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Wed, 11 Sep 2013 23:47

I need your support to help me republish my novel One Day in Gitmo Nation, a satirical political thriller. In return I'll give you a cracking read (and more in some cases).

Do you want to know more? Here's the deal...

In the near future, the world stands on the edge of global governance. In less than twenty-four hours, the lives of seven different people will be forever entwined in a global conspiracy that will result in the President's assassination.

Chapter 1: A regular guy tries to board a plane at JFK International. Unfortunately for him, he has the same name as someone on the TSA watch list...Chapter 2: On the final day of summer camp, everything is going according to plan until men in white coats arrive to give the kids their flu shots...Chapter 3: A broker on his final day at work suspects he is involved in insider dealing as his client begins to profit from the day's events...Chapter 4: A woman who developed the latest flu shot discovers a terrible secret about her work...Chapter 5: The day's events open a teenage superstar's eyes to the real world just before the final performance of her tour...Chapter 6: It's just another day for a presidential aide until he becomes entwined in an assassination plot...Chapter 7: Thousands of miles away, the day's events are intricately managed by a single person. But what is the agenda?''So good, so funny... It's a page turner... Absolutely phenomenal.'' Adam Curry, co-host of the No Agenda show.

Click here to read chapter one in full - http://www.scottamckenzie.com/resources/one-day-in-gitmo-nation-a-no-agenda-novel-free-preview-chapter-one.pdf

The Book

I self-published One Day in Gitmo Nation in 2010 and it was met with a positive response. Don't take my word for it - you can read a couple of five star reviews for the first edition on Amazon.

I then signed a deal with a publisher, took the first edition out of print and set to work again on the story from the beginning with a professional editor. The publisher called time on all projects on their books earlier this year but the good news is that I now have a completed book that has been professionally edited and it's ready to be sent back out into the world.

One Day in Gitmo Nation is a fast-paced thriller based on the topics discussed on the No Agenda show, a podcast hosted by Adam Curry and John C Dvorak. That's not to say you have to be a listener to enjoy the book. Regular listeners will be able to pick out references but this is a thriller written for everyone with the premise: what if all the conspiracy theories were true?

What's the money for?

My goal is to do an initial print run before releasing the paperback via a worldwide distribution package and making the ebook available in the usual places.

Rewards

First of all, there are the books in three different flavours: ebook, paperback and hardcover, with the physical books weighing in at a hefty 350 pages. In addition to One Day in Gitmo Nation, they all come with two bonus stories from the Gitmo Nation series: The Foot on the Shore and A Gitmo Nation Christmas Carol (my take on the Charles Dickens classic). I was thinking about making the bonus stories a stretch goal but then thought, what the hell - I'll put them in there from day one. This means that the physical books - especially the hardcover - will make a great present for the conspiracy theorist in your life this Christmas!

Each book reward level has a limited number of early bird discounts so make sure you get in early. Also, unsigned copies being sent to backers not in the UK will go directly from the printing company so there should be no additional postage costs for global backers.

In addition to the books, I'm also offering the chance to name one-off or recurring characters in future stories in the Gitmo Nation series. I've already got one more short story that's almost ready to go and I'm planning another one for early next year. Next year's story has a lot of characters so I'm going to need help naming them all!

Thank You

If you've backed this project then you'll want to get your hands on the juicy rewards, but that's not going to happen unless we hit our funding goal. You can help make this happen by telling your friends and sharing your involvement in this project on your social media of choice.

If you want to get in touch, send me a message on Kickstarter or you can find me on Twitter and Goodreads.

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 00:50

We've got a new No Agenda CD for you and it's about damned time!

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Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 21:44

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 10, 2013

PATRIOT DAY AND NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE AND REMEMBRANCE, 2013- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Twelve years ago this month, nearly three thousand innocent men, women, and children lost their lives in attacks meant to terrorize our Nation. They had been going about their day, harming no one, when sudden violence struck. We will never undo the pain and injustice borne that terrible morning, nor will we ever forget those we lost.

On September 11, 2001, amid shattered glass, twisted steel, and clouds of dust, the spirit of America shone through. We remember the sacrifice of strangers and first responders who rushed into darkness to carry others from danger. We remember the unbreakable bonds of unity we felt in the long days that followed -- how we held each other, how we came to our neighbors' aid, how we prayed for one another. We recall how Americans of every station joined together to support the survivors in their hour of need and to heal our Nation in the years that followed.

Today, we can honor those we lost by building a Nation worthy of their memories. Let us also live up to the selfless example of the heroes who gave of themselves in the face of such great evil. As we mark the anniversary of September 11, I invite all Americans to observe a National Day of Service and Remembrance by uniting in the same extraordinary way we came together after the attacks. Like the Americans who chose compassion when confronted with cruelty, we can show our love for one another by devoting our time and talents to those in need. I encourage all Americans to visit www.Serve.gov, or www.Servir.gov for Spanish speakers, to find ways to get involved in their communities.

As we serve and remember, we reaffirm our ties to one another. On September 11, 2001, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family. May the same be said of us today, and always.

By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001 (Public Law 107-89), the Congress has designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day," and by Public Law 111-13, approved April 21, 2009, the Congress has requested the observance of September 11 as an annually recognized "National Day of Service and Remembrance."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2013, as Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance. I call upon all departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States to display the flag of the United States at half-staff on Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance in honor of the individuals who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. I invite the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and interested organizations and individuals to join in this observance. I call upon the people of the United States to participate in community service in honor of those our Nation lost, to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, including remembrance services, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to honor the innocent victims who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.

BARACK OBAMA

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Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 21:44

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 10, 2013

NOTICE

- - - - - - -

CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCYWITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN TERRORIST ATTACKS

Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1622(d), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency previously declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.

Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, and the powers and authorities adopted to deal with that emergency must continue in effect beyond September 14, 2013. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year the national emergency that was declared on September 14, 2001, with respect to the terrorist threat.

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

BARACK OBAMA

Kerry Consults Kissinger on Getting to Yes With Russians - Businessweek

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 21:33

Mr. Jacob Appelbaum, representative of the Navy-funded Tor Network, spoke on behalf of Edward Snowden during the 2013 Whistleblower Award ceremony on Aug 31st. The ceremony took place in Berlin, and was organized by the German chapter of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA).

Laura Poitras, who put Snowden in contact with Appelbaum, was also in the crowd.

I'm left with a lot of questions.

Why is Appelbaum, an American with DoD ties and a tenuous link to Snowden, addressing this German-speaking crowd? Couldn't IALANA find a German-speaking human rights activist to read Mr. Snowden's message? At the very least, why didn't Laura Poitras read Snowden's message herself? Why this persistent promotion of Appelbaum, Laura?

Is the IALANA acceptance speech an attempt to manufacture a meaningful connection between Snowden and Appelbaum now that Putin has tied Snowden's hands? (Don't disparage Russia's American buddies!) Why is Appelbaum's weak link to Snowden always trotted out on a German stage?

Previously, the NSA's damage control has been championed by hot-headed journalists and muddle-headed shills'' with friends like these the NSA doesn't need enemies. But thanks to Mr. Putin, times are changing. To this blogger, Appelbaum smells like part of a more professional containment operation.

And, I dare say, Appelbaum smells like that to Snowden too. Here is a transcript of the beginning of Appelbaum's ''2013 Whistleblower Award'' acceptance speech (which he made on behalf of Edward).

When I spoke with Edward Snowden this evening, he wanted me to convey a message to you, which I will read, but he also wanted me to not talk too much about geopolitics, and not to talk too much about all of the things which everybody else has already said this evening.

And instead, he wanted me to talk about individuals, to talk about people. He wanted me to talk about hope for change. And this reminded me of something that one of the greatest American whistle blowers to ever live is famous for saying, that is Daniel Ellsberg, he said that ''Courage is contagious.'' And I see here in the audience a number of people who embody that, Laura [Poitras] being the clear winner of that so far.

[...]

It seems important to say that Edward Snowden is a person of high moral character, I can't really imagine a person who would be better fitting for this award, not just this year, but almost any year. That isn't to forget about Chelsea Manning, that isn't to say other people haven't done great service for humanity.

But when I spoke with him [Snowden] this evening, his first question wasn't about how things would go but he asked me if I had slept. He asked me how I was feeling, and, uh, I told him that I was fine. And he said, ''Are you sure?''

This is a person who really cares about other people, a person who while he as been attacked and relentlessly smeared by the propaganda machines, he is a person who has thrown himself onto the gears of that very machine. And he has done it for each and every one of us and I can't actually believe that it is true in some sense, because it just seems so incredibly powerful, so passionate and so beautiful.

Snowden doesn't seem to think that by talking to Appelbaum, he's in danger of crossing Putin's 'red line' about harming the USA. (I believe Putin's red lines are for real.) Snowden also thinks that Appelbaum needs coaching about what to say, because Appelbaum might otherwise take Snowden's message down an unhelpful track.

Perhaps most importantly, Snowden thinks Appelbaum may have an uneasy conscience. Are you sure you feel fine, Jacob? Really?

Of course, all of this makes Jacob Appelbaum laugh nervously. Wow, German-speaking crowd, says the Tor-Keeper, isn't Snowden a great guy? He cares about how I feel. Moving swiftly on'...

Jacob can join Mr. Putin, and the handful of die-hard NSA shills, in having difficulty wrapping his head around Ed Snowden's motives. Appelbaum can keep repeating how he spoke'' in person'' to Mr. Snowden before the ceremony. He can keep throwing love to his sugar-mommy. He can keep preaching to Germans with his crystal-clear diction. (I don't remember Jacob's careful enunciation from previous speeches. Somebody been to Toastmasters?)

But what Appelbaum can't do is pull his head out of the wilderness of mirrors, because he was born and bred there. And maybe that's the best way to out a spy. They don't understand loyalty to anything beyond their chain of command. What's in it for Edward? they ask, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. Strange guy! shout the Americans.

When Edward Snowden outed the NSA's massive domestic spying capabilities, and its cooperation with other governments, he did a very important thing. He gave everybody the chance to correct government excesses that have been spiraling out of control for a very long time.

Since the start of Snowden's revelations, intelligence agencies everywhere have tried to either benefit from Snowden's actions, or contain the damage his actions caused. The best way to achieve EITHER goal is to plant an agent close to Snowden in order to spin his message. There are a lot of creepy guys and gals crowding around Snowden and that's not Snowden's fault. Appelbaum is one of the ''gears'' chewing up Ed; a price Ed knew he'd have to pay for exposing massive government corruption.

Will the next volley of attempts to assassinate Snowden's character come from Poitras herself, or from Appelbaum? Come on kids, Putin's got Ed's hands held back. Somebody throw the punch.

Oh yeah, what are you gonna do with all that MacArthur money, Laura?

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 20:41

On Aug. 1, 2005, Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander reported for dutyas the 16th director of the National Security Agency, the United States' largestintelligence organization. He seemed perfect for the job. Alexander was adecorated Army intelligence officer and a West Point graduate with master'sdegrees insystems technology and physics. He had run intelligence operations in combatand had held successive senior-level positions, most recently as the directorof an Army intelligence organization and then as the service's overall chief ofintelligence. He was both a soldier and a spy, and he had the heart of a techgeek. Many of his peers thought Alexander would make a perfect NSA director.But one prominent person thought otherwise: the prior occupant of that office.

Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden had been running the NSA since1999, through the 9/11 terrorist attacks and into a new era that found theglobal eavesdropping agency increasingly focused on Americans' communicationsinside the United States. At times, Hayden had found himself swimming in themurkiest depths of the law, overseeing programs that other senior officials ingovernment thought violated the Constitution. Now Hayden of all people wasworried that Alexander didn't understand the legal sensitivities of that newmission.

"Alexander tended to be a bit of a cowboy: 'Let's notworry about the law. Let's just figure out how to get the job done,'" saysa former intelligence official who has worked with both men. "That causedGeneral Hayden some heartburn."

The heartburn first flared up not long after the 2001terrorist attacks. Alexander was the general in charge of the Army'sIntelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He beganinsisting that the NSA give him raw, unanalyzed data about suspected terroristsfrom the agency's massive digital cache, according to three former intelligenceofficials. Alexander had been building advanced data-mining software andanalytic tools, and now he wanted to run them against the NSA's intelligencecaches to try to find terrorists who were in the United States or planningattacks on the homeland.

By law, the NSA had to scrub intercepted communications ofmost references to U.S. citizens before those communications can be shared withother agencies. But Alexander wanted the NSA "to bend the pipe towardshim," says one of the former officials, so that he could siphon offmetadata, the digital records of phone calls and email traffic that can be usedto map out a terrorist organization based on its members' communicationspatterns.

"Keith wanted his hands on the raw data. And he bridledat the fact that NSA didn't want to release the information until it was properlyreviewed and in a report," says a former national security official."He felt that from a tactical point of view, that was often too late to beuseful."

Hayden thought Alexander was out of bounds. INSCOM wassupposed to provide battlefield intelligence for troops and special operationsforces overseas, not use raw intelligence to find terrorists within U.S.borders. But Alexander had a more expansive view of what military intelligenceagencies could do under the law.

"He said at one point that a lot of things aren'tclearly legal, but that doesn't make them illegal," says a former militaryintelligence officer who served under Alexander at INSCOM.

In November 2001, the general in charge of all Armyintelligence had informed his personnel, including Alexander, that the militaryhad broad authority to collect and share information about Americans, so longas they were "reasonably believed to be engaged" in terroristactivities, the general wrote in a widelydistributedmemo.

The general didn't say how exactly to make thisdetermination, but it was all the justification Alexander needed."Hayden's attitude was 'Yes, we have the technological capability, butshould we use it?' Keith's was 'We have the capability, so let's use it,'"says the former intelligence official who worked with both men.

Hayden denied Alexander's request for NSA data. And therewas some irony in that decision. At the same time, Hayden was overseeing ahighly classified program to monitor Americans' phone records and Internetcommunications without permission from a court. At least one component of thatsecret domestic spying program would later prompt senior Justice Departmentofficials to threaten resignation because they thought it was illegal.

But that was a presidentially authorized program run by atop-tier national intelligence agency. Alexander was a midlevel general whoseemed to want his own domestic spying operation. Hayden was so troubled thathe reported Alexander to his commanding general, a former colleague says."He didn't use that atomic word -- 'insubordination' -- but he dancedaround it."

The showdown over bending the NSA's pipes was emblematic ofAlexander's approach to intelligence, one he has honed over the course of a39-year military career and deploys today as the director of the country's mostpowerful spy agency.

Alexander wants as much data as he can get. And he wants tohang on to it for as long as he can. To prevent the next terrorist attack, hethinks he needs to be able to see entire networks of communications and also go"backin time,"as he has said publicly, to study how terrorists and their networks evolve. Tofind the needle in the haystack, he needs the entire haystack.

"Alexander's strategy is the same as Google's: I needto get all of the data," says a former administration official who workedwith the general. "If he becomes the repository for all that data, hethinks the resources and authorities will follow."

That strategy has worked well for Alexander. He has servedlonger than any director in the NSA's history, and today he stands atop a U.S.surveillance empire in which signalsintelligence,the agency's specialty, is the coin of the realm. In 2010, he became the firstcommander of the newly created U.S. Cyber Command, making him responsible fordefending military computer networks against spies, hackers, and foreign armedforces -- and for fielding a new generation of cyberwarriors trained topenetrate adversaries' networks. Fueled by a series of relentless andincreasingly revealing leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, thefull scope of Alexander's master plan is coming to light.

Today, the agency is routinely scooping up and storingAmericans' phone records. It is screening their emails and text messages, eventhough the spy agency can't always tell the difference between an innocent American and a foreignterrorist. The NSA uses corporate proxies to monitor up to 75 percent of Internet traffic inside the UnitedStates. And it has spent billions of dollars on a secret campaign to foil encryption technologies that individuals,corporations, and governments around the world had long thought protected theprivacy of their communications from U.S. intelligence agencies.

The NSA was already a data behemothwhen Alexander took over. But under his watch, the breadth, scale, and ambitionof its mission have expanded beyond anything ever contemplated by hispredecessors. In 2007, the NSA began collecting information from Internet andtechnology companies under the so-called PRISM program. In essence, it was apipes-bending operation. The NSA gets access to the companies' rawdata--including e-mails, video chats, and messages sent through socialmedia--and analysts then mine it for clues about terrorists and other foreign intelligencesubjects. Similar to how Alexander wanted the NSA to feed him withintelligence at INSCOM, now some of the world's biggest technologycompanies -- including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple -- are feeding theNSA. But unlike Hayden, the companies cannot refuse Alexander's advances. ThePRISM program operates under a legal regime, put in place a few years afterAlexander arrived at the NSA, that allows the agency to demand broad categoriesof information from technology companies.

Never in history has one agency ofthe U.S. government had the capacity, as well as the legal authority, tocollect and store so much electronic information. Leaked NSA documents show theagency sucking up data from approximately 150 collection sites on sixcontinents. The agency estimates that 1.6 percent of all data on the Internet flowsthrough its systems on a given day -- an amount of information about 50 percent larger than whatGoogle processes in the same period.

When Alexander arrived, the NSA wassecretly investing in experimental databases to store these oceans ofelectronic signals and give analysts access to it all in as close to real timeas possible. Under his direction, it has helped pioneer new methods of massivestorage and retrieval. That has led to a data glut. The agency has collected somuch information that it ran out of storage capacity at its 350-acreheadquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C. At a cost ofmore than $2 billion, it has built a new processing facility in the Utahdesert, and it recently brokeground on a complex in Maryland. There is a line item in theNSA's budget just for research on "coping with informationoverload."

Yet it's still not enough forAlexander, who has proposed installing the NSA's surveillance equipment on thenetworks of defense contractors, banks, and other organizations deemedessential to the U.S. economy or national security. Never has this intelligenceagency -- whose primary mission is espionage, stealing secrets from othergovernments -- proposed to become the electronic watchman of Americanbusinesses.

This kind of radical expansion shouldn'tcome as a surprise. In fact, it's a hallmark of Alexander's career. During theIraq war, for example, he pioneered a suite of real-time intelligence analysistools that aimed to scoop up every phone call, email, and text message in thecountry in a search for terrorists and insurgents. Military and intelligenceofficials say it provided valuable insights that helped turn the tide of thewar. It was also unprecedented in itsscope and scale. He has transferred that architecture to a global scale now,and with his responsibilities at Cyber Command, he is expanding his writ intothe world of computer network defense and cyber warfare.

As a result, the NSA has never been more powerful, morepervasive, and more politically imperiled. The same philosophy that turnedAlexander into a giant -- acquire as much data from as many sources as possible-- is now threatening to undo him. Alexander today finds himself in the unusualposition of having to publicly defend once-secret programs and reassure Americansthat the growth of his agency, which employs more than35,000 people, is not a cause for alarm. In July, the House of Representativesalmost approved a law to constrain the NSA's authorities -- the closestCongress has come to reining in the agency since the 9/11 attacks. That narrowdefeat for surveillance opponents has set the stage for a Supreme Court ruling on whether metadata -- theinformation Alexander has most often sought about Americans -- should beafforded protection under the FourthAmendment'sprohibition against "unreasonable searches and seizures," which wouldmake metadata harder for the government to acquire.

Alexander declined Foreign Policy's request for aninterview, but in response to questions about his leadership, his respect forcivil liberties, and the Snowden leaks, he provided a written statement.

"The missions of NSA and USCYBERCOMare conducted in a manner that is lawful, appropriate, and effective, and underthe oversight of all three branches of the U.S. government," Alexanderstated. "Our mission is to protect our people and defend the nation withinthe authorities granted by Congress, the courts and the president. Thereis an ongoing investigation into the damage sustained by our nation and ourallies because of the recent unauthorized disclosure of classified material.Based on what we know to date, we believe these disclosures have causedsignificant and irreversible harm to the security of the nation."

In lieu of an interview about hiscareer, Alexander's spokesperson recommended a laudatory profile about him thatappeared in WestPoint magazine. It begins: "At key momentsthroughout its history, the United States has been fortunate to have the rightleader -- someone with an ideal combination of rare talent and strong character-- rise to a position of great responsibility in public service. With GeneralKeith B. Alexander ... Americans are again experiencing this auspicious state ofaffairs."

Lawmakers and the public are increasingly taking a differentview. They are skeptical about what Alexander has been doing with all the datahe's collecting -- and why he's been willing to push the bounds of the law toget it. If he's going to preserve his empire, he'll have to mount the biggestcharm offensive of his career. Fortunately for him, Alexander has spent as muchtime building a political base of power as a technological one.

* * *

Those who know Alexander say he is introspective,self-effacing, and even folksy. He's fond of corny jokes and puns and likes toplay pool, golf, and BejeweledBlitz, theaddictive puzzle game, on which he says he routinely scores more than 1 millionpoints.

Alexander is also as skilled a Washington knife fighter asthey come. To get the NSA job, he allied himself with the Pentagon brass, mostnotably Donald Rumsfeld, who distrusted Hayden and thought he had been tryingto buck the Pentagon's control of the NSA. Alexander also called on all theright committee members on Capitol Hill, the overseers and appropriators whohold the NSA's future in their hands.

When he was running the Army's Intelligence and SecurityCommand, Alexander brought many of his future allies down to Fort Belvoir for atour of his base of operations, a facility known as the Information DominanceCenter. It had been designed by a Hollywood set designer to mimic the bridgeof the starship Enterprise from Star Trek, complete with chrome panels, computerstations, a huge TV monitor on the forward wall, and doors that made a"whoosh" sound when they slid open and closed. Lawmakers and otherimportant officials took turns sitting in a leather "captain'schair"in the center of the room and watched as Alexander, a lover of science-fictionmovies, showed off his data tools on the big screen.

"Everybody wanted to sit in the chair at least once topretend he was Jean-LucPicard,"says a retired officer in charge of VIP visits.

Alexander wowed members of Congress with his eye-poppingcommand center. And he took time to sit with them in their offices and explainthe intricacies of modern technology in simple, plain-spoken language. Hedemonstrated a command of the subject without intimidating those who had none.

"Alexander is 10 times the political general as DavidPetraeus," says the former administration official, comparing the NSAdirector to a man who was once considered a White House contender. "Hecould charm the paint off a wall."

Alexander has had to muster every ounce of that politicalsavvy since the Snowden leaks started coming in June. In closed-door briefings,members of Congress have accused him of deceiving them about how muchinformation he has been collecting on Americans. Even when lawmakers havescreamed at him from across the table, Alexander has remained"unflappable," says a congressional staffer who has sat in onnumerous private briefings since the Snowden leaks. Instead of screaming back,he reminds lawmakers about all theterrorism plots that the NSA has claimed to help foil.

"He is well aware that he will be criticized if there'sanother attack," the staffer says. "He has said many times, 'My jobis to protect the American people. And I have to be perfect.'"

There's an implied threat in that statement. If Alexanderdoesn't get all the information he wants, he cannot do his job. "He neversays it explicitly, but the message is, 'You don't want to be the one to makeme miss,'" says the former administration official. "You don't wantto be the one that denied me these capabilities before the next attack."

Alexander has a distinct advantage over most, if not all,intelligence chiefs in the government today: He actually understands themultibillion-dollar technical systems that he's running.

"When he would talk to our engineers, he would get downin the weeds as far as they were. And he'd understand what they were talkingabout," says a former NSA official. In that respect, he had a leg up onHayden, who colleagues say is a good big-picture thinker but lacks the geekgene that Alexander was apparently born with.

"He looked at the technicalaspects of the agency more so than any director I've known," says Richard"Dickie" George, who spent 41 years at the NSA and retired as thetechnical director of the Information Assurance Directorate. "I get theimpression he would have been happy being one of those guys working down in thenoise," George said, referring to the front-line technicians and analystsworking to pluck signals out of the network.

Alexander, 61, has been a techno-spy since the beginning ofhis military career. After graduating from West Point in 1974, he went to WestGermany, where he was initiated in the dark arts of signals intelligence.Alexander spent his time eavesdropping on military communications emanatingfrom East Germany and Czechoslovakia. He was interested in the mechanics thatsupported this brand of espionage. He rose quickly through the ranks.

"It's rare to get a commander who understandstechnology," says a former Army officer who served with Alexander in 1995,when Alexander was in charge of the 525th Military Intelligence Brigade at FortBragg, North Carolina. "Even then he was into big data. You think of thewizards as the guys who are in their 20s." Alexander was 42 at the time.

At the turn of the century, Alexander took the big-dataapproachto counterterrorism. How well that method worked continues to be a matter ofintense debate. Surely discrete interceptions of terrorists' phone calls andemails have helped disrupt plots and prevent attacks. But huge volumes of datadon't always help catch potential plotters. Sometimes, the drive for more datajust means capturing more ordinary people in the surveillance driftnet.

When he ran INSCOM and was horning in on the NSA's turf,Alexander was fond of building charts that showed how a suspected terrorist wasconnected to a much broader network of people via his communications or thecontacts in his phone or email account.

"He had all these diagrams showing how this guy wasconnected to that guy and to that guy," says a former NSA official whoheard Alexander give briefings on the floor of the Information DominanceCenter. "Some of my colleagues and I were skeptical. Later, we had achance to review the information. It turns out that all [that] those guys wereconnected to were pizza shops."

A retired military officer who worked with Alexander alsodescribes a "massive network chart" that was purportedly about alQaeda and its connections in Afghanistan. Upon closer examination, the retiredofficer says, "We found there was no data behind the links. No verifiablesources. We later found out that a quarter of the guys named on the chart hadalready been killed in Afghanistan."

Those network charts have become more massive now thatAlexander is running the NSA. When analysts try to determine if a particularperson is engaged in terrorist activity, they may look at the communications ofpeople who are as many as three steps, or "hops," removed from theoriginal target. This means that even when the NSA is focused on just oneindividual, the number of people who are being caught up in the agency's electronicnets could easily be in the tens of millions.

According to an internal audit, the agency's surveillance operationshave been beset by human error and fooled by moving targets. Afterthe NSA's legal authorities were expanded and the PRISM program wasimplemented, the agency inadvertently collected Americans' communicationsthousands of times each year, between 2008 and 2012, in violation of privacyrules and the law.

Yet the NSA still pursued a counterterrorism strategy thatrelies on ever-bigger data sets. Under Alexander's leadership, one of theagency's signature analysis tools was a digital graph that showed how hundreds,sometimes thousands, of people, places, and events were connected to eachother. They were displayed as a tangle of dots and lines. Critics called it theBAG -- for "big ass graph" -- and said it produced very few usefulleads. CIA officials in charge of tracking overseas terrorist cells wereparticularly unimpressed by it. "I don't need this," a senior CIAofficer working on the agency's drone program once told an NSA analyst who showed up with abig, nebulous graph. "I just need you to tell me whose ass to put aHellfire missile on."

Given his pedigree, it's unsurprising that Alexander is adevotee of big data. "It was taken as a given for him, as a careerintelligence officer, that more information is better," says anotherretired military officer. "That was ingrained."

But Alexander was never alone in hisobsession. An obscure civilian engineer named James Heath has been a constantcompanion for a significant portion of Alexander's career. More than any oneperson, Heath influenced how the general went about building an informationempire.

Several former intelligence officials who worked with Heathdescribed him as Alexander's "mad scientist." Another called him theNSA director's "evil genius." For years, Heath, a brilliant butabrasive technologist, has been in charge of making Alexander's most ambitiousideas a reality; many of the controversial data-mining tools that Alexanderwanted to use against the NSA's raw intelligence were developed by Heath, forexample. "He's smart, crazy, and dangerous. He'll push the technology tothe limits to get it to do what he wants," says a former intelligenceofficial.

Heath has followed Alexander from post to post, but healmost always stays in the shadows. Heath recently retired from governmentservice as the senior science advisor to the NSA director -- Alexander'spersonal tech guru. "Thegeneral really looked to him for advice," says George, the formertechnical director. "Jim didn't mind breaking some eggs to make an omelet.He couldn't do that on his own, but General Alexander could. They brought asense of needing to get things done. They were a dynamic duo."

Precisely where Alexander met Heath is unclear. They haveworked together since at least 1995, when Alexander commanded the 525thMilitary Intelligence Brigade and Heath was his scientific sidekick."That's where Heath took his first runs at what he called 'datavisualization,' which is now called 'big data,'" says a retired militaryintelligence officer. Heath was building tools that helped commanders on thefield integrate information from different sensors -- reconnaissance planes,satellites, signals intercepts -- and "see" it on their screens.Later, Heath would work with tools that showed how words in a document or pageson the Internet were linked together, displaying those connections in the formof three-dimensional maps and graphs.

At the Information Dominance Center, Heath built a programcalled the "automatic ingestion manager." It was a search engine formassive sets of data, and in 1999, he started taking it for test runs on theInternet.

In one experiment, the retired officer says, the ingestionmanager searched for all web pages linked to the website of the DefenseIntelligence Agency (DIA). Those included every page on the DIA's site, and thetool scoured and copied them so aggressively that it was mistaken for a hostilecyberattack. The site's automated defenses kicked in and shut it down.

On another occasion, the searching tool landed on an anti-warwebsite while searching for information about the conflict in Kosovo. "Weimmediately got a letter from the owner of the site wanting to know why was themilitary spying on him," the retired officer says. As far as he knows, theowner took no legal action against the Army, and the test run was stopped.

Those experiments with "bleeding-edge" technology,as the denizens of the Information Dominance Center liked to call it, shapedHeath and Alexander's approach to technology in spy craft. And when theyascended to the NSA in 2005, their influence was broad and profound."These guys have propelled the intelligence community into big data,"says the retired officer.

Heath was at Alexander's side for the expansion of Internetsurveillance under the PRISM program. Colleagues say it fell largely to him todesign technologies that tried to make sense of all the new information the NSAwas gobbling up. But Heath had developed a reputation for building expensivesystems that never really work as promised and then leaving them half-baked inorder to follow Alexander on to some new mission.

"He moved fairly fast and loose with money and spent alot of it," the retired officer says. "He doubled the size of theInformation Dominance Center and then built another facility right next door toit. They didn't need it. It's just what Heath and Alexander wanted to do."The Information Operations Center, as it was called, was underused and spenttoo much money, says the retired officer. "It's a center in search of a customer."

Heath's reputation followed him to the NSA. In early 2010,weeks after a young al Qaeda terrorist with a bomb sewn into his underweartried to bring down a U.S. airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, the directorof national intelligence, Dennis Blair, called for a new tool that would helpthe disparate intelligence agencies better connect the dots about terrorismplots. The NSA, the State Department, and the CIA each had possessed fragmentsof information about the so-called underwear bomber's intentions, but there hadbeen no dependable mechanism for integrating them all and providing what oneformer national security official described as "a quick-reactioncapability" so that U.S. security agencies would be warned about thebomber before he got on the plane.

Blair put the NSA in charge of building this new capability,and the task eventually fell to Heath. "It was a complete disaster,"says the former national security official, who was briefed on the project."Heath's approach was all based on signals intelligence [the kind the NSAroutinely collects] rather than taking into account all the other data comingin from the CIA and other sources. That's typical of Heath. He's got a verynarrow viewpoint to solve a problem."

Like other projects of Heath's, the former official says,this one was never fully implemented. As a result, the intelligence communitystill didn't have a way to stitch together clues from different databases intime to stop the next would-be bomber. Heath -- and Alexander -- moved on tothe next big project.

"There's two ways of looking at these guys," theretired military officer says. "Two visionaries who took risks and pushedthe intelligence community forward. Or as two guys who blew a monumental amountof money."

As immense as the NSA's missionhas become -- patrolling the world's data fields in search of terrorists, spies,and computer hackers -- it is merely one phase of Alexander's plan. The NSA'sprimary mission is to protect government systems and information. But under hisleadership, the agency is also extending its reach into the private sector inunprecedented ways.

Toward the end of George W. Bush's administration, Alexanderhelped persuade Defense Department officials to set up a computer network defenseproject to prevent foreign intelligence agencies --mainly China's -- fromstealing weapons plans and other national secrets from government contractors'computers.

Under the Defense Industrial Base initiative, also known asthe DIB, the NSA provides the companies with intelligence about thecyberthreats it's tracking. In return, the companies report back about whatthey see on their networks and share intelligence with each other.

Pentagon officials say the program has helped stop somecyber-espionage. But many corporate participants say Alexander's primary motivehas not been to share what the NSA knows about hackers. It's to getintelligence from the companies -- to make them the NSA's digital scouts. Whatis billed as an information-sharing arrangement has sometimes seemed more likea one-way street, leading straight to the NSA's headquarters at Fort Meade.

"We wanted companies to be able to share informationwith each other," says the former administration official, "to createa picture about the threats against them. The NSA wanted the picture."

After the DIB was up and running, Alexander proposed goingfurther. "He wanted to create a wall around other sensitive institutionsin America, to include financial institutions, and to install equipment tomonitor their networks," says the former administration official. "Hewanted this to be running in every Wall Street bank."

That aspect of the plan has never been fully implemented,largely due to legal concerns. If a company allowed the government to installmonitoring equipment on its systems, a court could decide that the company wasacting as an agent of the government. And if surveillance were conductedwithout a warrant or legitimate connection to an investigation, the companycould be accused of violating the Fourth Amendment. Warrantless surveillancecan be unconstitutional regardless of whether the NSA or Google or GoldmanSachs is doing it.

"That's a subtle point, and that subtlety was oftenlost on NSA," says the former administration official. "Alexander hasignored that Fourth Amendment concern."

The DIB experiment was a first step toward Alexander'staking more control over the country's cyberdefenses, and it was illustrativeof his assertive approach to the problem. "He was always challenging us onthe defensive side to be more aware and to try and find and counter thethreat," says Tony Sager, who was the chief operating officer for theNSA's Information Assurance Directorate, which protects classified governmentinformation and computers. "He wanted to know, 'Who are the bad guys? Howdo we go after them?'"

While it's a given that the NSA cannot monitor the entireInternet on its own and that it needs intelligence from companies, Alexanderhas questioned whether companies have the capacity to protect themselves."What we see is an increasing level of activity on the networks," hesaidrecently at a security conference in Canada. "I am concerned that this isgoing to break a threshold where the private sector can no longer handle it andthe government is going to have to step in."

* * *

Now, for the first time in Alexander's career, Congress andthe general public are expressing deep misgivings about sharing informationwith the NSA or letting it install surveillance equipment. A Rasmussen poll oflikely voters taken in June found that 68 percent believe it's likely the government islistening to their communications, despite repeated assurances from Alexanderand President Barack Obama that the NSA is only collecting anonymous metadataabout Americans' phone calls. In another Rasmussen poll, 57 percent of respondents said they think it'slikely that the government will use NSA intelligence "to harass politicalopponents."

Some who know Alexander say he doesn't appreciate the depthof public mistrust and cynicism about the NSA's mission. "People in theintelligence community in general, and certainly Alexander, don't understandthe strategic value of having a largely unified country and a long-term trustin the intelligence business," says a former intelligence official, whohas worked with Alexander. Another adds, "There's a feeling within the NSAthat they're all patriotic citizens interested in protecting privacy, but theylose sight of the fact that people don't trust the government."

Even Alexander's strongest critics don't doubt his goodintentions. "He's not a nefarious guy," says the formeradministration official. "I really do feel like he believes he's doingthis for the right reasons." Two of the retired military officers who haveworked with him say Alexander was seared by the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000and later the 9/11 attacks, a pair of major intelligence failures that occurredwhile he was serving in senior-level positions in military intelligence. Theysaid he vowed to do all he could to prevent another attack that could take thelives of Americans and military service members.

But those who've worked closely with Alexander say he hasbecome blinded by the power of technology. "He believes they have enoughtechnical safeguards in place at the NSA to protect civil liberties and performtheir mission," the former administration official says. "They dohave a very robust capability -- probably better than any other agency. But hedoesn't get that this power can still be abused. Americans want introspection.Transparency is a good thing. He doesn't understand that. In his mind it's 'Youshould trust me, and in exchange, I give you protection.'"

On July 30 in Las Vegas, Alexander sat down for dinner witha group of civil liberties activists and Internet security researchers. He wasin town to give a keynote address the next day at the Black Hat security conference. The mood at the table was chilly,according to people who were in attendance. In 2012, Alexander had won plauditsfor his speech at Black Hat's sister conference, Def Con, in which he'd implored the assembled community of expertsto join him in their mutual cause: protecting the Internet as a safe space forspeech, communications, and commerce. Now, however, nearly two months after thefirst leaks from Snowden, the people around the table wondered whether theycould still trust the NSA director.

His dinner companions questioned Alexander about the NSA'slegal authority to conduct massive electronic surveillance. Two guests hadrecently written a New York Times op-ed calling the NSA's activities"criminal." Alexander was quick to debate the finer points of the lawand defend his agency's programs -- at least the ones that have been revealed-- as closely monitored and focused solely on terrorists' information.

But he also tried to convince his audience that they shouldhelp keep the NSA's surveillance system running. In so many words, Alexandertold them: The terrorists only have to succeed once to kill thousands ofpeople. And if they do, all of the rules we have in place to protect people'sprivacy will go out the window.

Alexander cast himself as the ultimate defender of civilliberties, as a man who needs to spy on some people in order to protecteveryone. He knows that in the wake of another major terrorist attack on U.S.soil, the NSA will be unleashed to find the perpetrators and stop the nextassault. Random searches of metadata, broad surveillance of purely domesticcommunications, warrantless seizure of stored communications -- presumablythese and other extraordinary measures would be on the table. Alexander may nothave spelled out just what the NSA would do after another homeland strike, butthe message was clear: We don't want to find out.

Alexander was asking his dinner companions to trust him. Buthis credibility has been badly damaged. Alexander was heckled at his speech thenext day at Black Hat. He had been slated to talk at Def Con too, but theorganizers rescinded their invitation after the Snowden leaks. And even amongAlexander's cohort, trust is flagging.

"You'll never find evidence that Keith sits in hisoffice at lunch listening to tapes of U.S. conversations," says a formerNSA official. "But I think he has a little bit of naivet(C) about thiscontroversy. He thinks, 'What's the problem? I wouldn't abuse this power.Aren't we all honorable people?' People get into these insular worlds out thereat NSA. I think Keith fits right in."

One of the retired military officers, who worked withAlexander on several big-data projects, said he was shaken by revelations thatthe agency is collecting all Americans' phone records and examining enormousamounts of Internet traffic. "I've not changed my opinion on the rightbalance between security versus privacy, but what the NSA is doing bothersme," he says. "It's the massive amount of information they're collecting.I know they're not listening to everyone's phone calls. No one has time forthat. But speaking as an analyst who has used metadata, I do not sleep well atnight knowing these guys can see everything. That trust has been lost."

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Mon, 09 Sep 2013 00:29

We hope you will join us on September 19th in San Francisco to celebrate the work of the 2013 Pioneer Award winners. The celebration will include drinks, bytes, and excellent company. Tickets are available now.

We will be proud to present awards to this year's winners:

We are also happy to welcome renowned academic, author, and activist Lawrence Lessig as the keynote speaker. Professor Lessig spent more than a decade leading the fight for intellectual property reform and now is part of the campaign to reform computer crime law in the wake of his friend Aaron Swartz's death.

EFF established the Pioneer Awards in 1992 to recognize leaders on the electronic frontier who are extending freedom and innovation in the realm of information technology. The awards celebrate those who have contributed substantially to the health, growth, accessibility, or freedom of computer-based communications. Their contributions may be technical, social, legal, academic, economic or cultural. This year's pioneers will join an esteemed group of past award winners that includes Internet pioneer and inventor of the mouse Douglas Engelbart, science fiction author and activist Cory Doctorow, free software advocate Richard Stallman, privacy rights activist Beth Givens, and librarians everywhere.

Tickets are $65 for members and $75 for general admission. Also available are $250 tickets for an intimate advance reception featuring past and present Pioneer Award winners, keynoter Lawrence Lessig, and special guests.

Aaron SwartzAaron Swartz's achievements and influence on the Internet and its activist community are profound, despite his untimely death at age 26 earlier this year. Swartz co-authored the RSS web feed format when he was 14 and was one of the early architects of Creative Commons. He was a developer of the Internet Archives' Open Library and one of the co-creators of the online news site Reddit. Swartz founded the online activism group Demand Progress, which was a critical part of the successful campaign blocking the SOPA and PIPA Internet censorship bills. Swartz was also a committed activist for the cause of open access to government and government-funded information. In 2011, Swartz was accused of downloading millions of academic articles from the online archive JSTOR, allegedly without "authorization" even though his access to JSTOR through MIT's open network was authorized by JSTOR's contract with MIT. He faced 13 felony counts of hacking and wire fraud, including some under the draconian Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). After two years of fighting the charges, Swartz tragically took his own life this past January.

James LoveJames Love is one of the leading champions in the international battle for access to knowledge, defending everyone's right to free speech, privacy, fair competition, and health across the globe for more than 20 years. As the director of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), Love was instrumental in the adoption of a global intellectual property treaty for people with reading and visual disabilities this year. Love tirelessly fought strong resistance from the intellectual property rightsholder community, and the result enshrines fair use rights '' in this case, the right to transform reading material into accessible formats '' into an international treaty for the first time in history. Love has been a crucial defender of users' rights against trade agreements with restrictive copyright provisions like TPP and ACTA, and is also fighting against the content industry's efforts to expand new, copyright-like rights over content to broadcasters. Additionally, as a civil society leader in Washington, D.C., he advocates for open, transparent rulemaking.

Glenn Greenwald and Laura PoitrasGlenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras brought the world clear and credible news and analysis about the massive domestic surveillance programs currently conducted by the NSA '' transforming leaked documents by whistleblower Edward Snowden into riveting narrative that everyone could understand. These blockbuster stories exposed a web of convoluted, invasive spying on phone call history, email connections, and other communications data, sparking outrage across the globe and unprecedented admissions by the U.S. government about the extent of the surveillance. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before turning to journalism. He was the first recipient of the I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism and won the 2010 Online Journalism Award. Poitras is a documentary filmmaker and has won a Peabody Award for her work, as well as a 2012 MacArthur Fellowship. She has also been nominated for both an Academy Award and an Emmy Award. Greenwald and Poitras are both founding board members of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which supports and defends transparency journalism.

Get your tickets now! For more information about the Pioneer Awards, please contact events@eff.org.

EFF would like to thank our sponsors, who make this event not only possible, but classy:

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 10:42

It was almost shocking when I first installed a browser add-on called Ghostery and began to click on various articles at The Guardian. With each click, I discovered that this news publication, which has been primarily tasked with reporting on Edward Snowden and top secret surveillance operations conducted by the National Security Agency, has been surveilling its own readers.

I've intermittentlynoted the existence of ''web bugs,'' ''web beacons'' or ''corporate trackers'' embedded within articles at The Guardian, Salon.com and elsewhere but I've never given this phenomenon its own write-up. So here it is. Of course the point of this exercise ought to be clear: these publications, while taking on the pious, sanctimonious role of privacy purists, are using multiple third party resources to collect detailed information about nearly every visitor who reads one of the various posts about how the use of digital technology should be a completely private affair.

Programmers for sites like The Guardian, and even here at The Daily Banter, have embedded tiny, invisible file objects within each page. When you view a page, web bugs are automatically downloaded to your computer along with everything else that appears on the page. From there, the objects send information back to servers owned by various corporate analytics and ad networks tasked with gathering, compiling and analyzing the data. Web bugs differ from ''cookies,'' small text files containing information about how you browse through a particular site, but can function in conjunction with cookies as a means of more thoroughly collecting your data and creating a profile of how you get to a particular site along with what you do once you're there.

By gathering details about you and your internet browsing habits, the sales and marketing teams for each publication are not only capable of observing, among other things, who's reading, but also where each reader lives along with each reader's trail of clicks through the site. The goal is to know who's clicking and how to best deliver targeted advertising that will encourage readers to click more often, thus increasing revenue.

Boiled down to an elevator pitch: it's spying for profit.

On the page containing Glenn Greenwald's latest post, ''NSA encryption story, Latin American fallout and US/UK attacks on press freedoms,'' 92 web bugs were embedded in the article as of Sunday evening, including bugs from alleged PRISM collaborators Google and Facebook. From what I've observed, 92 bugs is an unusually high number. Most of the time, there are generally 20-30 bugs actively gathering your information at The Guardian '-- each bug delivered by a different corporation. On the low end, the new Der Spiegel article co-authored by Snowden/Greenwald colleague Laura Poitras, titled ''Privacy Scandal: NSA Can Spy on Smart Phone Data,'' contained 14 web bugs. Meanwhile, The Guardian's iteration of the newest Snowden revelations exposing how NSA breaks encryption codes happened to have downloaded 36 web bugs onto my computer. When the article was freshly posted last week, Ghostery counted 47 web bugs.

But merely counting the web bugs only provides half of the story. What, specifically, are these bugs collecting about us? What does The Guardian and the other self-declared privacy purists want so desperately to know about you?

Let's take a look at a post on The Guardian written by cryptology expert and pro-Snowden advocate Bruce Schneier. The article is titled, ''The US government has betrayed the internet. We need to take it back.'' The article begins like so:

Government and industry have betrayed the internet, and us. By subverting the internet at every level to make it a vast, multi-layered and robust surveillance platform, the NSA has undermined a fundamental social contract.

Ironically, The Guardian embedded a massive 95 web bugs on Schneier's post in which he discusses how the government and industry have ''betrayed'' the internet.

So what exactly is The Guardian collecting about everyone who reads this article?

According to Ghostery, a fairly typical bug from AudienceScience embedded within Schneier's article collects the date and time of your visit. It also collects your ''Demographic Data,'' but neither Ghostery or AudienceScience specifies the extent of the demographic data that's collected. AudienceScience also collects ''Interaction Data,'' which includes whether you reloaded the page or stopped the page mid-download and so forth. Additionally, the bug gathers the number of page views you generate while on the site. Notably, AudienceScience grabs your IP address, which can identify your location as narrowly as the building in which you work, and it can retain all of this information for 18-24 months.

There are 21 similar beacons on Schneier's article at The Guardian, not including advertising and analytics bugs. Most of these corporations can share your information with third parties, none of which are dislosed by name anywhere.

Perhaps the most invasive bug on this article, and which is contained on nearly every page at The Guardian, is provided by an Adobe service called Omniture. This tracker collects your analytics data, your browser information, demographic data, hardware/software type, your interaction data, your page views, your IP address and, interestingly enough, your search history. On the Adobe website, it defines search history as: ''The searches you have performed, including searches that led you to that company's website.''

In addition to all of that, the Omniture bug at The Guardian is potentially capable of collecting your: ''Social network profile information, including photos, fan and like status, user IDs, age, and gender.'' Neither The Guardian nor Ghostery specifies whether this information is actually being collected. But it can be.

By the way, there's another tracker on The Guardian provided by Experian Marketing Service, a branch of, yes, that Experian: the credit reporting agency. According to Ghostery, the Experian bug collects the same wide array of information as Omniture.

Unless one of the trackers collects your social media details, which is unclear, nothing that's collected about you contains your name, address or other specifics about you. Put it this way: there's nothing collected that's any more or less intrusive than the email or phone metadata that's collected, anonymized and eventually destroyed by NSA.

So, what can you do about it? For starters, you can block the web bugs by using the Ghostery add-on (or similar). But I can assure you: website owners don't want you to do it because it eats into the crucial ability to analyse traffic and build advertising revenue. (Thankfully for them, only around 10 percent of web users routinely block ads, web bugs and cookies.) You can also peruse the privacy policies for each site you visit. Provided you trust what the sites tell you about privacy, or if you simply don't care, you can choose to let the sites have your information. However, be aware that The Guardian's ''Cookies on the Guardian's website'' page contains 28 web bugs. The Guardian's ''Privacy policy'' page contains 35 trackers including the Omniture beacon.

Make no mistake, this isn't perfectly analogous to NSA surveillance. First and foremost, NSA is considerably more secretive, chiefly because it has to be given the astronomically high stakes of international espionage. However, as I've written before, it's purely hypocritical to single out NSA while ignoring corporate invasiveness, especially given how corporations utterly lack the kind of government accountability provided by the Constitution. It defies intellectual honesty to pick and choose which form of surveillance is acceptable and which form is egregious and outrage-worthy '-- worse yet, it's highly questionable to at once condemn Google and Facebook for invading our privacy via NSA's PRISM database, while ignoring the fact that a civil liberties reporter's very own publication uses Google and Facebook (and dozens of other bugs) to invisibly collect information about its readers, then pays that reporter handsomely with the fruits of said data collection.

In other words, if your goal is to shame other organizations for violating your privacy rights, you'd better make sure your house is in order because, in the final analysis, privacy is privacy.

(By the way, the Snowden t-shirt featured with this article comes from the Wikileaks store. There are three web bugs on that page, including one from Google and one from Omniture.)

Bob Cesca is the managing editor for The Daily Banter, the editor of BobCesca.com, the host of the Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show podcast and a Huffington Post contributor.

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:10

The German government on Monday confirmed that a previously reported operation targeting potential American eavesdropping facilities located on German soil took place at the end of August. Both a spokesperson for Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Interior Ministry admitted on Monday that a Federal Police helicopter had conducted a low-altitude flyover of the United States Consulate in Frankfurt in order to take high-resolution photographs. The apparent aim of the mission was to identify suspected listening posts on the roof of the consulate.

According to the newsmagazine Focus, the Eurocopter circled over the US representation at an altitude of just 60 meters (200 feet). The magazine quoted an unnamed government official stating that Germany wanted to send a message to the Americans that it would not tolerate eavesdropping technologies on German soil. "The message to the American friends was meant to be: Stop. Germany strikes back!" The flyover was first reported last week by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

On Monday, the government in Berlin sought to play down the incident. The Interior Ministry said merely that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which had ordered the helicopter flyover, is responsible for the security of foreign installations in Germany, but also for defending the country from the spying activities of foreign countries. The spokeswoman refused to answer dozens of follow-up questions on whether the surveillance flight over the consulate had been a routine operation or whether it was a targeted search for hidden antennas. "I neither can nor want to provide any response," the spokeswoman said.

American Security Surprised by Action

But it doesn't appear there was anything routine about the Eurocopter mission -- if there had been, police would have almost surely notified the Americans beforehand. Instead, security personnel at the consulate appear to have been surprised by the flyover. They even took pictures as it happened during the morning of August 28. A short time afterwards, the deputy US ambassador telephoned with the German Foreign Ministry to discuss the issue. But what the ministry is now describing as an "information exchange," was apparently a complaint.

The flight appears to be connected to the revelations of vast US surveillance made by former intelligence service contractor Edward Snowden. According to the American whistleblower, the National Security Agency's (NSA) surveillance service has established secret eavesdropping posts at 80 US embassies and consulates around the world. In the internal documents exposed by Snowden, these are referred to as the "Special Collection Service". The papers also state that the bugging units should be kept secret from partner countries. If it were leaked, a document reads, this would "cause serious harm to relations between the US and a foreign government."

The response by domestic intelligence would seem to belie German government attempts to play down the surveillance affair. The report in Focus claims that the Frankfurt operation was ordered by Ronald Pofalla, Merkel's chief of staff and the German government point man for intelligence services. The politician, a member of Merkel's conservative CDU party, has made extensive public comments suggesting that the NSA affair has passed. But the report suggested he was furious at reports of spying technology at US diplomatic outposts in Germany.

The German government left open on Monday the question of whether the flyover had provided any clarity about the suspected eavesdropping technology. The spokesperson said that only relevant committees in the national parliament would be informed. Still, experts believe the move was intended more as a symbolic gesture that as a serious effort to try to find surveillance equipment. They believe that the Germans just want to show that if push comes to shove, they can also get more aggressive. One official spoke of a symbolic "shot across the bow."

(C) SPIEGEL ONLINE 2013All Rights ReservedReproduction only allowed with the permission of SPIEGELnet GmbH

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Source: End the Lie - Independent News

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 20:19

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

The NSA regularly shares raw US intelligence data with Israel without even removing information about American citizens, according to the latest revelation published by the Guardian. The report is based on a document leaked by Edward Snowden.

On Tuesday, September 11, the Guardian published a previously undisclosed document which revealed top-secret policies in place since 2009 that are used to share personal phone and Internet data pertaining to United States citizens with American ally Israel.

The document, a five-page memorandum authorized by the National Security Agency near the beginning of US President Barack Obama's first administration, outlines a deal between the NSA and Israel's SIGINT National Unit, or ISNU.

doc1

''This agreement,'' the memo begins, ''prescribes procedures and responsibilities for ensuring'' privacy safeguards are implemented to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of US citizens with regards to the direct sharing of raw intelligence collected by the NSA with its Israeli counterpart.

That data, the document later explains, includes raw traffic picked up by the American spy office such as ''unevaluated and unminimized transcripts, gists, facsimiles, telex, voice and Digital Network Intelligence (DNI) metadata and content'' which is never necessarily scrutinized by US officials before sent to Israeli agents.

''Seems the only info actually being 'minimized' is the info #NSA shares with the American public,'' American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer tweeted following publication of the Guardian piece. ''NSA is really good at minimizing that.''

But while the contents of emails and phone calls involving most US persons are fair game to be collected by Israeli intelligence, a select group of Americans are sparred from international surveillance: elected officials. The memo mandates that the Israelis must ''destroy upon recognition'' any communication ''that is either to or from an official of the US government.'' That pool of exempt persons is defined as ''officials of the executive branch (including the White House, cabinet departments, and independent agencies), the US House of Representatives and Senate (member and staff) and the US federal court system (including, but not limited to, the Supreme Court).''

The Guardian notes, however, that other leaked documents uncovered as of late indicate that the US intelligence community may have reservations nonetheless with sharing info with even an ally as tried and true as Israel.

''On the one hand, the Israelis are extraordinarily good Sigint partners for us, but on the other, they target us to learn our positions on Middle East problems,'' a senior NSA official says in a 2008 NSA document seen by the Guardian but not published in Wednesday's piece. ''A NIE [National Intelligence Estimate] ranked them as the third most aggressive intelligence service against the US.''

''One of NSA's biggest threats is actually from friendly intelligence services, like Israel. There are parameters on what NSA shares with them, but the exchange is so robust, we sometimes share more than we intended,'' the Guardian quotes from the '08 document.

According to Guardian journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill, a NSA spokesperson pressed for comment wouldn't deny the validity of the leaked document's contents, but assured the British newspaper that ''Any US person information that is acquired as a result of NSA's surveillance activities is handled under procedures that are designed to protect privacy rights.''

The latest leak comes on the 12-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that many high-ranking US officials have used to justify the surveillance measures enacted in the decade-plus since. It also marks just more than three months since the Guardian first began published leaked NSA documents attributed to Snowden, a 30-year-old former intelligence contractor who has since relocated to Russia where he was granted asylum while avoiding espionage charges in the US.

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 18:21

Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni said the government may sell stakes in Eni SpA (ENI), Enel SpA (ENEL) and Finmeccanica SpA (FNC), or use the assets as collateral in a bid to lower debt.

''We are considering the possibility of reducing our participation in state-controlled companies,'' Saccomanni said today in a Bloomberg Television interview with Ryan Chilcote from Moscow. When asked then if he was referring to companies like Eni, Enel and Finmeccanica, Saccomanni said: ''We are considering this.''

''There are a number of issues to be addressed from this point of view because these companies are profitable and are giving dividends to the budget,'' he said. ''So we have to consider also the possibility to use this as collateral for debt reduction schemes we are considering.''

Saccomanni's office said later in an e-mailed statement that specific plans reported in the media had not been formulated by the Finance Ministry.

''The minister responded in general terms, speaking about the strategy of reduction of debt, citing many possibilities of creating value from public assets, but without ever citing specific companies,'' the ministry said in the statement.

The Italian government, led by Prime Minister Enrico Letta, is turning its attention to the $2.7 trillion debt after reining in the deficit after almost two years of austerity. The debt load has weighed on confidence throughout the European financial crisis and Italy's two-year recession, with foreign ownership of Italian debt declining to 34.6 percent in April from 35.1 percent in May 2012.

'Overall Strategy'''I hope that before the end of the year we can make clear what are we concretely envisioning in the overall strategy of accelerating the debt-reduction scheme,'' Saccomanni said. He didn't clarify his intention regarding collateral.

Eni, Enel and Finmeccanica underperformed the benchmark FTSE MIB stock index's 0.4 percent gain as of 5:32 p.m. in Rome. Eni rose 0.2 percent to 16.64 euros and Enel declined 0.8 percent to 2.39 euros. Finmeccanica was the index's second-biggest loser, falling 1.6 percent to 3.71 euros.

Saccomanni's remarks ''could lead to some pressure on share prices,'' analysts at Equita Sim SpA said in a note to investors today.

The sale of government holdings could deepen fissures in the coalition. Deputy Finance Minister Stefano Fassina said in a January interview that the benefit ''in terms of debt reduction would be little, while the state would lose control of valuable pieces of industry.''

State StakesThe Treasury and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti own about 30 percent of Rome-based Eni, the oil producer with a market value of 60 billion euros. The Treasury owns about 31 percent of power producer Enel and 30 percent of Finmeccanica, the Rome-based defense contractor.

Italy is mired in its longest recession in at least two decades and unemployment has risen to 12.2 percent, a record. Italy met about 60 percent of its debt-issuance needs for 2013 in the first half, according to the Treasury. Saccomanni said the presence of non-Italian investors has been adequate.

''We are satisfied with the results we have achieved so far,'' Saccomanni said. ''Apart from some volatility, the share of foreign holders of Italian debt has remained more or less constant. It has declined during the crisis, but then gone up again.''

Accelerating PaymentsLetta, 46, is seeking to stimulate the economy by paying back debt owed by the public administration to its private-sector suppliers. That effort is being accelerated as the government aims to complete 40 billion euros of arrears payments within 12 months, Saccomanni said today.

''We are anticipating there will be a powerful impact from the program of accelerated repayment of commercial arrears,'' Saccomanni said.

Still, Letta needs to meet a commitment to European Union allies to keep the budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product.

''I think it's necessary to couple the current policy to contain the deficit with an effort to accelerate the reduction of debt that can have an effect on the spreads and debt financing costs,'' Saccomanni said later to reporters.

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Frye in Rome at afrye@bloomberg.net; Lorenzo Totaro in Rome at ltotaro@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net; Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net

Enlarge imageItalian Finance Minister Fabrizio SaccomanniAlessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg

Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni said, ''There are a number of ideas that we are now taking into account.''

Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni said, ''There are a number of ideas that we are now taking into account.'' Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg

9:07

July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni discusses the Italian economy, government stakes in Eni SpA and Enel SpA, and boosting bank lending. He talks in Moscow with Ryan Chilcote on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 13:52

Russian independent gas producer Novatek has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese banks for financing of its $20 billion Yamal LNG project.

A quartet of commercial banks have agreed under the preliminary pact to consider financing of the project on the Yamal Peninsula after state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) came onboard as a 20% partner as part of a long-term liquefied natural gas supply deal earlier this year.

Novatek, which holds a 60% interest with French giant Total on 20%, aims to build an LNG plant with 16.5 million tonnes of annual production capacity based on feedstock resources from the South Tambeyskoye field.

The first phase, scheduled for completion in May 2016, will call for the building of two trains, each with capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum.

The addition of a third train is also envisaged that would boost total capacity to 16.5 million tpa.

The final investment decision for phase two will be made in the last quarter of 2016, with project commissioning scheduled in 2018,

Meanwhile, Russia's Energy Ministry is reported to have drafted a proposal that would liberalise LNG exports by enabling companies other than state-run Gazprom to sell abroad.

The ministry's proposed reforms are vital to secure financing for both Novatek's project, with exports targeted for China, and that of Russian state-owned Rosneft, which is developing the Sakhalin LNG scheme with partner ExxonMobil in Russia's far east.

A source familiar with the document told Reuters the proposal would allow LNG exports by companies that hold licences to build LNG plants, or to send the gas for liquefaction to a plant determined by the government.

The source also said the draft proposed allowing LNG exports by companies with state holdings of at least 50% - if they send LNG abroad from offshore fields or from production sharing agreements.

The Russian authorities previously planned to open up LNG exports from 2014, with a requirement that the projects of Novatek and Rosneft would ship gas to Asia only and not challenge Gazprom's exports to Europe.

Gazprom recently inked an agreement with CNPC on pipeline gas exports to China via the eastern route.

Under an existing 2006 law, Gazprom is the only company allowed to ship gas out of Russia.

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Wed, 11 Sep 2013 20:36

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 05:02

MOSCOW '-- RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization '-- the United Nations '-- was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

The United Nations' founders understood that decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus, and with America's consent the veto by Security Council permanent members was enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned the stability of international relations for decades.

No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorization.

The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria's borders. A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.

Syria is not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government and opposition in a multireligious country. There are few champions of democracy in Syria. But there are more than enough Qaeda fighters and extremists of all stripes battling the government. The United States State Department has designated Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, fighting with the opposition, as terrorist organizations. This internal conflict, fueled by foreign weapons supplied to the opposition, is one of the bloodiest in the world.

Mercenaries from Arab countries fighting there, and hundreds of militants from Western countries and even Russia, are an issue of our deep concern. Might they not return to our countries with experience acquired in Syria? After all, after fighting in Libya, extremists moved on to Mali. This threatens us all.

From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop a compromise plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law. We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today's complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos. The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression.

No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack '-- this time against Israel '-- cannot be ignored.

It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America's long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan ''you're either with us or against us.''

But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.

No matter how targeted the strikes or how sophisticated the weapons, civilian casualties are inevitable, including the elderly and children, whom the strikes are meant to protect.

The world reacts by asking: if you cannot count on international law, then you must find other ways to ensure your security. Thus a growing number of countries seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. This is logical: if you have the bomb, no one will touch you. We are left with talk of the need to strengthen nonproliferation, when in reality this is being eroded.

We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement.

A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government's willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action.

I welcome the president's interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations.

If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues.

My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States' policy is ''what makes America different. It's what makes us exceptional.'' It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.

Vladimir V. Putin is the president of Russia.

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Wed, 11 Sep 2013 23:48

A Russian warship carrying "special cargo" will be dispatched toward Syria, a navy source said on Friday, as the Kremlin beefs up its presence in the region ahead of possible US strikes against the Damascus regime.The large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov will on Friday leave the Ukrainian port city of Sevastopol for the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, from where it will head to Syria's coast, the Interfax news agency quoted a source from the Saint Petersburg-based central naval command as saying.

"The ship will make call in Novorossiisk, where it will take on board special cargo and set off for the designated area of its combat duty in the eastern Mediterranean," the source said.

The source did not specify the nature of the cargo.

Russia has kept a constant presence in the eastern Mediterranean during the Syrian crisis.

In recent days Russia has made steps to beef up its naval grouping in the region.

The Russian destroyer Smetlivy will soon join the group in the region as well as the destroyer Nastoichivy, Interfax has said.

The anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleyev has already entered its zone of operation as the flagship of the current rotation of the Mediterranean grouping, a military source has told the news agency.

Already in place in the eastern Mediterranean are the frigate Neustrashimy, as well as the landing ships Alexander Shabalin, the Admiral Nevelsky and the Peresvet.

They are expected to be joined by the large landing ships Novocherkassk and Minsk and the missile cruiser Moskva. The reconnaissance ship Priazovye is also on its way to join the group.

The US already has a strong naval presence in the region and any US military action against Syria is widely expected to be launched from the sea.

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 20:30

Wesley Clark 1:24 p.m. EDT August 30, 2013

Wesley Clark(Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/GettyImages)

Story HighlightsSome have cited NATO's 1999 Kosovo campaign that I directed as a precedent for action in Syria.Kosovo reminds us that it isn't imperative to strike back immediately after a red line is crossed.Kosovo taught us that diplomacy can smooth over hostilities with nations that oppose your policy.SHARE 660 CONNECTEMAILMORE

Once again, the United States appears poised to strike with its military forces in the Middle East, this time to punish Syria's regime for deploying chemical weapons against its own citizens. Some have cited NATO's 1999 Kosovo campaign that I directed against Serbian forces as a precedent. That effort was a successful one that saved lives. But how comparable is it to possible strikes against Syria's regime?

STORY: Latest developments in Syrian crisis

STORY: Syria, Iran threaten retaliation; Russia sends warships

First, Kosovo was a much larger effort. In terms of scope, a more analogous precedent to a strike on Syria would be President Clinton's strike against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's intelligence center in Baghdad with cruise missiles in 1993, in punishment for Saddam's alleged plot to assassinate former president George H. W. Bush.

Second, in the 1990s, the U.S. had more leverage on the global stage than it does today. Russia was struggling to regain its footing after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and China was less than 20 years into its remarkable economic rise. The U.S. was the world's sole indisputable superpower.

But the Kosovo campaign can still be instructive in other respects because it offers lessons on expecting the unexpected and on improvising in the midst of a confrontation.

As in the case of Syria today, there was no United Nations resolution explicitly authorizing NATO to bomb Serbia. But NATO nations found other ways, including an earlier U.N. Security Council Resolutionpage 105, to legally justify what had to be done. In Syria, the violation of the 1925 Geneva prohibition against the use of chemical weapons is probably sufficient justification. (The fact that Russia used chemical weapons in Afghanistan in the 1980s should be used to undercut Russian objections to strikes against Syria today.)

Kosovo also reminds us that it isn't imperative to strike back immediately after a "red line" is crossed. In 1998, NATO had established a red line against Serb ethnic cleansing; the Serbs crossed that line with the massacre of at least 40 farmers at Racak in January 1999. But NATO didn't strike immediately. Instead, France took the lead for a negotiated NATO presence. This strengthened NATO's diplomatic leverage and legitimacy, even though the talks failed.

The Kosovo campaign was also less tidily packaged at the time than it appears in retrospect. When the bombing began, NATO had not yet formulated its political conditions for halting the bombing. NATO nations hardened their views when the Serbs retaliated against the civilian population of Kosovo and neighboring Macedonia. These episodes are always fluid, but so long as your political coalition is well organized '-- and NATO was '-- objectives can be modified and clarified during the course of military action. Not every "I" has to be dotted or "t" crossed before initiating a strike.

Finally, Kosovo taught us that diplomacy can smooth over hostilities with nations that oppose your policy. At the outset of the Kosovo campaign, Russia pulled its liaison personnel out of NATO HQ, sent a representative into Belgrade, and belligerently threatened to send out its Black Sea fleet to interfere with NATO operations. Intensive diplomacy, including repeated visits to Moscow by Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, eventually brought the Russians into co-leading a diplomatic mission that culminated in Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's acceptance of NATO conditions. Heated protests aren't insurmountable if there is persistent diplomacy before and after hostilities commence.

At a time when the U.S. faces many other security threats, not to mention economic and political challenges at home, it is tempting to view action against Syria's regime as a significant distraction. Certainly, it also carries risks. A year after Saddam was bombed in 1993, he deployed Republican Guard Divisions to Iraq's southern border into the same sort of attack positions they had occupied before the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. A few years later, the Republican Congress passed, with Democratic support, a resolution advocating "regime change." You can't always control the script after you decide to launch a limited, measured attack.

But President Obama has rightly drawn a line at the use of chemical weapons. Some weapons are simply too inhuman to be used. And, as many of us learned during 1990s, in the words of President Clinton, "Where we can make a difference, we must act."

Retired general Wesley Clark, the former supreme commander of NATO, led alliance military forces in the Kosovo war in 1999. He is a senior fellow at the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA. He wrote this for Zocalo Public Square

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors . To read more columns like this, go to theopinion front page or follow us on Twitter @USATopinion or Facebook.

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 20:38

The retired general and former Democratic Party presidential nominee is amongst the 68,000 people enjoying the party in the desertBy David Mccormack

PUBLISHED: 17:24 EST, 1 September 2013 | UPDATED: 03:36 EST, 2 September 2013

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This year's Burning Man festival in the remote Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada has been filled to capacity over the weekend and one of the 68,000 people in attendance has been retired U.S. Army general and former Democratic Party presidential nominee Wesley Clark.

That's according to Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder, Harvard Law School professor, and former Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow, who tweeted that had spent time speaking with Clark on Saturday afternoon.

Clark seems to have picked a good year to attend, as well as a record breaking crowd, the weather has been better than usual, with balmy nights, mild days and minimal dust blowing.

Dust envelops art installations during the Burning Man 2013 arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada on Sunday

Crash and burn: The Man burns during the Burning Man 2013 arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert on Saturday night

Tune in, turn on, drop out: Former NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark has been spotted at this year's Burning Man event, although it is unknown if he has taken his girlfriend, Shauna Mei, who is less than half his age, right

Each night at Burning Man is capped by the torching of one of the elaborate large wooden sculptures erected on the site

The annual art, music and everything-else festival is now in its 27th year and runs through until Labor Day.

Each night is capped by the torching of one of the elaborate large wooden sculptures erected on the site. Saturday was highlighted by the immolation of a work called Photochapel.

The temporary encampment and art festival in Pershing County was filled with 68,000 attendees by Friday morning and the sheriff's department was not allowing anyone in unless someone else left.

During his 34 years in the Army and the Department of Defense, Clark receiving many military decorations, several honorary knighthoods, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

He also commanded Operation Allied Force in the Kosovo War during his term as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000.

Members of Northwest Fire Conclave perform: This year has not only seen a record breaking crowd, but the weather has been better than usual, with balmy nights, mild days and minimal dust blowing

A man 'chats' on the phone with God as part of an art installation at Burning Man

A firefighter keeps people from getting too close to the burnt remains of the Man during the festival on Saturday night

Saturday was highlighted by the immolation of a work called Photochapel

Gessica Preto Martini, left, and Amma Antwi-Agyei pose for photos on top of yet another art installation during the Burning Man 2013 arts and music festival

Since then Clark has been involved in politics as a candidate in the 2004 race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination and running a political action committee, 'WesPAC', which he formed after the 2004 primaries.

It is unknown if Clark, 68, has taken his 30-year-old girlfriend with him. Earlier this month MailOnline revealed that he was divorcing his wife Gertrude after 46 years citing her 'general indignities' despite claims that he is having an affair with a woman half his age.

The former NATO Supreme Commander met fashion executive Shauna Mei, who is less than half his age at a conference in Carlsbad, California six months ago.

Burning Man ends on Labor Day so visitors are desperately trying to fit in as much partying, debauchery and excess as they can before it finishes for another year.

Organizers have reported that one person was flown to a hospital by medical helicopter this week after being struck by a vehicle. No other serious incidents have been reported.

No sleep 'til Labor Day: Participants dance around and atop an art car parked beside the 'Truth is Beauty' sculpture created by Marco Cochrane at the 2013 Burning Man festival

Dancing til dawn: Festival goers enjoying themselves at the Burning Man 2013 arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada on Saturday

More than 61,000 people have turned out so far at Burning Man as the event reaches its climax this weekend

Mutant vehicles drive across the desert like something from a post apocalyptic scenario at Burning Man 2013

The largest outdoor arts festival in North America is best described as an 'experimental community.' It incorporates plenty of partying plus lighting massive fire displays, donning eye-catching costumes and performing passionate dances at sunrise.

Organizers stress it's mostly up to participants to decide what Burning Man is.

This year's event is the largest ever, even with tickets costing up to $650. Attendance peaked last year at 56,000.

The BLM raised the crowd limit this year after organizers agreed to security, public safety, resource management and cleanup rules.

Festival goers interact with the Xylophage art installation, left, and with each other, right, during Burning Man

People make their way pass the Man during the festival, he'll be burnt down come Monday evening

A woman performs with fire at sunrise at the Temple of Whollyness during the Burning Man 2013

A group of festival goers gather at the Guardian of Dawn art installation during Burning Man 2013

A man is hit by flames while competing on the Dance Dance Immolation installation, left, while participants look at a mutant vehicle, right

Burning Man attracts people from all over the world to spend up to a week in the remote desert cut off from much of the outside world.

It has become a haven for hippies, artists, musicians and dancers and provides a week for people to explore artistic expression. No money is exchanged at the event; instead the festival-goers swap gifts to attain goods.

Many festival-goers have been impressed by the size and look of this year's Man Base, a structure that houses the iconic 'Man' figure which was burned on Saturday night.

Inside a flying saucer under the Man is a multi-level structure with zoetropes, a giant chandelier and views of Black Rock City. Slides serve as exits.

The art theme this year is 'Cult Cargo' and focuses on a strange being called John Frum.

Elane Beach, left, and Diane Hanese, right, sit in an art car called 'The Gondola' parked beside the 'Truth is Beauty' sculpture created by Marco Cochrane in the early morning hours

Participants climb an art installation before sunrise as they have a good time at Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada

People sit inside an art installation shaped like an animal as the sun sets on Friday evening

Traveling in style: A woman relaxes in red as she is cycled round the festival by a friend

A sailboat art car fires off a round at the Burning Man festival where tens of thousands of participants have gathered for the counterculture event

A woman rides a bicycle at Burning Man after sunset in Nevada's Black Rock Desert for the counterculture event

'He is known to us by many names, this Visitor from Elsewhere, dispenser of endless abundance and wielder of mysterious technologies: John Frum, Quetzalcoatl, Osiris, "Bob,"' reads the website.

'His cargo is splendid, his generosity boundless, his motives beyond our understanding. But across the ages and around the world, the stories all agree: one day he will return, bearing great gifts.

'Our theme this year asks three related questions; who is John Frum, where is he really from, and where, on spaceship Earth, are we all going?'

The Black Rock Desert is 120 miles north of Reno and the gathering is the largest permitted event on federal land in the United States.

As always, festival goers are expected to obey the ten principles: Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation and Immediacy are of the utmost importance to the community.

A 'Mobile Board Room' moves along at the Burning Man festival where once a year tens of thousands of participants gather for the counterculture event

You'll see all sorts: A man in a bird costume walks around, left, a man dressed as a priest outfit walks away from the 'Photo Chapel,' right

Party-goers gather outside a temple art structure at Burning Man in Gerlach, Nevada on Wednesday

Not an ancient civilization but an aerial view of the Burning Man 2013 arts and music festival which as attracted 68,000 people from all over the world

It's all about self-expression: A couple kisses at this year's Burning Man festival where people have gathered for the event which is dedicated to community, art, self-reliance and having a good time

Beyond the Thunderdome: A participant bicycles away from the effigy of the Man (top right) at the 2013 Burning Man arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada

The largest outdoor arts festival in North America is currently underway, with 68,000 people enjoying a week of partying, debauchery and excess at the Burning Man 2013 arts and music festival

The annual art, music and everything-else festival takes place in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada and brings together people from all over the world to spend a week in the remote desert cut off from much of the outside world

Celebrating its 27th year, the biggest tradition comes at the end of the week - on Sept 2 - when participants will set fire to a giant wooden 'man', spotted at the bottom of this photo

What is Burning Man? Look back at raving at 2012 festival

The sign that greets attendees at the gate of the festival with the year's theme of 'Cargo Cult' on it, right, and, left, attendees show off temporary tattoos that they have just gotten

An aerial view of the Burning Man festival in which the people look like ants: Earlier this year the federal government issued a permit for 68,000 people from all over the world to gather at the sold out festival

Fun in the desert: The Black Rock Desert is 120 miles north of Reno and the gathering is the largest permitted event on federal land in the United States

Party town: The festival, which has become a haven for hippies, artists, musicians and dancers, provides a week for people to explore artistic expression. No money is exchanged at the event; instead the festival-goers swap gifts to attain goods

Described as an 'experimental community,' it incorporates plenty of partying plus themes and costumes, lighting massive fire displays, donning eye-catching costumes and performing passionate dances at sunrise. although organizers stress it's mostly up to participants to decide what Burning Man is

As always, festival goers are expected to obey the ten principles: Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation and Immediacy are of the utmost importance to the community

A participant looks at art works at sunrise in the Black Rock desert of Nevada

A participant bicycles past art works at sunrise

Participants watch the sunrise from the top of a dome: 68,000 people from all over the world have gathered at the sold out festival, which is celebrating its 27th year, to spend a week in the remote desert cut off from much of the outside world to experience art, music and the unique community that develops

A sculpture of a fire breathing dragon as seen at sunrise during the 2013 Burning Man arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada

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Source: aangirfan

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 21:23

"A Belgian writer held hostage for five months in Syria has said that his own rebel captors denied that President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the Ghouta massacre."Pierre Piccinin said that he and fellow hostage Domenico Quirico, an Italian war reporter, heard their jailers talking about the chemical weapon attack and saying that Assad was not to blame.

"Quirico confirmed to La Stampa newspaper that they had eavesdropped such a conversation through a closed door..."

Syria: Assad not Responsible for Ghouta Gas Attack, Says Freed ...

Xymphora has written: Monsters everywhere!We quote:

"Sources: U.S. helping underwrite Syrian rebel training on securing chemical weapons" (CNN - December 9, 2012):"The United States and some European allies are using defense contractors to train Syrian rebels on how to secure chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria, a senior U.S. official and several senior diplomats told CNN Sunday.

"The training, which is taking place in Jordan and Turkey, involves how to monitor and secure stockpiles and handle weapons sites and materials, according to the sources. "Some of the contractors are on the ground in Syria working with the rebels to monitor some of the sites, according to one of the officials.Syrie : l'op(C)ration anti-Assad a commenc(C)" (Le Figaro - August 22, 2013). American, Israeli And Jordanian Troops And CIA Agents Have Entered Syria, Le Figaro ReportsJim White asks: Whyis Obama Changing the Date and Size of First CIA Death Squads to Enter Syria?Jim White writes:

"Obama claimed only the first group of 50 were entering, while Le Figaro claimed there were two groups, with the first one being 300 and the second one not specified by size. "Further, note the dates and location: they entered on August 17 and 19 and they passed through Ghouta. "The large number of deaths from a suspected chemical warfare agent occurred on August 21 in Ghouta."... "Vladimir Putin had some very interesting things to say in a wide-ranging interview today, but this bit stands out in relation to the death squad story:"''If it is determined that these rebels used weapons of mass destruction, what will the United States do with the rebels?'' Mr. Putin asked.

"''What will the sponsors of the rebels do? Stop the supply of arms? Will they start fighting against the rebels?''""....US-trained death squads could well be at the center of the disputed use of chemical weapons. "That would seem to be both a strong incentive and a huge tell for Obama to change both the date and the size of the entry of the first of these agents trained by the US... "It's not just the US training them. Going back to the Jerusalem Post article:"The rebels were trained for several months in a training camp on the Jordanian-Syrian border by CIA operatives, as well as Jordanian and Israeli commandos, the paper said."

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Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:59

Sep 11, 2013 By John T. BennettinCapitol Hill, Industry, Intercepts, International, Obama, Operations, Policy, Syria, SyriaNo CommentsTags:assad, Obama, Russia, Syria, UN, War

Business was booming at the Raytheon booth during a recent defense conference in Colorado Springs, Colo. In recent weeks, the company's stock price has soared as its Tomahawk missile is poised to star in a U.S. military mission in Syria. (Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

President Barack Obama has asked Congress to delay action on any measure that would authorize him to use military force to punish his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, for using chemical weapons. Lawmakers are obliging, saying they'll ''hit the pause button'' while the White House examines a Russian proposal to seize Assad's chemical arms.

So, if this diplomatic gambit fails, will Obama still unleash a Tomahawk cruise missile barrage on Syria? Wall Street on Tuesday '-- even as the White House veered, for now, away from military strikes '-- seemed more convinced than ever that the Tomahawks soon will be en route to Damascus. After the president's speech, will that change?

Even as the White House on Tuesday morning leaked word that Obama would allow Moscow to work its plan through the United Nations before attacking Syria, ''the Street'' seemed convinced the chances of American strikes remain high.

The stock price for Raytheon, which makes the Tomahawk missile, neared $77 per share, nearly $25 higher than its 12-month. When trading ended Tuesday, Raytheon's stock was trading at $76.89 per share. Notably, the stock price soared past $77 per share in the hours immediately following Obama's embrace of a diplomatic attempt at seizing Assad's chemical weapons.

Obama's recent march to the brink of war in Syria sent Raytheon's stock surging to a 52-week high of $77.93 in the last week of August.

The Syria-fueled prices are well above the stock's six-month (just under $55 a share) and 12-month ($52.24) lows. The price fluctuated between $55 and $60 from March to late April, climbing to nearly $65 by late May. It hovered around $65.50 during June and for much of July, then began a slow climb toward current levels.

Much of the cable news punditry and major print/online media headlines on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning predict U.S. strikes are now unlikely. But, as senior lawmakers in both chambers have said since the Russian plan surfaced have said, Obama must now channel his inner Ronald Reagan, meaning he must ''trust but verify'' Russia's plan.

Did Obama's speech change Wall Street's mind? Will Raytheon's stock plummet on Wednesday? We'll keep an eye on the market's reaction to Obama's big speech and keep you posted throughout the day.

A graph charts the fluctuations of Raytheon's stock price on Tuesday as the Obama administration moved from war to diplomacy. (Source: USA Today)

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 14:41

Gearing up for a non-vote authorizing military force on Syria for using chemical weapons Aug. 21 killing hundreds of civilians, President Barack Obama now has his way out not only of intervening in Syria but more importantly a likely stinging defeat in Congress. Faced with a growing tsunami of negative public opinion, Congress was poised to slap down Obama on his request to take military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. An 11th-hour deal suggested by Secretary of State John Kerry and brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to put al-Assad's chemical arsenal in U.N. control has forced Obama to pivot on his national address tomorrow night. Expected to ask for a Congressional vote to authorize force, Obama will likely inform the public that his threats of taking military action have made al-Assad surrender his chemical weapons arsenal under Russian pressure.

When Obama met Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg Sept. 5-6, the two leaders barely exchanged words. Putin was steadfast in asking the U.S. to postpone any air strikes until after U.N. inspectors released their preliminary report on the use of chemical weapons Aug. 21. Putin wanted more proof than declassified information released by the U.S. government. Playing devil's advocate, Putin refused to join the U.S. drumbeat to military action, urging Obama to hold off and put the matter before the U.N. Security Council. ''But his cannot be another excuse for deal or obstruction,'' said former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, referring to Putin's proposal. ''And Russia has to support the international community's efforts sincerely or be held to account,'' said Hillary, adopting trust-but-verify Putin's plan to place al-Assad's arsenal under U.N. control.

Obama's speech tomorrow will withdraw his request for Congress to vote on authorizing military action in Syria. Bringing up new developments by Putin, Barack will take a wait-and-see approach but, at the same time, take Congress'--and himself'--off the hook. Faced with the prospects of a ''No'' vote in the House, Obama has the perfect out now that Putin places his credibility on the line promising to get al-Assad to turn over his chemical arsenal to the U.N. While reluctant to make any concessions, Putin's already stuck his neck out for al-Assad scrambling to stop a U.S. attack. Putin wouldn't take the risks for al-Assad unless he could guarantee the results. Calling Putin's plan a ''significant breakthrough,'' Barack will tell the nation that the U.S. will postpone military action, giving Putin and international community more time to resolve the Syrian crisis diplomatically and peacefully.

Putin's plan to place al-Assad's weapons in U.N. hands obviates the need for military action. ''I don't anticipate that you would see a succession of votes this week or anytime in the immediate future,'' said Obama, confirming that he's withdrawing the request for Congress to debate and vote on Syrian air strikes. Obama put himself in a pickle after telling al-Assad in 2012 that chemical weapons used would be a ''game-changer'' or ''red line'' for the White House. After the horrific Aug. 21 poison gas attacks, Obama was pressed reluctantly to take military action. Instead of asserting his executive authority under the 1973 War Power Act, the President punted the decision Aug. 31 of authorizing air strikes to Congress, knowing they'd probably reject his request. Putin's new ''breakthrough,'' as Obama calls it, gets the president off the hook by sparing him a likely political defeat in Congress.

When Obama faces the nation tomorrow night, he'll claim his credible threat of military action prompted Putin to pressure al-Assad into making concessions on his chemical weapons. ''I think what we're seeing is that a credible threat of a military strike from the United States, supported potentially by a number of countries around the world, has give them pause and makes them consider whether or not they would make this move,'' said Obama. Taking heat from the international community to at least acknowledge that al-Assad used chemical weapons on his own people, Putin jumped at the chance to flex his diplomacy muscle, brokering the new chemical weapons arrangement and averting U.S. air strikes. With a Russian navy base at Tartus on the Syrian coast, Putin had a lot to lose backing al-Assad when proof comes out from U.N inspectors that Syria used Sarin nerve gas.

When Obama faces the nation Tuesday night, he'll withdraw his request to have Congress debate and vote on military action against Syria. When he decided to put the question to Congress Aug. 31, it was Barack's way of backing down from his ''red line'' promise of using force. When it became clear he'd face a humiliating defeat in Congress over using force, Kerry proposed to his Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Russia pressure al-Assad to put his chemical weapons arsenal in U.N. control. Meeting with Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, Lavrov said Syria would seriously consider the proposal. Showing skepticism, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France President Francois Hollande all applauded Putin's move. Whether Putin's proposal gains traction or not, it's a victory for diplomacy over saber-rattling.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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Source: Real Jew News

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 19:27

America In Decline Articles, Putin Articles

Putin Trips Up AIPACOn SyriaBy Brother Nathanael KapnerCopyright 2013September 11, 2013

Articles May Be Reproduced Only With Authorship of Br Nathanael Kapner& Link To Real Jew News (SM)

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Or Send Your Contribution To:The Brother Nathanael Foundation, PO Box 1242, Frisco CO 80443E-mail: brothernathanaelfoundation@yahoo.com___________________________________

THE MASTER STRIKES AGAIN'... this time tripping up Jewry's plans to use a bombed-out Syria as a half-way house on their way to blow up Iran.While AIPAC led the charge along with fat cat Sheldon Adelson and countless other Jewish organizations to use the US Military to do their dirty work on the sovereign nation of Syria, it was Russia who took the high ground to stop the Jewish rampage.

Over and over again, Russia reminded the world that not only was America deficient in presenting viable evidence that Dr Assad used chemical weapons but that a US strike on Syria would violate international law.

And now, Putin (a master of jujitsu which uses leverage to make an opponent's body work against itself), has tripped up AIPAC by diffusing the crisis via a pre-arranged agreement with Dr Assad to have Syria surrender its chemical weapons.

The Master has shown the world that diplomacy is better than murder'...the only policy Jewry and its captive nation, Jewmerica, knows.

Do Jews care about what's moral or illegal?'...Read the Jew-owned New York Times article, ''Bomb Syria Even If It's Illegal,'' and decide for yourself.

But now Putin, NOT Jewmerica, is calling the shots. And that's the way it should be now that the Mideast is 'up for grabs' with regard to geopolitical powers of influence.

The only way Dr Assad would surrender his chemical weapon missile system'--since it is Syria's key deterrence and defense system against Israel'...admitted by Israel'--would be in exchange for something which is an even stronger defense system, which would also be protective of Russia's interests inside Syria.

How to steal the thunder from Tel Aviv and DC? It would be to remove the fuse from this 'time bomb.'

Critical parts of the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal, especially its delivery systems and most vulnerable and dangerous agents, can be carried safely to a temporary storage area in Russia, under UN auspices.

The only person who could solve this problem is Putin. He has the means and is trusted by Assad to allow Russian special forces to remove chemical weapons and load them onto the large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov guarded by a contingent of Russian marines.

But what about the 'special cargo' the Nikolai Filchenkov picked up in Russia?

That Russian ''special cargo'' on its way to Syria could be the extremely advanced S-400 missile system which Russia has said is not available at this time in the arms trade business.

Yet, it was Putin himself who warned that Syria will soon have weapons not seen before in the Middle East if the US did not back off of its plans.

If Russia is indeed hauling its S-400s for Syria on its naval landing ship'--which can certainly take the weight being a tank hauler and can beach itself to offload if no port is available'--we are talking about a deployment time of about 5 minutes after the mobile launchers arrive at their destinations after being driven off of the ship.

And this is why Jewry is NOT happy about Putin tripping up their war-mongering plans.

BUT ARMAGEDDON has not been defeated'...it's just been postponed.

AIPAC, Adelson'--and those hundreds of Jewish organizations'--have BILLIONS of dollars at their disposal.

And Jewish dollars is what rules Capitol Hill and what makes ''bringing democracy'' to the world a laughable, (yet dangerous) American farce.

Thank You Servants Of Jesus Christ

Support The Brother Nathanael Foundation!

Or Send Your Contribution To:The Brother Nathanael Foundation, PO Box 1242, Frisco CO 80443E-mail: brothernathanaelfoundation@yahoo.com___________________________________

For More See:Syria'...Another War For The JewsClick HereAnd:How Putin Will Change The WorldClick Here

And:Putin's Pipeline To SyriaClick Here

And:The Difference Between Putin & ObamaClick Here

___________________________________Support Brother Nathanael!

Send Your Donation To:Brother Nathanael Kapner; PO Box 1242; Frisco CO 80443E-mail: bronathanael@yahoo.com

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Brother Nathanael @ September 11, 2013

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Source: RT - USA

Mon, 09 Sep 2013 16:37

Published time: September 09, 2013 16:14US secretary of State John Kerry (AFP Photo / Alastair Grant / Pool)

Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has one week to give up his arsenal of chemical weapons or else become the target of a US military strike.

Answering to a reporter during a press conference in London early Monday, Mr. Kerry offered an ultimatum which would require the Syrian leader to turn over whatever remains of a reported chemical weapons stockpile in order to avoid an attack from the United States.

"Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week - turn it over, all of it without delay and allow the full and total accounting, but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done," Kerry said at the press conference.

According to Reuters, the US State Department said Kerry was making a rhetorical argument. As lawmakers in Washington ready to weigh in on whether or not to authorize the use of military force against Assad, however, an American-led attack on Assad's government remains a very real possibility.

The White House and high-ranking members of Congress alike have repeatedly urged American politicians to sign-off on a strike meant to reprimand Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons outside of Damascus on August 21. US officials say more than 1,400 Syrians were gassed to death during that assault, though Pres. Assad remains adamant that he was not responsible.

President Barack Obama and Mr. Kerry said they want a limited military strike against Assad in order to demonstrate that the US will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against civilians. The secretary of state is expected to brief members of Congress on Monday after returning from the UK, and Pres. Obama will address the nation in a televised statement the following evening.

Before leaving London, Sec. Kerry said, ''We will be able to hold Bashar al-Assad accountable without engaging in troops on the ground or any other prolonged kind of effort in a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort that degrades his capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for Syria's civil war.''

Amid concerns that intervening in that internal conflict will launch the US into another war, Kerry added that the White House wants nothing more than an ''unbelievably small, limited kind of effort.'' Outside of Washington, though, the use of military force remains largely unwanted. According to the results of a CNN poll conducted over the weekend, 59 percent of Americans said they are against a military strike on Syria, and nearly three-fours of those surveyed said airstrikes would not achieve ''significant goals'' for the US.

Meanwhile, proponents of intervention say they are more certain than ever that Assad approved last month's assault. Kerry claimed that the entire US intelligence community now believes Assad ordered the chemical weapons attack, and said only three people '-- Assad, one of his brothers and a senior general '-- are responsible.

Assad told CBS News on Sunday that America should ''expect every action'' if a strike is ordered in Washington. The next day, Kerry said of the Syrian president, ''This is a man without credibility.''

Kerry's remarks in London were made during a joint appearance with William Hague, the British foreign secretary. ''Our government supports the objective of ensuring that there can be no impunity for the first use of chemical warfare in the 21st century,'' Mr. Hague said during the presser ''As an international community we must deter further attacks and hold those responsible for them accountable.''

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Source: The Daily Star >> Live News

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 12:46

WASHINGTON: The CIA has been delivering light machine guns and other small arms to Syrian rebels for several weeks, following President Barack Obama's decision to arm the rebels.

The intelligence agency has also arranged for the Syrian opposition to receive anti-tank weaponry like rocket-propelled grenades through a third party, presumably one of the Gulf countries that has been arming the rebels, a senior U.S. intelligence official and two former intelligence officials said Thursday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the classified program publicly.

The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal first reported the aid.

Top rebel commander Gen. Salim Idris told National Public Radio on Thursday that rebels had received no such aid from the U.S. The CIA declined to comment.

The officials said the aid has been arriving for more than a month, much of it delivered through a third party, which could explain why the rebel commander Idris does not believe the U.S. directly delivered the aid. The officials said the aid is delivered to commanders who have been vetted by the CIA, and the path of the weaponry is tracked through trusted parties within the country - though eventually, once they're in the hands of fighters, the U.S. loses sight of where the weapons go.

The rebels continue to request sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry to take out the Syrian regime's helicopters, but the officials said neither the U.S. nor Syria's neighboring countries, like Jordan or Israel, wants the rebels to have weaponry that may fall into the hands of the al-Qaida-linked rebel group al-Nusra, or be captured by Hezbollah fighters who are supporting the Syrian army's effort.

The CIA program is classified as covert, which means it would be briefed to Congress's intelligence committees but not its defense committees. That explains why some senior lawmakers on the defense committees have complained the aid was not arriving, two of the officials said.

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Source: The Politics Blog with Charles P. Pierce RSS Feed

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 13:02

About The Politics BlogThis blog is about politics, which, according to Aristotle, a truly veteran scribe, is the result of humans being the only herd animals capable of speaking to one another... READ MORE...

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 19:02

Russia's vast energy resources have long given the country substantial influence in the international arena. AsHayk Hovhannisyannotes, however, a number of current developments present a threat to Russia's economic and global position. New energy supply routes and the shale gas extraction 'boom' may reduce demand for Russian energy resources; while a slowdown in the BRIC economies, allied with negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), could have profound implications for the country's economy.

Three major factors are likely to shape the international agenda in the coming years: a slowdown in emerging economies; transformation of traditional energy markets and supply sources; and two free trade 'mega-agreements' between the US and its transoceanic trade partners. Russia's current political and economic orientation puts it in a disadvantageous position in the face of these developments. The adverse economic effects of the first two trends are direct and already visible, while the indirect isolating consequences of the later will be felt in the future.

Despite a sustained period of high oil prices, Russia has registered falling growth rates for six consecutive quarters, with 1.6 and 1.2 per cent growth in the first two quarters of 2013. It is unlikely that the country will reach the forecasted growth target of 2 per cent for this year. Down from its peak of 8.5 per cent in 2007, this is the largest drop in growth among the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) during the same period.

Cathedral Square, Moscow Kremlin (Credit: Kwong Yee Cheng, CC-BY-SA-3.0)

Looking at the broader perspective of the BRICs, some might hope that this deceleration is a cyclical phenomenon. Others, like professor Nouriel Roubini of NYU's Stern School of Business, believe that the main contributing factors '' state capitalism, the end of the commodity super-cycle, and a hard landing in China '' are structural. The slowdown in the BRICs might signal an end to the era of endless increases in demand for commodities. Evidence suggests that commodities may have already entered a period of sustained price decreases. If this is true, the world's most resource-abundant country will pay a heavy toll, as commodities account for up to two-thirds of Russia's exports. Almost 30 per cent of its GDP and half of Federal Budget revenues are generated through hydrocarbons.

European demand for Russian energy resources already fell by 8 per cent in 2012. Asia still shows remarkable absorbing capacities, but even there Moscow faces significant challenges. China, for example, is not only slowing down, but also diversifying its energy sources. It has estimated shale gas reserves of 1,275 trillion cubic feet, which is more than those of the US and Canada combined. The world's largest energy companies are actively tapping into this vast resource. China's National Energy Administration is planning to increase the output of its shale gas to 2.2 trillion cubic feet by 2020.

While GazProm has recently missed another deadline for finalising the terms of a large gas supply contract to China, the Chinese government is continuously building up its supplies from Central Asia and other areas. It is constructing the third line of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline, which will increase the throughput of gas from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to 2 trillion cubic feet per year by 2016. In July, the Myanmar-China pipeline, supplying gas from the deepwater Shwe project in the Bay of Bengal, also became operational.

EU energy resources and free trade negotiations

Similar shifts are also noticeable on Russia's western frontiers. The EU possesses 75 per cent of the shale gas reserves of the US, and is advancing their exploitation, albeit at a much slower pace. While political debates impede a full-blown 'shale' revolution inside the EU, across the border, in Ukraine, the Dutch energy giant Shell is already putting efforts into its 0.7 trillion-cubic-feet-per-year shale gas field. To the south, the upcoming Trans-Adriatic pipeline and the newly discovered huge gas reserves of the Eastern Mediterranean will further diversify Europe's energy supply options. In the beginning of August, during his visit to Washington, the Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, announced that Israel, Cyprus and Greece will be capable of fully satisfying Europe's demand for natural gas through their Mediterranean reserves.

In his meeting with President Obama, Samaras also promised something else. In the first half of 2014, during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Greece will exert maximum effort to finalise the negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US. These two parties account for almost half of global output, and the new free trade zone is intended to provide a new boost for their slowly recovering economies. It is expected that the national incomes of the two countries will increase by '‚¬86bn and '‚¬65bn, and bilateral exports by '‚¬186bn and '‚¬159bn, for the EU and the US respectively. While some have celebrated this partnership as an 'economic NATO', Karel De Gucht, the European Commissioner for Trade, has vowed that the two largest economies of the world will not withdraw from the rest of the world.

NATO or not, this is an important development from which Russia is unlikely to benefit. One of the core ideas of the agreement is to synchronise and remove regulatory barriers between the US and the EU. This can bring significant benefits not only for domestic companies in the two economies, but also up to '‚¬100bn in gains to those in other countries. One mechanism is that uniform manufacturing standards can create huge savings for firms in non-TTIP countries exporting to both European and American markets (i.e. Kia and Toyota are supposed to benefit from a common standard on seatbelts as much as Ford and Renault). With its commodity-dominated exports, Russia's stake in these gains is uncertain.

Likewise, on the other side of the world, officials from twelve Pacific countries '' Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam '' are preparing for the 19th round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations that will take place in Bandar Seri Begawan at the end of August. These countries account for 40 per cent of world GDP, and it is estimated that TPP, the largest free trade agreement ever agreed, can boost their aggregate annual output by another $300bn.

Russia and the changing global economic landscape

It is clear that to retain its global influence, the Kremlin has to remodel Russia's role through economic diversification and more amicable foreign political discourse. No signs of the latter are visible at this moment. The level of misunderstandings between Moscow and Washington reached a point where, on August 7th, the US President had to cancel the upcoming summit with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. While foreign policy might be a matter of top-down resolve, which either exists or not, economic modernisation takes more than that.

Innovation became a buzzword in former President Medvedev's administration when he launched the state-guided Skolkovo project in 2009, a Silicon Valley to-be based near Moscow. But creativity and entrepreneurship are usually freedom-loving species. Four years and almost three billion government-invested dollars later, the project resembles a huge construction site in a dubious condition. There are few private investors, the market of venture financing is rudimentary, not to mention the red tape and corruption allegations.

Olga Uskova, the president of Cognitive Technologies, a major Russian software developer, predicts that by 2014 Skolkovo will become an accomplished construction project, but without innovations. On a wider scale, the unfavourable investment climate has caused a massive capital flight of $360bn in the last five years, or around 4 per cent of GDP annually. Recently, the Russian Ministry of Economy has revised its capital outflow estimates for 2013 from zero to $30bn.

Although Russia's decade of hydrocarbon-fuelled rapid growth might be over, its energy and currency reserves are vast, and money in Moscow will not run out quickly. But nevertheless, the Kremlin's capacity for political and economic pressure on the energy-dependent countries, stretching from East Asia, to the South Caucasus, to Western Europe and beyond, will gradually decline. Staying on the sidelines of the two massive American-led free trade zones will not help.

Possessing a huge territory, abundant natural resources, a highly educated population, and an extremely rich cultural heritage, Russia is performing far below its potential. In Fyodor Tyutchev's famous words, ''you cannot grasp Russia with your mind'... you can only believe in it''. One wonders whether the great 19th century poet would have the same view, had he lived in our time. Hopefully Russia's enlightened, well-travelled and well-informed new generation will revive their belief in the country, at the same time making it more understandable for themselves and the rest of the world.

Please read our comments policy before commenting.

Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of EUROPP '' European Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics.

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About the Author

Hayk Hovhannisyan '' LSEHayk Hovhannisyan is a graduate of the LSE's MPA programme, with a degree in International Development. He has six years of military and public service experience in Armenia. During his studies in London he has worked on projects for Thomson Reuters and The Boston Consulting Group. His research interests are geopolitics and the economics of Eastern Europe and ex-Soviet countries.

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 18:21

Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni said the government may sell stakes in Eni SpA (ENI), Enel SpA (ENEL) and Finmeccanica SpA (FNC), or use the assets as collateral in a bid to lower debt.

''We are considering the possibility of reducing our participation in state-controlled companies,'' Saccomanni said today in a Bloomberg Television interview with Ryan Chilcote from Moscow. When asked then if he was referring to companies like Eni, Enel and Finmeccanica, Saccomanni said: ''We are considering this.''

''There are a number of issues to be addressed from this point of view because these companies are profitable and are giving dividends to the budget,'' he said. ''So we have to consider also the possibility to use this as collateral for debt reduction schemes we are considering.''

Saccomanni's office said later in an e-mailed statement that specific plans reported in the media had not been formulated by the Finance Ministry.

''The minister responded in general terms, speaking about the strategy of reduction of debt, citing many possibilities of creating value from public assets, but without ever citing specific companies,'' the ministry said in the statement.

The Italian government, led by Prime Minister Enrico Letta, is turning its attention to the $2.7 trillion debt after reining in the deficit after almost two years of austerity. The debt load has weighed on confidence throughout the European financial crisis and Italy's two-year recession, with foreign ownership of Italian debt declining to 34.6 percent in April from 35.1 percent in May 2012.

'Overall Strategy'''I hope that before the end of the year we can make clear what are we concretely envisioning in the overall strategy of accelerating the debt-reduction scheme,'' Saccomanni said. He didn't clarify his intention regarding collateral.

Eni, Enel and Finmeccanica underperformed the benchmark FTSE MIB stock index's 0.4 percent gain as of 5:32 p.m. in Rome. Eni rose 0.2 percent to 16.64 euros and Enel declined 0.8 percent to 2.39 euros. Finmeccanica was the index's second-biggest loser, falling 1.6 percent to 3.71 euros.

Saccomanni's remarks ''could lead to some pressure on share prices,'' analysts at Equita Sim SpA said in a note to investors today.

The sale of government holdings could deepen fissures in the coalition. Deputy Finance Minister Stefano Fassina said in a January interview that the benefit ''in terms of debt reduction would be little, while the state would lose control of valuable pieces of industry.''

State StakesThe Treasury and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti own about 30 percent of Rome-based Eni, the oil producer with a market value of 60 billion euros. The Treasury owns about 31 percent of power producer Enel and 30 percent of Finmeccanica, the Rome-based defense contractor.

Italy is mired in its longest recession in at least two decades and unemployment has risen to 12.2 percent, a record. Italy met about 60 percent of its debt-issuance needs for 2013 in the first half, according to the Treasury. Saccomanni said the presence of non-Italian investors has been adequate.

''We are satisfied with the results we have achieved so far,'' Saccomanni said. ''Apart from some volatility, the share of foreign holders of Italian debt has remained more or less constant. It has declined during the crisis, but then gone up again.''

Accelerating PaymentsLetta, 46, is seeking to stimulate the economy by paying back debt owed by the public administration to its private-sector suppliers. That effort is being accelerated as the government aims to complete 40 billion euros of arrears payments within 12 months, Saccomanni said today.

''We are anticipating there will be a powerful impact from the program of accelerated repayment of commercial arrears,'' Saccomanni said.

Still, Letta needs to meet a commitment to European Union allies to keep the budget deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product.

''I think it's necessary to couple the current policy to contain the deficit with an effort to accelerate the reduction of debt that can have an effect on the spreads and debt financing costs,'' Saccomanni said later to reporters.

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Frye in Rome at afrye@bloomberg.net; Lorenzo Totaro in Rome at ltotaro@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net; Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net

Enlarge imageItalian Finance Minister Fabrizio SaccomanniAlessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg

Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni said, ''There are a number of ideas that we are now taking into account.''

Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni said, ''There are a number of ideas that we are now taking into account.'' Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg

9:07

July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni discusses the Italian economy, government stakes in Eni SpA and Enel SpA, and boosting bank lending. He talks in Moscow with Ryan Chilcote on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 18:32

Thanks to fracking, the US has plenty of cheap natural gas. In fact, it has so much that it's now planning the construction of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities (just last decade the US was looking to build more LNG import infrastructure). Last month, the Obama administration approved plans for America's third LNG export terminal, and a dozen or so similar facilities are just waiting on the permits before they break ground themselves. The demand for American gas is high, thanks to how cheap it will be even after the added liquefaction and transport costs are factored in. Europe is anxious to wean itself off of Russian gas (which frequently comes with strings attached), Japan needs to plan a new energy regime in the post-Fukushima world, and the rest of Asia'--China in particular'--has a voracious appetite for energy to power its growth.

This isn't the only piece of America's LNG export puzzle falling into place. The widening of the Panama Canal, scheduled for completion in 2015, will give LNG tankers like the one pictured above a much shorter path to the Pacific. A large portion of America's energy infrastructure lies along the Gulf coast, which makes shipping to Asia a roundabout endeavor. Since LNG tankers are too wide to fit through the canal as it currently exists, they have to travel a circuitous 16,000 mile route on their way to Asia. The canal will cut that route nearly in half, which will bring down the price of transporting the gas and make it more competitive in the Asian market.

As Reuters reports, that has investors in East African, Australian, Russian and Canadian LNG projects worried:

The Gulf of Mexico coast has tailor-made ports, storage and pipes it has used for LNG imports. It is part of the world's biggest natural gas market and has specialist local labour available.

This gives LNG projects there a set of 'brownfield' advantages over 'greenfield' rivals off the undeveloped coasts of Mozambique and Tanzania, in the harsh Russian Arctic, and in remoter parts of Australia and Canada. [...]

Adding to uncertainty for non-U.S. projects is the widening of the Panama Canal and the cost reduction that will bring for U.S. LNG exporters.

We've noted before the difficulties other countries have had in replicating America's shale gas success, but with the widening of the Panama Canal and the construction of new US LNG export terminals, the rest of the world might soon be muttering this variation of an old adage: ''If you can't beat 'em, import from 'em.''

[LNG carrier image courtesy of Lightgraphs]

More Coverage from Via Meadia:

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 19:21

Above photo: (AFP Photo / Atta Kenare)

[*Disclaimer: The authenticity of the Britam email has been questioned. We are posting this article for the information it provides about the dueling pipelines in the region]

In the summer of 2011, just weeks after civil war broke out in Syria, the Tehran Times released a report entitled, Iran, Iraq, Syria Sign Major Gas Pipeline Deal. The report provided details on how Iran planned to export its vast natural gas reserves to Europe through a pipeline that traversed both Iraq and Syria. This Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline would be the largest gas pipeline in the Middle East and would span from Iran's gas-rich South Pars field to the Mediterranean coastline in Lebanon, via Iraq and Syria.

But the pipeline won't stop there.

The agreement calls for the construction of an underwater pipeline under the Mediterranean Sea stretching from Lebanon to Greece to deliver Iranian gas to energy-hungry European nations.

The 6,000 kilometer pipeline, which has a massive price tag of $10 billion, will have an estimated capacity of 100-120 million cubic feet of gas per day, with a projected completion date sometime near 2018. As of this writing, the construction of this proposed pipeline has not begun and the question of who will finance the project has not been addressed. However, in July 2013, leaders from Syria, Iran, and Iraq met to sign a preliminary agreement on the pipeline with the hopes of finalizing the deal by the end of the year.

Like its Turkish neighbor, Syria's geographic location on the Mediterranean Sea makes it an obvious export center for landlocked oil producers within the greater Middle East seeking to export their oil and gas reserves to European markets. For this reason, Syria's strategic location, and its warm water port on the Mediterranean, have placed it near the center of a major effort by Western nations to pump cheap Middle East gas supplies to Europe and beyond.

Syria is already part of a Western-ordained gas pipeline that spans from Egypt to Homs. This pipeline, known as the Arab Gas Pipeline, was originally planned to continue traveling north of Homs up into Turkey. From there, it can be piped into Europe. The major players of this Western approved pipeline include Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among other Gulf nations.

Syrian President Assad has since rejected the Arab Gas Pipeline and has instead begun working closely with Iran on Iran's proposed gas pipeline, dubbed the Islamic Pipeline. This proposed pipeline would obviously compete directly with the Arab Gas Pipeline and its goal of delivering Mideast natural gas to Europe.

Most Arabs view the Islamic Pipeline as a Shi'ite pipeline serving Shi'ite interests. After all, it originates in Shi'ite Iran, passes through Shi'ite Iraq, and flows into Shi'ite controlled Syria. Therefore, the Sunni-dominated Gulf nations have both an economic and to a lesser extent, a religious reason, for stopping the Islamic Pipeline from becoming a reality. So far, the Gulf nations have violently opposed Syria's adoption of the Islamic Pipeline by arming opposition fighters within Syria in order to destabilize the nation. While the ultimate goal is to topple the Assad regime, these hopes appear to be diminishing as Assad remains strong and defiant in the face of recent opposition.

Despite his firm grip on power, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is opposed by many powerful actors within the Middle East, including Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda also strongly opposes the Assad government and has joined other rebel factions in an effort to overthrow Assad and to install a more Sunni-friendly (and perhaps more importantly, a Western-friendly) government.

This week, it appears that the long planned U.S.-led war in Syria may finally commence. For nearly two decades, Western nations have been plotting an overthrow of the Syrian government with the aim of replacing the hostile regime with a new ''democratic'' government that is friendly to Western interests in the region.

The official Western narrative against Syria goes something like this:

The Syrian government has abused basic human rights, maintains deep ties with rogue regimes like Iran and North Korea, and just recently launched a chemical weapons strike on hundreds of its own people. In addition to killing its own people, the Assad regime is serving to destabilize an already unstable Middle East. Assad must go'...

According to most reports, the U.S., Britain, and France are preparing for a strike against numerous key targets within Syria this week.

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is calling for war and has recalled Parliament this week to discuss a military response against Syria.

French President, Francois Hollande, has increased its support for the Syrian rebels and has said that France is ''ready to punish'' whoever was responsible for the recent chemical weapons attack.

The Arab League has blamed the chemical weapons attacks on the Syrian government and is calling for United Nations intervention.

U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, has said that the evidence of a chemical weapons attack in Syria is ''undeniable.''

After providing the White House with ''all options for all contingencies,'' U.S. Secretary of Defense,Chuck Hagel, has stated that U.S. forces are ''ready'' to launch a strike against Syria.

Of course, all of this is mere propaganda, as the U.S. has long planned to topple Syria.

First, consider these words from U.S. General Wesley Clark. Clark, who is clearly a globalist, admitted that the U.S. had already made the decision to invade Syria as early as 2001.

Additionally, more damning evidence of the West's intention to launch a pre-emptive strike on Syria was revealed in an explosive report released by the UK's Daily Mail on January 2013. Below is a snippet of the report, which was entitled, U.S. 'backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria and blame it on Assad's regime' :

Leaked emails have allegedly proved that the White House gave the green light to a chemical weapons attack in Syria that could be blamed on Assad's regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country. A report released on Monday contains an email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor Britam Defence where a scheme 'approved by Washington' is outlined explaining that Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons.

Here's the text of the email, according to the report:

'Phil'... We've got a new offer. It's about Syria again. Qataris propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by Washington.

'We'll have to deliver a CW to Homs, a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have. 'They want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record.

'Frankly, I don't think it's a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous.

Your opinion?

'Kind regards, David.'

Below is an screenshot of the email. (Click it to enlarge)

(As an interesting side note, the Daily Mail yanked this story from their website just a few weeks ago, perhaps in anticipation of the recent chemical weapons strike. However, FTMDaily was able to locate the story through the use of archive.org.)

Of course, the U.S., France, and Britain are scolding the Syrian government for allegedly launching the chemical weapons strike against their own people. But so far, no evidence has emerged linking the Assad regime to a chemical weapons strike. Meanwhile, both the Syrian and Russian governments have blamed the Syrian rebels for launching the attack, calling it a false flag operation designed to be used as a pretext to war. So far, the only hard evidence that exists is the above email which shows intent on the part of the U.S., not Syria.

In addition to Russia, Iran has also firmly opposed intervention into Syria. Once you grasp the regional energy pipeline politics which dominate the region, Iran's interests in Syria are obvious.

But what about Russia? Why are they choosing to side with Syria despite the massive propaganda push by the West? Russia's economy is predominantly based upon its enormous energy supplies. Much of Europe is dependent upon Russian oil and gas, and this dependency is growing. Russia has the world's largest reserves of natural gas. Which country has the second largest reserves? Iran.

Iran, however, is isolated with no current ability to export its vast energy supplies to Europe. Russia has its eye on the potential profits of bringing Iranian oil and gas online for Europe. For this reason, (among a myriad of others) it has sought to solidify its relations with Iran. Of course, the most direct route for moving Iran's energy supplies to Europe is right through the heart of Iraq and into Syria. So, it appears that Russia's alliance with Syria has less to do with Syria and much more to do with the Iranian gas that may soon flow into Syria.

In the end, these conflicts in the Middle East are all about controlling the flow of energy resources.

Itm Adam,

Thank you for some great entertainment and enlightenment. Last show you talked about the energy business a bit and this is something I know about. I m the treasurer of a large

+Northern European energy company. So I know where the money goes and what our strategy is. Most of your analysis is correct but somethings are even worse. Lets start with the

+merit order.

1 merit order is the order of production units to put on the grid. Wnd solar on top and lignite lowest. This determines that if there is wind and sunshine all lignite and gas

+have to shutdown. This makes them even more polluting. (I m pro c o 2 since it makes plants grow) but co2 emissions rights have to be bought. The restarting of the plants

+makes them inefficient. But one needs to do so if the wind stops and or it gets dark.

At the moment gas is pretty expensive because of high demand in both Japan and the USA, weird if the franking thing was true. Coals is however dirt cheap. So those power plant

+are cheap to run.

Even with all the German nukes going offline there is a large large over supply. We are even mothballing our most modern gas plants. In all our projections E prices will

+continue to drop. Not that our clients notice anything but he. We need to pay for the non running gas plants due to the heavily subsidized wind.

Some energy market facts:

1 energy companies will not exist in 15years due to decentralized production (back yard nukes?)

2 energy prices will continue to fall in the. Mid to long term 5 to 15years

3 off shore wind will never, I repeat NEVER be profitable. To much stuff breaks out there hence the diesel power among other things.

4this over capacity was financed with the co2 certificates the energy company's got for free. We were meant to invest that in windmills but no one did.

5 wind is not clean. For every megawatt wind you need a megawatt oldschool energy in case the wind or sun stop doing what they do best. This makes them not efficient.

Best regards and keep up the good work!

Peter

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Archived Version

Source: StratRisks

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 20:24

Source: Romania Insider

Work on the US missile defense system at a military base in southern Romania will start in early October, Romania's Defense Minister Mircea Dusa announced this week.

The minister made the announcement while visiting the air base in Deveselu on Monday (September 9).

The missile defense system was flagged in an agreement signed by the two countries in Washington DC on September 12 in 2011.

It allows America to construct, maintain and operate a facility encompassing the land-based SM-3 ballistic missile defense system at the air base.

The system will have the ability to protect Europe and the US against ballistic missiles launched from the Middle East, according to the US State Department.

As part of the project, Romanian servicemen will upgrade the fence surrounding the military base, construct a perimeter road for patrolling the site, build a level crossing and develop a water treatment plant in the area.

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:20

Michael Farris at Restore American Liberty Project in response to the following question from a college student:

Is America a Constitutional Republic or Representative Democracy? What is the difference between the two? I always thought we were a Constitutional Republic. However, my (secular) college textbooks suggest a Representative Democracy.

Michael Farris: The answer is that it is complicated. The Founding Fathers used the term ''democracy'' in two ways'--one general, one specific. Sometimes they would use the term ''democracy'' to describe all forms of self-government. In that sense, the United States is a democracy.

But, in the more specific sense, democracy means when the people directly make the law. The federal government is not a democracy in that sense. However, the term ''representative democracy'' is actually a synonym for a republic. This means that the legislators elected by the people make the law. A constitutional republic is where the legislators elected by the people make laws but only as authorized by the Constitution.

So the most accurate description of the federal government as designed by the Constitution is a constitutional republic.

At the state level, it is different. There is a mix of a constitutional republic and a democracy. Whenever people vote on ballot issues they are acting as a pure democracy. The rest of the time they are acting as a constitutional republic.

Now, all of this is how it is designed on paper. In actual practice, we are living in a mixed republic, oligarchy, and dictatorship. When Congress makes laws authorized by the Constitution, it is a constitutional republic. When Congress exceeds the Constitution and passes laws anyway, it is a tyrannical republic. When the Supreme Court makes laws it is an oligarchy. When Obama makes laws by executive order it is a dictatorship.

Michael P. Farris Biography

Michael Farris is the chancellor of Patrick Henry College and chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association. He was the founding president of each organization.

Farris is a constitutional appellate litigator who has served as lead counsel in the United States Supreme Court, eight federal circuit courts, and the appellate courts of 13 states.

He has been a leader on Capitol Hill for over 30 years and is widely known for his leadership on homeschooling, religious freedom, and the preservation of American sovereignty. At Patrick Henry College, Farris teaches constitutional law, public international law, and coaches Patrick Henry College's Moot Court team which has won six national championships. A prolific author, Farris has been recognized with a number of awards including the Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship by the Heritage Foundation and as one of the ''Top 100 Faces in Education for the 20th Century'' by Education Week magazine. Mike and Vickie Farris have 10 children and 14 grandchildren.

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Archived Version

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 15:59

Aberrant - Merriam-Webster Online1ab·er·rant. adjective \a-Ëber-Ént, É-, -Ëbe-rÉnt; Ëa-bÉ-rÉnt, -ËŒber-Ént, -ËŒbe-rÉnt\. Definition of ABERRANT. 1. : straying from the right or normal way. 2.Aberrant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaAberrant is a role-playing game created by White Wolf Game Studio in 1999, setin 2008 in a world where super-powered humans started appearing one day in ...aberrant - definition of aberrant by the Free Online Dictionary ...ab·er·rant ( b r- nt, -b r -). adj. 1. Deviating from the proper or expected course. 2.Deviating from what is normal; untrue to type. n. One that is aberrant.aberrant architecture is a multi-disciplinary design studio and think ...aberrantarchitecture.com/- Cachedaberrant architecture, is a multi-disciplinary studio & think-tank that operatesinternationally in the fields of architecture, design, contemporary art & cultural ...Aberrant | Define Aberrant at Dictionary.comdeparting from the right, normal, or usual course. 2. deviating from the ordinary,usual, or normal type; exceptional; abnormal. noun. 3. an aberrant person, thing, ...Aberrant Synonyms, Aberrant Antonyms | Thesaurus.comSynonyms for aberrant at Thesaurus.com with free online thesaurus, antonyms,and definitions. Dictionary and Word of the Day.Aberrant - The White Wolf Wiki - WikiaMain Idea Aberrant is the middle game in the Trinity Universe trilogy. Referred toas both the...Aberrant Games & MiniaturesAberrant are producers of the post apocalyptic miniatures game WARLANDS andthe multiple Origins Awards nominated science fiction miniatures game ...aberrant - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.comhttps://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/aberrant

Definition of aberrant : Use the adjective aberrant to describe unusual conduct.Sitting in a bathtub and singing show tunes all day long might be considered ...Use aberrant in a sentence | aberrant sentence examplessentence.yourdictionary.com/aberrant- CachedHow to use aberrant in a sentence. Example sentences with the word aberrant.aberrant example sentences.Searches related to aberrant

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 01:25

Since the inception of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) has developed the science critical to defend the nation against bioterrorism. The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate is proud to have NBACC as the first laboratory built for DHS '' a national resource to understand the scientific basis of the risk posed by biological threats and to attribute their use in bioterror or biocrime events.

The President and Congress have charged NBACC with research and development of technologies to protect the American public from bioterrorism. In November 2002, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act in part to coordinate and advance homeland security research and development activities across the federal government. President Bush issued government-wide directives on biodefense research and development in April 2004.

NBACC fills critical shortfalls in our scientific knowledge of the biological agents that could be used to cause harm to the American public. As we look to the future, our scientists are helping federal policy makers and leadership to answer critical questions for our nation's security. What new vaccines or therapies should be developed based on the risk posed by biological threats? Will existing countermeasures protect the public? What procedures can be employed to detect a planned or actual bioterror event and to identify the perpetrators of such events? How should the government prioritize biodefense research to ensure that countermeasures are in place and in sufficient quantities to respond to bioterror events?

To answer these questions NBACC is focused on developing the right science to identify perpetrators of biological events and to help guide the nation's investments in vaccines, drugs, detectors, and other countermeasures.

NBACC's National Bioforensic Analysis Center (NBFAC) conducts bioforensic analysis of evidence from a bio-crime or terrorist attack to attain a ''biological fingerprint'' to identify perpetrators and determine the origin and method of attack. NBFAC is designated by Presidential Directive to be the lead federal facility to conduct and facilitate the technical forensic analysis and interpretation of materials recovered following a biological attack in support of the appropriate lead federal agency.

On January 12, 2007, NBFAC achieved ISO 17025 accreditation, the most rigorous international standard of testing and calibration by which a laboratory can be assessed. Through this achievement, NBFAC has established itself as a model for bioforensic laboratory practices.

NBACC's Biological Threat Characterization Center (BTCC) conducts studies and laboratory experiments to fill in information gaps to better understand current and future biological threats; to assess vulnerabilities and conduct risk assessments; and to determine potential impacts to guide the development of countermeasures such as detectors, drugs, vaccines, and decontamination technologies.

In January 2006, BTCC completed and delivered to the President, the Bioterrorism Risk Assessment, the nation's first comprehensive evaluation of the risks posed from bioterrorism threat agents. The BTCC also completed an all-inclusive literature review of animal modeling studies, to develop our scientific understanding of the impact of biological agents in humans.

The Science and Technology Directorate oversees the management of the NBACC as a federally funded research and development center. On December 20, 2006, DHS selected Battelle National Biodefense Institute to conduct scientific programs and operate the NBACC facility. Construction of the new facility is underway, with completion planned by 2008.

NBACC scientists and administrators collaborate with federal agencies in support of the nation's biodefense efforts. The research facility will be located within the National Interagency Biodefense Campus at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Collectively, NBACC works with campus partners in the U.S. Army, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Agriculture Department toward complementary biodefense-related research. Collaborations with another Fort Detrick resident agency '' the National Cancer Institute '' occurs under the auspices of the National Interagency Confederation for Biological Research.

NBACC is proud to join its agency partners throughout the federal government in advancing science for homeland security. NBACC's research expands the nation's understanding of the scientific characteristics of biological agents and forensics analyses for government leadership to develop policies and to build technologies to protect the American public against bioterror events.

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Archived Version

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 01:27

The objectives of the NERC Grid Security Exercise (GridEx) series are to exercise the current readiness of participating Electricity Sub-sector entities to respond to a cyber incident and provide input for '‹security program improvements to the bulk power system. GridEx is a biennial international grid security exercise that uses best practices and other contributions from the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

NERC conducted the first sector-wide grid security exercise, GridEx 2011, on November 16-17, 2011. The exercise was designed to validate the readiness of the Electricity Sub-sector to respond to a cyber incident, strengthen utilities' crisis response functions, and provide input for internal security program improvements. The GridEx 2011 after-action report is below.

On November 13-14, 2013, GridEx II will exercise NERC and industry crisis response plans and identify actionable improvement recommendations for plans, security programs, and skills. The scenario will build on lessons learned from GridEx 2011 and include both cybersecurity and physical security components.

For more information and registration for GridEx II, click here.

Thought this might be relevant to the interests of the show. Thanks for all you do. 

From the Corvallis Gazette Times

Biohazard response drill takes place at OSU this week

By CANDA FUQUA, Corvallis Gazette-Times

Posted: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 10:00 AM

It will start with a couple of burglars breaking into an Oregon State University building Thursday and continue Friday with a biological agent being released into the air.

People will be infected, and the toxic substance will spread — and that is when local, state and federal agencies will go to work.

Don’t be alarmed Friday when the Reser Stadium parking lot and South Farm area off of Brooklane Drive are filled with emergency vehicles and uniformed responders — it’s all just a drill.

The third of its kind staged at OSU, the emergency drill is intended to test procedures and open lines of communication among first responders that might be activated during an actual incident, said Matt Philpott, biological safety officer with Environmental Health & Safety at OSU.

“The real big advantage is we learn who each group is and we know who to contact, we know what each group’s capabilities are and are able to put faces with names,” Philpott said.

Among the agencies participating are Oregon State Police, OSU Public Safety, the FBI, Benton County Health Department, Corvallis Fire Department, the 102nd Civil Support Team of the Oregon National Guard, Hazmat teams from Corvallis and surrounding communities, OSU Student Health Services and OSU’s Environmental Health & Safety team.

The likelihood of an emergency involving a biohazard is miniscule, Philpott said, but regulations mandate that OSU have an updated plan as a precaution.

The most realistic scenario, which will be played out in the drill, involves someone purposefully releasing a toxic biological agent into a crowded area, Philpott said.

Participating groups will have to deal with a scenario of exposure and decontamination, as well as a clandestine laboratory that may have biohazards.

“We hope this would never happen but there are some deraged people out there,” Philpott said.

The drill should have minimal impact on pedestrian and vehicle traffic, he said.

F.Y.I.

What: Federal, state and local agencies test their procedures in the case of mass biohazard contamination event

When and Where: Thursday and Friday at Oregon State University. Most of the activity will occur on Friday.

Details: On Thursday, the Campus Way bike path may have higher-than-usual vehicle traffic. Friday’s activities will take place at the Reser Stadium parking lot and South Farm area off of Brooklane Drive.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone

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Archived Version

Source: Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 05:11

Motorola CEO: Advantages to Manufacturing in U.S. Outweigh CostsPosted on Sep 11, 2013Motorola MobilityWorkers in Texas assemble Motorola's new flagship smartphone.

Showing off the Texas plant where his company's new flagship smartphone is assembled, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside said, ''It's a myth that you can't bring manufacturing here because it's too expensive.''

The company, which is owned by Google, has marketed the new Moto X as the first smartphone made in America. Woodside says the proximity to the customer allows for the device's high customization (AT&T subscribers can order the device in 252 color combinations). But it also means that the phone's engineers can make changes without getting on a plane to China.

''We've observed that wages in Asia are going up, wages here are relatively steady, consumers care more about where their products are being built, and you have advantages of having design close to your manufacture. Those advantages will well outweigh the costs that we have today and those costs will go down over time,'' Woodside is quoted as saying by The Verge.

Even though the phones are assembled in the United States, Motorola is still outsourcing. The plant in Texas is actually run by Flextronics, a company that maintains factories around the world. And although the Moto X is assembled in the U.S., many of its constituent parts are shipped over from Asia. Also, Motorola has previously clarified that customers in other countries will not receive phones made in America, so this isn't necessarily an export business. Still, the idea is to reduce the distance from production to consumption.

It's no accident that the phones are being made in Texas, a ''right-to-work'' state. The Atlantic reported last month that workers at the plant may be making as little as $9 an hour. That's not much more than the local McDonald's, and, in a standard workweek for a household of three or more, it will provide an annual wage below the poverty line.

If this is the future of American jobs, then it's a bleak one.

'--Posted by Peter Z. Scheer

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Archived Version

Source: Zero Hedge

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 13:14

A few days ago we showed what happens when the Bureau of Labor Statistics is caught in a blatant lie. And while we exposed the difference between the NFP and the JOLTS data series, which in some ways are the "stock" effect of labor, it meant that the BLS also had to adjust its "flow" component: the initial weekly claims. Lo and behold, moments ago the DOL just reported last week's initial claims, which printed at a ridiculous 292K, 38K below expectations and the lowest level since April 2006, down from last week's 323K. On the surface great news. The problem once again is that this was a bold-faced lie. Only this time even the BLS admitted as much:

LABOR SAYS CLAIMS DROP DUE TO COMPUTER UPGRADES IN TWO STATESLABOR SAYS FAULTY REPORTING BY STATES RESPONSIBLE FOR DROPSpecifically, a larger state and a smaller one that retooled their computer networks still provided the Labor Department with applications counts. Furthermore, the BLS also said that the decrease in filings probably didn't signal a change in labor-market conditions. In other words, the number is garbage, and the BLS knows the reporting is faulty, but let's go ahead and report it anyway.

Next we await for the unemployment rate to hit -100% as the BLS upgrades from Windows 3.11 to Vista.

We would normally show the chart of Claims but what's the point: it's a bullshit number, it is made up, and now even the BLS admits it. And frankly why not: in a world in which the only thing that matters is how much liquidity Chairman Bernanke will inject, why even bother to care about news and fundamentals, something we said first in the summer of 2009, when we said the only "financial statement" that will matter is the H.4.1

Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 5(9 votes)

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Archived Version

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 21:40

August 19, 2013 |No CommentsPetition argues that case could determine whether courts provide 'meaningful review' or 'blind deference' to Executive branch decisions

(Washington, DC) '' Judicial Watch announced that it has filed a certiorari petition with the Supreme Court of the United States to review a 2013 Appeals Court ruling against the Judicial Watch lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dept. of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency (No. 12-5137)). The suit seeks to force the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to release more than 50 photographs and video recordings of Osama bin Laden taken during and after the U.S. raid upon the terrorist leader's compound in Pakistan on May 1, 2011.

In its cert petition Judicial Watch argues that ''the instant case is the poster child of the almost blind deference being provided to the Executive Branch'' by the courts in recent years in cases involving the withholding of classified materials. The petition asks the Supreme Court to ''reverse this disturbing reversal,'' and mandate the courts to ''conduct meaningful review'' or the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) will ''continue as less of a disclosure than a withholding statute.''

On May 4, 2011, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA request with the DOD seeking ''all photographs and/or video recordings of Osama (Usama) bin Laden taken during and/or after the U.S. military operation in Pakistan on or about May 1, 2011.'' An identical request had been filed on May 3, 2011, with the CIA. When neither the DOD nor the CIA complied with the FOIA requests within the 20 business days as required by law, Judicial Watch, in June 2011, filed its FOIA lawsuits against both agencies.

On April 26, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled that the images could remain secret while conceding: ''Indeed, it makes sense that the more significant an event is to our nation '' and the end of bin Laden's reign of terror certainly ranks high '' the more need the public has for full disclosure.'' On May 21, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed the District Court decision while conceding that the documents may not have been properly classified.

In a statement issued at the time of the appellate decision, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton pledged to appeal the ruling, saying, ''The court's interpretation would allow terrorists to dictate our laws. Americans' fundamental right to access government information and, frankly, the First Amendment are implicated in this ruling. There is no provision of the Freedom of Information Act that allows documents to be kept secret because their release might offend our terrorist enemies.

In the cert petition filed today with the Supreme Court, Judicial Watch states the ''Question Presented'' as:

Whether 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1), [known as 'Exemption 1'] which allows the Executive Branch to withhold information ''specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and [is] in fact properly classified pursuant to Executive order,'' limits courts to provide almost blind deference to the Executive Branch's classification determinations or whether it mandates that courts conduct meaningful review of those determinations.

Judicial Watch bases its ''Reasons for Granting the Petition'' on five key points:

I. The FOIA Is a Disclosure Statute '' As this Court has recently reiterated, the FOIA was enacted to overhaul an earlier public records provision that had become more of ''a withholding statute than a disclosure statute.'' Milner, 131 S. Ct.at 1262 (quoting Mink, 410 U.S. at 79). For the FOIA to escape this same fate, the nine exemptions contained therein must be interpreted narrowly.

II. Exemption 1 Indisputably Requires All Withheld Material to Be Classified in Accordance with the Procedural Criteria As Well As Its Substantive Terms '' Congress carefully crafted Exemption 1 to allow only the withholding of material that is ''specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and [is] in fact properly classified pursuant to Executive order '' '... The DC Circuit failed to follow this well-established, indisputable standard.

III. The D.C. Circuit Blindly Approved the CIA's Withholding of the Requested Images Even Though the Records Were Not Properly Classified '' [T]he two courts collectively concluded that the CIA provided no evidence to demonstrate that the images were properly classified.

IV. The D.C. Circuit Blindly Approved the CIA's Claim That the Release of the Images Reasonably Could Be Expected to Cause Exceptionally Grave Damage to National Security '' [T]he court seems to suggest that the result of such violence and attacks [possibly triggered by the release of the photos and videos] is equivalent to exceptionally grave damage to national security. Prior to this ruling, no court had ever held that speculative, unspecific violence harms the national defense of the United States.

V. The Courts' Almost Blind Deference Eviscerates the FOIA as a Disclosure Statute '' By providing almost blind deference to the Executive Branch, it is foreseeable that the Executive Branch will abuse its seemingly unreviewable authority.

''Make no mistake about it,'' said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, ''this is a landmark case that could determine whether President Obama, with the blind deference of the judicial branch, can unilaterally rewrite the Freedom of Information Act at the expense of the American people's right to know what its government is up to. The idea that our government would put the sensibilities of terrorists above the rule of law ought to concern every American.''

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Archived Version

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 10:27

iStockphoto.comiStockphoto.com

Here's a bit of news that might make you drop that chicken nugget midbite.

Just before the start of the long holiday weekend last Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly announced that it was ending a ban on processed chicken imports from China. The kicker: These products can now be sold in the U.S. without a country-of-origin label.

For starters, just four Chinese processing plants will be allowed to export cooked chicken products to the U.S., as first reported by Politico. The plants in question passed USDA inspection in March. Initially, these processors will only be allowed to export chicken products made from birds that were raised in the U.S. and Canada. Because of that, the poultry processors won't be required to have a USDA inspector on site, as The New York Timesnotes, adding:

"And because the poultry will be processed, it will not require country-of-origin labeling. Nor will consumers eating chicken noodle soup from a can or chicken nuggets in a fast-food restaurant know if the chicken came from Chinese processing plants."

That's a pretty disturbing thought for anyone who's followed the slew of stories regarding food safety failures in China in recent years. As we've previously reported on The Salt, this year alone, thousands of dead pigs turned up in the waters of Shanghai, rat meat was passed off as mutton and '-- perhaps most disconcerting for U.S. consumers '-- there was an outbreak of the H7N9 bird flu virus among live fowl in fresh meat markets.

What's more, critics fear that the changes could eventually open the floodgates for a whole slew of chicken products from China. As the industry publication World Poultry notes:

"It is thought ... that the government would eventually expand the rules, so that chickens and turkeys bred in China could end up in the American market. Experts suggest that this could be the first step towards allowing China to export its own domestic chickens to the U.S."

The USDA's decision comes with a backdrop of long-running trade disputes over meat between the U.S. and China. In a nutshell: China banned U.S. beef exports in 2003 after a case of mad cow disease turned up in a Washington state cow. Then, when the bird flu virus broke out widely among Asian bird flocks in 2004, the U.S. blocked imports of Chinese poultry. China challenged that decision in front of the World Trade Organization, which ruled in China's favor in 2010.

And, chicken lovers, brace yourselves: There's more. A report suggests chicken inspections here in the U.S. might be poised to take a turn for the worse. The Government Accountability Office said this week it has serious "questions about the validity" of the new procedures for inspecting poultry across the country.

Basically, these changes would replace many USDA inspectors on chicken processing lines with employees from the poultry companies themselves. The USDA has been piloting the new procedures, which will save money and significantly speed up processing lines, in 29 chicken plants. As The Washington Postreports, the plan is to roll out the new procedures eventually to "most of the country's 239 chicken and 96 turkey plants."

The problem? According to the GAO, the USDA did a poor job of evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot programs it has in place.

As a result, the report concludes, it's hard to justify the USDA's conclusions that the new procedures will do a better job than current approaches at cutting down on the number of dangerous bacteria like salmonella that pop up on the birds that will later end up on our dinner tables.

Still, the USDA maintains that the changes will, in fact, boost food safety. In a commentary published on Food Safety News, USDA food safety and inspections administrator Alfred Almanza writes, "If finalized and implemented broadly, this new inspection system would enable [USDA inspectors] to better fulfill our food safety mission. Nothing in the GAO's report contradicts this basic fact."

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Source: ZapLog

Sun, 08 Sep 2013 23:33

Het aantal gezinnen dat om financile redenen (C)(C)n of meer energierekeningen niet of niet tijdig kan betalen, is ondanks de crisis in de periode 2009-2011 stabiel gebleven op 5,9 procent. In 2008 ging het om 5,2 procent van de gezinnen. Dat blijkt uit het antwoord van minister van Economie Johan Vande Lanotte op een schriftelijke vraag van Peter Logghe (Vlaams Belang).Minister Vande Lanotte baseert zich voor Belgi op de resultaten van de jaarlijkse Europese enquªte naar inkomens en levensomstandigheden georganiseerd door de Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie. De steekproef in ons land omvat ongeveer 6.000 gezinnen. ...

Annotaties:

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Source: VK: Home

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 12:43

Door: Redactie '' 12/09/13, 13:40

(C) anp. Een Drone is te bewonderen op vliegbasis Volkel tijdens de jaarlijkse luchtmachtdagen.

Nederland is al in april 2010 akkoord gegaan met de plaatsing van een nieuw Amerikaans kernwapen op de militaire vliegbasis Volkel. Ook is er overeenstemming over het feit dat de Joint Strike Fighter het atoomwapen moet kunnen dragen. Dat zeggen verschillende deskundigen donderdagavond in het KRO-programma Reporter.

De deal wordt beschreven in een rapport van de Amerikaanse Rekenkamer over de nieuwe atoombom, die de huidige bom zal vervangen. De Amerikanen schrijven daarin steun te hebben van 'bepaalde NAVO-bondgenoten', zonder die bij naam te noemen. Deskundigen Hans Kristensen van de Federation of American Scientists en militair historicus Christ Klep zeggen er evenwel van overtuigd te zijn dat Nederland (C)(C)n van die bondgenoten is. Zij wijzen op het feit dat Nederland gastgebruiker is van Amerikaanse kernwapens.

Ook oud-minister van Defensie Bram Stemerdink zegt in Reporter geen twijfel te hebben: 'Omdat wij op dit moment beschikken over die bommen. Met Nederland wordt dus overleg gevoerd, ja zeker!'

Belangrijke prestatie AmerikanenDoor het akkoord kan de aanwezigheid van Amerikaanse kernwapens in Nederland met tientallen jaren worden verlengd. Amerikaanse defensieambtenaren noemen het krijgen van de Nederlandse steun 'een belangrijke prestatie'.

De aanwezigheid van de bommen is een van de slechtstbewaarde nationale geheimen. Het gaat om kernbommen van het type B61, die in militaire kringen gelden als sterk verouderd. Ze werden in de jaren van de Koude Oorlog in West-Europa gestationeerd als tegenwicht tegen de conventionele overmacht van het Warschaupact. De zeggenschap ligt bij de VS, die ze onder NAVO-vlag aan Nederlands gevechtsvliegtuigen kunnen hangen. Oud-premier Lubbers (CDA) baarde afgelopen juni opzien door zijn openbaring dat 'die malle dingen' daar nog steeds liggen.

Het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken laat weten dat het door 'bondgenootschappelijke verplichtingen' geen mededelingen kan doen over 'de mogelijke rol van Nederland binnen de NAVO-kernwapentaak'.

De Tweede Kamer heeft het kabinet om een brief gevraagd. Volgens CDA-Kamerlid Raymond Knops was de fractie van het CDA, destijds regeringspartij, in 2010 niet op de hoogte van de afspraak.

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Source: Reuters: World News

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 12:54

French President Francois Hollande (L) and Minister for Industrial Recovery Arnaud Montebourg visit an exhibition on French industrial design and technology at the Elysee Palace in Paris September 12, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Charles Platiau

By Nicholas Vinocur

PARIS | Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:51am EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - Francois Hollande laid out a 10-year roadmap on Thursday to revive French industry by promoting new technologies to drive job creation, but which offered little public money from stretched state coffers.

The Socialist president, whose 2014 national budget next month will focus on curbing spending, vowed to turn back what he called a 'lost decade' of conservative rule in which some 700,000 jobs fled domestic industries.

But the scheme will rely heavily on private investment and the government will act mostly as a coordinator to spur growth in 34 priority areas, from driverless cars to electric planes and a new generation of high-speed trains.

"France is a nation of inventors, pioneers and producers," Hollande said, citing France's role in previous centuries and decades in developing technologies from the steam engine to hot-air balloons and rechargeable batteries.

"We have a duty to remain so," he added, nonetheless insisting the plan was not a return to the so-called "dirigiste" state-directed industrial policies of the 1960s and 1970s.

France's new Public Investment Bank will be on hand to offer credit for innovation - no amount was specified - but officials said they hoped to match every euro of public money invested with 10 euros raised from private investors.

State-appointed "industrial officers" will press firms to work together and develop successors to French projects of the past such as the supersonic Concorde or high-speed TGV train - both fruits of state-funded research plans.

With unemployment stuck above 10 percent and the government forced this week to cut its 2014 growth forecast, Hollande is fighting to lift his approval ratings above 30 percent. He hopes such a determined display of optimism will help raise hopes for the future among the French.

But while officials say 475,000 jobs can be created or preserved if their roadmap is followed over 10 years, current data remains grim, with 49,600 industrial jobs lost in the year to August, according to the INSEE statistics office.

DRIVERLESS CARS, ELECTRIC PLANES

Most new designs presented to Hollande at the exhibition were built by industrial giants such as car-maker Renault, automotive parts group Valeo or aerospace giant EADS.

Flanked by Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg, Hollande was shown robot technology, models of an electric plane built by EADS, a driverless car being developed by Renault-Nissan and an ultra-fuel efficient vehicle being tested in Peugeot's laboratories that would retail at 15,000 euros ($20,000).

At present both Peugeot and Renault are struggling to maintain production in France due to high labor costs and employment laws that make it tricky to adjust staffing levels.

Montebourg has not lacked ideas to stimulate industry, for example creating an online tool to help businesses that have moved abroad re-calculate production costs in France.

But clear successes are elusive, despite his declaration after 10 months on the job that his mediation with vulnerable companies has saved some 60,000 threatened industrial jobs.

More jobs are still leaving France than coming home. Figures from March showed that for 44 companies which had returned production to France since 2009, 267 had outsourced activities, according to the Observatoire de l'Investissement. ($1 = 0.7518 euros)

(Editing by Mark John and Catherine Evans)

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Source: VENITISM

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 13:23

The Single Resolution Mechanism would give the commission ultimate authority over the eurozone's ten thousand banks, with responsibility to pull the plug on a shaky lender and the authority to overrule its home state.Merkel says: In my view, this proposal gives the commission powers it does not possess according to current EU treaties.Sch¤uble warns Barroso to respect the limits of the law or risk major turbulence. Barnier hoodwinks Fourth Reich cannot afford to wait for treaty change, which is typically an arduous process that can take years. Barroso wants the resolution regime, commanding three hundred staff, to begin from January 2015.EU has a new law to grab the excess of a hundred-thousand-euro deposits if a bank fails! Barroso ordered the directive on bank safety which would incorporate the issue of investor liability in member states' legislation. Your bank account will be cyprused! Dijsselbloem says the rescue program agreed for Cyprus - the first to impose a levy on bank deposits - would serve as a model for future crises, a trademark template of eurozone.

Olli Ren says: The directive assumes that investor and depositor liability will be carried out in case of a bank restructuring or a wind-down. But there is a very clear hierarchy, at first the shareholders, then possibly the unprotected investments and deposits. However, the limit of 100,000 euros is sacred, deposits smaller than that are always safe. ECB's talk on Thursday about both standard and non-standard measures is very important because the ECB may have a role in making the situation easier.Fourth Reich's economic catastrophe is unfolding so slowly that it has come to seem like business as usual. The stupid financial transaction tax (FTT) is a euthanasia pill for financial markets. Since eleven Eurozone countries adopted this stupid tax, all financial transactions of these countries will move to London and New York. Socialists also managed to convince ECB to bring out the bazooka, in other words, undertake massive purchases of government bonds to resolve the crisis.

An ECB bazooka cannot restore competitiveness to PIGS, but would only encourage profligacy, kleptocracy, and metastasis of the cancer of socialism. European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is a joke. ESM's finances depend on the very same countries that it is supposed to bail out. This isn't stability, but a Ponzi scheme!

BANKING UNION IS A STUPID SOCIALISTIC SCHEME TO FORCE THE CAPITAL TO GO TO THE FOUR PIGSEurokleptocrats create a stupid banking union to socialize the debts of banks of PIGS. The next step will be the introduction of stupid eurobonds. By the time France is hit by the crisis, Merkel will no longer be able to refuse this stupid demand. This development will ultimately lead to a stupid system that has little in common with a market economy. ECB and ESM will then direct the flow of capital into countries where it no longer wants to go. This will result in growth losses throughout Europe, and money will continue to be thrown out the window of PIGS. Furthermore, it will create considerable discord because it makes closely allied countries into creditors and debtors.Statement by President Barroso and Commissioner Barnier following the European Parliament's vote on the creation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism for the eurozone"I am extremely pleased that the European Parliament voted today to set up the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the first leg of the Banking Union. The SSM, which I first announced in my State of the Union speech last year, is a lynchpin of a deeper economic and monetary union, and this vote shows that the EU is delivering on its promises. Now our attention must turn urgently to the Single Resolution Mechanism. The Commission's proposal has been on the table since July and it is crucial that we finalise it even more swiftly. I welcome the support of many in the plenary yesterday to have it adopted during this term."Commissioner Barnier said:''Today, the EP has given its final go-ahead so that the European Central Bank will be fully entrusted with responsibility for the supervision of banks in the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). This is the first effective step creating the banking union.With this key piece of legislation, we are not only strengthening our banks and the financial stability of the eurozone, we are also strengthening economic integration.The ECB now has the legal capacity to supervise all banks of the Eurozone and of those countries which decide to join the banking union. The supervisory powers of the ECB will be fully effective and operational one year after the entry into force of the texts. New rules adapting the operating rules of the European Banking Authority (EBA) to this new framework will also enter into force in parallel.I would in particular like to acknowledge the crucial roles played by the rapporteurs Marianne Thyssen and Sven Giegold in finding this agreement.Let me also put this major achievement into a historic perspective. At the end of this week, on September 15, it will be five years since Lehman Brothers' filed for bankruptcy. This event triggered the biggest global financial crisis in modern history. Five years on, the crisis is still not completely behind us but a lot has been done to put the European financial sector back on its feet and allow it to finance the real economy and contribute to growth once again. We are putting in place all the necessary rules to better protect European citizens and to prevent future crises . The SSM is an essential part of that work.But the banking union is not finished with the SSM. It will be complemented by an integrated European resolution system for all countries participating in the banking union. This system will be built on the foundations of the Directive on Banking Resolution for Member States which I hope to see adopted shortly, and on the Single Resolution Mechanism proposed by the Commission in July this year.The text on the SSM agreed by the Parliament and the Council also establishes rules on the governance and responsibility of the European Central Bank which ensures a strict separation between its supervisory tasks and its monetary policy functions. It also foresees appropriate mechanisms to strengthen the democratic responsibility of the ECB for its supervisory activities. In that context, I would like also to congratulate the EP and the ECB for having reached agreement on the detailed modalities for the exercise of the EP's democratic oversight over the SSM''.On 12 September 2012 the Commission adopted two proposals for the establishment of a single supervisory mechanism (SSM) for banks led by the European Central Bank (ECB). The proposal for the SSM regulation aimed to confer upon the ECB specific supervisory tasks over credit institutions in the Euro area. The accompanying proposal for the regulation on the European banking Authority (EBA) aimed to introduce limited amendments to the Regulation setting up the EBA to ensure a balance in its decision making structures between the euro area and non-euro area Member States.This legislative package followed the Euro area summit on 29 June 2012, which called on the Commission to present proposals for the setting up of a single supervisory mechanism as a precondition for a possible direct recapitalisation of banks by the ESM (European Stability Mechanism).A unanimous agreement was reached in the ECOFIN Council on 13 December on the Commission's proposal for a Single Supervisory Mechanism. The European Council of 14 December welcomed the agreement reached and called on the co-legislators ''to rapidly agree so as to allow its implementation as soon as possible''.Following intensive trilogue negotiations during January and February, co-legislators reached agreement on the package on 19 March 2013.The European Parliament had given its assent in principle to the package in May. This was followed by national parliamentary procedures which have been completed in the meantime. After the EP vote, the Council will formally have to confirm the agreement, and the legal texts will have to be published, which should occur in the coming weeks.The establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) is a first step towards a banking union and one of the pre-conditions for direct recapitalisation by the ESM. An integrated ''Banking Union'' will also include a common bank resolution mechanism, underpinned by a single rulebook.The SSM applies to all the euro-area Member States and is open to the participation of other Member States who wish to embark on a path of deeper integration for supervision.Non-euro area Member States may decide to join the SSM by establishing a close cooperation between their competent authorities and the ECB. In that case they may, on an equal footing with the euro-area Member States, participate in the activities of the newly created Supervisory Board which is in charge of planning and executing the supervisory tasks conferred upon the ECB.The Regulation confers key supervisory tasks and powers to the ECB over all the credit institutions established within the euro area. The ECB carries out its tasks within a SSM composed of the ECB and national competent authorities.Within the SSM, the ECB will be responsible for the supervision of all 6000 banks of the euro area. In particular:the ECB shall ensure the coherent and consistent application of the Single rulebook in the euro area.the ECB will directly supervise banks having assets of more than EUR 30 billion or constituting at least 20% of their home country's GDP or which have requested or received direct public financial assistance from the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) or the ESM.the ECB will monitor the supervision by national supervisors of less significant banks. The ECB may at any moment decide to directly supervise one or more of these credit institutions to ensure consistent application of high supervisory standards. The work of national supervisors is integrated into the SSM: for instance, the ECB will send instructions to national supervisors, and national supervisors have a duty to notify the ECB of supervisory decisions of material consequence.The governance structure of the ECB will consist of a separate Supervisory Board supported by steering committee, the ECB Governing Council, and a mediation panel to solve disagreements that may arise between national competent authorities and the Governing Council. Clear separation between the ECB's monetary tasks and supervisory tasks is fully ensured.For cross-border banks active both within and outside Member States participating in the SSM, existing home/host supervisor coordination procedures will continue to exist as they do today. To the extent that the ECB has taken over direct supervisory tasks, it will carry out the functions of the home and host authority for all participating Member States.The rules on the functioning of the EBA have been adapted and its role reinforced. The EBA will continue developing the single rulebook applicable to all 27 Member States. In order to foster consistency and efficiency of supervisory practices across the whole Union, it will develop a single supervisory handbook. It will also ensure that regular stress-test are carried out to assess the resilience of European banks. There will be safeguards for non-euro zone Member States by means of double majority voting requirements for EBA decisions on mediation and on technical standards. This ensures that decisions are backed by both a majority of the participating and the non-participating Member States.The SSM is envisaged to be in place one year after the entering into force of the agreed texts. To allow for a smooth transition some flexibility by means of transitional arrangements is foreseen.The Commission also hopes for quick agreement by the end of the year on the pending proposals on bank restructuring and resolution and deposit guarantee schemes, and on the Commission's proposal for a single European resolution mechanism to deal efficiently with cross-border bank resolution and avoid taxpayers' money going into rescuing banks.There can be no growth without abolishing huge regulation, huge taxation, and political corruption. Basil Venitis,venitis@gmail.com,http://venitism.blogspot.com

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Source: Reuters: World News

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 05:11

A North Korean nuclear plant is seen before demolishing a cooling tower (R) in Yongbyon, in this photo taken June 27, 2008 and released by Kyodo.

Credit: Reuters/Kyodo

By Paul Eckert and Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON | Wed Sep 11, 2013 11:04pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellite imagery suggests North Korea has restarted a research reactor capable of producing plutonium for weapons at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, a U.S. research institute and a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies said a satellite image from August 31 shows white steam rising from a building near the hall that houses the plutonium production reactor's steam turbines and electric generators.

"The white coloration and volume are consistent with steam being vented because the electrical generating system is about to come online, indicating that the reactor is in or nearing operation," said the Washington-based institute.

The reactor can produce 6 kgs (13.2 lbs) of plutonium a year, the report added.

There was no immediate comment on Wednesday from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said he believed the North Koreans had restarted the reactor, saying that the amount of steam suggested that it was being tested.

The official said he did not think the North may have done so to force major powers to resume nuclear talks with Pyongyang in the hopes of extracting concessions, but rather to demonstrate that it will not abandon its nuclear programs.

"It's more straightforward than that," said the official, saying that North Korea "wants to create a fait accompli and be accepted as a (nuclear) power and nuclear weapons state."

"They've no interested in bargaining this away," he added, saying that the only way to counter the North's action would be to "raise the cost to them of taking this path, and increasing multilateral pressure, with China an active participant."

AGED REACTOR

A spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs declined to respond the report, citing a policy of not commenting on intelligence matters, but said Pyongyang's "nuclear program remains a matter of serious concern."

The spokesman repeated Washington's longstanding call for North Korea to comply with a 2005 aid-for-disarmament agreement signed by North Korea, its neighbors and the United States. Under that pact, Pyongyang would have dismantled its nuclear program in exchange for economic and energy aid.

North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests since 2006.

"Acknowledging that we are not completely certain yet, this is very disappointing but not at all unexpected," James Acton, an analyst for the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank.

"It's not unexpected because we've been able to see for months through satellite imagery that North Korea has been working on repairing the five-megawatt electric reactor," he said in a telephone interview.

Pyongyang announced in April that it would revive the aged Yongbyon research reactor that yields bomb-grade plutonium but stressed it was seeking a deterrent capacity.

"ANOTHER SLAP IN THE FACE"

Nuclear experts said at the time it would probably take about half a year to get the reactor up and running if it had not suffered significant damage from neglect.

The Yongbyon reactor has been technically out of operation for years. In 2008 the North destroyed its cooling tower as a confidence-building step in the six-nation talks.

"Restarting it is another slap in the face to the international community, indicating that North Korea has no intention whatsoever of abandoning its nuclear weapons," Acton said.

North Korea said in July it would not give up its nuclear deterrent until Washington ends its "hostile policy" towards Pyongyang, although it was ready to revive nuclear talks.

The country tested a nuclear weapon in February and spent the first three months of 2013 issuing bellicose threats including a warning that it would launch a nuclear attack against the United States and South Korea.

Recently, however, Pyongyang has been on what analysts describe as one of its periodic charm offensives, agreeing with Seoul on Wednesday to re-open a shuttered industrial park on a trial basis. The Kaesong industrial zone lies inside North Korea and was closed when Pyongyang pulled its 53,000 workers out in April amid rising tensions.

The Johns Hopkins report was released as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies was on the Tokyo leg of a September 8-13 tour of South Korea, China and Japan for consultations on policy toward Pyongyang.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert, Arshad Mohammed and Frederick Dahl in VIENNA; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 01:42

Part of the Kaesong industrial complex. Photograph: /Reuters

North and South Korea have agreed to re-open a shuttered industrial park on a trial basis starting on Monday, according to the South's unification ministry.

The Kaesong industrial zone is located a few kilometres inside North Korea and was closed when Pyongyang pulled its 53,000 workers out amid rising tensions between the two Koreas in April.

Attempts will be made to attract foreign investors into the zone, said the ministry, which is responsible for handling South Korea's stance on inter-Korean relations.

The industrial park draws on investment from more than 100 South Korean firms. It provided cheap labour for South Korean firms and much-needed hard currency for the North, generating a $80m (£50m) wage bill last year, according to Seoul's unification ministry.

But it was also part of the Seoul's "sunshine policy" of reaching out to Pyongyang, which ended when the previous South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, took power in 2008.

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 20:58

Ice retreat was as drastic in the 1930s as it is today.

28 May 2012

Aerial photographs from a 1930s expedition by Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen were used by Anders Bj¸rk at the University of Copenhagen and his colleagues to compare historical changes in glacier fronts in southeast Greenland with those of today. The photos were lost to science after being classified as secret and locked in an archive outside Copenhagen. Pictured is Rasmussen's Heinkel hydroplane after its return from a surveying mission.

Arctic Institute of Denmark

The rough ice and dangerous sailing conditions off the southeast coast of Greenland mean that few historical images of the area exist. Even Rasmussen's photos are of varying quality. This photo is an aerial oblique image from Rasmussen's Seventh Thule expedition, shot from the side of the aircraft at a height of 3,700 metres. The pen marks are from geodesists, who used the photos to generate maps.

Danish National Survey and Cadastre

Images from a handheld camera on a British Arctic Air Route Expedition in 1931, which investigated the area for a potential landing strip. These were used to fill in the blanks from Rasmussen's trips, and were taken at varying angles and distances from the ice. Left: Johan Petersen Fjord; right: ice cap on Jens Munks , an island just off southeast Greenland.

Scott Polar Research Institute

Because the aerial shots were taken at different elevations and were not perfectly level, Bj¸rk and his team had to geometrically correct them so that they had a uniform scale and the same lack of distortion as a map. By superimposing the photos on satellite images from the 1980s, they could then be used to measure distances accurately. Pictured is the 1,700-metre-wide Thrym Glacier in Skjoldungen Fjord, rectified using tie points (red crosses) from 1980s satellite images.

Natural History Museum of Denmark

The US military conducted an intensive aerial photo campaign of the Greenlandic coast in the Second World War, looking for German weather stations. The film rolls were later given to the Danish National Survey, but there are no precise dates for the flights. The best date estimate for this image is 1943, but its true age is still being investigated because a wrong date would skew the researchers' glacier results. Pictured is the land-terminating glacier Skjoldm¸en on Skjoldungen Island during the Second World War.

Natural History Museum of Denmark

The US Landsat Earth-observation programme has been providing researchers with a steady stream of satellite observations since 1972. To fill in the gap since the last aerial photographs, Bj¸rk and his colleagues gained access to recently declassified images from US intelligence satellites from 1965. Pictured are false-colour composites showing the combined outlet of the Rimfaxe and Guldfaxe glaciers. Left: 1972 image taken by Landsat 1; right, 2010 image taken by Landsat 7, the most recent Landsat satellite.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/US Geological Survey

]]> ]]> Long-forgotten aerial photographs of Greenland from the 1930s, rediscovered in a castle outside Copenhagen, have allowed researchers to construct a history of glacier retreat and advance in the area. The work, by Anders Bj¸rk at the University of Copenhagen and his colleagues, aims to provide a deeper understanding of how climate change has affected ice loss and glacier movements over the past 80 years.

Most studies of Greenland's glaciers have been done only since imaging satellites became available in the 1970s, so the data are relatively short-term. But using photographs from 1930s aerial surveys of the southeast coast of Greenland, together with US military aerial shots from the Second World War and recent satellite images, Bj¸rk and his colleagues have been able to observe changes at high spatial resolution from a period in which few glacier measurements were previously available.

Analysis of the images reveals that over the past decade, glacier retreat was as vigorous as in a similar period of warming in the 1930s. However, whereas glaciers that spill into the ocean retreated rapidly in the 2000s, it was land-terminating glaciers that underwent the fastest regression 80 years ago.

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Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 04:21

Nick McGurk, Reporter

September 11, 2013

FORT COLLINS - Back in April, Colorado State University's hurricane experts predicted an above-average season; a season that has proved instead to be far below average.

Dr. Bill Gray with CSU had predicted back in April the Atlantic would produce 18 named storms, nine of which would be hurricanes.

"So far, halfway through it, we've only had eight named storms, one hurricane, and no major storm," he said.

Gray, who has been in meteorology for roughly 60 years, has a worldwide reputation for predicting hurricanes.

"I made the first forecast 30 years ago," Gray said.

Since then, the number of hurricanes per year has fluxuated.

"Almost no storms in some years, some years a lot. What is this year going to be? There's just an interest in that," Gray said.

He admits the predictions this year have been off, though he says every organization that has tried to predict hurricanes off the Atlantic hasn't gotten it right.

"This year, everything's down. We've never seen a year where everything, the activity in the whole northern hemisphere is down," Gray said. "The atmosphere is so complex."

He says more answers on the year's hurricanes will come by the end of the season, which is in November.

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Source: Columbia Journalism Review

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:06

Slate, Discover, and The Guardian crack down on the David Rose's distorted reporting

Over the weekend the Daily Mail's David Rose published a long screed on climate change with some pretty startling revelations: Namely that global warming, as evidenced by depleting sea ice, had paused, causing scientists to believe we are heading for a period of'--wait for it'-- ''Global Cooling.''

''Some eminent scientists now believe the world is heading for a period of cooling that will not end until the middle of this century'--a process that would expose computer forecasts of imminent catastrophic warming as dangerously misleading,'' explains Rose, before he goes on to decry that global warming amounts to little more than a massive media conspiracy.

The Mail on Sunday triggered intense political and scientific debate by revealing that global warming has 'paused' since the beginning of 1997'--an event that the computer models used by climate experts failed to predict.

The pause'--which has now been accepted as real by every major climate research centre'--is important, because the models' predictions of ever-increasing global temperatures have made many of the world's economies divert billions of pounds into 'green' measures to counter climate change.

But the problem with the Internet is that it often doesn't weigh the reliability of sources before spreading their ideas around the masses. Both MSN and the Telegraph regurgitated Rose's cooling mantra, which then briefly trended on Twitter.

Which means that, regardless of the outrageous nature of Rose's claims, science writers (that is, writers whose work is based in actual science) spent the early part of their week dismantling his piece.

First, in The Guardian Dana Nuccitelli issued a dense, point-by-point rebuttal of Rose's arguments, beginning with his suggestion that this year's increase in sea ice could be used as evidence of a warming reversal. Sea ice levels are 60-percent higher this year than last'--though the measurement should hold until the end of the September melting period'--but as Nuccitelli points out, the rate of ice retreat is only significant when contextualized by last year's dramatic depletion rate:

There's a principle in statistics known as ''regression toward the mean,'' which is the phenomenon that if an extreme value of a variable is observed, the next measurement will generally be less extreme. In other words, we should not often expect to observe records in consecutive years. 2012 shattered the previous record low sea ice extent; hence 'regression towards the mean' told us that 2013 would likely have a higher minimum extent.

Nuccitelli's taken Rose to task before'--This isn't the first time Rose has been caught hawking climate-change pseudoscience or that the Daily Mail's been called out for shoddy reporting. Rose has madea name for himself spewinginformationcherry-picked from questionable sources, though the piece is a worst-case offender in that it doesn't just skew'--it blatantly disregards facts.

Another repeat Rose debunker is Phil Plaitt, who issued his own summary of the piece's foibles in his Bad Astronomy blog on Slate, comparing his evaluation of the sea ice depletion to ''getting a D- after getting an F on a test. Sure, it's better, but it ain't necessarily good.''

Plaitt also turns his attention to Rose's grandiose, and blatantly untrue, claims that his own reporting in the Daily Mail had triggered an emergency meeting of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in advance of their annual report. (Ed Hawkins of the IPCC took to Twitter to affirm that none of this actually happened)

At Discover, Tom Yulsman uses a series of animated GIFs to illustrate the Rose's data problems in a post titled, ''With Climate Journalism Like This, Who Needs Fiction.''

The writers each issue a devastating and thorough critique of the piece, but it's worth nothing how much time is wasted on an author whose reportage Plaitt calls ''so ridiculously wrong it's charitable to call them 'ridiculously wrong.'''

But as Yulsman points out, the complexity of climate-change science leaves room for this kind of unverified attack: The correct argument is full of nuanced analysis, which is not only harder to write'--it's harder, as a reader, to absorb.

Alexis Sobel Fitts is an assistant editor at CJR. Follow her on Twitter at @fittsofalexis

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:19

Yulsman received a BA in Environmental Studies from the State University of New York at Binghamton (1977), and an MS degree in journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism (1980).

He has been a co-principal investigator in the NSF-funded Carbon, Climate and Society Initiative at CU. As co-director of the Center for Environmental Journalism, he oversees a variety of programs (with his colleague, Len Ackland), including the Ted Scripps Fellowships in Environmental Journalism, a year-long, in-residence program for working journalists, and the environmental journalism emphasis in the School of Journalism's master's program.

Since he began his career as a science journalist in 1980, Yulsman has written for a variety of major publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Denver Post, Discover, Audubon, Earth and Astronomy. His journalistic work currently focuses on the earth and environmental sciences. Prior to joining the journalism school's faculty in 1996, Yulsman was editor-in-chief of Earth magazine. Until it's closure in 1998, Earth was the only consumer magazine dedicated to the science of our planet.

As a science journalist, Yulsman has written one book: Origins: the Quest for Our Cosmic Roots, published by the Institute of Physics in 2003. Other recent works include "Grass is Greener", a feature about the coming biofuels revolution, for Audubon magazine; "Meltdown" a story about glacial retreat in Glacier National Park, for Audubon; and "The Day the Sea Stood Still", an article for the Washington Post about the Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum, one of the most dramatic episodes of global climate change in Earth history.

Yulsman is now moving into multimedia journalism. He recently co-produced a video side bar to accompany his biofuels article on Audubon magazine's website, and more multimedia packages are on the way.

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Source: Dave Winer's linkblog feed

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 01:03

This is incredible. Scientists have found an underground water reserve in Kenya so large that it could meet the entire country's water needs for the next 70 years. Using satellite, radar and geological technology, scientists found an aquifer'--an underground layer of water-bearing material'--that contains 200 billion cubic meters of fresh water.

UNESCO and the Kenyan government put together a team to find water in Kenya. The just discovered Lotikipi Basin Aquifer, which is about 1000 feet underground, measures 62 miles by 41 miles and is significantly larger than other aquifers discovered in the region. In fact, it holds 900% more water than what's in Kenya's current reserves. Just look at the size of this thing:

For a country like Kenya that deals with droughts all too often, the discovery is life changing. Possibly even country changing. If Kenya's government is able to create the proper infrastructure for the water, the nomadic tribespeople of the region can settle down instead of searching for rain which could lead to farms sprouting up, towns growing and a whole country developing. This won't happen overnight, of course, but having a water supply that can last for more than half a century is definitely a jumpstart.

How did the aquifer get discovered? It sounds so simple. Alain Gachet, the CEO of Radar Technologies International and the guy behind the search for water in Kenya, and his team used a mapping system they called WATEX to find the water. WATEX basically uses existing satellite, radar and geological maps and combines them to see what's underneath the ground. The mapping system was originally meant to find mineral reserves in Africa but is now being used to find water. UNESCO now hopes to take this system in hopes of finding water in other African countries.

[ITV, ITV, The Verge]

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 02:05

Kenya's deputy president, William Ruto, left, awaits the start of his trial at the international criminal court on Tuesday. Photograph: Michael Kooren/AP

Looking relaxed in the crowded courtroom, Kenya's second most powerful man secured an ignominious place in history on Tuesday as he was accused of orchestrating violence in which women and children were "burned alive, hacked to death or chased from their homes".

William Ruto is the first serving government official to stand trial at the international criminal court. The deputy president of Kenya is charged with crimes against humanity in the aftermath of the 2007 election in which more than 1,100 people died.

His appearance at The Hague in the Netherlands, to be followed by the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, in November, is widely seen as a watershed for the international criminal court, which has prosecuted only Africans and secured only one conviction in its 11-year existence.

Taking his place in the courtroom, Ruto appeared calm, smiling and laughing with his lawyers, according to Reuters. The 46-year-old's wife and daughter were in the front row of a public gallery packed with dozens of supportive Kenyan MPs. Broadcaster Joshua arap Sang, 38, also standing trial, gave a reporter a thumbs-up sign.

The two defendants are both accused of murder, deportation and persecution of political opponents in the Rift Valley region in late 2007 and early 2008.

"The crimes of which Mr Ruto and Mr Sang are charged were not just random and spontaneous acts of brutality," Fatou Bensouda, the ICC's chief prosecutor, told the court. "This was a carefully planned and executed plan of violence - Ruto's ultimate goal was to seize political power for himself and his party in the event he could not do so via the ballot box."

Ruto used networks within his Kalenjin tribe to target political opponents and members of the rival Kikuyu tribe, Bensouda alleged. More than 200 people were killed in the Rift Valley and 1,000 injured while thousands more were forced from their homes.

"Mr Ruto, as a powerful politician" planned the crimes "to satisfy his thirst for political power", Bensouda told the court. "It is difficult to imagine the suffering or the terror of the men, women and children who were burned alive, hacked to death or chased from their homes by armed youths.

"Mr William Ruto and Mr Joshua arap Sang are most responsible for these crimes."

While Ruto allegedly armed and organised the attackers, Sang is accused of using his popular radio show to whip up hatred against Kikuyu tribe members and even broadcast coded instructions to direct attackers to their targets.

Ruto, wearing a grey suit and red-and-silver striped tie, answered each of the three counts of murder, persecution and forcible transfer of people in turn: "Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty." Sang, who shook his head as Bensouda spoke, also protested his innocence.

Ruto's lawyer, Karim Khan, described the case against his client as "a very clear and glaring conspiracy of lies" and accused prosecutors of failing to properly investigate the case.

"We say that there is a rotten underbelly of this case that the prosecutor has swallowed hook, line and sinker, indifferent to the truth, all too eager to latch on to any '... story that somehow ticks the boxes that we have to tick" to support charges, he said.

Prosecutors have complained of widespread witness intimidation ahead of the trial and some witnesses have refused to testify. Bensouda told judges that it was an achievement to bring the case to trial. The hearings are expected to take years.

For some observers, it is not Ruto so much as the ICC itself that is on trial. Kenya's parliament voted last week to quit the ICC, although the decision has no bearing on the trials of Kenyatta and Ruto. Public opinion appears split between those seeking justice for victims and those who claim the court is neo-colonialist and "anti-African".

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 02:04

8 September 2013Last updated at12:43 ETA retired British army colonel has been shot and killed during a robbery at his son's home in Nairobi, Kenya.

Edward Loden, who commanded the unit involved in the Bloody Sunday shootings in Northern Ireland, was on holiday when he was shot on Saturday evening.

The attack happened after armed men forced their way into the compound in the Langata suburb.

A family statement described Col Loden as a "devoted family man" and said his death was a "brutal tragedy".

The BBC's East Africa correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse said he died on the way to hospital.

Exonerated

A former colonel in the Parachute Regiment, Col Loden served on numerous operations around the world and was awarded the Military Cross for service in Aden in 1967.

In 1972, he was in command of a Parachute Regiment unit that fired more than 100 shots during a civil rights march in Londonderry.

Thirteen civilians were killed at the scene and a 14th victim died from his wounds five months later.

Col Loden was exonerated by the Saville Inquiry into the killings, which said that he did not realise his soldiers might be firing at people who did not pose a threat.

He retired from the Army in 1992, and after following a career in business management, retired to pursue his love of sailing in 1999, his family said.

The statement added: "Edward, married to Jill, father of Jamie and Will, was a devoted family man and proud grandfather of Oliver, Amelia, Joshua, Harry and Emily.

"Jill and her sons would like to say thank you to all the overwhelming messages of love and support from wider friends and family, and request that the family be given time to come to terms with this brutal tragedy."

The killing comes after the murder of another former British army colonel, David Parkinson, who was killed by an armed gang at his home near Nanyuki, Laikipia, in August.

Col Parkinson, an ex-commander of a base in the area, and his wife were attacked after a gang of suspected robbers, armed with machetes and a gun, smashed their way into the house.

Mrs Parkinson escaped after hiding in a strong room.

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 02:04

26 August 2013Last updated at09:03 ETPolice in Kenya are investigating the murder of a former British army colonel who was killed by an armed gang at his home near Nanyuki, Laikipia.

David Parkinson and his wife were attacked after the gang of suspected robbers, armed with machetes and a gun, smashed their way into the house in the early hours of Sunday, police said.

Mrs Parkinson escaped after hiding in a strong room.

Mr Parkinson, an ex-commander of a base in the area, managed a cattle ranch.

Senior investigating officer Marius Tum, of Laikipia East police, said about five gang members had gained entry to the house by smashing a glass door just before 01:00 local time on Sunday and found the couple sleeping.

During the ensuing confrontation, Mr Parkinson's hand was cut severely and he was fatally wounded, Mr Tum added.

He said the attackers had tied Mrs Parkinson up with rope.

"But she managed to hide in one of the strong rooms to which they could not gain access," Mr Tum said.

"David remained lying on the floor. When she was sure they had left, she came out of the strong room to discover that David had died."

Police said the gang had escaped with a small haul including Mrs Parkinson's telephone, a small amount of cash from her purse, a laptop computer and a silver statuette.

Detectives investigating the murder have arrested a suspect from a nearby village, according to Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper.

A former lieutenant colonel in the Parachute Regiment, Mr Parkinson was awarded an OBE in 1998.

He left the British army a decade ago to focus on conservation and community work in Kenya.

He was previously deputy director of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, which made headlines after Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton there in October 2010.

A spokesman for the prince said he was saddened to learn of the death of Mr Parkinson, whom he had met at the reserve.

More recently, Mr Parkinson managed the Lolldaiga Hills wildlife and livestock ranch which also hosts British troops on training exercises.

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 12:10

Mokhtar Belmokhtar can be seen training soldiers in the two minute clipMan nicknamed 'the uncatchable' is thought to be hiding in Lybia38 foreign hostages died in January during the gas plant siegeBy Chris Pleasance

PUBLISHED: 08:18 EST, 11 September 2013 | UPDATED: 08:46 EST, 11 September 2013

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This is the dramatic new footage which shows the world's most wanted terrorist for the first time since he masterminded an attack on an Algerian gas facility which killed six Britons in January.

In the Al Qaeda video the one-eyed fugitive Mokhtar Belmokhtar helps a soldier to hold a rocket propelled grenade launcher.

Belmokhtar, 41, who has a £3.3million bounty on his head, also addresses the camera before being pictured kneeling with fellow terrorists and talking to them.

The world's most wanted terrorist dubbed 'the uncatchable' has appeared in a new video

Trained to kill: In the video he shows a trainee terrorist how to use a rocket launcher

World's most wanted terrorist seen in new training camp video

At the end of the two minute clip he embraces each smiling militant in turn.

Intelligence agents from Britain, the US and Europe are sure to be studying every second of the film for anything that might provide them with information as to his whereabouts.

An intelligence source said: 'Photos and footage of fugitives are always of great interest. Evidence of appearances and associations can be vital in tracking down even the most elusive of individuals.'

Belmokhtar is thought to be on the run somewhere in Lybia as the country recovers from its uprising.

IN AMENAS - AS IT HAPPENEDWednesday Jan 16 - Terrorists attack two buses carrying workers into the plant killing two, including one Briton, before driving to the plant's living area and taking hostages.

Thursday Jan 17 - Algerian forces attack as the militants try to move hostages, and as a result several innocent people are killed

Friday Jan 18 - A stalemate develops as Algerian forces surround the compound

Saturday Jan 19 - Algerians attack again after reports that hostages were being killed

Sunday Jan 20 - Siege ends as Algerian military reports bodies of burned hostages found at plant while several remain unaccounted for

Though Belmokhtar has been fighting for Islamic organisations in Algeria, Africa, since 1992, he only came to prominence after he claimed responsibility for a deadly assault on the BP co-owned In Amenas gas plant.

In January his troops stormed the facility carrying machine guns and grenades, killing one Briton in the process.

They then strapped semtex explosives to the necks of other Western hostages, claiming they had only come for the Christians, while allegedly treating Muslim Algerians with kindness.

They then surrounded the plant with mines before demanding France halt its attacks on rebels in neighbouring Mali.

After days of tense negotiating Algerian special forces stormed the compound in a widely criticised operation which killed 29 militants and 37 foreign captives.

Belmokhtar posted a video at the time of the attack saying: 'We in Al Qaeda announce this blessed operation.'

Four months later his soldiers carried out two suicide bombings in Niger, followed by an explosion in a military base in Agadez which killed 20 soldiers and wounded 16.

Another bomb at a French mine in Arlit killed one and injured another 14.

Nicknamed 'Mr Marlboro' after making a fortune smuggling cigarettes across the Sahara, the senior terrorist is one of the most fearsome warlords in the Sarah, having been involved in a string of kidnappings and ransom demands dating back to 2003.

Five Britons were killed by terrorists at this In Amenas gas facility in an attack ordered by Belmokhtar

Bullet belts, hand grenades and a machine gun were among the weapons seized by Algerian forces during the siege

Dubbed 'the uncatchable' by French security forces he was thought to have been killed in a combined French and Chadian army operation when they destroyed a terrorist base in March.

DNA tests later showed the body to be that of Abou Zeid, another senior Al Qaeda figure.

Belmokhtar was sentenced by an Algerian court to life imprisonment in absentia in connection with the killing of 10 Algerian customs agents in 2007.

A UK coroner's investigation into the Algerian massacre is under way.

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 12:36

LARRY ROHTER NY Times 9/11/13

In the lucrative world of music copyright, it may be something of a watershed moment: on Friday, after six years of legal wrangling and decades after he wrote the lyrics to the hit song ''YMCA,'' Victor Willis will gain control of his share of the copyright to that song and others he wrote when he was the lead singer of the 1970s disco group the Village People.

Mr. Willis, who dressed as a policeman during the group's heyday, was able to recapture those songs, thanks to a little-known provision of copyright legislation that went into effect in 1978. That law granted musicians and songwriters what are known as ''termination rights,'' allowing them to recover control of their creations after 35 years, even if they had originally signed away their rights.

It is possible, maybe even likely, that other artists who also wrote or recorded songs in 1978 have, after invoking their termination rights, quietly signed new deals with record labels and song publishing companies. But Mr. Willis appears to be the first artist associated with a hit song from that era to announce publicly that he has used his termination rights to regain control of his work.

''YMCA'' is one of 33 songs whose copyright Mr. Willis was seeking to recover when he first went to court. Hits like ''In the Navy'' and ''Go West'' are part of that group, but another well-known song whose lyrics Mr. Willis wrote, ''Macho Man,'' was excluded because it was written just before the 1978 law went into effect.

In a telephone interview from his home in Southern California, Mr. Willis said he has not yet decided how best to exploit the song catalog. ''I've had lots of offers, from record and publishing companies, a lot of stuff, but I haven't made up my mind how it's going to be handled.''

He added, however, that he is thinking of prohibiting the Village People '-- the band still exists and is touring this month and next, though with largely different members '-- from singing any of his songs, at least in the United States. Under American law, copyright holders have a right to control the performance of a work at any ''place open to the public or at a place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances are gathered.'' This designation applies not only to concert halls, but also to arenas and ballparks like Yankee Stadium, where ''YMCA'' and other Village People songs are perennial favorites.

''I learned over the years that there are some awesome powers associated with copyright ownership,'' Mr. Willis said. ''You can stop somebody from performing your music if you want to, and I might object to some usages.''

Song publishing and record companies have consistently opposed artists' efforts to invoke termination rights, which have the potential to affect a company's bottom line severely. They argue that, in many cases, songs and recordings belong to them in perpetuity, rather than to the artists, because they are ''works for hire,'' created not by independent contractors but by artists who are, in essence, their employees.

That was initially one of the arguments invoked against Mr. Willis in Federal District Court in Los Angeles. ''We hired this guy,'' Stewart L. Levy, a lawyer for the companies that controlled the Village People song catalog, said last year. ''He was an employee. We gave them the material and a studio to record in and controlled what was recorded, where, what hours and what they did.'' Eventually, though, that argument was withdrawn. If the ''work for hire'' doctrine can't be made to apply to a prefab group like the Village People, it stands little chance of surviving a test against other artists who emerged in the 1970s and who always had a much greater degree of autonomy, like Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles, Billy Joel and Parliament-Funkadelic.

That does not mean that the litigation over the Village People catalog is over, however. Though Mr. Willis's songwriting partner Jacques Morali died in 1991, a third name, that of the French record producer Henri Belolo, appears as a co-writer on ''YMCA'' and other songs, and the distribution of songwriting credits and revenues is now in court.

''The termination is going to occur,'' said Jonathan Ross, one of Mr. Willis's lawyers. ''What is in dispute is how much he is getting back, one-half or one-third.''

In an e-mail he sent from Europe, Mr. Levy challenged that interpretation. ''Since an appeal of the court's decision permitting such reversion has yet to be taken, it is far from certain that Mr. Willis will, at the end of the day, ever gain control over any share of the copyrights in the disputed songs.'' As a result, he maintained, any ''article on his recapture is, therefore, premature and misleading.''

Mr. Willis had declined interview requests during earlier stages of the dispute, but said he decided to speak out now so as to alert other artists, both established and emerging, to protect their copyrights. He said it was only because his wife is a lawyer that he became aware of his termination rights.

''I'm hoping that other artists will get a good lawyer and get back the works that a lot of us gave away when we were younger, before we knew what was going on,'' he said. ''When you're young, you just want to get out there and aren't really paying attention to what's on paper. I never even read one contract they put in front of me, and that's a big mistake.''

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P.S. on HLN morning show they were talking about iPhone 5S. Lady reporter says "can the iPhone 5s

+help you become healthier? Up next we will find out how by tracking your every move it will help you

+become healthier."

New meme, if you don't want to be tracked you are unhealthy and lazy.

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Source: JustOneMinute

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 20:02

Blowback:

COLORADO SPRINGS '-- Two Colorado Democrats who provided crucial support for a slate of tough new gun-control laws were voted out of office on Tuesday in a recall vote widely seen as a test of popular support for gun restrictions after mass shootings in a Colorado movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school.

The election, which came five months after the United States Senate defeated several gun restrictions, handed another loss to gun-control supporters. It also gave moderate lawmakers across the country a warning about the political risks of voting for tougher gun laws.

Money talked, then walked:

While both sides campaigned vigorously, knocking on doors, holding rallies and driving voters to the polls, gun-control advocates far outspent their opponents. A range of philanthropists, liberal political groups, unions and activists raised a total of $3 million to defend Mr. Morse and Ms. Giron. Mr. Bloomberg personally gave $350,000.

It was not enough to help Mr. Morse overcome the conservative outrage that erupted this winter as Colorado's Democratic-controlled statehouse passed several gun laws over near-unanimous opposition from Republicans and Second Amendment advocates.

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Source: Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 20:33

Possible Correlation Between Testicle Size and Parental RolePosted on Sep 11, 2013Scientists at Emory University have found a potential connection between a man's testicular proportions and his involvement in raising his children. All over the animal kingdom, males with the largest gonads tend to mate with the most partners, leading to evolutionary theories that such endowment results in more time spent creating offspring than caring for them. The BBC offers details about the study:

The study, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, looked at the relationship between testicle size and fatherhood in 70 men who had children between the ages of one and two.

The team at Emory University in Atlanta performed brain scans while the men were shown pictures of their children.

It showed those with smaller testicles tended to have a greater response in the reward area of the brain than those with a larger size.

MRI scans showed a three-fold difference between the volumes of the smallest and largest testicles in the group.

Those at the smaller end of the spectrum were also more likely, according to interviews with the man and the mother, to be more active in parenting duties'....

The exact nature of any link is not clear.

The researchers believe the size of the testicles, probably through the hormone testosterone, is affecting behaviour. But it is not clear if the process of having a baby may have some effect on the father.

The researchers acknowledge that there's more work to be done, for one because the study subjects were all from Atlanta, and so the broader implications of the findings have not yet been determined. Dr. James Rilling, one of the scientists involved in the project, has said that whether or not there's a correlation between the measurement and paternal commitment, he doesn't believe ''that excuses other men. It just might require more effort for some than others.''

'--Posted by Natasha Hakimi

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Wed, 11 Sep 2013 23:33

Mass psychogenic illness'--historically known as "mass hysteria"'--is making a comeback.

(Wikimedia Commons)''Eerie and remarkable.''

Those are the words that Robert Bartholomew used to describe this past winter's outbreak of mass hysteria in Danvers, Massachusetts, a town also known as ''Old Salem'' and ''Salem Village.''

Bartholomew, a sociologist in New Zealand who has been studying cases of mass hysteria for more than 20 years, was referring to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-1693, the most widely recognized episode of mass hysteria in history, which ultimately saw the hanging deaths of 20 women.

Fast-forward about 300 years to January 2013, when a bizarre case of mass hysteria again struck Danvers. About two dozen teenagers at the Essex Agricultural and Technical School began having ''mysterious'' hiccups and vocal tics.

''The Massachusetts State Health Department refuses to say publicly,'' Bartholomew wrote in an email in late August, ''but I have heard from some of the parents privately who say that the symptoms are still persisting.''

The location might be eerie, but Bartholomew is not surprised by the outbreak in the slightest. He said that there has been a ''sudden upsurge'' in these types of outbreaks popping up in the U.S. over the past few years. It starts with conversion disorder, when psychological stressors, such as trauma or anxiety, manifest in physical symptoms. The conversion disorder becomes ''contagious'' due to a phenomenon called mass psychogenic illness (MPI), historically known as ''mass hysteria,'' in which exposure to cases of conversion disorder cause other people'--who unconsciously believe they've been exposed to the same harmful toxin'--to experience the same symptoms.

Though the Massachusetts State Health Department still has not declared the Danvers outbreak to be MPI, back in March, Bartholomew said, ''[Danvers] could turn into another Le Roy, if they don't watch their step.''Typically, mass hysteria is confined to a group of girls or young women who share a common physical space for a majority of the time. Bartholomew has studied over 600 cases, dating back to 1566, and said that the gender link is undeniable; it's just a question of why. It is accepted within the psychiatric community that conversion disorders are much more common in females. There are also social, biological, and anthropological theories that have to do with how and why females might cope with stress.

There is ''potential for a far greater or global episode, unless we quickly understand how social media is, for the first time, acting as the primary vector or agent of spread for conversion disorder.''He was referring to an episode of mass hysteria in Le Roy, a small town in western New York, that garnered massive media attention in the winter of 2011 when about 18 girls at the local high school came down with a very dramatic'--and very real'--case of hysteria. Bartholomew said that the Danvers case looks extremely similar to the case in Le Roy and that the lessons from Le Roy have gone ''unheeded.''

One major lesson missed: the power of social media to spread and exacerbate an episode.

According to Bartholomew, there is ''potential for a far greater or global episode, unless we quickly understand how social media is, for the first time, acting as the primary vector or agent of spread for conversion disorder.'' He believes that epidemics spread by social media are ''inevitable'' and that ''it's just a matter of time before we see outbreaks that are not just confined to a single school or factory or even region, but covering a disperse geographical area and causing real social and economic harm.''

Le Roy was the first majorly reported case during the era of social media. But there is another significant, related detail of the Le Roy case that sets it apart from the scores of mass hysteria that had come before it.

Marge Fitzsimmons, a 36-year-old nurse in town, also ''caught'' the disease. Bartholomew said that it's not unheard of for one or two adults to be affected, but he cannot recall any cases like Marge's, in which the adults were not intimately involved with the children suffering from the malady. Marge said that she knew about what was going on in town mainly through Facebook postings.

Catching an illness through Facebook sounds wonky. But the contagion of hysteria relies, among many things, upon the unconscious interpretation of what is suggested to us. Fitzsimmons did not even have to be in physical contact with the other girls to ''catch'' their disease. Marge encapsulates the power of social media to penetrate and trigger actions of the unconscious mind. She marks ''a historical shift in terms of the trigger for people being affected and sucked into these cases,'' Bartholomew said.

Here is her story.

***

It was December 2011, and Marge Fitzsimmons was sick. Marge, a nurse, was familiar with the many ways that the body can betray us, but this was different. It wasn't the flu or cancer or even depression, but an illness more mysterious, fraught with anxiety and fear. Marge was a grown woman with a daughter of her own, but that winter, more than anything, she needed her mom.

Her mother, Margaret, 60, had moved 250 miles south to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 10 years earlier. It was the first time since that Marge had insisted she visit. Marge was suffering from something she felt was deeply ''private and personal,'' so she wanted Margaret to visit without her husband, Marge's stepfather. It was nothing against him, Marge said, but Margaret took it as an insult.

After several failed entreaties over the phone, Marge hand-wrote a three-page letter. ''I ask you this one time, and you deny me,'' it read. ''I'm really sick, and I just need my mom.''

Weeks passed. It was the first Christmas that the two didn't speak. The problem wasn't only that Margaret was offended by Marge's request. It was also that she hadn't yet grasped the gravity of her daughter's situation. She did not yet realize that Marge was stricken by the mysterious sickness that was spreading through Le Roy, a town of 4,000 near the Canadian border.

The strange illness began that fall, when a few teenage girls at the high school started exhibiting uncontrollable tics and stutters, jerking their heads and limbs, and having verbal outbursts and seizures. The symptoms were likened to those of Tourette syndrome. The specifics of the twitches and tics were particular to each girl, but most of the girls exhibited consistency in their movements.

Related StoryThe Touch-Screen Generation

The outbreak began slowly among girls at Le Roy High School, but in February, CNN reported that 16 girls had symptoms. Panic was building and speculation flew around town. It was the Gardasil vaccine; it was the bad marijuana that had been going around; it was something in the water.

The spreading illness was also beginning to draw attention from around the country. Superintendent of the Le Roy school system Kim Cox reflected in an interview, ''We had trucks parked on Main Street for two weeks. You couldn't get a cup of coffee without having a camera shoved in your face.''

It was as though media attention had been switched on and couldn't be switched off. There were the dramatic scenes, seemingly staged for the cameras: local police escorting the team of celebrity environmental activist Erin Brockovich off school grounds; screaming parents at a community meeting. And the public was getting to know some of the girls, such as Thera Sanchez, cheerleader and town darling, who went on national television with her alarming tics. And, of course, there were mentions of the one adult, the 36-year old nurse, who had also ''caught'' the disease.

There were two factors, seemingly unique to Le Roy, that exacerbated and perpetuated the community's fear that there was an environmental toxin. There had been a nearby toxic spill in 1971, and there was strong speculation that it had never been properly cleaned up. The other factor was that, because of Marge, the symptoms appeared to have spread beyond the walls of the high school.

The tension boiled over at a February 4 press conference and community meeting, where Cox reported that after various tests of the school's air, water, and soil, there was no linkable environmental toxin to blame. To some frustrated parents, it was an inadequate response. One mother yelled, ''You are not doing your job!'' at Cox.

Marge attended that meeting, her verbal and physical tics clearly visible. People ''stopped and stared,'' she said, and the media ''bombarded'' her on her way out.

She wanted to see what was happening in her town, but actually, at that point, she'd already met with doctors and been given a diagnosis that had nothing to do with soil or toxic spills: conversion disorder. Dr. Laszlo Mechtler treated Marge as well as several of the girls, and insisted they were all suffering from the same condition. Mechtler and other doctors agreed it was mass hysteria.

Marge accepted the diagnosis and still deems it accurate, but her case continues to stand out. Bartholomew says that it is not unheard of for there to be one or two adults affected in an outbreak of MPI. But he could not come up with any cases like Marge's, in which those adults were not teachers or exposed constantly to the girls in some way. He says that Marge's case is an example of why MPI is ''becoming more common and making a resurgence.''

More than one year later, a look back at Marge's story reveals a stirring reality about why MPI could be making a comeback and spreading beyond its usual confines.

***

Marge is a licensed practical nurse, working with adults who have developmental disabilities and genetic disorders. Her warm smile is suited to the work; it changes her whole face and creases the corners of her large, almond-shaped brown eyes in a wonderfully calming way.

''Most people underestimate the ability of our brains to generate physical symptoms.''Her Rochester office, on Elmgrove Road off of Route 33, sits in a complex next to a YMCA and behind a coffee shop called ''Jitters.'' On a December 2012 afternoon, her desk was extremely, conspicuously organized, with pens, papers, and office supplies placed either parallel or at right angles to one another. Comics pinned to her bulletin board read: ''I am not crazy, I am mentally unrestricted'' and ''heavily medicated for your protection.'' They were unfortunately appropriate. All told, in the past year, she had seen 32 doctors and tried 27 different medications.

She started from the beginning.

Her motor tics began in August 2011 and became more severe that October. At first, she jerked her head uncontrollably to the right, ''Like I had something in the corner of my eye and had to look,'' she said. She developed a bruise on her right shoulder from where her chin jabbed into it. Mike, 39, her boyfriend of eight years and the father of her three-year-old daughter, Abbie, became increasingly worried about the situation.

Mike and Marge both noted that their friend's daughter, a student at Le Roy High School, was having similar symptoms, and Marge noticed through newspaper articles posted to Facebook that several other girls at the high school were starting to report the same symptoms as well.

Marge's vocal tics came later, in a meeting at work in early December 2011. ''It was like I was trying to say something, but it came out as a stutter,'' she said.

On December 5, 2011, she decided to take long-term leave from work. ''I had gotten so scared because of how my symptoms had progressed, that I couldn't'... I didn't feel like I could do my job at that point,'' she said. She decided later to file for family medical leave instead of disability leave. It would not be paid, as disability is, but it would hold her position for 12 weeks instead of six.

On the day she decided to take the leave of absence, she went to the emergency room at Strong Hospital at the University of Rochester. She waited for 14 hours to be seen, and was isolated, she presumed because her tics were disturbing to other patients. When the doctor came in to see her, he was baffled, and brought in five other doctors. After blood tests, X-rays, and CAT scans, they concluded that her symptoms were anxiety-related and sent her home with a prescription for Valium.

Marge had struggled with anxiety in the past, and felt strongly that this was something more. So the next day, she went to the Dent Neurologic Institute in Buffalo to see a neurologist. Movement disorder specialist Xiuli Li treated Marge for the neck pain her tics caused, but told her that she did not have a movement disorder that would explain the symptoms.

Marge and Li began talking about non-neurological causes for symptoms like this, including psychological ones. One part of their discussion struck a raw nerve for Marge. Li did not ask Marge if she had psychological trauma in her past. She asked when the trauma was.

Throughout December and January, Marge's condition worsened. She hardly ate because the uncontrollable and unpredictable motor and verbal tics made it ''next to impossible'' to chew and swallow. She'd choke even on water, so she couldn't take her pills. She lost 35 pounds.

She desperately wanted her mother to visit, but also had her own daughter to worry about. She told Abbie that the tics were ''Mommy's hiccups,'' but said, ''It's hard to explain to a three-year-old that suddenly Mommy is different.''

By the time Marge tried to explain the severity of the situation to Margaret over the phone, the stuttering was already extreme. She often lost the words and went silent, struggling to get something out. Margaret assumed it was bad cell phone reception, and jumped to fill in her sentences. ''I got so upset with her,'' Marge said. ''She couldn't just stop and listen.''

Just before Christmas, Marge wrote and sent the letter pleading with her mother to come. Margaret posted a Facebook status that suggested she had received her daughter's letter, but still, weeks passed until they spoke. Through Facebook messages, Margaret asked Marge's friend how Marge was doing, and the friend said that Margaret would have to come to Le Roy and see for herself. Marge believes that's what got her mother to Le Roy.

Margaret visited from January 13 to 15, 2012. Two days after Margaret left, Marge went public with her condition, appearing on YNN, a local station. She wanted the town to know that it was not only teenage girls who were affected.

Shortly thereafter, neurologist Lazlo Mechtler from the Dent Neurologic Institute contacted Marge, saying he wanted to take over her case. ''I agreed, and I am so glad that I did,'' she said. ''He listened to what I had to say. He was one of the few people that didn't make me feel crazy, which, at that point, was very important to me. He was the first person that could touch me and my skin didn't crawl.'' She also liked that he was thorough. She could come up with any blood tests that he hadn't already run, she said. They tested for Lyme disease, thyroid dysfunction, genetic disorders, lead and heavy metal poisoning, and illicit drugs. ''At one point, they took 16 vials of blood,'' she said.

Finally, after everything else had been ruled out, Mechtler diagnosed her with conversion disorder, which the National Institutes of Health define as a ''mental health condition in which a person has blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system (neurological) symptoms that cannot be explained by medical evaluation.''

Though the term ''conversion disorder'' may sound unfamiliar, it occurs commonly, in various shades and degrees. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist at New York University's Langone Medical Center, explains that most people have experienced low-level conversion disorder. Knots in the stomach, sweaty palms, or a fast heartbeat when nervous are examples of overflow in the autonomic nervous system, which controls unconscious bodily activity such as breathing and digestion, caused by stressful conditions.

The sort of ''motor overflow'' that Marge and the girls from Le Roy experienced involves different neural wiring, but has the same basic concept of unconscious activity. It can be as simple as chewing on a pen cap, biting one's nails, or tapping a foot. It can express itself as insomnia or impotence, and in severe cases, it can be as debilitating as Marge's illness was. These reactions are physical expressions of something intangible, something in the brain. Steven Novella, a neurology professor at Yale School of Medicine, writes, ''Most people underestimate the ability of our brains to generate physical symptoms.''

Conversion disorder is three times more likely to occur in females than in males, and often is related to emotionally traumatic events'--hence Li's question to Marge about psychological trauma in her past. Devinsky says classic examples include a woman who was raped and, years later, is on the ground, flailing uncontrollably, or a solider who sees his best friend die and then goes blind years later. However, emotionally traumatic events don't always cause conversion disorder later in life. If anything, emotional environment is more a more significant predictor, says Richard Friedman, a psychiatrist at Weill Cornell Medical College.

In Marge's case, both a traumatic event and a stifling environment were at work. And she knew it. Before she was even diagnosed, she had a feeling that'--in order to get better'--she had to tell her mother a secret that she'd harbored for 22 years.

***

"I would never wish this on anybody, but I am somewhat glad it happened to me. It made me stop and take care of myself.''Marge grew up an only child and Margaret was a single mother who worked three jobs. When Margaret was home, she was verbally and sometimes physically abusive, Marge said. But for the most part, Marge spent a lot of time alone.

Margaret started leaving Marge home alone when she was five years old. Le Roy was different back then, Marge said. Everyone watched everyone else's kids; everyone knew and trusted each other. Kids played outside until the street lamps switched off, the signal to go home.

When Marge was 14 years old, her 19-year-old neighbor and friend said he had something to give her, a t-shirt, Marge thinks, and led her into his room. He forced himself on her, despite her pleas for him to stop. Marge called the rape ''horrific,'' and said that it caused her ''extensive physical damage,'' not only because it was forceful, but also because she was a virgin. She bled enough in the days that followed that she assumed she'd gotten her period for the first time. In fact, she didn't begin menstruating for two more years.

At the time of the rape, she only told one person, a friend, and swore him to secrecy. It was ''never spoken about, never acknowledged,'' Marge said. ''From that point forward, I suppressed everything.''

Devinsky explained that conversion disorder can function as catalyst for a person to seek help. ''Your subconscious mind is as smart as you are. Smarter in certain ways,'' he said.

Marge is an example of that. She said that before her illness, ''I used to just bury, bury, bury. And now I deal. I would never wish this on anybody, but I am somewhat glad it happened to me. It made me stop and take care of myself.''

Marge's latent psychological stress might never have taken the form of severe tics and stutters if not for what was already happening in the town. Dozens of other girls were going through the same thing, and Marge was aware of that. Although she was two decades older, she was, in some ways, not so different from them. Perhaps the timing of the unresolved trauma of Marge's rape froze some part of her unconscious mind at the same age as the other girls, so the processes of ''mass hysteria'' operated the same for Marge as they did for the others.

The question remains: How did she ''catch'' it?

***

MPI is not a new phenomenon. Devinsky hails the 1965 book Hysteria: The History of a Disease as the best historical road map of the illness. In it, author Ilza Veith, who holds a PhD in the history of medicine, writes that hysteria is traced as far back as the ancient Egyptians in 1900 B.C., who believed that it resulted from the ''discontent'' womb of a woman who didn't reproduce soon enough after puberty (hystera is Greek for ''uterus''.) Various outbreaks can be traced through history; there were probably 50 outbreaks in medieval European nunneries during the latter Middles Ages alone, Bartholomew says, when theories of witchcraft were prevalent. The Salem Witch Trials resulted from a well-known example of MPI. Notable outbreaks since then include a 1962 incident at an all-girls boarding school in Kashasha, Tanzania, where there was a ''laughing epidemic,'' and a 1965 incident in Blackburn, England at another girls school, where 85 girls were sent to the hospital with dizziness and convulsions, with no medical or environmental culprits found. More recently, in the winter of 2012, there was an outbreak of MPI that affected more than 1,000 students and five teachers across 15 different schools in Sri Lanka, where people complained that they were having vertigo and uncontrollable coughing.

Bartholomew differentiates MPI into two categories: mass anxiety hysteria and mass motor hysteria. Cases of mass anxiety are often precipitated by a stress-inducing belief'--commonly, that there is a weird smell or noxious gas in the air'--but the belief and the effects dissipate in hours or days. He estimates that there are hundreds of unrecognized outbreaks of this type of hysteria in the U.S. each year.

''Epidemic hysterias that in earlier periods were self-limited in geography now have free and wide access to the globe in seconds.''Cases of mass motor hysteria, on the other hand, take months or years to build, and weeks or months to dissipate, as in the case of Le Roy. Bartholomew says that today, mass motor hysteria outbreaks are very rare in Western societies, but happen monthly in Asia and Africa. Historically, they occur in ''pressure-cooker'' environments, like factories, that have intolerable and inescapable social settings and preexisting tensions. ''People are repressed, and that's when you get the motor symptoms,'' he says. ''The twitching, the shaking, the trance-like states '... and it builds up, over weeks or months, and it does not go away.''

But still, Le Roy was different, and not just because of the 1971 toxic spill, or because of Marge, or because of the media blitz, which, by itself, was unprecedented. But the social media was another critical factor that separates Le Roy from other documented cases of MPI. Bartholomew said that Le Roy was the first case of this magnitude to occur in the U.S. during the social networking era. When a case of MPI occurred in 2002 in a high school in North Carolina, the last major reported case in the U.S. before Le Roy, Facebook and YouTube did not exist yet'--both were introduced in 2004. Some believe that the Le Roy outbreak was a direct result of videos posted to YouTube by Lori Brownell, a girl with severe tics in Corinth, New York, 250 miles east of Le Roy.

Bartholomew said that sometimes, social science is ''more 'social' than 'science.''' While there is no clear pattern or personality trait that makes one person more likely than another to fall victim to MPI, about 98 percent of the subjects in the cases he's studied were female, usually adolescents. He explained that with adolescent girls in particular, interpersonal conflict can be ''very sordid.'' He said, ''With some of these girls, it gets really nasty, and (unlike boys), girls hold it in.''

Facebook allows adolescent girls to more deeply internalize interpersonal conflict, adding to preexisting tension. ''In the past, you have a problem with another girl at school or a group of girls, you go home, you might make a phone call,'' he says. ''Now, you're talking to a whole bunch of people at once. You brood and internalize it more deeply.'' Le Roy Superintendent Kim Cox said that among the high school students, Facebook use ''was happening to a much greater extent than we knew.''

Bartholomew said that mass hysteria spreads through sight and sound, and historically, one person would have to be in the same room as somebody exhibiting symptoms to be at risk of ''catching'' the illness. ''Not anymore,'' he says, noting that social media'--''extensions of our eyes and ears'''--speeds and extends the reach of mass hysteria. In a paper, he wrote, ''Epidemic hysterias that in earlier periods were self-limited in geography now have free and wide access to the globe in seconds.'' He says, ''It's a belief, that's the power here, and the technology just amplifies the belief, and helps it spread more readily.''

Marge, in particular, was a signal that this was true. She was not involved with the school in any way and did not have constant exposure to any of the girls. They were not her peer group or even part of her social environment, previously key ingredients in the MPI recipe.

Facebook was not only increasing the spread of the illness to new people, it was also exacerbating the stress, and therefore the symptoms, of those already suffering. Marge got a Facebook message shortly after she went public that said, ''You should just kill yourself.'' Melisa Phillips, Thera Sanchez's mother, said that Facebook was ''insanity and destroyed the community.'' She says that during the time of Thera's illness, ''I did not have cable or Internet, which was my saving grace. It saved my sanity.''

Thera accessed Facebook through her phone during that time, but said, ''I could not turn my phone on after The Today Show, because it froze. I had over 1,000 Facebook messages. Every two minutes, 30 new messages would pop up.''

Mechtler, Marge's physician, who recommended that Marge avoid Facebook, told the press at the time that the girls staying away from social media were the ones getting better.

***

In a paper titled ''Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Social Network: is it changing the pattern of outbreaks?'' Bartholomew writes, ''Local priests, who were inevitably summoned to exorcise the 'demons', faced a daunting task given the widespread belief in witchcraft, but they were fortunate in one regard: they did not have to contend with mobile phones, Twitter and Facebook.''

However, the old and the new are more intertwined than one might expect. Two separate strangers messaged Thera through Facebook saying she needed an exorcism. One person told her to let God into her life.

MPI itself is born from an intersection between and old and the new. Veith wrote in her 1965 book that MPI is ''a shifting, changing, mist-enshrouded phenomenon,'' whose specifics adapt based on the society in which it takes place, but whose ''predispositions and basic features have remained more or less unchanged.'' The illness is thousands of years old, but some of the new modes of transfer are novel. Marge is an embodiment of how an age-old affliction, in which demons in the brain convert and surface in the body, is itself converting and resurfacing once again.

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 01:19

If the whole royal thing ever gets boring, Prince Harry and Prince William would make pretty good stockbrokers!

On Wednesday, Sept. 11, the brothers helped raise funds in honor of the 658 BGC Partners employees who died in the tragic 9/11 attacks in New York City 12 years ago. Together, the princes brokered a 25 billion (!) Euro trade (that's $33.1 billion)'--a world record for a foreign exchange! Per the Telegraph, it's unknown what percentage of this will be given to charity, but even a tiny portion of 25 billion is a pretty substantial amount!

William couldn't believe the number on the gigantic trade, reportedly exclaiming, "Bloody hell, was that a billion?!" It was several, actually!

NEWS: Prince William talks wanting to "safeguard" Prince George in the future

But it was Harry who really hustled to bring in the big bucks. "Are you feeling like making some money for charity today?" he asked one caller. "Good. Whatever you're thinking, you can double it."

During one joint phone call, Harry jokingly chided the new dad for gushing about Prince George too much, saying, "He's on the phone, it's all baby chat." He also ribbed his big brother during a phone conversation with a female caller, saying, "Stop flirting, get on with it."

And the real stockbrokers were all quite impressed with their royal helpers. "William was very efficient. He was making enough efforts to concentrate on the transaction with all the noise around him," said Xavier Alcan, executive managing director at BGC.

PHOTO: See how Prince Harry is following in Princess Diana's footsteps

As for Harry? "He was great," said broker Nick Thompson. "He's very laid back about it. He did very well."

The brothers also took the time to greet with some well-wishers who were also participating in 2013 BGC Partners Charity Day.

Good work, boys, and for a great cause, too! A portion of all trades brokered by the princes will be distributed in honor of those lost in 9/11 to Skillforce, a charity that works with schools and veterans, and WellChild, a nonprofit providing aid to sick children and their families.

PHOTOS: Prince William vs. Prince Harry: Who's hotter?!

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Drug overdose deaths have more than tripled in the U.S. since 1990. Opioid painkillers like OxyContin are the cause of three-quarters of those deaths.

Toby Talbot/Associated PressThe Food and Drug Administration today took another step toward restricting use of OxyContin and other powerful and often-abused prescription pain medications.

The move comes amid an emotional debate over so-called long-acting opioid analgesics. Federal health officials and others are concerned about the rising number of Americans who are getting addicted to the drugs and overdosing on them. Pain specialists and their patients, however, fear that restrictions risk making it too hard for patients who need the drugs to get them.

In announcing the new requirements, Hamburg told reporters that the agency is trying to balance the dangers of abuse with the needs of patients.

"The FDA is invoking its authority to require safety labeling changes and post-market studies to combat the crisis of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death from these potent drugs that have harmed too many patients and devastated too many families and communities," FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg said in a statement.

"Today's action demonstrates the FDA's resolve to reduce the serious risks of long-acting and extended release opioids while still seeking to preserve appropriate access for those patients who rely on these medications to manage their pain," Hamburg said.

Among the changes is a warning to doctors that the drugs should only be prescribed for "pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term" treatment, Hamburg said. Currently, the drugs are recommended for patients with "moderate to severe" pain.

In addition, under the new guidelines the drugs should be "reserved" for patients "for whom alternative treatment options are ineffective, not tolerated or would be otherwise inadequate to provide sufficient management of pain," Hamburg said.

At the same time, the agency is requiring a new label directed at pregnant women. The prominent "boxed" warning labels will warn that chronic use of the drugs by pregnant women can cause a life-threatening complication in their babies known as neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome. Newborns go through withdrawal because they are no longer exposed to an addictive drug.

The agency also is demanding that companies that make the drugs conduct more studies to assess the risks associated with using the drugs, including addiction, abuse and fatal overdoses.

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The federal health care law is taking on unique personalities in states that have opted to run their own health insurance marketplaces.

Some states are cracking wise in ads about the exchanges, where people will be able to shop for insurance starting in October. Others are rolling out catchy jingles. Some are all business.

But in each case, the states are looking to persuade uninsured Americans, especially young ones, to go ahead and buy health insurance. Starting next year, just about everyone in the U.S. will be required to have health insurance.

California's $80 million ad campaign is targeting about 5 million uninsured people who qualify to buy health insurance on the state-run marketplace, called Covered California.

The first phase began airing on Labor Day in three test markets. The campaign includes a spot that takes viewers on a sort of road trip through California with highway signs welcoming them to what the narrator describes as "a new state of health." A second welcome ad is in Spanish.

Subsequent ads will focus on real Californians and their real stories about illnesses and accidents, and the financial toll those can wreak on the unprepared.

California's ads take a more serious approach than some. It's a straight-talking strategy that Daniel Zingale with the California Endowment, a private grant-giving organization, says makes sense in a state as large and as diverse as California.

"When you actually get down to the facts about what's in the law and specifically what benefits you and your family, that's what gets people's attention," he says.

But while stressing facts may be just the ticket for California, some other states are betting on less conventional approaches.

Oregon, for instance, launched a $4 million media campaign in early July that showcases local musicians, such as Portland folk singer Laura Gibson. In an ad, she croons about the virtues of healthy living in Oregon, rather than health insurance.

In Minnesota, a nearly $9 million ad campaign relies on humor. Ads show folk legend Paul Bunyan and his sidekick, Babe the Blue Ox in a series of painful mishaps. Woodpeckers attack poor Paul. In another ad, the he-man lumberjack injures himself in a water-skiing accident.

And in Maryland, a $2.5 million ad campaign extols the virtues of health insurance with images of blue crabs, a hunky fisherman, a slew of smiling people and a catchy jingle.

But no matter how clever or creative these ad campaigns may be, their success ultimately will be measured by how many of the states' young and healthy residents enroll in health insurance when they open for business on Oct. 1.

This piece is part of a collaboration among NPR, KPCC and Kaiser Health News.

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Thu, 12 Sep 2013 04:21

Nick McGurk, Reporter

September 11, 2013

FORT COLLINS - Back in April, Colorado State University's hurricane experts predicted an above-average season; a season that has proved instead to be far below average.

Dr. Bill Gray with CSU had predicted back in April the Atlantic would produce 18 named storms, nine of which would be hurricanes.

"So far, halfway through it, we've only had eight named storms, one hurricane, and no major storm," he said.

Gray, who has been in meteorology for roughly 60 years, has a worldwide reputation for predicting hurricanes.

"I made the first forecast 30 years ago," Gray said.

Since then, the number of hurricanes per year has fluxuated.

"Almost no storms in some years, some years a lot. What is this year going to be? There's just an interest in that," Gray said.

He admits the predictions this year have been off, though he says every organization that has tried to predict hurricanes off the Atlantic hasn't gotten it right.

"This year, everything's down. We've never seen a year where everything, the activity in the whole northern hemisphere is down," Gray said. "The atmosphere is so complex."

He says more answers on the year's hurricanes will come by the end of the season, which is in November.

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Former assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, Stewart Baker, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Wednesday that the U.S. could be at increased risk of cyber attack if it intervenes militarily in Syria.

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REV. Al SHARPTON (10 September 2013): There are no blacks on 30% of Fortune 500 Board of Directors. Apple, where we spend a lot of money on Apple, they have a new I-phone coming out today. No blacks in Board of Apple. We buying up all this Apple stuff and can't get a bite. [...] REV. AL SHARPTON (38:50) Ah now today the I-Phone comes out ah that is of course produced by Apple and Apple is one of those companies I mean we do a tremendous amount of business in our community with Apple, yet were not on their Boards and there is no evidence they d a lot of advertising or a lot of contracting in our community, is that correct?

EARL GRAVES JR: That's correct and I think you know it's one thing to have the measurement being the people who are on the Board, but once a person's on the Board then it's really measuring four different things. And the key is what is the percentage of money that they spend in procurement that they're spending with minority owned businesses, or African American firms? The second it what percentage of senior managers or direct reports are people of color? The third is what percentage of money that you spend are you spending with or directed to African American media. Of course the last is the Board of Directors. The part that is so shocking is that Apple, which is probably the best know of the companies basically strikes out against all four. REV. AL SHARPTON: Really!

EARL GRAVES JR: They have no African American Directors in the company. They do little to no spending in African American media. They do little to no spending with in procurement with African American firms. And as you, as I quote you all the time, the corporate board not corporate board, but the ah corporation in the executive rank looks like the Himalayas.

REV. AL SHARPTON: Right

EARL GRAVES JR: because the higher you go the whiter it gets.

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 21:33

Mr. Jacob Appelbaum, representative of the Navy-funded Tor Network, spoke on behalf of Edward Snowden during the 2013 Whistleblower Award ceremony on Aug 31st. The ceremony took place in Berlin, and was organized by the German chapter of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA).

Laura Poitras, who put Snowden in contact with Appelbaum, was also in the crowd.

I'm left with a lot of questions.

Why is Appelbaum, an American with DoD ties and a tenuous link to Snowden, addressing this German-speaking crowd? Couldn't IALANA find a German-speaking human rights activist to read Mr. Snowden's message? At the very least, why didn't Laura Poitras read Snowden's message herself? Why this persistent promotion of Appelbaum, Laura?

Is the IALANA acceptance speech an attempt to manufacture a meaningful connection between Snowden and Appelbaum now that Putin has tied Snowden's hands? (Don't disparage Russia's American buddies!) Why is Appelbaum's weak link to Snowden always trotted out on a German stage?

Previously, the NSA's damage control has been championed by hot-headed journalists and muddle-headed shills'' with friends like these the NSA doesn't need enemies. But thanks to Mr. Putin, times are changing. To this blogger, Appelbaum smells like part of a more professional containment operation.

And, I dare say, Appelbaum smells like that to Snowden too. Here is a transcript of the beginning of Appelbaum's ''2013 Whistleblower Award'' acceptance speech (which he made on behalf of Edward).

When I spoke with Edward Snowden this evening, he wanted me to convey a message to you, which I will read, but he also wanted me to not talk too much about geopolitics, and not to talk too much about all of the things which everybody else has already said this evening.

And instead, he wanted me to talk about individuals, to talk about people. He wanted me to talk about hope for change. And this reminded me of something that one of the greatest American whistle blowers to ever live is famous for saying, that is Daniel Ellsberg, he said that ''Courage is contagious.'' And I see here in the audience a number of people who embody that, Laura [Poitras] being the clear winner of that so far.

[...]

It seems important to say that Edward Snowden is a person of high moral character, I can't really imagine a person who would be better fitting for this award, not just this year, but almost any year. That isn't to forget about Chelsea Manning, that isn't to say other people haven't done great service for humanity.

But when I spoke with him [Snowden] this evening, his first question wasn't about how things would go but he asked me if I had slept. He asked me how I was feeling, and, uh, I told him that I was fine. And he said, ''Are you sure?''

This is a person who really cares about other people, a person who while he as been attacked and relentlessly smeared by the propaganda machines, he is a person who has thrown himself onto the gears of that very machine. And he has done it for each and every one of us and I can't actually believe that it is true in some sense, because it just seems so incredibly powerful, so passionate and so beautiful.

Snowden doesn't seem to think that by talking to Appelbaum, he's in danger of crossing Putin's 'red line' about harming the USA. (I believe Putin's red lines are for real.) Snowden also thinks that Appelbaum needs coaching about what to say, because Appelbaum might otherwise take Snowden's message down an unhelpful track.

Perhaps most importantly, Snowden thinks Appelbaum may have an uneasy conscience. Are you sure you feel fine, Jacob? Really?

Of course, all of this makes Jacob Appelbaum laugh nervously. Wow, German-speaking crowd, says the Tor-Keeper, isn't Snowden a great guy? He cares about how I feel. Moving swiftly on'...

Jacob can join Mr. Putin, and the handful of die-hard NSA shills, in having difficulty wrapping his head around Ed Snowden's motives. Appelbaum can keep repeating how he spoke'' in person'' to Mr. Snowden before the ceremony. He can keep throwing love to his sugar-mommy. He can keep preaching to Germans with his crystal-clear diction. (I don't remember Jacob's careful enunciation from previous speeches. Somebody been to Toastmasters?)

But what Appelbaum can't do is pull his head out of the wilderness of mirrors, because he was born and bred there. And maybe that's the best way to out a spy. They don't understand loyalty to anything beyond their chain of command. What's in it for Edward? they ask, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. Strange guy! shout the Americans.

When Edward Snowden outed the NSA's massive domestic spying capabilities, and its cooperation with other governments, he did a very important thing. He gave everybody the chance to correct government excesses that have been spiraling out of control for a very long time.

Since the start of Snowden's revelations, intelligence agencies everywhere have tried to either benefit from Snowden's actions, or contain the damage his actions caused. The best way to achieve EITHER goal is to plant an agent close to Snowden in order to spin his message. There are a lot of creepy guys and gals crowding around Snowden and that's not Snowden's fault. Appelbaum is one of the ''gears'' chewing up Ed; a price Ed knew he'd have to pay for exposing massive government corruption.

Will the next volley of attempts to assassinate Snowden's character come from Poitras herself, or from Appelbaum? Come on kids, Putin's got Ed's hands held back. Somebody throw the punch.

Oh yeah, what are you gonna do with all that MacArthur money, Laura?

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 20:42

Susan Rice famously blamed the Benghazi terror attack that took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, on an Internet video. She further said the terror attack occurred after a spontaneous protest over that anti-Muslim film got out of hand, instead of blaming the al Qaeda backed terrorists responsible for the murders.

"The White House has had quite enough of the controversy over ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, the misleading talking points she used in TV interviews about the jihadist attacks in Benghazi, and the Obama administration's contradictory narrative about those attacks," Steve Hayes reported in December.

But today, Rice will be called upon again to make a public case for the White House -- this time, she'll be talking about Syria. Except now Rice is the national security adviser, a promotion she received in the last year.

Here's the press release from the New America Foundation, where Rice will be speaking today, which the White House forwarded along:

MEDIA ADVISORY

New America Foundation to Host White House National Security Advisor, Susan E. Rice

WASHINGTON, DC '-- On Monday September 9, the New America Foundation will host a public event on the situation in Syria featuring White House National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice. Ambassador Rice will discuss the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians, the longstanding international norm against the use of chemical weapons, and the need for action to deter the Assad regime from future use of chemical weapons.

WHO:

Introduction: Anne-Marie Slaughter, President, New America Foundation

Keynote remarks: Ambassador Susan E. Rice, White House National Security Advisor

WHEN:

Monday, September 9, 2013

12:30 p.m. EST '' 1:30 p.m. EST

Talk about not putting your best foot forward.

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Wed, 11 Sep 2013 23:43

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Tue, 10 Sep 2013 16:41

SACRAMENTO (KABC) -- State lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow a test run for digital license plates. A privacy group is alarmed over the idea.

The cars of today are so advanced with GPS, back-up cameras and other high-tech extras.

"The one thing on the car that is still 20th century is the license plate, which is stamped metal," said Steve Wright with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. "We think it can be done more efficiently and at a better cost potentially through digital technology."

A measure at the Capitol would enable the Department of Motor Vehicles to create a pilot program, starting with up to 160,000 fleet vehicles, that would allow digital license plates on a small screen.

Lowandmean.com's demonstration on YouTube shows what one might look like for a motorcycle. It would have wireless capabilities so DMV can directly update your registration once you pay and maybe even help cops locate a stolen car.

DMV customer Gordon Bean just bought a pre-owned car and supports the idea of bypassing the DMV. The state spends $20 million a year on postage alone for renewals.

"I think it'd be a lot easier than have to come down here and pick up our tags or mail anything in," said Bean. "I wouldn't have to be coming down here with my plates to get new ones."

California's version is still under development. New Jersey has its own idea, and a South Carolina company says it can go as far as shaming drivers with messages of "expired" or "uninsured" across the screen.

Privacy groups are concerned. Wireless technology means we can be tracked -- the NSA proved that. An ACLU report out this week revealed many law enforcement agencies across the country are keeping data gathered during license plate scans in parking lots and on roads. The Electronic Frontier Foundation would like to see more protections.

"Consumers are simply giving up too much of their private data, and it's the Legislature's job to protect average Californians from overly-intrusive government snooping," said Nate Cordozo with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"I think they're going too far with a lot of things," said DMV customer Antoine Cockerham. "I think things should be the way they are. If it's not broken, why fix it?"

If this pilot program is approved and is successful enough for public use, tech experts believe the digital plates could eventually show advertising when the vehicle is stopped for at least four seconds and be a moneymaker for the state.

(Copyright (C)2013 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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