Click here to show or hide the menubar.

Bono Douchebag

A picture named NA-524-Art-SM.jpg

Direct [link] to the mp3 file

ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 524.nashownotes.com

New: Directory Archive of Shownotes (includes all audio and video assets used) nashownotes.com

The No Agenda News Network- noagendanewsnetwork.com

RSS Podcast Feed

Get the No Agenda News App for your iPhone and iPad

Torrents of each episode via BitLove

NEW! BitTorrent Sync

NA-524-Art-BIG

See All The Art in the Generator

Art By: Sab Swiss

Bono Douchebag

Executive Producers: Gary Blatt, Earl Melancon of Oregon

Associate Executive Producers: Rolf Lehmann, Elizabeth Borozan, Charles Jordan, Chris Speers, Robert Siersema, Sir Barislav Marinov, Todd & Kathleen in Iowa, Sir Allan Bose, Baron Robert Goshko, Jefferey Qaiyum, Anonymous, Janet Waters

524 Club Member: Gary Blatt

Become a member of the 525 Club, support the show here

Knighthood: Christopher Gray

Title: Sir Dr. Sharkey -> Baronet

Art By: Sab Swiss

ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 524.nashownotes.com

New: Directory Archive of Shownotes (includes all audio and video assets used) nashownotes.com

The No Agenda News Network- noagendanewsnetwork.com

RSS Podcast Feed

Get the No Agenda News App for your iPhone and iPad

Torrents of each episode via BitLove

NEW! BitTorrent Sync

Search

PR

Today!

Nukes

Pandora's Promise

All Solar and Wind stations have gas pipelines, they are actually gas facilities in disguise

NO radiation anywhere

Global Warming skeptics get blamed for using same tactics as Anti Nuke regulatory

Only politician called out is Kerry from 1994

Size of nuclear waste is infinitesimal

France, 80% nuclear

5 tons pp/py carbon

Germany 10 tons pp/py carbon

Breeder is the way to go

Burn all copies of this movie immediately

Woody Harrelson to do voice over

CIAQAEDA

Erdogan: Turkey, Brazil hit by same conspiracy

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 11:41

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) '-- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has blamed a wave of anti-government protests in Turkey on a foreign-led plot to destabilize his government, suggested Saturday that protest-hit Brazil was the victim of the same alleged conspiracy.

Erdogan was addressing tens of thousands of his supporters in the Black Sea coastal city of Samsun, the latest stop in a series of rallies he has called to shore up his political support.

The protests in Turkey erupted three weeks ago after riot police brutally cracked down on peaceful environmental activists who opposed plans to develop a park next to Istanbul's Taksim Square. The demonstrations have turned into expressions of discontent with what critics say is Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian bent since taking power a decade ago.

Thousands of protesters returned to Taksim Square on Saturday for a memorial for at least four people '-- three demonstrators and one police officer '-- killed during the protests. Some chanted ''Dictator Tayyip!''

Erdogan denies he is authoritarian and points to elections in 2011 that returned him to a third term in office with 50 percent of the vote.

Brazil, meanwhile, has been hit by mass rallies set off this month by a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere. The protests soon moved beyond that issue to tap into widespread frustration in Brazil over a range of issues, including high taxes, woeful public services and enormous government spending for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

Erdogan, who has steered Turkey toward healthy economic growth, has alleged that unspecified foreign forces, bankers and foreign and Turkish media outlets are behind the protests because they want to harm Turkish interests. In Samsun, the Turkish leader said Brazil '-- another emerging market '-- was the target of the same destabilizing plot.

''The same game is now being played over Brazil,'' Erdogan said. ''The symbols are the same, the posters are the same, Twitter, Facebook are the same, the international media is the same. They (the protests) are being led from the same center.

''They are doing their best to achieve in Brazil what they could not achieve in Turkey. It's the same game, the same trap, the same aim.''

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

REGIME CHANGE - BRAZIL

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: aangirfan

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:55

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator has written: It's Not About 20 Cents, It's About U.S-Guided Regime Change - JUNE 22, 20132. "To the irritation of Washington, Brazil has failed to extend support on issues such as the 2011 intervention in Libya, where Brasilia thought the Western powers were jumping the gun and abused the UN mandate to pursue regime change." 3. "Brazil has been irked by US failure to support its long-held ambition for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council."4."Washington, traditionally the main foreign-arms supplier to Brazil, won't overlook Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev's February visit to Brazil to sign an agreement on selling air-defence equipment with President Rousseff."

Brazil balks at serving as junior partner to the US - by Alistair Burnett (June 13, 2013)

5. "The highest-profile disagreement between the two has been over the Brazilian attempt, along with Turkey, to break the deadlock between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear programme. "Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva went to Iran with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May 2010 to sign a confidence-building deal with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to send Iranian-enriched uranium for reprocessing abroad, so it could not be diverted to any weapons programme. "The US immediately rejected the deal. "Then secretary of state Hillary Clinton accused Brazil and Turkey of making the world 'a more dangerous place'.Rio. CIA'S DRUGS GANGS"Then Foreign Minister Celso Amorim insisted the US had been kept abreast of the negotiations; when asked at an international security conference later in the year why the US had rejected the deal, he said, 'Some people just can't take 'yes' for an answer.' "He suggests the Americans were happy to go along with the initiative because they thought it would fail; when it succeeded, they turned on Brasilia. "The agreement was essentially the same as a proposed deal that Iran and the UN Security Council's permanent five powers, plus Germany, almost signed eight months before in Geneva - another reason Brazil was taken aback by the US condemnation."US diplomats and analysts take the view that Brazil is often unhelpful, by which they seem to mean it doesn't always support US policy.

"For their part, the Brazilians say the US doesn't want to accept that the world has changed, and Washington can't accept that it must deal with emerging economies on an equal footing.Brazil balks at serving as junior partner to the US - by Alistair Burnett (June 13, 2013)

6. "The countries have also had their share of trade disputes over products from orange juice to cotton, whereas the US has tried to limit access to its markets for Brazilian produce.

CIA RIOTS IN BRAZIL

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: aangirfan

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 02:29

Arnold Schwarzenegger wants 'CIA riots' in Brazil?Beyonce wants 'CIA riots' in Brazil?How many millions might the CIA be spending on propaganda, using people with posh American accents?

Joe Biden was in Brazil at the end of May 2013, preparing the way for the CIA riots?China and the U.S. are in competition in Brazil.

"China and the United States, are making moves on Latin America, hoping to gain more geopolitical influence in a booming region..."

The US military in Brazil.Brazil's economy is now the world's sixth largest, thanks to the current government.Poverty has been greatly reduced by the current government.In the last Presidential election the Workers Party candidate Dilma Rousseff, backed by Lula, defeated the the Brazilian Social Democratic Party's Jose Serra.Jose Serra is more pro-USA; and is strongly anti-Iran, anti-Venezuela and anti-Bolivia.

Serra would have reduced spending on education, health and poverty programs.

In the case of Brazil's massive oil and gas fields, Serra would have increased the role of private foreign oil companies.

(Prof. James Petras, at Global Research, on 20 August 2010, Brazil and Venezuela: Two Turning Point Elections this Fall)

'CIA-MOSSAD ORGANISES RIOTS IN BRAZIL'

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: aangirfan

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 18:05

The CIA and its friends seem to be organising the riots in Brazil, using the term 'Gigante Acordou' - the Giant Awakes.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff Brazil is under attack because it is friends with Russia and because it has a moderately successful economy?

The riots in Brazil may have a link to Diageo.

Reportedly, the drinks company Diageo has links to the CIA.

Diageo helps to fund AmeriCares which is reportedly a CIA-front organisation.

cia's 'christian' faction; americares, pedophile rings ... - Aangirfan

Illuminati, Israeli Mossad, and Diageo are behind "protests" in BRAZIL

"In 2011, Diageo made this TV ad for Johnnie Walker in Brazil:"The name of the ad was 'O gigante acordou' - 'the giant woke up'.

In April 2013, Diageo Co. made another TV ad for Johnnie Walker Red Label in Brazil:

"This ad says: 'Est na hora do pr"ximo passo', that means 'It's time for the next step'.

"OK, now, a series of 'protests' have started in Brazil.

"OK, guess what is the HASHTAG used to organize the protests on Twitter?

"It's 'O Gigante Acorda' - 'The giant wakes up.'

"It's now VERY CLEAR that the MYSTERIOUS AD made by Diageo for Johnnie Walker, talking about 'time for the next step' was a CODE WORD for unleashing this 'Operation O Gigante Acorda'.

"Israeli Mossad is manipulating brainless youth to create those violent protests.

"Just like it in Egypt, and now in Turkey...

"It's 'Operation O Gigante Acorda'."

Illuminati, Israeli Mossad, and Diageo are behind "protests" in BRAZIL

~~London false flag 22 June - Blog of BlogsSEVEN GREAT FOODS

F-Russia / Oil Cabal

BBC News - Rosneft in $270bn China oil supply deal

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:50

21 June 2013Last updated at09:34 ETRussian state oil company Rosneft has agreed to double its oil supplies to China, in a deal worth $270bn (£175bn) over 25 years.

Under the terms of the deal, Rosneft will supply 300,000 barrels of oil a day to China starting in 2015.

It is a further sign that Russia - the world's biggest oil producer - is focusing on Asia, not Europe, as its main business partner of the future.

Rosneft will receive $70bn upfront, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

Rosneft's chairman Igor Sechin told reporters in St Petersburg that the supply deal would be one of the biggest in the country's history.

The upfront payments will be particularly welcome for Rosneft, whose debt level has surged since it acquired Anglo-Russian producer TNK-BP in a $55bn cash-and-stock deal in October 2012.

According to ratings agency Standard and Poor's, Rosneft faces large debt maturities of $6.6bn in 2013, $15.9bn in 2014, and $16.2bn in 2016. The Chinese payments will lighten this load considerably.

Russia currently exports about 4.4 million barrels of oil per day, with Asian markets accounting for 17% of that.

Russia, China sign 'unprecedented' $270B oil deal

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: BlackListedNews.com

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 03:07

Russian oil giant Rosneft and Chinese state firm CNPC on Friday signed a $270 billion deal to supply China with oil over 25 years, an agreement hailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as "unprecedented".

The agreement was signed by Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin and CNPC head Zhou Jiping in the presence of Putin and visiting Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.

"An estimated value of the contract in current market parameters is absolutely unprecedented -- 270 billion dollars," Putin told participants of the annual Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Addressing chiefs of global energy companies like Eni, Exxon Mobil and Statoil, Putin reiterated Russia's plan to diversify its energy clients away from its traditional reliance on Europe.

Putin has made a priority of stabilising Russia's sometimes prickly relations with its giant eastern neighbour at a time when its ties with the West are becoming ever more problematic.

Read More...Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Message to Congress -- Continuation of the National Emergency on Russian Fissile Material

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 18:28

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

June 20, 2013

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the emergency declared in Executive Order 13617 of June 25, 2012, with respect to the disposition of Russian highly enriched uranium is to continue in effect beyond June 25, 2013.

The risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13617 with respect to the disposition of Russian highly enriched uranium.

BARACK OBAMA

General Wesley Clark and Former International Finance Corporation Head Lars Thunell Join Fisterra Board of Directors - Yahoo! Finance

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:31

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Blackstone (BX) and Fisterra Energy (''Fisterra''), a company owned by funds managed by Blackstone on behalf of its private equity investors, today announced that General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, and Lars Thunell, former International Finance Corporation head, have joined Fisterra's Board of Directors. Earlier this year, Blackstone, together with a management team led by Pedro Barriuso, the former Executive Chairman of Element Power and former head of Iberdrola Renewables, formed Fisterra to identify, develop, finance, construct and operate large-scale independent power projects, with a focus in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

General Clark and Lars Thunell will also serve as Senior Advisors to Blackstone with a focus on the firm's private equity activities in the energy sector.

Sean Klimczak, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said, ''We are thrilled to welcome both General Clark and Lars Thunell to the team. General Clark's experience and breadth of knowledge will be invaluable to both Fisterra and Blackstone, as we continue to invest in and construct power projects around the world.'' Sean Klimczak added, ''Lars brings a strong understanding of how to finance and complete large-scale energy projects and has a wealth of investment experience in many of the countries in which we operate or would seek to operate.''

Pedro Barriuso, Chairman and CEO of Fisterra, said, ''I am delighted to have both Lars Thunell and General Clark join Fisterra. Mr. Thunell and General Clark are perfect compliments to our management platform and will be invaluable as we build Fisterra into a premier global power development company.''

General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said, ''Helping countries overcome their energy challenges and develop energy security is critical to economic growth and sustainable development. I am pleased to join Fisterra's Board of Directors and look forward to supporting the team as they work to accomplish their goals.''

Lars Thunell, former Head of International Finance Corporation, said, ''Developing energy solutions for emerging markets plays a crucial role in strengthening economies and creating growth. Fisterra has the right team and experience to develop affordable, safe and reliable power projects around the world, and I look forward to joining the team.''

General Clark rose to the rank of four-star general as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, during his tenure in the United States Army. Since retiring from the military in 2000, he has served in several private sector positions, and in September 2003, he ran as a Democratic candidate for President of the United States. General Clark has chaired several public and private companies and is a progressive leader in pursuing energy solutions. He graduated first in his class at West Point and completed degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. His awards include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Defense Distinguished Service Medal (five awards), Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, honorary knighthoods from the British and Dutch governments and numerous awards from other governments, including the award of Commander of the Legion of Honor (France). He also serves as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative's Energy & Climate Change Advisory Board and ACORE's Advisory Board.

Lars Thunell is a seasoned chief executive with over 30 years of management experience, most recently as the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of the International Finance Corporation, the financing arm of the World Bank. Under Mr. Thunell's leadership, the International Finance Corporation tripled its annual financing of infrastructure, healthcare and energy projects around the world from $6 billion to over $20 billion, the majority of which are in emerging markets.

About Blackstone

Blackstone is one of the largest alternative asset managers in the world, with more than $218 billion in assets under management, and is a leading global private equity firm and energy private equity franchise. Since its inception in 1985, Blackstone has invested over $42 billion of equity in 172 transactions across the globe. Blackstone is currently investing out of Blackstone Capital Partners VI (''BCP VI''), a $16.7 billion diversified general purpose private equity fund, and Blackstone Energy Partners (''BEP''), a $2.5 billion energy-focused private equity fund. Blackstone's private equity investments in the energy sector are funded jointly by BEP and BCP VI, which together represent over $5 billion of equity capital allocated to energy.

Over the last decade, Blackstone has built a leading energy sector private equity investing franchise with an extensive track record of investing in partnership with talented management teams seeking to capitalize on their growth opportunities and realize the full potential of their assets. Led by David Foley, the Chief Executive Officer of BEP, this dedicated team of professionals has committed and invested more than $7.5 billion of equity in over 25 energy transactions, across a broad range of geographies and throughout the energy value-chain: upstream, midstream, services & equipment, downstream and power. Power companies represent a significant share of Blackstone's capital commitments to the energy sector and remain a key focus area for new investments. Blackstone's current portfolio of power investments includes: Sithe Global, Moser Baer, Monnet, Global Offshore Wind and PQ Energy.

Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow us on Twitter @Blackstone.

Syria

Letter from the President -- Regarding the War Powers Resolution

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 02:40

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

June 21, 2013

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

Certain U.S. forces recently deployed to Jordan solely to participate in a training exercise. This exercise ended on June 20, 2013. At the request of the Government of Jordan, a combat-equipped detachment of approximately 700 of these forces remained in Jordan after the conclusion of the exercise to join other U.S. forces already in Jordan.

This detachment that participated in the exercise and remained in Jordan includes Patriot missile systems, fighter aircraft, and related support, command, control, and communications personnel and systems. The detachment will remain in Jordan, in full coordination with the Government of Jordan, until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed.

The deployment of this detachment has been directed in furtherance of U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, including the important national interests in supporting the security of Jordan and promoting regional stability, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.

I am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the Congress in these actions.

Sincerely,

BARACK OBAMA

2TTH

Deaths connected to the Obama White House

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 08:41

Mama Lois'' Anderson: 79, and her 52 year old daughter Zelda White: Two US women aid workers were shot dead in Nairobi in Kenya (2008) were the retired Presbyterian Church missionaries of Pennsylvania (USA), known to thousands of Africans. The suspected killers of the US women, who were travelling in a car with diplomatic license plates, allegedly shot dead by police later. They were well known for their work. There is speculation that they possibly had knowledge of the birth and care for Barack Obama in Kenya and were later murdered to cover the trail. When murdered, the Husband had his full wallet which the thieves/car jacker didn't take, and there was never a connection made to the said attackers the police later shot dead, but blamed for the double homicide/car jacking. Their church was burned in 2008, possibly to destroy any possible birth records there. Then police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali was later removed from office by Obama supported Kenyan strongman Odinga. All possible witnesses ended up dead, all possible records of the care of infant Obama burned in the church fire, and the public official responsible out of office.

Lt. Col. Christopher Raible and Sgt. Bradley Atwell: Died in the Camp Bastion attack 3 days after the Benghazi attack

Mohammed Bakhti : A prominent figure in Tunisia's Salafist movement has died nearly two months after launching a hunger strike following his arrest for an attack on the US embassy, his lawyer and the justice ministry have said.

Jeff Joe Black: Found dead on a hiking trail from ''blunt force trauma to the head'': Chicago activist who claimed that Emmanuel was put into place in Chicago to oversee a coming false flag event.

Larry Bland and Nate Spencer: Two other black members of Trinity Church Murdered at the same time '' Report: Mother Of Obama's Murdered Gay Lover Speaks Up '' With Video

Andrew Breitbart - Died of a massive heart attack, walking outside late at night, alone, in the dark approximately one week before he was to produce tapes of Obama's extremist activities in college. More speculation: Breitbart: ''Wait 'Til They See What Happens March 1st'', Breitbart's Footage Shows Obama 'Palling Around' With Terrorists'..... Sheriff Joe Arpaio: I Spoke with Andrew Breitbart Shortly Before he Died '...'...An Eyewitness Speaks Out About Andrew Breitbart's Death Scene'... Breitbart's skin color described as bright red. '... Was Andrew Breitbart assassinated?'...More murder speculation: Was Andrew Breitbart Murdered?'...'...'....Coroner: Breitbart Died of Heart Failure'...* Christopher Lasseter, Dissapears'.....witness to Breitbart's death vanishes -Follows suspicious demise of member of coroner's team (possibly in hiding to avoid reporters), '.... Breitbart witness: He dropped like sack of bricks Describes 'thick white band' around forehead at death

Steve Bridges Dies At 48 - Impersonator Who Offended 0bama '...Steve Bridges as President Obama '' August 2011 '....It appeared that he died of natural causes...: On the Steve Bridges website, they are now calling his death 'an accident''...that the probable cause of death was due to ''upper airway anaphylaxis'', caused by a severe allergic reaction.. '-- CSI Show: Murder by anaphalaxis?'... A real life example of possible murder by anaphalaxis

Robin Copeland, 46, 11/4/2011: former Energy Department official who took part in several significant disarmament programs, died suddenly

Michael Cormier - respected forensic technician for the Los Angeles County Coroner died under suspicious circumstances at his North Hollywood home April 20, the same day Andrew Breitbart's cause of death was finally made public. Medical examiners in Los Angeles are investigating the possible poisoning death'...'...Conspiracy theorists cry foul after Andrew Breitbart's 'coroner' dies of arsenic poisoning- '....Police Debunk Theories Linking Breitbart, L.A. Coroner Tech Deaths ; No Answers in Death of Technician Linked to Andrew Breitbart: Killed by high amounts of arsinic in his system ; Breitbart's Coroner Murdered. News From LA

Madelyn Payne Dunham: Obama's grandmother, died 2 days before the general election. Flew up to see her for one hour '' alone. No records. Cremated immediately, ashes dispersed.

BEVERLY ECKERT, Continental Flight Victim, Was 9/11 Widow (VIDEO, SLIDESHOW), was at the White House with Barack Obama, part of a meeting the president had with relatives of those killed in the 2001 attacks

Extortion 17: On 6 August 2011, a U.S. Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter, call sign Extortion 17, was shot down while transporting a quick reaction force attempting to reinforce an engaged unit of Army Rangers in Wardak province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board'--25 American special operations personnel, five United States Army National Guard and Army Reserve crewmen, seven Afghan commandos, and one Afghan interpreter'--as well as a U.S. military working dog. It is considered the worst loss of U.S Military life in the Afghanistan campaign, surpassing Operation Red Wings in 2005. There were 15 Navy SEAL's killed. ; Afghanistan's Benghazi: The Shoot-Down of Extortion 17 ; TrentoVision 5.9.13 '' Navy SEAL Extortion 17 EXPOSED '' Obama Failures ; Obama increased special op's missions from an average of 56 a month to 334 per month (statement begins at 26 minute mark of video) ; Afghan Benghazi: Extortion 17, Betraying Seal Team 6

Bechir Gholli. Student also arrested for attack on embassy

Bill Gwatney, a close friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton and a Clinton super delegate at an upcoming convention in Denver and was fatally shot in 2008. Shooter had a post-it note with a mystery phone number. Did Obama Assassinate Clinton delegates? Bill Gwatney and Stephanie Tubbs Jones? Video: Bill Gwatney Murder Linked to Obama

Lieutenant Quarles Harris Jr.-A key witness in a federal probe into passport information stolen from the State Department was fatally shot in front of a District church. Obama's Passport Breach: Unanswered Questions, and an Unsolved Murder : Harris worked for a security firm run by John Brennan, later to be a terrorism advisor to Obama. Listed as a detail in Youtube video ''Shocking Secrets and Verifiable Facts about Barack Obama the MSM Refuses to Report'' (at approx. 22 minutes in the video); Was an employee of John Brennan when murdered. John Brennan confirmed to head CIA.

Andy P. Hart: Guantanamo attorney dead in apparent suicide'....Hart was assigned to defend Mohammed Rahim al-Afghani, one of 16 detainees at Guantanamo which the US government has designated as ''high-value.''

Michael Hastings:Rolling Stone Journalist, Author Believed to be Dead in Hollywood Crash'... known for his interview of Gen. Stanley McCrystal: Michael Hastings death: Coroner still hasn't ID'd badly burned victim: Picture of the burned out car ; autopsy results will take weeks; Video report .. was covering a story about the defense dept. and Hollyood'... nervous wreck ; Michael Hastings, journalist who helped bring down US general, dies at 33 ; WikiLeaks Claims Michael Hastings Told Them FBI Was Investigating Him Hours Before He Died ; Hastings' death in fiery car crash is just the latest in a growing list of dead investigative journos ; Michael Hastings' Chilling Final Story.'...''>''Why Democrats Love to Spy on Americans'' ; Michael Hastings researching Jill Kelley case before death ; Hastings ''Boston Brakes'' Killing a Warning? ; FBI says journalist Michael Hastings was not under investigation

Hazem: 'Benghazi attack suspect' dies in Cairo shootout

Stephanie Tubbs Jones:found brain dead in 2008. Democratic Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Cleveland, a super delegate and one of Hillary Clinton's most prominent black supporters, was found in her car unconscious Also: Did Obama Assassinate Clinton Delegates? Additional: Hollywood Producer Bettina Viviano: Bill Clinton Directly Told Me Barack Obama Not Eligible '' '....Caucus death threats (audio)'... also reported by Jerome Corsi at WND: Hillary supporter's untold Obama horror stories Allegations of intimidation, manipulation, sudden death

Christopher Kelly-Committedsuicide, under pressure to testify against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich

David Koschman, Mudered in a Chicago Rush Street brawl by Richard J. ''R.J.'' Vanecko, a nephew of Mayor Daley and White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley- Homicide case involving Daley nephew closed without charges , Witness to Killing Involving Daley Nephew: Deceased Didn't Start It

The Krim Children: CNBC Exec's Children Murdered, 1 Day After CNBC Reports $43 Trillion Bankster Lawsuit ; Police: Nanny stabbed herself upon mother's arrival ; Screen Shot of original CNBC Article : Another source for article: '...Targets of Spire Law Group; Law Suit Documents ; Book; ''Bankster Chronicles''

Kam Kuwata '' was found dead inside his Venice home after friend '-- concerned that they had not heard from him for a few days '-- alerted police. Political consultant in California. Democratic insider. Possibly the Obama consultant referred to in the Ulsterman Report: Alledgedly viewed bizarre drug induced behavior from Obama during the the 2008 campaign.: ''The Troubling Timeline'''.... The Death of a Political Operative '' The Troubling Timeline'... (UPDATED)

Chris Kyle: Author of ''American Sniper'' among the dead at Rough Creek ; Former Navy SEAL & 'American Sniper' Author Chris Kyle Reportedly Killed at TX Lodge ; Deadliest sniper in U.S. military history is 'shot and killed point- blank by veteran suffering from PTSD' at Texas gun range ; Conspiracy? Chris Kyle The Third High Profile Firearms Business Owner Killed in Past Month, Along With 30 SEALs The Past Four Years ; Suspicions Raised After Deaths of Three Firearms Experts ; Murdered Navy SEAL Was Obama Gun Control Foe ;Revealed: Marine who 'killed' famous sniper threatened to 'blow his brains out and kill his family months before shooting two men at gun range' ; Obama Has Yet To Acknowledge Death Of Legendary Seal Sniper Chris Kyle (2/13/13) ; Chris Kyle Widow: Former Navy SEAL 'Died Because Somebody Wanted to Kill Him'

Marco McMillian: Mississippi's first gay mayoral candidate, 34, 'was beaten and burned' before his body was found dumped on a riverbank. Victim of a hate crime? Pictured with Obama. Another black and gay associate of Obama murdered. (see Nachumlist file Is Obama Gay? )

Stefanie Moses: NYPD sergeant photographed with Obama at 9/11 ceremony'....found dead in apparent suicide: '--''Face of the NYPD'...commits suicide on Long Island after fighting with her girlfriend; NYPD Sgt. Stephanie Moses On Meeting Pres. Obama

John Noveske; the owner of Noveske Rifleworks. Vehicle run off the road '' Two gun makers killed in two days, and no answers (Photos)

Renee L Abena Obama: baby girl Born on October 31, 2004. The infant died less than two months later on December 25, 2004. ''..the death was not reported by any hospital in the State of Maryland, but by a funeral home (indicated by the SSDI code ''72'"). BHO's biographies do not report the death of an infant in 2004, yet here was a baby girl who bore his last name''and the initial of his grandmother's middle name''Madelyn ''Lee'' Dunham. A search of the Social Security Death Index produced ''No Results,'' though a genealogical index at WorldVitalRecords.com produced a Social Security number: ''215-71-0752.'' From: ''Who was Renee L. Abena Obama?''

Alex Okrent: -Apparently found deat at Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago. Witnesses say he collapsed, found dead after. Okrent had long been a staffer back the Obama 2004 U.S. senate campaign, on staff for eight years. Parents immediately say the cause of death was ''heart attack'', but no autopsy was yet performed. Medical examiner said the cause of death was ''inconclusive''. Internet recornds have been scrubbed. Twitter account timeline also makes no mention of his work for Obama: Okrent Twitter file (on Twitter). - Speculation as to whether he was a witness to an Obama gay connection: Who Is Dead Obama Staffer Alex Okrent? Youtube video: Who is Dead Obama Staffer Alex Okrent? Part 1 '...'...'...-Part 2 ; Autopsy Inconclusive for Obama Campaign Worker Who Collapsed at Chicago Campaign HQ ; Gay opinion piece'...-Alex Okrent: Equality is a Moral Equivalent; What Do Colorado Shooter James Holmes And Obama Staffer Alex Okrent Have In Common?'....no digital footprint on the internet; Was Obama Staffer Alex Okrent Murdered Because he was Going to Expose Obama's Anti-Israel Ties?

Donald A. Perry: Chick-fil-A's public relations director dead of heart attack : Is Rahm Emanuel bullying Chick-fil-A over gay marriage? : Emanuel goes after Chick-fil-A for boss' anti-gay views ; Rahm: Chick-fil-A Values Are Not Chicago Values ; Rahm backs down: We never said we'd block Chick-fil-A from Chicago, says spokesman

Albert Peterson: Wealthy Defense Contractor commits suicide, kills family; Man Kills His Entire Family, Feared Obama Would Get Re-Elected ; Pictured: 'Beautiful' family slain hours after church by 'mentally ill father who was tormented by the prospect of Obama winning the election''He said he wanted to expose something at work. He also got the impression at work, that if they didn't vote for Obama and get him elected, they would lose their jobs,' '' (See Obama and Your Prvacy- Nachumlist file)

Rafael Prieto: Secret service apparent suicide under investigation: D.C., police are investigating the apparent suicide of a U.S. Secret Service supervisory agent assigned to President Obama's security detail. -Was under investigation for going to prostitutes; Secret Service agent kills self amid affair probe'....Prieto's apparent cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning

Keith Ratliff; ..was well known for a series of videos he produced on Youtube, known as ''FPSRussia,'' in which various high-powered firearms were demonstrated. Found with a single shot in the head '' Two gun makers killed in two days, and no answers (Photos) ; Partner YouTube video-maker FPSRussia Home Raided by ATF

Eva Rausing: Found dead with no cause of death yet established. Her husband has been suspected as the killer. Rausing's family says she was at Occidental College at the same time as Obama. ''Family of tragic Tetra Pak wife Eva Rausing reveal she began dabbling with 'hard drugs' while at the same college as Barack Obama as husband is arrested for murder'''... Suspected cause of death from drug overdose.

John McCarthy Roll: '' was the Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, murdered by the same gunman attacking Gabrielle Giffords. Theory that Roll's prelimiary ruling on ''United States of America v. $333,520.00 in United States Currency et al'' (Case Number: 4:2010cv00703 Filed: November 30, 2010) was cause for the assassination and that the shooter used the mass shooting as a cover for the government. - Claim: Giffords hit a planned assassination: Judge Roll real target ; Judge John Roll '' Wake Up Tucson

Michael Scott - Although Chicago school board president Michael Scott's death had been ruled a suicide by the Cook County medical examiner's office, Chicago police characterized the case as a death investigation, and have not concluded that Scott's death was a suicide- was subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury looking into the admissions practices of Chicago's elite schools. -also was under scrutiny over Olympics-related real estate dealings.

Navy SEAL Commander Job Price, 42: US Navy SEAL commander dies in Afghanistan: suicide '--''SEAL Team Four commander in Afghanistan 'commits suicide' as body of married father is found shot dead: Rumor?- Clinton Injured, US Navy Seal Killed In Secret US Mission To Iran ; State Department Denies Hillary Clinton Injured in Plane Crash '... but- ABC News Report on Emergency Landing of a US Plane in Iran 16 days earlier ; US Navy Seal Commander, Who Killed Osama Bin Laden, Commits 'Apparent Suicide' In Afghanistan

SEAL Team 6: Helicoptor shot down by terrorists. Possibly given location by infiltrators. Obama rules of engagement possibly lead to deaths. Father of fallen SEAL begs for military officer to tell the truth about ''criminal'' rules of engagement ; The deaths of Seal Team Six '...who never would fly an entire company in one helicopter alone. UNBELIEVABLE: 'More Than 20 Navy SEALS From The Unit That Killed Osama Bin Laden' Die In Helicopter Crash ; 31 US troops, mostly elite Navy SEALs, killed in Afghanistan 7 Afghan commandos also die in attack; SEALs were from same unit but not same team that killed Osama bin Laden ; Navy SEAL Team 6 Families To Reveal Government's Culpability In Death Of Their Sons ; OUTRAGE! Obama Administration Allowed Radical Cleric to Curse US Navy SEAL Heroes at Funeral Services (Video) ; TrentoVision 5.9.13 '' Navy SEAL Extortion 17 EXPOSED '' Obama Failures ; SEAL Team Six Parents Demand Obama Answer For Funeral Desecration

Malcolm Shabazz: Malcolm X's Grandson dies in Mexico. Was 'thrown off a building', or 'shot'. Two men arrested in Malcolm Shabazz murder in Mexico, more sought; Obama was in Mexico on May 2nd. Shabazz is murdered on May 9th. Is Obama the secret son of Malcolm X? ; Rumors that Obama was a child of Malcom X?

Brett D. Shadle: SEAL, Special Warfare Operator Chief ; Member of SEAL Team 6 killed, another SEAL injured in parachute accident

Matt Simmons, an investment banker and whistle blower in the British Petroleum oil spill. Died suddenly at home of a heart attack at the age of 67. An autopsy by the state medical examiner's office concludes that Simmons died from accidental drowning ''with heart disease as a contributing factor.'' Speculation of murder: Assassinations by induced heart attack and cancer.; Did The CIA Assassinate Matt Simmons For Blowing The Whistle On The BP Gulf Oil Spill Coverup?

Holiyah Soetoro Sobah, aka Lia Soetoro, Obama's adopted sister: died under mysterious, sudden, and unusual circumstances just as she was getting ready to be reunited with her childhood companion and adopted brother. She spoke of many specific incidences in the household, where she grew up with ''Barry'' in Indonesia. She saved many items that Barry used during childhood. She was looking forward to seeing him, because she'd seen him on TV and was told that was ''Barry'', her little brother; however, Lia had reservations about it and so was anticipating seeing the scars he had from falling out of the mango tree and the limp she said he walked with. That was not to be because she up and died. Read about it here and watch video of here'...'.....PDF document from a web site of the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia appears to confirm a relationship between Lia and Barack Hussein Obama. Update On The Sudden Death Of Obama's Sister Lia Soetoro: Information From The Consulate General Of The Republic Of Indonesia.

Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz, Obama's First Dog Trainer Dies At 52. Rumored to be salaried at over $102,000 per year at tax-payer expense

Ambassador Chris Stevens: (Also see the Nachumlist: ''Benghazi-Gate'' file ) Killed by a mob in Libya. The Obama administration ignored warnings two days prior to the attacks. Hillary Clinton made the decision not to post Marines. New now comes out that Stevens was gay: meaning that Obama sent a publicly gay man to be an ambassador in a Muslim country. Obama skipped intel meetings for days leading up to the attacks despite credible information of the attacks. Video: Libyan democratic party spokesman: amb christopher stevens was a muslim (Statement that Ambassador Chris Stevens was a Muslim is made between 1:00 & 1:20); Col. David Hunt: ''State Department just allowed our guys to get killed'' : Glenn Beck video: Stevens was a CIA operative and weapons dealer- Glenn Beck ''the Blaze TV'' 9-17-12 US arms terrorists in Middle East? ; Report: Terrorist Behind Ambassador Murder 'Ally of Sorts' to Obama Admin ; Report: Murdered Ambassador Knew He Was On Al Qaeda Hit List ; Video of Stevens Murder: What Really Happened- Video which some news outlets claimed had showed Libyans trying to save Ambassador Stevens turns out to show the opposite.; Clinton: 'No Info' Amb. Stevens Was on al Qaeda 'Hit List' ; Evidence mounts that al-Qaida group killed US ambassador to Libya ; Obama Politicizes The Sacrifices Of The SEALs '' Again ; Did Hillary Clinton send a gay ambassador to Libya as intentional provocation? ; CNN obtains journal of slain ambassador, reportedly goes against his family's wishes ; Anderson Cooper admits that CNN found slain American ambassador's journal inside U.S. consulate in Libya and 'secretly' used it in reporting ; Obama Went to Bed While Consulate was Under Siege ; CNN Hid Knowledge of Libya Ambassador Diary For Days ; Report: State Dept Left Consulate Unsecured Days After Ambassador Murder ; Prior attacks on the embassy'...Flashback: Bomb targets U.S. mission in Libya's Benghazi ; US Consulate in Libya Bombed Twice in Run-Up to 9/11 Attack, Ambassador Known Target (+video) ; Obama to UN: It's Not My Fault Stevens is Dead ; Obama Administration Knew Libya Attack Was Terrorism Within 24 Hours ; Obama Administration Deleted State Dept. Memo From Internet After Discovering Al-Qaeda Was Behind Benghazi Attack ; Christopher Stevens, U.S. ambassador to Libya, dead body. No bruises on face.; Despite looting of the embassy and the loss of sensitive documents, CNN finds Stevens' diary. ; Benghazi: The Unanswered Question- what lapses on the part of the Obama/Clinton State Department made his murder sickeningly easy?; In Libya, Security Was Lax Before Attack That Killed U.S. Ambassador, Officials Say ; Did the White House order a cover-up over the murder of Libya's US Ambassador? ; Report: Obama Admin Rejected Military Intervention in Benghazi During Attack ; Benghazigate: Obama Chose Not to Save Ambassador Stevens' Life ; Was Ambassador Stevens' death a hit? ; Mother of Slain State Dept. Official Tired of Being Lied To and Stonewalled by Obama Administration ; Benghazi Attack Was Botched Kidnapping To Trade Blind Sheik'... and arranged by Obama? ; Obama Arranged Benghazi Trip That Resulted In Murder Of US AMB Chris Stevens; '... Stevens in possession of death certificate of Osama Bin Laden?, '' OBL died in 2001? ; CIA operators were denied request for help during Benghazi attack, sources say: '.....Denied 3 Times ; John McCain: Obama Administration has Classified Benghazi Surveillance Tapes Top Secret ; Obama avoids question on whether Americans in Libya were denied requests for help ; Why Did CIA Director Petraeus Suddenly Resign '... And Why Was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya Murdered? : (Ann Barnhardt) Proof Benghazi was Murder of Stevens: ''Hillary (Clinton) began pushing the fake ''protests against a video blaspheming the prophet'' BEFORE WOODS AND DOHERTY WERE KILLED. Per the story below, the Associated Press first published a story on Hillary's official statement on Benghazi at 10:58pm Eastern, which means that the State Department must have released it BEFORE 10:58 pm EDT. Which means that is was actually written and composed hours before that. State Department press releases in the Secretary of State's name aren't written and released without all kinds of ''approvals'' and process. And this statement is written in nuanced prose, referencing ''religious tolerance'' and all kinds of bullshit. It isn't a flash bulletin. It was thought out, long and hard. Doherty and Woods were killed by mortar fire between 11:14 and 11:26 pm EDT. Here is the citation link.'' ;Lindsey Graham: Hillary Clinton 'got away with murder'; The secret war behind Benghazi A stealth campaign of assassinations, run by CIA nominee John Brennan, resulted in the death of the US ambassador, a new book claims'...- Claim that secret war ran behind the back of Gen. Patreus ; Video: The John Brennan puzzle is slowly being pieced together: Stevens recruited by Hillary Clinton to run guns to Syria from Libya ; Ambassador Chris Stevens didn't have to die in Benghazi '' The real story of what led to his death on 9/11: Book Benghazi: The Definitive Report ;More evidence of slain U.S. ambassador's secret activities

Aaron Swartz:26-year-old genius, computer prodigy, co-creator of RSS and Reddit, commits suicide after Obama DOJ harassment; 'kill list' critic ; Attorney for Aaron Swartz: Prosecutors' Arguments Were ''Disingenuous and Contrived'' ; Aaron Swartz dead; was this brilliant internet revolutionary 'taken out?' The cause of death is currently unconfirmed. : The father of information activist Aaron Swartz blames US prosecutors for his son's death: Aaron Was Killed By The Gov't ; Aaron Swartz' suicide raises questions for Eric Holder and the Justice Dept. ; Issa, Cummings press Holder for answers about Aaron Swartz trial ; Aaron Swartz files reveal how FBI tracked internet activist

Shane Todd : found dead in his Singapore apartment last summer; he apparently hanged himself, but his family claims he was murdered: '' Was he murdered? Mystery death of American engineer working in Singapore on cutting-edge military technology ´who had deep misgivings about his work' ; WH: Obama will talk to China about hacking our weapons systems ; Flashback: Sudden death of U.S. engineer in Singapore linked to cyber espionage? ; Mystery surrounding American's death in Singapore deepens as parents quit inquest into son's death ; Singapore Says US Scientist Hanged Himself

Ashley Turton, wife of the Obama administration's House of Representatives liaison, Dan Turton, was found dead in a burning car Monday morning, Roll Call and other news outlets are reporting. Fire officials said it appeared the car crashed as it was pulling in or out of the garage behind a rowhouse in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., at about 5 a.m. Neighbors dialed 911 after spotting the fire. The body was discovered after fire crews doused the blaze. The fire also charred part of the garage. Nobody in the house was injured, fire officials said. Ashley Turton worked as a lobbyist for the utility giant Progress Energy, according to Politico. She was a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.The Rahm Emanuel Connection to the Deceased Ashley Turton, '-- The ATF investigates - Ashley Turton Crashed Under the Influence

Jessica Upshaw: Mississipi State Rep. found dead Sunday of an apparent suicide . Ardent opponant of Agenda 21 (see Nachumlist file Obama and Agenda 21). Chaired a committee that stops Agenda 21 legislation in committe: Anti-Agenda 21 Bill Dies in Mississippi House Committee Chaired by Rep. Jessica Upshaw ; Was directing BP oil spill fine money ; 'kills herself' at home of former lawmaker'...fifth Mississipi legislator to die in the last few months

John Wheeler- former presidential and Pentagon aide John Wheeler III was found in a Delaware garbage dump. Wheeler's cell phone discovered '' Cause of death released in Wheeler case, blunt force trauma '-- Wheeler's cell phone found in a taxi '-- His family wants information '' John Wheeler was assassinated by a hitman in a targeted killing, his widow has claimed '' Who killed Jack Wheeler? ; John Wheeler III Murdered for Threatining to Expose US Military Test of Poison Gas?

Victoria Windsor: Blogger, researcher into ancestry: .. .reported that.she had ''found evidence that the records of Madelyn Payne Dunham and Stanley Armour Dunham had been ''tampered with.'' Cause of death not yet revealed. Said to have died from a ''sudden illness''.

Donald Young -Openly gay friend of Obama's at Murdered at Trinity Church in Chicago-'...Key Witness In Obama Passport Fraud Case - Video report: Obama-Donald Young murder (December 24, 2007)'...'...'....All 3 Homosexual Members Of Obama's Trinity Church Murdered Within 6 Weeks.'.... -Jeff Kuhner interview with Larry Sinclair. Choir Director Murdered To Conceal Obama's Homosexuality/Drug Use? ;

Jaime Zapata - Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent who was murdered in an ambush. Revelation that I.C.E. Report of Investigation on seizure of Fast & Furious weapons in Texas in August 2010 was signed by Zapata. Speculation that he was murdered as part of a coverup the Gunwalker scandal. (Nachumlist Gunrunner-Gate scandal files here)

Ilya Zhitomirskiy:22-year old a co-founder of the start-up social networkDiaspora, which has been described as the ''anti-Facebook'' for its emphasis on personal privacy and decentralized data collection. Friends and associates of Mr. Zhitomirskiy said there were indications of suicide.

Related Murder/Coverups

The Boston Marathon Bombing: (See Boston Marathon Massacre file) Did authorities have word before of an attack on the Boston Marathon?: Bomb Sniffing Dogs : Saudi held in Boston terror bombing ''smelled of gunpowder'''...asked: ''Did anyone die?''; Kerry meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister abruptly closed ; Injured Saudi is a witness, not a suspect, in Boston bombing ; no other suspects ; ''Innocent'' Saudi has ties to several Al-Qaeda Terrorists ; AMERICAN AIRLINES flight grounded after passengers panic over Iraqis shouting to each other in Arabic ; American Airlines grounds flights nationwide due toglitch ;Drastic security changes coming to large-scale public events, experts say ; Numerous other bomb threats to institutions throughout the nation.; Pictures at the Boston Marathon made public after the FBI said they had no suspects ; Michael Savage Interviews Walid Shoebat on Boston Marathon Bombing Incident '' 4/16/13 ; Arrest has been made in Boston marathon bombing and suspect will be brought to court after a 'dark-skinned male' ; Authorities change story:- Feds deny reports of Boston suspect in custody;Boston bomber is caught on camera: FBI reveals store footage shows 'dark-skinned man in backwards hat' planting second explosive moments before blasts tore through marathon crowds ; FBI Cancels Boston Bombs News Conference ; Obama meets with Saudi foreign minister, discusses Syria; Saudi National & Exchange Student Ali Alharbi Is Being Deported Back to Kingdom ; Saudi National in Boston Bombing being deported on ''National Security Grounds'' ; Photo of questioned Saudi in Hospital after Boston bombings, and more unanswered questions ; Saudi National Once Considered 'Person of Interest' May Be Deported on 'Security' Grounds - And How It's Supposed to Be Framed ; Boston runners were warned: Squamish man: 'If you run tomorrow, you're going to die' ; 1 of 2 suspects in Boston bombing killed '...'...''World View: ISLAM'' ; Boston Bombing Suspect Posted Video on Al Qaeda Prophecy on YouTube ; Report: Alharbi visited by Michelle Obama in Hospital ; Boston Jihadi Bombers members of Wahhabi cell funded by Saudi Al Qaeda ; FBI Boston Bombing Video Altered To Hide Fact Bomber Was Black Ops Mercenary? ; Authorities change story:- Feds deny reports of Boston suspect in custody ; Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and the Imam ; Source-Saudi National's Deportation Record Altered ; Boston marathon bombing happened on same day as 'controlled explosion' drill by Boston bomb squad ; Interview With Boston Marathon Eyewitness Confirms Bomb Squad Drill ; Senator: Law Enforcement May Have Had Advance Warning of Boston Bombings (video) ; Did CNN use ''Crisis Actors''? ; Report: Federal Judge Compromised Investigation By Prematurely Mirandizing Tsarnaev ;

FBI Special Agents Christopher Lorek and Stephen Shaw: 2 FBI Agents Involved in Dzhokar Tsarnaev's Arrest ''FALL'' Out of Helicopter and Die ; The 2 FBI Agents Who Arrested Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Did Not Die Mysteriously

Ibragim Todashev: Feds: Man shot after attacking agent was being questioned about Boston bombing suspects and 2011 triple murder

Phillip Marshall; Murders Children & Self in CA, 9/11 Conspiracy Author, Each had been shot once in the head with a handgun, as was the family's dog. Phillip Marshall has been identified as a former pilot for Eastern and United airlines. He self-published a number of books, including at least two about his 9/11 conspiracy theories: ''The Big Bamboozle'' (February 9, 2012) and ''False Flag 911: How Bush, Cheney and the Saudis Created the Post-911 World'' (July 29, 2008). Additional information: A previous novel published in 2003, ''Lakefront Airport, New Orleans,'' detailed his claimed experience as a pilot for the US during Iran/Contra. claims to have served as a contract pilot for the CIA's Special Activities Division during the Iran-Contra affair, flying shipments to and from Nicaragua.; ''100% Certain'': 9/11 Author Was Killed in Black Ops Hit ; CIA Killed Phillip Marshall for Leaking 9/11 Secrets: Dr. Kevin Barrett

Algerian massacre: Algerian Terrorists Demand Release of Blind Sheik in Exchange for American Hostages: Theory- another false flag

The Sandy Hook school massacre: (Also see The Sandy Hook Massacre Page on Nachumlist)27 people shot dead in school shooting. including children. Shooter commits suicide. White House immediately exploits murders for gun control attempts as Obama goes to Sandy Hook and speaks. Gun control legislation immediately called for. White House fundraises using Sandy Hook. Connecticut state police warned that people posting ''misinformation'' on social media websites would be ''investigated and prosecuted.'' '' Initial reports that a ''second gunman'' arrested in the woods behind the school was involved in the massacre were later dropped without explanation. Facebook Suspends Account For Questioning Official Narrative on Shooting; Adam Lanza's Hard Drive Damaged Beyond Repair? Motive for Shooting Hidden : Adam Lanza Was On Antipsychotic Drug Known To Cause Aggressive Behavior,'-- Something Strange About Robbie Parker.. Video:.Robbie Parker, the Father of slain child comes to microphone- laughing'... Video: then tears up for the camera.. within a day, sets up a fund: Emillie Parker Fund, to raise money; Emilie Parker family plans memorial, fund for fellow victims ; Russian Report (rumor?) on Sandy Hook Massacre: Connecticut Massacre Blamed On Son Of Top CIA Analyst: Russian rumor continued: Hunger Games ''Experiment'' Said Behind Connecticut Massacre ; Nancy Lanza Not a Teacher? ; Conspiracy Theory: Sandy Hook Massacre a ritual killing ; Hiram Masonic Temple next to Sandy Hook school ; Sandy Hook Shooting: Grieving Parents Hoax..Worked for Home Security as Crisis Actors ; Another pair of actors in Sandy hoax exposed. 100% BUSTED! : Website: crisisactors.org ; Crisis Actors: Are They Being Used To Fake Events? ; Video: The Sandy Hook Actors PART 1 ; Part 2; Part 3 ; Video: Sandy Hook Actors Exposed? Same as Giffords Shooting? Banking connection to murderer's parent Lanza: Peter Lanza's Libor Bid Rigging Connection: -Nancy Lanza a Morgan Stanley Investment Broker ; Police Officer Exposes The Unanswered Questions Of The Sandy Hook Tragedy ; Three Days Before Shooting ''United Way Extends Our Most Sincere Condolences To Sandy Hook Families'' ; United Way: No, we didn't know about Dec. 14 Sandy Hook shooting in advance'...''flawedGoogle search'...'' ; Sandy Hook Massacre Linked to DHS Exercise? ; Prominent rifle manufacturer killed in mysterious car crash days after posting psych drug link to school shooters ; Anderson Cooper Goes After 'Anonymous Internet Trolls' Pushing Conspiracies About Newtown And Gun Control. ; The Sandy Hook Shooting '' Fully Exposed (VIDEO) ; Sandy Hook '' The Truth (Controversial Documentary) That DHS spent two years in Sandy Hook running training drills 2005 London Subway Bombing, 9/11 2001Terror Attack, 2012 Sandy Hook Massacre all had a version or versions of the Dept. of Homeland Security running drills or class courses in the exact same place at the exact same time'.....''Planning for the needs of children in disasters''Set at the same exact time and in the exact same location as the Sandy Hook Massacre; What Was DHS Doing In Sandy Hook? False Flag Two Years In The Making Or Department Of Homeland Security Fail? ; Today Show: No assault weapons used in Sandy Hook Massacre ; NBC Admitted: No 'Assault Rifle' Used in Newtown Shooting ; Still No Police Report, or Toxicology Results, on Sandy Hook Killer ; Sandy Hook Elementary shooter has no brain deformities, medical examiner says ; Sandy Hook Conspiracy Theories Edge Toward The Mainstream ; CNN video of police charge at Sandy Hook is not Sandy Hook ; Probe of Newtown shooter Adam Lanza focusing on murderer's 'psychotic break' and unlocked guns ; Sandy Hook Panel Set to Begin Review of School Shooting ; Newtown Is Hometown of Sugarmann; His Group Seeks Assault Weapons Ban- Josh Sugermann founded Violence Policy Center (VPC) after leaving The Coalition to Ban Handguns in 1988. He is generally credited with mainstreaming the term 'assault weapon' in his 1988 work '' ''Assault weapons and accessories in America'' ;Foreign language heard being spoken in the Sandy Hook raw footage ; We Take You Inside the Mind of a Sandy Hook Truther: CIA Conspiracy? 7 Shooters? An Attempt to 'Disarm People and Attack the 2nd Amendment'? ; Sandy Hook DA cites 'potential suspects,' fears witness safety ; Detectives investigating Newtown massacre find Adam Lanza's violent video games, ponder the 20-year-old mimicking a gory game scene ; SSDI changed Adam Lanza's date-of-death from Dec. 13 to Dec. 14, 2012'...according to the original SSDI entry, the man who we are told was the lone gunman who perpetrated the Sandy Hook massacre, had died the day before he killed his 27 victims;Conn. massacre records secret, media seek access ; Newtown clerk refuses to issue Sandy Hook victims' death certificates ; WATCH '' 'Fell Off The Face Of The Earth' '' CNN: No Record Of Adam Lanza Existence Since 2009 ; '...-Sandy Hook Shooting: Active-Shooter Drill Confirmed by Law Enforcement Raises Suspicion of False Flag Operation ; Beck: Cover-Up of Saudi Link to Boston Bombing 'is so Far Beyond Benghazi' it is Criminal '..... (full audio HERE 13:07) ; Report: Boston Jihadis Were U.S./Saudi Agents Who Turned On Their Masters ; Photos: Private military operatives hired to 'work' the Boston marathon with black backpacks, radiation detectors, tactical gear ; Psyops: Mind Control Marathon and Boston Bombings ; Boston Bombings a 'Gift' to Putin, Says Chechen Opposition Leader ; Report: Federal Judge Compromised Investigation By Prematurely Mirandizing Tsarnaev ; Tamerlan Tsarnaev Triple Murders Were ALL Jews Targeted for Religion on 10th Anniv of 9/11'....-Three mourned after brutal Waltham murder ; Newtown shooter toxicology results released

US Terror-Storm Lurking as Possible False Flag Averted'...'...'---Roy Antigua, recently arrested with a plethora of fake ID's, and disguises, including medical smocks, and other outfits.

Sikh Temple Massacre: Army Vet Wade Michael Page Identified as Wisconsin Temple Shooter, 'Psychological operations specialist'; ''White Supremacist'' Who Spent Time In Eastern Carolina And Ft. Bragg; Sikh temple shooter who gunned down six was skinhead 'white supremacist' army vet 'with 9/11 tattoo and was part of race hate group' ; Read The Letter Congress Sent To The Attorney General Months Ago Addressing Hate Crimes Against Sikhs ; Conference of Mayors, ...Calls for Stricter Gun Laws Following Sikh Temple Shooting ; FBI Takes Over the Investigation ; India blames the White House for the Wisconsin Massacre ; Obama: America needs ''soul searching'' on gun violence ; FBI: Sikh temple shooter Wade Page died of self-inflicted gunshot; Obama orders flags at half-staff after Wisconsin shooting ; Wisconsin Sikh Temple mass shooting: FOUR shooters, not one as officially reported

Aurora massacre: several links between James Holmes and U.S. government research (Salk Institute involved in neurologically enhancing soldiers' abilities on battlefield'...connections to DARPA); Holmes Family Has Deep DARPA Connections ; A growing number of alternative media publications are now claiming that an October 2011 photograph of an Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protester getting carted off by law enforcement officials in New York is of none other than the Colorado Killer, James Holmes. ; More Signs Point to James E. Holmes As Occupy 'Black Bloc' Member-'... Plotted to Kill Cops With Firebombs Just Like Black Bloc Chicago; Picture of Holmes arrested in New York Protest ; Fox Reporter Won't Name Sources in Aurora Shooting Story; Faces Jail

More on the Aurora massacre: Colorado Shooting victims: Was Colorado Shooting Staged By The Government? (video link on YouTube here) New York Times openly admits domestic terror plots masterminded by the FBI; FBI 'entrapment' tactics questioned in web of phony terror plots and paid informants ; FBI intercepts its own terrorist plot against US Capitol, Pentagon ; FBI nabs five mastermind 'geniuses' after teaching them how to blow up a bridge in Cleveland ; New York Times...Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I.'...-Question: How does an unemployed medical student afford$20,000 in weapons gear? Was there an accomplice? -'...Holmes had $26,000 Federal grant for studies'.... Colorado theater shooting suspect was neuroscience Ph.D. student: Where does an unemployed, introverted medical school student get the training to deploy sophisticated booby traps, tactical body armor, weapons systems, and more..; Staged just in time for the vote on the UN Small Arms Treaty? Was it part of a deliberate plot like the Fast and Furious Scandal? (see file on Gunrunner-Gate), Obama made sure to visit the victims...-More claims that the shooting was a staged event: Colorado Shooting Patsy Was Under Air Force Psychiatrist's Care ; Real life shooting imitates training exercise at Parker medical school ; Obama orders flags flown at half-staff.

Jenny Gallagher, a nurse who treated victims of the ''Batman'' shooting in Aurora, Colorado is dead at age 46. The reported cause of death: drowning. Said, she ''saw everything at Hospital''

Stephen Ivens FBI special agent : Body Found. Worked in counter terrorism. Is the FBI Investigating Obama? Video: What Really Happened To FBI Special Agent Stephen Ivens ? ; FBI Agent Fleeing Massive Manhunt Warns ''They're All Insane'' : Speculation of a 'False Flag' operation such as Operation Northwoods. Shortly before his death: Donald Sachtleben, former FBI agent, arrested on child pornography charges. Note: Two Hikers happened to find Ivens' body, but over 100 FBI agents could not.

Eric Holder's Two Decades Of Concealing Murder ; Brother of Murder Victim Seeks Details of FBI's 'Sensitive Informant Program' ; Are FBI Informants Working Inside America's Churches?

Interview with Trentadue's brother: Clinton/Obama/Holder connection to Trentadue murder

Eric Holder and the Strange Case of Kennth Michael Trentadue (PDF) ; Training Ground For Eric Holder's Fast And Furious Cover-up, Part 1; Part 2 ; Part 3 ; Part 4

Obama restores funding to the brutal government of Indonesia. -'...( 2010)'...Widow of Murdered Indonesian Human Rights Activist Munir Calls on Indonesia to Hold His Govt. Killers Responsible'... Munir fell suddenly ill: Secret Government Squad blamed -''Kopassus'''... who has poisoned political dissidents: Obama grew up in Indonesia during the brutal Suharto years

Following Orders: The Death of Vince Foster, Clinton White House Lawyer

'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'...'....

Working Theories'....

Boston Brakes:Assassination by car accidents

Does Obama murder people?'...Interview with Dr. Jim Garrow details support and threats he's received: ''Obama does kill people'' (audio) ;Blogger overhears intel officials saying NSA leaker should be 'disappeared' ( See Obama and Your Privacy) : Code name 'Verax': Snowden, in exchanges with Post reporter, made clear he knew risks- The U.S. intelligence community, he wrote, ''will most certainly kill you if they think you are the single point of failure that could stop this disclosure and make them the sole owner of this information.''

U.S. Crew Members: on KC-135 Tanker Dead in crash. 3rd US Military Support Plane Crashes In Afghanistan In Less Than A Week, 3 Crew From Crash Not Yet Found: Bodies Of Two Crew Members Found At Kyrgyz Crash Site

Sunil Tripathi: (Boston Massacre Suspect)Missing student's body possibly located in Providence river Police in Providence fished a body out of the river they believe may belong to missing student '...Reddit Thread, speculation on why Tripathi went missing

Waco Fertilizer Plant fire explodes. Theory: Object seen on video coming in and ignigting a great explosion- WATCH '' Call To Debunkers For Newest Conspiracy Theory: 'Object' Slams Into Waco Plant, Causing Explosion . Event occurs shortly after Boston Marathon Massacre. ; Texas plant explosion a bombing? Officials open up criminal investigation after man found with 'destructive device'

Anne Smedinghoff, young U.S. diplomat killed in an attack in southern Afghanistan: Shades of Benghazi: State Department changes story on Afghanistan blast that killed diplomat ; Assassination Incorporated 1600 Penn Avenue: The Smedinghoff Murder- author claims that the White House and NSA directed an assassination of Smedinghoff.

ICE Union Boss: Obama Doesn't Care If Immigration Enforcement Officers Die

Tim Russert: Died of a massive heart attack'... just before the 2008 presidential debates, that he might have moderated.

Sex And Murder In The Land Of Obama?: Unknown gay partner of Obama murdered? Tale of alledged witness

Crossing Obama Can Be Deadly! ('...thread at ''We the People'')Mysterious Deaths Surround Obama!

MilitarySuicides Hit New High

The one that got away?'...-Massad Ayoob, firearms expert, was in helicopter that crashed in St. Lucie County on Saturday.

Source

The views and opinions expressed on topinfopost.com are soley those of the original authors and our contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent topinfopost.com or it's staff.

Leave CommentsComments

The Clinton Body Count

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 03:15

Related stories, mostly about specific people on the list:Benghazi and the Lust for Power. Ricky Ray Rector is a name you will probably seldom see in the mainstream media. On January 24, 1992, the state of Arkansas executed Rector for murder. Rector, however, was mentally deficient. He was so mentally deficient that he put aside a piece of pecan pie from his last meal and told his guards he would finish it after his execution. Then presidential candidate and Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton could have stopped the execution. Instead, Clinton made sure the execution went ahead as scheduled, breaking off his primary campaign in New Hampshire to return to Arkansas to personally oversee the implementation of the sentence. [...] While candidate Clinton killed one person to get Gennifer Flowers off the front pages, President Clinton was willing to bomb an entire country to get Monica Lewinsky out of the news cycle.

Clinton Library Builder's CFO Disappears Amid Audit. John Glasgow had a healthy salary, with an opportunity to pick up stock in the construction company where he worked. He was the kind of guy who paid back a $500 bonus he got for completing an anti-smoking program because he started to light up again. But now Glasgow has been missing since Jan. 28, with his car found abandoned the next day, and family and police say it's impossible to tell whether he killed himself, was abducted or left to start a new life elsewhere.Search Continues for John Glasgow, New Details Emerge. Conway [Arkansas] attorney, Frank Shaw said his client, Jonathan Brawner told police not only where John Glasgow is buried, but also who is responsible. In an interview Shaw said, "I can't comment on who did it, why they did it and those other kind of facts because I'm not privy to all of that and Little Rock homicide is in the middle of an investigation." When asked if he knew who 'did it' Shaw said, "Yes," and wouldn't elaborate. He said his client has told law enforcement and that there is more than one person involved.

Jon Brawner, the man claiming to have helped bury John Glasgow, failed to abduct Jim Daven in 2009. Our partners at Arkansas Business recently took a closer look at Jon Brawner. The convicted felon claims he helped bury Glasgow's body. Arkansas Business reports his credibility is obviously suspect. He served time for masterminding the failed abduction of commodities broker Jim Daven in 2009, about 18 months after John Glasgow vanished.

Construction CFO Disappears During Four-Minute Drive. John Glasgow was last seen just after 5 a.m. on January 28, 2008, pulling out of his driveway. While it was a few hours earlier than he would regularly leave for work, he was putting the finishing touches on a large financial deal involving the multimillion dollar construction company for which he served as Chief Financial Officer, and another major company in Little Rock. His commute normally took about four minutes. Something happened during that time, because he never made it to work.

John Glasgow: Missing Since: 01/28/08. When normally reliable CFO John Glasgow left home but never arrived at work, friends and family were immediately concerned.

Kathleen Willey suspects Clintons murdered husband. Asked if she suspects her husband Ed, a lawyer and son of a prominent Virginia lawmaker, was murdered, Willey replied, "Most definitely." "I'm having someone with a forensics background look at this, and I intend to pursue this further, now that these questions have been raised," she told WND, pointing to alleged discrepancies in the autopsy report. Does she believe the Clintons were involved? "I do have suspicions," Willey said, "yes."

Hillary Clinton faces sensational claims from another woman in Bill's past. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign faced damaging allegations yesterday from one of the women who claim to have been groped by former president Bill. Kathleen Willey suggests in a new book that the former First Couple could have been involved in her husband Ed's death. '... He died from a gunshot wound to the head on the day Willey claimed she was sexually assaulted by Clinton in the Oval Office. Willey insists her husband's death was murder and not suicide.

Businessman pardoned by Clinton found dead. A controversial businessman once pardoned by former President Bill Clinton has been found dead inside his Miami Beach condo, authorities confirmed Thursday [11/2/2006]. Almon Glenn Braswell, 63, was found dead Saturday at 1500 Ocean Dr. His death has been labeled "unclassified" pending more tests, the Miami-Dade medical examiner's office said.

The "unfortunate coincidences" continue ...Clintons' neighbor dies after roadside shooting. A woman who lives on the same cul-de-sac as former President Clinton died Monday after a mysterious shooting on an isolated road that left her lawyer husband wounded, authorities said. Sgt. Marc Simmons, a detective, said 55-year-old Peggy Perez-Olivo died about 3 p.m. at a hospital. He said there are still no arrests.

Update 1:Gun recovered near scene of Clinton neighbors' shooting. State police have recovered a gun that was dumped in a lake near the scene of a roadside shooting that killed a neighbor of Bill and Hillary Clinton and wounded the woman's husband.

Update 2:Ex-Clinton Neighbor Goes On Trial In Wife's Death. Prosecutors allege that a disbarred lawyer who lived three houses down from the Clintons in suburban New York executed his wife in "a seemingly perfect murder." Assistant District Attorney Christine O'Connor told a jury Friday that Carlos Perez-Olivo shot his wife in the back of the head as she dozed in their car on Nov. 18, 2006.

The Train Deaths: Countdown to justice

Another witness bites the dust: The Ron Miller case.

The Clinton Body Count: There are at least 30 internet sites keeping track of the people in Clinton's orbit who have died under mysterious circumstances since the first year Clinton became Governor of Arkansas. These suspicious deaths have continued right up to the present.

What a difference a day makes. In twelve hours I was able to find enough information to turn my blood cold. In four months, I've been able to find enough verification to compel me to put my name to this editorial.

Charles Ruff was one of Clinton's attorneys during the impeachment trial and was known to have inside information on the White House emails scandal as well. Original reports were that he died in an accident in his home although no details were given. Then the report changed to claim that he was found in his bedroom unconscious, then declared dead on arrival at the hospital. The authorities will provide no details other than the usual (and quite premature) assurances that there was no foul play involved.

Caution: This article includes thinly redacted vulgarity.Why The Clintons Belong in Prison: An interview with Melrose Larry Green. (Q:) What are the top crimes perpetrated by the Clintons for which they deserve to be in prison? (A:) I feel that Bill Clinton committed treason when he sold American military secrets to the Red Chinese government. I think that Bill Clinton is guilty of rape (of Juanita Broaddrick). I think that there are numerous examples of bribery committed by Bill and Hillary Clinton during the final round of Presidential pardons (especially the case of Marc Rich and his ex-wife Denise Rich.) Let's not forget the dozens of unexplained deaths surrounding Bill and Hillary Clinton '-- Ron Brown, Vince Foster, Mary Mahoney '-- for which there have been no proper investigations.

D.C. Police Silent on Murder of Former White House Intern. On July 6, 1997, a brutal triple murder took place at a Starbucks restaurant in an upscale Georgetown neighborhood. The victims were Aaron Goodrich, 18; Emory Evans, 25; and Mary Caitrin Mahoney, 25. According to a July 13 Washington Post story, ballistics test indicated that 10 shots were fired from two different guns, sometime after 9:15 p.m. The Post story characterized the crime as an "execution-style" murder. '... Making the story particularly interesting is the fact that Mary Mahoney was shot as many as five times, according to some press reports.

Mary C. Mahoney and Eric Butera: Mary Mahoney, 25, was murdered at the Georgetown Starbuck's coffee bar over the 4th of July '97 weekend. She was a former White House intern who worked with John Huang. Apparently she knew Monica Lewinsky and [knew about] her sexual encounters with Bill Clinton. Although not verified, it has been said that Lewinsky told Linda Tripp that she did not want to end up like Mahoney. '... Eric Butera was an informant who came forward offering information regarding the murder of White House intern Mary Mahoney. He was then sent into a known crack house to make an undercover buy for the police and was beaten to death.

Here is the connection.Too Many Dots. [Mary Caitrin] Mahoney had landed an internship working in the office of the Secretary of Commerce, Norman Mineta for Doris Matsui. Matsui is the wife of California Democrat Representative Robert Matsui. ... Matsui worked closely with John Huang, with the title of deputy assistant to President Clinton. Together they raised over $3 million in campaign funds from Asia and Asian-Americans. $1.2 million had to be returned because it came from corporations and non-citizens.

More about the Mahoney murder: Washington police have never been able to solve this triple murder in a posh section of the nation's capital. '... Yet, no one '-- not Kenneth Starr, not Congress, nor any other investigative agency in government or the press '-- has bothered to look into this suspicious murder.

The Starbucks Murders: Of the 40 to 90 people surrounding the President who have died mysteriously, the story of Mary Caitrin Mahoney, 25, is only just now being resolved (or covered up). Mary was an intern in the White House. She was gunned down in July of 1997 inside Starbucks in Washington DC where she worked. No money was taken. This Starbucks was frequented by Monica Lewinski and Chelsea Clinton. If you read the Starr report and notice that Monica was afraid and said that she did not want to end up like Mary, this is the Mary in which she refers.

Did He Cry for Caity Mahoney? July 7, 1997: The Starbucks Massacre. Former White House intern Mary "Caity" Mahoney and two co-workers are killed execution style at the Starbucks Coffeeshop in Georgetown. ... Caity was singled out for the most horrendous fate -- as if she'd been the killers' prime target. Of the ten shots fired, she was hit five times at point blank range, including at least once in the face. The final bullet was delivered to the back of her head after she'd already fallen. In one hand, in a death grip, Caity clutched the keys to the store's safe, which held the weekend's receipts of more than $10,000. D.C. cops were mystified by the apparent lack of motive in the crime.

Starbucks Fall-Back Fall Guy: [Scroll down] Also heightening suspicion is the extremely sparing and incidental mention of the fact that the apparent primary target of the shooter or shooters wrath, night manager Mary Caitrin (Caity) Mahoney, had been one of the original interns in the Clinton White House and that she was a Democratic Party activist. Since Monica Lewinsky's name became a household word, there has never been any mention at all in the mainstream press, to this writer's knowledge, of the two former interns names in the same breath'....

The murders of Kevin Ives and Don Henry: August 23, 1987, in a rural community just south of Little Rock, two teenage boys were murdered because they witnessed a police-protected drug drop. The drop was part of a drug smuggling operation based at a small airport in Mena, Arkansas.

1st Amendment wins victory in court. [Patrick] Matrisciana was sued for libel in 1996 by two Arkansas law enforcement officers mentioned in a documentary video the filmmaker produced. The video, "Obstruction of Justice: the Mena Connection," focuses on the unsolved deaths of Kevin Ives and Don Henry. In the documentary, Pulaski County Sheriff's Department Lts. Jay Campbell and Kirk Lane were listed among six law enforcement officers that alleged eyewitnesses said could be implicated "in the murders and the subsequent cover-up."

Little Rock Airport to be renamed for Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Little Rock Airport Commission has scheduled a discussion at its meeting Tuesday [3/20/2012] to rename the airport the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.

The Editor says...Better yet, how about the Kevin Ives and Don Henry airport in Mena, Arkansas?

Arkancide. Here's what to do if you disagree: Make a list of all the deceased. Google them. Verify that they were real people with real connections to the Clintons and who really died violently -- and were not just imaginary people invented by anti-Clinton propagandists. Find out how they were connected to the Clintons and what information they were going to divulge. Find out when the Clintons became aware of this. Find out how soon afterwards each potential witness was bumped off. Explain why so many of these murders had similar MO's (bullets fired into the back of the head, exploding planes etc.). Explain why so many of these murders were described as suicides by the coroner. Find out who appointed the coroner.

Clinton's dead lawyers.

Somewhat related:Hillary Was Key Partner in Clinton Attack Machine. With the paperback version of Clinton's memoirs set to hit bookstores in early June, World Ahead Publishing has unveiled Their Lives: The Women Targeted by the Clinton Machine by Candice E. Jackson. Billed as the stories that Clinton left out of My Life, Jackson uncovers the trail of bribes, threats and intimidation that Clinton's inner circle leveled at the women who got in their way.

Hillary's First Big Lie. Among the people the Clintons reached out to [in 1992] '-- in this case, through a proxy '-- was Sally Perdue, a former Miss Arkansas and Clinton paramour. "[The proxy] said that there were people in high places who were anxious about me and they wanted me to know that keeping my mouth shut would be worthwhile," Perdue would later relate. "Worthwhile" meant a GS-11 or higher job with the federal government. If she turned down the offer and talked to the media, "He couldn't guarantee what would happen to my pretty little legs." Perdue was the least of the Clintons' problems in 1992. More potentially troublesome were the women that Clinton had criminally assaulted or humiliated '-- Juanita Broaddrick, Elizabeth Ward Gracen, and Paula Jones among others. Jones, though not raped like Broaddrick or attacked like Gracen, would prove Bill Clinton's undoing.

The Mysterious Death of Ron Brown ... and 34 other people, including Shelly Kelly.It's time for Obama to talk about Brown. In early December 1997, after eighteen months of successful damage control by the White House, the black community in Chicago finally learned of the anomalies in the death of Ron Brown. Bill Clinton's Secretary of Commerce, Brown had dreamed of becoming America's first black president from the time he was a little boy. And although he was, as Joe Biden might have put it, as "articulate and bright and clean" as Barack Obama, he never got the chance.

The Left's Blind Eye to the Obvious. The Air Force concluded that the controlled descent of [Ron] Brown's USAF plane into a Croatian mountainside was "inexplicable." The maintenance chief responsible for the airport's navigation system showed up with a bullet hole in his chest the day before his Air Force interview. Brown's fatal head injury struck the forensic photographer and attending pathologist as having the size and shape of a gunshot wound. He was nonetheless buried (over the protest of the pathologists) without an autopsy. The photographer and three Armed Service pathologists would sacrifice their careers going public with their discontent. The major media reported close to none of this.

What really happened to Ron Brown: In Argentina, during the dark days, they called them "los desaparecidos," the disappeared. On April 10, 1996, Ron Brown was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery and then joined his fellow desaparecidos. So thoroughly has Brown disappeared from view that the only articles I could find on Google News about the 10th anniversary of his death were those that I had written myself.

Did Bill Clinton order Ron Brown killed? [Scroll down] All 35 people aboard are dead except for stewardess Shelly Kelly, who, riding in the tail, sustained only minor cuts and bruises. So far. ... Four hours and 20 minutes after the crash the first Croatian Special Forces search party arrives on the scene and finds only Ms. Kelly surviving. They call for a helicopter to evacuate her to the hospital. When it arrives, she is able to get aboard without assistance from the medics. But Kelly never completes the short hop. She dies en route. According to multiple reports given to journalist/editor Joe L. Jordan, an autopsy later reveals a neat three-inch incision over her main femoral artery. It also shows that the incision came at least three hours after all her other cuts and bruises. Further necropsies will not happen. Clinton has ordered the cremation of all victims. It is hard to perform autopsies on ashes.

Ron Brown's Loose Lips Seal His Fate. Ron Brown '-- who at various times has been under investigation by the Commerce Department Inspector General, the FDIC, the Justice Dept., the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee '-- was only two weeks away from being indicted with respect to a bribe paid by Oklahoma company Dynamic Energy Resources. "I am too old to go to jail," Brown loudly proclaimed. "If I go down, I'll take everyone else down with me." Brown assumed the threat would force Democratic bigwigs to rally around him, to make sure that the charges he faced were buried in an appropriate fashion. But Brown miscalculated. His own words buried him instead.

Ron Brown's Death Still A Mystery. Maj. General Charles Coolidge, who headed the Air Force investigation of the accident, won't explain why his report failed to mention the radical course correction by the plane that sent it into the mountain. When the Air Force plane carrying Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown crashed in Croatia in April 1996, rumors immediately circulated that the beacon that was supposed to guide the plane to the airport had been set to guide the plane into the mountain nearby. This was allegedly done by an employee at the airport who was found shot to death three days later.

Was Ron Brown Assassinated? Experts Differ on Ron Brown's Head Wound. A circular hole in the skull of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown could have been a gunshot wound and certainly should have prompted an autopsy, according to an Air Force lieutenant colonel and forensic pathologist who investigated the jet crash in which Brown died. "Even if you safely assumed accidental plane crash, when you got something that appears to be a homicide, that should bring everything to a screeching halt," Lt. Col. Steve Cogswell, a doctor and deputy medical examiner with the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, told the Tribune-Review.

10 years after Ron Brown: After the crash in Croatia, the bodies were brought to America and examined by a team from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. '... The chief of the photographic unit, Chief Petty Officer Kathleen Janoski, saw there were no lethal injuries to Brown's body '-- other than what appeared to be a bullet hole in his head. She showed the wound to two colleagues, both colonels, who agreed with her.

The assassination of Ron Brown: [Ron] Brown had gone to Croatia to broker a sweetheart deal between the neo-fascist strongman who ran Croatia, Franjo Tudjman, and Enron Corporation. This was all part of the Clintons' desperate drive to raise money for their 1996 re-election campaign.

Did Ron Brown die for Enron's sins? An explosive new expose on the man "who knew too much".

Book review:Ron Brown's Body: How One Man's Death Saved the Clinton Presidency and Hillary's Future. Considering the highly disturbing implications of his explosive book's title, investigative reporter Jack Cashill's work deserves a better fate than the silent treatment it has thus far received in the establishment media.

Was Ron Brown murdered, and, if so, how and by whom? "At the end of day," says Jack Cashill who began the project a skeptic, "it is not irresponsible to talk about murder, nor to ask what Hillary Clinton was doing in Bosnia a week before Brown's death."

The Sun Peeked Through the "Worst Storm in a Decade". Jack Cashill notes that he dedicates his book to the six Air Force crew members "who died in honorable service to their country through no fault of their own."

The bullet hole that should have shaken Washington: Jack Cashill shows why there is no innocent explanation for what happened to Ron Brown.

CIA Documents on Ron Brown Declared Secret: Central Intelligence Agency documents on Ron Brown's involvement with the Chinese army are secret in the interests of "national security," according to an April 30 CIA letter. The Clinton commerce secretary died in 1996 in a plane crash while under investigation for illegal financial ties to Beijing.

Everything but the News! CNN is famous for having a scoop on a breaking story, then, very oddly, the next hour it is discontinued. This happens on other news sources also. For example, the first announcement of Ron Brown's plane crash was said to have happened in the Adriatic Sea and that divers were preparing to go down to search for bodies. The next announcement, an hour or so later, was that the plane had crashed into the mountains! There was one survivor, a female flight attendant. She walked to a rescue helicopter but was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Was that in the news?

Ron Brown: Evidence Of A Cover up. When the rescuers arrived, they found one survivor, an Air Force Sergeant named Shelly Kelly, one of two stewardesses assigned to the T-43 (a modified Boeing 737) which had only recently been converted from a navigation training aircraft equipped with all the latest navigation aids to a VIP passenger transport. The rescuers spotted Shelly Kelly moving about the wreckage, several hours after the crash itself. Shelly was placed on a helicopter and evacuated to the hospital, but strangely, was dead on arrival'....

Where are the Black Boxes? Within hours of the crash, the Croatian Ministry of Transport announced that they had the black boxes. One and half days after the crash, Croatian TV (plus Russian and French TV) announced that the FDR (flight data recorder) and the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) were safely in the hands of U.S. Marines. The U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, also stated that a black box was on board. Later, the Pentagon brass stoutly disputed all this, stating that there were no black boxes aboard. It is difficult to imagine that America's #2 VIP plane had no black box. Veteran Air Force mechanics claim that they never have seen a T-43A without a black box.

Why the Lies About Ron Brown? It is clear that the government lied, destroyed evidence that proved it, and punished those who disclosed it.

"Too many lies are being told. Too many lives are being destroyed. And I think it's time for the truth to come out."

'-- Kathleen Willey quoted from Potshots

Top US Journalist Attempting To Reach Israeli Consulate Assassinated

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:48

World's Largest English Language News Service with Over 500 Articles Updated Daily

"The News You Need Today'...For The World You'll Live In Tomorrow."

What You Aren't Being Told About The World You Live In

IronMountainApocalypse: The True Story Of 2013

A ''must have'' book for those seeking to understand the true events surrounding the most troubled years of our modern times. (Continued)

Picking up the Pieces: Practical Guide for Surviving Economic Crashes, Internal Unrest and Military SuppressionBy: Sorcha Faal ''In the span of less than 3 months gasoline prices will rise 500%. The prices of both food and shelter rise over 300%. (Continued)

Partisans Handbook:By: Sorcha Faal ''Essential Survival Guide For Resisting Foreign Military Occupation, Escape And Evasion Techniques, Surviving Interrogation, Facing Execution, Wilderness Survival (Continued)

June 20, 2013

Top US Journalist Attempting To Reach Israeli Consulate Assassinated

By:Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers

A grim report circulating in the Kremlin today prepared by the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) claims that award winning American journalist Michael Hastings[photo top left] was assassinated by a US military drone strike early this past Tuesday morning (PDT) while attempting to reach what he believed would be a safe haven at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, California.

Hastings, this report says, was instrumental in destroying the careers of two of Americas top war leaders, Generals Stanley McChrystal and David Petraeus, along with earning the ire of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton whose top aide, Philippe Reines, told Hastings this past September (2012) to ''F**k off'' and ''Have a good life'' after being questioned about Clintons role in what is referred to as the Benghazi Attack which killed 4 Americans in Libya including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

Hastings 2010 Rolling Stone article ''The Runaway General'' is credited with being the impetus behind the downfall of General McChrystal, and his 2012 BuzzFeed News Service article ''The Sins Of General David Petraeus'' likewise helped in the savaging of General Petraeus whom Hastings said, ''seduced America and should never have been trusted by the American people.''

Interestingly, this report says, GRU ''electronic assets'' reporting on the assassination of Hastings were conducting ''routine operations'' in the Southern California region monitoring the US Navy's testing of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) known as the ShadowHawk® [see videoHERE][photo 3rd left] manufactured by Vanguard Defense Industries.

While performing what GRU analysts say in this report were ''routine night flight observations'' of a small fleet of ShadowHawks® at the US Marine Base Camp Pendleton in Southern California during the early morning hours of 18 June, a single ShadowHawk® broke formation and ''sped'' towards the Los Angeles whereupon it fired upon a vehicle nearing the intersection of Highland and Melrose avenues at around 04:15 PDT destroying it and, presumably, killing its sole occupant Michael Hastings.

Upon the ShadowHawk® destroying this vehicle, described by eyewitnesses as a Mercedes Benz, this report continues, GRU signal intelligence analysts (SIGINT) identified ''at least'' 4 cellular communications between this vehicle and the Israeli Consulate located at 11766 Wilshire Blvd, and which further GRU GPS and cellular data analysis revealed Hastings was headed towards at a ''high rate of speed.''

As the ShadowHawk® attack upon Hastings's vehicle occurred with his being only 14.3 kilometers (8.9 miles) from his presumed safety under Israeli protection at their Los Angeles consulate, this report says, even at that early hour many residents were awakened by the explosion providing ''excellent'' eyewitness testimony which ''severely'' conflicts with Americas mainstream propaganda organs.

Where the US mainstream media is reporting Hastings's vehicle was destroyed after it slammed into a tree, this report continues, these eyewitnesses say otherwise, and as has been further noted by the InfoWars News Service who write:

''Photographs of the crash scene'... reveal that the car Hastings was in did not experience a high-speed crash. ''There is no impact damage to this car. The only damage there is BLOWN OUT in the back, not smashed in the front and it obviously missed the tree as it rolled to a stop,'' writes Jim Stone. ''This was a Mercedes, not a Pinto, which means it did not burst into flames on its own. One (seldom quoted) eyewitness said the car 'exploded.'''

Even worse for the American media in their attempt to cover-up Hastings assassination, this report says, was the video taping by Los Angeles based Loud Lab News Service[view raw videoHERE] of the assassination site clearly showing Hastings vehicle did not collide with a tree, but was, instead, showing all the characteristics of it being hit by a missile.

As to why Hastings was assassinated this GRU report doesn't speculate upon, other than to note that the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Hastings ''had the CIA in his sites'' and Wikileaks is reporting today that: ''Michael Hastings contacted WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him.''

This GRU report does note, however, that Hastings, during this past week, had ''extensive contact'' with former CIA and NSA whistle blower analyst Edward Snowden whom many considers the ''most wanted man in America'' for his releasing of top-secret documents detailing Obama's growing police state.

The significance of Hastings contact with Snowden, this report says, lies in Obama's being able to assassinate any American he so chooses without charges or trial, and was this past March (2013) confirmed by US Attorney General Eric Holder, who in a letter to the US Congress stated: ''President Barack Obama has the legal authority to unleash deadly force'--such as drone strikes'--against Americans on U.S. soil without first putting them on trial.''

Raising the greatest fears of GRU analysts, this report concludes, is that Hastings assassination is linked to the upcoming ''false-flag event'' being planned by the Obama regime that many Russian intelligence experts warn is but ''weeks, if not days, away.''

June 20, 2013 (C) EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.Com. Freebase content licensed under CC-BY and GFDL.

[Ed. Note: Western governments and their intelligence services actively campaign against the information found in these reports so as not to alarm their citizens about the many catastrophic Earth changes and events to come, a stance that the Sisters of Sorcha Faal strongly disagrees with in believing that it is every human beings right to know the truth. Due to our missions conflicts with that of those governments, the responses of their 'agents' against us has been a longstanding misinformation/misdirection campaign designed to discredit and which is addressed in the report ''Who Is Sorcha Faal?''.]

Apocalypse Slams Into America, Few Notice

You May Already Be To Late'...But It Has Begun!

They Are Going To Come For You'...Why Are You Helping Them?

Return To Main Page

LA Times - Michael Hastings researching Jill Kelley case before death

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:40

LA Times Loading...

The page cannot be loaded because you are currently offline. Please check your internet connection and try again, or go back to the previous page.

The page you requested was not found.

Girlfriend of New York's governor Cuomo is checked into Rome hotel room where Gandolfini died

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 15:51

Food Network star and her family staying at Soprano star's roomSandra Lee 'saddened' to learn of tragic coincidenceBy George Stark, Donna Mcconnell, Hugo Gye and Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 08:08 EST, 22 June 2013 | UPDATED: 08:10 EST, 22 June 2013

The girlfriend of New York's governor has been booked into the luxury Rome hotel room where James Gandolfini was found suffering a heart attack, less than two days after the actor's death.

The star of the Sopranos was found in the bathroom of room 449 of the Boscolo Exedra Roma by his son on Wednesday night.

By Friday however, Andrew Cuomo's girlfriend Sandra Lee checked into the same room.

Saddened: Sandra Lee, with Governor Cuomo. The Food Network star was sad to discover her family have been booked in the hotel room where Gandolfini died

She has booked a couple of rooms, including 449, a source close to the 46-year-old told the New York Post.

The Emmy-winning cook on the Food Network was said to be saddened when she discovered Gandolfini had suffered his heart attack in one of the rooms her family have booked.

He was found in the hotel room's bathroom by his 13-year-old son, Michael, at about 10pm. The 51-year-old screen star was declared dead an hour later at the Policlinico Umberto I Hospital.

The actor, who friends said did not have heart problems, had to be carried out of the hotel by six men, but a family friend said he did not have heart trouble,

'He was happy. He was healthy,. He was doing really fine,' a friend told the New York Post.

The results of a post-mortem examination showed he died of natural causes.

'Nothing else was found in his system,' family friend and spokesman Michael Kobold, said.

Vacation: Sandra Lee is spending time with her family in Rome

Gandolfini's body is due to be flown to the U.S.by Wednesday or Thursday, and his funeral will be held in New York.

'In Italy, it can take up to 10 days to get all the necessary documents and paperwork to repatriate the body. We are looking forward to working with the Italian government and officials to shorten that process,' Mr Kobold said.

'Once we have the clearance, we will put him on a flight to America.'

The actor's widow, Deborah Lin, was spotted in public for the first time since his death.

Ms Lin, who had been married to Gandolfini for five years, was spotted at a Los Angeles shopping mall buying clothes for their baby daughter before the funeral.

In Gandolfini's home state of New Jersey, flags will be flown at half-mast on state buildings on Monday, New Jersey governor Chris Christie said.

The actor had been in Italy for the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily. He had been due to receive an award at the event and teach a class.

'He was on vacation with his son. He has an eight-month-old daughter. Everything was going really great. I just spoke to him on Father's Day. He was fine. He was happy,' Mr Kobold said.

The actor, best known for his role as Tony Soprano in HBO series The Sopranos, had been drinking cocktails, beer and shots as he dined with his son just hours before suffering a fatal heart attack, it has been claimed.

The actor, who was 51, had struggled with alcohol addiction and had been seen attending several Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in New York, according to reports.

A source at the Hotel Boscolo in Rome has claimed the actor ordered pina coladas, shots of rum and beer during the al fresco meal on Wednesday evening, as it emerged doctors battled for 40 minutes to save him after he suffered a heart attack in his room just hours later.

'Final pictures': A holidaymaker took this photograph of James Gandolfini enjoying dinner in Rome on Tuesday night - around 24 hours before he passed away suddenly following a suspected heart attack

At ease: Witnesses said Gandolfini appeared to be enjoying dinner and the 'magical atmosphere'

Gandolfini first ordered a pina colada with two additional shots of rum on the side, a hotel source told the New York Post.

He then ordered the exact same round to wash down helpings of fried prawns with chilli mayonnaise and foie gras, followed later by two beers, the member of staff claimed.

The previous night the Emmy-award winning star had dined with his 13-year-old son Michael in Rome's Trastevere neighbourhood, enjoying a Campari and soda and a red wine.

His waiter Andrei Burca said of the actor: 'He had a big smile, a big laugh, and looked happy.'

Medical staff rushed to Hotel Boscolo on Wednesday night after Gandolfini's son found his father suffering the attack in their bathroom at about 10pm.

Sadness: Gandolfini's sister Johanna Antonacci arrives at the Rome morgue where the body of her brother is being held following an autopsy, which confirmed he died of a heart attack

Details about Gandolfini's final moments come as a photograph has emerged apparently showing Gandoflini enjoying an evening out with his family the night before his sudden death

In what could be the last picture of the award-winning actor, Gandolfini appeared at ease and in good health as he ate dinner at the Sabatini Restaurant with his son Michael, according to fellow holidaymaker Blake Kahn, who took the photo.

Another member of Kahn's group, Dee Duncan of Roswell, Georgia added that Gandolfini looked as if he was enjoying the 'magical atmosphere' as jugglers and magicians performed in the square.

Kahn, from Atlanta, Georgia, later shared the images with 11Alive.

His Sopranos colleagues have led tributes from the showbiz world, with the show's creator David Chase who compared him to Mozart, praising him as 'one of the greatest actors of this or any time'.

Witness: James Gandolfini was found suffering a heart attack in a hotel bathroom by his 13-year-old son Michael. They are pictured with his second wife Deborah Lin at a film premiere in 2011

Tests: The mortuary of Umberto hospital where Gandolfini was pronounced dead on Wednesday night. His body will undergo an autopsy on Thursday, as is required by Italian law

Mario Sesti, director of the film festival which the star was due to attend this weekend, claimed that Gandolfini was excited by his Italian vacation because of his family's link to the country.

'He was so happy to be in Italy, to reconnect with his Italian roots, and he was very excited to come here and receive this award,' he told USA Today.

Gandolfini was born and brought up in New Jersey, but both his parents were Italian.

The Taormini Film Festival will host a tribute to the actor in place of a round-table discussion which Gandolfini had agreed to take part in.

The actor and his family had spent a 'beautiful day out together' in Rome before his tragic passing, according to Gandolfini's assistant, Tom Richardson.

In a sign that he was generous until the end, a holidaymaker claimed on Facebook that Gandolfini, who was staying at the same hotel, witnessed a boy stealing a few Euros from her and 'ran after me in to the elevator to make sure that I was ok.' 'Good man,' she added.

Married to the mob: In character with his Sopranos co-stars Edie Falco, Robert Iler and Jamie-Lynn Sigler

James Gandolfini in some of his most memorable film & TV roles

According to Mike Sullivan, a close friend of Gandolfini's, Richardson told him: 'When they got back to the hotel, Jimmy went to use the restroom. And something happened in there.

'His sister said he was alive when they took him out in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.'

When paramedics arrived to take Gandolfini to hospital, they found him lying on the bathroom floor, according to hotel owner Antonio D'amore.

The actor was taken to hospital at 10.20pm, and was pronounced dead at 11pm when efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, according to Dr Modini.

Gandolfini's first wife Marcy Wudarski, Michael's mother, is said to have immediately booked a flight to Italy to comfort her son after learning of the actor's death.

The couple were married for three years until they divorced in 2002.

Divorce papers from 2002 show Wudarski accused him of battling serious issues with drugs and alcohol which saw him 'punch himself in the face with frustration'.

Hotel: Gandolfini had a heart attack in his bathroom at the Hotel Boscolo, pictured, in Rome

Emergency services: An ambulance parked in the square outside the hotel today

The scene: People walk in the entrance of the morgue of Policlinico Umberto I hospital where the body of actor Gandolfini was brought after he was reported dead late Wednesday

At the hospital: Members of the media gather outside the emergency department of Policlinico Umberto I

According to GQ, those who worked with the actor on the HBO drama from 1999 to 2007 saw him frequently 'berate himself in disgust, curse and smack the back of his own head'.

Wudarski also alleged that he dated a string of women, including a stripper.

In response, Gandolfini claimed that his wife constantly threatened to kill herself and blamed her emotional instability and volatile temper for the marriage breakdown.

He filed for divorce on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment. At the time his wife said his departure had come as a shock.

Gandolfini married his second wife, former model Deborah Lin, in Hawaii in 2008, and Liliana was born last October. After his daughter's birth, Gandolfini said he was 'thrilled' to become a father for the second time.

Grief: Family spokesman Michael Kobold giving a statement on Gandolfini's death

Tributes: Fans leaves flower and gifts outside of Gandolfini's New York City apartment on Thursday

New Jersey remembers 'Tony Soprano'

The actor rose to fame playing a hitman in the 1993 film True Romance, and roles in films such as Terminal Velocity and Get Shorty followed.

However, it was not until his breakout role in 1999 in the hit television show The Sopranos that he became a household name.

He played the powerful mob boss Tony Soprano, whose stressful gangster and family life left him needing to visit a psychiatrist, played by Lorraine Bracco.

His compelling portrayal of the ruthless mob boss who suffered from panic attacks saw him win three Emmy Awards for the role.

The character apparently died in the series finale, although the audience was never shown the moment of his death, with the screen just fading to black instead.

Speaking to Vanity Fair about the ending, Gandolfini said: 'What the f***? I mean, after all I went through, all this death, and then it's over like that?'

Gandolfini's managers Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders paid tribute to the star, saying in a statement: 'Our hearts are shattered and we will miss him deeply. He and his family were part of our family for many years and we are all grieving.'

Breakout role: Gandolfini is best known for his role as Tony Soprano in hit HBO series The Sopranos

Compelling: Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) and Lorraine Bracco, as Dr. Jennifer Melfi, in a scene from the fourth season of The Sopranos

Tribute: Sopranos creator David Chase, pictured with Gandolfini, compared the actor with Mozart

First big role: Gandolfini in 1993's True Romance, in which he also played a mobster

Cable channel HBO, which hosted The Sopranos until the show ended in 2007, called the actor a 'special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone, no matter their title or position, with equal respect.'

'We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family,' HBO added.

'He touched so many of us over the years with his humor, his warmth and his humility. Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time. He will be deeply missed by all of us.'

The Sopranos creator David Chase called his leading actor 'a genius'.

He said: 'Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time. A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes.

'I remember telling him many times, "You don't get it. You're like Mozart." There would be silence at the other end of the phone.'

Devoted dad: James was said be 'thrilled' at the arrival of his daughter last year; he is pictured carrying her to lunch with his wife in May

Family tragedy: The actor was married twice, to Deborah Lin, left, mother of his nine month old daughter, and right, Marcy Wudarski the mother of son Michael who has flown to Rome to be with him

James Gandolfini marries Deborah Lin. The couple tied the knot on the islands of Hawaii over the Labor Day weekend in 2008

Mr Chase added: 'He wasn't easy sometimes. But he was my partner, he was my brother in ways I can't explain and never will be able to explain.'

Chris Albrecht, who commissioned the crime drama for HBO and approved Gandolfini for the role, told Deadline: 'Absolutely stunned. I got the word from Lorraine Bracco and just got off with Brad Grey who had just heard from David Chase.

'We had all become a family. This is a tremendous loss.'

And Steve Schrirripa, who played Bobby Baccalieri in the show, said upon hearing the news: 'I had to get up and leave. It was like being told a brother had died. Jimmy Gandolfini was as great a friend as he was an actor and a human being.

'The phone hasn't stopped. I spoke to a lot of the guys from The Sopranos. We were crying. People joke about us being a family. But we are a family.'

Public in Rome reacts in shock to James Gandolfini's death

Complex character: James Gandolfini alongside actors Tony Sirico Federico Castellucio, and Steven Van Zandt in The Sopranos

The mob boss: Gandolfini was the head of a mob family in show Sopranos

Celebrated: James and his on-screen wife Edie Falco both won at the 2000 Golden Globes for their roles as Tony and Carmela Soprano

His co-star Joseph Gannascoli, who plays Vito Spatafore in the show, told MailOnline that Gandolfini was a 'tremendous person'.

An emotional Gannascoli said: 'He came to my wedding with his son and spoke beautiful words in front of everyone to me and my wife.'

He said that the greatest tragedy was that Gandolfini's son and daughter would grow up without their father. The actor said that Gandolfini was a generous guy with no airs about him who made everyone feel comfortable.

He told of a time that Gandolfini had been scheduled to make an appearance at his Brooklyn restaurant and despite being ill and it pouring with rain, he took pictures with everyone in a line of people who had queued around the block.

Gandolfini's sudden and unexpected death has prompted a huge outpouring of grief from those who worked with the actor, with many celebrities taking to Twitter to pay tribute.

Actor and friend Gilles Marini revealed on his Facebook page that Gandolfini had traveled to Italy with his son Michael for a 'boy trip'.

Tribute: Gandolfini's picture is displayed in the window of a restaurant in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York following his sudden death on Wednesday

Versatile: James Gandolfini starred opposite Twilight's Kristen Stewart in the heartwarming 2010 movie Welcome To The Rileys

'I am heartbroken. My bud James Gandolfini just died. Last Saturday he told me at our kids graduation [that] he was so happy to go with his son to Italy. A boy trip!' Marini wrote.

He added: 'It was an honor to have met this man, such a great Dad! I spent so much time with James son teaching him soccer. I feel for that kid it must be so hard right now for little [Michael].'

'RIP James Gandolfini. A great friend,' wrote Jeff Daniels, his co-star in Broadway's God of Carnage.

'I am so deeply saddened by the untimely passing of sweet James Gandolfini!', tweeted Christina Applegate, his co-star in the 2004 comedy Surviving Christmas. 'My heart is broken for his family!! I'm in shock.'

Steve Carell, who was about to work with the larger-than-life star in HBO Films' Bone Wars, added: 'James Gandolfini. Unbelievably sad news. A fine man.'

In his younger days: As a basketball star at Ridge High School, Park Ridge in New Jersey

Following the success of the HBO television series - which finished in 2007 - he continued to make big screen appearances in critically acclaimed films including In The Loop and The Taking of Pelham 123.

Senior year: James Gandolfini, in 1979 at Park Ridge High School, New Jersey

He appeared alongside Twilight actress Kristen Stewart in the heartwarming drama Welcome to the Rileys and voiced the 'Wild Thing' Carol in Where the Wild Things Are.

He recently played Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in the Oscar nominated film Zero Dark Thirty.

In his personal life, Gandolfini made his first public appearance with Deborah at the premiere of the second half of the sixth and final series of The Sopranos in March 2007.

At their wedding a year later, they exchanged vows in front of family and friends at Honolulu's Central Union Church.

Deborah wore a white gown made of Italian lace, and the church was decorated with white lilies and rhododendrons.

Born in Westwood, New Jersey, Gandolfini graduated from Park Ridge High School, where he cut his teeth acting in school plays, and went on to study communications at Rutgers University.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has described himself as a 'huge fan' of Gandolfini.

'It's an awful shock. James Gandolfini was a fine actor, a Rutgers alum and a true Jersey guy,' he said.

In his school days: Gandolfini poses with a female friend in a picture from his High School year book in 1979; he was voted 'class flirt'

Gandolfini started his professional acting career treading the boards in New York, and made his Broadway debut in the 1992 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire with Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin.

Although his first film role came before in the 1987 comedy horror movie Shock! Shock! Shock! and also had a minor role in the Melanie Griffith thriller A Stranger Among Us.

Gandolfini had a number of projects completed before his death including Violet & Daisy starring Saoirse Ronan, and another project by director Nicole Holofcener starring Catherine Keener.

In an interview in December last year, Gandolfini sounded upbeat about a slew of smaller roles following the breathtaking blackout ending in 2007 of The Sopranos.

'I'm much more comfortable doing smaller things,' Gandolfini said.

'I like them. I like the way they're shot; they're shot quickly. It's all about the scripts - that's what it is - and I'm getting some interesting little scripts.'

LOVING TRIBUTES: CELEBRITIES EXPRESS THEIR GRIEF ON TWITTERBroadway: James with actor Jeff Daniels

'RIP James Gandolfini. A great friend,' wrote Jeff Daniels, his co-star in Broadway's God of Carnage.

'I am so deeply saddened by the untimely passing of sweet James Gandolfini!' tweeted Christina Applegate, his co-star in the 2004 comedy Surviving Christmas. 'My heart is broken for his family!! I'm in shock.'

Steve Carell, who was about to work with the larger-than-life star in HBO Films' Bone Wars, tweeted: 'James Gandolfini. Unbelievably sad news. A fine man.'

Olivia Wilde, who starred with the actor in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, said: 'James Gandolfini was a kind, funny, wonderful guy. I'm so lucky to have worked with him. Sending love to his family. Such a sad, sad day.'

Patrick Wilson wrote: 'R.I.P. James Gandolfini. So awful. What a fantastic actor'...so much to say but I can't even process. My condolences to his family.'

Bush rocker Gavin Rossdale said: 'james gandolfini'' so sad what an incredible actor. more loss. be good to each other. it's all so short.'

Actor Jonah Hill: 'I'm truly heartbroken to hear that James Gandolfini has passed away. He is one of my all time favorite actors. Tragic loss.'

Touching tribute: Actress Rose McGowan posted this picture of herself and James on Twitter

Rose McGowan posted a picture of herself with the actor, saying: 'I am heartbroken about James Gandolfini. He was a gentle giant and great man. I love this picture, I loved him.'

Carson Daly: 'SO SAD! PRAYING FOR HIS FAMILY- wow- Shocked by this news today'....'

Josh Henderson: 'Just read about James Gandolfini.. Never met him but what a damn good actor. Gone way to soon. Rip brother.. #prayers'

Dominic Monaghan: 'Oh man James gandolfini died. Fantastic in the soprano, and true romance. A great talent.'

Alyssa Milano: 'Rest in peace, Mr. Gandolfini.'

Rainn Wilson: 'Arrivederci, James Gandolfini. You were one of the great greats. We'll miss your dangerous, big heart. #RIPGandolfini'

Josh Groban: 'Thank you James Gandolfini for some of the most brilliant tv moments of all time. So sad!!!'

Giuliana Rancic: 'Just heard James Gandolfini has died of a heart attack at the age of 51. So incredibly sad.'

Leah Remini: 'R.I.P James Gandolfini. My prayers to his family and friends. He will certainly be missed by us who loved watching him'

James Gandolfini in his epic role as Tony Soprano

Share or comment on this article

Obama Nation

Yokels

Adam,

Just wanted to give you a possible contextual use of Yokel that might explain it's use in the Charlie Rose interview. Obama pals around with banksters that routinely steal sums in the billions of dollars. A heist of a paltry 45 million is small change, hence the bumpkin reference.

ITM,

Erik

Spy vs Spy

NSA Snooping Was Only the Beginning. Meet the Spy Chief Leading Us Into Cyberwar | Threat Level | Wired.com

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:58

He may be a four-star Army general, but Alexander more closely resembles a head librarian than George Patton. His face is anemic, his lips a neutral horizontal line. Bald halfway back, he has hair the color of strong tea that turns gray on the sides, where it is cut close to the skin, more schoolboy than boot camp. For a time he wore large rimless glasses that seemed to swallow his eyes. Some combat types had a derisive nickname for him: Alexander the Geek.

Born in 1951, the third of five children, Alexander was raised in the small upstate New York hamlet of Onondaga Hill, a suburb of Syracuse. He tossed papers for the Syracuse Post-Standard and ran track at Westhill High School while his father, a former Marine private, was involved in local Republican politics. It was 1970, Richard Nixon was president, and most of the country had by then begun to see the war in Vietnam as a disaster. But Alexander had been accepted at West Point, joining a class that included two other future four-star generals, David Petraeus and Martin Dempsey. Alexander would never get the chance to serve in Vietnam. Just as he stepped off the bus at West Point, the ground war finally began winding down.

In April 1974, just before graduation, he married his high school classmate Deborah Lynn Douglas, who grew up two doors away in Onondaga Hill. The fighting in Vietnam was over, but the Cold War was still bubbling, and Alexander focused his career on the solitary, rarefied world of signals intelligence, bouncing from secret NSA base to secret NSA base, mostly in the US and Germany. He proved a competent administrator, carrying out assignments and adapting to the rapidly changing high tech environment. Along the way he picked up masters degrees in electronic warfare, physics, national security strategy, and business administration. As a result, he quickly rose up the military intelligence ranks, where expertise in advanced technology was at a premium.

In 2001, Alexander was a one-star general in charge of the Army Intelligence and Security Command, the military's worldwide network of 10,700 spies and eavesdroppers. In March of that year he told his hometown Syracuse newspaper that his job was to discover threats to the country. ''We have to stay out in front of our adversary,'' Alexander said. ''It's a chess game, and you don't want to lose this one.'' But just six months later, Alexander and the rest of the American intelligence community suffered a devastating defeat when they were surprised by the attacks on 9/11. Following the assault, he ordered his Army intercept operators to begin illegally monitoring the phone calls and email of American citizens who had nothing to do with terrorism, including intimate calls between journalists and their spouses. Congress later gave retroactive immunity to the telecoms that assisted the government.

In 2003, Alexander, a favorite of defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was named the Army's deputy chief of staff for intelligence, the service's most senior intelligence position. Among the units under his command were the military intelligence teams involved in the human rights abuses at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. Two years later, Rumsfeld appointed Alexander'--now a three-star general'--director of the NSA, where he oversaw the illegal, warrantless wiretapping program while deceiving members of the House Intelligence Committee. In a publicly released letter to Alexander shortly after The New York Times exposed the program, US representative Rush Holt, a member of the committee, angrily took him to task for not being forthcoming about the wiretapping: ''Your responses make a mockery of congressional oversight.''

Alexander also proved to be militant about secrecy. In 2005 a senior agency employee named Thomas Drake allegedly gave information to The Baltimore Sun showing that a publicly discussed program known as Trailblazer was millions of dollars over budget, behind schedule, possibly illegal, and a serious threat to privacy. In response, federal prosecutors charged Drake with 10 felony counts, including retaining classified documents and making false statements. He faced up to 35 years in prison'--despite the fact that all of the information Drake was alleged to have leaked was not only unclassified and already in the public domain but in fact had been placed there by NSA and Pentagon officials themselves. (As a longtime chronicler of the NSA, I served as a consultant for Drake's defense team. The investigation went on for four years, after which Drake received no jail time or fine. The judge, Richard D. Bennett, excoriated the prosecutor and NSA officials for dragging their feet. ''I find that unconscionable. Unconscionable,'' he said during a hearing in 2011. ''That's four years of hell that a citizen goes through. It was not proper. It doesn't pass the smell test.'')

But while the powers that be were pressing for Drake's imprisonment, a much more serious challenge was emerging. Stuxnet, the cyberweapon used to attack the Iranian facility in Natanz, was supposed to be untraceable, leaving no return address should the Iranians discover it. Citing anonymous Obama administration officials, The New York Times reported that the malware began replicating itself and migrating to computers in other countries. Cyber­security detectives were thus able to detect and analyze it. By the summer of 2010 some were pointing fingers at the US.

Natanz is a small, dusty town in central Iran known for its plump pears and the burial vault of the 13th-century Sufi sheikh Abd al-Samad. The Natanz nuclear enrichment plant is a vault of a different kind. Tucked in the shadows of the Karkas Mountains, most of it lies deep underground and surrounded by concrete walls 8 feet thick, with another layer of concrete for added security. Its bulbous concrete roof rests beneath more than 70 feet of packed earth. Contained within the bombproof structure are halls the size of soccer pitches, designed to hold thousands of tall, narrow centrifuges. The machines are linked in long cascades that look like tacky decorations from a '70s discotheque.

To work properly, the centrifuges need strong, lightweight, well-balanced rotors and high-speed bearings. Spin these rotors too slowly and the critical U-235 molecules inside fail to separate; spin them too quickly and the machines self-destruct and may even explode. The operation is so delicate that the computers controlling the rotors' movement are isolated from the Internet by a so-called air gap that prevents exposure to viruses and other malware.

In 2006, the Department of Defense gave the go-ahead to the NSA to begin work on targeting these centrifuges, according to The New York Times. One of the first steps was to build a map of the Iranian nuclear facility's computer networks. A group of hackers known as Tailored Access Operations'--a highly secret organization within the NSA'--took up the challenge.

They set about remotely penetrating communications systems and networks, stealing passwords and data by the terabyte. Teams of ''vulnerability analysts'' searched hundreds of computers and servers for security holes, according to a former senior CIA official involved in the Stuxnet program. Armed with that intelligence, so-called network exploitation specialists then developed software implants known as beacons, which worked like surveillance drones, mapping out a blueprint of the network and then secretly communicating the data back to the NSA. (Flame, the complex piece of surveillance malware discovered by Russian cybersecurity experts last year, was likely one such beacon.) The surveillance drones worked brilliantly. The NSA was able to extract data about the Iranian networks, listen to and record conversations through computer microphones, even reach into the mobile phones of anyone within Bluetooth range of a compromised machine.

The next step was to create a digital warhead, a task that fell to the CIA Clandestine Service's Counter-Proliferation Division. According to the senior CIA official, much of this work was outsourced to national labs, notably Sandia in Albuquerque, New Mexico. So by the mid-2000s, the government had developed all the fundamental technology it needed for an attack. But there was still a major problem: The secretive agencies had to find a way to access Iran's most sensitive and secure computers, the ones protected by the air gap. For that, Alexander and his fellow spies would need outside help.

This is where things get murky. One possible bread crumb trail leads to an Iranian electronics and computer wholesaler named Ali Ashtari, who later confessed that he was recruited as a spy by the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service. (Israel denied the claim.) Ashtari's principal customers were the procurement officers for some of Iran's most sensitive organizations, including the intelligence service and the nuclear enrichment plants. If new computers were needed or routers or switches had to be replaced, Ashtari was the man to see, according to reports from semi-official Iranian news agencies and an account of Ashtari's trial published by the nonprofit Iran Human Rights Voice.

In June 2008 he was brought to trial in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, where he confessed, pleaded guilty to the charges, expressed remorse for his actions, and was sentenced to death. On the morning of November 17, in the courtyard of Tehran's Evin Prison, a noose was placed around Ashtari's neck, and a crane hauled his struggling body high into the air.

Ashtari may well have been one of the human assets that allowed Stuxnet to cross the air gap. But he was not Israel's only alleged spy in Iran, and others may also have helped enable malware transfer. ''Normally,'' says the anonymous CIA official, ''what we do is look for multiple bridges, in case a guy gets wrapped up.'' Less then two weeks after Ashtari's execution, the Iranian government arrested three more men, charging them with spying for Israel. And on December 13, 2008, Ali-Akbar Siadat, another importer of electronic goods, was arrested as a spy for the Mossad, according to Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency. Unlike Ashtari, who said he had operated alone, Siadat was accused of heading a nationwide spy network employing numerous Iranian agents. But despite their energetic counterintelligence work, the Iranians would not realize for another year and a half that a cyberweapon was targeting their nuclear centrifuges. Once they did, it was only a matter of time until they responded.

Sure enough, in August 2012 a devastating virus was unleashed on Saudi Aramco, the giant Saudi state-owned energy company. The malware infected 30,000 computers, erasing three-quarters of the company's stored data, destroying everything from documents to email to spreadsheets and leaving in their place an image of a burning American flag, according to The New York Times. Just days later, another large cyberattack hit RasGas, the giant Qatari natural gas company. Then a series of denial-of-service attacks took America's largest financial institutions offline. Experts blamed all of this activity on Iran, which had created its own cyber command in the wake of the US-led attacks. James Clapper, US director of national intelligence, for the first time declared cyberthreats the greatest danger facing the nation, bumping terrorism down to second place. In May, the Department of Homeland Security's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team issued a vague warning that US energy and infrastructure companies should be on the alert for cyberattacks. It was widely reported that this warning came in response to Iranian cyberprobes of industrial control systems. An Iranian diplomat denied any involvement.

The cat-and-mouse game could escalate. ''It's a trajectory,'' says James Lewis, a cyber­security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ''The general consensus is that a cyber response alone is pretty worthless. And nobody wants a real war.'' Under international law, Iran may have the right to self-defense when hit with destructive cyberattacks. William Lynn, deputy secretary of defense, laid claim to the prerogative of self-defense when he outlined the Pentagon's cyber operations strategy. ''The United States reserves the right,'' he said, ''under the laws of armed conflict, to respond to serious cyberattacks with a proportional and justified military response at the time and place of our choosing.'' Leon Panetta, the former CIA chief who had helped launch the Stuxnet offensive, would later point to Iran's retaliation as a troubling harbinger. ''The collective result of these kinds of attacks could be a cyber Pearl Harbor,'' he warned in October 2012, toward the end of his tenure as defense secretary, ''an attack that would cause physical destruction and the loss of life.'' If Stuxnet was the proof of concept, it also proved that one successful cyberattack begets another. For Alexander, this offered the perfect justification for expanding his empire.

Obama Admin. Charges NSA Whistleblower Snowden with Espionage

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: Dave says...

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 02:56

The Obama administration Friday charged National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden with espionage.

Snowden, 29, leaked to the Washington Post and to the Guardian (U.K.) a cache of documents exposing the NSA's wholesale violation of the Fourth Amendment through the dragnet surveillance of phone records and monitoring of internet traffic.

The Washington Post reports that U.S. officials have requested that Hong Kong detain Snowden on ''a provisional arrest warrant.''

According to the criminal complaint filed by the federal government against Snowden in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the former NSA networking contractor will be charged with theft, ''unauthorized communication of national defense information'' and ''willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.''

The last two counts are violations of the Espionage Act of 1917.

The Washington Post story on the filing of the espionage charges against Snowden reports that the district court chosen by the Justice Department because Snowden's former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is headquartered within that jurisdiction and it is ''a district with a long track record of prosecuting cases with national security implications.''

With the formal filing of the charges against him, Snowden becomes the eighth person to be charged under the Espionage Act by the Obama administration.

Another former government employee, James Hitselberger was working as a linguist for the U.S. Navy when he became the seventh to be charged under the nearly-century old law.

President Obama has targeted each of these men '-- including Edward Snowden '-- for their efforts to expose government corruption. In fact, the others charged with espionage are targets of an apparent vendetta against whistleblowers in direct contradiction of the president's promise to protect them.

In 2008, then-president-elect Obama declared, "We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government."

Not that politicians have a habit of keeping campaign promises, but President Obama's policy of zealously pursuing, prosecuting, and punishing those who report abuses in government is remarkable for its relentlessness.

Steven Aftergood, the director of the Federation of American Scientists' government secrecy project, is quoted in a story published by Reason magazine online, explaining, ''The administration's aggressive pursuit of leaks represents a challenge to the practice of national security reporting, which depends on the availability of unauthorized sources if it is to produce something more than 'authorized' news.''

This ferocity has come to the attention of others, as well. Speaking at a symposium on investigative reporting held in April 2012 at Berkeley, Edward Wasserman powerfully chronicled the chilling effect that the Obama administration's pursuit of whistleblowers is having on such disclosures and against the journalists who report them.

Wasserman, the Knight Professor of Journalism Ethics at Washington & Lee University, informed the audience,

[The Obama] Justice Department has conducted six prosecutions over leaks of classified information to reporters. Five involve the Espionage Act, a powerful law that had previously been used only four times since it was enacted in 1917 to prosecute spies.

The first whistleblower cited in Wasserman's address was Thomas Drake. Drake was a senior executive at the National Security Agency who made the mistake of revealing to the Baltimore Sun that the NSA's Trailblazer Project, a project intended to analyze data carried on in the United States and elsewhere through the Internet, cellphones, and e-mails, not only violated the Fourth Amendment's proscription against unwarranted searches and seizures, but it was a ''billion-dollar computer boondoggle.''

In April 2010, Drake was indicted by a federal grand jury of several crimes, including violation of the Espionage Act. A spokesperson for the Government Accountability Project reported that the government's prosecution of Drake left him devastated. ''His intelligence career is over, his finances are drained and he is personally spent,'' said Jesselyn Radack.

Early in the summer of 2011, after several expos(C)s ran in newspapers and on television, the Obama administration dropped all the charges against Drake in return for Drake's guilty plea to a misdemeanor of misusing NSA computers. Drake was sentenced to one year of probation and community service.

The second target of the government's attack on whistleblowers was Shamai Leibowitz, an FBI linguist who was eventually sentenced to 20 months in a federal prison for leaking documents to a blogger.

Leibowitz testified that he believed that the papers he transmitted while working for the FBI contained evidence of ''violations of the law'' including the illegal attempt by the embassy of Israel to influence American foreign policy.

In exchange for his guilty plea to one count of disclosure of classified information, Leibowitz agreed to never file petitions to look at documents related to his case and to "never disclose'' any classified or sensitive information to which he had access while on contract with the FBI.

Next on the list of those who believed (wrongly) that President Obama would keep his campaign promise to shield from prosecution those government employees brave enough to bring to light hidden abuses and waste is John Kiriakou.

Kiriakou was an agent with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who was indicted in 2012 by a federal grand jury for disclosing to reporters the name of another CIA asset who was tasked with interrogating alleged al-Qaeda financier, Abu Zubaydah.

The indictment included one charge of making false statements, which carries a maximum five-year prison sentence, and four counts of violating federal law, including the Espionage Act '-- an offense punishable by up to 10 years in a federal prison.

In October, Kiriakou pleaded guilty to violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and will serve up to 30 months in a federal prison.

There is little wonder why the Obama administration would seek to silence Kiriakou: In 2007, Kiriakou told ABC News that he considered waterboarding an ''unnecessary'' form of interrogation.

Wasserman then mentions two others upon whom the federal government must place the muzzle of prosecution:

Stephen Kim, a State Department analyst, allegedly told a reporter for Fox News '-- wait for it '-- that the U.S. was worried North Korea might respond to new U.N. sanctions by testing another A-bomb; and Jeffrey Sterling, who allegedly disclosed a botched CIA operation in Iran that was described in a 2006 book by a Times reporter.

A story published by Politico confirmed that ''the case [against Kiriakou] is the sixth of six leak-related prosecutions brought during President Barack Obama's term '-- a higher tally than under all previous presidents combined.''

Supporters of the president may wonder why he didn't think this through a little better and provide the whistleblowers with the protection he promised rather than seek to silence the journalists who break the stories given them by these well-informed sources.

The answer to that question was given in a comment made ''rather gloatingly'' by ''a national security representative'' to Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: ''We're not going to subpoena reporters in the future. We don't need to. We know who you're talking to.''

Given this president's propensity for rapidly and relentlessly enlarging the size and power of the surveillance state apparatus, it is certain that Dalglish's statement is truer than we would like to believe.

The Washington Post reports that after the paper broke the story of Snowden's impending prosecution, ''senior administration officials said late Friday that the Justice Department was barraged with calls from lawmakers and reporters and decided to unseal the criminal complaint.''

Based on his earlier statements, Snowden is likely to fight extradition from Hong Kong to the United States. Should the Chinese authorities in Hong Kong entertain Snowden's challenge to the request for his arrest, the case could be decided by a Hong Kong court and ''could last many months'' according to legal experts interviewed by the Washington Post.

Photo of banner supporting Edward Snowden: AP Images

Joe A. Wolverton, II, J.D. is a correspondent for The New American and travels frequently nationwide speaking on topics of nullification, the NDAA, and the surveillance state. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Baltasar Garzˆ„n - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Julian Assange on Edward Snowden exit from Hong Kong

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: Hacker News

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 13:22

Political asylum: Supporters of Edward Snowden march to the US Consulate in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters

WikiLeaks has brokered an offer of political asylum for United States intelligence whistle-blower Edward Snowden and is assisting his travel from Hong Kong via Moscow to another as yet unidentified country.

WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange on Sunday confirmed his organisation's involvement in Mr Snowden's sudden departure from Hong Kong ahead of US government efforts to secure his extradition on espionage and other charges arising from the leak of top secret US National Security Agency surveillance programs.

"Mr Snowden is flying in an Aeroflot aircraft over Russian airspace, accompanied by WikiLeaks legal advisers," Mr Assange said.

"He is expected to land in Moscow at 5pm, local time (11pm, 23 June, Eastern Australian Standard Time) and will be met by diplomats from the country that will be his ultimate destination. Diplomats from that country will accompany him on a further flight to his destination."

Mr Assange declined to name the country in question in advance of a formal announcement, but described it as a "democratic country" and said that Mr Snowden would be able to travel "by a safe route" and that papers had been issued to ensure his safe passage.

"Owing to WikiLeaks' own circumstances, we have developed significant expertise in international asylum and extradition law, associated diplomacy and the practicalities in these matters," Mr Assange said.

"I have great personal sympathy for Ed Snowden's position. WikiLeaks absolutely supports his decision to blow the whistle on the mass surveillance of the world's population by the US government."

Mr Assange, who has himself spent a year at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London where he has diplomatic asylum, said that he was "thankful to the countries that have been doing the right thing in these matters. WikiLeaks hopes that Ed Snowden's rights will be protected, including his right to free communication".

"I am also thankful and proud of the courage of WikiLeaks' staff and all those who have assisted his exit from Hong Kong."

The Hong Kong government earlier on Sunday announced that Mr Snowden had left the special administrative region of China "on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel".

The Hong Kong government's statement also said the documents for Mr Snowden's extradition submitted by the US government "did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law".

"As the [Hong Kong] government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for a provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."

Iceland has been widely tipped as a possible destination for Mr Snowden.

Two days ago an Icelandic businessman linked to WikiLeaks said he had readied a private plane to fly Mr Snowden to Iceland if the Icelandic government was prepared to grant him asylum.

"We have made everything ready at our end now we only have to wait for confirmation from the (Icelandic) Interior Ministry," Olafur Vignir Sigurvinsson said. Mr Sigurvinsson is a former director of DataCell, a company which processed payments for WikiLeaks.

"We could fly Snowden over tomorrow if we get positive reaction from the Interior Ministry. We need to get confirmation of asylum and that he will not be extradited to the US. We would most want him to get a citizenship as well," Mr Sigurvinsson added.

Russ Tice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:37

Russell D. Tice (born 1961) is a former intelligence analyst for the U.S. Air Force, Office of Naval Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and National Security Agency (NSA). During his nearly 20 year career with various United States government agencies, he conducted intelligence missions related to the Kosovo War, Afghanistan, the USS Cole bombing in Yemen, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In December, 2005, Tice helped spark a national controversy over claims that the NSA and the DIA were engaged in unlawful and unconstitutional wiretaps on American citizens. He later admitted that he was one of the sources that were used in The New York Times reporting on the wiretap activity in December 2005[citation needed].

Tice received national attention as a whistleblower in May 2005, after speaking publicly about alleged retaliation by government officials for reporting his suspicions that a DIA colleague might be a Chinesespy, and about the need for legislation to protect whistleblowers[citation needed].

Whistleblower[edit]Tice was terminated by the NSA in May 2005, just days after publicly urging Congress to pass stronger protections for federal intelligence agency whistleblowers facing retaliation. In September 2005, the inspector general issued an unclassified report that found "no evidence" to support Tice's claims[citation needed].

In December 2005, Tice alleged the NSA and the DIA were engaged in unlawful and unconstitutional conduct against the American people, and helped spark a national controversy. Tice stated that the activities involved the Director of the NSA, the Deputies Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, and the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and were conducted via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and operations known as Special access programs (SAP), more commonly referred to as 'black world' programs, or 'black ops'. Tice was a technical intelligence specialist dealing with SAP programs and operations at both NSA and DIA[citation needed] .

On December 16, The New York Times revealed that the NSA was engaged in a clandestine eavesdropping program that bypassed the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court. Media reports on January 10, 2006, indicated Tice was a source of the Times leak, which revealed that, under the direction of the White House and without requisite court orders, the NSA has been intercepting international communications to and from points within the US[citation needed] .

Tice's resume was unclassified which had "shown" that he was in Space Communications. When asked about whether he's connected with Space Communications in any way in an interview on the website for Wired Magazine, he responded, "I watch Buck Rogers."

In a letter dated December 18, 2005, to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and to Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, he said he was prepared to testify about the SAP programs, under the provisions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act. It is not known, however, what the testimony would specifically involve[citation needed].

It has been assumed that the problem concerned the electronic surveillance of Americans, but in an interview published 13 January 2006 on the reasononline web site,[1] Tice said "there's no way the programs I want to talk to Congress about should be public ever, unless maybe in 200 years they want to declassify them. You should never learn about it; no one at the Times should ever learn about these things. But that same mechanism that allows you to have a program like this at an extremely high, sensitive classification level could also be used to mask illegality, like spying on Americans."[2]

In a press release issued by the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition on December 22, 2005, Tice explained the public aspect of his charges, stating that:

"As a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) officer it is continually drilled into us that the very first law chiseled in the SIGINT equivalent of the Ten Commandments (USSID-18) is that Thou shall not spy on American persons without a court order from FISA. This law is continually drilled into each NSA intelligence officer throughout his or her career. The very people that lead the National Security Agency have violated this holyedict of SIGINT."[citation needed]On December 23, 2005, the Austin American-Statesman, reported Tice's allegations that spying on Americans may involve a massive computer system known as ECHELON, which is able to search and filter hundreds of thousands of phone calls and e-mails in a matter of seconds.

On January 3, 2006, Tice appeared on the national radio/TV show Democracy Now! and said he wants to testify before Congress. Tice said "I'm involved with some certain aspects of the intelligence community, which are very closely held, and I believe I have seen some things that are illegal."

On January 5, 2006, The Washington Times reported that Tice wants to testify before Congress about electronic intelligence programs that he asserts were carried out illegally by the NSA and DIA. "I intend to report to Congress probable unlawful and unconstitutional acts conducted while I was an intelligence officer with the National Security Agency and with the Defense Intelligence Agency," Tice stated in letters, dated December 16, 2005 and disclosed by the Times.

In a letter dated January 10, 2006, Renee Seymour, Director of the NSA Special Access Programs Central Office, warned Tice that members of neither the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, nor of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence had clearance to receive the classified information about the SAP's that Tice was prepared to provide. An article by Chris Strohm in Government Executive says that some Congressional staffers believe that Tice "comes with baggage".

In reaction to Tice's claims, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, two prominent figures in conservative media, launched an offensive against his credibility. On his Fox News broadcast of January 11, 2006, O'Reilly said that Tice should be jailed for his whistleblowing activity. But Tice told ABC News that "As far as I'm concerned, as long as I don't say anything that's classified, I'm not worried... We need to clean up the intelligence community. We've had abuses, and they need to be addressed."

On February 14, 2006, UPI reports Tice testified to the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations that the Special Access Program might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights, but that neither the committee members nor the NSA inspector general had clearance to review the program.

On May 12, 2006, thinkprogress.org reported a story by CongressDaily in which Tice was said to be planning an appearance the next week before the Senate Armed Service Committee, when further revelations would be made on "a different angle" of the NSA's surveillance program.[3] Ultimately this did not occur and it is still unclear why.

On July 26, 2006, he was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury regarding violations of federal law. He reportedly said ''This latest action by the government is designed only for one purpose: to ensure that people who witness criminal action being committed by the government are intimidated into remaining silent.''[4]

On the first of two consecutive appearances on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann (January 21[5] and January 22,[6] 2009), Russ Tice stated that while he worked in the NSA, his role was to follow the communications of specific individuals in a program separate from the one that had been previously disclosed. He stated that he initially understood that he was to identify the communication methods of journalists (and entire news organizations) so that they could avoid collection. He subsequently learned that these channels were being recorded 24/7. Since this appeared to be a political and not security operation of the NSA, Tice withheld disclosing it until the next administration. Tice also stated that programs were given dual military and intelligence status so that both types of congressional oversight could be simultaneously denied.

On June 19, 2013, Tice claimed while being interviewed that the NSA had spied on Barack Obama himself while he was still a senator, along with monitoring federal judges, ranking military officials, and other members of congress, saying he himself had seen and held papers ordering such actions. [7][8]

See also[edit]References[edit]External links[edit]FederalTimes.com - 'Whistleblower to be fired, watchdogs say', Stephen Losey, Federal Times (May 9, 2005)PulseJournal.com - 'NSA fires whistleblower', Rebecca Carr, Cox News Service (May 5, 2005)Democracy Now - transcript/video/MP3 of interview with Tice conducted by Amy Goodman about NSA Spying (January 3, 2006)WashTimes.com - 'NSA whistleblower asks to testify', Bill Gertz, Washington Times, (January 5, 2006)ABC News - 'NSA Whistleblower Alleges Illegal Spying', Brian Ross, ABC News, (January 10, 2006)UPI - 'Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger', UPI, (February 15, 2006)In These Times - 'NSA Thwarts Whistleblower', Leah A Nelson, In These Times, (May 15, 2006)Russ Tice at the Internet Movie DatabasePersondataNameTice, RussAlternative namesShort descriptionAmerican intelligence whistle blowerDate of birth1961Place of birthDate of deathPlace of death

Big Bruv

Stop Watching Us | Stop Watching Us

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 11:37

Dear Members of Congress,

We write to express our concern about recent reports published in the Guardian and the Washington Post, and acknowledged by the Obama Administration, which reveal secret spying by the National Security Agency (NSA) on phone records and Internet activity of people in the United States.

The Washington Post and the Guardian recently published reports based on information provided by an intelligence contractor showing how the NSA and the FBI are gaining broad access to data collected by nine of the leading U.S. Internet companies and sharing this information with foreign governments. As reported, the U.S. government is extracting audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track a person's movements and contacts over time. As a result, the contents of communications of people both abroad and in the U.S. can be swept in without any suspicion of crime or association with a terrorist organization.

Leaked reports also published by the Guardian and confirmed by the Administration reveal that the NSA is also abusing a controversial section of the PATRIOT Act to collect the call records of millions of Verizon customers. The data collected by the NSA includes every call made, the time of the call, the duration of the call, and other "identifying information" for millions of Verizon customers, including entirely domestic calls, regardless of whether those customers have ever been suspected of a crime. The Wall Street Journal has reported that other major carriers, including AT&T and Sprint, are subject to similar secret orders.

This type of blanket data collection by the government strikes at bedrock American values of freedom and privacy. This dragnet surveillance violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which protect citizens' right to speak and associate anonymously, guard against unreasonable searches and seizures, and protect their right to privacy.

We are calling on Congress to take immediate action to halt this surveillance and provide a full public accounting of the NSA's and the FBI's data collection programs. We call on Congress to immediately and publicly:

Enact reform this Congress to Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the state secrets privilege, and the FISA Amendments Act to make clear that blanket surveillance of the Internet activity and phone records of any person residing in the U.S. is prohibited by law and that violations can be reviewed in adversarial proceedings before a public court;Create a special committee to investigate, report, and reveal to the public the extent of this domestic spying. This committee should create specific recommendations for legal and regulatory reform to end unconstitutional surveillance;Hold accountable those public officials who are found to be responsible for this unconstitutional surveillance.Thank you for your attention to this matter.

AP News: Obama to meet with privacy, civil liberties board

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:07

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is holding his first meeting with a privacy and civil liberties board Friday as he seeks to make good on his pledge to have a public discussion about secretive government surveillance programs.

Obama has said the little-known Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will play a key role in that effort. The federal oversight board reviews anti-terror programs to ensure that privacy concerns are taken into account.

The president is also tasking the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, to consider declassifying more details about the government's collection of U.S. phone and Internet records. Obama is specifically asking Clapper to review possible declassification of opinions from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which approves the surveillance efforts.

Obama's meeting with the board was taking place Friday afternoon, but the White House wasn't planning to allow press coverage.

The government has already lifted some of the secrecy surrounding the programs following disclosures earlier this month about their existence by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Full Story

The Daily Dot - 9 ways the NSA can track Americans without a warrant

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:19

President Obama wants Americans to rest assured: By law, the NSA is only allowed to track someone without a warrant if they're a foreigner.

But the NSA, we've seen, uses loopholes in that law'--what Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), has for years called "back door" searches on Americans. For instance, as long as the NSA doesn't have explicit proof that a target is American, an agent can, using a program like PRISM, track a person's communications by legally demanding information from Gmail or Facebook. That agent just has to have a reasonable belief that their target is foreign.

Thanks to leaked documents provided by the Guardian, we have the NSA's handy checklist of what makes a person foreign enough to track. Keep in mind this list is not exhaustive; it's just a start. According to the document, "the NSA considers, among other things, the following factors":

1. You've called or a received a call from somebody the NSA thinks is connected to a foreign power.

"Information indicates that the telephone number has been used to communicate directly with another telephone number reasonably believed by the U.S. Intelligence community to be used by an individual associated with a foreign power or foreign territory."

2. Somebody connected to a foreign power put your number in their contacts list.

"Information indicates that the telephone number is listed in the telephone directory of a telephone used by an individual associated with a foreign power or foreign territory."

3. They found a phone book or online directory that lists your number as tied to a foreign power.

"Publicly available sources of information (e.g. telephone listings) match the telephone number to an individual reasonably believed by the U.S. Intelligence Community to be associated with a foreign power or foreign territory."

4. The NSA already had your number in a database because it came up in an earlier investigation.

"Information contained in various NSA-maintained knowledge databases containing foreign intelligence information acquired by any lawful means, such as electronic surveillance, physical search, or the use of pen register and trap or trace device, or other information, reveals that the telephone number had previously been used by an individual associated with a foreign power."

5. You've emailed, Skyped, IM'd, tweeted at, Facebook messaged, or in any other way communicated with a foreign power of interest over the Internet.

"Information indicates that a user of the electronic communications account/address/identifier has communicated directly with an individual reasonably believed to be associated with a foreign power or foreign identity."

6. You use AIM with a person connected to a foreign power. Or such a person has you in their contacts list.

"Information indicates that the electronic communications account/address/identifier is included in the "buddy list" or address book of an electronic communications account/address/identifier reasonably believed by the U.S. Intelligence Community to be used by an individual associated with a foreign power or foreign territory."

7. Your public online activity matches that of a person the NSA thinks is somehow connected to a foreign power.

"Public Internet postings match the electronic communications account/address/identifier to an individual reasonably believed by the U.S. Intelligence Community to be associated with a foreign power or foreign territory."

8. The NSA has, after processing metadata like those Verizon phone records it collects every day, decided that any some part of your online persona is used by a person connected to a foreign power.

"Information made available to NSA analysts as a result of processing metadata records acquired by any lawful means, such as electronic surveillance, phyiscal search, or the use of a pen register or trap and trace device, or other information, reveals that the electronic communications account/address/identifier is used by an individual associated with a foreign power or foreign territory."

9. You try to hide your tracks online by using a service like TOR, which allows your Internet protocol (IP address) to appear to come from elsewhere.

"Information indicates that Internet Protocol ranges and/or specific electronic identifiers or signatures (e.g., specific types of cryptology or steganography) are [...] extensively used by individuals associated with a foreign power or foreign territory."

If the NSA does ever find conclusive proof that you're American, well, it's supposed to delete your file. As assistant Attorney General James Cole told the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday, in those cases, "if we inadvertently acquire any of it without meaning to, again, once that's discovered, we have to get rid of it. We have to purge it."

And if you're not American, well, you're probably out of luck.

Illustration by Fernando Alfonso III

Facebook Security's Notes

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:10

At Facebook, we take people's privacy seriously, and we strive to protect people's information to the very best of our ability. We implement many safeguards, hire the brightest engineers and train them to ensure we have only high-quality code behind the scenes of your Facebook experiences. We even have teams that focus exclusively on preventing and fixing privacy-related technical issues before they affect you.

Even with a strong team, no company can ensure 100% prevention of bugs, and in rare cases we don't discover a problem until it has already affected a person's account. This is one of the reasons we also have a White Hat program to collaborate with external security researchers and help us ensure that we maintain the highest security standards for our users.We recently received a report to our White Hat program regarding a bug that may have allowed some of a person's contact information (email or phone number) to be accessed by people who either had some contact information about that person or some connection to them.

Describing what caused the bug can get pretty technical, but we want to explain how it happened. When people upload their contact lists or address books to Facebook, we try to match that data with the contact information of other people on Facebook in order to generate friend recommendations. For example, we don't want to recommend that people invite contacts to join Facebook if those contacts are already on Facebook; instead, we want to recommend that they invite those contacts to be their friends on Facebook.

Because of the bug, some of the information used to make friend recommendations and reduce the number of invitations we send was inadvertently stored in association with people's contact information as part of their account on Facebook. As a result, if a person went to download an archive of their Facebook account through our Download Your Information (DYI) tool, they may have been provided with additional email addresses or telephone numbers for their contacts or people with whom they have some connection. This contact information was provided by other people on Facebook and was not necessarily accurate, but was inadvertently included with the contacts of the person using the DYI tool.

After review and confirmation of the bug by our security team, we immediately disabled the DYI tool to fix the problem and were able to turn the tool back on the next day once we were satisfied that the problem had been fixed.

We've concluded that approximately 6 million Facebook users had email addresses or telephone numbers shared. There were other email addresses or telephone numbers included in the downloads, but they were not connected to any Facebook users or even names of individuals. For almost all of the email addresses or telephone numbers impacted, each individual email address or telephone number was only included in a download once or twice. This means, in almost all cases, an email address or telephone number was only exposed to one person. Additionally, no other types of personal or financial information were included and only people on Facebook '' not developers or advertisers '' have access to the DYI tool.

We currently have no evidence that this bug has been exploited maliciously and we have not received complaints from users or seen anomalous behavior on the tool or site to suggest wrongdoing. Although the practical impact of this bug is likely to be minimal since any email address or phone number that was shared was shared with people who already had some of that contact information anyway, or who had some connection to one another, it's still something we're upset and embarrassed by, and we'll work doubly hard to make sure nothing like this happens again. Your trust is the most important asset we have, and we are committed to improving our safety procedures and keeping your information safe and secure.

We have already notified our regulators in the US, Canada and Europe, and we are in the process of notifying affected users via email.

We appreciate the security researcher's report to our White Hat program, and have paid out a bug bounty to thank him for his efforts.

Bank$ters

Rolling Stone Mobile - Politics

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 03:08

Politics: The Last Mystery of the Financial Crisis

The Last Mystery of the Financial Crisis

By Matt TaibbiJune 19, 2013 | 9:00am EDT

Photo Credit: Victor Juhasz

What about the ratings agencies?

That's what "they" always say about the financial crisis and the teeming rat's nest of corruption it left behind. Everybody else got plenty of blame: the greed-fattened banks, the sleeping regulators, the unscrupulous mortgage hucksters like spray-tanned Countrywide ex-CEO Angelo Mozilo.

But what about the ratings agencies? Isn't it true that almost none of the fraud that's swallowed Wall Street in the past decade could have taken place without companies like Moody's and Standard & Poor's rubber-stamping it? Aren't they guilty, too?

Man, are they ever. And a lot more than even the least generous of us suspected.

Thanks to a mountain of evidence gathered for a pair of major lawsuits, documents that for the most part have never been seen by the general public, we now know that the nation's two top ratings companies, Moody's and S&P, have for many years been shameless tools for the banks, willing to give just about anything a high rating in exchange for cash.

In incriminating e-mail after incriminating e-mail, executives and analysts from these companies are caught admitting their entire business model is crooked.

"Lord help our fucking scam'‰.'‰.'‰.'‰this has to be the stupidest place I have worked at," writes one Standard & Poor's executive. "As you know, I had difficulties explaining 'HOW' we got to those numbers since there is no science behind it," confesses a high-ranking S&P analyst. "If we are just going to make it up in order to rate deals, then quants [quantitative analysts] are of precious little value," complains another senior S&P man. "Let's hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of card[s] falters," ruminates one more.

Ratings agencies are the glue that ostensibly holds the entire financial industry together. These gigantic companies '' also known as Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations, or NRSROs '' have teams of examiners who analyze companies, cities, towns, countries, mortgage borrowers, anybody or anything that takes on debt or creates an investment vehicle.

Their primary function is to help define what's safe to buy, and what isn't. A triple-A rating is to the financial world what the USDA seal of approval is to a meat-eater, or virginity is to a Catholic. It's supposed to be sacrosanct, inviolable: According to Moody's own reports, AAA investments "should survive the equivalent of the U.S. Great Depression."

It's not a stretch to say the whole financial industry revolves around the compass point of the absolutely safe AAA rating. But the financial crisis happened because AAA ratings stopped being something that had to be earned and turned into something that could be paid for.

That this happened is even more amazing because these companies naturally have powerful leverage over their clients, as they are part of a quasi-protected industry that enjoys massive de facto state subsidies. Largely that's because government agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission often force private companies to fulfill regulatory requirements by retaining or keeping in reserve certain fixed quantities of assets '' bonds, securities, whatever '' that have been rated highly by a "Nationally Recognized" ratings agency, like the "Big Three" of Moody's, S&P and Fitch. So while they're not quite part of the official regulatory infrastructure, they might as well be.

It's not like the iniquity of the ratings agencies had gone completely unnoticed before. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission published a case study in 2011 of Moody's in particular and discovered that between 2000 and 2007, the agency gave nearly 45,000 mortgage-backed securities AAA ratings. One year Moody's doled out AAA ratings to 30 mortgage-backed securities every day, 83 percent of which were ultimately downgraded. "This crisis could not have happened without the rating agencies," the commission concluded.

Thanks to these documents, we now know how that happened. And showing as they do the back-and-forth between the country's top ratings agencies and one of America's biggest investment banks (Morgan Stanley) in advance of two major subprime deals, they also lay out in detail the evolution of the industrywide fraud that led to implosion of the world economy '' how banks, hedge funds, mortgage lenders and ratings agencies, working at an extraordinary level of cooperation, teamed up to disguise and then sell near-worthless loans as AAA securities. It's the black box in the American financial airplane.

In April, Moody's and Standard & Poor's settled the lawsuits for a reported $225 million. Brought by a diverse group of institutional plaintiffs with King County, Washington, and the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank taking the lead, the suits accused the ratings agencies of conspiring in the mid-to-late 2000s with Morgan Stanley to fraudulently induce heavy investment into a pair of doomed-to-implode subprime-laden deals, called Cheyne and Rhinebridge.

Stock prices for both companies soared at the settlement, with markets believing the firms would be spared the hell of reams of embarrassing evidence thrust into public view at trial. But in a quirk, an earlier judge's ruling had already made most of the documents in the case public. Although a few news outlets, including The New York Times, took note at the time, the vast majority of the material was never reported, and some was never seen by reporters at all. The cases revolved around a highly exotic and complex financial instrument called a SIV, or structured investment vehicle.

The SIV is a not-so-distant cousin of the special purpose entity, or SPE, which was the main weapon of destruction in the Enron scandal. The corporate scam du jour in those days was mass accounting fraud, in which a company would create an ostensibly independent corporate structure that would actually be controlled by its own executives, who would then move their company's liabilities off their own books and onto the remote-controlled SPE, hiding the firm's losses.

The SIV is a similar concept. They first started showing up in the late Eighties after banks discovered a loophole in international banking standards that allowed them to create SPE-like repositories full of assets like mortgage-backed securities and keep them off their own books.

These behemoths operated on the same basic concept as an ordinary bank, which borrows short-term cash from depositors and then lends money long-term in the form of things like mortgages, business loans, etc. The SIV did the same thing, borrowing short-term from investors and then investing long-term on things like student loans, car loans, subprime mortgages. Like banks, a SIV made money on the spread between its short-term debt and long-term investments. If a SIV borrowed on the commercial paper market at 3 percent but earned 6.5 percent on subprime mortgages, that was an easy 3.5 percent profit.

The big difference is a bank has regulatory capital requirements. A SIV doesn't, and being technically independent, its potential liabilities don't show up on the books of the megabank that created it. So the SIV structure allowed investment banks to create and take advantage of, without risk, billions of dollars of things like subprime loans, which became the centerpiece of the new trendy corporate scam '' creating and then selling masses of risky mortgage-backed securities as AAA investments to institutional suckers.

Ratings agencies helped this game along in two ways. First, banks needed them to sign off on the bogus math of the subprime era '' the math that allowed banks to turn pools of home loans belonging to people so broke they couldn't even afford down payments into securities with higher credit ratings than corporations with billions of dollars in assets. But banks also needed the ratings agencies to sign off on the safety and reliability of these off-balance-sheet SIV structures.

The first of the two SIVs in question was dreamed up by a London-based hedge fund called Cheyne Capital Management (pronounced like Dick "Cheney"), run by an ex-Morgan Stanley banker duo who hired their old firm to build and stock this vast floating Death Star of subprime loans.

Morgan Stanley had multiple motives for putting together the Cheyne deal. For one thing, it earned what the bank's lead structurer affectionately called "big fat upfront fees," which bank executives estimated would eventually add up to $25 million or $30 million. It was a lucrative business, and the top dogs wanted the deal badly. "I am very focused on'‰.'‰.'‰.'‰getting this deal done to get NY to stop freaking out" and "to make our money," said Robert Rooney, the senior Morgan Stanley executive on the deal. A spokesman for Morgan Stanley, however, told Rolling Stone, "Our sole economic interest was in the ongoing success of the SIV."

But that wasn't Morgan Stanley's only motive. Not only could the bank make the "big fat upfront fees" for structuring the deal, they could also turn around and sell scads of their own mortgage-backed securities to the SIV, which in turn would be marketed to investors like Abu Dhabi and King County. In Cheyne, 25 percent of the original assets in the deal came from Morgan Stanley '' over time, $2 billion of the SIV's $9 billion to $10 billion portfolio of assets came from the bank as well.

Internal Morgan Stanley memorandums show that the bank knowingly stuffed mortgages in the SIV whose borrowers were, to say the least, highly suspect. "The real issue is that the loan requests do not make sense," complained a Morgan Stanley employee back in 2005. He noted loans had been made to a "tarot reading house" operator who claimed to make $12,000 a month, and a "knock off gold club distributor" who claimed to make $16,000 a month. "Compound these issues," he groaned, "with the fact that we are seeing what I would call a lot of this type of profile."

No matter '' into the soup it went! Morgan sold mountains of this crap into Cheyne's SIV, where it was destined to be sold off to other suckers down the line. The only thing that could possibly get in the way of the scam was some pesky ratings agency.

Fortunately for the bank and the hedge fund, these subprime SIVs were a relatively new kind of investment product, so the ratings agencies had little to go on in the area of historical data to measure these products. One might think this would make the ratings agencies more conservative. In fact, caution in the face of the unknown was supposed to be a core value for these companies. As Moody's put it, "Triple-A structures should not be highly dependent on untestable assumptions."

But when it came to the Cheyne SIV, Moody's punted on caution. In an e-mail sent to executives from both Morgan Stanley and Cheyne in May 2005, David Rosa, a Moody's senior analyst, admitted that when it came to this SIV, he had nothing to go on.

"Please note that in relation to assumed spread [volatility] for the Aa and A there is no actual data backing up the current model assumptions," he wrote. In lieu of such data, he went on, "We will for now accept the proposal to use the same levels as [residential mortgage-backed securities] given that this assumption is supported by the analysis of the Aaa data'‰.'‰.'‰.'‰and Cheyne's comments on their views of this asset class."

Translation: We have no historical data, so we'll just accept your reasoning for the time being, even though you have every incentive in the world to lie about the quality of your product.

At one point, a Morgan Stanley analyst even claimed that the bank had written, in Moody's name, an entire 12-page "New Issue Report" for the Cheyne SIV '' a kind of ratings summary in which Morgan Stanley appears to have given itself AAA ratings for large chunks of the deal. "I attach the Moody's NIR (that we ended up writing)," yawns Morgan Stanley fixed-income employee Rany Moubarak in a March 2006 e-mail. The attached document came proudly affixed with the "Moody's Investors Service" logo. (Both Moody's and Morgan Stanley deny that anyone other than Moody's wrote that report.)

Morgan Stanley ended up getting both Moody's and S&P to rate the deal, and that was not only common, it was basically industry practice. There were many reasons for this, but a big one was a concept called "notching," in which the agencies gave ratings penalties to any instrument that had not been rated by their own company. If a SIV contained a basket of mortgage-backed securities rated AA by Standard & Poor's, Moody's might "notch" those underlying securities down to A, or even lower. This incentivized the banks to hire as many ratings agencies as possible to rate every investment vehicle they created.

Again, despite the fact that the ratings agencies enjoyed broad quasi-official subsidies, and despite the powerful market leverage that techniques like "notching" gave them, they still routinely chose to roll over for banks. And the biggest companies were equally guilty. In the case of the Cheyne deal, Standard & Poor's was every bit as craven as Moody's.

In September 2004, an S&P analyst named Lapo Guadagnuolo sent an e-mail to Stephen McCabe, the agency's lead "quant" on the Cheyne deal, who apparently was on vacation. The e-mail chain was mostly a bunch of office gossip, where the two men e-whispered about an employee who was about to quit. But sandwiched in the office banter was an offhand line about the Cheyne deal and how full of shit it was. "Hi Steve!" Guadagnuolo wrote cheerily, adding, "How is Australia and how was Thailand????Back to [Cheyne]'‰.'‰.'‰.'‰As you know, I had difficulties explaining 'HOW' we got to those numbers since there is no science behind it'‰.'‰.'‰.

"Thanks and regards'‰.'‰.'‰.'‰have you heard that [redacted] has resigned .'‰.'‰. and somebody else will follow suit today!!"

McCabe, blowing off the "no science behind it" comment, answered eagerly, "Who, Who, Who????" The quadruple question mark must be an S&P-ism.

A month later, McCabe seemed more concerned about the lack of science in the Cheyne deal. He complained in an e-mail to his boss, Kai Gilkes, who was the agency's senior quantitative analyst in Europe.

"From looking at the numbers it is quite obvious that we have just stuck our preverbal [sic] finger in the air!!" he fumed.

Gilkes was experiencing his own crisis of conscience by mid-2005, complaining in an oddly wistful e-mail to another S&P employee that the good old days of just giving things the ratings they deserved were disappearing. "Remember the dream of being able to defend the model with sound empirical research?" he wrote on June 17th, 2005. "If we are just going to make it up in order to rate deals, then quants are of precious little value."

Frank Parisi, Standard & Poor's chief credit officer for structured finance, was even more downtrodden, saying that the model that his company used to rate residential mortgage-backed securities in 2005 and 2006 was only marginally more accurate than "if you just simply flipped a coin."

Given all of this, why would top analysts from both Moody's and Standard & Poor's rate such a massive deal like Cheyne without any science to back it up? The answer was simple: money. In the old days, ratings agencies lived on subscriptions sold to investors, meaning they were compensated '' indirectly, incidentally '' by the people buying the financial products.

But over time, that model morphed into the current "issuer pays" model, in which a company like Moody's or Standard & Poor's is paid directly by the "issuer" '' i.e., the company that is actually making the financial product.

For Cheyne, for instance, the agencies were paid in the area of $1 million to $1.5 million to rate the deal by Morgan Stanley, the very company with an interest in getting a high rating. It's the ultimate in negative incentives, and was and continues to be a major impediment to honest analysis on Wall Street. Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, one of the few lawmakers to focus on reforming the ratings agencies after the crash, put it this way: "It's like one of the parties in court paying the judge's salary."

Thanks to this model, ratings-agency business soared during the bubble era. A Senate report found that fees for the "Big Three" doubled between 2002 and 2007, from $3 billion to $6 billion. Fees for rating mortgage-backed securities at both Moody's and S&P nearly quadrupled.

So there were powerful incentives to whitewash deals like Cheyne. The eventual president of Moody's, Brian Clarkson, actually copped to this awful truth in writing, in a 2004 internal e-mail. "To put it bluntly," he wrote, "the issuer could take its business elsewhere unless the rating agency provides a higher rating."

Both Moody's and Standard & Poor's employees described complex/exotic new financial products like CDOs and SIVs as "cash cows," and behind closed doors, executives talked openly about the financial pressure to give scientifically unfounded analysis to products the banks wanted to sell.

The minutes from a 2007 conference of Standard & Poor's executives show that the raters knew they were in way over their heads. Admitting that it was virtually impossible to accurately rate, say, a synthetic derivative loan deal with underlying assets in China and Russia, one executive candidly admits, "We do not have the capacity nor the skills in house to rate something like this." Another counters, "Market pressures have significantly risen due to 'hot money.'" The first retorts that bankers are pushing boundaries, asking the raters to help them play the highly cynical hot-potato game, in which bad loans are originated en masse and then instantly passed off to suckers who will take on all the risk. "Bankers say why not originate bad loans, there is no penalty," the executive muses.

Hilariously '' or tragically, depending on your point of view '' an S&P executive at the conference even tossed off a quick visual sketch of their company's moral quandary. The picture is atrociously drawn (it looks like a junior high school student's rendering of a ganglion cell) and comes across like the Wall Street version of Hamlet, showing the industry traveling down a road and reaching a "Choice Point" crossroads, where the two options are "To Rate" and "Not Rate."

The former '' basically taking the money and just rating whatever crap the banks toss their way '' is crudely depicted as a wide, "well marked super highway." Meanwhile the honorable thing, not rating shitty investments, is shown to be a skinny little roadlet, marked "Dark and narrow path less traveled."

Obviously, the ratings agencies like S&P ultimately decided to take the road more traveled, choosing profits over scruples. Not that there wasn't some token resistance at first. For instance, some at S&P hesitated to allow the use of a questionable technique called "grandfathering," in which old and outdated rating models were used to rate newly issued investments.

In one damning e-mail chain in November 2005, a Morgan Stanley banker complains to an S&P executive named Elwyn Wong that S&P was preventing him from putting S&P ratings on Morgan Stanley deals that used this grandfathering technique. "My business is on 'pause' right now," the banker complains.

Wong took the news that S&P was holding up deals over the grandfathering issue badly. "Lord help our fucking scam," he said. "This has to be the stupidest place I have worked at." Wong, incidentally, was later hired by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller Currency, our top federal banking regulator.

The purists, however, couldn't hold out for long. In the Cheyne case, when one of the "quants" tried to hold the line, Morgan Stanley went over their heads to someone on the business side at the company to get the rating it wanted.

In July 2004, for instance, analyst Lapo Guadagnuolo sent an e-mail to Morgan Stanley's point man on the Cheyne deal, Gregg Drennan, and told him that the best he could do for the "mezzanine capital notes" or "MCN" piece of the SIV '' a piece that Drennan wanted at least an A rating for '' was BBB-plus. Drennan responded in an e-mail that CC'd Guadagnuolo's boss, Perry Inglis, telling him that Morgan Stanley "believe[s] the position the committee is taking is very inappropriate."

Ultimately, the analyst committee agreed to give the dubious Mezzanine Notes an A rating, marking the first time these middle-tier investments in a SIV ever received a public A rating. For Wall Street, this was occasion to par-tay. In the summer of 2005, one of the Cheyne hedge-funders sent out a celebratory e-mail to Morgan Stanley execs, bragging about getting the ratings companies to cave. "It is an amazing set of feats to move the rating agencies so far," the hedgie wrote. "We all do all this for one thing and I hope promotions are a given. Let's hope big bonuses are to follow."

Later on, S&P caved even further, agreeing to allow Morgan Stanley to lower the "capital buffer" in the deal protecting investors without suffering a ratings penalty. As late as February 1st, 2006, Guadagnuolo was defiantly telling Morgan Stanley that the one-percent buffer was a "pillar of our analysis." But by the next day, Morgan Stanley executive Moubarak had chopped Guadagnuolo's knees out. He cheerfully announced in a group e-mail that the bank had managed to remove this "pillar" and get the buffer knocked down to .75 percent.

Tina Sprinz, who worked for the Cheyne hedge fund, sent an e-mail that very day to Moubarak, thanking him for straightening out the pesky analysts. "Thanks for negotiating that," she says. The ratings process shouldn't be a "negotiation," yet this word appears throughout these documents.

In the Cheyne deal, just the plaintiffs in the lawsuit invested a total of $980 million in "rated notes," and those who invested in these "MCNs" were completely wiped out. Analysts from both agencies would express regret and/or trepidation about their roles in unleashing the monster deals and their failure to stop the business-side suits running the companies from selling them out. Gilkes, the S&P analyst who worried about shunning real science in favor of just making things up, later testified that the subprime assets in such SIVs were "not appropriate."

"They should not have been rated," he said.

If the significance of Cheyne is that it showed how the ratings agencies sold out in an effort to get business, the significance of the next deal, Rhinebridge, is that it showed how low they were willing to stoop to keep that business.

Rhinebridge was a subprime-packed SIV structured very much like Cheyne, only both the quality of the underlying crap in the SIV and the timing of the SIV's launch were significantly more horrible than even Cheyne's.

Not only did Morgan Stanley insist that the ratings agencies allow the bank to pack Rhinebridge full of a much higher quantity of subprime than in the Cheyne deal, they were also pushing this massive blob of toxic mortgages at a time when the subprime market was already approaching full collapse.

In fact, the Rhinebridge deal would launch with high ratings from both agencies on June 27th, 2007, less than two weeks before both Moody's and S&P would downgrade hundreds of subprime mortgage-backed securities. In other words, both Moody's and S&P were almost certainly in the process of downgrading the underlying assets in the Rhinebridge SIV even as they were preparing to launch Rhinebridge with AAA-rated notes.

"It was the briefest AAA rating in history," says the plaintiffs' lawyer Dan Drosman. "Rhinebridge went from AAA to junk in a matter of months."

There is an enormous documentary record in both agencies showing that analysts and executives knew a bust was coming long before they sent Rhinebridge out into the world with a AAA label. As early as 2005, S&P was talking in internal memorandums about a "bubble" in the real-estate markets, and in 2006 it knew that there had been "rampant appraisal and underwriting fraud for quite some time," causing "rising delinquencies" and "nightmare mortgages."

In June 2007, the same month Rhinebridge was launched, S&P's Board of Directors Report talked about a total collapse of the market. "The meltdown of the subprime-mortgage market will increase both foreclosures and the overhang of homes for sale."

It was no better at Moody's, where in June 2007, executives were internally discussing "increased amounts of lying on income" and "increased amounts of occupancy misstatements" in mortgage applications. Clarkson, who would become president two months later, was told the week before Rhinebridge launched that "most players in the market" believed subprime would "perform extremely poorly," and that the problems were "quite serious."

Yet the two ratings agencies not only kept those concerns private, they both took outlandish steps to declare just the opposite.

In a pair of matching public papers, both Moody's and S&P proclaimed that summer that while subprime might be going to hell, subprime-packed investments like SIVs might be just fine. The Moody's report on July 18th read "SIVs: An Oasis of Calm in the Sub-prime Maelstrom," while an S&P report on August 14th, 2007, was titled "Report Says SIV Ratings Are Weathering Current Market Disruptions."

The S&P report was so brazen that it even shocked a Morgan Stanley banker involved in the SIV deals. "I cannot believe these morons would reaffirm in this market," chortled the banker in an e-mail the day after the paper was released.

Rhinebridge, cheyne and a hell of a lot of other subprime investments ultimately blew to smithereens, taking with them vast amounts of cash '' 40 percent of the world's wealth was wiped out in the aftermath of the mortgage bubble, according to some estimates. 2008 was to the American economy what 9/11 was to national security. Yet while 9/11 prompted the U.S. government to tear up half the Constitution in the name of public safety, after 2008, authorities went in the other direction. If you can imagine a post-9/11 scenario where there were no metal detectors at airports and people could walk on carrying chain saws and meat cleavers, you get a rough idea of what was done to reform the ratings process.

Specifically, very little was done to change the way AAA ratings are created '' the "issuer pays" model still exists, and the "Big Three" retain roughly the same market share. An effort by Minnesota Sen. Al Franken to change the compensation model through a new approach under which agencies would be assigned randomly to rate new issues through a government agency passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, but in the House it was relegated to a study by the SEC '' which released its findings last year, calling for'‰.'‰.'‰. more study. "The conflict of interest still exists in the exact same way," says a frustrated Franken.

The companies by now are all the way back in black. In 2012, for instance, Moody's profits soared 22 percent, to $1.18 billion. McGraw-Hill, the parent company of Standard & Poor's, scored $437 million in profits last year, with the rating business accounting for 70 percent of the company's profits.

In February, the Obama Justice Department, in an action that seems belated, filed a $5 billion civil suit against Standard & Poor's, drawing upon some of the same data and documents that were part of the Cheyne and Rhinebridge suits. As part of that action, high-ranking officials at S&P were interviewed by government investigators and admitted that they had shaded their ratings methodologies to protect market share. In this deposition of Richard Gugliada, head of S&P's CDO operations, the government asks why the company was slow to implement updates to its model for evaluating CDOs:

Q: Is it fair to say that Standard & Poor's goal of preserving an increasing market share and profits from ratings fees influence the development of the updates to the CDO evaluator?

A: In part, correct.

Q: The main reason to avoid a reduction in the noninvestment grade ratings business was to preserve S&P's market share in that category, correct?

A: Correct.

Years after the crash, it's a little insulting to see industry analysts blithely copping under oath to having traded science for market share, especially since the companies continue to protest to the contrary in public. Contacted for this story, Moody's and S&P insisted many of the documents in this case were simply taken out of context, and that their analysis throughout has been rigorous, objective and independent.

It's a thin defense, but it's holding '' for now. McGraw-Hill stock plunged nearly 14 percent when news of the Justice Department suit leaked, and dropped nearly 19 percent for February, but has since regained much of its value '' its stock rose nearly 16 percent in March and April, as markets reacted favorably to, among other things, its recent settlement of the Cheyne and Rhinebridge suits. The markets clearly think the ratings agencies will survive.

What's amazing about this is that even without a mass of ugly documentary evidence proving their incompetence and corruption, these firms ought to be out of business. Even if they just accidentally sucked this badly, that should be enough to persuade the markets to look to a different model, different companies, different ratings methodologies.

But we know now that it was no accident. What happened to the ratings agencies during the financial crisis, and what is likely still happening within their walls, is a phenomenon as old as business itself. Given a choice between money and integrity, they took the money. Which wouldn't be quite so bad if they weren't in the integrity business.

This story is from the July 4 - July 18, 2013 issue of Rolling Stone

Related Links

Too-Big-to-Fail Takes Another Body Blow

Everything is Rigged, Vol. 9,713: This Time, It's Currencies

Post Comment

Fund manager gets 11 years for Facebook, Groupon shares scam

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: Reuters: Technology News

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 19:19

A smartphone user shows the Facebook application on his phone in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, in this photo illustration, May 2, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Dado Ruvic

By Bernard Vaughan

NEW YORK | Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:48pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former fund manager John Mattera was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty of defrauding investors of $13 million with a story that he put their money in Facebook Inc and Groupon Inc shares before the companies went public.

U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan said the sentence, at the high end of what prosecutors requested, was warranted because Mattera devastated his clients' savings, and also because of four prior convictions related to fraud and theft. Mattera had requested a sentence of less than four years.

"You hurt a lot of people in a very serious way," Sullivan said, after delivering the sentence. "You've left a lot of wreckage in your path."

Mattera, 51, former chairman of the advisory board for mutual fund Praetorian Global Fund Ltd, pleaded guilty in October to charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud in connection with the scheme.

He admitted transferring $11 million from investors into an escrow account instead of safeguarding it ahead of the highly anticipated initial public offerings.

He also admitted taking $2 million more from investors who thought he was investing in Facebook and Groupon while they were still private. Instead, prosecutors said Mattera spent nearly $4 million of it on luxury cars, jewelry, personal taxes and a lawsuit settlement.

Mattera had two Rolls Royces and a Ferrari when he was arrested, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene Ingoglia said.

"It's just blatant fraud," Ingoglia said.

As part of his plea, Mattera agreed to pay restitution to the defrauded investors and forfeit $11.8 million.

One investor, Marisa Light Cain, 51, lashed out at Mattera in court on Friday. She said she lost $100,000 in the scheme after going through a difficult divorce, and Mattera's sophisticated deception included a fake audit letter from KPMG and a full prospectus.

"I want to let Mr. Mattera know that I lost my life savings," Cain said. "I want you to know that I have a son out there who will not be educated in college as he should be" because of the fraud.

Cain said Mattera's 11-year sentence was of little solace. "I don't think it's long enough, personally," she said after the hearing.

"I'm very sorry to all the victims," Mattera told Sullivan before the judge sentenced him. "I'm very sorry to my family."

The sentence was substantially larger than several insider trading-related sentencings Sullivan has handed down in recent months. He sentenced two former hedge fund managers, Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson, for example, to 4-1/2 and 6-1/2 years in prison, respectively.

Sullivan said Mattera got the longer sentence because of his lengthy criminal background. Mattera failed to seize multiple opportunities to turn his life around, Sullivan said.

"These crimes are just so selfish," Sullivan said. "This is money that people took years and years to save, and it was squandered."

The case is USA v John Mattera, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 12-00127.

(Reporting by Bernard Vaughan; Editing by David Gregorio)

Link thisShare thisDigg thisEmailReprints

Our banks are not merely out of control. They're beyond control | Joris Luyendijk | Comment is free | The Guardian

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 18:10

'The banking system is highly dysfunctional, deeply entrenched, and enormously abusive, both to its own workers and the society it operates in.' Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty

Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures. But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three '' what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches, from tiny increases in leverage ratios to bonus clawbacks and "electrified ring fences".

Today's report by the parliamentary commission on banking standards (to which I gave evidence) is a perfect example of this tendency to fight the symptoms while keeping the dysfunctional system itself intact. The commission, set up after last year's Libor scandal, identifies all the structural problems and nails the fundamental flaw in finance today: "Too many bankers, especially at the most senior levels, have operated in an environment with insufficient personal responsibility." Indeed, as they like to say in the City, running a mega-bank these days is like "Catholicism without a hell", or "playing russian roulette with someone else's head".

In response, the commission proposes jailing reckless bankers. Restoring the link between risk, reward and responsibility is a crucial step towards a robust and stable financial sector. But the report's focus on individual responsibility is also dangerously incomplete because it implies that the sector is merely out of control. This plays into the narrative that things can be fixed by tweaking rules and realigning incentives; in other words, by bargaining.

In reality the financial sector is not out of control. It's beyond control. During the past two years I have interviewed almost 200 people working in finance in London: "front office" bankers with telephone-number bonuses as well as those in "risk and compliance" who are meant to stop them being reckless. I have also spoken to many internal and external accountants, lawyers and consultants.

The picture emerging from those interviews is of big banks not as coherent units run by top bankers who know what they are doing. Instead these banks seem, in the words of Manchester University anthropologist Karel Williams, "loose federations of money-making franchises". One risk analyst talked about her bank as "a nation engaged in perpetual civil war", while a trader said, "You have to understand, it's us against the bank."

I could give 50 similar quotes. Taken together, they leave but one conclusion: employees at the big banks themselves do not believe their top people know what's going on; the big banks have simply become too complex and too big to manage. If this is true, the solution is not so much to jail the top bankers when something goes wrong, it is to break up the banks into manageable parts. But the British establishment still seems incapable of accepting the notion that a bank that is too big to fail or manage is a also bank that is too big to exist.

The same seems to apply to the need to restore market forces in the financial sector: the second source of structural dysfunctionality. Imagine a restaurant had served up product as toxic as that which big banks, credit rating agencies and accountancy firms were churning out until 2008. You would expect that restaurant to have closed. You would also expect new restaurants to have opened up in the area. This is how a free market should work: competition drives out bad practices.

But where are the new credit-rating agencies, accountancy firms or big banks? Even worse, not only are there just four major accountancy firms, they are also financially dependent on the very banks they are supposed to audit critically. It's the same with the three credit-rating agencies dominating the market.

And it gets worse. Imagine that a restaurant in your neighbourhood made the kind of money paid to top employees in banking, credit-rating and accountancy firms. You'd expect people rushing to open more restaurants, and with that increased competition you'd expect wages to come down. Again, this is how competition works. There are thousands and thousands of young graduates aching to get into investment banking, so no shortage of prospective chefs. So where are the new players in high finance?

The reality is that global high finance is de facto a set of interlocking cartels that divide the market among themselves and use their advantages to keep out competitors. Cartels can extract huge premiums over what would be normal profits in a functioning market, and part of those profits go to keeping the cartel intact: huge PR efforts, a permanent recruiting circus drawing in top academic talent; clever sponsoring of, say, an ambitious politician's cycling scheme; vast lobbying efforts behind the scenes; and highly lucrative second careers for ex-politicians. There is also plenty of money to offer talented regulators three or four times their salary.

Capitalists have an expression for this, and it's "market failure". Here is the source of so many of the perversities in modern finance, and the solution is not only to denounce those who can't resist its temptations, it's to take away those temptations. That probably means smaller banks, smaller and independent accountancy firms and credit-rating agencies, simpler financial products, and much higher capital requirements.

Before studying bankers I spent many years researching Islam and Muslims. I set out with images in my mind of angry bearded men burning American flags, but as the years went by I became more and more optimistic: beyond the frightening rhetoric and sensationalist television footage, ordinary Muslim people go about their day like all other human beings. The problem of radical Islam is smaller and more containable than Islamophobes believe.

With bankers I have experienced an opposite trajectory. I started with the reassuring images in my mind of well-dressed bankers and their lobbyists; surely at some basic level these people knew what they were doing? But after two years I feel myself becoming deeply pessimistic and genuinely terrified. This system is highly dysfunctional, deeply entrenched, and enormously abusive, both to its own workers and the society it operates in. The problem really is exactly as bad as the "banker bashers" believe.

'It's a proto-fascist ideology. Top bankers as predators and us as prey' '' the latest interview in the blog

Shut Up Slave!

Clare Daly - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 16:50

Clare Daly (born April 1968) is an Irish politician.[1] She was elected as a Socialist PartyTeachta Dla (TD) for the Dublin North constituency at the 2011 general election.[2] She was previously a Socialist Party councillor for the Swords electoral area on Fingal County Council. She resigned from the Socialist Party on 31 August 2012.[3]

Early life[edit]Daly is from Newbridge, County Kildare and grew up in a staunchly apolitical home. Her father, Kevin, was a colonel in the Irish Army and Director of Signals. A long-standing atheist, her brother and an uncle are in the Catholic priesthood.[4] Daly studied accountancy at Dublin City University.[4] She was twice elected president of the Students' Union and was prominent in the students' movement campaign for abortion rights and information. On leaving college she took a job in the catering section of Aer Lingus on a low wage,[4] and became SIPTU's shop steward at Dublin Airport when the airline was engaged in extensive cost-cutting and outsourcing. Daly was elected to the Labour Party's Administrative Committee as a youth representative. She was expelled from the Labour Party in 1989 alongside Joe Higgins and other supporters of the Militant Tendency.

Local politics[edit]On 19 September 2003, Daly was jailed for a month, alongside 21 others from the Anti-Bin Tax Campaign for breaching a High Court order preventing protests leading to obstruction of the council's non-collection policy for those not paying bin charges.[5][6] She was also an organiser of the Anti-Water charges campaign in Swords in the mid-1990s.

Daly was elected as a Councillor on Fingal County Council for the Swords area in 1999. She was re-elected at 2004 local elections and 2009 local elections, topping the poll on each occasion.

Dil ‰ireann[edit]She first contested the 1997 general election, receiving 7.2% on that occasion and 8.2% at the by-election later in the year. At the 2002 general election she received 5,501 votes (12.5%), narrowly missing a seat. At the 2007 general election, she received 9% of the vote.

Daly was elected to Dil ‰ireann at the 2011 general election taking 15.2% of the first preference vote.[7][8] She committed to facilitating the nomination of Senator David Norris for a place on the ballot paper ahead of the Irish presidential election, 2011.[9]

She announced that she would not register to pay a new household charge brought in as part of the latest austerity budget, calling it "reprehensible", and telling Phil Hogan, the minister responsible, in the Dil: "You can't bring everyone to court".[10][11]

In February 2012, a Socialist Party spokesperson told the Irish Independent to mind its own business when asked if she had private health insurance.[12]

In February 2012 it was reported that she would introduce a bill to provide for limited access to abortion where there is ''real and substantial risk to the life'' of the pregnant woman, in line with the X Case. The bill was defeated before its second reading on 19 April 2012.[13]

In June 2012, Daly refused to call for the resignation of her friend and political ally, Mick Wallace in the wake of his VAT controversy.[14] It was reported that the ULA were to confront her over this stance.[15]

In July 2012, it was revealed she had used travel expenses for travelling to anti-household charge meetings.[16][17][18]

She resigned from the Socialist Party on 31 August 2012.[3] In a statement, the Socialist Party said "it believed Ms Daly had resigned because she placed more value on her political connection with Independent TD Mick Wallace than on the political positions and work of the Socialist Party."[19] This claim was dismissed by Daly as "absolute nonsense".[20] She requested a share of the '‚¬120,000 Socialist Party's Leaders Allowance to allow her to continue to fund her activities as an Independent TD.[21]

In April 2013, along with Joan Collins, she founded a new political party called United Left.[22]

References[edit]^"Meet your 76 new TDs". RT‰ News. 9 March 2011. ^"Ms. Clare Daly". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 26 March 2011. ^ ab"Clare Daly resigns from the Socialist Party". RT‰ News. 1 September 2012. ^ abc"How firebrand Clare left the Socialists reeling". Sunday Independent. 9 September 2012. ^"Jail sentences for Joe Higgins and Clare Daly". Breakingnews.ie. 19 September 2003. ^Managh, Ray (18 September 2003). "TD and councillor risk jail in bin tax protest". Irish Independent. ^"Clare Daly". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 28 March 2011. ^Minihan, Mary (28 February 2011). "Higgins pledges to build new party of left as five elected under ULA banner". The Irish Times. ^Nihill, C­an (19 September 2011). "Boost for Norris as left-wing TDs to support nomination". The Irish Times. ^"Higgins urges public to boycott 'unjust' '‚¬100 Household Charge". The Journal. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011. ^O'Halloran, Marie; O'Regan, Michael (14 December 2011). "Kenny defends household charge". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 December 2011. ^"Health critics refuse to reveal if they have private cover". Irish Independent. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012. ^"Abortion legislation to be tabled". Irish Times. 17 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012. ^Irish Independent, 16 June 2012, Weekend Review, Page 3^"Wallace no longer on speaking terms with his former pals in the technical group". The Herald. June 262012. Retrieved June 27, 2012. ^"Legal advice sought on TD expenses claims". RT‰ News. 4 July 2012. ^"Dil seeks legal advice on TD expenses claims". Irish Examiner. 4 July 2012. ^"Expenses not for TD's to travel to protests - Leinster House". Irish Independent. 4 July 2012. ^"Daly resigns from Socialist Party". The Irish Times. 1 September 2012. ^"Clare Daly denies exit from Socialist Party linked to Mick Wallace". RT‰ News. 2 September 2012. ^"Daly departure to hit allowances". The Irish Times. 3 September 2012. ^O'Connell, Hugh (25 April 2013). "Two TDs setting up new United Left political party". TheJournal.ie. Distilled Media. Retrieved 25 April 2013. External links[edit]

Waarschuwing op sigarettenpakjes kleiner | nu.nl/politiek | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op nu.nl

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 19:56

De waarschuwende teksten en foto's op sigarettenpakjes op de Europese markt worden kleiner.De 27 landen van de EU werden het vrijdag in Luxemburg eens dat 65 procent van het pakje gaat bestaan uit gezondheidswaarschuwingen.

De Europese Commissie wilde dat 75 procent van een pakje uit angstaanjagende foto's van zwarte longen en teksten als ''Rokers sterven jonger'' zou bestaan.

De EU komt met nieuwe regels voor de verpakkingen van tabak zodat ''jongeren niet verleid worden om te gaan roken''. Roken moet onaantrekkelijker worden en tabaksproducten moeten er dan ook uitzien en smaken als tabaksproducten.

SmaakjeDaarom wilde het dagelijks bestuur van de EU dat sigaretten met een smaakje, zoals mentholsigaretten, verboden worden. De lidstaten laten een Europees testpanel bepalen om welke smaken het moet gaan, maar zijn ook voor een verbod van smaakjessigaretten. Bovendien mogen er geen ''misleidende labels'' op de pakjes komen als ''organisch'' of ''natuurlijk''.

Ook rookloze tabaksproducten, zoals de e-sigaret, moeten gezondheidswaarschuwingen gaan voeren. Bovendien kwamen de EU-lidstaten overeen dat bij een bepaalde nicotinewaarde e-sigareten alleen nog maar op recept verkrijgbaar moeten zijn. Daarnaast kunnen landen zelf beslissen of ze een verbod op verkoop via het internet gaan opleggen.Ook mogen landen als ze willen er zelf voor kiezen strengere verpakkingseisen op te leggen.

Nu de lidstaten het eens zijn, kan het dossier naar het Europees Parlement.

Door: ANP

Tennessee Water Complaint= Terrorism

The Fix is In

NHL.com - The National Hockey League

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:53

LIVE UPDATESEN | FR | RU | SEView Full SitePrivacy Policy | Terms of Service | Mobile FeedbackNHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks and NHL Mobile name and logo, NHL GameCenter and Unlimited NHL are trademarks of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams.

(C) NHL 2013 All Rights Reserved

FIFA

Adam and John,

Please predict the winner of FIFA Confederations Cup.

Semifinalists are:

Brazil vs Uruguay

Spain vs Italy

Cheers,

Duane

Elite$

Nigella Lawson: the best way to end abuse is to shine a light on it | Barbara Ellen

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: Culture | guardian.co.uk

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 03:14

After Nigella Lawson had her throat seized and nose twisted by her husband, Charles Saatchi, outside a Mayfair restaurant, one of the things that struck me was when Saatchi said he accepted the police caution to avoid "this hanging over all of us".

Who is "us" '' himself and Lawson? At which point did this shabby little assault, so casually done it turned my stomach, become her shared responsibility? I must have missed the photograph where she throttled her husband. I fail to see any "us" about this upsetting spectacle '' it all looked distinctly one way to me. Which is a key point. At least we can look. It can't be dismissed as hearsay. There are actual photographs recording the event and amen to that.

Part of the media whirlwind has concentrated on condemnation of the paparazzo. What rot: if someone photographs something, does that make them responsible for it? Do we blame war photographers for the situation in Syria?

I'm not claiming that anything noble was going on, but inadvertently that snapper may have done Nigella a huge favour. I would go further and say there's an argument for many women needing a pap around to record such incidents.

Away from this particular case, it would be good generally to see abuse flushed out into the open. Far too often, it's kept hidden away in the shadows. Abusers don't tend to wear badges, saying: "Hi, I'm an abuser!" Crucially, victims hide too. A major facilitating factor of abuse is the embarrassment and denial of the abused.

Victims suffer in silence and become expert at coping, making excuses, covering up, pacifying their abuser '' to the point of "enabling" their own abuse.

At the same time, it's about keeping the big bad secret. If "it" gets out, never mind the upheaval many ordinary sufferers face (children, finances, loss of home), there is the terror of stigma. Stigma exerts an all-powerful influence, wherever you might be on the social scale. Stigma is no respecter of wealth and class.

Add the fact that victims are usually exhausted (a rarely aired facet of abuse is how knackering it is) and this explains how victims become groomed: ground down to the point where they don't want to admit what's going on, even to themselves.

Isolated too. It's as if they are stuck in a dense fog and only their abuser is in there with them, forming a sick alliance, a co-dependency of "us".

This is as true of a woman (it's usually women) being physically beaten and dabbing make-up on to her bruises, as it is of another woman "laughing off" yet another vicious public put-down from their spouse with the "what a character!" denial mechanism.

The abused are great at denial mechanisms '' everything from "He doesn't mean it" to "He's under pressure at work", to what I'd term the "Heathcliff" (a couple so passionate there are bound to be fireworks). Is this what Tracey Emin meant when she talked about people not understanding how "in love" Saatchi and Lawson are?

But what is love if it doesn't involve respect, boundaries or common courtesy? If Saatchi spent his career knowing not to grab advertising cronies by the throat, as let's assume he did, then perhaps he should have done the same for his wife.

The fact he didn't, and was photographed in the act, was, I hope, revelatory to the only person who matters. Who knows what Nigella will do? I'm sure she's mortified by the furore, to which I'm contributing. However, maybe sometimes, people need to be shocked out of their private denial zone, admit to themselves that what they're experiencing is abuse (experience that relief and release) '' more people than who'd care to admit it. The same people who'd benefit from receiving the kind of relationship wake-up call that can't be ignored, even if it is from an opportunistic pap.

Sam's little grey cells clearly aren't workingPity Sam Taylor-Wood being selected to direct the film version of EL James's Fifty Shades of Grey. That's got to be akin to filming the readers' letters pages in Penthouse circa 1979.

What a nightmare translating all that "I'm too sexy for my shirt!" drivel for the big screen, with cinema-goers falling about laughing at the first sight of creepy "business magnate" Christian Grey approaching with the furry handcuffs and gag.

Taylor-Wood would be better off standing aside to let some director from the blockbuster action movie genre take over.

Anastasia could be played by any actress in possession of a bra and pants set (matching, mind!). Steven Seagal could play Grey and they could introduce a terrorist plot where, stripped to the waist, wearing a bandana, Seagal/Grey gets blasted into orbit, thus doing all womankind a huge erotic favour.

Anything would be better than staying faithful to the text, thus being stuck with the artistic equivalent of filming the spiritual journey of a pair of discounted Ann Summers' love balls. If Taylor-Wood does take this on, best of luck to her '' she's going to need it.

Barack's colour still matters for someThe FBI has foiled a Ku Klux Klan member's bizarre-sounding plot to assassinate Obama with a ray-gun blast of radioactive poison. To make matters even odder, the plotter, Glendon Crawford, approached a Jewish organisation to help fund the gun. I'm confused '' is there a branch of the KKK that isn't antisemitic? In the event, the Jewish group and the KKK both told the FBI and Crawford and his accomplice, Eric Feight, were arrested.

An unnerving story, but what initially took me by surprise was, well, my own surprise. Later, reading about the failed attempt at Jewish funding, it became clear that this particular insane plot may have been more anti-Muslim than anti-black. Still, my original reaction was to be taken aback. I'd forgotten about Obama's skin colour as well as the notion that it might be a factor in placing him in danger.

Of course race was all important when Obama was elected: it was wonderful to have a black president; distressing to think that his skin colour might make him more of a target. Since then, maybe one of Obama's achievements is that, while race would always be a major factor in any US presidency, he's also come to represent so much more.

Which is how it should be: any president, black or white, should ultimately be judged on their policies and integrity. Perhaps the greatest compliment you could pay the first US black president is for race to have become less of an issue within the space of his two terms '' at least to a white Briton. But then a story such as this comes along, illustrating that, while some of us no longer register the US president's skin colour, we have to be mindful that there are plenty out there who still do.

' Comments will be switched on later this morning

Rupert Murdoch-Wendi Deng divorce, day two: Enter Tony Blair? | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 23:19

Curiouser and curiouser. Day Two of the Rupert Murdorch-Wendi Deng divorce story turned juicier when ex-British prime minister and Deng pal Tony Blair got dragged into it.

Soon after news broke Thursday that billionaire media mogul Murdoch, 82, had filed for divorce from his third wife after 14 years of marriage, journalists in the U.S. and the U.K. with close contacts to Murdoch and his media empire, News Corp., began twittering about a scandalous possible reason for split.

Said scandal turned out to be the claim that Deng, 44, had an affair with Blair, 60, who happens to be godfather of the couple's two young daughters, Grace, 11, and Chloe, 9.

Blair, the former New Labor PM who was embraced politically by the conservative Tory/Republican Murdoch when he was in power, denied the claim through a spokesman today. But the way the denial was worded led to more speculation.

And it's only Day Two! These opening stages suggest this divorce will not be handled in the customary manner of divorces among the high-and-mighty '-- discreet, amicable and behind closed doors '-- predicts Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff today.

"This is not amicable, it's totally public, it's a throw-down-the-gauntlet, we-are-going-to-war kind of thing," says Wolff, a columnist for USA TODAY, The Guardian and Vanity Fair.

In other words, it's signature Murdoch, he says. "If he feels that someone is going to war with him, he's going to strike first."

Meanwhile, News Corp, which is preparing to split into two companies at the end of the month, announced that a key executive, CFO David DeVoe, would retire after 25 years with the company. Wolff described this news as "nearly as seismic" as the divorce.

"What is happening over there?" Wolff tweeted today. "Beginning to sound like the climax of a Godfather movie, everybody killed, at News Corp."

Also meanwhile, a posse of matrimonial lawyers rushed into TV studios to chatter all day about the pending divorce: What impact from the pre-nuptial agreement? (Yes, there is one.) Is divorcing in New York better for Murdoch than in his native Australia or in the U.K.? (Yup.) Was Murdoch's divorce from his second wife the most costly in human history? (Probably not.) Was it more than $1 billion or "only" $100 million? (People are still arguing over that.)

Yes, the media on three continents just love a juicy divorce among billionaires. Even the News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal is covering it. But not Murdoch's rowdy New York Post , which posted just a small story early today with none of its characteristic schadenfreude at the marital woes of celebrities.

If the Murdoch divorce turns protracted and nasty, it will be more difficult to cover, Wolff predicted, because so many key media outlets that news consumers rely on are owned by Murdoch.

Still, imagine the dismay of a former British premier having to deny involvement in this mess. At first, the speculation was coy. BBC economics editor Robert Peston tweeted Thursday that he was told that "undisclosed reasons for Murdoch divorcing Deng are jaw-dropping - & hate myself for wanting to know what they are."

Later, Wolff, the author of the Murdoch biography, The Man Who Owns The News: Inside The Secret World Of Rupert Murdoch, tweeted that "Rumor about the big B is everywhere except in print."

Today,The Hollywood Reporter asked and got an aswer from Blair's London office. "If you are asking if they are having an affair, the answer is no," said the anonymous spokesman. That set off more tweeting about why the spokesman used the present tense instead of the past tense.

It is true that Deng and Blair are close friends, Wolff says, but that doesn't necessarily mean an affair. In fact, Deng was so upfront about their friendship that she arranged for Wolff to interview Blair for his Murdoch book.

"She is completely upfront, on the surface, having a great time with whatever she's doing, enthralled by her life," Wolff says. "She's irresistible, and I don't mean that sexually. If she took an interest in you, you would respond."

So why is Murdoch divorcing her (especially after her valiant defense of him from a pie-thrower while he was testifying in Parliament in 2011)? Stay tuned.

EUROLand

Nederlander akkoord met aftappen om terrorisme te onderzoeken | nu.nl/tech | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op nu.nl

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 13:48

Bijna driekwart van de Nederlanders vind het geen probleem dat de overheid internet- en telefoonverkeer aftapt als dat is vanwege de strijd tegen het terrorisme. Ze zijn bereid privacy daarvoor op te geven.Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van NUtech.

73 procent van de ruim 2000 ondervraagden geeft aan dat de Nederlandse overheid burgers moet kunnen aftappen als dat mogelijk terrorisme voorkomt. 18 procent is er tegen.

Zeven op de tien respondenten denken bovendien dat de overheid sowieso al op grote schaal communicatie via internet en telefoon 'afluistert'. 20 procent maakt zich daar ernstige zorgen over terwijl 35 procent zich slechts 'een beetje zorgen' maakt. De grootste groep (44 procent) maakt zich geen zorgen.

Het onderzoek van NUtech is uitgevoerd vanwege de recente onthullingen rond PRISM, het aftapprogramma van de Amerikaanse overheid. De VS tappen op grote schaal internet- en telefoonverkeer af. Ook in Nederland zou dit gebeuren, hoewel minister Plasterk (Binnenlandse Zaken) dat onlangs nog tegensprak.

PrivacyschendingIn de VS is ook onderzoek gedaan naar de mening van Amerikanen over het aftappen van hun communicatie. Een krappe meerderheid van 56 procent is daar voor aftappen om terrorisme te voorkomen. In Nederland is dat dus veel meer.

62 procent van de Amerikanen stelde in het onderzoek dat onderzoek naar terrorisme belangrijker is dan privacyschending. Precies hetzelfde percentage geeft in het Nederlandse onderzoek, uitgevoerd door Peil.nl van Maurice de Hond, aan dat privacy geschonden mag worden om terrorisme te voorkomen.

Ongeveer een op de drie Nederlanders vindt dat privacy niet geschonden mag worden, zelfs als daardoor het opsporen van terroristen moeilijker is. Over het algemeen blijken mensen die stemmen op VVD, CDA en PVV aftappen meer te steunen. Vrouwen geven gemiddeld ook eerder hun privacy op dan mannen.

Alle uitkomsten van het onderzoek zijn op NUtech te vinden

5 dingen die je moet weten over PRISM

Door: NU.nl/Colin van Hoek

"It's A Massacre" - Each Day 134 Retail Outlets Close In Italy.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: WT news feed

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 13:32

If anyone is still not convinced that surging stock bourses in Europe are indicative of anything more than central bank liquidity, carry trade allocation and localized asset bubbles, we present a snapshot of what is actually happening on the ground via Italy's Ansa: "It's a massacre," said Confesercenti President Marco Venturi. "Each day 134 shops, restaurants and bars close in recession-hit Italy, retail association Confesercenti said on Wednesday. Confesercenti, which represents small and medium-sized businesses in the retail and tourism sectors, said 224,000 enterprises had closed their shutters since the start of the global economic crisis in 2008.

"Every day five green grocers, four butchers, 42 clothes shops, 43 restaurants and 40 bars and catering business close down".

But who needs commerce when all those newly available day traders can just boot up their E-trade platform and trade their way, along with the trading mascot baby, to untold riches?

Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 4.8(16 votes)

Noodles!

Noodles & Co.: An IPO With Growth Potential - Seeking Alpha

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:30

Noodles & Company (NDLS) is scheduled for a $75 million IPO on Friday, June 28, 2013. Noodles has a market cap of $312.2 million. The stock is set to be priced in the $13.00-$15.00 range.

The company, which opened its first location in 1995, offers food from around the world. This includes Asian, Mediterranean, and American dishes.

Companies within the same sector that are already public include Chipotle (CMG) and Panera Bread (PNRA).

Information and insights that follow were derived from the following filing that the company made with the SEC:

Amended S1

Noodles says it is in the fast casual segment of the restaurant industry. It has higher prices than traditional fast food places like McDonald's (MCD), which offers sandwiches for as low as $1.00. Noodles is able to compete with these traditional fast food places and other fast casual restaurants due to the variety of dishes and the service it offers. Noodles delivers food to your table, which one would expect of a more expensive full-service restaurant. No tip is expected of the customer.

In recent years, the fast casual segment has grown faster than the overall industry, though there is no guarantee that this trend will continue. Noodles' profit margin of 20.3% is very competitive for the restaurant industry.

Noodles says that a person spends approximately $8.00 at its restaurant. Fast Casual puts the cost of the typical meal at fast casual restaurants in the $8.00-$15.00 range.

While the company does franchise, the majority of its restaurants are company-owned. At the end of fiscal year 2012, only 51 of 327 total restaurants were franchised. Franchises only accounted for 1% of revenue in the last three fiscal years. Noodles plans to open 38-42 company-owned restaurants and 6-8 franchises in 2013.

The customer base is loyal, with approximately 40% of customers visiting at least once a month. Noodles was named Top 10 "Most Loved" food and beverage brands in social media by DigitalCoco and Top Social Media Brands and Top Social Consumer Sentiment by Restaurant Social Media Index. Both were based on comments made by customers on social media.

Earnings growth is positive. Over the past four years, EPS has grown from $0.04 to $0.22 for an annualized growth rate of 112.5%. Growth has slowed in recent years as you can see below.

Fiscal Year2009201020112012EPS (in USD)0.040.100.160.22% Growth in EPS over prior yearN/A1506037.5Noodles intends to grow to 2,500 restaurants over the next 15-20 years based on current growth rates.

It is concerning that a large portion of the proceeds from this IPO is going towards paying off debts instead of fueling company growth. Noodles plans to use $66.0 million of the $77.5 million expected net proceeds to pay down debt. This is unnecessary considering the maturity date is August 1, 2017. The remaining proceeds will be used for working capital and other corporate expenses.

Noodles has no intention to pay dividends. Instead, earnings will be used to finance development and expansion.

An important thing to take into consideration when evaluating restaurants is consumer sentiment. Restaurants must keep customers happy to ensure repeat customers and free advertising through word of mouth.

Noodles unfortunately has issues providing a consistent experience across its restaurants as shown by the many mixed reviews that can be found online. Certain Noodles locations have mostly negative reviews, while others have mostly positive reviews, so this is not a fundamental issue with Noodles. How Noodles handles this consistency issue will decide its future.

Conclusion

The huge growth opportunity for Noodles & Company can't be ignored. It occupies a unique position within the restaurant industry. Noodles' customers are loyal and it has a solid plan for expansion. However, I am concerned about Noodles' ability to provide a consistent experience across its restaurants.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.(More...)

Additional disclosure: I am long BWLD.

NWO

Notice -- Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to North Korea

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 02:40

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

June 21, 2013

NOTICE- - - - - - -CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCYWITH RESPECT TO NORTH KOREA

On June 26, 2008, by Executive Order 13466, the President declared a national emergency pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula. The President also found that it was necessary to maintain certain restrictions with respect to North Korea that would otherwise have been lifted pursuant to Proclamation 8271 of June 26, 2008, which terminated the exercise of authorities under the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 1-44) with respect to North Korea.

On August 30, 2010, I signed Executive Order 13551, which expanded the scope of the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466 to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States posed by the continued actions and policies of the Government of North Korea, manifested by its unprovoked attack that resulted in the sinking of the Republic of Korea Navy ship Cheonan and the deaths of 46 sailors in March 2010; its announced test of a nuclear device and its missile launches in 2009; its actions in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1718 and 1874, including the procurement of luxury goods; and its illicit and deceptive activities in international markets through which it obtains financial and other support, including money laundering, the counterfeiting of goods and currency, bulk cash smuggling, and narcotics trafficking, which destabilize the Korean Peninsula and imperil U.S. Armed Forces, allies, and trading partners in the region.

On April 18, 2011, I signed Executive Order 13570 to take additional steps to address the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466 and expanded in Executive Order 13551 that will ensure the implementation of the import restrictions contained in UNSCRs 1718 and 1874 and complement the import restrictions provided for in the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.).

Because the existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466, expandedin scope in Executive Order 13551, and addressed further in Executive Order 13570, and the measures taken to deal with that national emergency, must continue in effect beyond June 26, 2013. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

BARACK OBAMA

Vaccine$

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans are on prescription drugs, Mayo Clinic study finds

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 14:40

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans are on prescription drugs, Mayo Clinic study findsPublic release date: 19-Jun-2013[

| E-mail

| Share

]

Contact: Nick Hansonnewsbureau@mayo.edu507-284-5005Mayo Clinic

Germ fighters, antidepressants, opioids top list; women, elderly likelier to have prescriptionsROCHESTER, Minn. -- Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic researchers say. Antibiotics, antidepressants and painkilling opioids are most commonly prescribed, their study found. Twenty percent of patients are on five or more prescription medications, according to the findings, published online in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

MULTIMEDIA ALERT: For audio and video of Dr. Jennifer St. Sauver talking about the study, visit the Mayo Clinic News Network. (http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/)

Researchers find the data valuable because it gives insight into prescribing practices. The statistics from the Rochester Epidemiology Project in Olmsted County, Minn. are comparable to those elsewhere in the United States, says study author Jennifer St. Sauver, Ph.D., a member of the Mayo Clinic Population Health Program in the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.

"Often when people talk about health conditions they're talking about chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes," Dr. St. Sauver says. "However, the second most common prescription was for antidepressants -- that suggests mental health is a huge issue and is something we should focus on. And the third most common drugs were opioids, which is a bit concerning considering their addicting nature."

Seventeen percent of those studied were prescribed antibiotics, 13 percent were taking antidepressants and 13 percent were on opioids. Drugs to control high blood pressure came in fourth (11 percent) and vaccines were fifth (11 percent). Drugs were prescribed to both men and women across all age groups, except high blood pressure drugs, which were seldom used before age 30.

Overall, women and older adults receive more prescriptions. Vaccines, antibiotics and anti-asthma drugs are most commonly prescribed in people younger than 19. Antidepressants and opioids are most common among young and middle-aged adults. Cardiovascular drugs are most commonly prescribed in older adults. Women receive more prescriptions than men across several drug groups, especially antidepressants: Nearly 1 in 4 women ages 50-64 are on an antidepressant.

For several drug groups, use increases with advancing age.

"As you get older you tend to get more prescriptions, and women tend to get more prescriptions than men," Dr. St. Sauver says.

Prescription drug use has increased steadily in the U.S. for the past decade. The percentage of people who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44 percent in 1999-2000 to 48 percent in 2007-08. Spending on prescription drugs reached $250 billion in 2009 the year studied, and accounted for 12 percent of total personal health care expenditures. Drug-related spending is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, the researchers say.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.com and http://www.mayoclinic.org/news.

Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.

[

| E-mail

| Share

]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans are on prescription drugs, Mayo Clinic study findsPublic release date: 19-Jun-2013[

| E-mail

| Share

]

Contact: Nick Hansonnewsbureau@mayo.edu507-284-5005Mayo Clinic

Germ fighters, antidepressants, opioids top list; women, elderly likelier to have prescriptionsROCHESTER, Minn. -- Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic researchers say. Antibiotics, antidepressants and painkilling opioids are most commonly prescribed, their study found. Twenty percent of patients are on five or more prescription medications, according to the findings, published online in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

MULTIMEDIA ALERT: For audio and video of Dr. Jennifer St. Sauver talking about the study, visit the Mayo Clinic News Network. (http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/)

Researchers find the data valuable because it gives insight into prescribing practices. The statistics from the Rochester Epidemiology Project in Olmsted County, Minn. are comparable to those elsewhere in the United States, says study author Jennifer St. Sauver, Ph.D., a member of the Mayo Clinic Population Health Program in the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.

"Often when people talk about health conditions they're talking about chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes," Dr. St. Sauver says. "However, the second most common prescription was for antidepressants -- that suggests mental health is a huge issue and is something we should focus on. And the third most common drugs were opioids, which is a bit concerning considering their addicting nature."

Seventeen percent of those studied were prescribed antibiotics, 13 percent were taking antidepressants and 13 percent were on opioids. Drugs to control high blood pressure came in fourth (11 percent) and vaccines were fifth (11 percent). Drugs were prescribed to both men and women across all age groups, except high blood pressure drugs, which were seldom used before age 30.

Overall, women and older adults receive more prescriptions. Vaccines, antibiotics and anti-asthma drugs are most commonly prescribed in people younger than 19. Antidepressants and opioids are most common among young and middle-aged adults. Cardiovascular drugs are most commonly prescribed in older adults. Women receive more prescriptions than men across several drug groups, especially antidepressants: Nearly 1 in 4 women ages 50-64 are on an antidepressant.

For several drug groups, use increases with advancing age.

"As you get older you tend to get more prescriptions, and women tend to get more prescriptions than men," Dr. St. Sauver says.

Prescription drug use has increased steadily in the U.S. for the past decade. The percentage of people who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44 percent in 1999-2000 to 48 percent in 2007-08. Spending on prescription drugs reached $250 billion in 2009 the year studied, and accounted for 12 percent of total personal health care expenditures. Drug-related spending is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, the researchers say.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.com and http://www.mayoclinic.org/news.

Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.

[

| E-mail

| Share

]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Heil Everybody!

White House HEIL

Hi, all!

This week, we got some big news about the immigration reform bill.

It's a little wonky, but it's so great that I couldn't wait to share it

with you.

The nonpartisan experts who estimate the financial impact of

legislation for Congress concluded that because undocumented immigrants

will start paying more in taxes for things like education and Social

Security, the immigration proposal in the Senate will make the economy

fairer for middle class families while cutting the U.S. deficit by

almost $1,000,000,000,000 over the next two decades.

User talk:CactusWriter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:52

Hi, you just speedily deleted this article per G12. The same user recreated the article. It was tagged as a copyright violation. They removed the tag and made some changes to the article at the same time. It's now been CSD-tagged again. You might also want to look at this verison of the user's talk page and this discussion on my talk page. As I write this, I can see you've deleted it again, but I still am going to leave this message to give you some additional background. I haven't decided whether the two editors should be blocked for socking. I'm also concerned that I'm WP:INVOLVED based on the content issues at the Colburn School article. Any thoughts on the socking or anything else? :-) --Bbb23 (talk) 00:59, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Bbb23. Sorry that I had logged out before seeing your question -- but it appears there are now plenty of eyes on this due to the SSI investigation. (IMO, the sock case is obvious -- and blocking the alternate account while watching the master is appropriate enough for now. And you correctly assessed that INVOLVED might be a problem for you personally.) I'll watchlist the editor and article -- now that they've been warned, further disruptions along those lines will result in a block. Cheers. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 17:20, 2 April 2013 (UTC)keystone international[edit]Hi! I have a question about a page of mine that you deleted? I was trying to set up a page for our school, Keystone International School, a private school in Istanbul, Turkey. But the message I received said it was copyright infringement? I used the materials from our website because this is the info that defines the school? Is there an issue with that? Could you explain how I can set up a page with infringing? I have permission from the school owner to publish info about the school. thanks Jennifer Ozkan Keystone International School Curriculum Coordinator ps you can respond to my school email as well: jennifer@keystoneschools.com.tr Jennifer317 (talk) 04:59, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Jennifer. Yes, it is a copyright violation to copy text onto Wikipedia unless the copyright holders have granted permission to do so. In your case, this means the Wikimedia Foundation's WP:OTRS office must receive an official e-mail from the Keystone International School's website granting permission to use the text under an CC-BY-SA 3.0 license. Or the Keystone's website must place a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA copyright notice on the page of their website.The message that was placed on your talk page which explains both these procedures. It asks you to click on this link: Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials#Granting us permission to copy material already online, where there are details on how to grant permission to Wikipedia. On the other hand, the best and fastest method for creating an article is simply use your own original words to write it. Good luck with your editing. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 17:37, 2 April 2013 (UTC)A Promise Was Made[edit]Hello CactusWriter, its been the first time and several years since I've addressed you on this issue of a promise in writing I made with you regarding the list of whistleblowers a few years ago. I'm requesting to allow putting at the bottom of my page that Genisco Case numbers to Texas Instruments Case numbers was the first "Instant Case" and rare event in the history of 31 U.S.C. 3729-3733 "Mr. Lincolns Law" and site the Publication number and the amendment afterwards within the false claims act itself and the date of the amendment under the false Claims Act of Oct. 27, 1986 introduced and championed - in by Senator Grassley and Senator Bermann. Thank you for your time, consideration and patience. Qui Tam Relator 03:54, 5 April 2013 (UTC) '-- Preceding unsigned comment added by Qui Tam Relator (talk ' contribs)

Hi, Qui Tam Relator. I'm afraid that I'm uncertain what you mean by "my page" -- you do not have a page, nor does anyone have ownership of a page on Wikipedia. If you are talking about the List of Whistleblowers, I think the entry concerning Roland Gibeault states the facts sufficiently and has enough sourcing already. Cheers. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 01:38, 11 April 2013 (UTC)One question[edit]why you deleted my article? '-- Preceding unsigned comment added by DigiTv1 (talk ' contribs) 18:22, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

DigiTv1, the article on Octavian David Constantinescu was first deleted for being blatant promotion, the second time it was deleted for failure to make any credible assertion about the individual's significance. (As you are aware, the messages explaining the reasons were placed on your talk page, but were deleted by you [1] and [2]). I see you have once again recreated the page and it is now Prodded because it is a biography of living person without any reliable independent sources. It appears that this individual is not yet notable enough for an encyclopedic article. I suggest that if you wish to create any more pages, you should use the WP:Article wizard -- this may help you avoid the problems you are encountering with failure to include proper references. Regards. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 01:26, 11 April 2013 (UTC)Matthew Bogusz Photo[edit]I personally own the Matthew Bogusz photo. Please remove your request for speedy deletion. I provided the photo to Northwestern University for them to use. I own the photo.

Thank you. '-- Preceding unsigned comment added by Parkridge87 (talk ' contribs) 16:22, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Parkridge78. Please note that any permission to use copyrighted materials on Wikipedia must be given through official means -- either written permission to the Wikimedia Foundation or a licensing notice placed on an official website. If you wish to donate a photo to Wikipedia which has already been published, you will need to follow the procedure at Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials#Granting us permission to copy material already online. Until official release is given, we cannot allow the image to exist on WP -- or it will be considered a copyright violation. Regards. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 16:45, 14 April 2013 (UTC)List of Mudras (Yoga)[edit]Hi CactusWriter, I noticed that you recently deleted my article 'List of Mudras (Yoga)'. The article I created, was in fact not a duplicate of 'List of mudras'. As I stated on the 'List of mudras' talk page, the current 'List of mudras' page addresses mudras specifically related to Indian Classical Dance. The page on 'Mudra' indicates that there are different types of mudras - the page I created was about Yoga mudras specifically. I proposed on the talk page of 'List of mudras', that the name of this page be changed, and a disambiguation page be created to address different lists of mudras. Please let me know if this still causes a duplicate issue.SourabhJ (talk) 23:35, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Hi, SourabhJ. I think requesting a discussion for your proposal on the talk page first is a good idea. You can also discuss this with the Wikiprojects that have tagged the article as being under their watch. (For example, Wikipedia:WikiProject Yoga). Also, there doesn't seem to be any impediment to you expanding the scope of the current List of mudras to include all types. Nothing in that title requires that it be only about the dance. Otherwise, it should be moved to List of dance mudras or List of mudras (dance) (and all relevant links altered). In the meantime, I have userfied you original work while you proposal is discussed -- it can be found at User talk:SourabhJ/List of Mudras (Yoga). Good luck with your editing. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 17:19, 15 April 2013 (UTC)Inadvertant page deletion? (likely stemming from my error)[edit]Hello CactusWriter,

Kevjonesin here. I'm writing regarding some page deletions that may have resulted from my misplacing/misusing a "{{db-user}}" code. I'm fairly new at doing anything beyond basic proofreading edits.

Following is a copy of relevant entries I found today on my watchlist...

(Deletion log); 17:50 . . CactusWriter (talk | contribs) deleted page Talk:Hoshen (Israeli LGBT Organization) 'Ž(G8: Talk page of a deleted page)(Deletion log); 17:50 . . CactusWriter (talk | contribs) deleted page Hoshen (Israeli LGBT Organization) 'Ž(U1: User request to delete pages in own userspace)

A little background, when I created the Hoshen (Israeli LGBT Organization) page I did so by first creating a user subpage/sandbox User:Kevjonesin/Hoshen (Israeli LGBT Organization) with the intent to move it to 'mainspace' as an article when I had finished editing.

I was tired by the time I got around to doing the move and fumbled (and, I thought, reverted) the first two attempts. At one point I failed to remove the "Kevjonesin/" prefix in the title when moving the article to mainspace resulting in an article titled "Kevjonesin/Hoshen (Israeli LGBT Organization" in mainspace. At another point I removed the prefix but forgot to change the drop down menu from "user" to "(article)" resulting in an article (and/or ghost-user?) "User:Hoshen (Israeli LGBT Organization".

I then 'got it together' and successfully combined "(artice)" from the drop down menu with "Hoshen (Israeli LGBT Organization" in the title field and completed the desired move from sandbox to mainspace article. Then, if I recall correctly, thinking that a superfluous page had been left at "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Hoshen (Israeli LGBT Organization" (as the URL seemed to lead to a copy of the page) I went into the edit field and added "{{db-user}}" at the top. I think perhaps it should have been "{{db-userreq}}". Regardless, I suspect that this resulted in a removal request being flagged on the mainspace article page I had just strived to produce. [ Ah, the ironic joys of a learning curve : } ]

At this point, as the watchlist entry for your page deletion of Hoshen (Israeli LGBT Organization indicated "(U1: User request to delete pages in own userspace)" I suspect that my misplaced/misused "{{db-user}}" may be what prompted you to remove the stub article (and associated 'talk' page) from 'mainspace'.

Is this inference correct? If not, please explain.

Is it possible to recover the article?

Please pardon my clumsy 'baby-steps',

--Kevjonesin (talk) 16:29, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

No problem, Kevjonesin. I've restored the deleted page with its history and removed the speedy template. Cheers. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 16:47, 15 April 2013 (UTC)Cool. Thank You. : }--Kevjonesin (talk) 17:00, 15 April 2013 (UTC)Artice Writing Problem[edit]Dear Admin When I Am Writing About A Famous Person In wikipedia. Wikipedia Is Not Accepting My Article its saying i am writing about my self Or My Biography but its not true i am not writing about my self i am writing about another famous person whose significance is important and genuine to be included in wikipedia my article page is Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Sourabh_Kumar please verify that page and respond to me writing about a genuine person whose significance is important is the policy of wikipedia and only that i am doing but then also wikipedia is removing my article its worst you should accept it only the thing is i am not able to do citing and reference please give me the tutorial of citing and reference hope you will verify that page --Sourabh242 (talk) 07:32, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Sourabh242, I find your statement to be disingenuous. The pages that you have written -- relating to a 16-year-old boy with your name -- have been deleted for having no credible notability, being promotional spam, having no reliable sources, etc. You have been notified repeatedly of these problems and provided numerous links to the relevant guidelines in Wikipedia. I see that you are now using the article as your own user page (which contradicts your claim above this is not you.) You are welcome to contribute to Wikipedia in other ways so long as you follow the core policies. However, if you continue to create articles about Sourabh_Kumar or add their name to current articles, it will be considered disruptive editing by a single-purpose account and you may be blocked from further editing. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 20:18, 27 April 2013 (UTC)Hi! I guess the AfD didn't reach a consensus as there is still a discussion going on here about the notability guidelines for diplomats! Should it be reinstated?? --Zayeem(talk) 08:46, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Zayeem. Because of a link in the AFD discussion to that RFC, I did read it prior to close. (There was no clear consensus to adopt the change at the time.) Each AFD does run on its own merits and, in this particular one, the preponderant weight of valid arguments was to delete. If the RFC does change notability criteria for diplomats, then I think reinstating the article under new guidelines and opening a new AFD would be fine. Regards. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 14:47, 10 May 2013 (UTC)May 2013[edit] Hello, I'm BracketBot. I have automatically detected that your edit to Orange County School of the Arts may have broken the syntax by modifying 1 "()"s. If you have, don't worry, just edit the page again to fix it. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on my operator's talk page.

List of unpaired brackets remaining on the page

net/resume.html|date=August 26, 2009}})Thanks, BracketBot (talk) 20:35, 14 May 2013 (UTC)Fixed'-- CactusWriter(talk) 16:13, 15 May 2013 (UTC)Sloper's Terrace is Real![edit]Just like the term "Greenwood Heights" in Brooklyn or "La Lengua" in SF, "Sloper's Terrace" is the new term being used by locals to describe the tiny micro-hood as mentioned in my entry. Your deleting the article is preventing the new neighborhood name from being easily found and is keeping this part of Brooklyn in the dark. Please retract your deletion! '-- Preceding unsigned comment added by Seaf01 (talk ' contribs) 02:58, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia articles must abide by the appropriate content policies, particularly those covered in the five pillars. In particular, please read the Wikipedia policy on verifiability. If the term "Sloper's Terrace" is used, you will need to provide independent reliable sources which describe it. (Such as those used for Park Slope, Brooklyn or Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn.) Until those sources can be demonstrated, the entry is not a valid encyclopedic article. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 03:23, 23 May 2013 (UTC)I was deleted[edit]Hi,

I'm trying to do a wikipedia entry for my husband, Alberto Isaac (actor/director) I made a website for him, and maybe that's why you took it off. I tried to rewrite the content but I guess it was still an infringement because his history, awards and plays/tv/movies done are the same.

I went back and put some references in, too... from other sites (IMDB, Eastwestplayers.org,) and I was going to note some reviews he got in various newspapers in the last few decades but I found out you deleted it!

I don't want to be blocked, and I'm trying as best I can to do this right.

Help me please!Tobytoby2000 (talk) 15:29, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

emily

Hi, Emily. Yes, the article was deleted as a copyright violation because it closely paraphrased the source. To grant permission to use text you've already published online, the Wikimedia Foundation's WP:OTRS office must receive an official e-mail from the website granting permission to use the text under an CC-BY-SA 3.0 license. Or the website must place a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA copyright notice on the page of their website. A message that was placed on your talk page explains both these procedures. Just click on this link: Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials#Granting us permission to copy material already online for details on how to grant permission to Wikipedia. On the other hand, the best and fastest method for creating an article is to write it with completely original wording. Before rewriting the article, though, I is important that you read our guideline on Conflict Of Interest -- we strongly discourage editors from writing about themselves or their family. Good luck with your editing. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 14:52, 25 May 2013 (UTC)I consider it well enough sourced for mainspace, tho it would require editing for promotionalism. Please restore it . I'm aware that I don't actually need to ask you,but I prefer to, even for G13 DGG ( talk ) 01:01, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

No problem. It's restored. Cheers. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 01:04, 29 May 2013 (UTC)Thanks, I think it's inevitable we will get 1 or 2 % of the G13s wrong--but we inevitable miss out of usable articles to at least that extent & probably much more at more every step of every procedure. I'm happy for what we can catch, and as for the rest, there's no way we can be perfect--it's not a realistic goal, here or in the RW. DGG ( talk ) 04:25, 29 May 2013 (UTC) .Talkback[edit]Hello, CactusWriter. You have new messages at Davey2010's talk page.Message added 02:50, 3 June 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.'' '†'Davey2010'†''†'Talk to me!'†' 02:50, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

What is going on with you editing guys? I used the information from the www.ryanbanks.net website as a reference and you state its copyrighted. Giving credit to the source of where the information comes from makes sense and this is not for profit so there's no infringement. They're is definitely no excuse as to why you are blocking this from being made a page. its for information purposes only. Please learn more about copyright infringement before using that reason. everything has been sourced and proven without a shadow of a doubt. So leave the freaking www.wikipedia.org/Ryan_Banks page alone '-- Preceding unsigned comment added by KeithHenning (talk ' contribs) 01:13, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

KeithHenning, I'm sorry but in your case where a page was created in almost its entirety from copy-pasted text, attribution is irrelevant. All text on Wikipedia is licensed for free redistribution and commercial reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). Therefore, copying the text without the permission of the copyright holder from a source that is not public domain or compatibly licensed is copyright infringement. Please read WP:Copyright Violations for a fuller explanation. However, please note that the pages you created about Ryan Banks were deleted because there was no credible claim of significance or importance for this individual. This is typical of pages which are entirely sourced to the individual's own website, rather than to independent reliable sources -- a core requirement for an encyclopedic article. Using the Article Wizard to create new pages can help guide you through these fundamental Wikipedia policies. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 14:40, 4 June 2013 (UTC)Contested Deletions[edit]Hiya, Thanks for warning me regarding contested deletions!I was trying to help, not disrupt, but in hindsight it's probably perceived as disruptive,Anyway thanks again :) - '†'Davey2010'†''†'Talk to me!'†' 18:19, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

No problem. It's understood that there is a learning curve to Wikipedia guidelines -- we've all been there. Good luck with your continued editing. Cheers. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 06:16, 7 June 2013 (UTC)I did not know about Move article. I did my best to create a disambiguation page. Delljvc (talk) 17:39, 16 June 2013 (UTC)

Delljvc, I understand -- and I do appreciate that you were trying to improve the topic. If you are unsure about other procedures, please feel free to ask, or you can ask a question at the WP:Help desk. Good luck with your editing. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 15:25, 17 June 2013 (UTC)The North West Frontier Province, Pakistan has been renamed as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa few years ago, Can you Move and rename Military history of the North-West Frontier as Military history of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Thanks. Delljvc (talk) 16:24, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Delljvc. I am not familiar with the subject and cannot offer an opinion at this time. However, before making a renaming move which might be controversial (and it was during previous discussions at Talk:Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), it is best to obtain a consensus of opinion from your fellow editors on the subject. You should post your above proposal using the procedure found at the WP:Requested move page at both Talk:Military history of the North-West Frontier and Talk:Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. If the proposal is closed as successful, an administrator will then help move the page. Good luck. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 23:13, 19 June 2013 (UTC)Questions on Copyright[edit]Hello CactusWriter,

I recently had an article deleted by you for reasons of Copyright Infringement

05:17, 22 May 2013 CactusWriter (talk | contribs) deleted page John E. Phillips (G12: Unambiguous copyright infringement of http://www.amazon.com/John-E.-Phillips/e/B001HP7K6O/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1344638757&sr=1-2-ent)

If you could elaborate on why this is a copyright infringement and how I might go about making not that.

Thank you very much,

Brooks '-- Preceding unsigned comment added by Blmacbeth (talk ' contribs) 19:44, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Blmacbeth. You created the article John E. Phillips as a word-for-word plagiarism of the copyrighted text already published on the Amazon website here (marked (C)1996-2013, Amazon.com, Inc at the bottom of the page). This was an absolute violation of copyright policy and required immediate deletion per Wikipedia's copyright violation policy. A message was placed on your talk page with links to Wikipedia essays on how to use text already published on-line. However, the easiest solution is never to create an article by copying text, but rather to use only one's own original words and structure. I suggest you use the WP:Article Wizard when creating a page -- it can help new editors avoid a myriad problems when attempting to make a proper encyclopedic article. Good luck with your editing. '-- CactusWriter(talk) 22:40, 19 June 2013 (UTC)Deletion of "Dvorak's Law"[edit]The Dvorak's Law page was not a Hoax. It was presented by John C. Dvorak on his podcast, "The No Agenda Show" on 6/13/2013.

You may disagree with the content, but it certainly was not a hoax. Please reverse the deletion.

EDIT by gqdawg:

Dvorak's Law was referenced on the No Agenda Show multiple times over the past year -- especially in light of the recent reports of increased prostitution in Europe. John C. Dvorak was the first to realize the connection between worsening economic conditions and the increase in prostitution. He formally realized this law on No Agenda Show episode 521 on 6/13/20013. Evidence of the existence of Dvorak's Law can be found at the following location:

http://static.curry.com/nashownotes/521/index.html

Gqdawg (talk) 21:32, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

The law is supported by this article in the Economist: http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21578434-old-industry-deep-recession-sex-doesnt-sell'-- Preceding unsigned comment added by 111.95.195.228 (talk) 14:40, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

I appreciate your efforts to provide some "source" for an article, but they fail to meet the necessary criteria for an encyclopedic article. Please read the guidelines at Wikipedia is not for things made up one day and Wikipedia is not a dictionary -- the encyclopedic value of any concept or phrase uttered by you, your friend or anyone else into public space is determined by its significant use in discussions in independent reliable sources. (The Economist article which you have cited above might be a reliable source -- but only for an article concerning the current economy of prostitution in Britain. It does not make any mention of Dvorak or a Dvorak's Law.) '-- CactusWriter(talk) 16:57, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Talk:Dvoraks law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 23:35

This page should not be speedy deleted as pure vandalism or a blatant hoax, because... Dvorak's Law is a new and emerging law based on real life data metrics seen coming out of Cyprus, Greece and Spain. One of the first notable written references is actually the Wikipedia article that was speedy deleted. This speedy deletion actually prohibited the further discussion and eventual possible solidification of the law which was attempted on June 20th by Adam Curry (a known Government document analyst) and John C. Dvorak, the author of the potential law, but was not carried out once the deletion was revealed. The new priority outstanding item is to first get the reference to the law on Wikipedia reinstated (i.e. un-deleted) even if the status of the law is 'yet to be confirmed'. Furthermore this is NOT a joke or Hoax submission, and one arguable reason is that the law is an economic law that revolves around the oldest noted profession. We respectfully request that the article be un-deleted, as well as to be supplied with any requirements necessary for the article to live permanently. Thank you.--66.150.171.4 (talk) 23:09, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Urban Dictionary: Dvorak's law

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:02

The worse the economy, not only do the hookers get better looking, but they get cheaper.

Some postulate that additionally, hookers get more business during a worse economy, however Dvorak himself attributes this to supply and demand which often leads to an increase in business (i.e. tricks) which is driven by the need to compensate for loss of revenue caused by the same reduction in cost stated in Dvorak's law.

Abenomics not raising low-end prostitution prices in Tokyo | The Tokyo Reporter

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:44

Shukan Post June 28

In May, Akira Ikoma, the editor of a guide to men's entertainment called Ore no Tabi (My Journey), said that ''Abenomics'' had caused a spike in prices at high-end soapland bathhouses in Tokyo.However, the same editor tells Shukan Post (June 28) that the initiative '-- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pledge to raise government spending in an effort to boost prices '-- is not impacting the low-end market in the same way.

''Because of Abenomics the high-end shops are making a killing for sure,'' says Ikoma. ''But lines of people are waiting in front of the dirt-cheap joints. A price of 5,000 yen is now the benchmark.''

This dichotomy is termed ''Awanomics,'' in which awa (or bubble) has taken the place of the prime minister. Ikoma says that a price war is unfolding for the early-bird market in Yoshiwara, Japan's largest brothel quarter, which is located in Tokyo's Taito Ward.

According to Ikoma, after one shop started offering 30 minutes of services for 6,000 yen to customers arriving before 7 a.m., a rival establishment matched the price and conditions.

''Both shops are cheaper than that offered in the 'health' industry,'' says Ikoma, referring to what is effectively the market for non-coital sex services, ''and by daybreak, a long line has formed. It's a new hot spot in Yoshiwara.''

For those wishing to extend, soaplands offering 50-minute courses for 10,000 yen are also operating in Yoshiwara. Meanwhile, Violence, located in the Ikebukuro entertainment area, offers customers 50 minutes of foamy fun for 11,500 yen between 7 and 8 a.m.

It is a popular spot. ''It is natural to have to wait three hours,'' assures Ikoma.

In Gotanda, there is Happiness Tokyo, a soapland that serves customers between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at a rate of 13,000 yen for 50 minutes.

From a cost performance perspective, clubs in the aforementioned health industry cannot be topped. The Thank You chain, which has more than 10 outlets in Tokyo, provides customers entry at a rate of 3,900 yen for 30 minutes.

''These joints mainly offer hand- and blow-jobs and non-penetration sex,'' says Ikoma, ''and make no mistake regarding the quality '-- even writers covering the trade come away fully satisfied.''

Plus, health clubs are now attracting rather young attendants. ''Girls in their 20s are treating the job just as if they were working at a family restaurant or convenience store,'' the editor assures, ''and some of them are absolutely adorable.'' (K.N.)

Source: ''Fuzoku gyokai de no nikyokuka gensho ga 'awanomikusu' to yobareteiru,'' Shukan Post (June 28, page 167)

Note: Brief extracts from Japanese vernacular media in the public domain that appear here were translated and summarized under the principle of ''fair use.'' Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the translations. However, we are not responsible for the veracity of their contents. The activities of individuals described herein should not be construed as ''typical'' behavior of Japanese people nor reflect the intention to portray the country in a negative manner. Our sole aim is to provide examples of various types of reading matter enjoyed by Japanese.

Related articles:

Book Club

The Skeptical Environmentalist

I just finished "The Skeptical Environmentalist" and wanted to recommend it to be

added to the No Agenda book club.

The book was written by a Danish professor and former Greenpeace member who set out

to disprove claims made by a colleague that all of the disasters man faces: climate

change, deforestation, loss of water, more natural catastrophes, etc, are overblown

and not nearly as bad as environmentalists claim. To his shock, he found his

colleague to be correct!

A must-read.

ARSONomics.com

added to the No Agenda book club.

The book was written by a Danish professor and former Greenpeace member who set out

to disprove claims made by a colleague that all of the disasters man faces: climate

change, deforestation, loss of water, more natural catastrophes, etc, are overblown

and not nearly as bad as environmentalists claim. To his shock, he found his

colleague to be correct!

A must-read.

ARSONomics.com

VIDEOS

VIDEO-BREAKING! Glenn Greenwald Responds To News Edward Snowden Has Left Hong Kong - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 13:27

VIDEO-A million people across Brazil say "it's not about 20 cents" - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 19:44

NSA Whistleblower Russ Tice Alleges NSA Wiretapped Barack Obama as Senate Candidate - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Source: Cryptogon News Network

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 13:21

NSA Whistleblower Russ Tice Alleges NSA Wiretapped Barack Obama as Senate Candidate - YouTube Cryptogon News NetworkDatabase queries: 48 | Page load time: 0.1s | Memory usage: 6.1 MB | PHP v.5.2.17 | MySQL v.5.5.32-log | Hotaru CMS v.1.4.2

VIDEO-NSA Whistleblower Russ Tice Alleges NSA Wiretapped Barack Obama as Senate Candidate - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:36

VIDEO-WOW MUST SEE Obama destroyed & called a war criminal in Irish Parliament WOW MUST SEE - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 16:46

Language of Truth and Lies: Performatives

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 14:10

Police State : Cameras In Cable Box To Monitor TV Viewers

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:23

It hardly gets more Orwellian than this. New technology would allow cable companies to peer directly into television watchers' homes and monitor viewing habits and reactions to product advertisements. The technology would come via the cable box, and at least one lawmaker on Capitol Hill is standing in opposition. Mass. Democratic Rep. Michael Capuano has introduced a bill, the We Are Watching You Act, to prohibit the technology on boxes and collection of information absent consumer permission. The bill would also require companies that do use the data to show "we are watching you" messages on the screen and to explain just what kinds of information is being captured and for what reasons, AdWeek reported.The technology includes cameras and microphones that are installed on DVRs or cable boxes and analyzes viewers' responses, behaviors and statements to various ads '-- and then provides advertisements that are targeted to the particular household.Specifically, the technology can monitor sleeping, eating, exercising, reading and more, AdWeek reported.

"This may sound preposterous, but it's neither a joke nor an exaggeration," said Mr. Capuano in a statement, AdWeek reported. "These DVRs would essentially observe consumers as they watch television as a way to super-target ads. It is an incredible invasion of privacy."

The Ultimate Revolution | by Aldous Huxley

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 11:56

VIDEO-Senior NSW police officer shredded documents from meetings with Catholic Church officials - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 18:08

Updated June 21, 2013 12:01:23

New South Wales Police has admitted all records of a senior officer's involvement with a key Catholic Church body set up to deal with sexual abuse cases have been shredded.

This includes briefing papers and all documentation over a five-year period from 1998 to 2003.

The revelations come from Freedom of Information (FOI) documents obtained by the ABC's Lateline program.

The top level group established by the Catholic Church's bishops is known as the Professional Standards Resource Group (PSRG).

It was created in 1997 in response to the Wood Royal Commission into the police and paedophilia, and its key function was to advise the church on specific cases involving clergy and others.

Earlier this year, a NSW Police spokesman told Lateline all the information provided by the church to the serving officer was anonymous.

The names of the victims and the priests had been removed, allegedly at the request of victims who the church said did not want police involvement.

The documents revealed on Lateline were lodged by NSW Greens MLC, David Shoebridge.

They reveal that Inspector Beth Cullen, who was then a senior sergeant with the Sex Crimes Unit, shredded all documents pertaining to her role with the PSRG from 1998 to 2003.

The letter from the NSW Police that accompanied the FOI documents reads:

"Det Acting Superintendent Linda Howlett of the Sex Crimes Squad had advised the documents concerning the PSRG meetings were confidential and maintained by the Professional Standards Office of the Catholic Church.

"Inspector Beth Cullen, the NSW Police representative on the PSRG, shredded hard copies of meeting material after each meeting.

"Furthermore Inspector Cullen did not keep any documentation in relation to her work on the PSRG."

Mr Shoebridge says there appears to be no "paper trail" of how and why this police officer was required to shred the documents.

"We need all the documents produced, and in the absence of documents, we need the police explaining to the public about how they went about destroying these documents' evidence of crime," he told Lateline.

"No police officer should be involved in internal church investigations about crimes. When there is a crime it should be investigated by police."

Shredding documents 'unusual, extraordinary'The state's former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Nicholas Cowdery QC, also has serious concerns.

"It is quite extraordinary because my experience has been that official police action is backed up by documents, reports and all the relevant material assembled during the official police activity," he said.

"So for someone involved in such activity to shred documents like this I think it quite unusual and indeed extraordinary.

"There is something about shredding documents - it is to put the documents out of reach, but in the mind of the person doing it, to shred documents is to destroy them and to make them unavailable for others."

He says he cannot think of a time when it would be necessary or appropriate for a serving police officer to shred documents of their role on a civilian body.

"No, I can't accept to destroy evidence - which is what it amounts to - evidence of what happened, so that the person that was involved can't refer back to the documentary evidence," he said.

"So that person's superiors can't have access to a contemporaneous record that was made or preparatory documents - or documents that might have been provided by way of briefing before the meeting was organised - all that has gone.

"I have sat on numerous committees and bodies with serving police officers who were there by reason of their position in the police force, they always make comprehensive notes of what is going on, they prepare reports for their superiors, they have records they can refer back to, if there is any uncertainty or confusion about what happened, it is to protect the officer as well as the institution."

NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher has written to the Police Commissioner's office asking for an urgent briefing on the matter.

Cooperation between church and police needs scrutinyMr Cowdery says the Police Minister must reveal to the public the exact nature of the cooperation between the Catholic Church and NSW Police.

"It is important... It is the case of the employer deciding what to do with the employee, that employee having been discovered to have committed serious criminal offences in some cases," Mr Cowdery told Lateline.

"It may be that the employer wanted to take action just short of criminal prosecution, but the employer in that case would have to be held accountable for that decision and for that conduct as well, otherwise you might get the situation that the senior people making the decision, in relation to the priests and others, might be guilty of the offence of concealing a serious offence, of deliberately covering up an offence.

"If there was a possibility of that happening I guess one of the ways to make the prosecution for that offence more difficult would be to remove any evidence of what was discussed at the meetings."

The director of the Professional Standards Office (PSO) of the Catholic Church, Michael Salmon, says it was the common procedure of the meetings that everyone returned the documents to the PSO.

He told Lateline this was to ensure confidential matters were not made public.

"I understand that the members of the group had decided that confidential and sensitive briefing papers would be returned to the Professional Standards Office following meetings. This continues to be the practice," Mr Salmon said in a statement to Lateline.

"I am not aware of members personally shredding briefing documents, but I assume from time to time they may have done so if unable to return them promptly to the Professional Standards Office.

"Briefing papers from members of the group returned to the PSO are not retained as they do not form part of the formal record of meetings."

'It gives rise to suspicion'But Mr Cowdery says it is concerning that the Catholic Church is the only body that retains the minutes of these meetings.

"It is pretty extraordinary that only one party to a multi-party arrangement should retain records of what happened," he said.

"Now it leaves open the suspicion that those records could be destroyed or manipulated in some way, could be selectively used to demonstrate particular consequences and outcomes.

"It gives rise to suspicion where a full explanation might dispel any suspicion and put everything on a proper course, but we don't know because the documents have not been released."

A spokesperson from the NSW Police released this statement tonight:

"Original documentation concerning the meetings was confidential and maintained by the NSW Professional Standards Office of the Catholic Church.

"The only material that was shredded were copies of that original documentation, which had been circulated to members of the Church's NSW Professional Standards Resource Group prior to each meeting.

"The circumstances surrounding the appointment of representatives from the NSW Police Force to the Catholic Church's NSW Professional Standards Resource Group and the manner in which that group operated will be considered by the Special Commission of Inquiry.

"NSW Police Force will continue to provide full cooperation and assistance to this inquiry.

Mr Shoebridge has now referred all the documents to the federal royal commission and the special commission of inquiry in NSW.

Topics:community-and-society, child-abuse, catholic, police, royal-commissions, sydney-2000, nsw

First posted June 20, 2013 20:24:44

Michael Hastings: "Obama has tripled the conflict in Afghanistan" - [VIDEO]

VIDEO-Top Intelligence Bureaucrats Grilled About Security Contractors After Snowden Leak - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 03:55

VIDEO-GM Crops 'Safe And Beneficial', Says Minister

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 20:32

GM foods are probably safer than those produced conventionally, the Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has said.

In a speech to scientists and people from the industry Mr Paterson attacked critics who derided genetically modified crops as "Frankenfoods" and said it was time for better informed discussion on the use of the technology.

Mr Paterson said that major European studies had concluded that there was "no scientific evidence associating GMOs (genetically modified organisms) with higher risks" for the environment or safety.

Mr Paterson, who has previously expressed his backing for GM, said he wanted the UK to be at the forefront of developing GM technology.

Mr Paterson wants the UK to be at the forefront of developing GM technologyAnd in a warning to the European Union, which has tight restrictions on growing GM crops, he said: "While the rest of the world is ploughing ahead and reaping the benefits of new technologies, Europe risks being left behind. We cannot afford to let that happen."

There is just one active GM crop trial in the UK, for wheat that has been engineered to contain a gene from peppermint that deters aphids and attracts their predator, a parasitic wasp.

There are no commercial crops grown in this country, but livestock is commonly reared on imported feed which has been genetically modified.

He said: "As with all technologies, public and environmental safety is paramount. The reality is that in Europe and elsewhere, GM is perhaps the most regulated of all agricultural technologies.

GM food is still regarded with concern by some"There are some that describe GM crops as 'Frankenfoods', deliberately termed to imply that they pose a risk to human health and the environment.

"The truth is that products are subject to extensive testing and development in tightly controlled conditions - progressing from laboratory, to glasshouse, to field trials only when it's safe to do so."

Mr Paterson was visiting Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. He visited the field where the active GM crop trial is taking place.

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council welcomed Mr Paterson's endorsement of GM.

Chief executive Douglas Kell said: "GM is one tool in a range of options that can help us to tackle complex problems, such as the need to produce enough food for a growing population."

But opponents said it was too early to conclude that GM crops are safe to eat.

Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth's head of policy, research and science, said: ""Despite decades of research, there are still no miracle crops to tackle the challenges agriculture faces, such as climate change, soil degradation, water shortages and growing demand.

"Where GM crops are grown, they are exacerbating the very intensive farming practices that are part of the problem.

"Ministers must urgently get behind a different approach to food and farming that delivers real sustainable solutions rather than peddling the snake oil that is GM."

Peter Melchett, policy director of organic campaign group Soil Association, said: "Owen Patterson's GM dream will make it harder to feed the world.

"The British Government constantly claim that GM crops are just one tool in the toolbox for the future of farming.

"In fact, GM is the cuckoo in the nest."

VIDEO-Shia Labeouf: One-In-Five Phone Calls Are Recorded (2008-09-16) - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 20:10

VIDEO-Comprehensive Experimental Analyses of Automotive Attack Surfaces - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:36

VIDEO-"Just Think What This Country Would Be Like If You Had One Major Attack Like Boston Every Month!" - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 03:51

VIDEO-NSA Today Is Collecting EVERYTHING Including Content Of Every Digital Communication Phone & Internet - YouTube

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 03:44

XML