned magisterial way - but it's good.
  It's also got good stuff about the extraordinary world of the Robber Barons that was built out of this corruption.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  One of the people who had encouraged Frank Norris to write the Octopus was the editor of a small, but growing, magazine called McClures that was targeted at the new urban middle classes. He was called Sam McClure and he was fascinated by the amazing public reaction to The Octopus.
  He decided to try and push his journalists to do the same kind of thing - but factually, and on a grander scale. McClure wanted to create a new kind of journalism that would grab the imagination and the conscience of the middle classes - and not let go. His aim was to show how the concentration of economic power in America had completely overwhelmed and corrupted politics and the law.
  He wanted to use journalism to change the way people saw the world. And through that change the world for the better.
  It was an extraordinary ambition. And McClure did it by producing a famous edition of his magazine in January 1903 that shocked America.
  In that issue McClure published three very dramatic stories. The three journalists who wrote them became superstars as a result - and their journalism was given a new name - "muckraking".
  The first article was by a woman called Ida Tarbell. It was about the illegal methods and hidden corruption behind the rise to power of the richest man in America - John D. Rockefeller.
  For two years she researched every detail of how he had created his gigantic oil empire. When she found that documents had been destroyed or curiously taken out of public files - she carried on, convinced that copies of the missing reports or investigations into Rockefeller's activities would "turn up" somewhere.
  Tarbell's revelations were a national sensation. McClure told her - "You have become the most famous woman in America - that I am getting sort of afraid of you"
  In a gripping narrative Tarbell described how Rockefeller's agents would swoop down on a region like Pennsylvania and use all kinds of ruthless and illegal tactics to take over small businesses and destroy the enterprising entrepreners who ran them.
  Like with the farmers, Rockefeller controlled the railroads that carried the oil - but Tarbell showed that he also used bribery, fraud, criminal underselling and intimidation to destroy anyone or anything that prevented him creating his giant monopoly.
  Here is some footage of Rockefeller - the bit at the end when he speaks is very weird and spooky.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  The second article was called The Shame of Minneapolis. In it the journalist Lincoln Steffens blew open the whole political system that governed the City of Minneapolis. Almost everyone in public office was totally corrupt including the City Boss - Mayor Ames, his henchmen and the police captains who took cuts from businesses across the city. And they used a network of criminals to get the money.
  Steffens told it like a graphic novel.
  Here is Mayor Ames - and McClures is pretty blunt about how bad he is.
  And it was all backed up with close up "facsimiles" of the ledgers that every day recorded the money taken from "the suckers"
  The third story was a big surprise. It told how the trade unions had been corrupted - manipulating and deceiving their members. It revealed in shocking detail how striking union-members were attacking and sometimes killing workers who refused to go on strike.It was surprising because it took the side of miners who refused to strike.
  It was a series of very moving first-hand testimony from miners and their families about the terrible complexities individuals discovered at the heart of bitter disputes. Strikes that seemed on the surface to be a simple battle between labour and capital.
  It was - McClure said - about "dramas of human suffering, human loyalty and human fear - the feuds in the coal fields, the bitterness between union and non-union men, the uncompromising hatred opening wounds that only death can heal".
  At the end of the issue Sam McClure wrote an extraordinary editorial. It explained what all three articles meant when taken together
  It was simple and very powerful. McClure said that the journalism showed that everyone had been corrupted - the best lawyers in the country who are hired to advise corporations how they can get around the law, judges who use tiny "errors" to let people go free who in any common-sense judgement were totally corrupt, politicians who were in thrall to the money power, and police forces who had become organised networks of crime.
  But more than that - McClure said - all the other institutions that were supposed to stand up against such a wave of corrupt power had been overwhelmed. From the church to the colleges - the institutions of learning.
  "They do not understand"
  And he finished:
  What McClure meant was that it went beyond corruption. The real problem were the old institutions that could not understand or deal with the new powers that had emerged in society.
  He was calling for the ordinary people to realise they had more power and more understanding of the problems than any of the old institutions. And that they should come forward and force politicians to take control and deal with the problems in a new way.
  And they did.
  The new journalism that McClure began spread like wildfire - and politicians took notice. They were led by the new President, Theodore Roosevelt, who decided to use the law to break the monopolies - or what he called "The Octopus" that was strangling democracy.Here is the veteran BBC journalist Alistair Cooke describing what Roosevelt did.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  Out of this came new laws and new kinds of bureaucracies designed to deal with the money power. And it bred new kinds of public servants who believed they could take on giant monopolies because, for the first time, they understood what was really happening.
  To give you a sense of these kinds of people here are parts of two good documentaries made in the 1960s and early 1970s in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia.
  One is about is about a lawyer fighting for the rights of the coal miners in an area that is totally controlled by the mining corporation. He is called Harry Caudill.
  Caudill cares deeply about the plight of hundreds of thousands of miners and their families who have been pushed aside by mechanisation in the mines. He takes the camera round the remote valleys and into the houses of the miners - driven by a moral certainty that he must help them confront the power of the mine-owners.
  He is a figure from another age. I love the way he explains the inequalities of power to a woman whose house keeps being hit by chunks of rock. The rocks are blown out by the dynamiting going on all around her. She stands there patiently listening to his progressive vision.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  I looked up what happened to Caudill. He spent the rest of his life fighting the corporate power in the Appalachian mountains. But by 1990 he was suffering from severe Parkinson's disease - and he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.
  The other is about the story of the killing of Jock Yablonsky. He had won the election to be head of the United Mine Workers, but immediately after his victory he, his wife and his daughter, were all shot and killed.
  Everyone is convinced that the corrupt old leadership of the union did the killing - and the film sets out to investigate who did it and why. It is a great portrayal of a hard, corrupt world of union corruption and violence in West Virginia. And the interviews with the crony of the corrupt union boss is both sinister and funny.
  In both these films there are echoes of that distant time of the original muckrakers - but also of the powerful new mentality that their muckraking journalism did so much to bring into existence.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
  Of course our time is completely different from the age of the muckrakers. There isn't the terrible poverty - nor the violent strikes where workers were gunned down by private armies.
  But in other ways there are similarities. New technologies and giant financial systems are transforming society. They bring with them great benefits and exciting new ways of living - but at the same time there have been massive increases in inequality.
  In Britain - the top 1 percent of people now pay 30 percent of all income tax. Thirty years ago the top 1 percent paid only 11 percent - and that was at a time when the taxes on the rich were much higher. At the same time the average wage has been static for ten years. All new increases in wealth, from productivity, go only to the rich.
  The politicians seem to be helpless. The economic crisis of 2008 has revealed scandal after scandal in the financial system but there has been no real reform. When HSBC was revealed to have been laundering money for Mexican drug cartels no-one was prosecuted because doing so "might create instabilities in the system".
  And scandals come and go like a series of blows that we experience as disconnected events - each one evoking shock and horror. And nothing happens.
  A famous American Historian called Richard Hostadter wrote a study of the muckrakers. he said that before McClure's famous issue there was:
  "a diffuse malaise - and it was the muckraking that brought that diffuse malaise of the public into focus"
  I think there is an equally diffuse malaise today - waiting for a new kind of journalism to bring it into focus. Like with McClure's it won't be just a catalogue of shocking facts - it will be an imaginative leap that pulls all the scandals together and shows how they are part of some new system of power that we don't fully comprehend.
  That maybe - like the farmers on the prairies - we have all become the components of a new kind of machinery of social organisation.
  Computers, "financial engineering" and credit, social media, algorithms that predict what you want, NSA surveillance, giant new holding corporations called Master Limited Partnerships - all of these surround us and wrap us into a complicated modern web. Some of it is wonderful, other parts of it are threatening - while even more parts are just incomprehensible.
  And behind it is the new money power - giant institutions, and individuals that can bend politicians to their will. The repeal of the Glass Steagall act in 1999 - which arguably did a great deal to create the financial corruption of our age - is just one example.
  While the old institutions that grew up over the past hundred years to protect us now find themselves unable to comprehend or cope with the new systems of power. Politicians, regulatory institutions, intelligence agencies, the mainstream press, the police, the BBC, the colleges of academia- all of them, as McClure said in 1903:
  "They do not understand"
  And cut off from the real power struggles - these old institutions are starting to prey on each other. Leaving us both confused and undefended.
  One newspaper editor writing about the loss of the independence of the farmers a hundred years ago summed up the new system:
  "The farmers farm the land, and the businessmen farm the farmers."
  Maybe today we are being farmed by the new system of power. But we can't see quite how it is happening - and we need a new journalism to explain what is really going on.
  Meanwhile here is Diana Dors singing a beautiful, but sad, song in her garden at night. She has summoned Russell Harty and some others to celebrate the opening of her new swimming pool. Part of her extraordinary later life as the consummate Light Entertainer.
  In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content
An Offer You Can't Refuse | Human Rights Watch
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:05
  The 126-page report details how prosecutors throughout the United States extract guilty pleas from federal drug defendants by charging or threatening to charge them with offenses carrying harsh mandatory sentences and by seeking additional mandatory increases to those sentences. Prosecutors offer defendants a much lower sentence in exchange for pleading guilty. Since drug defendants rarely prevail at trial, it is not surprising that 97 percent of them decide to plead guilty.
IT MELTDOWN ruins Cyber Monday for RBS, Natwest customers ' The Register
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 06:02
  Disaster recovery protection level self-assessment
  RBS, Natwest and Ulster Bank customers were hit by an "IT meltdown" on Cyber Monday that stopped card payments, borked ATMs and closed down online banking, leaving them with no way to pay for anything.
  Problems started around 6.30pm yesterday as folks trying to do their Christmas shopping online and those looking for a few groceries for their dinner were left red-faced when cards were declined.
  RBS, which owns Natwest, has said that the technical issue, which it has so far refused to explain, is now resolved, but users are still reporting problems.
  Natwest customer Beth told The Reg that she still wasn't able to access her account online and the bank was now telling her that there could be a block on her card.
  "A card block wouldn't result in a technical error, so it's absolute rubbish," she complained. "I think the online team are clutching at straws. I know lots of people do have access but I'm not amongst them!"
  Reg readers who could get into their online accounts also reported money missing from their balances. In some cases, salaries that had recently come into the account had now disappeared, leaving the customer overdrawn and causing cheques to bounce and payments to be refused.
  An RBS spokesperson told The Reg that the majority of users had access to their money again, but some folks could still be having trouble.
  "There could be a small number of customers still experiencing some residual issues," they said. "[And] there could be one or two people whose payments are taking some time to update. Any customer experiencing issues this morning should get in touch with our call centres or branches where our staff will be ready to help."
  RBS Group, which also includes Ulster Bank, has also promised compensation for the outage.
  "We would like to apologise to our customers. If anyone has been left out of pocket as a result of these systems problems, we will put this right," it said in a statement.
  The outage is the latest in a line of IT problems at the banking group that are adding to its growing bad reputation. In June last year, millions of account holders were left without access to their accounts, in some cases for up to a week. The Reg discovered that an inexperienced RBS tech was to blame, bungling the patch-up after an upgrade to the batch processing software used by the bank went wrong.
  Earlier this year, a hardware fault in the group's mainframes stopped customers from accessing their accounts online, at the cash machine or using their cards. ®
  If you're in the know and would like to add to the coverage of this latest outage at RBS Group, drop The Reg a note or call the London office on 020 3189 4620.
  The business case for a multi-tenant, cloud-based Recovery-as-a-Service solution
Pakistan initiates talks with Qatar for LNG import
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The News International - Top stories
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:58
  ISLAMABAD: After the approval of $2 billion service tolling contract to Engro Vopak Terminal Limited (EVTL) for the import of LNG, the Nawaz government has swung into action to arrange the contract for LNG supply by Qatar.
  A Pakistan delegation headed by federal minister of petroleum and natural resources Mr Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is being dispatched to Doha, Qatar, where talks for LNG imports will be held on December 8, a senior official of the Ministry of petroleum and natural resources told The News.
  The official said that Mr Saif ur Rehman is active in Qatar for the expected LNG supply deal for country's benefit.
  When contacted petroleum minister Abbasi confirmed that he was going to Qatar to hold talks for LNG import at affordable prices, keeping in view the international prices of LNG.
  Earlier a delegation headed by Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif held talks with the Qatari authorities for LNG supply to energy-starved Pakistan and in return Qatari government sent the US-based ConocoPhillips Company to Pakistan on July 30, 2013.
  ConocoPhillips enjoys exclusive rights in Qatar to export LNG. The company had clearly told the government that the negotiations for import of LNG would be initiated only after the government issued the tenders for LNG terminals.
  It had also demanded sovereign guarantee from the government of Pakistan and inclusion of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in some components of the deal. Sui Southern has already cleared the retrofitting of LPG terminal for import of LNG and also approved the service-tolling contract to Engro Vopak Terminal Limited (EVTL) with certain conditions.
  Since the government is 100 percent sure that all the conditions would be met by EVTL, it has decided to initiate serious talks with the Qatari authorities for LNG import.
  According to the minister, the government wants to ensure the first flow of LNG import by November 2014. EVTL terminal will first import 200 mmcfd LNG and then 400 mmcfd. More terminals would also be installed for more LNG import, as the government wants to import 2 bcfd LNG in two years' time.
  The board of directors' meeting of Sui Southern held on November 26 primarily wanted to link the approval of award of the contract to EVTL with the satisfaction of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but in the wake of tremendous pressure from top authorities in Islamabad, it approved the project with certain conditions.
  The board allowed the SSGC to negotiate the LSA (LNG Services Agreement) with EVTL. The negotiations are still under way and LSA will be finalised in the next 7-10 days.
  It is pertinent to mention that during the approval by board of directors of ISGS and SSGC, the concerns raised by the PPRA, NAB and TIP (Transparency International Pakistan) have not been removed.
  The three entities were not even provided the details pertaining to the bidding process in the light of the terms and conditions mentioned in the tender.
Sandy Hook 911 Call : "There's A Rumor It's FAKE" - UFO Blogger : Exclusive 2013 UFO News Stories, Flying Saucers and UFOs Sightings Videos
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:54
  The release Sandy Hook 911 tapes concluded a months-long legal dispute between the Newtown Police Department and the news media, which had been seeking the recordings stemming from the response to the shooting.
  State's Attorney for the Danbury Judicial District Stephen Sedensky said during the court battle that the 911 tapes were excluded from Connecticut's Freedom of Information Act, arguing that calls were confidential records of child abuse. A Connecticut judge ordered the tapes' release Nov. 26.
  We must say the Sandy Hook 911 tapes are "Chilling".
  Please listen to down below call number 3. from 1:52 to 1:55 woman in the background said "There's a rumor it's fake" Jenn, hang up, I need you to get off that phone!
Presidential Proclamation -- National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2013
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:40
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  December 05, 2013
  NATIONAL PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY, 2013
  - - - - - - -
  BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
  A PROCLAMATION
  More than seven decades ago, on a calm Sunday morning, our Nation was attacked without warning or provocation. The bombs that fell on the island of Oahu took almost 2,400 American lives, damaged our Pacific Fleet, challenged our resilience, and tested our resolve. On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we honor the men and women who selflessly sacrificed for our country, and we show our enduring gratitude to all who fought to defend freedom against the forces of tyranny and oppression in the Second World War.
  In remembrance of Pearl Harbor and to defend our Nation against future attacks, scores of young Americans enlisted in the United States military. In battle after battle, our troops fought with courage and honor. They took the Pacific theater island by island, and eventually swept through Europe, liberating nations as they progressed. Because of their extraordinary valor, America emerged from this test as we always do -- stronger than ever before.
  We also celebrate those who served and sacrificed on the home front -- from families who grew Victory Gardens or donated to the war effort to women who joined the assembly line alongside workers of every background and realized their own power to build a brighter world. Together, our Greatest Generation overcame the Great Depression, and built the largest middle class and strongest economy in history.
  Today, with solemn pride and reverence, let us remember those who fought and died at Pearl Harbor, acknowledge everyone who carried their legacy forward, and reaffirm our commitment to upholding the ideals for which they served.
  The Congress, by Public Law 103-308, as amended, has designated December 7 of each year as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day."
  NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 7, 2013, as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I encourage all Americans to observe this solemn day of remembrance and to honor our military, past and present, with appropriate ceremonies and activities. I urge all Federal agencies and interested organizations, groups, and individuals to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff this December 7 in honor of those American patriots who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.
  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.
  BARACK OBAMA
VIDEO-DIWire: The First Desktop Wire Bender by Pensa Labs '-- Kickstarter
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:39
  Pensa Labs has developed the DIWire Bender, the first desktop CNC wire bender. A new archetype for desktop manufacturing and rapid prototyping, the DIWire transforms drawn curves into bent wire that can be assembled to make just about anything.
  Our community has told us they want to make antennas, robotics, architecture models, design prototypes, art, furniture, jewelry, small crafts, surgical implants, orthodonture, puppetry, lighting, stage sets, signage and the list goes on.
  To date, desktop manufacturing has focused on 3D printers outputting plastic volumes and laser cutters cutting 2D planes. However, nothing exists that converts lines into bent rod, wire or tubular forms quickly, accurately, and repeatably. The DIWire can bend various metals and plastics, allowing for the output to be used as the final product. Additionally, the build volume is limited only by the length of the wire.
  By being transportable, accessible and affordable, the DIWire fills the market gap between time-consuming hand-bending and large scale, mass production CNC wire bending, which is too expensive for custom, short-run productions. This changes the dynamics of STEM education, as well as local, mass customized, prototype and just-in-time manufacturing for industries ranging from aerospace, automotive, medical, to consumer products.
  In developing the DIWire, we focused on creating a seamless user experience, from the software interface, to the machine design, to accessories that help with assembly.
  The DIWire is approximately 16'' x 10'' x 8'' (L x W x H).
  The DIWire can bend diameters from .040" - .125", depending on your material.
  Our software doesn't require specialty skills; just drag-n-drop your SVG file and press bend. Users can simply draw in 2D, with no programming or CAD skills required.
  We see the DIWire as a tool but assembling wires to create a final product can be a challenge. We have created a series of clips that act as assembly helpers.
  Final assembly clips will be made from metal - but we'll share the 3D files, in case you want to print your own :)
  We're nearly ready to set up full-scale manufacturing of the DIWire. We believe desktop manufacturing is at the core of the next Industrial Revolution and we want to be a part of the movement. We know this won't happen without the passion of makers, hobbyists, professionals, enthusiasts and educators behind us. That's why we've turned to Kickstarter to build our community and to ensure that this last crucial step of setting up our production line is done right. Pre-order, pledge or share this project to join our team!
  We Have
  - Developed 4 generations of prototypes
  - Built and beta tested 10 pilot units
  - Tested various materials for use
  - Nearly completed design for manufacture and assembly
  - Begun sourcing
  Soon, We Will
  - Finalize sourcing, early 2014
  - Release drawings for production, early 2014
  - First sample review, mid 2014
  - Begin shipping, mid 2014
  Pensa Labs is the brainchild of Pensa, a Brooklyn-based design firm with a track record of developing successful products, brands and strategies. Pensa firmly believes that the world can be continuously improved through understanding people and providing them with great design and a bit of clever invention.
Working for the Man Pays Off! Palantir Is Worth Three Snapchats
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Valleywag
  Fri, 06 Dec 2013 05:35
  S
  Palantir, the CIA-backed company that recently emerged "from the shadow world of spies and special ops to take corporate America by storm" is about to announce a new round of funding that values the company at about $9 billion, reports the Wall Street Journal.
  The Tolkien-loving big data vacuum has already raised $58 million, but the round could be as high as $100 million, according to the Journal's source. Add that to the $498 million Palantir has already raised.
  The company's software has "been a hit with intelligence agencies like the CIA, investigative agencies like the FBI, federal prosecutors, private investigators and others" and interest from investors piqued further when Palantir brought those surveillance state tactics into the private sector.
  According to the Journal, both the valuation and size of the company is accelerating rapidly:
  The valuation is a 50% increase from September, when Palantir was valued at $6 billion. Palantir disclosed in September it had completed a funding round that raised $196.5 million.
  Palantir's employee ranks have been growing as well, to 1,200, from 700 a year ago. Most employees are software engineers, tasked with writing code that can digest vast pools of data and quickly connect dots that would take people months or years to decipher.
  Locals have been complaining about Palantir's sucking up all the real estate in Palo Alto, where their security guards are a common sight.
  The biggest beneficiary of this new financing besides soon-to-be billionaire Alexander Karp, Palantir's eccentric CEO, is Peter Thiel, the company's largest shareholder:
  Thiel sought to apply PayPal's anti-fraud software to fight terrorism, and he bankrolled the company with an initial investment of $30 million from him and his venture-capital fund.
  The investors in the new round have not been disclosed. If it's you, quick delete any anti-NSA/spying on American tweets before Palantir posts the Form D.
  To contact the author of this post, please email nitasha@gawker.com.
Air Force informant program
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 05 Dec 2013 23:50
  Facing pressure to combat drug use and sexual assault at the Air Force Academy, the Air Force has created a secret system of cadet informants to hunt for misconduct among students.
  Cadets who attend the publicly-funded academy near Colorado Springs must pledge never to lie. But the program pushes some to do just that: Informants are told to deceive classmates, professors and commanders while snapping photos, wearing recording devices and filing secret reports.
  For one former academy student, becoming a covert government operative meant not only betraying the values he vowed to uphold, it meant being thrown out of the academy as punishment for doing the things the Air Force secretly told him to do.
  Eric Thomas came to the academy as a soccerplayer, but soon became a spy.(Photo courtesy Eric Thomas)
  ''It was like a spy movie. I worked on dozens of cases, did a lot of good, and when it all hit the fan, they didn't know me anymore.''- Eric Thomas
  Eric Thomas, 24, was a confidential informant for the Office of Special Investigations, or OSI '-- a law enforcement branch of the Air Force. OSI ordered Thomas to infiltrate academy cliques, wearing recorders, setting up drug buys, tailing suspected rapists and feeding information back to OSI. In pursuit of cases, he was regularly directed by agents to break academy rules.
  ''It was exciting. And it was effective,'' said Thomas, a soccer and football player who received no compensation for his informant work. ''We got 15 convictions of drugs, two convictions of sexual assault. We were making a difference. It was motivating, especially with the sexual assaults. You could see the victims have a sense of peace.''
  Through it all, he thought OSI would have his back. But when an operation went wrong, he said, his handlers cut communication and disavowed knowledge of his actions, and watched as he was kicked out of the academy.
  ''It was like a spy movie,'' said Thomas, who was expelled in April, a month before graduation. ''I worked on dozens of cases, did a lot of good, and when it all hit the fan, they didn't know me anymore.''
  The Air Force's top commander and key members of the academy's civilian oversight board claim they have no knowledge of the OSI program. The Gazette confirmed the program, which has not been reported in the media through interviews with multiple informants, phone and text records, former OSI agents, court filings and documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
  The records show OSI uses FBI-style tactics to create informants. Agents interrogate cadets for hours without offering access to a lawyer, threaten them with prosecution, then coerce them into helping OSI in exchange for promises of leniency they don't always keep. OSI then uses informants to infiltrate insular cadet groups, sometimes encouraging them to break rules to do so. When finished with informants, OSI takes steps to hide their existence, directing cadets to delete emails and messages, misleading Air Force commanders and Congress, and withholding documents they are required to release under the Freedom of Information Act.
  The program also appears to rely disproportionately on minority cadets like Thomas.
  ''Their behavior in (Thomas's) case goes beyond merely disappointing, and borders on despicable,'' Skip Morgan, a former OSI lawyer who headed the law department at the academy, said in a letter to the superintendent of the academy in April. Morgan is now Thomas's lawyer. The superintendent did not reply.
  The Air Force also has not replied to a letter sent by Thomas' senator, John Thune of South Dakota, in September asking officials to meet with Thomas.
  While the informant program has resulted in prosecutions, it also creates a fundamental rift between the culture of honesty and trust the academy drills into cadets and another one of duplicity and betrayal that the Air Force clandestinely deploys to root out misconduct.
  The Gazette identified four informants. Three agreed to speak about their experience with OSI. All had been told they were the only informant on campus, but eventually learned of more, including each other. Because of the secretive nature of the program, The Gazette was unable to determine its scope, but the informants interviewed by The Gazette said they suspect the campus of 4,400 cadets has dozens.
  ''It's contradictory to everything the academy is trying to do,'' said one of the informants, Vianca Torres. ''They say we are one big family, and to trust each other, then they make you lie to everyone.''
  Academy commanders declined multiple requests for interviews. OSI also declined requests for comment, saying in a statement it could neither confirm nor deny the existence of the program.
  Gen. Mark Welsh, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the service's top officer and only commander with authority over both the academy and OSI, said he was unfamiliar with the cadet informant system.
  ''I don't know a thing about it,'' he said in an interview in October.
  Members of the academy's civilian oversight board, which includes members of Congress, also said they had not heard of the program.
  Records show, for a time, Thomas was at the center of it. He worked major operations that netted high-profile prosecutions. OSI documents said he was ''very reliable'' and ''provided OSI with ample amounts of vital information.''
  Legal experts say informants are useful and commonly employed in fighting crime. But informants on college campuses are exceedingly rare, and other experts warn they have a corrosive effect on individuals and institutions.
  ''It changes everyone's relationship to the whole institution because it erodes the moral authority of the law,'' said Loyola University professor Alexandra Natapoff, who studies informants and the law. ''There are rules '-- unless you snitch. People begin to question the fairness of the system. And it sets cadets against their fellow cadets. It can really change their lives, sometimes in ways that can be very harmful.''
  The three informants who spoke to The Gazette said the system needs reform.
  ''I hate it,'' said a third cadet who said he became an informant in 2011. The cadet, who graduated in May and is now an officer, did not want to be identified because he feared retribution by the Air Force. He said being an informant was the worst thing he has ever done. ''It puts you in a horrible situation: Lying, turning on other cadets. I felt like a rat. OSI says they will offer you protection, have your back. Then they don't. Look what happened to Eric.''
  Former Air Force Cadet Eric Thomas stands outside the cadet dorms in May, a month after he was expelled from the Air Force Academy. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
  Integrity firstThomas said his life as an informant started after an off-campus cadet party in 2010.
  The Air Force Academy is hardly known as a party school. Incoming cadets face a barrage of rules. For the first several months, they can't wear civilian clothes or even civilian eyeglasses. They must run at attention to class and sit at attention at meals, setting forks down before chewing each bite seven times. They live in dorms where TVs, microwaves, and even unauthorized pillows are forbidden until senior year. These long-held traditions, used at all military academies, are designed to strip students of former identities and instill the collective identity of the Air Force.
  Cadets must meet exacting standards and pledge not to lie. (Air Force photo)
  Any slip-up earns a cadet punishment and demerits. A cadet who amasses 200 demerits gets expelled. Any illegal drug use is grounds for immediate dismissal. About 70 cadets each year are kicked out.
  Cadets are made to repeat the core values of the Air Force: ''Integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do.''
  They pledge to an honor code: ''We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.'' Telling a lie can get a cadet expelled. Even telling misleading truths, known as ''quibbling,'' can land a cadet in hot water.
  The idea is to forge the integrity future officers need.
  Even so, some cadets throw illegal parties off base, usually at houses rented for the weekend by a third party.
  In fall 2010, Thomas, a sophomore, went to a house party near Divide. It was a typical college bash, he said, with pounding music, beer and cadets on the back porch smoking pot and a synthetic marijuana called spice.
  The party was busted by civilian police. About two weeks later, the then 21-year-old said he was ordered to report to OSI for questioning.
  OSI, formed in 1948, has about 2,300 personnel at bases around the globe who investigate terrorism threats, espionage, fraud, and other major crimes. Its motto is ''eyes of the eagle.'' Agents wear no rank or uniform. They answer not to the commanders where they are based, but to a central OSI office near Washington, D.C.
  The academy has about 12 agents, but cadets say few students know OSI exists.
  Thomas, left, began informing on other cadets, including close friends. (Courtesy Eric Thomas)
  An OSI agent named Mike Munson brought Thomas into a small interrogation room with a one-way mirror and a microphone, Thomas said. Munson did not respond to The Gazette's email requests for an interview.
  Thomas said he wasn't nervous. He was a straight-laced athlete from a strict home who had never done drugs and drank very little. The agent told him he was there only as a witness. He wanted to know who did what at the party. At first, Thomas gave vague answers, but Munson pressed harder, Thomas said, grilling the cadet for more than three hours: OSI had witnesses. They had proof Thomas knew more than he was saying. It was the cadet's duty to tell the truth. Under the honor code, not turning in spice smokers was the same as smoking spice.
  The academy teaches cadets not to question superiors, Thomas said. When OSI asked him to do things, he thought he had little choice.
  ''Eventually I told them everything I knew,'' Thomas said.
  Thomas's experience mirrors that of Vianca Torres. At age 20, when she was a junior, she said, OSI called her in as a potential witness because she had gone to a party where other women had reported being sexually assaulted. OSI interrogated her for six hours, she said, grilling her not only about the assaults but about drug use and other crimes among her friends going back years. At first the cadet with a clean record said she resisted, but they pressed harder.
  ''They called me a disgrace to my country. They called me a disgrace to my family,'' she said.
  Sobbing, she said, she eventually told on friends and admitted to smoking spice her freshman year.
  Vianca Torreswas expelledafter helping OSI.(Air Force photo)
  OSI charged her for the crime, then promised to make the charge go away if she became an informant. She worked for OSI for 10 months, she said. OSI tried to plant a video camera in her alarm clock to bust a friend, she said.
  She balked at the camera, she said, but did everything else OSI asked. Even so, she was kicked out in November, 2012 for her admission of drug use years before.
  Before she was expelled, Torres said, OSI ordered her to delete all texts and emails showing the existence of her handler. In retrospect, she said, OSI just dragged out her dismissal so she could do more work as an informant.
  ''You just get used,'' said Torres. ''OSI gets what they want and kicks you to the curb.''
  OSI has used similar informant programs at other bases for decades. But at the academy it has been using cadet informants for about 10 years, documents show.
  ''You just get used.OSI gets what they wantand kicks you to the curb.''-Vianca Torres
  Top leadership in the late 1990s told The Gazette they were not aware of an informant program. Then in 2001, the academy was rocked by high profile cases of drug use that resulted in Congressional investigations. That year an OSI officer named Keith Givens, who is now vice commander of OSI, wrote in the Air Force's official legal journal, The Reporter, that the Air Force should use ''a web of undercover agents and informants to detect drug abuse.'' In 2003 the academy was hit by more scandals over drugs and sexual assaults that resulted in the removal of top brass. By 2004, court documents show, OSI was recruiting cadets as informants. Documents show that at least some academy leaders have knowledge of the program, but it is not clear if they know who is involved and what they do.
  At the end of Thomas's interrogation, Munson told him that the Air Force wanted him to become a confidential informant.
  ''What would I have to do?'' Thomas asked.
  ''Just get in with everyone,'' he remembers Munson saying. ''Go to parties, flirt with females, be friends with everyone. That's how you start.''
  Thomas asked if it would mean breaking the cadet honor code. He said Munson told him there was no cadet honor code in this line of work.
  Trust is at the heart of any honor code, said Laurie Johnson, a Kansas State University professor who specializes in ethics and honor codes. ''By introducing spying I would think the cadets would believe there's no trust,'' Johnson said.
  Worse, she said, if the Air Force encourages cadets to break the honor code as informants, it shows leaders have little use for the rules cadets are expected to follow.
  Asked about the apparent contradiction between demanding honesty and using informants, an academy spokesman said: ''A cadet has the responsibility to not only live by the honor code, but report those who don't.''
  Many people would find snitching on classmates shady, Thomas said. But he saw it differently. All cadets pledge to uphold academy rules. But some of his fellow cadets, who might someday lead the Air Force, seemed to have little respect for the pledge.
  ''I took that very seriously,'' he said. ''If we are not accountable to that standard, who is? But it was hard. You had to choose between your friends and what's right.''
  What tipped the balance for Thomas was a friend who had been sexually assaulted. He said he had watched her struggle when the investigation ended in a ''he said, she said'' stalemate. A confidential informant might have helped.
  Thomas agreed to help OSI.
  Agents made him sign non-disclosure papers and told him he could be thrown in a military prison if he talked about his work. He could not even tell his commanders, they said. OSI would notify them instead. As Thomas left that life-changing meeting with OSI, he remembers the agent saying, ''Wait to be contacted. And remember, don't tell anybody.''
  Cadets walk beneath the core values of the academy. (Gazette file)
  Service before selfThomas worked his way in with the party kids, troublemakers and other cadets OSI called ''targets.'' OSI gave him training on how to pass himself off as one of the ''bad crowd.'' He got close with football players who OSI knew were the focus of several confidential sexual assault accusations. He became tight with a guy from the sky diving team who OSI thought was selling marijuana.
  Some cadets, he discovered, kept secret houses in Colorado Springs where they could store motorcycles, throw keggers, hook up with the opposite sex and do other things forbidden on base. He said he started going to house parties almost every weekend, taking photos on his phone, writing down addresses, and noting who was doing what.
  ''I'm not going there getting hammered, just hoping I'll see something. I went with a specific intent,'' Thomas said. ''I'm blending in, not getting drunk, not flirting, just watching.''
  He would call OSI to report his findings.
  Then Thomas got a new handler late in 2011 and, he said, things got ''much more intense.''
  Texts show OSI was in constant contact with Thomas. (Courtesy Eric Thomas)
  Thomas started getting texts several times a week from someone called ''Briana'':
  ''Call me as soon as you can.''
  ''Doing an op tomorrow, call me.''
  ''Meet me in the bx parking lot.''
  ''Be sure to keep me updated.''
  Briana was actually a stocky blond with a thin beard and glasses named Special Agent Brandon Enos.
  Enos texted several times a week, sometimes late at night, telling the cadet to meet at a remote parking lot behind the academy's B-52 bomber or some other secluded location, Thomas said.
  Enos would be waiting in an unmarked black Dodge Durango to drive Thomas off base. OSI reports obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show Enos would discuss findings, plan strategy, and tell Thomas what to do next. At one point, before a planned drug buy, Thomas said, Enos pulled out a pack of cheap cigars and showed him how to roll a blunt and appear to smoke it without inhaling.
  ''The whole time I was like, 'OK, I'm getting told how to roll a blunt by a federal agent; this is a different cadet experience that is not in the brochure','' Thomas said.
  Torres said Enos was also her handler.
  Enos did not respond to requests for comment sent to an email address he used to communicate with Thomas.
  Informing took a toll. Thomas said he often would not get back from meetings until after midnight, leaving little time to do homework. His grades dropped and he was put on academic probation. Because of the company he kept, he said he got a bad reputation.
  ''My chain of command thought I was a dirt bag who didn't care about the rules, when the truth was the opposite,'' he said.
  Worst of all, he said, was not being able to tell anyone the truth. In college, when most young adults are forging their identities, his identity was a forgery.
  ''I'm running in all these different cliques, trying to be different people. It's lonely, very lonely,'' he said. ''You put on so many faces that after a while you forget your own.''
  The effect this large-scale deception can have on the informant is perhaps the most troubling aspect of the practice, said Martin Cook, a professor of military ethics at the U.S. Naval War College, who taught for years at the academy.
  ''Is it appropriate for OSI to use these methods in the Air Force? Yes, I think so. It may serve a greater good,'' he said. ''But is it appropriate to recruit young people into this at a key time when they are trying to form their morality? That could certainly cause problems the rest of their lives. That's a harder question.''
  OSI wanted Thomas to get in with a cadet named Stephan Claxton, Thomas said.
  Four female cadets had reported being sexually assaulted by Claxton, Thomas said, but the reports were made using a confidential reporting system designed to protect victims, so the Air Force could not use them to prosecute.
  Instead, they used Thomas.
  ''The idea was to track Claxton,'' said Thomas. ''We know he gets drunk and does this stuff. He's a time bomb. It's only a matter of waiting until he does it again.''
  Nov. 5, 2011, was a Saturday. That evening, Claxton went out with a bunch of friends, including a civilian woman engaged to a cadet at the academy. Thomas was not allowed to leave base that weekend, but, he said, OSI urged him to tail Claxton, so he broke the rules and tagged along.
  The group went drinking in downtown Colorado Springs. What happened next is according to testimony in the court-martial that followed.
  The woman got drunk and passed out in the car they were riding in. No one knew where she lived, so the cadets took her back to the academy to find her fianc(C).
  At about 2 a.m., Claxton, a basketball player who had been out with them, and Thomas carried her down the empty dorm hall and put her in Thomas' bed.
  A drunk female passed out in the room could get them busted, so they went to find her fianc(C) and have him take her home.
  Unbeknownst to them, Claxton stayed behind and locked the door.
  Another cadet who had been out with them returned to the room and tried the door.
  ''Eric, why is your door locked?'' he whispered to Thomas, who had started walking down the hall.
  Thomas wasn't sure.
  He went back and knocked. After about a minute, Claxton opened the door a crack and asked what they wanted, then started to close the door.
  Thomas realized what might be happening and pushed his way in. They found the woman, still passed out, with her shirt up and pants undone.
  A fight broke out.
  Other cadets who heard the noise burst in. Some pulled Claxton off Thomas. Some carried the woman to another room. Thomas fled and called his commander from down the hall.
  Claxton was charged with sexual misconduct and sentenced to six months behind bars. The other cadets, including Thomas, were punished for the other infractions, including sneaking off base and having a female in the dorm.
  Thomas said he assumed he would be protected by OSI.
  He wasn't.
  Air Force records show the academy's vice commandant knew of Thomas' OSI involvement and ordered a special hearing officer to privately review the case, saying the normal discipline process was ''not the right forum to discuss the more sensitive information.''
  It never happened.
  Thomas' squadron commander, who Thomas said knew nothing of his involvement with OSI, recommended expulsion.
  Thomas was stripped of rank and restricted to base.
  Text messages obtained by The Gazette show OSI continued to direct Thomas to leave base to follow targets, even though he was restricted.
  He obeyed.
  When the academy found out he was leaving despite his restrictions, commanders were outraged at his contempt for the rules.
  ''I couldn't tell them what was really going on. I had signed papers. I just had to stand there and take it.''-Eric Thomas
  A cadet discipline board and an officer discipline board blasted him for a ''history of disregarding the rules'' and a ''pattern of bad behavior.'' The discipline boards recommended that Thomas be expelled. OSI told him not to worry, he said. They were taking care of things behind the scenes. He just had to keep his mouth shut.
  ''I couldn't tell them what was really going on. I had signed papers. I just had to stand there and take it,'' he said.
  As punishment, the academy gave Thomas 309 demerits '-- more than 100 more than are required for expulsion. Commanders also ordered him to serve 186 confinements and 94 tours. Each confinement meant two hours of sitting silently in a room. Each tour meant one hour of marching with a heavy rubber rifle in a tight square in the center of campus. Thomas said he spent many weekends in dress blues marching from sunup to well past sundown.
  The discipline board recommended that Thomas be expelled. OSI told him not to worry, he said. They were taking care of things behind the scenes. He just had to keep his mouth shut.
  OSI targeted football players suspected of drug use, including star tailback Asher Clark. (Gazette file)
  Thomas's work with OSI didn't stop when he got in trouble. It intensified.
  Phone records and OSI documents show he was in constant contact with OSI in the winter and spring of 2012.
  OSI wired him up to record parties, he said. It had him delve into suspicions that football players got special treatment from professors, and gave him pens and lighters that were actually recording devices to take on drug buys.
  He was pivotal in a major bust that made headlines and led to the expulsion of one of the football team's star players, he said. OSI called it Operation Gridiron.
  At 5 a.m. Jan. 12, 2012, academy officers swept into the dorms, banging on the doors of about 50 cadets, confiscating their phones and ordering them to get dressed, and report immediately to OSI.
  It was the first phase of an operation to bust cadets using information gathered by Thomas during the previous year, Thomas said.
  They had planned the operation for weeks and even made Thomas take a polygraph test to ensure his information was accurate, OSI records show.
  The main target was a group of about 10 football players thought to be involved in drugs including the star tailback. OSI also brought in a handful of suspected partiers from the basketball team, soaring team and sky diving team. But most of the cadets called in had done nothing wrong and were simply there as decoys, Thomas said.
  Thomas sat in the group wearing a hidden recording device.
  Asher Clark wasexpelled for druguse in 2012.
  Over the next 11 hours OSI agents took cadets one by one from a waiting room to interrogation rooms, using information from Thomas to get confessions. One of them was a football player named Ryan Williams, Thomas said. Agents told Williams that his teammate Asher Clark, the team's star tailback, had already told OSI that Williams had smoked spice at a party. OSI seemed to know every detail down to what he had been wearing the night of the party. Seeing he was caught, Williams confessed, then implicated Clark, Thomas said.
  In fact, Clark had said nothing to OSI. The information had come from Thomas, who had been at the party.
  Next, agents interrogated Clark and did the same thing. Clark confessed and implicated Williams.
  Back in the waiting room, the two players started yelling and shoving one another, Thomas said, furious that they'd sold each other out.
  Clark, Williams and five other cadets were kicked out or left the academy as a result of Operation Gridiron. Others were disciplined.
  ''My freshman roommate got wrapped up in it, too,'' Thomas said. ''He was caught with a house off base and almost kicked out. That really sucked, seeing a friend get in trouble and knowing I had a part in it.''
  Eric Thomas enters an abandoned house on the Air Force Academy where he regularly met with OSI agents. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
  Terminated
  Thomas testified at the court-martial of Claxton, who was convicted.
  Documents show he also fed information to OSI that led to the 2013 sexual assault conviction of another cadet, linebacker Jamil Cooks.
  ''Those were the first convictions for sexual assault at the academy since 1997,'' Thomas said. ''What we were doing was working.''
  Cadets with as many demerits as Thomas are kicked out in a matter of weeks. But Thomas kept going to classes through the spring and summer of 2012. Officially, he was told a computer crash had delayed his expulsion. Privately, he assumed OSI was helping behind the scenes.
  At the end of August 2012, Thomas' case went to a closed hearing with the vice commandant and other leaders '-- the final stop on the way to expulsion.
  ''I will come speak on your behalf about Claxton,'' his handler texted a few days before the meeting. ''You need people to see the positive and not hone in on negative.''
  With this assurance, Thomas arrived in dress blues at the commandant's office, ready to finally have someone explain his work.
  He looked around the room. His handler was not there.
  Thomas sat down and waited.
  ''Are you still coming?'' he texted.
  The agent never showed up.
  Thomas went into the hearing alone.
  ''I got completely destroyed in there '-- perceived as a cadet who doesn't know right from wrong, with no foundation of integrity, the polar opposite of what I have tried to be,'' he said. ''And I could say nothing.''
  The board voted unanimously to expel him.
  Thomas texted and called OSI during the next few days but agents stopped responding.
  In one of the last texts Thomas sent to his handler, he wrote: ''Is everything OK?''
  No response.
  Files obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show OSI ''terminated'' Thomas on Sept. 10, 2012, because he ''no longer had access to targets.''
  ''He was instrumental in drug investigations and sexual assault investigations. His reward was for OSI to abandon him.''-Skip Morgan, Eric Thomas's attorney
  Thomas eventually realized he was on his own. Desperate to prove his case, he requested his case records from OSI through the Freedom of Information Act. OSI said there were no records. He requested them again and got the same response. Nine months later, after a third request from Thomas' congressional representative, Randy Neugebauer of Texas, OSI released 86 pages detailing the cadet's deep involvement with OSI. By that time, though, Thomas had been kicked out of the academy.
  ''They lied to him. They lied when they said they would be there and they lied when they said there were no records,'' said Skip Morgan, the former OSI lawyer who became Thomas' attorney.
  In the letter to the superintendent in April, Morgan said text records clearly show Thomas was working for OSI on the days he was being punished for sneaking off base, adding, ''He was instrumental in drug investigations and sexual assault investigations. His reward was for OSI to abandon him.''
  The academy did not reply.
  Morgan, a retired colonel, told The Gazette that in his years representing Air Force cadets he has never seen such a case.
  ''This is a young man who really tried to do the right thing. It takes tremendous moral conviction. And they left him in the lurch,'' he said. ''They lied to him on several occasions. I thought that was shabby. I don't care who hears that, it was shabby treatment unbecoming of a commissioned officer.''
  Informants are a useful tool for the Air Force, Morgan said, but they must be treated fairly.
  ''If you don't treat them fairly, you are not going to have informants. Word gets out real fast; don't trust OSI,'' he said.
  The types of abuses Thomas describes are common in informant systems because there is almost no oversight, said Alexandra Natapoff, the Loyola professor, who is author of the book ''Snitch: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice.''
  The deals that law enforcement makes with informants lack the checks and balances of the rest of the American justice system, she said. ''All kinds of things happen without public scrutiny: lying, corruption, and continued criminal behavior.''
  Informants can be abused or lied to with little recourse, she said because law enforcement ''holds all the cards. And in the end it's the law of the jungle.''
  Another concern, she said, is that informant programs tend to disproportionately target minorities and poor people with less access to legal defense.
  The four Academy informants The Gazette identified are black or Hispanic.
  Once Thomas realized OSI had cut him loose, he started telling anyone who would listen '-- his squadron commander, his master sergeant, his group commander, the vice commandant of culture and climate, the deputy commander, even his mother.
  His mother, Rosita Perez Walker, was furious OSI had used her son as an informant.
  ''These kids are so young, so naive,'' she told The Gazette. ''They have been trained to obey orders. They are taught how to eat, how to sit, how to walk, everything. You say jump, they jump. To expect them to have enough judgment to question federal agents?''
  She called OSI's central office in Virginia to complain.
  Soon after, Thomas got a call from his OSI handler, saying he wanted to meet at the OSI office and sort things out. When Thomas arrived, he said, the handler was not there. Instead, he said, the OSI detachment commander, Lt. Col. Vasaga Tilo, took Thomas in an interrogation room and yelled at him, warning him to keep his mouth shut.
  Lt. Col. Vasaga Tilo
  In an interview with The Gazette, Tilo refused to talk about the confidential informant program, other than to say, ''We use informants in the same way any other law enforcement does.''
  Thomas kept talking.
  Rep. Randy Neugebauer
  Sen. John Thune
  He told Rep. Neugebauer. He told Sen. Thune of South Dakota. Both ordered inquiries. The Air Force responded to Neugebauer in June, saying that Thomas had worked as an informant, but not until after he got in trouble in his dorm room '-- a year later than Thomas claims. At no point, OSI said, was Thomas ''directed or influenced in any way to break any rules.'' The Air Force responded to Thune in August, saying while there were what it called ''administrative errors'' in Thomas' dismissal, the academy ''stands by their decision that disenrollment is both appropriate and in the best interest of the Air Force.''
  Thune then sent a letter to the secretary of the Air Force and the superintendent of the academy in September, asking them to meet with Thomas. Thomas has not heard from either.
  Despite OSI's claims to a Congressman that it told Thomas to keep clean, OSI documents clearly show agents repeatedly directed Thomas to sneak off base to go after targets and buy drugs while lying to commanders to cover it up.
  While his expulsion was pending, Thomas kept going to class, hoping things would work out. He was accepted to Air Force pilot school and looked forward to flying after graduation.
  He was kicked out of the academy in April, six weeks before graduation.
  He no longer thinks the process took so long '-- 16 months from when he got in trouble '-- because OSI was working back channels to help him. Now he thinks he was strung along so he could work longer as an informant.
  On his way out of the academy, Thomas got a tacit acknowledgement of his work. Cadets expelled in their senior year typically must repay almost $180,000 for their education. Thomas does not.
  ''Someone did him a favor,'' said his lawyer. ''Someone realized what he said was true and tried to repay him to some extent.''
  Eric Thomas visits his old dorm in May 2012, a few weeks after he was expelled from the Air Force Academy.
  BetrayedThomas moved back in with his family in South Dakota. He has appealed to the office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Eric Fanning, saying he was wrongfully dismissed. He is waiting for a response. In the meantime, he helps disabled children, mentors the youth group at his church, and does odd jobs for neighbors.
  Only about half of his academy credits will be accepted at other schools, so he may have to repeat years of college, but he can't apply to other schools because he remains in the Air Force until the matter is settled.
  ''In the meantime, I'm in limbo,'' he said.
  Looking back at the three-year ordeal, he is angry. He is angry because he loves the Air Force and feels betrayed by how OSI treated him. And angry because he knows that OSI is probably recruiting new informants it can later toss aside. Most of all, he said, he is angry the academy is allowing it to happen by failing to create guidelines for the treatment of cadet informants and adequately tracking the system.
  ''It needs to change,'' he said. ''I am not saying people shouldn't work for OSI. We did a lot of good work. But they need protection. They need guidelines. Someone needs to be watching this. Otherwise, look what happens.''
  '--
  Gazette reporter Tom Roeder contributed to this report.
  Contact Dave Philipps
  dave.philipps@gazette.com
  @Dave_Philipps
Kentucky town police chief to be paid in Bitcoin - News - World - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 05 Dec 2013 22:12
  Vicco, Kentucky is about as small town as it gets, with a population that hovers around 330 people. That does not appear to have kept its residents, namely Police Chief Tony Vaughn, in the dark when it comes to Internet trends and emerging crypto-currencies.
  The city commission on Monday approved a measure that would allow Vaughn to receive his salary entirely in Bitcoin, an alleged first in the US and yet another story bolstering the reputation of the unregulated virtual currency as a payment method that will one day, supporters hope, stabilize and become commonplace.
  Vaughn's pay, still set in US dollars, will receive standard federal and state deductions, the Hazard Herald reports, before being converted into Bitcoin based on current trading values at the time of pay and deposited into an account held by Vicco. The Bitcoins will then be transferred to Vaughn's personal account. The city expects to be able to pay Vaughn this way as early as this month.
  Cris Ritchie for Kentucky's Hazard Herald reported on Wednesday that Vaughn made his request last month, and this week city officials said they finished their research and would be willing to pay the chief's salary in bitcoin if that's his preference.
  "We done a checkup on it, and that's the way he wants paid, and that's the way the city is going to pay him," City Commissioner Claude Branson told the Herald.
  ''Basically his next paycheck'' could be in bitcoin, Mayor Johnny Cummings said to the paper. ''They've set up the accounts for Vicco and for Tony, so it can be transferred.''
  "We just want to be on top of things, and up-and-coming and more progressive as a city," the mayor added.
  One bitcoin is currently worth US$1,230, up from $240 just one month earlier. Earlier this year a Canadian man attempted to sell his Alberta home for bitcoin, and the University of Nicosia in Cyprus recently became the first institution of its type to accept the virtual currency for tuition.
  Voice of Russia, RT, news.cnet.com
VIDEO- "Hallelujah (Chicago Musicians Care)" Interview- Why we made the gift for Sandy Hook - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 05 Dec 2013 22:04
Sandy Hook Benefit Concert Canceled Due to Low Ticket Sales - River North - DNAinfo.com Chicago
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 05 Dec 2013 22:03
  CHICAGO '-- A Chicago benefit concert to help first responders to last year's Sandy Hook massacre was canceled due to low ticket sales, it was announced Wednesday.
  The event, scheduled for Sunday at Untitled, 111 W. Kinzie St., was set to feature performances by local musicians and the Chicago Children's Choir and a silent auction.
  "It is with great sadness that we have to cancel the Chicago Musicians Care Performance & Benefit event ... due to low ticket sales," read a Facebook post from organizer Chicago Musicians Care, which was created in response to the shooting.
  One of the goals of the music project, said founder Kevin Tenbrunsel in a YouTube video, was "to send a message to the people of Sandy Hook that this city has not forgotten, and still grieve the tragedy of that day."
  "These people were donating their time to help a cause," said Josephine Lee, president of the Chicago Children's Choir. "It's disappointing, but I think everyone's intentions were really good and so, what can you do?"
  Donations can still be made by purchasing on iTunes a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" performed by the local musicians and the Chicago Children's Choir for Sandy Hook.
  Proceeds go to Sandy Hook Workers Assistance Fund, which helps teachers, first responders and other workers suffering mental health issues from the shooting.
  The concert was scheduled just shy of the one-year anniversary on Dec. 14. Audio recordings of 911 calls from the shooting in in Newtown, Conn. were released to the public Wednesday.
  Hallelujah (Chicago Musicians Care) - A Gift to Sandy Hook
  CHICAGO '-- A Chicago benefit concert to help first responders to last year's Sandy Hook massacre was canceled due to low ticket sales, it was announced Wednesday.
  The event, scheduled for Sunday at Untitled, 111 W. Kinzie St., was set to feature performances by local musicians and the Chicago Children's Choir and a silent auction.
  "It is with great sadness that we have to cancel the Chicago Musicians Care Performance & Benefit event ... due to low ticket sales," read a Facebook post from organizer Chicago Musicians Care, which was created in response to the shooting.
  One of the goals of the music project, said founder Kevin Tenbrunsel in a YouTube video, was "to send a message to the people of Sandy Hook that this city has not forgotten, and still grieve the tragedy of that day."
  "These people were donating their time to help a cause," said Josephine Lee, president of the Chicago Children's Choir. "It's disappointing, but I think everyone's intentions were really good and so, what can you do?"
  Donations can still be made by purchasing on iTunes a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" performed by the local musicians and the Chicago Children's Choir for Sandy Hook.
  Proceeds go to Sandy Hook Workers Assistance Fund, which helps teachers, first responders and other workers suffering mental health issues from the shooting.
  The concert was scheduled just shy of the one-year anniversary on Dec. 14. Audio recordings of 911 calls from the shooting in in Newtown, Conn. were released to the public Wednesday.