No Agenda 551 - The Tolerance Podcast

Peerage Map Updated (Sir AJ )

NoAgendaCD Distributing Producers

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Ozone Action Day

Bi Visibility Day

The White House will hold a closed-door roundtable discussion on issues facing bisexuals Sept. 23.

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Pollution Level in Central Texas Sparks Ozone Action Day | KUT News

Ozone: The Facts

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Archived Version

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 21:09

Answers to general questions about ozone, such as what is ozone, how it is formed, and why we should be concerned about this air pollutant.

The TCEQ uses sound scientific research to reduce ozone and, as a result, has achieved decreases in ozone concentrations statewide. In fact, from 2000 to 2010, ozone levels across Texas decreased by 27 percent. By comparison, the rest of the nation averaged only a 14 percent decrease in ozone levels over the same period. Texas has also devoted more funds to air quality research during the past decade than any other state in the country, which has led to the dramatic decrease in ozone concentrations. The state has sponsored two major field studies-- the Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS) 2000 and Texas Air Quality Study II (TexAQS II).

Sound science and targeted regulations have greatly reduced ozone in Texas cities and across the nation. The TCEQ's goal is sensible regulation, based on sound science, which addresses real environmental risks while complying with state and federal statutes.

What is ozone?Ozone is a gas that is formed in the atmosphere when three atoms of oxygen combine. Ozone is found high in the Earth's upper atmosphere and at ground level. Ozone has the same chemical structure wherever it occurs.

Stratospheric Ozone: Ozone occurs naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere'--6 to 30 miles above the Earth's surface'--where it forms a protective layer that shields us from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

Ground-Level Ozone: Ground-level ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight. Emissions from industrial facilities and electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents are some of the major sources of NOx and VOCs. In addition, biogenic sources (living organisms or biological processes) also release VOCs that can contribute to ground-level ozone.

What are the health effects of ground-level ozone?Breathing relatively high levels of ground-level ozone can cause acute respiratory problems like cough and respiratory irritation and can aggravate the symptoms of asthma.

What are the conditions that lead to elevated ground-level ozone?Ozone, typically referred to as smog, mainly forms the highest concentrations on sunny days with slow wind speeds, which allow pollutants to accumulate. Summer days in Texas can be conducive for ozone formation as high pressure systems dominate our local weather patterns, giving us clear skies and stagnant winds.

What can I do to limit ozone formation?Limit driving and idling; instead, car pool, combine errands, use public transportation, bike, or walk.Don't top off the tank when refueling your vehicle.Keep your vehicle maintained, including proper tire pressure.Maintain your yard equipment, including changing the oil and replacing air filters. Use electric lawn equipment when possible.Don't burn yard waste.Use paint and cleaning products with less or zero VOCs.Conserve energy.Refuel in late afternoon or evening.What about indoor air quality?The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified and characterized significant risks to public health from indoor environmental contaminants that are commonly found in homes, schools, offices, and other buildings where most Americans spend up to 90 percent of their time. Indoor levels of air pollution may be up to two to five times higher, and occasionally 100 times higher, than outdoor levels. Common indoor air contaminants include radon, tobacco smoke, mold, irritant and allergenic asthma triggers, combustion by-products and VOCs. Indoor contaminants may be of natural origin (e.g., radon, allergens and molds), may derive from products used indoors (e.g., finishes, furnishings and cleaning products) and may result from indoor processes and behaviors (e.g., smoking, use of unvented combustion sources; or cleaning, operation and maintenance procedures). Building systems (e.g., heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) also have a direct influence on the type and amount of exposure building occupants may experience from environmental contaminants indoors. For more information on indoor air quality:U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Indoor Air QualityTexas Department of State Health Services

What should I consider in weighing the EPA's recommendations to limit exercise and stay indoors because of outside ozone concentrations?The World Health Organization ranks physical inactivity as a major risk factor for heart disease, breast cancer, colon cancer, and diabetes. Recently, it has been estimated that over 30 percent of the U.S. population is fully inactive. For children, the risks of obesity are well-documented. Given that physical exercise is important for adults and children for reasons including prevention of disease and obesity, individuals must consider those benefits when making choices about following the EPA's recommendations to limit exercise outdoors and stay indoors because of concentrations of ozone in ambient air. A personal decision to limit outdoor activities should consider weather conditions more than ozone levels. Exercise performance is compromised in the heat, and temperature should be considered when making personal choices about exercising.

What is background ozone and why it is important?The study of background ozone is important in order to understand how much ozone is being added to an airshed by local contributions. Policy Relevant Background (PRB) ozone is currently defined as the ozone concentrations that would occur in an area in the absence of anthropogenic emissions of precursors in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It is important in health risk and policy assessments. PRB ozone cannot be directly determined from monitored data because of the influence of local and regional precursor emissions on ozone formation in any given area. It is important for air quality planners to use modeling and other analytical tools to estimate day-specific ozone PRB levels for high ozone days as part of the regulatory development program. The PRB ozone is of concern because it can sometimes represent a substantial fraction of the observed ozone in Texas urban areas. Recent scientific studies using global-scale modeling have estimated that PRB ozone in Texas can range from 25 to 58 parts per billion.

''Background ozone'' can also be described as the amount of ozone due to distant sources entering an airshed; this definition can help to differentiate between the natural and transported ozone, and the ozone produced locally. Using this definition, regional background ozone can be directly measured by monitors and can at times approach or even exceed levels that are allowed by the regulatory standard. This concept is important when understanding the contribution of a local area in consideration of control strategies.

What is an ozone forecast?Ozone forecasts are made daily during the season for each of nine metropolitan areas in Texas. Each forecast is a simple yes or no prediction for the question: Will ozone levels reach or exceed a target level for a particular area?

TCEQ meteorologists use a set of criteria from historic meteorological data, ozone measurements, and ozone-prediction models to make these predictions. When they forecast an Ozone Action Day, the meteorologists contact the National Weather Service which then broadcasts the information across its weather wire. The agency also contacts officials in all affected areas so that local community clean-air coalitions can notify media, government, business, and industry.

The forecasts are made, in most cases, a day in advance by 2 p.m. local time and are valid for the next day. The only exception is for the Houston area, where the forecast can be updated as late as 9 a.m. local time on the same day that the forecast is in effect. The forecast target level for all areas is the U.S. EPA Air Quality Index (AQI) Level Orange, which corresponds to an 8-hour average of 76 ppb or a 1-hour average of 125 ppb. In the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas, forecasts for AQI Level Red may also be issued and the target for these forecasts is an 8-hour average of 96 ppb or a 1-hour average of 165 ppb.

The ozone forecast seasons do not necessarily correspond to the "ozone seasons" defined for regulatory purposes by the EPA.

Participating Metropolitan Areas and Their Ozone forecast season DatesEach day during ozone forecast season (roughly March through November in Texas), the TCEQ forecasts ozone levels for nine metropolitan areas:

Metropolitan AreaOzone Forecast Season BeginsOzone Forecast Season EndsAustinApril 1

October 31

Beaumont-Port ArthurMay 1

October 31

Corpus ChristiApril 1

October 31

Dallas-Fort WorthMarch 1

October 31

El PasoMay 1

October 31

HoustonMarch 1

November 30

San AntonioApril 1

October 31

Tyler-LongviewMay 1

September 30

VictoriaMay 1

September 30

What is the Air Quality Index?The EPA has a scale called the Air Quality Index for rating air quality. The AQI scale is based on the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and is described in Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 58, Appendix G. Each NAAQS pollutant has a separate AQI scale; an AQI rating of 100 corresponds to the concentration of the federal standard for that pollutant. Additional information about the AQI and how it can be used is available from the EPA.

How can I sign up to receive e-mail alerts and alerts on mobile devices?You can sign up for free ozone forecast e-mail alerts for any of the nine metropolitan areas listed above through TCEQ's website.

You can also sign up to receive e-mail alerts through the EPA's EnviroFlash website.

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White House Celebrates Bisexual Visibility Day with an Official Closed-Door Event

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Archived Version

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 21:13

Did you know that today is Bisexual Visibility Day?

You may not be aware, but they are at the White House and will be celebrating with an official event.

Seriously, this is not a joke.

Today, in honor of Bisexual Visibility Day there will be a White House roundtable discussion ''about issues facing the bisexual community'' attracting bisexual activists from around the nation.

This first-time White House event was called to my attention on Sunday when I saw a piece in the Miami Herald with the headline, ''A voice for bisexuals, Miami activist heads to D.C.''

The piece highlighted Luigi Ferrer, who is program and grants development director for Pridelines Youth Services. The Miami Herald reports:

''I am the Florida representative,'' said Ferrer, a longtime bisexual activist who joins about two-dozen others at the roundtable, which coincides with international Bisexual Visibility Day on Sept. 23.

''They decided to celebrate bisexuality day by inviting the national bisexual leadership roundtable to the White House for a policy meeting,'' said Ferrer, who received an email invitation about a month ago from the Barack Obama administration.

''It's a testament to this administration that they are focusing on all elements of the LGBT community and they should be applauded for hosting an event focused on some of the specific issues impacting bisexual people,'' said Michael Cole-Schwartz, spokesman for HRC,Human Rights Campaign in Washington.

Intrigued by today's White House roundtable discussion, I did a quick check and found in the Washington Post a piece dated August 22 announcing the event which included this puzzling statement:

The White House will hold a closed-door roundtable discussion on issues facing bisexuals Sept. 23.

Why a closed-door roundtable discussion in the ''People's House''? Wasn't Obama's administration supposed to be the most transparent ever?

I am shocked.

''Shocked,'' because with all that is going on in our nation and the world, how does the White House find the time and resources for such an event?

Wouldn't you just love to know what this bisexual ''roundtable discussion'' is costing the American taxpayer?

Do you think there will be pressure put on the Pentagon to hold such an event next year?

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BBC News - Human role in warming 'more certain' - UN climate chief

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Archived Version

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 15:20

23 September 2013Last updated at08:00 ETBy Roger HarrabinEnvironment analystScientists are more certain than ever that greenhouse gases from human activities are heating the planet, the head of the UN's climate panel says.

Rajendra Pachauri made the comments in an interview with BBC News.

The panel is due to deliver its latest report on the state of the climate later this week in Stockholm, Sweden.

Its last report was criticised after an error on glaciers unveiled other flaws, but Prof Pachauri said procedures had been reformed and strengthened.

He also dismissed suggestions of a slowdown in global warming.

"There's definitely an increase in our belief that climate change is taking place and that human beings are responsible,'' he told me.

"I don't think there is a slowdown (in the rate of temperature increase). I would like to draw your attention to the World Meteorological Organization which clearly stated on the basis of observations that the first decade of this century has been the warmest in recorded history.

"And I think the rest will be brought out by the report itself when it's released."

Prof Pachauri's insistence that warming has not slowed hints at a focus of debate this week in Stockholm: Global temperatures have not been increasing as fast as scientists predicted, and several governments insist that this puzzle is properly addressed in the final summary.

Have computer climate models overestimated the sensitivity of the planet to increasing CO2? Or has excess heat been stored up in oceans whence it will emerge to super-heat the planet in decades to come? Or both?

Or just perhaps it could be something else.

Unprecedented changeThe draft says a doubling of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere above pre-industrial levels (expected by mid-century) is likely to result in a temperature rise globally of between 1.5 and 4.5C.

Any rise above 2C could risk major changes on Earth, according to projections, but the results of recent modelling involves a downward tweak at the bottom of the range, offering the tantalising prospect to politicians that if humans are very lucky, they could get away with rising CO2 emissions for a bit longer than previously expected.

The panel is struggling to offer a definitive answer as to why warming is not happening at the rate previously projected. But it will be anxious to ensure that the likelihood of a fortunate escape for humanity should not be overplayed.

It is expected to say that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have already warmed the ocean, melted snow and ice, raised sea levels and increased climatic extremes.

It will also warn that unless emissions are cut soon, we are likely to suffer severe changes in the climate unprecedented for hundreds of thousands of years.

Prof Pachauri's leadership of the panel has been strongly supported by developing countries, although he has faced criticism in the West. He told me he had no plans to retire after the forthcoming report.

He said the panel enjoyed massive support, with 3,000 people volunteering to act as authors, 831 of whom were selected.

Tightening proceduresIn the detailed text of its last report, the UN panel made a controversial mistake on glaciers.

Prof Pachauri said: "We made one mistake about the glaciers melting by 2035 - for which we have apologised. That was totally out of character because we always give a range for these things and it somehow slipped through.

"But it wasn't included in the technical summary or the summary for policymakers, it just somehow escaped attention.

''What we did say about the glaciers was in substance not all that wrong '' the glaciers are melting across the globe so that is something we stand by.

Continue reading the main storyAdaptation

Action that helps cope with the effects of climate change - for example construction of barriers to protect against rising sea levels, or conversion to crops capable of surviving high temperatures and drought.

''This time we have been doubly careful... [that] we don't have any mistake of that type. And I hope that [the report] will reassure everyone that human influence is having a major impact on the Earth's climate.''

Prof Pachauri said he anticipated attempts to discredit the panel. But he claimed evidence of extreme events was persuading more and more people, especially in the US, that humans were taking a risk with the climate.

Indeed, the report is expected to say it is very likely that manmade climate change has produced higher precipitation in America.

"Hopefully,'' he said, ''there are enough sane and sensible people in the public who will ultimately prevail."

The broader question is whether science itself will prevail over politics. Whatever the pronouncements of the UN panel, emissions are expected to continue to increase into the foreseeable future as politicians weigh risks to energy bills and competitiveness against risks to the planet.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has re-confirmed that he will invite world leaders to a climate summit next year in an attempt to galvanise action.

Follow Roger on Twitter

CBC My Region - Arctic ice level rebounds from record 2012 low

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Mother Nature and the Middle Class - NYTimes.com

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Archived Version

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 15:15

IF you fell asleep 30 years ago, woke up last week and quickly scanned the headlines in Iran and Egypt you could be excused for saying, ''I didn't miss a thing.'' The military and the Muslim Brotherhood are still slugging it out along the Nile, and Iranian pragmatists and ideologues are still locked in a duel for control of their Islamic Revolution.

So go back to sleep? Not so fast. I can guarantee that the next 30 years will not be the same old, same old. Two huge new forces have muscled their way into the center of both Egyptian and Iranian politics, and they will bust open their old tired duopolies.

The first newcomer is Mother Nature. Do not mess with Mother Nature. Iran's population in 1979 when the Islamic Revolution occurred was 37 million; today it's 75 million. Egypt's was 40 million; today it's 85 million. The stresses from more people, climate change and decades of environmental abuse in both countries can no longer be ignored or bought off.

On July 9, Iran's former agriculture minister, Issa Kalantari, an adviser to Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, spoke to this reality in the Ghanoon newspaper: ''Our main problem that threatens us, that is more dangerous than Israel, America or political fighting, is the issue of living in Iran,'' said Kalantari. ''It is that the Iranian plateau is becoming uninhabitable. ... Groundwater has decreased and a negative water balance is widespread, and no one is thinking about this.''

Thomas L. Friedman

Josh Haner / The New York Times

He continued: ''I am deeply worried about the future generations. ... If this situation is not reformed, in 30 years Iran will be a ghost town. Even if there is precipitation in the desert, there will be no yield, because the area for groundwater will be dried and water will remain at ground level and evaporate.'' Kalantari added: ''All the bodies of natural water in Iran are drying up: Lake Urumieh, Bakhtegan, Tashak, Parishan and others.'' Kalantari concluded that the ''deserts in Iran are spreading, and I am warning you that South Alborz and East Zagros will be uninhabitable and people will have to migrate. But where? Easily I can say that of the 75 million people in Iran, 45 million will have uncertain circumstances. ... If we start this very day to address this, it will take 12 to 15 years to balance.''

In Egypt, soil compaction and rising sea levels have already led to saltwater intrusion in the Nile Delta; overfishing and overdevelopment are threatening the Red Sea ecosystem, and unregulated and unsustainable agricultural practices in poorer districts, plus more extreme temperatures, are contributing to erosion and desertification. The World Bank estimates that environmental degradation is costing Egypt 5 percent of gross domestic product annually.

But just as Mother Nature is demanding better governance from above in both countries, an emergent and empowered middle class, which first reared its head with the 2009 Green revolution in Iran and the 2011 Tahrir revolution in Egypt, is doing so from below. A government that just provides ''order'' alone in either country simply won't cut it anymore. Order, drift and decay were tolerable when populations were smaller, the environment not so degraded, the climate less volatile, and citizens less technologically empowered and connected.

Both countries today need ''order-plus'' '-- an order that enables dynamism and resilience, and that can be built only on the rule of law, innovation, political and religious pluralism, and greater freedoms. It requires political and economic institutions that are inclusive and ''sustainable,'' in both senses of that word. Neither country can afford the old line that Hosni Mubarak used for so many years when addressing American leaders: ''After me comes the flood, so you'd better put up with my stale, plodding but stable leadership, otherwise you'll get the Muslim Brotherhood.''

That is so 1970s. As Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment, puts it: In the Middle East today ''it's no longer 'After me, the flood' '-- Apr¨s moi, le d(C)luge '-- but 'After me, the drought.' '' Syria's revolution came on the heels of the worst drought in its modern history, to which the government failed to respond.

Iran's Islamic leadership seems to realize that it cannot keep asking its people to put up with crushing economic sanctions to preserve a nuclear weapons option. Mother Nature and Iran's emergent middle classes require much better governance, integrated with the world. That's why Iran is seeking a nuclear deal now with Washington.

And that's why two of the most interesting leaders to watch today are President Rouhani of Iran and Egypt's new military strongman, Gen. Abdul Fattah el-Sisi. Both men rose up in the old order, but both men were brought into the top leadership by the will of their emergent middle classes and newly empowered citizens, and neither man will be able to maintain order without reforming the systems that produced them '-- making them more sustainable and inclusive. They have no choice: too many people, too little oil, too little soil.

And pay attention: What Mother Nature and these newly empowered citizens have in common is that they can both set off a wave '-- a tsunami '-- that can overwhelm their systems at any moment, and you'll never see it coming.

Video: Inside the Washington Navy Yard shooting | Al Jazeera America

Navy Yard Shooter Left Bizarre Note About Radio Waves That Drove Him to Kill: FBI | TheBlaze.com

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 12:32

WASHINGTON (AP) '-- Washington Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis left a note saying he was driven to kill by months of bombardment with extremely low-frequency radio waves, the FBI said Wednesday in a disclosure that explains the phrase he etched on his shotgun: ''My ELF Weapon!''

Alexis did not target particular individuals during the Sept. 16 attack in which he killed 12 people, and there is no indication the shooting stemmed from any workplace dispute, said Valerie Parlave, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington field office. Instead, authorities said, his behavior in the weeks before the shooting and evidence recovered from his hotel room, backpack and other belongings reveal a man increasingly in the throes of paranoia and delusions.

WASHINGTON, DC '' SEPTEMBER 16: In this handout frame grab from the Washington Navy Yard provided by the FBI on September 25, 2013, Aaron Alexis moves through the hallways of Building #197 carrying the Remington 870 shotgun September 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

''Ultra-low frequency attack is what I've been subject to for the last 3 months, and to be perfectly honest that is what has driven me to this,'' read an electronic document agents recovered after the shooting.

The attack came one month after Alexis had complained to police in Rhode Island that people were talking to him through the walls and ceilings of his hotel room and sending microwave vibrations into his body to deprive him of sleep.

On his shotgun, he had scrawled ''My ELF Weapon!'' '' an apparent reference to extremely low-frequency waves '' along with ''End to the Torment!'' ''Not what yall say'' and ''Better off this way,'' the FBI said.

Alexis, a 34-year-old former Navy reservist and computer technician for a government contractor, used a valid badge to get into the Navy Yard and opened fire inside a building with the Remington shotgun, which he had legally purchased in Virginia two days earlier. He also used a 9 mm handgun that he took from a security guard, a weapon found near Alexis' body. He was killed in the building by a U.S. Park Police officer following a rampage and shootout with police that the FBI said lasted more than an hour.

''There are indicators that Alexis was prepared to die during the attack and that he accepted death as the inevitable consequence of his actions,'' Parlave said.

Surveillance video released by the FBI on Wednesday shows Alexis pulling his rental car into a garage, walking into the building with a bag and then skulking down a corridor with a shotgun, ducking and crouching around a corner and walking briskly down a flight of stairs. The video does not show him actually shooting anyone.

A timeline issued by the FBI shows Alexis started the rampage on the building's fourth floor and then moved down to the third and first floors. He ultimately returned to the third floor, where he was killed around 9:25 a.m. FBI Director James Comey has said there's no evidence that Alexis shot down into the atrium despite earlier accounts from witnesses at the scene.

WASHINGTON, DC '' SEPTEMBER 16: In this handout frame grab from the Washington Navy Yard provided by the FBI on September 25, 2013, the etching reading, 'Not what y'all say!' is visible on the right side of Aaron Alexis shotgun receiver September 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images

Credit: Getty Images

Alexis had started a job as a contractor in the building just a week before.

Although there was a ''routine performance-related issue addressed to him'' on the Friday before the Monday morning shooting, ''there is no indication that this caused any sort of reaction from him,'' Parlave said.

''We have not determined there to be any previous relationship between Alexis and any of the victims,'' she said. ''There is no evidence or information at this point that indicates he targeted anyone he worked for or worked with. We do not see any one event as triggering this attack.''

Defense officials have acknowledged that a lot of red flags were missed in Alexis' background, allowing him to maintain a secret-level security clearance and access to a Navy installation despite a string of behavioral problems and brushes with the law.

He worked for The Experts, a Florida-based computer firm that was a Hewlett-Packard subcontractor. Hewlett-Packard said Wednesday that it was severing ties with The Experts, accusing the company of failing to respond adequately to Alexis' mental problems.

The Experts responded by issuing a statement that the company was disappointed with Hewlett-Packard's decision.

''The Experts is disappointed in H-P's decision, as we have continued to meet all of our contractual obligations. The Experts had no greater insight into Alexis' mental health than H-P, particularly given that an H-P site manager closely supervised him, including during the events in Rhode Island,'' the statement said.

At the Pentagon, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the department will review base safety procedures and the security clearance process.

''Bottom line is, we need to know how an employee was able to bring a weapon and ammunition onto a DoD installation, and how warning flags were either missed, ignored or not addressed in a timely manner,'' Carter said.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has recommended that the department require that all police reports '' not just arrests or convictions '' be included in background checks.

''

FBI Releases Chilling New Video of Navy Yard Shooter Stalking Halls With Shotgun | Video | TheBlaze.com

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Trazadone from iToast

Trazodone HCL (Desyrel) is a very powerful drug, when taken in sufficiently high doses though it causes intense drowsiness, lack of co-ordination and balance, blurred vision, agitation, hallucinations, tachycardia, overactive reflexes, diarrhea, loss of coordination.

When I was treated at the highest dose for me of 200 mg (2x100mg pills) on a regular basis, I would take the medication and within 18-20 minutes be unable to stay awake, I would be unable to stand or really even walk. On some occasions I had never made it to the bed and wound up on the floor. Your muscles tend to twitch. Your hands, my left thumb for example and right hand tends to drop items far easier. In smaller doses it is true that it does alter your libido significantly and increases your stamina, largely by lacking feeling in my personal opinion, but it does make for an interesting night if I don't have a sufficient dose to sleep.

If he was taking that medication at his size, height, weight etc I'd be amazed that he would even be conscious at all the normal dose is 50-100mg the LD-50 is 610 mg/kg, so if he doped up on it he would have had to do so very quickly perhaps before the attack. The onset of the drowsiness occurs in minutes after taking it. Only thoughts there would be if he took something to counteract the drowsiness a direct release Adderall (Not the XR time release) or 2 might do the trick, it would put you in an odd limbo state. His aim would likely be terrible with the muscle twitching and lack of co-ordination.

[Crackpot theory] -- It just occurred to me that if the Extremely Low Frequency transmissions were really an issue, he might have problems sleeping causing him to seek out the medication for insomnia. Fox and Friends this morning called ELF "An extremely old system that the Navy used." That was literally verbatim, glad everyone on NA knows that ELF is still used for a variety of radio transmission functions from submarines to aircraft carriers.

Trazodone's on label use is as an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety treatment and the doctors decided that the intense drowsiness makes it a perfect off label sleep aid for insomnia patients with the added "bonus" of being an antidepressant.

Former FBI agent from Carmel will plead guilty in child porn, national security cases

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Former FBI Agent to Plead Guilty in Associated Press Leak Case - WSJ.com

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Archived Version

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 13:05

A longtime bomb expert for the Federal Bureau of Investigation has agreed to plead guilty to disclosing closely guarded details of a 2012 terror investigation to the Associated Press.

Authorities said Monday that Donald Sachtleben, who retired from the FBI in 2008 but continued to work for the agency as a consultant, gained knowledge of a failed 2012 "underwear bomb" plot by al Qaeda.

Mr. Sachtleben, in a statement issued by his lawyers, said he was "deeply sorry" for his actions. "While I never intended harm to the United States or to any individuals, I do not make excuses for myself," he said.

As part of the plea deal with prosecutors, Mr. Sachtleben, who worked as an FBI agent for 25 years, also plans to plead guilty to distributing child pornography, the result of a separate investigation that overlapped with the leak probe.

Under the terms of the plea deal, Mr. Sachtleben's expected sentence will be more than 11 years'--eight years on the child-pornography charge and 3½ years for the leak of national defense information. Officials said 31/2 years is the longest prison term ever received in a leak prosecution of a civilian.

In August, Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prisonfor leaking military and diplomatic documents to Wikileaks. Pfc. Manning, who later said he wished to live as a woman and be known as Chelsea Manning, could be eligible for parole in about eight years.

In May 2012, the AP wrote about the failed underwear-bomb plot, which was the work of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based affiliate of the global terror group.

The 2012 underwear bomb sought to improve on a failed Christmas Day 2009 underwear bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound airliner, said counterterrorism officials. After the initial AP report about the new bomb, subsequent articles revealed the would-be bomber actually was a mole working on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency and foreign intelligence agencies.

Authorities have called the case one of the most damaging national-security leaks they have seen. Some officials have said the operation against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula could have gone on if not for the leak.

The case prompted a new furor, though, when it was disclosed earlier this year that U.S. prosecutors had seized the records of about 20 phone lines at the AP or its employees in their effort to find the leaker or leakers. Lawmakers and civil-liberties groups criticized the Obama administration for what they called a violation of First Amendment protections.

According to documents filed Monday in federal court in Indianapolis, Mr. Sachtleben signed a plea agreement admitting to unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. He earlier agreed to plead guilty to the child-pornography charges.

Authorities say the leak investigation and child-pornography case proceeded separately, until investigators compared phone records of people familiar with the details of the bomb plot case against records of the phones associated with AP, and began looking at Mr. Sachtleben. They found the government had seized his computer as part of the pornography probe.

In May, investigators got a subpoena to examine the computer for the leak probe, said a federal official. That search showed multiple contacts between Mr. Sachtleben and one of the AP reporters who wrote the story, an official said.

An AP spokesman said, "We never comment on our sources."

Write to Devlin Barrett at devlin.barrett@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared September 24, 2013, on page A2 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Prison-Time Deal in AP Bomb Leak.

Former F.B.I. Agent to Plead Guilty in Press Leak - NYTimes.com

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Tue, 24 Sep 2013 13:54

WASHINGTON '-- A former F.B.I. agent has agreed to plead guilty to leaking classified information to The Associated Press about a foiled bomb plot in Yemen last year, the Justice Department announced Monday. In a twist, the former agent had already been under investigation in a separate child pornography case, and he has also agreed to a guilty plea in it.

Federal investigators said they were able to identify the man, Donald Sachtleben, a former bomb technician, as a suspect in the leak case only after secretly obtaining A.P. reporters' phone logs, a move that set off an uproar among journalists and members of Congress of both parties when it was disclosed in May.

Mr. Sachtleben, 55, of Carmel, Ind., who was an F.B.I. agent from 1983 until 2008 and was later hired as a contractor, has agreed to serve 43 months in prison for the leak, the Justice Department said. His case is the eighth leak-related prosecution under the Obama administration. Only three such cases were prosecuted under all previous presidents.

''This prosecution demonstrates our deep resolve to hold accountable anyone who would violate their solemn duty to protect our nation's secrets, and to prevent future, potentially devastating leaks by those who would wantonly ignore their obligations to safeguard classified information,'' said Ronald C. Machen Jr., the United States attorney for the District of Columbia.

Donald Sachtleben is said to have leaked details of a foiled bomb plot to The Associated Press.

Mr. Sachtleben has separately agreed to plead guilty and serve 97 months in the pornography case. His total sentence, should a judge accept the plea deal, is 140 months, or nearly 12 years. The 43-month sentence for leak-related offenses is the longest ever imposed by a federal civilian court in such a case, although a military judge last month sentenced Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning, to 35 years in prison for leaking archives of documents to WikiLeaks.

Paul Colford, a spokesman for The A.P., would not discuss the case, saying, ''We would never comment on our sources.''

The case originated in a successful intelligence operation in April 2012 that disrupted a plot by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based offshoot of the main group, to destroy an airliner. The government was able to obtain a special underwear bomb apparently designed by the terrorist group's master bomb maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, to evade detection in airport security checks.

On May 7, 2012, The A.P. broke the news that the bomb plot had been disrupted, setting off further disclosures.

Ibrahim al-Asiri

Saudi Arabia Ministry of Interior, via Associated Press

That evening, Richard A. Clarke, a former Clinton administration national security official who had been briefed on the case by John O. Brennan, then the top White House counterterrorism official and now the C.I.A. director, said the plot never came close to being carried out because it was under ''insider control'' by intelligence officials.

Soon, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and other news organizations reported that the would-be suicide bomber in the operation had been a double agent.

The disclosure about the Yemen bomb plot came as Republicans were accusing the White House of deliberately leaking a variety of secret information to make President Obama look tough on national security issues in an election year, an allegation that the White House denied. Amid Republican calls for independent prosecutors, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. assigned Mr. Machen to handle the Yemen bomb plot case.

Nearly a year later, in May 2013, the Justice Department disclosed that after the F.B.I. had interviewed more than 550 officials and been unable to solve the case, investigators secretly used subpoenas to telephone companies to obtain calling records for 20 lines associated with A.P. bureaus and reporters. The scope and secrecy of the subpoenas outraged journalism organizations and lawmakers of both parties, who accused the department of going too far.

The Justice Department said the phone records had proved crucial in identifying Mr. Sachtleben as a suspect. In a bizarre coincidence, investigators then discovered that other law enforcement officials had already seized his computer and other electronic materials in an unrelated child pornography investigation.

''Sachtleben was identified as a suspect in the case of this unauthorized disclosure only after toll records for phone numbers related to the reporter were obtained through a subpoena and compared to other evidence collected during the leak investigation,'' the Justice Department said. ''This allowed investigators to obtain a search warrant authorizing a more exhaustive search of Sachtleben's cellphone, computer and other electronic media, which were in the possession of federal investigators due to the child pornography investigation.''

A court filing said agents discovered evidence that he had stored classified intelligence information on the computer without authorization, leading to a separate charge under the Espionage Act.

During his 25-year career with the F.B.I., Mr. Sachtleben worked on many major terrorism cases, a court filing said, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the 1998 American Embassy bombings in Africa, the 2000 bombing of the American destroyer Cole in Yemen, and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

He held a top secret clearance and, among other assignments, he worked for the explosives unit at the F.B.I. laboratory in Quantico, Va. The court filing said that he met one of the A.P. reporters, identified only as Reporter A, in 2009, and that in the following years he helped the journalist with information about bomb-related issues.

One court filing quoted text messages in which the reporter reached out to Mr. Sachtleben on April 30, 2012, after ABC News reported that Mr. Asiri might have been working on bombs that could be surgically implanted. Mr. Sachtleben and the reporter exchanged several text messages, quoted in the court filing, speculating about the ABC report. As it turns out, the contractor was about to take a trip to Quantico. On May 2, he visited the lab where the underwear device was being examined, it said, and soon called the reporter.

Two and a half hours later, the court filing said, two A.P. reporters began calling government officials saying they knew that the United States government had intercepted a bomb from Yemen and that the F.B.I. was analyzing it.

The next day, May 3, 2012, law enforcement agents in Indiana, working on an unrelated case involving the distribution of child pornography on the Internet, obtained a search warrant for Mr. Sachtleben's house, court filings show. They seized his computers on May 11.

The Man Who Knew Too Much

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Archived Version

Source: JustOneMinute

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 17:59

The Justice Department announced a plea in the controversial Yemen leak investigation, and Hollywood script writers have some new material:

Former F.B.I. Agent Pleads Guilty in Leak to A.P.

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

WASHINGTON '-- A former F.B.I. agent has agreed to plead guilty to leaking classified information to The Associated Press about a foiled bomb plot in Yemen last year, the Justice Department announced Monday. In a twist, the former agent had already been under investigation in a separate child pornography case, and he has also agreed to a guilty plea in it.

That is a heck of a plot twist. The Times provides some details:

Federal investigators said they were able to identify the man, Donald Sachtleben, a former bomb technician, as a suspect in the leak case only after secretly obtaining A.P. reporters' phone logs, a move that set off an uproar among journalists and members of Congress of both parties when it was disclosed in May.

Yeah, yeah, they needed the very broad subpoena, or so they say:

Nearly a year later, in May 2013, the Justice Department disclosed that after the F.B.I. had interviewed more than 550 officials and been unable to solve the case, investigators secretly used subpoenas to telephone companies to obtain calling records for 20 lines associated with A.P. bureaus and reporters. The scope and secrecy of the subpoenas outraged journalism organizations and lawmakers of both parties, who accused the department of going too far.

But what about the child pornography?

The Justice Department said the phone records had proved crucial in identifying Mr. Sachtleben as a suspect. In a bizarre coincidence, investigators then discovered that other law enforcement officials had already seized his computer and other electronic materials in an unrelated child pornography investigation.

In a bizarre coincidence they already had his computer and had searched it for kiddie porn but never noticed the classified info reportedly stored on it. Really? Or had they noticed the classified intel but were troubled by their lack of a plausible warrant authorizing a search for it?

Eventually the pieces fell into place for these fortunate investigators:

''Sachtleben was identified as a suspect in the case of this unauthorized disclosure only after toll records for phone numbers related to the reporter were obtained through a subpoena and compared to other evidence collected during the leak investigation,'' the Justice Department said. ''This allowed investigators to obtain a search warrant authorizing a more exhaustive search of Sachtleben's cellphone, computer and other electronic media, which were in the possession of federal investigators due to the child pornography investigation.''

A court filing said agents discovered evidence that he had stored classified intelligence information on the computer without authorization, leading to a separate charge under the Espionage Act.

The timing of the kiddie porn case was extraordinary:

The court filing said that he met one of the A.P. reporters, identified only as Reporter A, in 2009, and that in the following years he helped the journalist with information about bomb-related issues.

One court filing quoted text messages in which the reporter reached out to Mr. Sachtleben on April 30, 2012, after ABC News reported that Mr. Asiri might have been working on bombs that could be surgically implanted. Mr. Sachtleben and the reporter exchanged several text messages, quoted in the court filing, speculating about the ABC report. As it turns out, the contractor was about to take a trip to Quantico. On May 2, he visited the lab where the underwear device was being examined, it said, and soon called the reporter.

Two and a half hours later, the court filing said, two A.P. reporters began calling government officials saying they knew that the United States government had intercepted a bomb from Yemen and that the F.B.I. was analyzing it.

The next day, May 3, 2012, law enforcement agents in Indiana, working on an unrelated case involving the distribution of child pornography on the Internet, obtained a search warrant for Mr. Sachtleben's house, court filings show. They seized his computers on May 11.

So in the world being presented by the Justice Department and the Times, government officials became aware of an important leak when reporters began calling on May 2 2012 but only tracked the initial leak back to Schachtleben a year later.

But in the world I have been reading about lately the NSA has pretty much real-time access to all sorts of phone record metadata.

So in a slightly different world from the one described by the Times, worried intelligence officials found out almost immediately who the AP reporter had recently spoken with that might have compromised the Yemen probe (which involved British and Saudi intelligence in an operation that was ongoing as of May 2, so the US leak was a potential international embarrassment).

And the next day the improbable kiddie porn raid shuts the guy up. Seriously - a guy with 25 years with the FBI was trading kiddie porn under the crafty account of "pedodave69@yahoo.com"? Hide in plain sight has been done.

Well. The Feds stifled him with the trumped-up kiddie porn charge and waited for the leak investigators to uncover a publicly plausible trail to the truth. But a year later, the leak investigation remained stalled. So, the AP subpoena, the new search warrants for the already-seized computer, et voila. All very above-board, and who will doubt it?

Meanwhile, the Times slides right past an obvious question - Sachtleben may have leaked to the AP about the fact that the Yemen bomb was in the possession of the FBI (original story), but it was in follow-ups that the leaks about the Saudi/British double agent were published. To be fair, the Times probably won't be aggressively investigating other news agencies leaks, but still, here is the timeline they present:

On May 7, 2012, The A.P. broke the news that the bomb plot had been disrupted, setting off further disclosures.

That evening, Richard A. Clarke, a former Clinton administration national security official who had been briefed on the case by John O. Brennan, then the top White House counterterrorism official and now the C.I.A. director, said the plot never came close to being carried out because it was under ''insider control'' by intelligence officials.

Soon, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times [link] and other news organizations reported that the would-be suicide bomber in the operation had been a double agent.

So a possibility is that Sachtleben tipped the AP to the existence of the bomb plot. Other officials then disclosed during their victory lap that the Brits and Saudis had been involved. And now Sachtleben takes the fall for everything, and why not, since he is dealer in kiddie porn anyway? That saves Eric Holder from having to figure out who at Obama 2012 the White House might have leaked the follow-up details and saves the press from yet another nasty investigation, so win-win-win.

"THEY'RE ALL INSANE": The Sachtleben arrest was so unlikely on its face that back in the day it was linked to the bizarre disappearance of FBI agent Stephen Ivens. However, the source of the link is the EU Times, which has no credibility, and Sorcha Fall, aka Source Fail.

Knowing what we know now about the capabilites of the NSA, I think it is entirely plausible that they identified the Sachtleben/Yemen leak connection immediately and then felt obliged to conceal their knowledge. As to why he is not fighting the kiddie porn charges, its because they have him on other serious stuff. Well, maybe. Or maybe we have been told the full truth and nothing but the truth.

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Lockdown Letter

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SARsThe Government is Spying on You: ACLU Releases New Evidence of Overly Broad Surveillance of Everyday Activities | American Civil Liberties Union

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Archived Version

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 20:45

This was originally posted by the ACLU of Northern California.

For years, we at the ACLU have been warning that the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative '' a vast information sharing program that encourages the collection and sharing of "suspicious activity" among private parties and local, state and federal law enforcement '' would lead to violations of our privacy, racial and religious profiling, and interference with constitutionally-protected activities. Today, we're proving ourselves right by unveiling actual Suspicious Activity Report summaries obtained from California fusion centers (post-9/11 intergovernmental surveillance hubs). We are also joined by 26 other organizations in calling on the Justice Department, FBI and two other agencies responsible for Suspicious Activity Reporting to adopt stricter standards so that individuals' innocent activity will cease being reported, shared and maintained for decades in anti-terrorism databases.

Here are some examples of real Suspicious Activity Reports ("SARs") from the Central California Intelligence Center and the Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center we are making public today:

"Suspicious ME [Middle Eastern] Males Buy Several Large Pallets of Water""I was called out to the above address regarding a male who was taking photographs of the [name of facility blacked out] [in Commerce, California]. The male stated, he is an artist and enjoys photographing building[s] in industrial areas '... [and] stated he is a professor at San Diego State private college, and takes the photos for his art class."A sergeant from the Elk Grove Police Department reported "on a suspicious individual in his neighborhood"; the sergeant had "long been concerned about a residence in his neighborhood occupied by a Middle Eastern male adult physician who is very unfriendly""Demonstration Against Law Enforcement Use of Excessive Force": "Reporting party received an e-mail that describes a scheduled protest by an unknown number of individuals on July 7, 2012. The information indicates the protestors are concerned about the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers."Do these sound like suspicious activities reasonably indicative of a terrorist threat? Important leads our intelligence agencies should follow up on? We're not the only ones who don't think so. A Senate subcommittee reviewed a year of similar intelligence reporting from state and local authorities identified and "dozens of problematic or useless" reports "potentially violating civil liberties protections." A report, co-authored by Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Michael Downing, found that SARs have "flooded fusion centers, law enforcement, and other security entities with white noise." Also, as the ACLU notes in a report released this week on post-9/11 FBI abuses, SARs generated from state and local police and public tips '' many reflecting religious, racial, ethnic, and political bias '' end up in federal counterterrorism databases. The documents from California confirm this.

So why are police submitting reports (sometimes received from community members, private security guards and via anonymous tips) about such innocuous conduct for inclusion in anti-terrorism databases? Because under the NSI and related programs, everyone '' our neighbors, public employees, storekeepers '' are encouraged to help. "If you see something, say something," says the Department of Homeland Security. The "Functional Standard" for Suspicious Activity Reporting defines "suspicious activity" to include many activities that are not only lawful, but protected by the First Amendment. Even worse, the FBI encourages fusion centers not to limit themselves to the Functional Standard and instead to report "all potentially terrorism-related activity." With such a broad and vague standard, no wonder we are seeing innocent activities reported as "suspicious," especially when they involve community groups against whom we still see significant governmental bias.

The good news? The agencies that run NSI are working on revising the Functional Standard, so now is the time to call on those agencies, including the Department of Justice and the FBI, to adopt stricter standards for suspicious activity reporting. They should agree that one standard exists for Suspicious Activity Reporting, that reports must be supported by reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, and that constitutionally protected activities like photography and videography be eliminated from the list of inherently suspicious activities.The letter we are submitting today makes those demands. You can get more information and join the campaign to protect our privacy and constitutional rights and to demand smarter intelligence here.

Learn more about government surveillance and other civil liberty issues: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

NPPA Advocacy Committee >> Blog Archive >> Federal ''Suspicious Activity'' Reporting Initiative Threatens First Amendment Rights

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Wed, 25 Sep 2013 20:42

Federal ''Suspicious Activity'' Reporting Initiative Threatens First Amendment RightsSeptember 20th, 2013 by Wills Citty and tagged Access, first amendment, free speech, journalism, journalist, national press photographers association, NPPA, photographers, photography, photojournalism, photojournalist, police, recording

''I observed a male nonchalantly taking numerous pictures inside a purple-line train.''

If this excerpt from a Federal ''Tip and Lead'' report out of Los Angeles doesn't necessarily convince you that a crime is afoot then you're probably not alone. Nonetheless, that photographer, and many others like him, are now in a federal database under a plan to single out people who may be planning terrorist activity

The problem with the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative (SARI) is that many of the activities it targets seem well, unsuspicious. Worse yet, many of those questioned under the program were engaging in activities protected by the First Amendment. Despite revisions to try to improve the program, people are still being added to the database who appear to have been doing nothing wrong. The offense of a man recently added to the database: being ''very unfriendly.'' Another was reported for buying a large quantity of cigarettes. Both individuals were of Middle Eastern decent. While the language initiative specifically prohibits racial profiling, a cursory investigation of what files are available suggests people are occasionally targeted for their race. The measure also appears to have the effect, intended or otherwise, of targeting photographers in particular.

Today, in a continued effort to raise awareness of the program and improve its operational standards, the ACLU released a series of the federally collected reports online. The NPPA joined the ACLU and 25 other organizations in a letter demanding reform. The groups also held a press conference in San Francisco addressing the impact of Suspicious Activity Reporting (''SAR'').

One of the central issues with the SAR initiative stems from confusion over what behavior falls within the programs purview. The 2009 revised standard for the Director of National Intelligence Information Sharing Environment (ISE), one of a pair of programs that make up the initiative, defines suspicious behavior as observable actions ''reasonably indicative of pre-operational planning related to terrorism or other criminal activity.'' Further, the revision makes clear that ''the same constitutional standards that apply when conducting ordinary criminal investigations also apply to local law enforcement and homeland security officers conducting SAR inquiries.'' The media groups applauded this as an improvement over previous versions of the program, but note that ''the failure to clearly state that ISE policy did not authorize the collection, retention or dissemination of personally identifiable information in violation of federal regulations . . . has led to confusion and abuse.''

In addition, The FBI's eGuardian program, the other arm of the initiative, does not meet the higher standards of the ISE. The continued reporting of non-threatening behavior suggests that this disjoint is one of the causes of the problem.

Today's letter also observed that ''Based on the SARs obtained thus far, photography and videography are frequently reported without additional facts that render these constitutionally-protected activities inherently suspicious. This reporting trend matches anecdotal reports from photographers who frequently complain that they are not only detained and questioned, but are also prevented from taking photographs and video and deprived of their equipment by police.''

The NPPA has been involved with dozens of similar incidents. They are troublingly common, even without a federal program that enables, if not encourages their occurrence. ''As part of the 'See Something Say Something Program' the NPPA is deeply concerned that these policies create an unnecessary climate of fear and suspicion throughout the country under the guise of safety and security for otherwise First Amendment protected activity,'' said NPPA general counsel Mickey Osterreicher.

Among the reforms suggested in today's letter, the groups recommended the government ''[re]move photography and other activities clearly protected by the First Amendment from inclusion in lists of SAR categories or other guidance criteria to prevent the unlawful stops, detention, and harassment of photographers, videographers, and journalists.''

Such a revision would be a step in the right direction to ensuring valuable First Amendment activities are not illegally obstructed, and that it's the people who are monitoring the government, and not the other way around.

Posted in Access, ACLU, California, cell phone cameras, Department of Justice, DOJ, First Amendment, First Amendment rights, National Press Photographers Association, News Photography, Newsgathering, NPPA, photographers, Photographers' Rights, photojournalism, Police, Public Photography, Recording, SAR, Street Photography, Suspicious Activity, video cameras, Visual Journalists|No Comments >>

German group claims to have hacked Apple iPhone fingerprint scanner - Yahoo News Canada

Police in New York Really Want You to Download iOS 7 '' AllThingsD

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 12:59

The New York Police Department has more of a relationship with Apple's iPhone than merely performing crowd control at and around Apple stores on iPhone launch days like yesterday.

A new iPhone model also means a probable uptick in attempts to steal them. And since Friday's launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c also happens to coincide with the launch of Apple's iOS 7, which has some new security measures intended to deter theft, New York's finest and other police agencies around the U.S. are making an effort to get people to download it.

The new feature is called Activation Lock (read the official information from Apple here) and basically what it does is force anyone who has the phone '-- including anyone who has stolen it '-- to enter an Apple ID and password before they can turn off the ''Find My Phone'' security feature, erase it or reactivate it.

Naturally, this feature is helpful to police who are often called upon to locate stolen phones, so they're pushing iPhone owners to download the new OS.

My friend Jim Rosenberg just Tweeted this picture of a handout his partner Santiago was given by an NYPD officer outside a subway station on 168th St. in Manhattan.

Some of New York's finest were also spotted handing out these fliers near an Apple Store.

And in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, local parents have been asked by the NYPD's 78th Precinct to tweet and spread the word about the new security features. Here's a screen grab of a message posted to Facebook. (Hat tip to Nancy Groves.)

Earlier in the week, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco's District Attorney George Gasc"n issued a joint statement praising Apple and urging people to download iOS 7.

There is a catch. As John Paczkowski noted yesterday, there are ways to bypass the new security measures that will require a software update in the future. Still, it looks as though if you have an older iPhone '-- iOS 7 is supported on both the iPhone 5 and the 4S '-- there are some solid if imperfect deterrents against theft built in.

Tagged with: Apple, Apple ID, Apple Store, Eric Schneiderman, George Gascon, iOS, iOS 7, iPhone, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, New York, New York City, New York Police Department, police, San Francisco, security, Siri, subway, theft

CCC | Chaos Computer Club breaks Apple TouchID

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 13:06

Apple had released the new iPhone with a fingerprint sensor that was supposedly much more secure than previous fingerprint technology. A lot of bogus speculation about the marvels of the new technology and how hard to defeat it supposedly is had dominated the international technology press for days.

"In reality, Apple's sensor has just a higher resolution compared to the sensors so far. So we only needed to ramp up the resolution of our fake", said the hacker with the nickname Starbug, who performed the critical experiments that led to the successful circumvention of the fingerprint locking. "As we have said now for more than years, fingerprints should not be used to secure anything. You leave them everywhere, and it is far too easy to make fake fingers out of lifted prints." [1]

The iPhone TouchID defeat has been documented in a short video.

The method follows the steps outlined in this how-to with materials that can be found in almost every household: First, the fingerprint of the enroled user is photographed with 2400 dpi resolution. The resulting image is then cleaned up, inverted and laser printed with 1200 dpi onto transparent sheet with a thick toner setting. Finally, pink latex milk or white woodglue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner onto the transparent sheet. After it cures, the thin latex sheet is lifted from the sheet, breathed on to make it a tiny bit moist and then placed onto the sensor to unlock the phone. This process has been used with minor refinements and variations against the vast majority of fingerprint sensors on the market.

Update:

The process described above proved to be somewhat unreliable as the depth of the ridges created by the toner was a little too shallow. Therefore an alternative process based on the same principle was utilized and has been demonstrated in an extended video available here. First, the residual fingerprint from the phone is either photographed or scanned with a flatbed scanner at 2400 dpi. Then the image is converted to black & white, inverted and mirrored. This image is then printed onto transparent sheet at 1200 dpi. To create the mold, the mask is then used to expose the fingerprint structure on photo-senistive PCB material. The PCB material is then developed, etched and cleaned. After this process, the mold is ready. A thin coat of graphite spray is applied to ensure an improved capacitive response. This also makes it easier to remove the fake fingerprint. Finally a thin film of white wood glue is smeared into the mold. After the glue cures the new fake fingerprint is ready for use.

"We hope that this finally puts to rest the illusions people have about fingerprint biometrics. It is plain stupid to use something that you can´t change and that you leave everywhere every day as a security token", said Frank Rieger, spokesperson of the CCC. "The public should no longer be fooled by the biometrics industry with false security claims. Biometrics is fundamentally a technology designed for oppression and control, not for securing everyday device access." Fingerprint biometrics in passports has been introduced in many countries despite the fact that by this global roll-out no security gain can be shown.

iPhone users should avoid protecting sensitive data with their precious biometric fingerprint not only because it can be easily faked, as demonstrated by the CCC team. Also, you can easily be forced to unlock your phone against your will when being arrested. Forcing you to give up your (hopefully long) passcode is much harder under most jurisdictions than just casually swiping your phone over your handcuffed hands.

Many thanks go to the Heise Security team which provided the iPhone 5s for the hack quickly. More details on the hack will be reported there.

Links:

[1] Fingerprint Recognition at the Supermarket as insecure as Biometrics in Passports (2007)

Obama Administration Nominates Apple's VP of Worldwide Government Affairs for State Department Job - Mac Rumors

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GTA-V From Sir Gene

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Designation of Officers of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence To Act as Director of National Intelligence

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 03:09

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 3345et seq. (the ''Act''), it is hereby ordered that:

Section 1. Order of Succession. Subject to the provisions of sections 2 and 3 of this memorandum, and to the limitations set forth in the Act, the following officials of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) during any period in which the DNI and the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the DNI:

(a) Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration;

(b) Director of the National Counterterrorism Center;

(c) National Counterintelligence Executive; and

(d) Inspector General of the Intelligence Community.

Sec. 2. National Security Act of 1947. This memorandum shall not supersede the authority of the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence to act for, and exercise the powers of, the DNI during the absence or disability of the DNI or during a vacancy in the position of the DNI (National Security Act of 1947, as amended, 50 U.S.C. 3026).

Sec. 3. Exceptions. (a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 1(a)-(d) of this memorandum in an acting capacity shall, by virtue of so serving, act as the DNI pursuant to this memorandum.

(b) No individual listed in section 1(a)-(d) of this memorandum shall act as the DNI unless that individual is otherwise eligible to so serve under the Act.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this memorandum, the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by law, to depart from this memorandum in designating an acting DNI.

(d) In the event that the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center acts as and performs the functions and duties of the DNI pursuant to section 1 of this memorandum, that individual shall not simultaneously serve as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center during that time, in accordance with 50 U.S.C. 3056.

Sec. 4. Revocation. The Presidential Memorandum of March 8, 2011 (Designation of Officers of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to Act as Director of National Intelligence), is hereby revoked.

Sec. 5. Judicial Review. This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

Sec. 6. Publication. You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

THE WHITE HOUSE,Washington, September 20, 2013

[FR Doc. 2013-23545Filed 9-24-13; 11:15 am]

Billing code 3910-A7

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FACT SHEET: U.S. Humanitarian Assistance in Response to the Syrian Crisis

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Archived Version

Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 01:04

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 24, 2013

President Obama announced today the United States will provide $339 million in additional U.S. humanitarian aid to support those affected by the ongoing crisis in Syria. This new announcement brings the total U.S. funding for humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people to nearly $1.4 billion since the crisis began. The United States is providing food, clean water, shelter, medical care, and relief supplies to over 4.2 million people inside Syria, as well as to the more than two million refugees across the region. The United States remains the single-largest contributor of humanitarian aid for the Syrian people.

Civilians in Syria are paying the heaviest price for the struggle to end the rule of the Assad regime. The U.S. government is working through all possible channels, including United Nations agencies, international and non-governmental organizations, and local Syrian organizations to reach the millions in desperate need of aid inside Syria and throughout the region.

Today's announcement will also bolster the enormous hospitality of the citizens and governments of the region providing protection and assistance to the children, women and men displaced by the violence. The United States recognizes the heavy economic and social strains that hosting this vulnerable population places on local communities and national governments. We urge all governments to increase their contributions to the international humanitarian effort for survivors of Syrian violence and urge governments to keep their borders open to those fleeing the violence.

Today's announcement will support the activities of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), both within Syria and for the regional refugee response in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, and Egypt.

INSIDE SYRIA: Nearly $161 million

This increased aid will provide life-saving medical care and supplies, funding for shelter construction, and critical support for water, sanitation and hygiene projects to help those affected by the crisis in Syria. In addition, our new assistance will provide counseling and additional protection programs to help the most vulnerable, including women, children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly.

Of the 6.8 million people in need of assistance inside Syria, around 420,000 are Palestinian refugees. Support for UNRWA inside Syria is helping deliver emergency relief, health, and education services to this displaced population.

This new funding will also support the WFP operation working to provide food assistance to 3 million Syrians across all 14 governorates. This additional support will provide WFP with nearly 122 metric tons of Nutributter, a highly-fortified nutritional supplement formulated to help prevent malnutrition in children. Through NGOs able to reach parts of Syria that WFP cannot, U.S. assistance will provide additional household rations for food insecure families and flour to bakeries that make daily bread for the community.

LEBANON: More than $74 million

This new assistance will help support the needs of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and their host communities with shelter improvements for families hosting refugees and quick impact projects to improve local services in affected areas, as well as vocational training and educational classes to benefit Syrians and Lebanese in need. U.S. support to WFP provides Syrian refugees in Lebanon with food vouchers that are redeemable in local shops and allow refugee families to tailor food purchases to their needs. In addition, U.S. funding supports women and children's health with the distribution of hygiene and baby kits to thousands of highly vulnerable refugees and host community members. U.S funding will ensure that efforts to provide playgrounds and other safe spaces for more than 325,000 refugee children in Lebanon will continue.

The number of refugees now living in Lebanon includes more than 45,000 Palestinians from Syria. Like all arrivals from Syria, Palestinians face difficult circumstances in Lebanon, where living and social conditions are extremely challenging and needs exceed the available assistance. Additional U.S. support to UNRWA in Lebanon provides needed aid, including cash, relief supplies, education, and medical care, to Palestinians in camps and cities, as well as to the communities where they live.

JORDAN: More than $48 million

Our additional support to Syrians in Jordan provides life-saving assistance including high-quality blankets, heating stoves, and fuel vouchers. As winter sets in, this new U.S support will assist vulnerable households with winterization materials and shelter rehabilitation kits. For Syrians living in camps, the increased funding provides access to clean water and fresh bread and other food assistance, and ensures that camp infrastructure projects continue. The new funding will continue to support food vouchers for refugees living outside of camps.

Approximately 75% of Syrian refugees in Jordan live on the local economy. Today's announcement ensures water and sanitation projects, mobile clinics, and immunization campaigns benefiting Jordanian communities continue.

IRAQ: More than $24 million

Increased U.S. humanitarian aid supports the work of UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, UNFPA, and IOM, and other international organizations, in responding to new needs after the influx of more than 63,000 Syrian refugees into northern Iraq since August 15. It also continues to ensure that refugees residing in Iraq prior to August have access to services and that their needs are met. In addition to registration, shelter, education, and healthcare activities, the additional support will help provide newly-arrived refugees with basic life-saving items such as blankets, sleeping mats, and plastic sheeting.

The new funding will allow WFP to provide additional food aid to Syrian refugees through food vouchers and, where necessary, in-kind food assistance. U.S. assistance also ensures that new camp construction efforts continue, while providing for 150 quick impact projects to expand aid and services. It will also work to mitigate to gender-based violence (GBV) and provide assistance to survivors of GBV.

TURKEY: More than $25 million

The new U.S. government funding assists in addressing the humanitarian and protection needs of Syrian refugees in Turkish camps and cities. For example, WFP provides refugees with electronic food vouchers that allow families living in camps to purchase nutritious food items to meet their daily needs, while UNHCR is providing tents, blankets, mobile registration centers, and kitchen sets and other equipment to permit refugees to prepare their own food. Funding for UNICEF and other aid partners will provide Syrian children and youth access to safe education and recreation spaces and provide educators with training and educational resources. Other assistance will help provide support to vulnerable and trauma-affected urban refugees.

EGYPT: Nearly $6 million

The increased funding helps provide cash and housing assistance to Syrian refugees and promote self-sustainment through entrepreneurship, vocational and technical skills training. To help address the educational needs of Syrian children in Egypt, the additional assistance provides support for school enrollment and promotes lifelong learning through adult literacy classes. This new funding also provides additional support for food vouchers for food insecure refugee families.

For more detailed information on the U.S. government's response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, please visit: http://www.usaid.gov/crisis/syria.

Provision of Defense Articles and Services to Vetted Members of the Syrian Opposition for Use in Syria To Prevent the Use or Proliferation of Chemical Weapons and Related Materials, Organizations Implementing U.S. D

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Proxy war heats up: Mortar shell hits Russian embassy compound in Damascus, injures 3

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Source: RT - News

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:27

Published time: September 22, 2013 13:00Edited time: September 23, 2013 01:07View of Damascus. (AFP Photo / Ammar al-Arbini)

A mortar shell has hit the Russian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus, injuring three people. The Russian Foreign Ministry and Syria's authorities are taking measures to ensure additional security.

''On the morning of September 22, as a result of mortar shelling in the Damascus Mazraa district, one of the shells exploded on the territory of the Russian Embassy in Syria,'' said Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement adding that the three injured employees do not have life-threatening conditions.

The upscale Mazraa district also houses several Syrian security institutions, a soccer stadium and nightclubs.

Earlier reports suggested that there were two shells and several people were wounded, but they were not confirmed.

"Russia's embassy is working normally," the embassy's guard on duty stressed earlier, as cited by Itar-Tass.

The US Department of State has condemned the shelling of the Russian embassy, expressing its ''concern for the welfare of those injured in the incident.''

''We condemn any attack against individuals or facilities protected by international law. The United States continues to emphasize that those responsible for atrocities on all sides must be held accountable,'' said a press statement published on the State Department's website.

In recent months of the ongoing civil war in Syria, rebels have launched a number of mortar shells into the center of the Syrian capital, where many embassies and senior Syrian officials are based.

Earlier in February the Russian embassy was damaged when a car bomb exploded nearby, killing 50 people on the Damascus highway. According to Russian officials no one was injured at the embassy, but the blast blew out windows in the building.

The Sunday attack comes after Syria agreed to Russia's proposal to put its chemical arsenal under international control for further destruction. The Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem wrote to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to notify it of Syria's decision to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. President Bashar Assad personally vowed to hand over the country's chemical arms to be destroyed.

The US has threated to use military force in Syria "to deter" a repetition of such incidents if Damascus fails to submit a complete list of chemical arms within a week, in accordance with the chemical weapons convention. An international response will follow to conform with UN Charter Chapter 7, "action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security" if other measures fail, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Damascus has already begun submitting information on its arms to the Organisation for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW), meeting the first deadline of a US-Russia brokered deal to hand over the arms under international control.

However on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the US is trying to 'pressure' Russia into approving a UN resolution that would allow military intervention, saying that in exchange they will keep working on Syria's entry into the OPCW.

51 UN Countries Vote to Keep Israel's Nuclear Arsenal Hidden from Public View

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Archived Version

Source: BlackListedNews.com

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 15:02

Source:21st Century WireWith all of the 24/7 righteous indignation about weapons of mass destruction in Syria and call for 'compliance with international norms', the mainstream media barely mentioned this week's UN vote on whether or not Israel should enter the international community by allowing nuclear weapons inspectors to see what its been hiding for decades now '' a full-blown nuclear weapons program.

Hiding a military nuclear arsenal is no small feat. What this latest US-led lobbying effort in the UN demonstrates clearly, is that the State of Israel, shielded by its chief backers the United States, Great Britain and France, maintains its own set of rules outside of international laws and norms.

One might ask the question: does Israel plan to use its nukes on any other countries? If not, why does it need to maintain them, and in secret?

Along with the US, Israel has already threatened to attack Iran on the basis that Iran might, one day, build a nuclear weapon. Both the US and Israel say this would be a ''pre-emptive strike'' - just in case Iran might attack Israel at some point in the future, even though Iran, unlike Israel, has no history of aggression against any of its regional neighbors. In fact, the State of Israel was founded upon unwarranted aggression, terrorist bombings and ethnic cleaning programs targeting native Palestinian Arabs who previously lived within its ever-expanding borders.

This is the definition of a triple standard,

''Of the 94 countries that voted on the resolution to force Israel to join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, 51 voted against the proposal. Interestingly ALL the Middle Eastern States were in favor of Israel joining, with the United States, Britain and the European nations forming the majority that voted against it'''...

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Railway linking North Korea and Russia reopens | Fox News

Russophobic-Russian Delegation Walks Out During Saakashvili Speech in UN | Politics | RIA Novosti

How Doug Band drove a wedge through the Clinton dynasty | New Republic

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Archived Version

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 20:56

One Thursday evening last September, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Tony Blair met in New York to conduct what was supposed to be a high-minded discourse on terrorism, geopolitics, and the global economy. The setting was elegant'--the beaux arts ballroom of the Essex House, an iconic tower on Central Park South. The 78-person VIP guest list included Harvey Weinstein, Eli Broad, Blackstone co-founders Steve Schwarzman and Pete Peterson, Silicon Valley impresario Sean Parker, Billie Jean King, George Pataki, and New York City police chief Ray Kelly, along with CEOs and top executives from companies like Dow Chemical, Coca-Cola, BP, and Bank of America. Somehow, these onetime world leaders, corporate titans, and other notable personages converged in the center of New York without the event ever being noticed by the press.

The guests had been wrangled, persuaded, flattered, and otherwise enticed to attend by Doug Band, a tall man with genial, unmemorable features and a deferential demeanor. In fact, the gathering was taking place in his own building, underneath his expansive eighth-floor apartment, and it represented a major triumph for him.

Twelve years earlier, at the age of 27, Band had entered Clinton's orbit as that lowliest of Washington archetypes: the body man. He was the all-purpose aide who carried the bags, provided the pen, watched the clock, kept the cigars close, and ensured the Diet Cokes were always chilled. And after the inglorious end of Clinton's presidency, Band had stayed on. It was he who had engineered Clinton's transformation into a philanthropist-king, and over the years, the pair had formed a bond that was more like father and son than boss and factotum. ''The most important thing about Doug is that he sort of took control of President Clinton's career at a moment when he was dropping from about sixty percent [favorability] to thirty-nine percent,'' says Paul Begala, the former Clinton adviser. ''You look up today and Bill is in a league inhabited only by himself and Nelson Mandela and the Pope. He's one of the most beloved people on the planet and an American political colossus as well. That's just astonishing'--and Doug's been central to that.''

Now, at long last, Band was striking out alone. In 2011, he and Irish businessman Declan Kelly had launched Teneo, a corporate advisory firm that was hosting the Essex House event. As the guests of honor arrived'--Bush looking trim in a royal-blue suit and lemon-yellow tie, Clinton in conservative dark gray'--they were whisked upstairs for an unscheduled photo shoot with Band's friends and family, including his wife, Lily Rafii, a stylish investment banker''turned''handbag designer, and their two young children, Max and Sophie. The detour made Clinton, Bush, and Blair late for their pre-dinner obligation'--a photo line with no fewer than 60 attendees.

Courtesy of William J. Clinton Presidential Library'(C)

As a body man, Doug Band's job was to completely inhabit Clinton's needs and whims and moods.'(C)'(C)

The main event was set for 7 p.m. sharp, and protocol decreed that the three principals must not be made to wait. They were brought backstage for their entrance, and Declan Kelly took the stage. But instead of introducing his distinguished guests, he launched into a long-winded sales pitch. Teneo was the next big thing in executive consulting, he informed the audience. He played a promotional video about the firm. He introduced the heads of Teneo's divisions, describing their r(C)sum(C)s and asking each to stand in turn. Meanwhile, the onetime guardians of the special relationship were left loitering awkwardly in the wings. ''It was unnecessarily inappropriate,'' says one guest. ''It was flagrant.'' Bush had evidently gotten more than he had bargained for in accepting the (paid) invitation: At one point during the evening, a guest saw him shoot a glance at his aide that plainly said, What the fuck is going on?

The entire episode was pure Doug Band. He is rarely written about, almost never quoted, and many Clinton associates are loath to discuss him on the record. ''Doug is taboo'--no one touches the guy,'' says one person who has had extensive dealings with him. On the handful of occasions he has spoken openly to the media, he has struck an impeccably humble tone. ''The thing I most enjoy in my job is helping people,'' he once told his college alumni magazine. ''I have been able to remain behind the scenes, making a difference and changing people's lives.'' But as Band attempts to build a business of his own, the methods he once employed discreetly in the service of his boss have started to attract unwelcome attention.

Band himself did not respond to an extensive list of questions for this article, but over the course of nine months, I spoke with more than three dozen people who have worked with him over the arc of his career. Inside the realm known as Clintonland, he is the subject of considerable angst. There are those who worry about the overlap between his work for the Clinton Global Initiative'-- which he conceived and helped run for six years'--and his energetic efforts to expand Teneo's client base. And there are those who worry about how some of the messier aspects of the charity's operations could create trouble for Hillary Clinton, who has made the family foundation her base as she contemplates a presidential run. But the real cause for these anxieties runs deeper. At its heart, the unease with Band reflects an unease with the phenomenon of post-presidential Clintonism itself.

Stephen Jaffe/AFP/Getty Images

Bill Clinton now leads a sprawling philanthropic empire like no other. The good it achieves is undeniable. It has formed partnerships with multinationals and wealthy individuals to distribute billions of dollars all over the globe. Its many innovative projects include efforts to lower the costs of medicines in developing nations and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in major cities. And yet it's hard to shake the sense that it's not all about saving the world. There's an undertow of transactionalism in the glittering annual dinners, the fixation on celebrity, and a certain contingent of donors whose charitable contributions and business interests occupy an uncomfortable proximity. More than anyone else except Clinton himself, Band is responsible for creating this culture. And not only did he create it; he has thrived in it.

There are people who are driven to Washington by ideological passion or who come to advance a particular cause. Doug Band was not one of those people. He grew up in sunny comfort in Sarasota, Florida, the youngest of four sons, and by all accounts, it was always important to him to be wherever the power players were. After rushing Sigma Phi Epsilon at the University of Florida, he was elected president of the interfraternity council for the entire campus. College administrators recall a precocious student politician who entered every meeting with a defined agenda. At the time, his close friend, David Sobelman, was puzzled by Band's palpable ambition: ''I didn't understand what that motivation meant at that point, but obviously Doug did.''

Band would later trace his interest in politics to a campus visit by Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992. But when he came to Washington, it was to intern for a Republican congressman, Dan Miller. In itself, this wasn't so strange: Sarasota belonged to a staunchly Republican county in Miller's district, and Band's father, a real estate developer, had supported Miller's campaign. Still, Miller told me he was ''a little surprised'' when Band returned to Washington in 1995 at the age of 22 to intern in the Clinton White House.

It wasn't long before Band knew everyone and everyone knew Band. He remembered the janitors' first names; he joked with the women in the White House counsel's office, where he was assigned. His ecumenical sociability extended to Monica Lewinsky. Several White House staffers were already trying to steer Clinton clear of the flirtatious intern, and Band later toldStarr Report investigators that he found it ''a little strange'' when she showed him a tie she planned to give the president. But that December, shortly after Lewinsky and Clinton began their affair, Band accepted her invitation to escort her to the White House Congressional Ball. ''He's a nice guy,'' says a former colleague from the counsel's office. ''Also, she had the tickets, and he wanted to go.''

After his internship, Band was hired by the counsel's office as a staffer vetting judicial nominees, while earning a master's in liberal arts and a law degree from Georgetown. It was the perfect preparation for a comfortable life in the capital's legal circles'--and so his colleagues were perplexed when Band took a job on the president's advance team, typically a role for someone several years younger. ''People felt happy for him, but one question in my mind was, as a lawyer, why would he want to do it?'' recalls a former supervisor at the counsel's office.

For Band, however, being in the thick of the action was more important than shaping it. The legal job was in the Old Executive Office Building; the advance job was in the White House. ''He just wanted to be closer to the president, to really be inside the West Wing and see in a closer level of visibility how things worked,'' says the former supervisor. By 2000, Band had moved up from the advance team to become Clinton's body man.

Band's pursuit of this path reflected a shrewd insight into the Clinton White House. Among presidential aides, the body man is referred to dismissively as the ''butt boy.'' But being the butt boy for Bill Clinton held more potential than it would for almost any other politician. Since Clinton was pathologically incapable of showing up on time, he needed constant management. This required, for one thing, a mastery of the politics and the issues of the moment, and Band immersed himself in the president's briefing book accordingly. ''You have to think about little tiny miniscule details and have to understand the broad strategic picture,'' explains one former staff member. ''If you're trying to figure out in the moment if it's OK to be late to that next meeting, it helps if you understand that this legislative issue takes precedence over, say, meeting the governors.''

Then there was the delicate matter of the president's social appetite. ''[Clinton] just loves being around people,'' says the former staff member. ''That would cause challenges, but it also feeds him as a human being, having those interactions.'' Multiple times a day, Band would have to judge whether it was more constructive for Clinton to adhere strictly to the schedule or to linger on the rope line, clasping hands and telling stories. Band would later tell a Florida paper that his role with Clinton was ''being him for him'''--to completely inhabit his boss's needs and whims and moods.

So adept was Band at these tasks that, when Dul(C) Hill was cast on ''The West Wing'' as Charlie Young'--the character who introduced the body man into popular culture'--he sought Band's advice. Band briefed him on the surreal existence of being, simultaneously, the least important guy in the room and the person who spends more time with the president than anyone else. ''You kind of forget that you're right next to the most powerful man in the world,'' Hill recalls Band explaining. ''Heads of states and corporations throughout the world know you by your first name, because wherever the president is, that's where you are.''

As his second term wound down, Clinton fell into a gloomy state. He was leaving the White House in disgrace over his last-minute pardons and owed millions of dollars in legal bills. Once again, Band surprised his colleagues by declining a job at Goldman Sachs and opting to remain as Clinton's assistant. ''It wasn't the most glamorous time to do that job,'' says the former staff member. ''It was a loyalty play.'' Michael Feldman, a former adviser to Vice President Gore, detected the instincts of an entrepreneur: ''The connections you cultivate if you do that job'--the potential is unlimited.''

In July 2001, Clinton opened an office in Harlem, on a strip of nail salons and sportswear shops. In the early months, ''the phones were not ringing as much,'' says Doug Sosnik, a senior adviser to Clinton in his second term. A lot of the time, it was just Band and Bill, shuttling between Harlem and Clinton's home in Chappaqua. The former president had established the William J. Clinton Foundation, but lacked any real plan for how he would spend the years ahead. It was a tough adjustment for Clinton, but ''a pretty heady time for Doug,'' says his former colleague from the counsel's office.

The young aide'--now titled ''counselor'''--was still the bearer of the BlackBerry, which often ran out of juice before noon. But, if you were a petitioner for access to Clinton, you knew that Band had assumed the role of gatekeeper and that Clinton increasingly trusted him to know which invitations he would want to accept. ''He was one of those guys who stayed till two o'clock in the morning, worked very hard, and was impeccably loyal. Both Clintons value those qualities'--the loyalty, being willing to do anything, walk through the coals for you,'' says a former Clinton administration official.

This was the moment of Band's elevation from trusted aide to essential companion. In the White House, the power had lain in the office itself. But as Clinton entered his post-presidential life, ''the base camp for Bill Clinton is where Bill Clinton is,'' says Sosnik. ''If you want to be driving the overall Clinton project, if you're not with him, you're not where the action is.'' And Band was with him almost constantly. By his tally, he has accompanied the former president to nearly 125 countries and 2,000 cities. He was at Clinton's bedside when he had heart bypass surgery in 2004. On the rare occasions when they weren't together, they were known to speak on the phone dozens of times a day.

John Shinkle/Politico

Sosnik told me that there is something almost uxorial about spending so much time in Clinton's presence. ''If you're with someone eighteen or nineteen hours a day, there can be long stretches when you're laughing or playing cards and long stretches when you're not talking at all. You get a sense of certain things. Like, the president's not a morning person. There were certain things you wait to deal with, certain conversations you have at certain times of the day.'' A friend of Clinton's who has traveled with the two men recalled a Middle Eastern trip where Band canceled a meeting with some petro-royalty because he sensed Clinton needed a break. ''The president said, 'No, no.' [Doug] said, 'No sir, you need to rest.' ... The guy who had the meeting wasn't thrilled.''

Clinton, in turn, lived vicariously through Band, goading him for tales of the bachelor's life. This was not, however, a relationship of equals. During marathon card games, Clinton would sometimes muse, ''I used to be the leader of the free world,'' says the Clinton friend'--''in jest, but . . . kind of serious, too.''

Through his boss, Band received his entr(C)e into the billionaire boys club that was Clinton's post-presidential social circle. The pair often traveled on the Boeing 757 of supermarket mogul Ron Burkle, who had taken Clinton on as a partner in his private-equity firm, Yucaipa, and who has estimated that he spent about 500 hours a year with Clinton in this period. Another close buddy was Democratic donor and Hollywood producer Steve Bing. Vanity Fair would later run a suggestive piece about Clinton's wilding period in these years, noting Burkle and Bing's playboy reputations and identifying Band as enabler of the hijinks on what Burkle staffers referred to as ''Air Fuck One.'' Sosnik, however, says Band was never ''part of the rat pack on the road,'' adding, ''In my time, Doug was always on the side of taking care of business.''

Band and Clinton were so inseparable that Band sometimes framed requests to colleagues using the royal ''us'' or ''we.'' Naturally, people assumed he was referring to his boss. ''In some part of his mind, he melded them into being one person,'' says a longtime Clinton associate. ''You thought that, if he said something, it was coming from the top. ... If he called and said, 'We need tulips for the apartment,' you assumed it was the president who needed tulips for his apartment.'' However, the associate believes that, at least in some cases, Band was presenting his own preferences as those of Clinton. For instance, he says that it was Band, not Clinton, who insisted on frequenting luxury hotels and restaurants on the road. ''[Clinton] could stay in the Motel 6'--he doesn't care, he's from Arkansas!'' the associate says. But for Band, ''it has to be the Bellagio. The perception was that it was what the president wants. But the president doesn't care about that stuff.'' The associate adds: ''The question is, when did [Band] believe, 'Hey, I'm an equal, and I should share the fruits of this?' ''

Not everyone in Clintonland was thrilled at Band's ascent. ''He can come across as pretty harshly judgmental,'' says a former senior aide to Hillary Clinton. ''You could fill Shea Stadium with people who haven't heard from Doug, or heard something they didn't want to hear, or heard something that alienates them.'' John Podesta, the former Clinton White House chief of staff, explains: ''The president gets like a zillion requests to do stuff, and Doug's the guy who's had to say no to nine hundred ninety-nine'--what's one less than a zillion? That rubbed some people the wrong way.'' Sometimes, people would try to bypass Band and appeal to Clinton directly, but this was tricky'--Clinton didn't use e-mail, and Band was nearly always there. Even if you did manage to reach Clinton, Band could bring him around to his view when they were alone again.

Maggie Williams, the foundation's chief of staff (and Hillary's former White House chief of staff), balked at Band's habit of circumventing her authority. In 2004, according to the Clinton associate, Williams, backed by Hillary, informed Band that he needed to leave. But Band, backed by Bill, refused to go. In the end, it was Williams who left. ''That's when I realized, this guy has got it figured out'--he's never going to go away,'' says the Clinton associate. (Williams now downplays the conflict, telling me: ''We were in a start-up. We had a lot to do, too few hours in the day to do it, not enough people to help, and sometimes we had different ideas about how to get the work done, and it made us extremely cranky.'')

It was on one of their many trips together that Band hit upon the way to lift Clinton out of the murk of the early post-presidency. As Begala tells it, the idea came to Band at that font of grand ideas, Davos. Given that Clinton's political stock was still languishing, Band was ''astonished with the billionaires and CEOs standing in line to talk to him,'' Begala says. ''He was rigorously assessing the president's strengths and attributes and maximizing them. I remember him saying, 'The president has a convening power, the power to bring people together.' '' Why not create an annual event that harnessed the desire of wealthy celebrities to get close to Clinton to advance the aims of his foundation? Thus, in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) was born.

Getty Images

As [Band] grew in the job and the job became bigger, he still did the crap work ,'' says a former colleague.'(C)

CGI is not a traditional charity'--unlike Clinton's foundation, it does not dispense money of its own. Instead, it is a series of collaborations with corporations or individuals to solve global problems, anchored by an annual conference that costs $20,000 to attend. In the past eight years, CGI has secured pledges worth $74 billion. (By comparison, the Gates Foundation has given away $28 billion since its inception in 1994.) As conceived by Band, CGI was the perfect vehicle for Clinton. It allowed him to train his intellect on wonky dilemmas'--improving China's power grid, bolstering Mali's market for locally produced rice. And it placed him at the center of a matrix of the ultra-wealthy and the ultra-powerful, the kinds of people Clinton has always taken a special pleasure in surrounding himself with.

CGI operates like an economy in which celebrity is the main currency. For Clinton, there is the appeal of tackling existential challenges by striking a deal, one on one, with the right influential person. He could help expand access to health care for millions, thanks to the whim of a billionaire like Saudi Arabia's Sheik Mohammed Al Amoudi; or get $30 million in loan guarantees to finance clean water utilities in India, via Dow Chemical; or $100 million for small-business development in Africa, courtesy of Shell. Clinton ''has this abiding faith that, if you get the right people in the room together, magical things will happen,'' says Priscilla Phelps, who was the housing expert for the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, which Clinton co-chaired. In some cases, such as securing agreements for carbon-emissions reductions, the solving-by-convening model has produced impressive results. In others, such as the Haiti commission, which held only seven meetings to little effect, it has not. (Phelps told me that ''the practicalities of what happens after those smart people leave the conference room and cocktail hour is not [Clinton's] specialty at all.'')

For corporations, attaching Clinton's brand to their social investments offered a major p.r. boost. As further incentive, they could hope for a kind word from Clinton the next time they landed in a sticky spot. ''Coca-Cola or Dow or whoever would come to the president,'' explains a former White House colleague of Band's, ''and say, 'We need your help on this.' '' Negotiating these relationships, and the trade-offs they required, could involve some gray areas. But for that, Clinton had Band.

As for Band, he was right where he'd always wanted to be. He solicited pledges from wealthy donors and doled out access to Clinton. He determined who got to be on stage with him and for how long, who got into the photo line, who rode on the plane. ''If you look at CGI, it was an idea, and now it's a huge business,'' says the Clinton friend. ''[Band] started realizing he had all this talent on the business side.'' More than that, Band came to see entrepreneurial opportunities embedded within CGI itself. ''When they were raising money for the foundation, Doug was the one who kept the tabs and the lists and cut the deals,'' says the former White House colleague. ''And Doug is very transactional.''

From outward appearances, Band had transcended his body-man beginnings at startling speed. In 2003, he had purchased a $2.1 million condo in the sought-after Metropolitan Tower on West 57th Street. His salary from the Clinton Foundation remained relatively modest'--$110,000 by the time he left in 2011, plus an additional payment from Clinton's personal office. Yet his official salary didn't account for the ways in which he benefited financially from his singular relationship with Clinton. According to The Wall Street Journal, Burkle's Yucaipa had been supplementing Band's income for some time, paying him via a Florida company Band created in 2001 named SGRD, for the four Band brothers' first initials. (Band later established several more such partnerships.)

At first, Clinton had no problem with this sort of thing. The income from Burkle had been arranged with his knowledge, to keep Band from pursuing more lucrative employment. ''The president trusted [Band's] judgment and trusted him personally,'' Sosnik told me. (Clinton declined to comment for this article.) Plus, Clinton was notoriously blas(C) about financial matters. ''He doesn't care about money,'' the Clinton friend told me. ''He doesn't even have a credit card. When he wants to get something he says, 'Wow, I love that,' and whoever he's with says, 'Here it is!' '' Band's former White House colleague agrees that Clinton ''has never worried a heck of a lot about that stuff. It's more about, 'Who's loyal, who's helping me, who's delivering value?' and not, 'Are they doing really well for themselves on the side?' ''

But there were signs that Band also sought out such opportunities independently. The longtime Clinton associate was approached by a company interested in having the former president speak at a conference and asked Band for guidance. (Between 2001 and 2013, Clinton received $106 million in speaking fees.) Band explained that the company should pay a certain sum to Clinton's speaker's agency and ideally contribute a certain sum to CGI or the foundation. Of course, he told the associate, the company should ''also pay you for having made that happen'''--as if that were simply the way things were done. ''Doug has always been reasonably commercial, let's just say,'' says his former White House colleague. ''He was a gatekeeper who charged tolls.''

And questions were surfacing about some of the people getting through the gate. There was London businessman Victor Dahdaleh, who touted Clinton as a close friend and gave the foundation around $5 million in 2010. The next year, British authorities charged him with bribing a Bahraini company, for as much as $9.5 million. (The trial has been delayed until November.) There was Canadian businessman Frank Giustra, who often made his luxury jet available to Clinton and Band. In 2005, Giustra and Clinton overlapped on a visit to Kazakhstan, and at a dinner, Clinton praised the country's autocratic ruler, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev. Days later, according to The New York Times, Giustra secured a huge uranium-mining deal in the country. In early 2006, Giustra donated $31.3 million to the foundation, followed by another $100 million pledge. (He also ''co-produced'' Clinton's sixtieth birthday party in Toronto, which raised another $21 million.)

The most embarrassing association of all was Raffaello Follieri. The saga of the Italian striver who duped the Clintons has been unspooled by the Italian newspaper Il Sole24 Ore, The Wall Street Journal, and Vanity Fair. But if anything, Band's role in the affair has been understated, and it offers an illuminating study in the art of relationship leverage. Follieri descended on New York in 2003, 25 years old and exuding Continental glamour. Soon, he started dating Anne Hathaway. He claimed that, through a Vatican connection, he had been delegated to develop some of the Catholic Church's choicest North American properties, to help the church pay off bills associated with its sex-abuse scandals.

In early 2005, Follieri expressed interest in writing a generous check to Clinton's foundation. A meeting with Band was arranged, but somehow the conversation turned from a potential contribution by Follieri to a potential investment by Yucaipa in Follieri's venture. Burkle eventually agreed to put in as much as $105 million.

Follieri courted Band by playing on his taste for the high life. In Band's early days in New York, a night out meant pizza and beer with old White House pals. Now, he was a regular at Cipriani and frequented A-list nightclubs like Bungalow 8. He wasn't much of a drinker'--he just liked being on the scene. For a while, he had dated supermodel Naomi Campbell. (''He's never had any difficulty being able to attract quite good-looking women,'' says his former colleague from the White House counsel's office. ''He just charmed her.'') He had been eager to obtain American Express's invitation-only black card for high-rollers, says one person who's been out on the town with him, and when he finally got one, he would slap it down on the table at group outings. He had been known to carry cash in rolls of $100 bills. He also had a canny method of landing a table at the most exclusive spots, says the former White House colleague. He would make a reservation for ''President Clinton'' and then arrive with his own entourage'--and no Bill. The owner of one downtown restaurant eventually barred Band from its ''love list'' for pulling this stunt one too many times. ''[The owner] comes and says, 'Fuck, Doug keeps making reservations under Clinton's name, and half the time Doug shows up with his friends,' '' says the former White House colleague. ''They were like, life's too short, and wouldn't take his reservation anymore.''

By the time Follieri arrived in town, Band was seeing Lily Rafii, who was then in mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley. Follieri invited the couple to dine with him and Hathaway at Cipriani, Nobu Fifty-Seven, and Koi, and introduced them to his Euro jet set. ''Band was exposed to another universe,'' says Melanie Bonvicino, a publicist who befriended Follieri and worked for him at times. ''The cosmetics of it worked for everybody.''

With Band's help, Follieri got meetings with, among others, Clinton himself, Burkle, and Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, aboard Slim's yacht in the Sea of Cortez. Slim declined to invest, but another introduction paid off: Through another Clinton contact, Keith Stein, Band hooked Follieri up with Michael Cooper, the head of Toronto-based Dundee Realty Corporation, who kicked in $6 million.

After Cooper invested, Follieri wired $400,000 to one of Band's SGRD partnerships. Band has said that the money was a finder's fee that he split with Stein for helping make the introduction and that he only accepted it at Follieri's insistence. (Stein and Cooper declined to comment.) But March 2006 e-mails show Band seeking the payment from Follieri in business-like fashion. The typo-filled messages also indicate that Follieri viewed it as compensation for Band's assistance in netting an investment from Slim. On March 11, Follieri wrote Band: ''Tonight I have a boring dinner with the foundation of the queen of Sweden.'' Band replied: ''Ouch. Going to budakan at 9. Come when your done. In meatpacking district.'' On March 22, Band sent a ''bill for consulting services for the amount of $400,000.00'' to Follieri's Channel Islands''based subsidiary. The next day, Follieri replied: ''The transfer it is done, do you think I call Carlos son in law?'' On March 28, Band wrote: ''My bank never received the wire.'' Follieri's reply: ''I going to call our bank now, end I let you know.''

At the 2006 CGI summit, Clinton announced that Follieri would fund an effort to provide Hepatitis A vaccines to 10,000 Honduran children and a ''$50 million commitment to provide free prescription-drug cards to needy Americans.'' Neither donation was fulfilled before Follieri's charade unraveled. In early 2007, Yucaipa sued him for misappropriating $1.3 million of its investment for his personal use. The money had been spent on, among other things, a $37,000-per-month apartment and a $107,000 chartered jet to join the Clintons at Oscar de la Renta's Dominican Republic estate. ''Everyone kept saying, 'How did he get through to Clinton?' '' says Don Onyschuk, the vice-chancellor of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto, which was drawn into the Dundee deal. ''It was through Doug Band and the pledge made to the foundation.''

Band has said that the Church vouched for Follieri, which its officials have denied. Band has also said he returned the payment from Follieri to Cooper. But he only did so around June 2007, several months after Yucaipa filed its lawsuit and about the same time that Il Sole 2 Ore started calling. In the end, Follieri settled with Yucaipa, but in 2008, federal prosecutors charged him with fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. He pled guilty a few months later, forfeited $2.44 million, and was sentenced to federal prison in Pennsylvania. (Follieri, who was released in May, did not respond to a request to comment.)

Band emerged from the episode seemingly unscathed. As the Follieri story was emerging, he and Rafii married in France at the seventeenth-century Chateau of Vaux le Vicomte. Clinton, Bing, and Burkle flew into Paris for a dazzling ceremony capped with a fireworks display. Band bashfully toldTheGainesville Sun that he had begged his boss not to come, but ''not only did he come, he made this incredible speech.'' And in February 2008, Clinton praised Band to The Washington Post. ''I'm amazed he still works for me because he could make a lot more money somewhere else,'' he said. For his part, Band offered self-effacing reasons for his years at Clinton's side. ''You break into this kind of work by believing in the inherent value and good of public service,'' he explained to a reporter at around this time. ''You get out of it what you put into it.''

But as Clinton hit the campaign trail to stump for Hillary in the Democratic primary, people were once again questioning Band's judgment. More than once, he failed to prevent Clinton's dyspeptic outbursts against the Obama campaign. When Clinton lashed out at a reporter in Nevada, Band stood at his shoulder, his face diffident, making no attempt to move him along.

If anything, his total mind meld with Clinton was part of the problem. Both men were convinced Hillary was flailing because she wasn't attacking Obama more aggressively. ''What the president needs is someone to say, 'I heard you, you're right, but you should not be the one delivering that message, let's figure out who should be doing that,' '' says the former White House colleague. ''With Doug, it was more about getting the president more fired up than he needed to be.'' Or, as the Clinton friend puts it, ''At the end of the day, Doug is massively loyal to the president, and doing what's best for the president is sometimes not what's best for Hillary.'' (Sosnik defends Band, arguing that Bill's behavior was his own doing: ''He was a little rusty.'')

Band had a key ally on Hillary's team: Huma Abedin. Bill's body man and Hillary's body woman had bonded over their loyalty to their bosses. They were known to show up at parties together, which some saw as an endearing big brother''little sister dynamic, and which others interpreted as evidence that Abedin had a crush on Band. They also had an ingenious method of collecting intelligence on each other's behalf. Abedin would sidle up to someone in Bill's camp and, in a confiding tone, make a disparaging remark about Band. If it was reciprocated, she would relay the criticisms to Band and he would do the same for her, says someone who fell for this technique. ''They had each other's back a lot,'' says the former White House colleague.

Still, the alliance did not prevent Hillary's campaign team from demanding that Clinton be accompanied on the trail by a more seasoned minder. Band objected, says the former Clinton administration official. ''His vocal reason was, 'He doesn't need a handler, he's the best political mind, dadadadada.' But the reality was he did need someone.''

After the election, Band's relationship with Clinton entered a hybrid phase. He still traveled with Bill when he was needed: In August 2009, he accompanied Clinton to North Korea to retrieve two American women who had been imprisoned there. In one of the more surreal official photos of all time, Clinton and Kim Jong-il sit stiffly in front of a kitschy tsunami backdrop. Standing directly behind the diminutive North Korean dictator is Band. In another picture, he is walking between the two women across the tarmac to a waiting jet (on loan from Steve Bing), hoisting their largest duffel. The two images captured Band's role perfectly. He was in the innermost circle, and he was still carrying people's bags. Sosnik told me: ''As he grew in the job and the job became bigger, he still did the crap work. There was no discussion of it.''

And yet the signs were suggesting that it was time for Band to emerge from Clinton's shadow. He was starting a family, and his financial arrangement with Burkle was in doubt, since Clinton had moved to end his business ties with the California billionaire in 2007. By this point, Band had been professionally submerging his identity within Clinton's for a decade. A senior Democrat in Washington observed: ''What I've always said to Doug is that it's vital to become your own person. It's not really healthy to be a body person, a staffer, your whole life.''

So Band branched out, in more ways than one. During the campaign, he had sold his apartment in the Metropolitan Tower and purchased the Essex House condominium, for $7.1 million. In 2009, he added an adjoining eighth-floor unit, purchased for $1.7 million. The expanded apartment was painted in the vibrant colors that Rafii loves, and a huge ego wall was installed, covered in letters and signed pictures. Around this time, he also decided to establish a business of his own.

Band had already shown that he could be quite brazen in invoking his Clinton ties in a personal capacity. One stark example came in 2009, when the U.S. Postal Service exercised a purchase option on the Sarasota post office building, which was owned by Band's father and another family. The owners refused to sell, arguing that the price should be higher than the $825,000 the Post Office had offered. Then, Band placed a phone call to Alan Kessler, a longtime Clinton ally and a member of the Postal Service Board of Governors. According to the Postal Service inspector general and documents I obtained under a Freedom of Information request, Kessler urged top Postal Service officials to pay more for the building. Postal Service General Counsel Mary Anne Gibbons recalled to investigators that Kessler told her Band had White House connections and ''could run up to Capitol Hill and thwart the Postal Service.'' A colleague of Band's in Clinton's post-presidential office whose name was redacted from documents also contacted Gibbons, clearly signaling where the overture was coming from: ''I work for President Clinton. His Counselor, Doug Band, asked that I set up a call with you ... '' After the inspector general found that Kessler had failed to uphold his duty to the Postal Service, Kessler resigned in July 2011. Nevertheless, in order to curb its legal costs, the Postal Service settled the sale with the two families for $1.06 million.

When Band launched Teneo, he deployed his Clinton connections on a grander scale. In 2010, he, Declan Kelly, and a third partner registered the first of several entities in Delaware that would become Teneo. Band and Kelly had met during the 2008 campaign when Kelly was fund-raising for Hillary. Kelly had previously owned a p.r. firm, and the plan was for Band to offer the kind of strategic savvy he'd provided to Clinton. ''He's particularly useful to the CEOs,'' says Podesta.

Teneo has its headquarters on the forty-fifth floor of the former Citigroup Center tower in Midtown and employs more than 200 people in 13 cities, including Dubai, Hong Kong, and S£o Paolo. It describes its raison d'ªtre as ''integrated counsel for a borderless world,'' offering investment banking, restructuring advice, and ''business intelligence'' on dealing with ''global disruptors.'' According to its website, Teneo has ''advised on more than $525 billion of M&A transactions, served presidents and political leaders all over the globe, and counseled the leaders of many of the largest and most complex corporations in the world.''

From the beginning, Teneo resembled an outpost of Clintonland more than an independent entity. Clinton and Blair came on as paid advisers. One of the firm's managing directors is the former CEO of the horse-racing and gambling empire belonging to the family of Belinda Stronach, a Canadian former politician whose friendship with Clinton has been the subject of considerable speculation. Nancy Hernreich Bowen, director of Oval Office operations under Clinton, works in the Hong Kong office. Last year, Abedin signed on with the firm, providing, in her own words, ''strategic advice and consulting services to the firm's management team'' as well as helping to ''organize a major annual firm event.'' (The Senate Judiciary Committee is investigating whether her work conflicted with her position as a paid State Department consultant.)

A number of key Teneo clients were also closely involved with Clinton's charitable work. One month before the Rockefeller Foundation presented Clinton with an award for philanthropy, it gave Teneo a $3.4 million contract to propose ''tangible solutions to global problems.'' Another early client was Coca-Cola, which helped build the distribution system for medicine in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Ghana, for a CGI project. Band has served on Coca-Cola's international advisory board, and a former Coke CEO, Donald Keough, chairs the boutique investment bank Allen & Co., which holds a financial interest in Teneo. Other Teneo clients include the big hospital chain Tenet (which is a lead partner in the new Clinton Health Matters Initiative) and UBS Americas (which launched a Small Business Advisory Program with the foundation). ''What Doug has ended up doing, if you sort of step back and look at it, is that he has met some of the most influential people in the world through President Clinton and has ended up building a business dealing with and helping those people,'' says the Clinton friend.

Of course, it was only natural that Band would tap his existing network. What is striking is the extent to which Teneo's business model depends on his relationship with Clinton. Band's former White House colleague says Teneo is essentially a p.r. firm that is able to charge above-market rates because it persuades executives that Band and the ties he brings are an essential service. ''If they were paying $25,000 or $40,000 a month for p.r., then $100,000 a month, from the eyes of the CEO, ... it's not going to crush him,'' says the former colleague. (According to The New York Times, Teneo's monthly fees can be as high as $250,000.) The longtime Clinton associate says that Band's pitch to clients was that he was ''able to fly around [with Clinton] and decide who flies around with him. ... The whole thing is resting on his access.''

A few months into Teneo's existence, it began to present difficulties for the Clintons. In late 2011, it emerged that the company had been paid $125,000 per month in consulting fees by MF Global, the brokerage firm that lost $600 million of its investors' money. There were reports that Hillary Clinton was upset about potential conflicts between Teneo's overseas clients and her work as secretary of state. In February 2012, Bill Clinton's office announced that he would no longer take payment from the firm. The page listing an ''advisory board'' headed by Clinton and Blair vanished from its website.

Bill Clinton was having deeper misgivings, say several people close to the situation. It was becoming difficult to ignore how aggressively Band was working his Clinton connections on Teneo's behalf. Some of its biggest clients, such as Dow Chemical, were the same companies whose CEOs Band had done special favors for at CGI: getting them on stage with Clinton, relaxing the background checks for credentials, or providing slots in the photo line. In Teneo's first year, anyone on the payroll or client list got full access to CGI, plus coveted backstage passes, according to someone closely involved in CGI. To obtain extra credentials, Band would make a call and the tickets would be FedEx-ed overnight. At CGI's September 2011 summit in New York, two suites were reserved upstairs from the conference at the New York Sheraton for meetings with top donors and heads of state. But when the Chinese ambassador was brought upstairs for a meeting, CGI officials found both suites occupied'--one by Band, one by Kelly, who were pitching potential clients. After that, Teneo lost its special access.

A month later, Clinton got a firsthand taste of Teneo's promotional style. He had been invited to the Global Irish Economic Forum in Dublin by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny. Declan Kelly was also on the speaking schedule, and, according to one person with close knowledge of the event, Kelly's remarks suggested that it was Teneo that had brought Clinton to Ireland. Clinton went ashen, according to this person, and later exploded in anger, railing that Kelly had embarrassed him in front of the prime minister. (Kelly did not respond to a request to comment.)

At around the same time, Clinton was receiving reports of just how boldly Band had been offering his consulting services to major donors to CGI or the foundation, according to two people close to the foundation. According to these people, Band's pitch left the donors with the distinct impression that Clinton had encouraged the donors to avail themselves of Band's services. Among the people who Band may have approached, Clinton was told, was media mogul Haim Saban, who has donated more than $10 million to the foundation. Through a spokesman, Saban denied that Band had made such a pitch. However, one person close to the foundation says that Band's consulting for donors came to the fore in a 2011 audit of the foundation's finances by a New York law firm. The second person close to the foundation says that one major donor complained directly to Clinton that he had been writing large checks to Band and was upset that his access to Clinton had decreased. ''The president was furious.''

As Band's relationship with Clinton deteriorated, he sought public ways to demonstrate that nothing had changed. In September 2011, the White House made overtures to secure Clinton's participation in Obama's reelection campaign. The first step, it was deemed, would be a round of golf. The initial thinking in the White House was to include Joe Biden, an old Clinton chum.

Band was involved in the planning, and he sensed an opportunity to raise his profile. According to people aware of the discussions, he started talking up a different arrangement: a game with the two presidents, Bill Daley (Obama's then''chief of staff and a former Clinton Cabinet member) and himself. The proposal had a certain symmetry'--the current president, the former president, and their top aides. Daley expressed interest, and the plan acquired its own momentum. The White House wasn't happy, but it knew that Band still controlled access to Clinton. The upshot was that the vice president was bounced and Band got into the frame. (Daley told me he was unaware of any plotting to exclude Biden.) ''Once he got Daley on board, it was just a matter of time before he could get to pushing out the vice president,'' says one person close to the negotiations. ''Doug was on a separate track.'' The round was held, to much media fanfare, on a muggy Saturday on the links at Andrews Air Force Base.

Clinton was thrilled to find that the Obama team wanted to deploy him to full advantage. Throughout the campaign, however, Band was unwilling to let bygones be bygones. He demanded that the Obama team help pay off Hillary's 2008 campaign debt as a condition of Bill's assistance. Though he had no campaign experience, he objected to the locations that the Obama campaign wanted Clinton to visit. He insisted that Clinton spend more time in Florida (Band's home state), rather than being dispatched to, say, Minnesota. He tussled with Obama's people about who would speak first or second in joint appearances. Band's relations with Obama strategist David Plouffe were ''disastrous,'' says one high-ranking Democratic source. ''Doug made everything harder than it needed to be,'' says the source. ''Dealing with the Clinton world always had something to do with what Doug wanted. You had to go through a big process and suck up to Doug, and he had to tell you for a long time how stupid you were.''

Eventually, the source says, a couple of senior campaign officials told Clinton about the problem. ''Most people in that role ... usually reflect [their] boss. Doug did not reflect his boss. Clinton is easy to work with and likes to get stuff done,'' says the source. ''I would be surprised if Clinton had a full assessment of how difficult Doug was.'' For a while, Band was ''still trying to be part of things,'' the source adds. Eventually, though, his gatekeeper role was passed to other Clinton aides. Meanwhile, Band's reputation inside the Obama campaign became outright toxic after The New Yorker reported that he planned to vote for Mitt Romney, which Band denied.

By the election's end, Band's standing in Clintonland had visibly declined. In January, he went off the payroll of Clinton's personal office, though not without negotiations about whether he would be allowed to keep his valuable presidentclinton.com e-mail address. His role within CGI was also the subject of dispute. The foundation stopped paying him in 2011, but he remained on CGI's advisory board. Tensions simmered between Band and Chelsea Clinton, who has assumed a more active role in what is now officially the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. Chelsea, who once felt only fondness for Band as a trusted member of her family's circle, came to worry that the overlap between the foundation and Band's business interests could backfire on the Clintons. Podesta, who came in to put the foundation's house in order in 2011, says, of the grumbling about Band: ''There was a kind of capacity issue. You can't do everything.''

Meanwhile, Hillary's adoption of the foundation as a temporary perch this year has left even less space for Band. ''Hillary and Chelsea's view was, Look, if you're going to work for the foundation you should work for the foundation and nothing else,'' says the Clinton friend. ''But for Doug, it was hard, because he's been involved in it from the beginning. It was, Yeah, come on man, I can do both.'' He added, ''I don't think [Chelsea] was wrong. In the past, no one would care what he was doing, dealing with all those people. Today, the last thing anyone wants is noise.''

Bill Clinton tried to smooth things over in a March 2012 statement, writing, ''I couldn't have accomplished half of what I have in my post presidency without Doug Band.'' (The New York Times reported that Band helped edit the statement.) Likewise, Hillary's camp has struck a conciliatory tone. ''While she recognizes that after years of putting her family first, Doug's family must be his priority, she appreciates the support he continues to provide to the president and the Foundation,'' one long-term Hillary adviser wrote in an e-mail.

These days, Clinton and Band now speak only every couple of months when they run into each other at events, such as a fund-raiser Band co-hosted for Terry McAuliffe in February. ''It's gone from being a surrogate son relationship to an awkward thickness when they're in the room together,'' says one person with close knowledge of the relationship who has witnessed this dynamic firsthand. ''It's like when your wife cheats on you, and after the divorce, you have to see them at the friend's wedding or at the supermarket. There's a strangeness to it.''

This person says the two men have had ''tense conversations'' and that Clinton is deeply pained by his aide's efforts to capitalize on their relationship. Others close to Clinton have also observed a distinct chill between them. As always, however, Clinton detests confrontation. ''It's hard for him,'' says the person with close knowledge of the relationship. ''At some points in his career, he spent more time with Doug than he did with his own wife. They knew everything about each other, he loved seeing Doug's family, loved the stories and the antics. And then, to have it turn into 'your adoptive son has run away.' ... It burns him internally, and his way to deal with it is not to talk about it.''

Of course, it is very much in Band's interest to downplay any animosity. ''Doug's currency is as a Clinton guy,'' says Band's former White House colleague. ''Doug has developed a network that stands on his own'--the number of people who know him around town and around Washington and around the world is pretty big. But what they think of him is as a person who knows President Clinton and is close to President Clinton.'' Band and Teneo now have a large payroll riding on that image.

Band's friends say he has entered a new chapter of his life'--less concerned with politics and more focused on Max and Sophie, whom he speaks about in near-reverential terms. In late June, he added more room for his growing family (he and Lily are expecting their third child), purchasing another eighth-floor unit in the Essex House for $1.5 million. ''There's good in the world that he has done, and now his family and his friends are his real focus,'' says Sobelman. ''When we talk, it's more: How's work? It's going well. Now, let's talk football.'' Band is also teaching an occasional class at New York University where he is billed as ''the Honorable Doug Band''; the syllabus kicks off with a Politico piece describing him as ''by far [Clinton's] most powerful aide.''

The ultimate measure of Band's place in Clintonland will come if Hillary runs for president. Some in Clinton circles predict that Band would, for once, remain outside the action, doing no more than fund-raising. ''There are a lot of people jockeying for position and Doug is a little bit on the sidelines,'' says the former White House colleague. ''It's good to have someone around Clinton who is a little less 'us against them,' a little more 'we're all in this together.' '' But others believe Band would be right back at Clinton's side if given the chance, despite all that has come between them. ''You never really leave ... because you don't want to,'' says Begala. ''I'm sure if the bell rings again, Doug will come running.''

Alec MacGillis is a senior editor at The New Republic.

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Doug Band - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Tue, 24 Sep 2013 22:34

Douglas "Doug" Band (born October 1972) is the Chief Advisor to former President Bill Clinton. He created the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and is also a founding partner of Teneo, a global consulting firm. Among his other roles, he is a board member of Coca-Cola and a professor at NYU.

A native of Sarasota, Florida, Band is an alumnus of Pine View School and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida with a major in English and a minor in Ethics. As an undergraduate at Florida, Band was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He later attended Georgetown University's graduate school at night to earn a master's degree in liberal arts and then he earned a law degree at night from Georgetown University Law Center.[1]

Douglas J. Band serves as counselor to President Clinton. He began working in the White House in 1995 working with Cheryl Mills as an unpaid intern in the White House Counsel's office. Band has been with President Clinton since then. Prior to his role as Counselor to President Clinton, Doug served in the White House Counsel's office for 4 years, becoming a Special Assistant to the President before he was made one of the youngest Deputy Assistants ever to serve a President. Band concluded his final year in the White House in the Oval Office as the President's Aide.[2]

Band has served as counselor and chief advisor to President Clinton since 2002, becoming the key architect of Clinton's post-presidency, and overseeing the 1,200 employees of both the William J. Clinton Foundation and the President's personal office.[2] In his current role, Band has traveled to nearly 100 countries, over 2,000 cities, and has helped and advised several heads of state transition out of public office into private life. He created and built the Clinton Global Initiative that has raised $46 billion for 1,200 philanthropic projects around the world. To date, CGI has impacted 200 million people in over 150 countries. President Clinton has credited Band with being the originator of CGI and has noted that "Doug had the idea to do this".[3][dead link]

Band was responsible for negotiating with the Obama administration for then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to become Secretary of State.[4] He also played a key role in negotiations leading to the release of American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee on August 4, 2009, accompanying Bill Clinton to Pyongyang along with his brother Roger.[5] He currently serves as Clinton's representative to the White House and other governments, organizations and businesses around the world. Unconfirmed reports were circulating (as of September 4, 2012) that Band has indicated that he will be voting for Romney/Ryan in the November, 2012 Presidential election.[6]

Doug serves on the Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board, as an advisor to Avenue Capital Group, a trustee on the Oklahoma National Memorial Museum, and Vote Vets. Band was a member of the Board of Directors for the USA Bid Committee in its effort to bring the FIFA World Cup to the United States in 2018 or 2022.

Band also serves on the faculty of New York University as an adjunct associate professor.[7]

He and his wife Lily live in New York City.[1][8] Clinton gave a toast at Band's wedding.[9]

Band's physician brother Roger Band serves as Clinton's personal physician on overseas trips.[1]

Band is the youngest of four children of David and Myrna Band.[9]

^ abcAlumni CLASnotes. "Alumni CLASnotes Spring 2008 - Alumni Spotlights", The University of Florida Alumni CLASnotes^ abAlisson Clark. "The Gator Behind Bill Clinton", The Gainesville Sun, February 04, 2009.^Jeremy Wallace. "Clinton Heaps Praise on Band Family", HeraldTribune.com, October 01 2009.^Monica Langley. "Bill Clinton in Talks to Smooth Wife's Path to Cabinet", The Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2008, pp. A01.^Warren P. Strobel. "Administration cautious on what journalists' release means for talks with N. Korea"^Ryan Lizza. "Let's be Friends", The New Yorker, September 10, 2012.^http://wagner.nyu.edu/Band^Paula Froelich. "The power of philanthropy", CNNMoney.com, September 7, 2006.^ abhttp://www.heraldtribune.com/article/SH/20090724/ARTICLE/907241029/2550/NEWS100?Title=Bill-Clinton-will-speak-in-Sarasota-in-SeptemberPersondataNameBand, DougAlternative namesShort descriptionDate of birth1972Place of birthDate of deathPlace of death

Hillary Clinton's Two Decades in the Political Spotlight -- New York Magazine

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Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:19

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For four years, Hillary Rodham Clinton flew around the world as President Barack Obama's secretary of State, while her husband, the former president Bill Clinton, lived a parallel life of speeches and conferences in other hemispheres. They communicated almost entirely by phone. They were seldom on the same continent, let alone in the same house.

But this year, all that has changed: For the first time in decades, neither one is in elected office, or running for one. Both are working in the family business, in the newly renamed nonprofit that once bore only Bill's name but is now called the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, which will hold its annual conference in New York next week.

''We get to be at home together a lot more now than we used to in the last few years,'' says Hillary Clinton. ''We have a great time; we laugh at our dogs; we watch stupid movies; we take long walks; we go for a swim.

''You know,'' she says, ''just ordinary, everyday pleasures.''

In the world of the Clintons, of course, what constitutes ordinary and everyday has never been either. So the question was inevitable: Given who he is, and who she is, does Bill, among their guffaws over the dogs and stupid movies, harangue her daily about running for president?

To this, Hillary Rodham Clinton lets loose one of her loud, head-tilted-back laughs. ''I don't think even he is, you know, focused on that right now,'' she says. ''Right now, we're trying to just have the best time we can have doin' what we're doin'.'‰''

There's a weightlessness about Hillary Clinton these days. She's in midair, launched from the State Department toward '... what? For the first time since 1992, unencumbered by the demands of a national political campaign or public office, she is saddled only with expectations about what she's going to do next. And she is clearly enjoying it.

''It feels great,'' she says, ''because I have been on this high wire for twenty years, and I was really yearning to just have more control over my time and my life, spend a lot of that time with my family and my friends, do things that I find relaxing and enjoyable, and return to the work that I had done for most of my life.''

Relaxing, for a Clinton, especially one who, should she decide to run, is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president in 2016, does not seem exactly restful. The day before we speak, she was awarded the Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia'--presented by Jeb Bush, another politician weighted with dynastic expectations and family intrigue, who took the opportunity to jest that both he and Clinton cared deeply about Americans'--especially those in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Afterward, Clinton stepped backstage, a red-white-and-blue ribbon around her neck pulled taut by a saucer-size gold medal. ''It is really heavy,'' she said, with that plain-home midwestern tone she deploys when she wants to not appear the heavy herself. In the room with her were some of her close advisers'--Nick Merrill, a communications staffer and acolyte of Hillary's suffering top aide, Huma Abedin; and Dan Schwerin, the 31-year-old speechwriter who wrote all the words she had spoken moments ago. Local policemen with whom Clinton had posed for photos milled about behind her.

Outside was the usual chorus accompanying a Clinton appearance, befitting her status as the most popular Democrat in America: news helicopters buzzing overhead and protesters amassed across the street who raised signs that read benghazi in bloodred paint and chanted antiwar slogans directly at her as she spoke at the outdoor lectern.

Though she was officially out of the government, it was not as if she could leave it, even if she wanted to. That week Clinton had met with Obama in the White House to discuss the ongoing Syria crisis, and now Obama was on TV that very evening announcing a diplomatic reprieve from a missile attack on Syria'--a series of decisions that Clinton had lent her support to every step of the way. ''I've been down this road with them,'' she tells me the next day. ''I know how challenging it is to ever get [the Russians] to a 'yes' that they actually execute on, but it can be done. I think we have to push hard.''

Clinton has taken a press hiatus since she left the State Department in January'--''I've been successful at avoiding you people for many months now!'' she says, laughing. She is tentative and careful, tiptoeing into every question, keenly aware that the lines she speaks will be read between. In our interview, she emphasizes her ''personal friendship'' with Obama, with whom she had developed a kind of bond of pragmatism and respect'--one based on shared goals, both political and strategic. ''I feel comfortable raising issues with him,'' she says. ''I had a very positive set of interactions, even when I disagreed, which obviously occurred, because obviously I have my own opinions, my own views.''

Unease at Clinton Foundation Over Finances and Ambitions - NYTimes.com

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Tue, 24 Sep 2013 22:31

Soon after the 10th anniversary of the foundation bearing his name, Bill Clinton met with a small group of aides and two lawyers from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Two weeks of interviews with Clinton Foundation executives and former employees had led the lawyers to some unsettling conclusions.

The review echoed criticism of Mr. Clinton's early years in the White House: For all of its successes, the Clinton Foundation had become a sprawling concern, supervised by a rotating board of old Clinton hands, vulnerable to distraction and threatened by conflicts of interest. It ran multimillion-dollar deficits for several years, despite vast amounts of money flowing in.

And concern was rising inside and outside the organization about Douglas J. Band, a onetime personal assistant to Mr. Clinton who had started a lucrative corporate consulting firm '-- which Mr. Clinton joined as a paid adviser '-- while overseeing the Clinton Global Initiative, the foundation's glitzy annual gathering of chief executives, heads of state, and celebrities.

The review set off more than a year of internal debate, and spurred an evolution in the organization that included Mr. Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, taking on a dominant new role as the family grappled with the question of whether the foundation '-- and its globe-spanning efforts to combat AIDS, obesity and poverty '-- would survive its founder.

Video | Clinton Calls to Protect Voting Rights Speaking at an American Bar Association conference, Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized a Supreme Court ruling that allows states to change election laws without advance federal approval.

Now those efforts are taking on new urgency. In the coming weeks, the foundation, long Mr. Clinton's domain since its formation in 2001, will become the nerve center of Hillary Rodham Clinton's increasingly busy public life.

This fall, Mrs. Clinton and her staff will move into offices at the foundation's new headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, occupying two floors of the Time-Life Building. Amid speculation about her 2016 plans, Mrs. Clinton is adding major new initiatives on women, children and jobs to what has been renamed the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Worried that the foundation's operating revenues depend too heavily on Mr. Clinton's nonstop fund-raising, the three Clintons are embarking on a drive to raise an endowment of as much as $250 million, with events already scheduled in the Hamptons and London. And after years of relying on Bruce R. Lindsey, the former White House counsel whose friendship with Mr. Clinton stretches back decades, to run the organization while living part-time in Arkansas, the family has hired a New York-based chief executive with a background in management consulting.

''We're trying to institutionalize the foundation so that it will be here long after the lives of any of us,'' Mr. Lindsey said. ''That's our challenge and that is what we are trying to address.''

Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, in South Africa last week.

Joao Silva / The New York Times

But the changing of the guard has aggravated long-simmering tensions within the former first family's inner circle as the foundation tries to juggle the political and philanthropic ambitions of a former president, a potential future president, and their increasingly visible daughter.

And efforts to insulate the foundation from potential conflicts have highlighted just how difficult it can be to disentangle the Clintons' charity work from Mr. Clinton's moneymaking ventures and Mrs. Clinton's political future, according to interviews with more than two dozen former and current foundation employees, donors and advisers to the family. Nearly all of them declined to speak for attribution, citing their unwillingness to alienate the Clinton family.

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Last Thursday, Mr. Clinton arrived two hours late to an exuberant welcome at a health clinic about 60 miles north of Johannesburg. Children in zebra-striped loincloths sang as Mr. Clinton and Ms. Clinton made their entrance, and the former president enthusiastically explained how his foundation had helped the South African government negotiate large reductions in the price of drugs that halt the progress of HIV. Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa's minister of health, heaped praise on the effort. ''Because of your help we are able to treat three and a half times more people than we used to,'' he told the crowd.

The project is typical of the model pioneered by the Clinton Foundation, built around dozens of partnerships with private companies, governments, or other nonprofit groups. Instead of handing out grants, the foundation recruits donors and advises them on how best to deploy their money or resources, from helping Procter & Gamble donate advanced water-purification packets to developing countries to working with credit card companies to expand the volume of low-cost loans offered to poor inner city residents.

The foundation, which has 350 employees in 180 countries, remains largely powered by Mr. Clinton's global celebrity and his ability to connect corporate executives, A-listers and government officials. On this month's Africa trip, Mr. Clinton was accompanied by the actors Dakota Fanning and Jesse Eisenberg and the son of the New York City mayoral candidate John A. Catsimatidis, a longtime donor.

For most of the foundation's existence, its leadership has been dominated by loyal veterans of the Clintons' political lives. Ira C. Magaziner, who was a Rhodes scholar with Mr. Clinton and ran Mrs. Clinton's failed attempt at a health care overhaul in the 1990s, is widely credited as the driving force behind the foundation's largest project, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, which, among other efforts, negotiates bulk purchasing agreements and price discounts on lifesaving medicines.

Mr. Band, who arrived at the White House in 1995 and worked his way up to become Mr. Clinton's closest personal aide, standing behind the president on golf courses and the global stage, helped build the foundation's fund-raising structure. He conceived of and for many years helped run the Clinton Global Initiative, the annual conference that draws hundreds of business leaders and heads of state to New York City where attendees are pushed to make specific philanthropic commitments.

Today, big-name companies vie to buy sponsorships at prices of $250,000 and up, money that has helped subsidize the foundation's annual operating costs. Last year, the foundation and two subsidiaries had revenues of more than $214 million.

Yet the foundation's expansion has also been accompanied by financial problems. In 2007 and 2008, the foundation also found itself competing against Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign for donors amid a recession. Millions of dollars in contributions intended to seed an endowment were diverted to other programs, creating tension between Mr. Magaziner and Mr. Band. The foundation piled up a $40 million deficit during those two years, according to tax returns. Last year, it ran more than $8 million in the red.

Amid those shortfalls, the foundation has sometimes catered to donors and celebrities who gave money in ways that raised eyebrows in the low-key nonprofit world. In 2009, during a Clinton Global Initiative gathering at the University of Texas at Austin, the foundation purchased a first-class ticket for the actress Natalie Portman, a special guest, who brought her beloved Yorkie, according to two former foundation employees.

In interviews, foundation officials partly blamed the 2008 recession and difficulties in getting donors to provide operating support rather than restricted grants for specific programs for the deficits.

But others criticized Mr. Magaziner, who is widely seen within the foundation as impulsive and lacking organizational skills. On one occasion, Mr. Magaziner dispatched a team of employees to fly around the world for months gathering ideas for a climate change proposal that never got off the ground. Another time, he ignored a report '-- which was commissioned at significant expense from the consulting firm McKinsey & Company '-- on how the foundation could get involved in forestry initiatives.

Mr. Magaziner's management style and difficulty keeping projects within budget were also raised in discussions that surrounded the 2011 Simpson Thacher review. (One person who attended a meeting with Mr. Magaziner recalled his lying on a conference room table in the middle of the meeting because of terrible back spasms, snapping at a staff member.)

Mr. Band repeatedly urged Mr. Clinton to fire Mr. Magaziner, according to people briefed on the matter. Mr. Clinton refused, confiding in aides that despite Mr. Magaziner's managerial weaknesses, he was a visionary with good intentions. The former president, according to one person who knows them both, ''thinks Ira is brilliant '-- and brilliant people get away with a lot in Clinton world.''

Indeed, by then, Mr. Magaziner had persuaded Mr. Clinton and the foundation to spin the health initiative off into a separate organization, with Mr. Magaziner as its chief executive and the Clinton Foundation appointing a majority of its board members. The financial problems continued. In 2010 and 2011, the first two years when the health initiative operated as a stand-alone organization, it ran annual shortfalls of more than $4 million. A new chief financial officer, hired in 2010, left eight months later.

A foundation official said the health initiative had only three chief financial officers in 10 years and that its financial problem was a common one in the nonprofit world: For all the grant money coming in '-- more than $160 million in 2011 '-- Mr. Magaziner had also had difficulty raising money for operating costs. But by the end of 2011, the health initiative had expanded its board, adding two seats. Chelsea Clinton took one.

Growing Ventures

As the foundation grew, so did the outside business ventures pursued by Mr. Clinton and several of his aides.

None have drawn more scrutiny in Clinton circles than Teneo, a firm co-founded in 2009 by Mr. Band, described by some as a kind of surrogate son to Mr. Clinton. Aspiring to merge corporate consulting, public relations and merchant banking in a single business, Mr. Band poached executives from Wall Street, recruited other Clinton aides to join as employees or advisers and set up shop in a Midtown office formerly belonging to one of the country's top hedge funds.

By 2011, the firm had added a third partner, Declan Kelly, a former State Department envoy for Mrs. Clinton. And Mr. Clinton had signed up as a paid adviser to the firm.

Teneo worked on retainer, charging monthly fees as high as $250,000, according to current and former clients. The firm recruited clients who were also Clinton Foundation donors, while Mr. Band and Mr. Kelly encouraged others to become new foundation donors. Its marketing materials highlighted Mr. Band's relationship with Mr. Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative, where Mr. Band sat on the board of directors through 2011 and remains an adviser. Some Clinton aides and foundation employees began to wonder where the foundation ended and Teneo began.

Those worries intensified after the collapse of MF Global, the international brokerage firm led by Jon S. Corzine, a former governor of New Jersey, in the fall of 2011. The firm had been among Teneo's earliest clients, and its collapse over bad European investments '-- while paying $125,000 a month for the firm's public relations and financial advice '-- drew Teneo and the Clintons unwanted publicity.

Mr. Clinton ended his advisory role with Teneo in March 2012, after an article appeared in The New York Post suggesting that Mrs. Clinton was angry over the MF Global controversy. A spokesman for Mr. Clinton denied the report. But in a statement released afterward, Mr. Clinton announced that he would no longer be paid by Teneo.

He also praised Mr. Band effusively, crediting him with keeping the foundation afloat and expressing hopes that Mr. Band would continue to advise the Global Initiative.

''I couldn't have accomplished half of what I have in my post-presidency without Doug Band,'' Mr. Clinton said in the statement.

Even that news release was a source of controversy within the foundation, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. Mr. Band helped edit the statement, which other people around the Clintons felt gave him too much credit for the foundation's accomplishments. (The quotation now appears as part of Mr. Band's biography on the Teneo Web site.)

Mr. Band left his paid position with the foundation in late 2010, but has remained involved with C.G.I., as have a number of Teneo clients, like Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical and UBS Americas. Standard Chartered, a British financial services company that paid a $340 million fine to New York regulators last year to settle charges that it had laundered money from Iran, is a Teneo client and a sponsor of the 2012 global initiative.

Last year, Coca-Cola's chief executive, Muhtar Kent, won a coveted spot on the dais with Mr. Clinton, discussing the company's partnership with another nonprofit to use its distributors to deliver medical goods to patients in Africa. (A Coca-Cola spokesman said that the company's sponsorship of foundation initiatives long predated Teneo and that the firm plays no role in Coca-Cola's foundation work.)

In March 2012, David Crane, the chief executive of NRG, an energy company, led a widely publicized trip with Mr. Clinton to Haiti, where they toured green energy and solar power projects that NRG finances through a $1 million commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative.

Officials said the foundation has established clear guidelines for the Clinton Global Initiative to help prevent any favoritism or special treatment of particular donors or sponsors.

Teneo was not the only worry: other events thrust the foundation into internal turmoil. In 2011, a wave of midlevel program staff members departed, reflecting the frustration of much of the foundation's policy personnel with the old political hands running the organization. Around the time of the Simpson Thacher review, Mr. Lindsey suffered a stroke, underscoring concerns about the foundation's line of succession. John D. Podesta, a chief of staff in Mr. Clinton's White House, stepped in for several months as temporary chief executive.

While much attention has focused on Mrs. Clinton's emerging role within the foundation, advisers to the family say her daughter's growing involvement could prove more critical in the years ahead. After years of pursuing other career paths, including working at McKinsey & Company and a hedge fund, Ms. Clinton, 33, has begun to assert herself as a force within the foundation. Her perspective is shaped far more than her parents' by her time in the world of business, and she is poised to play a significant role in shaping the foundation's future, particularly if Mrs. Clinton chooses to run for president.

She formally joined the foundation's board in 2011, marking her growing role there '-- and the start of intensifying tensions between her and Mr. Band. Several people close to the Clintons said that she became increasingly concerned with the negative impact Mr. Band's outside business might have on her father's work and that she cited concerns raised during the internal review about potential conflicts of interest involving Teneo.

It was Ms. Clinton who suggested that the newly installed chief executive, Eric Braverman, be considered for the job during a nearly two-year search. A friend and a former colleague from McKinsey, Mr. Braverman, 38, had helped the Clintons with philanthropic projects in Haiti after the earthquake there. And his hiring coincided with Ms. Clinton's appointment as the vice chairwoman of the foundation board, where she will bear significant responsibility for steering her family's philanthropy, both in the causes it tackles and in the potential political and financial conflicts it must avoid.

Ms. Clinton has also grown worried that the foundation she stood to inherit would collapse without her father, who turns 67 next week. Mr. Clinton, who had quadruple-bypass surgery in 2004 and no longer eats meat or dairy products, talks frequently about his own mortality.

Mr. Catsimatidis said Ms. Clinton ''has to learn how to deal with the whole world because she wants to follow in the footsteps of her father and her mother.''

Shifting the Emphasis

Over the years, the foundation has dived into virtually any cause that sparked Mr. Clinton's interest: childhood obesity in the United States, sustainable farming in South America, mentoring entrepreneurs, saving elephants from poaching, and more. That list will shift soon as Mrs. Clinton and Chelsea build their staffs to focus on issues including economically empowering women and combating infant mortality.

In the coming months, as Mrs. Clinton mulls a 2016 presidential bid, the foundation could also serve as a base for her to home in on issues and to build up a stable of trusted staff members who could form the core of a political campaign.

Mrs. Clinton's staff at the foundation's headquarters includes Maura Pally, a veteran aide who advised her 2008 presidential campaign and worked at the State Department, and Madhuri Kommareddi, a former policy aide to President Obama.

Dennis Cheng, Mrs. Clinton's deputy chief of protocol at the State Department and a finance director of her presidential campaign, will oversee the endowment drive, which some of the Clintons' donors already describe as a dry run for 2016.

And Mrs. Clinton's personal staff of roughly seven people '-- including Huma Abedin, wife of the New York mayoral candidate Anthony D. Weiner '-- will soon relocate from a cramped Washington office to the foundation's headquarters. They will work on organizing Mrs. Clinton's packed schedule of paid speeches to trade groups and awards ceremonies and assist in the research and writing of Mrs. Clinton's memoir about her time at the State Department, to be published by Simon & Schuster next summer.

Lydia Polgreen contributed reporting, and Kitty Bennett contributed research.

Companies to pay $350,000 fine over fake online reviews | Internet & Media - CNET News

Common Core State Standards Initiative | Myths vs. Facts

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Thu, 26 Sep 2013 03:25

Myths About Content and Quality: GeneralMyth: Adopting common standards will bring all states' standards down to the lowest common denominator, which means states with high standards, such as Massachusetts, will be taking a step backwards if they adopt the Standards.

Fact: The Standards are designed to build upon the most advanced current thinking about preparing all students for success in college and their careers. This will result in moving even the best state standards to the next level. In fact, since this work began, there has been an explicit agreement that no state would lower its standards. The Standards were informed by the best in the country, the highest international standards, and evidence and expertise about educational outcomes. We need college and career ready standards because even in high'performing states '' students are graduating and passing all the required tests and still require remediation in their postsecondary work.

Myth: The Standards are not internationally benchmarked.

Fact: International benchmarking played a significant role in both sets of standards. In fact, the college and career ready standards include an appendix listing the evidence that was consulted in drafting the standards and the international data consulted in the benchmarking process is included in this appendix. More evidence from international sources will be presented together with the final draft.

Myth: The Standards only include skills and do not address the importance of content knowledge.

Fact: The Standards recognize that both content and skills are important.

In English'language arts, the Standards require certain critical content for all students, including: classic myths and stories from around the world, America's Founding Documents, foundational American literature, and Shakespeare. Appropriately, the remaining crucial decisions about what content should be taught are left to state and local determination. In addition to content coverage, the Standards require that students systematically acquire knowledge in literature and other disciplines through reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

In Mathematics, the Standards lay a solid foundation in whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals. Taken together, these elements support a student's ability to learn and apply more demanding math concepts and procedures. The middle school and high school standards call on students to practice applying mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues and challenges; they prepare students to think and reason mathematically. The Standards set a rigorous definition of college and career readiness, not by piling topic upon topic, but by demanding that students develop a depth of understanding and ability to apply mathematics to novel situations, as college students and employees regularly do.

Myth: The Standards suggest teaching ''Grapes of Wrath'' to second graders.

Fact: The ELA Standards suggest ''Grapes of Wrath'' as a text that would be appropriate for 9th or 10th grade readers. Evidence shows that the complexity of texts students are reading today does not match what is demanded in college and the workplace, creating a gap between what high school students can do and what they need to be able to do. The Common Core State Standards create a staircase of increasing text complexity, so that students are expected to both develop their skills and apply them to more and more complex texts.

Myth: The Standards are just vague descriptions of skills; they don't include a reading list or any other similar reference to content.

Fact: The Standards do include sample texts that demonstrate the level of text complexity appropriate for the grade level and compatible with the learning demands set out in the Standards. The exemplars of high quality texts at each grade level provide a rich set of possibilities and have been very well received. This provides teachers with the flexibility to make their own decisions about what texts to use '' while providing an excellent reference point when selecting their texts.

Myth: English teachers will be asked to teach science and social studies reading materials.

Fact: With the Common Core ELA Standards, English teachers will still teach their students literature as well as literary non'fiction. However, because college and career readiness overwhelmingly focuses on complex texts outside of literature, these standards also ensure students are being prepared to read, write, and research across the curriculum, including in history and science. These goals can be achieved by ensuring that teachers in other disciplines are also focusing on reading and writing to build knowledge within their subject areas.

Myth: The Standards don't have enough emphasis on fiction/literature.

Fact: The Standards require certain critical content for all students, including: classic myths and stories from around the world, America's Founding Documents, foundational American literature, and Shakespeare. Appropriately, the remaining crucial decisions about what content should be taught are left to state and local determination. In addition to content coverage, the Standards require that students systematically acquire knowledge in literature and other disciplines through reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Myths About Content and Quality: MathMyth: The Standards do not prepare or require students to learn Algebra in the 8th grade, as many states' current standards do.

Fact: The Standards do accommodate and prepare students for Algebra 1 in 8th grade, by including the prerequisites for this course in grades K'7. Students who master the K'7 material will be able to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade. At the same time, grade 8 standards are also included; these include rigorous algebra and will transition students effectively into a full Algebra 1 course.

Myth: Key math topics are missing or appear in the wrong grade.

Fact: The mathematical progressions presented in the common core are coherent and based on evidence.

Part of the problem with having 50 different sets of state standards is that today, different states cover different topics at different grade levels. Coming to consensus guarantees that from the viewpoint of any given state, topics will move up or down in the grade level sequence. This is unavoidable. What is important to keep in mind is that the progression in the Common Core State Standards is mathematically coherent and leads to college and career readiness at an internationally competitive level.

Myths About Content and Quality: English-language artsMyth: The standards suggest teaching Grapes of Wrath to 2nd graders.

Fact: The ELA Standards suggest Grapes of Wrath as a text that would be appropriate for 9th or 10th grade readers. Evidence shows that the complexity of texts students are reading today does not match what is demanded in college and the workplace, creating a gap between what high school students can do and what they need to be able to do. The Common Core State Standards create a staircase of increasing text complexity, so that students are expected to both develop their skills and apply them to more and more complex texts.

Myth: The standards are just vague descriptions of skills; they don't include a reading list or any other similar reference to content.

Fact: The standards do include sample texts that demonstrate the level of text complexity appropriate for the grade level and compatible with the learning demands set out in the standards. The exemplars of high quality texts at each grade level provide a rich set of possibilities and have been very well received. This provides teachers with the flexibility to make their own decisions about what texts to use - while providing an excellent reference point when selecting their texts.

Myth: English teachers will be asked to teach science and social studies reading materials.

Fact: With the Common Core ELA Standards, English teachers will still teach their students literature as well as literary non-fiction. However, because college and career readiness overwhelmingly focuses on complex texts outside of literature, these standards also ensure students are being prepared to read, write, and research across the curriculum, including in history and science. These goals can be achieved by ensuring that teachers in other disciplines are also focusing on reading and writing to build knowledge within their subject areas.

Myth: The standards don't have enough emphasis on fiction/literature.

Fact: The standards require certain critical content for all students, including: classic myths and stories from around the world, America's Founding Documents, foundational American literature, and Shakespeare. Appropriately, the remaining crucial decisions about what content should be taught are left to state and local determination. In addition to content coverage, the standards require that students systematically acquire knowledge in literature and other disciplines through reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Myths About ProcessMyth: No teachers were involved in writing the Standards.

Fact: The common core state standards drafting process relied on teachers and standards experts from across the country. In addition, there were many state experts that came together to create the most thoughtful and transparent process of standard setting. This was only made possible by many states working together.

Myth: The Standards are not research or evidence based.

Fact: The Standards have made careful use of a large and growing body of evidence. The evidence base includes scholarly research; surveys on what skills are required of students entering college and workforce training programs; assessment data identifying college'and career'ready performance; and comparisons to standards from high'performing states and nations.

In English language arts, the Standards build on the firm foundation of the NAEP frameworks in Reading and Writing, which draw on extensive scholarly research and evidence.

In Mathematics, the Standards draw on conclusions from TIMSS and other studies of high'performing countries that the traditional US mathematics curriculum must become substantially more coherent and focused in order to improve student achievement, addressing the problem of a curriculum that is ''a mile wide and an inch deep.''

Myths About ImplementationMyth: The Standards tell teachers what to teach.

Fact: The best understanding of what works in the classroom comes from the teachers who are in them. That's why these standards will establish what students need to learn, but they will not dictate how teachers should teach. Instead, schools and teachers will decide how best to help students reach the standards.

Myth: The Standards will be implemented through No Child Left Behind (NCLB) - signifying that the federal government will be leading them.

Fact: The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state'led effort that is not part of No Child Left Behind and adoption of the Standards is in no way mandatory. States began the work to create clear, consistent standards before the Recovery Act or the Elementary and Secondary Education Act blueprint was released because this work is being driven by the needs of the states, not the federal government.

The NGA Center and CCSSO are offering support by developing a State Policymaker Guide to Implementation, facilitating opportunities for collaboration among organizations working on implementation, planning the future governance structure of the standards, and convening the publishing community to ensure that high quality materials aligned with the standards are created.

Myth: These Standards amount to a national curriculum for our schools.

Fact: The Standards are not a curriculum. They are a clear set of shared goals and expectations for what knowledge and skills will help our students succeed. Local teachers, principals, superintendents and others will decide how the standards are to be met. Teachers will continue to devise lesson plans and tailor instruction to the individual needs of the students in their classrooms.

Myth: The federal government will take over ownership of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

Fact: The federal government will not govern the Common Core State Standards Initiative. The Initiative was and will remain a state-led effort. NGA and CCSSO are committed to developing a long-term governance structure with leadership from governors, chief state school officers, and other state policymakers.

Creepy VIDEO- COmmon Core inBloom Vision - YouTube

Common Core State Standards Initiative | Frequently Asked Questions

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 03:01

What are educational standards?Educational standards help teachers ensure their students have the skills and knowledge they need to be successful by providing clear goals for student learning.

What is the Common Core State Standards Initiative?The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English language arts and mathematics that states voluntarily adopt. The standards are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to enter credit bearing entry courses in two or four year college programs or enter the workforce. The standards are clear and concise to ensure that parents, teachers, and students have a clear understanding of the expectations in reading, writing, speaking and listening, language and mathematics in school.

Who leads the Common Core State Standards Initiative?The nation's governors and education commissioners, through their representative organizations the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) led the development of the Common Core State Standards and continue to lead the initiative. Teachers, parents, school administrators and experts from across the country together with state leaders provided input into the development of the standards.

Why is the Common Core State Standards Initiative important?High standards that are consistent across states provide teachers, parents, and students with a set of clear expectations that are aligned to the expectations in college and careers. The standards promote equity by ensuring all students, no matter where they live, are well prepared with the skills and knowledge necessary to collaborate and compete with their peers in the United States and abroad.. Unlike previous state standards, which were unique to every state in the country, the Common Core State Standards enable collaboration between states on a range of tools and policies, including:

the development of textbooks, digital media, and other teaching materials aligned to the standards;and the development and implementation of common comprehensive assessment systems to measure student performance annually that will replace existing state testing systems; andchanges needed to help support educators and schools in teaching to the new standards.Who was involved in the Common Core State Standards Initiative?States across the country collaborated with teachers, researchers, and leading experts to design and develop the Common Core State Standards. Each state independently made the decision to adopt the Common Core State Standards, beginning in 2010. The federal government was NOT involved in the development of the standards. Local teachers, principals, and superintendents lead the implementation of the Common Core.

What guidance do the Common Core State Standards provide to teachers?The Common Core State Standards are a clear set of shared goals and expectations for the knowledge and skills students need in English language arts and mathematics at each grade level to ultimately be prepared to graduate college and career ready. The standards establish what students need to learn, but they do not dictate how teachers should teach. Teachers will continue to devise lesson plans and tailor instruction to the individual needs of the students in their classrooms.

How do the Common Core State Standards compare to previous state standards?The Common Core State Standards were written by building on the best and highest state standards in existence in the U.S., examining the expectations of other high performing countries around the world, and careful study of the research and literature available on what students need to know and be able to do to be successful in college and careers. No state in the country was asked to lower their expectations for their students in adopting the Common Core. The standards are evidence-based, aligned with college and work expectations, include rigorous content and skills, and are informed by other top performing countries. They were developed in consultation with teachers and parents from across the country so they are also realistic and practical for the classroom.

Will there be tests based on the Common Core State Standards?Yes. States that adopted the Common Core State Standards are currently collaborating to develop common assessments that will be aligned to the standards and replace existing end of year state assessments. These assessments will be available in the 2014-2015 school year.

What is the appropriate way to cite the Common Core State Standards?Authors: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School OfficersTitle: Common Core State Standards (insert specific content area if you are using only one)Publisher: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington D.C.Copyright Date: 2010

What makes this process different from other efforts to create common standards?This process is state-led, and has support from across the country, including CCSSO, the NGA Center, Achieve, Inc, ACT, the College Board, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the Alliance for Excellent Education, the Hunt Institute, the National Parent Teacher Association, the State Higher Education Executive Officers, the American Association of School Administrators, and the Business Roundtable.

By what criteria were the standards developed?The Standards made careful use of a large and growing body of evidence, including:

Scholarly research;Surveys on what skills are required of students entering college and workforce training programs;Assessment data identifying college- and career-ready performance;Comparisons to standards from high-performing states and nations;National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) frameworks in reading and writing for English language arts; andFindings from Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) and other studies concluding that the traditional US mathematics curriculum must become substantially more coherent and focused in order to improve student achievement.In particular, the following criteria guided the development of the standards:Alignment with expectations for college and career success;Clarity;Consistency across all states;Inclusion of content and the application of knowledge through high-order skills;Improvement upon current state standards and standards of top-performing nations;Reality-based, for effective use in the classroom; andEvidence and research-basedAre the standards internationally benchmarked?Yes. International benchmarking played a significant role in both sets of standards. In fact, the college and career ready standards include an appendix listing the evidence that was consulted in drafting the standards and the international data used in the benchmarking process is included in this appendix.

Were teachers involved in the creation of the standards?Yes. Teachers have been a critical voice in the development of the standards. The Common Core State Standards drafting process relied on teachers and standards experts from across the country. The National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), among other organizations were instrumental in bringing together teachers to provide specific, constructive feedback on the standards.

What grade levels are included in the Common Core State Standards?The English language arts and math standards are for grades K-12. Research from the early childhood and higher education communities also informed the development of the standards.

What does this work mean for students with disabilities and English language learners?The Common Core State Standards give states the opportunity to share experiences and best practices, which can lead to an improved ability to serve young people with disabilities and English language learners. Additionally, the standards include information on application of the standards for these groups of students.

Why are the Common Core State Standards for just English language arts and math?English language arts and math were the subjects chosen for the Common Core State Standards because they are areas upon which students build skill sets which are used in other subjects. They are also the subjects most frequently assessed for accountability purposes.

Are there plans to develop common standards in other areas in the future?CCSSO and NGA are not leading the development of standards in other academic content areas. Below is information on efforts of other organizations to develop standards in other academic subjects.

Science: In a process managed by Achieve, with the help of the National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, states are developing the Next Generation Science Standards. More information about this effort can be found here.World Languages: The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages published an alignment of the National Standards for Learning Languages with the ELA Common Core State Standards. More information about this effort can be found here.Arts: The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards is leading the revision of the National Standards for Arts Education. More information about this effort can be found here.What do the Common Core State Standards mean for students?The standards provide clarity and consistency in what is expected of student learning across the country. This initiative helps provide all students with an equal opportunity for an education, regardless of where they live. The Common Core State Standards will not prevent different levels of achievement among students, but they will ensure more consistent exposure to materials and learning experiences through curriculum, instruction, and teacher preparation among other supports for student learning.

How does the Common Core State Standards impact teachers?The Common CSS impacts teachers by:

Providing goals and benchmarks to ensure students are achieving certain skills and knowledge by the end of each year;Helping colleges and professional development programs better prepare teachers;Providing the opportunity for teachers to be involved in the development of assessments linked to these top-quality standards;Allowing states to develop and provide better assessments that more accurately measure whether or not students have learned what was taught; andGuiding educators toward curricula and teaching strategies that will give students a deep understanding of the subject and the skills they need to apply their knowledge.Who will manage the Common Core State Standards Initiative in the future?The Common Core State Standards Initiative was and will remain a state-led effort. In addition to supporting effective implementation of the Common Core State Standards, NGA and CCSSO are committed to developing a long-term sustainability structure with leadership from governors, chief state school officers, and other state policymakers. There will be an ongoing state-led development process that can support continuous improvement of the standards.

Will common assessments be developed?Two consortia of states are developing common assessments '' the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). These state-led consortia on assessment are grounded in the following principles:

Allow for comparison across students, schools, districts, states and nations;Create economies of scale;Provide information and support more effective teaching and learning; andPrepare students for college and careers.Will CCSSO and NGA be creating common instructional materials and curricula?States that have adopted the standards may choose to work together to develop instructional materials and curricula. As states join together to adopt the same Common Core State Standards, publishers of instructional materials and experienced educators will develop new resources around these shared standards.

Does the federal government play a role in standards implementation?The federal government had no role in the development of the Common Core State Standards and will not have a role in their implementation. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort that is not part of No Child Left Behind and adoption of the standards is in no way mandatory.

Are there data collection requirements associated with the Common Core State Standards?There are no data collection requirements of states adopting the CCSS. Standards define expectations for what students should know and be able to do by the end of each grade. Implementing the CCSS does not require data collection. The means of assessing students and the data that results from those assessments are up to the discretion of each state and are separate and unique from the CCSS.

Do these standards incorporate both content and skills?Yes.

In English language arts, the Common Core State Standards require certain critical content for all students, including:

Classic myths and stories from around the world;America's Founding Documents;Foundational American literature: andShakespeare.The remaining crucial decisions about what content should be taught are left to state and local determination. In addition to content coverage, the Common Core State Standards require that students systematically acquire knowledge in literature and other disciplines through reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

In Mathematics, the Common Core State Standards lay a solid foundation in:

whole numbers;addition;subtraction;multiplication;division:fractions; anddecimals.Taken together, these elements support a student's ability to learn and apply more demanding math concepts and procedures. The middle school and high school standards call on students to practice applying mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues and challenges; they prepare students to think and reason mathematically.

How complex are the texts suggested by the English language arts standards?The Common Core State Standards create a staircase of increasing text complexity, so that students are expected to both develop their skills and apply them to more and more complex texts. For example, the English language arts standards suggest ''Grapes of Wrath'' as a text that would be appropriate for 9th or 10th grade readers. For more information, please see Appendix A and the Supplement to Appendix A.

Do the English language arts standards include a reading list or any other reference to content?The Common Core State Standards include sample texts that demonstrate the level of text complexity appropriate for the grade level and compatible with the learning demands set out in the standards. The exemplars of high quality texts at each grade level provide a rich set of possibilities and have been very well received. This ensures teachers have the flexibility to make their own decisions about what texts to use, while providing an excellent reference point when selecting their texts.

What type of texts are recommended for the English language arts standards?The Common Core State Standards require certain critical content for all students. In addition to content coverage, the standards require that students systematically acquire knowledge in literature and other disciplines through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. English teachers will still teach their students literature as well as literary non-fiction. However, because college and career readiness overwhelming focuses on complex texts outside of literature, these standards also ensure students are being prepared to read, write, and research across the curriculum, including in history and science.

Do the math standards cover all the key math topics in the proper sequence?The mathematical progressions presented in the Common Core State Standards are coherent and based on evidence. Part of the problem with having 50 different sets of state standards is that different states cover different topics at different grade levels. Coming to consensus guarantees that from the viewpoint of any given state, topics will move up or down in the grade level sequence. This is unavoidable. What is important to keep in mind is that the progression in the Common Core State Standards is mathematically coherent and leads to college and career readiness at an internationally competitive level.

Common Core-home | inBloom

Press Releases | AbleChild.org

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Archived Version

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 15:52

Bob Fiddaman and Sheila Matthewssheila@ablechild.org(203) 594-1700

For some time now, Sheila Matthews has been suspicious about her home state of Connecticut's treatment of its most vulnerable children. As a mother of two children and co-founder of AbleChild, her instincts led her to scrutinize the dubious relationships among Connecticut's Department of Children and Family Services [DCF], the pharmaceutical industry and a billion dollar law firm who has defended the likes of Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co., among others.

Sheila's investigation has led her on a journey that links a non-profit children?s advocacy group, with assets over $15 million [2009] with nationally-renowned mass tort and class action defense law firms, to the Connecticut DCF '' an $865 million bureaucracy, as described by the Connecticut Mirror.

The Connecticut DCF serves approximately 36,000 children and 16,000 families across its four Mandate Areas:

1.Child welfare;

2.Children's behavioral health;

3.Juvenile Services; and

4.Prevention.

Sheila's AbleChild has been questioning the Connecticut DCF since 2003, when AbleChild demanded that the Connecticut DCF immediately ban the use of the antidepressant Paxil in its treatment of mental disorders after multiple studies confirmed Paxil increased the risk of suicide in children and adolescents. This was more than a year prior to America's Food & Drug Association (FDA) announcement that all antidepressants, including Paxil, should bear a black box warning regarding this suicide risk. AbleChild was disturbed that children in state custody were being prescribed this dangerous psychotropic medication. AbleChild's public pressure paid off, and the Connecticut DCF deemed Paxil unsafe for children and adolescents, and according to the DCF drug approval list, Paxil has not been approved for use in over eight (8) years.

In August 2003, less than one month later, AbleChild reported that the commissioner of the Connecticu DCF held a 'behind closed doors' meeting with Glaxo officials. This meeting was reported by the Associated Press, who wrote:

The maker of the anti-depressant Paxil plans to meet this week with Connecticut officials, weeks after the State stopped using the drug to treat young people in its care.

GlaxoSmithKline, a British pharmaceutical company, is sending its regional medical director and a medical team to meet with officials from the Department of Children and Families. [Source]

Despite repeated requests from AbleChild, the Connecticut DCF refused to inform the public what was discussed at this secret meeting.

Eight years later, Sheila and AbleChild continue to raise concerns and investigate potential wrongdoings and conflicts within the Connecticut DCF. Last month, in February 2011, Sheila attended a meeting sponsored by the Connecticut Behavioral Health Partnership [CBHP], where its medical director, Dr Steven Kant, presented the Husky Behavioral Pharmacy Data. The CBHP is a state vendor that provides mental health services to DCF children. These services are paid, in part, by the State-run insurance program, HUSKY. Incredibly the pharmacy data presentation showed that dangerous psychotropic drugs, like Paxil, are still being prescribed to thousands of children and adolescents. In fact, the Pharmacy Data presentation showed that the HUSKY program, financed by taxpayer dollars, paid drug companies over $60 million for psychotropic drugs for Connecticut's children and adolescents in 2009 alone '' many of which are not approved by the FDA for use in the pediatric population and all of which carry the most serious warning possible regarding the risk of suicide.

According to the pharmacy data presentation: [Which can be downloaded as a Powerpoint presentation HERE]

More than 50% of HUSKY Youth Behavioral med utilizers are on stimulants.Close to 30% of HUSKY Youth Behavioral med utilizers are on antipsychotics.

The pharmacy data also revealed the following:

Most Frequently Used Behavioral Meds for DCF-Involved Youth

Medications for ADHD

Ritalin (10%)Adderall (5%)Vyvanse (4%)Strattera (3%)Atypical Antipsychotics

Abilify (11%)Risperdol (10%)Seroquel (8%)Anti-anxietyHydroxyzine (2.5%)Antidepressants

Prozac (4.5%)Zoloft (4%)Zyban (3%)Desyrel (2.5%)Celexa (2%)Mood Stabilizers

Lithum (3%)Depakote (3%)Lamictal (2.5%)Curiously, none of the above medications are on the Connecticut DCF list of approved/unapproved drugs listed in itsDCF PMAC document.

With this in mind, Sheila Matthews contacted Dr Steven Kant and inquired as to whether any of the above drugs were approved by the Connecticut DCF for use in children.

Dr Kant replied:

'... the answer to your question is not that straight forward.. . . Medications may be indicated by age and/or by specific treatment needs so it is not either a simply ?yes? or ?no?. Also, some medications may have the age indication but for a totally different condition, such as anti epileptic condition. . .Also FDA indications are static, they do not change over time though medical practice is constantly evolving'...

Contradicting the very document that lists Connecticut's approved and unapproved drugs, a ''check-off'' list that verifies the status of medications, Dr Kant replied, ''I don?t think a ?check off? for each medication would work in terms of verifying their status.''

With such an ambiguous response from Dr. Kant, we found the DCF Approved Medication List on the Internet. This particular version was revised in 2009.

It appears that the DCF has approved drugs in children that have not been approved for children by the FDA. In fact, the FDA has issued multiple advisories and alerts since 2004 about the increased risk of suicide in children, adolescents and young adults up to age 25 who are treated with psychotropic medications.

And while Fluoxetine (Prozac) is the only medication approved by the FDA for use in treating depression in children ages 8 and older, it still carries a black box warning regarding the risk of suicide.

In contrast, the DCF seems to be ignoring the conclusions of the FDA. Its list of approved medication in children and adolescents include every single antidepressant except paroxetine [Paxil] and venlafaxine [Effexor].

Forest Lab?s citalopram [Celexa] '' APPROVEDForest Lab?s escitalopram [Lexapro] '' APPROVEDSolvay Pharmaceuticals? fluvoxamine [Luvox] '' APPROVEDPfizer's sertraline [Zoloft] '' APPROVEDGlaxoSmithKline's bupropion [Wellbutrin -also marketed as an anti-smoking cessation drug under the name of Zyban] '' APPROVED [1]Alarmingly, the DCF has produced a guide entitled, ''MEDICATIONS USED FOR BEHAVIORAL & EMOTIONAL DISORDERS '' A GUIDE FOR PARENTS, FOSTER PARENTS, FAMILIES, YOUTH, CAREGIVERS, GUARDIANS, AND SOCIAL WORKERS'' where it writes, ''Most of the side effects from the medications are mild and will lessen or go away after the first few weeks of treatment.'' The guide also points out possible side effects of SSRI's/SNRI's:

SSRIs and SNRIs:

HeadacheNervousnessNauseaInsomniaWeight LossOne of the most dangerous side effects of these medications, suicidal thoughts/ideation, doesn't even make the 5 bullet-pointed list. The Guide does, however, add the following: ''Watch for worsening of depression and thoughts about suicide.''

The DCF Approved Medication List writes:

''The DCF Approved Medication List is a list of psychotropic medications that has been carefully established by the Psychotropic Medication Advisory Committee, a group of DCF and community professionals.''

Sheila has since investigated other advocacy groups that were concerned about the off-label prescribing of psychiatric medications to youths in state custody. This is where she stumbled upon Children's Rights, a non-profit charity based in New York City.

In 2005, Children's Rights employed ten (10) attorneys and a staff of 31. It claims to use its expertise to change child welfare red tape and scrutinize failing systems. If the child welfare system fails to respond, Children's Rights files a lawsuit. If successful, it enforces reform and then monitors its implementation.

In 1989, Children's Rights had in fact filed a suit against William O'Neill and the Connecticut state Department of Children and Youth Services [DCYS].

The suit charged that an overworked and underfunded DCYS failed to provide services including abuse and neglect investigations, adoption, foster care, mental health care, caseloads and staffing. The case has been pending for over twenty (20) years, and while there have been numerous arguments that DCYS should be more inclusive or has failed to provide certain services, the issue of massive off-label prescription of psychotropic medications has never been brought to the court?s attention.

Children's Rights is chaired by Alan C. Myers, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, a billion dollar law firm which represents the pharmaceutical industry in mass torts and class actions. Myers is also co-head of the firm's REIT Group [Real Estate Investment Trust].

Also, listed on the Children's Rights website are individuals and law firms that have served as co-counsel on Children's Rights' legal campaigns to reform America's failing child welfare systems, including:

Missouri '' Shook Hardy & Bacon '' Eli Lilly Co. and Forest Labs, defended the original Wesbeker Prozac trial in Kentucky and still defend Prozac, Celexa and Lexapro.New Jersey '' Drinker Biddle & Reath '' GlaxoSmithKline attorneys '' defended Paxil as local counsel in Philadelphia cases.Oklahoma '' Kaye Scholer LLP '' provides work in Pharmaceutical Products Liability defense and employs an attorney who was former General Counsel of Pfizer, Inc.A particular success for Skadden Arps occurred in 2010 when it secured a summary judgement ruling for Pfizer Inc. in a suit filed by two insurance companies who sought $200 million in damages for Pfizer's predecessors alleged ''off-label'' marketing of its epilepsy drug, Neurontin.

Furthermore, in February 2011, Skadden Arps secured the dismissal of over 200 cases in a multi-district litigation pending against their client, Pfizer Inc. The plaintiffs had alleged injuries related to the use of Pfizer's anti-epilepsy drug, Neurontin.

Neurontin, the generic version is called gabapentin, is prescribed by psychiatrists for a variety of ''off-label'' indications. It is often tried as an alternative treatment, when patients are unable to tolerate the side effect of more proven mood stabilizers such as lithium. [2]

Gabapentin has also been associated with an increased risk of suicidal acts or violent deaths.

This is a drug that has been known to cause behavioral problems, which include unstable emotions, hostility, aggression, hyperactivity or lack of concentration.

Children dependent on child welfare systems have rights and, according to its web page, Children's Rights is dedicated to protecting them.

It should come as no surprise that the site fails to discuss the off-label prescription of non-approved psychotropic medications to children and adolescents, unless this falls under the 'abuse and neglect' category?

If Children's Rights' motive was to accomplish fixing the child welfare system then why hasn't it investigated why thousands of children under state care are prescribed ''off-label'' psychiatric drugs? With a partner in a billion dollar pro-pharmaceutical law firm as its Chair, and supporters who also defend pharmaceutical products, is it safe to assume that its stance on the drugging of children is one that is being ignored?

Children's Rights push to remove abused and neglected children into safety.

The basic question always comes down to trust. When power, money and a good cause is mixed, it is imperative to check motives. We would be less of a society if we didn't check out all the facts. Abuse and neglect exist, always has and always will, but society is obligated to ensure those victims are not transformed into ''good cause victims'' and expensed out. There is no doubt we have a right to question the system and those who claim to promote change for the good of the children within it.

Children's Rights Chairman, Alan C. Myers, Medical Director of Connecticut Behavioral Health Partnership, Steven Kant and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families may get their knickers in a twist with regard to an advocate of Ablechild and a blogger from Birmingham, UK questioning their motives but hey, what's the downside of shinning a light on all these players, be they good or bad players?

Sheila?s concern is that Children's Rights with its multi-million dollar budget and with the help of its billion dollar law firms, will continue to ignore the risks of these unapproved and dangerous medications, under the guise of helping our nation?s most vulnerable children. The question remains: how can the lawyers who defend pscyhotropic drugs also be the same lawyers who advocate for abused and neglected children to get into state welfare programs which place these children on the same drugs? The conflict is clear and obvious '' and it poses an unmistakable danger to children who truly need our help.

[1] Bupropion [also known as Wellbutrin, Zyban] is a non-tricyclic antidepressant. [2] Gabapentin

Bob Fiddaman is the author of the Seroxat Sufferers blog and the book, ''The evidence, however, is clear'... the Seroxat scandal.'' Chipmunka Publishing.

Sheila Matthews is the co-founder of AbleChild and a mother of two children.

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Fact Sheet -- Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 04:41

FY 2009 funding:$65 million

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:$250 million

Grantees:States

Type of Grant:Competitive

Purpose:The program provides grants to states to design, develop, and implement statewide P-20 longitudinal data systems to capture, analyze, and use student data from preschool to high school, college, and the workforce.

Program Requirements:Since it started in fiscal year 2005, the program has awarded grants worth $265 million to 41 states and the District of Columbia. The Recovery Act competition requires that the data systems have the capacity to link preschool, K-12, and postsecondary education as well as workforce data. To receive State Fiscal Stabilization Funds, a state must provide an assurance that it will establish a longitudinal data system that includes the 12 elements described in the America COMPETES Act, and any data system developed with Statewide longitudinal data system funds must include at least these 12 elements. The elements are:

An unique identifier for every student that does not permit a student to be individually identified (except as permitted by federal and state law);The school enrollment history, demographic characteristics, and program participation record of every student;Information on when a student enrolls, transfers, drops out, or graduates from a school;Students scores on tests required by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act;Information on students who are not tested, by grade and subject;Students scores on tests measuring whether they're ready for college;A way to identify teachers and to match teachers to their students;Information from students' transcripts, specifically courses taken and grades earned;Data on students' success in college, including whether they enrolled in remedial courses;Data on whether K-12 students are prepared to succeed in college;A system of auditing data for quality, validity, and reliability; andThe ability to share data from preschool through postsecondary education data systems.With such comprehensive data systems, states will be able to monitor their reforms and make specific changes to advance them. These data systems will capture data on students from one grade to the next, measuring whether they are on track to graduate and telling K-12 schools whether they are preparing their students to succeed in college and the workforce. The data systems also can help identify teachers who are succeeding so states can reward them, and find teachers who are struggling and help them improve.

A request for applications is being published in the Federal Register and will be available on www.ed.gov.

Provide Technical Assistance to States -What We Do | Achieve

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 04:40

Convene States and LeadersCentral to Achieve's work is our ability to convene leaders from across states to come together to share their experiences and tackle common challenges. Importantly, through our networks Achieve convenes not just a cross-section of leaders across states, but also a cross-section of leaders within states, including state K-12 and higher education leadership; policymakers from governors' offices, legislatures and state boards of education; district leaders; and third-party advocates from business- and community-based organizations. Our expertise in convening state leaders is best evidenced through our work managing the American Diploma Project Network, the PARCC consortium, and the Next Generation Science Standards development effort.

Provide Technical Assistance to StatesWe provide technical assistance to states on the design, development, adoption, implementation, and communications of their college- and career-ready standards, assessments, curriculum, and accountability systems.

Conduct Research and Development Achieve regularly conducts R&D to help advance the work of states as well as the education reform community at large. Our research includes studies of high school graduation requirements, implementation strategies for the Common Core State Standards, state accountability models, and analyses of expectations from countries around the world. Our work doesn't stop with the publication of reports; we also develop tools that help states change policies and practices, such as rubrics and audits.

Offer Advocacy, Communications, and Outreach Tools and SupportAchieve has developed a range of advocacy resources that aim to address common concerns with college and career readiness, all of which can be found on the The Future Ready Project website. The Future Ready Project is a web-based resource center to help advocates develop, launch, and refine their own college- and career-ready communications and outreach plans, critical for sustaining the agenda.

For more information, see About Achieve

P-20 Data Systems | Achieve

The Ambitions of Bill and Melinda Gates: Controlling Population and Public Education | Crisis Magazine

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 04:35

Continuing their commitment to controlling global population growth through artificial contraception, sterilization, and abortion initiatives, Microsoft founder and philanthropist, Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, a self-described ''practicing'' Catholic, are now attempting to control the curriculum of the nation's public schools. Subsidizing the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed more than $76 million to support teachers in implementing the Common Core'--a standardized national curriculum. This, on top of the tens of millions they have already awarded to the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop the Common Core in the first place.

Working collaboratively with the Obama administration, the Gates Foundation subsidized the creation of a national curriculum for English and mathematics that has now been adopted by 46 states, and the District of Columbia'--despite the fact that the General Education Provisions Act, the Department of Education Organization Act, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act all protect states against such an intrusion by the United States Department of Education.

The Common Core Standards were developed by an organization called Achieve, and the National Governors Association'--both of which were funded by the Gates Foundation. The standards have been imposed on the states without any field testing, and little or no input from those involved in implementing the standards. In a post entitled ''Why I Cannot Support the Common Core Standards,'' educational policy analyst and New York University Research Professor, Diane Ravitch, wrote that the standards ''are being imposed on the children of this nation despite the fact that no one has any idea how they will affect students, teachers or schools'...Their creation was neither grassroots nor did it emanate from the states.''

Ravitch is especially concerned about the content of the curriculum'--what she called the ''flap over fiction vs. informational text.'' Rather than giving English teachers the freedom to teach literature, the Common Core mandates that a far greater percentage of classroom time be spent on ''fact-based'' learning. Ravitch's concerns are shared by others. For example, one teacher claimed that she had to give up having her students read Shakespeare in favor of Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point because it was ''fact-based'' and Shakespeare was not. Of course, Tipping Point has a political agenda. Parents may be concerned if they were to learn that Gladwell suggests such ''facts'' as the belief that parents should stop worrying about their children's ''experimentation with drugs,'' including cocaine because ''it seldom leads to hardcore use.''

''Fact-based'' books on climate change are also replacing classic works of literature because they are viewed as offering students an opportunity to learn ''science.'' Freakonomics'--a book that has already been a favorite of public school teachers'--is preferable to Poe because students will learn about the positive effects of abortion on reducing crime rates by reducing the population of those more likely to commit crime.

While the adoption of the Common Core was ''voluntary'' by the 46 states that adopted it, it was well understood by these states that they would not be eligible for Race to the Top funding ($4.35 billion) unless they adopted the Common Core standards. The Gates Foundation was very much a part of this. According to Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post (December 2, 2012), ''the Gates Foundation invested tens of millions of dollars in the effort'...The Obama administration kicked the notion into high gear when it required states to adopt the common core'--or an equivalent'--in order to compete for Race to the Top grant funds.''

Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post recently reported (February 26, 2013) that there is growing resistance. Alabama, for example, withdrew from the two consortia that are working on creating standardized tests aligned with the standards. Indiana, which adopted the Common Core in 2010 under the state education superintendent Tony Bennett, is now talking about a ''pause'' in the implementation of the curriculum. Bennett was defeated in the November elections by an educator who opposed Bennett's support for the Common Core.

Now, there are concerns that the imposition of the Common Core within the public schools could threaten the autonomy of private schools, religious schools and home schools. An op-ed published in the Orange County Register by Robert Holland, claims that the Common Core could ''morph into a national curriculum that will stifle the family-centered creativity that has fostered high rates of achievement and growth for home education'...Many private and parochial schools'--including those of the 100 Roman Catholic dioceses across the nation, already are adopting the CCSS prescriptions for math and English classes'...Their debatable reasoning is that the rush of most state governments to embrace the national standards means publishers of textbooks and tests will fall in line, thereby leaving private schools with no practical alternatives for instructional materials. According to October 8, 2012 article in Education Week by Erik Robelin, it is not just Catholic schools that are adopting the Common Core, some Lutheran and other denominations of Christian schools are shifting to the common core, including Grand Rapids Christian in Michigan and the Christian Academy School System in Louisville, KY. According to Robelin, parochial school leaders claim that they must ''remain competitive'' with public schools and now feel pressured to adopt the Core. These are real concerns. As Diane Ravitch points out, ''Now that David Coleman, the primary architect of the Common Core standards has become president of the College Board, we can expect that SAT will be aligned to the standards. No one will escape their reach, whether they attend public or private school.''

On February 14, 2013, Missouri legislator Kurt Bahr filed HB616 that prohibits the State Board of Education from implementing the Common Core for public schools developed by the Common Core Initiative or any other statewide education standards without the approval of the General Assembly. An increasing number of parents are voicing their concerns. For example, Tiffany Mouritsen, a Utah mother, blogged that the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the primary source for Common Core testing is a major concern for her: ''AIR markets its values which includes promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual agenda for teens, and publicizes its client list (including George Soros and Bill and Melinda Gates).'' In a column published in January, political commentator Michelle Malkin calls the Common Core a ''stealthy federal takeover of school curriculum and standards across the country.'' And, she maintains that the Common Core's ''dubious college and career read standards undermine local control of education, usurp state autonomy over curricular materials, and foist untested, mediocre and incoherent pedagogical theories on America's schoolchildren.

The Gates Foundation: Buying ControlThe promise of federal funds to states in order to ''encourage'' them to adopt the Common Core is nothing new. Our government has been doing this both nationally and internationally for decades. In a 2008 book entitled Fatal Misconception, author Matthew Connelly writes that in the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson leveraged food aid for family planning during crop failures in India, thus creating an incentive for the sterilization program. India's Ministry of Health and Family Planning admitted that, ''The large number of sterilizations and IUD insertions during 1967-68 was due to drought conditions.'' Eventually, more sophisticated incentives such as bicycles and radios were used to encourage women to accept sterilization. Connelly writes that under Indira Gandhi in the mid-1970s sterilization became a condition not just for land allotments, but for irrigation water, electricity, ration cards, rickshaw licenses, medical care, pay raises and promotions. There were sterilization quotas'--especially for the Dalits (the untouchable caste) who were targeted for family planning.

While the Gates Foundation has not been involved in anything this coercive, they have indeed been very much involved in giving aid to those countries willing to participate in family planning initiatives. For nearly two decades, the Gates Foundation has been generous in providing aid to more than 100 countries'--often coupled with family planning opportunities. Such aid is often framed as a way to foster economic growth. In an article in American Thinker, Andressen Blom and James Bell wrote that Melinda Gates made that connection explicit in a speech at a population gathering that ''government leaders are now beginning to understand that providing access to contraceptives is a cost effective way to foster economic growth.''

Bill Gates revealed his own population goals in February, 2010, at the invitation-only Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference in Long Beach, California, when he gave his keynote speech on global warming: ''Innovating to Zero!'' In a youtube video available here, Gates stated that CO2 emissions must be reduced to zero by 2050 and advised those in attendance that population had much to do with the increase in CO2. Claiming that each individual on the planet puts out an average of about five tons of CO2 per year, Gates stated that ''Somehow we have to make changes that will bring that down to zero'...It has been constantly going up. It's only various economic changes that have even flattened it at all.'' To illustrate, Gates presented the following equation: CO2 (total population emitted CO2 per year) = P (people) x S (services per person) x E (average energy per service) x C (average CO2 emitted per unit of energy). Gates told the audience that ''probably one of these numbers is going to have to get pretty near to zero. That's a fact from high school algebra.'' For Gates, the P (population) portion of the equation is the most important: ''If we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.''

Gates maintains that improvements in health care'--including an expansion of the administration of vaccinations'--will encourage families to reduce the number of children they desire to have. And, in an ongoing attempt to expand the types of birth control, Gates has spent millions of dollars on research and development. According to Christian Voice, a few years ago the Gates Foundation awarded a grant of $100,000 to researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to develop a new type of ultrasound described as a ''non-invasive form of birth control for men'' which would make a man infertile for up to six months.

Such strategies have been effective. In fact, the Gates Foundation has been so successful in their family planning initiatives that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) awarded their annual Population Award in 2010 to the Foundation. According to a June 15, 2010 article in Mercator.net, at the awards ceremony, UNFPA executive director Thoraya Obaid cited the Gates Foundation as a ''leader in the fields of global health and global development, particularly in promoting excellence in population assistance, including through the design of innovative, integrated solutions in the areas of reproductive health, family planning, and maternal and neonatal health.'' The International Planned Parenthood Federation is a previous winner of the United Nations Population Fund's Annual Award.

It is easy to understand why the United Nations Population Fund'--a fund which Steven Mosher, the President of the Population Research Institute has exposed as being a direct participant in China's coercive one-child policy'--honored Gates with their prestigious Population Fund award since the Gates Foundation has donated more than one billion dollars to ''family-planning'' groups including the United Nations Population Fund itself; CARE International'--an organization which is lobbying for legalized abortion in several African nations; Save the Children'--a major promoter of the population control agenda, the World Health Organization'--an organization that forcibly sterilized thousands of women in the 1990s under the pretence of providing tetanus vaccination services in Nicaragua, Mexico and the Philippines; and of course, the major abortion provider, International Planned Parenthood Federation.

Bill and Melinda Gates truly believe that population control is key to the future. Plans are already in place to track births and vaccinations through cell phone technology to register every birth on the planet. Gates claims that the GPS technology would enable officials to track and ''remind'' parents who do not bring their children in for vaccines. Maintaining that vaccination is key to reducing population growth, Gates predicts that if child mortality can be reduced, parents will have fewer children, following the example of the urbanized West where birth rates have dropped to below replacement levels: ''The fact is that within a decade of improving health outcomes, parents decide to have fewer children.'' For Gates, ''there is no such thing as a healthy, high population growth country. If you're healthy, you're low-population growth'... As the world grows from 6 billion to 9 billion, all of that population growth is in urban slums'...It's a very interesting problem.''

More than a decade ago, on May 17, 2002, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had purchased shares in nine of the largest pharmaceutical companies valued at nearly $205 million. Acquiring shares in Merck, Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson Wyeth, Abbott Labs, and others, the Gates Foundation continues a financial interest in common with the makers of AIDS drugs, diagnostic tools, vaccines, and contraceptives. But, the commitment to global population control goes well beyond financial interests. It is likely that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will continue its commitment to global population control, and now, curriculum creation in the nation's schools because they truly believe that they know better than anyone else how we all should live.

A Product of Poor Catholic EducationIt is difficult to believe the claims of Bill and Melinda Gates that they are not involved in the abortion industry when you look at the relationships they have with organizations like the International Planned Parenthood Federation'--the largest abortion provider in the world. According to the National Catholic Register, Melinda Gates represents herself in the media as a practicing Catholic who has a great uncle who was a Jesuit priest and a great aunt who was an Ursuline nun who taught her to read. She graduated from Ursuline Academy in Dallas, where she claims to have learned ''incredible social justice.'' And, this may indeed be where the problem begins. For so many Catholics, social justice has been so broadly defined that it now includes giving women access to reproductive rights'--including the right to abortion'--so that they can play an equal role in contributing to the workplace and the economy. In an article entitled ''Why Birth Control is Still a Big Idea'' published in Foreign Policy in December, 2012, Melinda Gates writes:

Contraceptives unlock one of the most dormant but potentially powerful assets in development: women as decision makers. When women have the power to make choices about their families, they tend to decide precisely what demographers, economists, and development experts recommend.

Most recently, in a January 2, 2013 article published on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website entitled ''Profiles in Courage: Philippines Passes Reproductive Health Bill,'' the article congratulates all of those who helped bring expanded access to ''reproductive health'' through the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012'--recently signed by President Aquino. This bill states that women and men'--living in the most Catholic of Catholic countries'--can now ''decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.'' What the Gates Foundation website omits is information about the provision within the bill involving ''population management'' through mandatory counseling of couples seeking marriage licenses. In this case, social justice involves a demand that couples learn about the government's views on an ideal family size of two children'--coming one step closer to China in its government's one-child policy.

This commitment to a distorted definition of social justice by Melinda and Bill Gates will likely continue because they have been lead to believe that such control is what is best for people. The Core Curriculum is really just another component of population control'--it is used to help teach children the ''facts'' about climate change and problems of over-population. Indeed, the population agenda is a trap that many wealthy, highly intelligent people have fallen into in the past. From the wealthy eugenics supporters of Planned Parenthood's Founder Margaret Sanger, to the Rockefeller family and their population control initiatives, this work continues today through their heirs'--heirs like David Rockefeller'--an ally of Bill and Melinda Gates. And some influential Catholics have been complicit in this. At one time, Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame served as a trustee, and later, Chairman of the Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, a funder of population causes counter to the teachings of the Church.

The population control initiatives promoted by the Gates Foundation will continue to grow nationally and internationally because they have convinced others and themselves that they are saving lives. On their website, they ask: ''what is more life affirming than saving one third of mothers from dying in childbirth?'' What they do not seem to acknowledge is how many unborn children have died from their initiatives.

Tagged as: Bill Gates, Climate Change, Common Core, Obama Administration, population control, public education, UNFPA

James E. Casey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 04:31

James E. Casey (March 29, 1888 - June 6, 1983), American businessman, was born in Pick Handle Gulch near Candelaria, Nevada.

In 1907, 19-year-old James (Jim) Casey founded the American Messenger Company in Seattle, Washington with $100 borrowed from a friend. He served as president, CEO and chairman. Claude Ryan was his partner and his messengers were his brother George and other teenagers. His motto was "best service and lowest rates". Deliveries were made on foot, bicycle, or motorcycle.[1]

In 1913, Jim Casey agreed to merge with Evert McCabe's Motorcycle Messengers. Merchants Parcel Delivery was formed and focused now on packages. Their first delivery car was a 1913 Ford Model T.[1]

In 1919, the company expanded beyond Seattle and changed its name to United Parcel Service (UPS).

He consistently gave credit to his mother, Annie E. Casey, for holding their family together after Jim's father died. As a youngster delivering packages on the Seattle streets, Jim Casey was exposed to the excesses of a bustling city in the midst of the Klondike Gold Rush[citation needed]. He credited the guidance of a strong mother and support of his family with keeping him grounded.

The successful businessman sought ways to help those who lacked the family life he found to be so crucial. With his brothers George and Harry and his sister Marguerite, Mr. Casey created Casey Family Programs in 1966 to help children who were unable to live with their birth parents'--giving them stability and an opportunity to grow to responsible adulthood.

By the time of his death, Mr. Casey left three legacies: UPS, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Casey Family Programs.

Casey is a member of the U.S. Department of Labor Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 2002.

PersondataNameCasey, James E.Alternative namesShort descriptionDate of birthMarch 29, 1888Place of birthPick Handle Gulch, NevadaDate of deathJune 6, 1983Place of death

It Begins: Monte Paschi "Bails In" Bondholders, Halts $650 Million In Coupon Payments

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Archived Version

Source: Zero Hedge

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 15:18

Recall that three weeks ago we warned that "Monti Paschi Faces Bail-In As Capital Needs Point To Nationalization" although we left open the question of "who will get the haircut including senior bondholders and depositors.... given the small size of sub-debt in the capital structures." Today, as many expected on the day following the German elections, the dominos are finally starting to wobble, and as we predicted, Monte Paschi, Italy's oldest and according to many, most insolvent bank, quietly commenced a bondholder "bail in" after it said that it suspended interest payments on three hybrid notes following demands by European authorities that bondholders contribute to the restructuring of the bailed out Italian lender. Remember what Diesel-BOOM said about Cyprus - that it is a template? He wasn't joking.

As Bloomberg reports, Monte Paschi "said in a statement that it won't pay interest on about 481 million euros ($650 million) of outstanding hybrid notes issued through MPS Capital Trust II and Antonveneta Capital Trusts I and II." Why these notes? Because hybrid bondholders have zero protections and zero recourse. "Under the terms of the undated notes, the Siena, Italy-based lender is allowed to suspend interest without defaulting and doesn't have to make up the missed coupons when payments resume." Then again hybrids, to quote the Dutchman, are just the template for the balance of the bank's balance sheet.

Why is this happening now? Simple: the Merkel reelection is in the bag, and the EURUSD is too high (recall Adidas' laments from last week). Furthermore, if the ECB proceeds with another LTRO as many believe it will, it will force the EURUSD even higher, surging from even more unwanted liquidity. So what to do? Why stage a small, contained crisis of course. Such as a bail in by a major Italian bank. The good news for now is that depositors are untouched. Unfortunately, with depositor cash on the wrong end of the (un)secured liability continuum it is only a matter of time before those with uninsured deposits share some of the Cypriot pain. After all, in the brave New Normal insolvent world, "it is only fair."

To wit:

''In the new world we're in, bondholders pick up the tab when they can be forced to,'' said John Raymond, an analyst at CreditSights Inc. in London. ''State aid rules impose losses where possible.''

European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters on Sept. 7 the bank should receive final approval for its restructuring plan within two months. The lender, which received a 4.1 billion-euro bailout, submitted a revised plan that more than doubles the amount of new capital it intends to raise to 2.5 billion euros as it seeks to repay the aid.

Almunia recommended that ''cash outflows from the beneficiary to hybrid capital holders and subordinated debt holders be prevented to the maximum extent possible,'' in a letter sent to Italian Finance Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni dated July 16 and seen by Bloomberg News.

More importantly, this is just the start:

Monte Paschi's 108 million euros of undated, non-cumulative trust preferred stock issued through Antonveneta Capital Trust II fell 5 cents on the euro to 41 cents, according to Bloomberg bond prices. That's the lowest price since April 23, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

While the bank is halting payments on the bonds that make up its Tier 1 capital, the most-junior layer of debt capital instruments, it also has the equivalent of about 2.6 billion euros of more-senior Upper Tier 2 debt in three issues in euros and pounds.

While Monte Paschi is making payments on these notes, it isn't clear that it will be able to go on doing so, said Raymond.

Expect an update from the bank on Wednesday when it will hold a conference call.

Investors may be betting the bank will buy back the debt ''at or slightly below current trading levels,'' according to Eva Olsson, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities in London. Individual investors in Italy hold many of the bonds and have been an important source of funds for banks in recent years, she said.

"Monte likely will have to raise capital next year and we view any capital raising exercise in the market as challenging,'' Olsson wrote.

Indeed, and best of luck. As for how "bailed in" capital figures in terms of a bank's equity buffer/Tier 1 capital

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Kabinet bevestigt hogere belastingdruk - Actueel financieel nieuws leest u op DFT.nl van De Telegraaf [Nieuws]

Landmark court case makes spitting a crime (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Merkel's election bullsh*t revealed: it was a bear-faced pack of lies POLAND PENSIONS

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Archived Version

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 19:46

The symbol-cum-mascot for Berlin is a bear'.....und Mein Gott, the bad news bears are now working overtime to cram in all the evidence of disaster held back behind the dam until Fraud Oktor Merkel was back in command of the Bunker.

Deustche Bank's share value dived off a cliff after 1.30 pm CET this afternoon, from '‚¬49 to 45.60 at the close. This followed a major revenue warning earlier, a warning that didn't come at any point at all between September 5th and September 22nd. Wissen-Sie, how is ziss happenink? All voss Quiet on ze Western Front and then Achtung '' Donner und Blitzen! '' all Hell is loose gebreaking.

Barry the Black Dude (having bet the farm on Germany some time ago) did his best to provide the same ''Don't mention the Scheise'' media blackout, although towards the end there Mr Bernanke let a few feral cats out of the carpet-bag. But since Tuesday am this week, the sluice gates have been set at Full Open All'....what with Draghi's LTRO and Monte del Paschei followed by Deutsche Bank's 'ntergang, and now private pension funds being raided by the government in Poland.

The Polish Government today announced that it will transfer to the state many of the assets held by private pension funds, slashing public debt but putting in doubt the future of the multi-billion-euro funds, many of them foreign-owned. No doubt the news was kept back until Geli's personal plebiscite was done and dusted '' perhaps under threat that what Germany did in 1939, it could always do again in 2013.

But fear not '' World Champion Brussels ping-pong artist Antoniki Sampras insists that the Greek economy is about to explode into growth, Mariano Rajoy thinks chariots of gold will descend from the skies to fill Spanish Cajas, and Silvio Brylcreemoni foresees a bunga-bunga boom to rescue Italy from the jaws of bankruptcy. In fact, he has inadvertently given away the title of next year's Italian Eurovision Song Contest entry, ''Boom-bunga-bung-bong-bong''. In a Slog exclusive, I can now reveal the much-sought-after chorus lyrics to be as follows:

My fart goes Boom-bunga-bung-bong-bong right in your ear/Boom-bunga-bung-bong-bong the smell of diarrhea

Boom-bunga-bung-bong-bongwe're all in the poo/ We don't care a God-damn sh*t for you

Earlier at The Slog: Why perplexing us with complexity is entirely deliberate

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Who We Are | Team Rubicon

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Archived Version

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 15:41

Team: noun |tÄ'm| : 1: a number of persons associated together in a group or activity 2: emphasizes the organization's focus on small, cohesive units

Rubicon: proper noun |r¼-bi-Ä·¤n| : a bounding or limiting line; especially: one that when crossed commits someone irrevocably. Origin: River in Northern Italy marking the border of Gaul and Rome; crossed by Julius Caesar in 49 B.C., considered by the Senate an act of war

TEAM RUBICON: proper noun | tÄ'm r¼-bi-Ä·¤n| : 1: a group of military veterans and medical professionals irrevocably committed to changing veteran reintegration and disaster response 2: the ''Nation'' of supporters who make this mission possible

President & Co-FounderJacob Woodgraduated from the University of Wisconsin, where he played football, with a double major in Business and Political Science. He honorably served four years in the United States Marine Corps, deploying to Iraq in 2007 as an infantry squad leader and to Afghanistan in 2008 as a Scout-Sniper. He graduated Scout-Sniper School at the top of his class and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with ''V'' for valor in the face of the enemy while in Iraq. Jake serves on numerous veteran committees and speaks about veteran issues and social entrepreneurism.

Vice-President & Co-FounderWilliam McNultyis a Marine who served in both the infantry and intelligence. He has worked in support of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Council's Iraq Threat Finance Cell. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Communication Studies from the University of Kansas and an M.A. in Government from The Johns Hopkins University.

Director of FinanceDipali Mehtais a certified public accountant, originally from the Washington, DC area. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Commerce with concentrations in accounting and management information systems. She has over 18 years of accounting experience in both public and corporate accounting.

Director of Field OperationsAndrew Stevensoversees the operational tempo and scope of work for all field missions. With a background and education in emergency/disaster management, Andrew worked for the State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management as the state planner for critical infrastructure protection and community emergency planner. A former U.S. Marine, he acted as an Assistant Operation Chief and react team leader for Tango 5/11 during the initial assault on Iraq in 2003. Andrew has traveled to nearly 40 countries, including two TR missions to the Thai-Burma border and Mozambique.

Director of Strategic PartnershipsMatt Pelakis currently working as a Firefighter/Paramedic in Poughkeepsie, NY and has over 13 years experience in EMS and technical rescue. He has worked in a multitude of environments from busy urban systems, to rural, to third world. Matt has over 12 years of Army service as an infantryman and forward observer and is currently serving in the National Guard in NY. Matt deployed to Iraq with the Army in 2004 and also worked as an overseas contractor with the US State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. He deployed to Pakistan with Team Rubicon following the massive 2010 floods.

Director of Program DevelopmentMatt Runyonis responsible for the development, implementation and management of Team Rubicon's veteran programs. Originally from Akron, Ohio, Matt is a graduate of the USC's Leventhal School of Accounting (Fight On!). He is an 8 year Army veteran, deploying with the 56th Military Police Co. in support of Police Transition Team operations from 2007-2008. Matt joined TR full-time after working in varying corporate finance and contract negotiation roles for Raytheon Company. In his spare time, Matt keeps a positive and hopeful attitude while enduring the unending pain of being a Cleveland sports fan.

Director of PersonnelNicole Greengraduated from the Air Force Academy with a BS in Political Science. She served as an intelligence officer in Iraq in 2003. Nicole holds an MA in Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution from Norwich University and has worked as an English teacher in Russia, Critical Thinking instructor for the Army, and Strategy and Operations consultant for Deloitte and Touche. She is a passionate advocate for the strengths veterans offer their communities and the corporate world.

Chief Medical OfficerJohn P. Sutter, M.D.is a board certified family practitioner who, when not traveling, lives in New York City. He splits his professional duties between volunteering with Team Rubicon, and working intermittent shifts in rural Alaska where he provides full spectrum family medicine care to native Yupik populations. He received his B.A. in international relations from the University of Virginia, where he also served as a volunteer firefighter. During medical school at George Washington University, and during residency at UCSD, he volunteered for medical relief trips to Tibet, Malawi, South Sudan, and the Philippines.

Digital Media CoordinatorKirk JacksonOriginally from the Houston area, Kirk attended NYU, followed by a 7 year master's degree from the NYC School of Hard Knocks where he learned more than he cared to about the film and television industry. While working in the documentary and nonprofit realm, Kirk began producing and managing digital media for Team Rubicon in late 2010. In addition to being a connoisseur of chocolate chip cookies, he loves to sit on the porch with his wife and children to watch dueling hummingbirds while sipping a season-appropriate cocktail.

Communications CoordinatorMike Leea native of Chicago, graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Creative Writing. At LMU, Mike developed international and domestic volunteer trips and served as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Student Veterans Organization. Mike's professional background is in advertising and marketing, and has experience in executing large print and digital campaigns for non-profit and tourism clients. He lives in Los Angeles where he thinks a lot about dogs, bourbon, and the Chicago Bears.

Operations Planning AssociateEvan Koepkejoins us from the University of Virginia and the world of wilderness rescue. There, he merged an education in planning methods and emergency management with experiences in remote emergency operations. Evan has served as Chairman of the Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference, interned with the Homeland Security Institute and Red Cross, and provided training in wilderness SAR and lost person behavior. Free time is dedicated to providing TR an accent of kilt and highland bagpipe.

Office ManagerMaurice Johnsonis currently pursuing his B.A. in Human Resource Management and previously served 8 years in the United States Navy as a Personnel Specialist. While serving in the Navy, he had been on four deployments, visiting five of the seven continents. Maurice is currently volunteering for the Navy Recruiting District of Los Angeles as an ombudsman. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and bambino where they enjoy walks on the beach and being wonderful parents.

Operations Training AssociateChris Whartonalso known as ''The Brit,'' is British by birth and Welsh by choice. An Iraq conflict veteran, firefighter, and hazardous materials technician, Chris also responded to the earthquake/tsunami in Japan in 2011. Following his time in Japan, Chris determined that the best way to save lives was educate people before a disaster strikes, rather than try to rescue them afterwards. A life-long adventurer and outdoorsman, when Chris is not helping train TR volunteers in operational excellence, he can be found dangling under the love of his life: his para-glider.

AmbassadorJoshua Maverick Websteris currently an Army Officer stationed in Vicenza, Italy. He recently spent 8 years as an Air Force Pararescueman ''PJ'' for the 131st Rescue Squadron in Mountain View, California. He previously served as an Army Ranger Team Leader at 2/75th Ranger Battalion and was released honorably after two combat tours in Afghanistan. He is a registered Paramedic and holds a B.A. in History from UCLA.

VIDEO-Jake Wood: A new mission for veterans -- disaster relief | Video on TED.com

Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Law Protecting Kids from Paparazzi

Bill Text - SB-606 Harassment: child or ward.

LA Times - Gov. Brown signs bills aimed at paparazzi, family leave and quakes

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Science Website Shutting Off Comments Section for 'Undermining Bedrock Scientific Doctrine' | TheBlaze.com

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 12:40

A 141-year-old science and technology magazine has decided to stop allowing comments on its website, believing Internet trolls are spreading unproductive misinformation that distracts from true scientific discussion and learning.

Popular Science's Online Content Director Suzanne LaBarre announced the decision Tuesday, saying it ''wasn't a decision we made lightly.''

The front page of Popular Science as seen on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the science and technology magazine announced it would be turning off online commenting capability for most of its stories. (Image: Popular Science)

Although the magazine is ''committed to fostering lively, intellectual debate as we are to spreading the word of science far and wide,'' LaBarre said ''the problem is when trolls and spambots overwhelm the former, diminishing our ability to do the latter.''

LaBarre cited evidence from recent studies that suggest disagreements between commenters can affect reader's perception of the science.

''If you carry out those results to their logical end''commenters shape public opinion; public opinion shapes public policy; public policy shapes how and whether and what research gets funded''you start to see why we feel compelled to hit the 'off'' switch,' LaBarre said, calling evolution and climate change hot topics that are now ''mistakenly up for grabs again.''

LaBarre said that ''scientific certainty'' has become ''just another thing for two people to 'debate' on television.''

''[B]ecause comments sections tend to be a grotesque reflection of the media culture surrounding them, the cynical work of undermining bedrock scientific doctrine is now being done beneath our own stories, within a website devoted to championing science,'' LaBarre wrote.

If readers wish to communicate with Popular Science or its authors, they are encouraged to use Twitter, Facebook, livechat, email and other forms of social media. Popular Science does plan to open comments for some articles ''that lend themselves to vigorous and intelligent discussion.''

Popular Science is not the only website taking action to curb trolling on its comment section. The Huffington Post announced in August that it was ending the practice of allowing anonymous comments.

And just this week, YouTube said it was updating its comment system as well.

''In the coming months, comments from people you care about will rise up where you can see them, while new tools will help video creators moderate conversations for welcome and unwelcome voices,'' YouTube's Nundu Janakiram and Yonatan Zunger wrote in a blog post Tuesday.

As for comment moderation, the video-sharing site is giving users new tools to review comments before they're posting. This new functionality will allow words to be blocked and certain fans to be pre-approved for commenting.

''These can help you spend less time moderating, and more time sharing videos and connecting with your fans,'' the blog post read.

Wired's Roberto Baldwin said this is YouTube's effort ''turn those conversations into something that doesn't make you want to take a shower and weep for mankind.''

''

2-OBAMAS-Samuel L. Jackson Tells President Obama: "Be F**king Presidential" | Gossip Cop

BOZO FILTER-YouTube Announces A New Commenting System, Powered By Google+, With Threaded, Ranked And Private Conversati

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 13:31

YouTube today announced a new commenting system that will be powered by Google+. The system, which is launching on channel discussion tabs this week before rolling out to all videos over the next few weeks and months, will automatically rank comments and feature threaded and private conversations.

Right now, YouTube comments are a hotbed for spam and idiocy, something Google is painfully aware of. The new system aims to fix this by personalizing and ranking comments for each individual user.

Last year, YouTube started asking its users to connect their YouTube and Google+ accounts so more users would use their real names on the site. Today's integration goes quite a bit deeper. The new system will switch away from the current, recency-based system and instead rank comments according to a wide range of factors.

As Nundu Janakiram, a YouTube product manager who worked on this project, told me earlier this week, comments from the video creator will be ranked very highly and surfaced more regularly, for example. The system will also push comments from popular personalities on YouTube and people in your Google+ circles higher up the comment chain, as well as highly engaged discussion about the video. Just like before, you will be able to vote comments up or down, too, and those votes will also influence the ranking.

Users who want to go back to the old experience can always switch back to the recency-based view (though unless you are a troll, I'm not sure why you would want to do that). The new system also allows you to just see comments from people in your Google+ circle.

As Janakiram told me, the team realized that the current system is flawed. At the same time, though, YouTube also realized that the comments are a vibrant part of the YouTube experience. Despite its flaws, the team remained positive about the general concept of comments '' just not in its current form.

As part of the Google+ integration, YouTube will now also aggregate public comments about a video from Google+ and display them on YouTube. Private messages, of course, will remain private. Thanks to the Google+ integration, users on YouTube itself will now also be able to have private conversations on the site by leaving comments that can only be seen by people in their Google+ circles or individual users.

Once YouTube switches to the new system, all of the old comments will still be in the system and intermixed with the new ranked and threaded comments.

Given that the new system further integrated Google+, users are almost obliged to disclose their real identities when they comment, which should lift the quality of the discussion on YouTube. It's worth noting, however, that they can still create a Google+ page for any name, pseudonym or existing YouTube channel and use that as they identity on YouTube.

New Tools For Managing CommentsFor channel owners, YouTube is also introducing a number of new tools for managing comments on their videos.

Just like before, they will still be able to open their videos up for all comments, hold them in moderation and manually approve them or disallow them completely. Now, however, they will also be able to create a list of approved users who can always comment on a video based on their Google+ circles. These users will be able to comment even when other YouTube users have to go through the moderation process. If you are a celebrity, for example, you could use this to always allow comments from your ''greatest fans'' circle on Google+, as Janakiram told me.

In addition, YouTube is also allowing video owners to create a blacklist with words that automatically push comments into review and just like before, they can also block users. As for blocking users, YouTube is making a small but significant change now: it will stop telling users they've been blocked and will continue to show them their own comments when they are logged in. This, the team hopes, will fool them into believing that their comments were posted and stop them from creating new accounts after they've been blocked.

YouTube provides a platform for you to create, connect and discover the world's videos. The company recently redesigned the site around its hundreds of millions of channels. Partners from major movie studios, record labels, web original creators, viral stars, and millions more all have channels on YouTube. YouTube is predominantly an ad-supported platform, but also offers rental options for a growing number of movie titles. YouTube was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, who...

'†' Learn moreSeptember 7, 1998

NASDAQ:GOOG

Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world's information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps, YouTube, and Google+, the company's extension into the social space. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google's highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing...

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BBC News - ATF 'lost 420m cigarettes' in churning investigations

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Archived Version

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 12:45

25 September 2013Last updated at22:23 ETThe US agency tasked with stopping illegal tobacco trafficking lost track of 420 million cigarettes purchased in undercover operations, justice department auditors have found.

In addition, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) made $162m (£100m) selling tobacco undercover, it found.

That money was used to fund undercover operations between 2006-11.

The findings were revealed in an audit of the ATF's use of undercover profits.

In the report released on Wednesday, the justice department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) said it had found "a serious lack of oversight" of "churning investigations".

In those, the ATF uses proceeds from undercover operations to offset expenses incurred in the same operations, rather than depositing the funds in the US treasury.

The ATF received that churning authority in 2004.

ATF managers often disregarded policies on the churning investigations and failed to account properly for assets purchased during undercover operations, Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote in the audit.

In one unauthorised churning investigation, agents sold approximately $15m worth of cigarettes over 18 months. A confidential informant in the case was allowed to keep more than $4.9m "to cover his business expenses", according to the audit.

The ATF also purchased 9.9 million cartons of cigarettes during the course of 20 investigations examined by the inspector general's office, but "inadequate documentation" led to the loss of 2.1 million cartons, or 420 million cigarettes, valued at $127m.

ATF Director Todd Jones told the Associated Press news agency the federal body, which operates under the justice department, had already tightened internal guidelines.

"The report's findings do not reflect current ATF policy or practice in this area," he said.

IRS rides 1884 'dead horse' law to defense of tax preparer rules

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Wed, 25 Sep 2013 15:56

IRS rides 1884 'dead horse' law to defense of tax preparer rulesTop News

IRS rides 1884 'dead horse' law to defense of tax preparer rules

Tue, Sep 24 17:16 PM EDT

By Patrick Temple-West

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Tuesday defended its effort to regulate the tax return preparation business for the first time in U.S. history, basing its case largely on a 19th century law dealing with horses lost or killed in the Civil War.

At an appellate court hearing on a challenge brought by libertarian lawyers challenging the administration, Justice Department Tax Division lawyer Gilbert Rothenberg said: "I hate to beat a dead horse, especially one from the Civil War era."

But he explained that the administration sees the "Horse Act of 1884" as providing ample authority for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to regulate the tens of thousands of preparers who fill out millions of Americans' federal tax returns.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard the administration's argument. Rothenberg said the IRS should be allowed to force tax return preparers - who are now unregulated - to pass a competency test and take annual continuing education classes.

But the Institute for Justice, a libertarian advocacy law firm, disagreed.

"Congress never gave the IRS authority to regulate tax preparers," said Dan Alban, an attorney for the institute.

The case has broad implications for the industry, which includes H&R Block Inc, a few mid-tier companies and thousands of tiny, mom-and-pop firms.

A decision from the judges is still months away. In oral arguments, the judges - all appointed by Republican presidents - gave no clear sign of how they will rule, yea or neigh.

But they did question why the IRS was citing an 1884 law to justify trying to police tax return preparers in 2013.

LEGAL REPRESENTATION AT ISSUE

After the Civil War, many Americans brought war loss claims against the U.S. government, often for dead or missing horses.

A post-war industry emerged of agents who would press war loss claims for a fee, usually a percentage of the claim collected. Soon, claim values were being fraudulently inflated.

In response, the government started regulating these intermediaries, barring unscrupulous ones and certifying honest ones as "enrolled agents," a title that is still used today by people who represent clients in matters before the IRS.

The IRS is arguing that tax return preparers represent their customers in much the same way that enrolled agents do, so the agency should be able to expand regulation to include preparers.

But the Institute for Justice is arguing that tax return preparers do not carry out the same level of representation, but rather merely provide a paid service for clients.

"Preparing a tax return is not a representative act," Alban said. "It is performing a service, certainly, but there's no representation."

More than 78 million Americans in 2011 paid someone to prepare their tax returns. The industry posted estimated revenue this year of $9.4 billion.

The Institute sued in March 2012 to block the IRS's regulations and won a district court ruling in January halting parts of the agency's program. The IRS appealed.

KOCHS HELPED FUND CHALLENGER

Based in Arlington, Va., the institute litigates over issues such as private school vouchers and eminent domain. It was begun in 1991 with funding from wealthy industrialists and conservative activists David and Charles Koch.

Sabina Loving, a Chicago tax preparer, is the lead plaintiff in the case. She was not present at the oral arguments.

Some of the tax experts who attended said the judges seemed skeptical of the IRS's argument. "Clearly, they were leaning toward Loving," said Don Williamson, a tax accountant and executive director of American University's Kogod Tax Center.

"It looks like a good day for Mr. Alban," said Robert Kerr, senior director of government relations for the National Association of Enrolled Agents, a tax-preparers trade group.

Kathryn Keneally, head of the Justice Department tax division, declined to comment on the oral arguments while leaving the court room.

The case is Sabina Loving et al v. Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 13-5061.

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Leslie Gevirtz)