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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:45

Is rapper Jay-Z a time traveler? '-- desusnice (Buzz Feed) (credit: The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture/New York Public Library)

If there were time travelers among us, how would you find them?

That question occurred to astrophysicist Robert Nemiroff, a professor at Michigan Technological University. So he and his team developed a search strategy based on what they call ''prescient knowledge.''

If they could find a mention of something or someone on the Internet before people should have known about it, that could indicate that whoever wrote it had traveled from the future, they reasoned.

They selected search terms relating to two recent phenomena: Pope Francis and Comet ISON, and began looking for references to them before they were known to exist.

They used a variety of search engines, such as Google and Bing, and combed through Facebook and Twitter. In the case of Comet ISON, there were no mentions before it burst on the scene in September 2012. They discovered only one blog post referencing a Pope Francis before Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected head of the Catholic Church on March 16, but it seemed more accidental that prescient.

They also searched for prescient inquiries submitted to search engines and combed through the Astronomy Picture of the Day site, which Nemiroff co-edits. Still no luck.

For their last effort, the researchers created a post in September 2013 asking readers to email or tweet one of two messages on or before August 2013: ''#ICanChangeThePast2'' or ''#ICannotChangeThePast2.'' Alas, their invitation went unanswered. And, they received no insights into the inherent contradictions of time travel.

Abstract of arXiv paper

Time travel has captured the public imagination for much of the past century, but little has been done to actually search for time travelers. Here, three implementations of Internet searches for time travelers are described, all seeking a prescient mention of information not previously available. The first search covered prescient content placed on the Internet, highlighted by a comprehensive search for specific terms in tweets on Twitter. The second search examined prescient inquiries submitted to a search engine, highlighted by a comprehensive search for specific search terms submitted to a popular astronomy web site. The third search involved a request for a direct Internet communication, either by email or tweet, pre-dating to the time of the inquiry. Given practical verifiability concerns, only time travelers from the future were investigated. No time travelers were discovered. Although these negative results do not disprove time travel, given the great reach of the Internet, this search is perhaps the most comprehensive to date.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 20:08

What is Cervical Health Awareness Month?The United States Congress designated January as Cervical Health Awareness Month. During January, you may wish to highlight issues related to cervical cancer, HPV disease and the importance of early detection. Some of the issues you may wish to highlight are personal stories of women and family members/caregivers battling issues related to their persistent HPV/precancer and/or cervical cancer. You may wish to highlight recent advances and research in the prevention, detection and treatment of cervical cancer or HPV. You can highlight the success of your local/regional early detection cervical cancer screening and treatment programs and human-interest stories on the importance of early detection, education and the emotional issues related to battling cervical cancer and HPV.

What Can You Do?As someone who is interested in educating and advocating for increased knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV disease, you can do a lot. Motivation is the key, that, and the willingness to make contacts with local media. As part of a nationwide education effort surrounding Cervical Health Awareness Month we are asking that state and local supporters of the NCCC mobilize to get the word out about cervical cancer and HPV. Here are ways you can get involved:

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. Learn more, get involved, make a difference! http://tiny.cc/5nzj8w #CervicalHealthMonthFree fact sheet download - Ten Things to Know About HPV. http://tiny.cc/5nzj8w #CervicalHealthMonthFind free/low cost Pap tests in your area. http://tiny.cc/7vzj8w #CervicalHealthMonth

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. Visit NCCC to learn more. Get involved and make a difference!During Cervical Health Month in January ASHA is offering a free download of the fact sheet Ten Things to Know About HPV. Get yours at www.ashasexualhealth.org/uploads/pdfs/10ThingsHPV.pdf.During Cervical Health Month in January you can download free posters and more from NCCC. For more go to NCCC. Get involved, make a difference!Not one single woman ever needs to die from cervical cancer. We have the tools we need to prevent this disease so let's use them. Get involved. Make a difference! Visit the National Cervical Cancer Coalition online.Who Should You Contact?To help spread the message as widely as possible, you should aim to contact the health or medical editor at each of your local newspapers and magazines, and the news directors or health reporters of each of your local television and radio stations. Because their time is often limited, be sure to be quick and concise in communicating your message.

It's important to keep track of all of your media contacts and to note their interest in reporting on cervical cancer/HPV. This will help to keep you organized, and will help you respond more efficiently and promptly to requests for information and interviews.

How Can You Gain the Media's Interest?State and local media are firmly committed to making the news they report relevant to their readers. In other words, they like to report what's happening in the neighborhoods they serve.

Strive to introduce elements of local interest to your story "pitch." There are a number of simple ways this can be achieved, just be creative.

Some examples include:

Make available local cervical cancer survivors for interviews. Local human interest "angles" are always popular with reporters, and their readers or viewers.Talk about innovative research on cervical cancer/HPV that is going on at a local research university, or suggest local physicians who are willing to be interviewed.Organize a local event to raise awareness of, or money for, cervical cancer/HPV research and then invite media to attend. Be sure to send out announcements at least a week in advance to ensure the greatest amount of interest and attendance.Research local statistics on cervical cancer to provide as background to reporters. It can help to provide a local "tie-in" to a broader story about cervical cancer.Who Can You Contact for Media Help?We realize that many of you may have questions about how to develop a media list, where to go for reporters" addresses and phone numbers, or just need a little coaching to get started.

Please contact the National Cervical Cancer Coalition (NCCC) with any questions you may have dealing with the media: nccc@ashastd.org.

Media relations work can be intimidating at first, but remember that you have a strong educational message to deliver, and a newsworthy cause to promote. Before long, you'll be confident and proficient! You can make this happen! Your active participation within your community will help educate women, family members and caregivers to issues related to cervical cancer/HPV. Help make a difference. Your action will make a difference. Early Detection Saves Lives!

When Should You Get Started?January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. That gives you plenty of time to get organized to work effectively through the media. The following is a rough timeline to help guide your activity: November

Develop your media contact list.Develop list of local experts and/or survivors who are willing to be interviewed.Begin to call magazine reporters who require a longer lead time to file their articles.Send copy for public service announcements to radio station managers. Follow-up with a phone call.Send press release to all print and broadcast reporters.Begin follow-up phone calls to all reporters, print and broadcast, to urge coverage of cervical cancer/HPV.

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 05:42

By Sadie Whitelocks

PUBLISHED: 17:58 EST, 7 January 2014 | UPDATED: 18:36 EST, 7 January 2014

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Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer chose to wear the company's signature purple hue today as she gave one of her most high profile speeches to date.

The 38-year-old blonde took to the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas wearing a knee-length, three-quarter sleeve dress by Oscar de la Renta in different shades of violet.

CNN contributor Cyrus Sanati, complimented the mother-of-one on her wardrobe choice, tweeting: 'Marissa Mayer chose to wear a purple cocktail dress instead of a terrible pant suit.'

Apt choice: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer chose to wear the company's signature purple hue today as she gave one of her most high profile speeches to date

Another Twitter user exclaimed 'exceptional dress.'

The cotton and silk gown was reduced from $1,590 to $795 on Net-A-Porter.com but is now sold out.

Ms Mayer topped off her sophisticated look with sheer black stockings and a pair of black velvet wedged pumps.

On the beauty front, she went for minimal make-up and straightened hair.

Ms Mayer started her keynote presentation at 4pm and finished up more than an hour later.

Sophisticated look: She topped off her outfit with sheer stockings and a pair of black velvet wedged pumps

Team effort: As well as giving her own thoughts on the year ahead, Ms Mayer was joined by guest speakers including Yahoo's newly acquired employee, Katie Couric

As well as giving her own thoughts on the year ahead in the world of tech, she was joined by guest speakers including 27-year-old Tumblr founder, David Karp.

The microblogging platform and social networking website was one of Yahoo's big acquisitions under Ms Mayer.

Katie Couric, the news personality newly and acquired Yahoo employee, also made a surprise appearance.

She talked about Yahoo's media business, and her role in it.

'It really is a blank slate,' she said of the opportunity ahead of her at the company.

A performance of 'Here Comes the Sun' by musician John Legend was another highlight.

Career move: On July 16, 2012, Mayer was appointed President and CEO of Yahoo, which is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, near San Jose

Girl next door: Ms Mayer exudes glamor and sophistication, pictured left with husband Zachary Bogue at a 2011 event. She welcomed her first child in September 2012, months after joining Yahoo!

Ms Mayer is ranked number 32 on Forbes' 'power women' list.

Before joining Yahoo in July 2012, she helped create the highly-praised culture at Google, which currently holds the top spot on Fortune's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Though Yahoo - which was founded in 1995 and stands for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle - is one of the most visited websites on the internet, it has started to lose its focus.

It continues to lose ground to rivals Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. in the online advertising market that generates most of their revenue.

Ms Mayer was tasked with turning its fortunes around and revealed that 'resetting the culture' was one of her top priorities last spring.

The office: Yahoo headquarters are located in Sunnyvale, California near San Jose (pictured). The company employs 11,500 people in over 20 countries across the globe

'My goal is not to change the culture, but to amplify its greatness,' she announced.

The public corporation is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, near San Jose, and employs 11,500 people in more than 20 countries across the globe.

But Ms Mayer's transition into the role of CEO has not been easy.

She previously cane underfire for imposing a work-from-home ban especially when it emerged that she had a nursery adjoining her Silicon Valley office so she could keep an eye on her baby son, Macallister.

Ms Mayer was born in Wausau, Wisconsin and studied science at Stanford University at BA and MA level.

She currently resides in San Francisco with her investor husband Zachary Bogue and their one-year-old son.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 04:35

Wow! I just embarrassed myself at CES '' I was about to speak for Samsung for this awesome Curved 105-inch UHD TV. I rarely lend my name to any products, but this one is just stellar. I got so excited to talk, that I skipped over the Exec VP's intro line and then the teleprompter got lost. Then the prompter went up and down '' then I walked off. I guess live shows aren't my thing.

But I'm doing a special curved screen experience with Samsung and Transformers 4 footage that will be traveling around the world.

Michael

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 03:59

In associating documents with applications, Finder® employs Launch Services. Launch Services uses several files to associate documents with applications and vice versa. If these files become corrupted, the following problems can occur:

The wrong application is opened when double-clicking a file.Multiple copies of a single application appear in the Open With menu for a given document.Incorrect icons appear on files, folders, or other objects.Finder error code -10660. Note that this error code can also occur if you are attempting to open a document whose associated application is in the Trash.This FAQ, derived from our Troubleshooting Mac® OS X series of books, provides the steps required to reset Launch Services. Be sure to read these instructions in their entirety, including the Notes, before proceeding.

There are two approaches to resetting Launch Services:

Use a third-party utility, such as Cocktail or Yasu, to rebuild or reset, respectively, the Launch Services database. Be sure to employ a version of the utility that is compatible with the version of Mac OS X you are using.Reset Launch Services manually: follow the steps in the order specified for the version of Mac OS X you are using:Reset Launch Services under Snow Leopard1.Log in to the affected account.2.Open Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.3.At the prompt, type the following command exactly as written:find /System/Library/Frameworks -type f -name ''lsregister'' -exec {} -kill -seed -r \;4.Press Return. The Launch Services database is rebuilt; it is finished when the Terminal prompt returns.5.End the Terminal session by doing one of the following:Press the Control-D keyboard shortcut.Type exit and press Return.6.Quit (Command-Q) Terminal.7.Check to determine if the problem is resolved.Reset Launch Services under Leopard1.Quit all running applications.2.Trash the following two files in the Macintosh HD > Library > Caches folder:

com.apple.LaunchServices-0230.csstorecom.apple.LaunchServices-023nnn.csstorewhere nnn is the User ID number of the affected account.

Type your Admin password if prompted to authenticate the deletion of these files. See Notes [1] and [2].

Note: If you upgraded from Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, this folder may also contain files with file names:

com.apple.LaunchServices-0140.csstorecom.apple.LaunchServices-014nnn.csstorewhere nnn represents the User ID numbers of accounts on the Mac. These files can also be deleted as they are leftovers from Tiger.

3.Restart your Mac.4.Log in to the affected account.5.If the problem is resolved, skip to step 6. Otherwise:

Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder. See Note [3].Repeat steps 1-4.6.Empty the Trash.Reset Launch Services under Tiger1.Quit all running applications.2.Trash the following two files in the Macintosh HD > Library > Caches folder:

com.apple.LaunchServices-0140.csstorecom.apple.LaunchServices-014nnn.csstorewhere nnn is the uid (User ID) number, as listed in the NetInfo database, of the affected account. Type your Admin password if prompted to authenticate the deletion of these files. See Notes [1] and [2].

3.Restart your Mac.4.Log in to the affected account.5.Empty the Trash.6.Verify that the problem is solved. If not:

Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder of the affected account. See Note [3].Repeat steps 1-5.Reset Launch Services under PantherQuit all running applications.Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.6B.csstore file in the Macintosh HD > Library > Caches folder. Type your Admin password if prompted to authenticate the deletion of this file. See Note [1].Restart your Mac.Log in to the affected account.Empty the Trash.Verify that the problem is solved. If not:Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder of the affected account. See Note [3].Repeat steps 1-5.Reset Launch Services under JaguarQuit all running applications.Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder of the affected account. See Note [3].Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.UserCache.csstore file in the Home > Library > Caches folder of the affected account.Restart your Mac.Log in to the affected account.Empty the Trash.Related LinksNotes[1] This step will result in you being prompted to approve the launch of the application associated with a given document the first time you double-click that document. These alerts are a result of the security feature in Mac OS X. The list of applications which you have previously approved are saved in the caches deleted in this step.

[2] The first user account defined on your Mac is generally User ID number 501, the second User ID number 502, and so forth. For example, the second file ID for the first account would be:

Under Leopard:com.apple.LaunchServices-023501.csstoreUnder Tiger:com.apple.LaunchServices-014501.csstoreUse the instructions in the following table to find the User ID number (Leopard) or uid number (Tiger) for any account:

Mac OS X 10.5 or later:1.Open System Preferences > Accounts.2.If the lock icon in the lower-left corner of Accounts is locked, click it and type your Admin account name and password when prompted to authenticate.3.Control-click the desired account and chose Advanced Options'... in the resulting shortcut menu.4.A sheet appears listing advanced options for the account selected in step 3. Write down the account's User ID number shown in the User ID field.5.Click Cancel.6.Quit (Command-Q) System Preferences.Mac OS X 10.4:1.Open NetInfo Manager, which is in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.2.Select users in the middle column of the NetInfo Manager window.3.Select the desired user account in the right column of NetInfo Manager.4.The data for the selected user, including uid, is displayed in the lower pane of the NetInfo Manager window.[3] This step will reset to default values all associations you have created between specific file types and applications. For example, if you set PDFs to open in Adobe® Acrobat® instead of Preview, they would now open in Preview again until the association of PDFs with Acrobat is reset.

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 13:47

Glenn Greenwald.Photo by ReutersBy Haaretz

Published 01:00 07.01.14

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who first published documents leaked by Edward Snowden that revealed the scope of U.S. spying worldwide, said the documents contain additional information about U.S. surveillance of Israel that has not yet been published.

He also said the continued imprisonment of Jonathan Pollard attests to the hypocrisy of the U.S. administration.

In an interview with Channel 10 television station that aired Monday night, Greenwald said the Snowden documents contain ''a huge number of very significant stories'' that have not yet been published, and these include stories related to the Middle East in general and Israel in particular. He and the other journalists working on the material will continue releasing stories at about the same pace as hitherto, he added, explaining that they have only had the Snowden documents for seven months, and ''given their volume and complexity,'' that isn't a long time.

Channel 10 asked Greenwald about the increasingly popular argument in Israel that given Snowden's revelations about the scope of U.S. spying on its allies, Washington had no grounds for its continued refusal to free Pollard, who is serving a life sentence for spying on the United States on Israel's behalf. Inter alia, the documents revealed that the U.S. National Security Agency had monitored the email address of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office in 2009.

Greenwald agreed that the Snowden revelations are relevant to Pollard's case. ''When the U.S. government goes around the world criticizing other countries for spying on allies and prosecuting them,'' he said, ''are they going to maintain that with a straight face when they're doing exactly that?''

It's proper to raise Pollard's case in the context of U.S. spying on its Israeli ally, he continued, because that underscores the hypocrisy of what the U.S. itself is doing. The U.S. government, Greenwald charged, does exactly what it accuses its enemies of doing, and no country has the right to say other countries shouldn't do something while it is secretly violating that very same taboo.

Asked about the U.S. government's claim that the purpose of the eavesdropping is to fight terrorism, he responded by citing the documents' revelations that the NSA eavesdropped on both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli officials, asking, Does the U.S. government think Angela Merkel is a terrorist? Or that democratically elected Israeli officials are involved in terror?

Greenwald said that Snowden, who has received temporary asylum in Russia, had performed an act of supreme patriotism by leaking the documents, as he thereby defended the values of American democracy. The Snowden revelations, he said, have sparked the first serious debate over individual privacy in the digital age and the dangers of state surveillance.

Your talkback has been submitted successfully.If selected for publication, it will appear as soon as possible on Haaretz.com.

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 13:41

The US Department of Justice has released new files about convicted spy Jonathan Pollard's bid for presidential clemency. Pollard was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 after passing more than a million highly classified documents to Israel while working as an intelligence analyst for the US Navy. Documents in the Freedom of Information Act response (PDF) reference 32 pages of government agency deliberative communications and 37 pages of new communications between Pardon Attorney Ronald Rogers and Pollard's legal team '-- all produced since July of 2011. While the contents have been withheld, their existence signals that the Pollard commutation request may be nearing a conclusion within the Obama administration. June 18 could mark the culmination of a massive lobbying campaign for release. Obama's dismal record on Israeli accountability suggests Pollard will soon walk free.

Released documents reveal that the Rabbinical Assembly '-- claiming to represent "1.5 million Jews worldwide" '-- passed a formal resolution asking Obama to commute Pollard's sentence. Rabbi David Zwiebel of Agudath Israel of America and Moshe Kantor of the European Jewish Congress also urged Pollard's release. Letters demanding release also continue to flood in from former and current members of the US Congress. Steve Symms, Matt Salmon, Alan Simpson, Robert Wexler, Barney Frank, and Gary Ackerman joined the ranks of fellow representatives already demanding release. Moshe Kahalon, Israel's Minister of Communications, gushed to Obama "I have no doubt that your decision to release Jonathan Pollard now as a humanitarian expression of justice and compassion will bring great relief to many, and will remove this impediment to the friendship between our nations." Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins is also now rooting for Pollard's release. Upping the ante, Israeli President Shimon Peres has explicitly linked his receipt of a US Presidential Medal of Freedom during a special June 18 White House dinner to Pollard's freedom gambit '-- channeling even more intense pressure on Obama to take action in a specific context, place and time.

The linkage to Obama's reelection bid is obvious. Israel's Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger brashly stated that releasing Pollard would be good for Obama's reelection campaign. But what makes Pollard worth expending such formidable lobbying and political capital? Why have Israel and its Western lobbying organizations made Pollard a key issue, almost on the same footing as massive US taxpayer-funded aid packages and confronting Iran? The Israel lobby effort is trying to achieve much more than simply putting Congress and a sitting president through their paces.

Pollard's ongoing imprisonment has uniquely and singularly defied Israel's doctrine of accountability. Israel's history is replete with demands that it should never be held accountable for any act committed anywhere '-- including in the US '-- that is perpetrated in the name of Israel's national security. Most public figures lobbying for Pollard's release grudgingly admit that he committed heinous acts against the US. But like the enforcers of other doctrines of infallibility, Pollard clemency lobbyists insist that acts to enhance Israeli security '-- as determined by Israel and Israel alone '-- are infallible. Clemency will serve this infallibility doctrine. Pollard's imprisonment has placed a damper on Israel's widespread and constant recruitment of others to act audaciously '-- and often illegally '-- on the pretext of advancing its national security. Freeing Pollard would unfetter Israel and its supporters during increasingly tense international times.

With the exception of releasing Pollard, the Obama administration has signaled agreement with Israel's infallibility doctrine via proclamation and deed. After the 2009 inauguration and shortly before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual Washington meeting, the administration short-circuited due process by tossing out the Rosen and Weissman espionage prosecution before it could be heard by an impartial jury. The pair purloined national defense secrets they believed could be used to foment US military action against Iran.

Less widely known is that Israeli front company Telogy was caught in the summer of 2010 illegally shipping nuclear weapons components out of California to Israel. When such crimes occurred in the past '-- such as in the case of MILCO smuggling nuclear triggers out of California to Israel '-- the US at least criminally investigated Israel's US operatives even while carefully steering around the true masterminds such as Arnon Milchan and high Israeli intelligence officials. In the case of Telogy, the Obama administration simply leaked tidbits of the export violations to friendly press, helpfully allowing Telogy to quickly roll up its illegal US operations. Rather than raids, arrests, publicity and prosecutions, Israel's only punishment for Telogy was a mild admonishment (PDF) issued by former weapons inspector David Albright from his perch at a think tank almost singularly devoted to analyzing Iran's '-- but not Israel's '-- nuclear program in the establishment news media.

The Obama Justice Department was presented with a golden opportunity to penetrate Israeli Aerospace Industries spying activities in the United States by flipping Stewart Nozette. Nozette had quietly received $225,000 in "consulting fees" from IAI to vacuum up secrets from various US government agencies. Instead of being doubled back on IAI, Nozette was brought down by an FBI employee posing as a Mossad agent in an elaborate FBI sting operation that hermetically sealed off Israel and Nozette's Israeli handlers. Although court documents clearly document Nozette admitting to passing US secrets to Israel, US Attorney Ron Machen issued public statements denying that any US secrets had been transferred to Israel, even as AIPAC ramped up its lobbying for more US taxpayer funding for IAI missile development.

Attorney General Eric Holder, ultimately responsible for such massive prosecutorial failures, long ago revealed his approval for releasing another top figure committing crimes in the name of Israel. In the case of fugitive financier and likely Israeli intelligence asset Marc Rich, Holder signaled he was "neutral, leaning toward favorable" for a Rich pardon after being lobbied by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak while working under President Bill Clinton.

Fear of mass resignations in the intelligence community (and allegedly CIA Director George Tenant's threats) and popular protests were the only obstacles thwarting President Bill Clinton pardoning Pollard alongside Rich. But that was before 9/11 turned America into a national security state. Today '-- inside and outside of government '-- Americans have grown accustomed to outrageous legal, ethical and moral crimes perpetrated by government in the name of national security. Outrageous public acts of government hypocrisy and deceit toward rule of law are now no longer reviled, but grudgingly expected. There will likely be little public outcry if Obama frees Israel's top spy while simultaneously pinning a medal on the chest of the Middle East's biggest (and so far only) nuclear arms proliferator.

Read more by Grant Smith

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 06:01

By Maidhc ' Cathail | The Passionate Attachment | January 7, 2014When waging unconventional warfare, timing is everything.

In some pro-Israel circles, President Barack Obama and his Secretary of State John Kerry are now being hysterically compared to Neville Chamberlain for their alleged ''betrayal'' of the self-defined ''Jewish state'' to yet another imminent Holocaust as a result of Obama's historic, albeit so far limited, rapprochement with today's supposed equivalent of a genocidal Nazi regime in Tehran and Kerry's sustained diplomatic effort to get Israel to return to its so-called ''Auschwitz borders'' prior to its premeditated 1967 Land Grab. In light of this dual ''existential threat'' posed by the Obama administration to a Greater Israel, the interview given to Israeli TV by Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who first published documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that revealed the scope of U.S. spying worldwide, is as close to a ''game theory warfare'' smoking gun as you're going to get.

Speaking to Israel's Channel 10 '-- whose biggest shareholder, cosmetics billionaire Ronald Lauder, is President of the World Jewish Congress '-- Greenwald criticized ''the continued imprisonment of Jonathan Pollard,'' who was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 after passing more than a million highly classified documents to Israel while working as an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy. (Incidentally, Channel 10 owner Lauder is also a supporter of clemency for Pollard.) As reported today by Haaretz, here's what Greenwald told his Israeli audience about the spy, who, in the words of former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, ''did more damage to the United States than any spy in history'':

Greenwald agreed that the Snowden revelations are relevant to Pollard's case. ''When the U.S. government goes around the world criticizing other countries for spying on allies and prosecuting them,'' he said, ''are they going to maintain that with a straight face when they're doing exactly that?''

It's proper to raise Pollard's case in the context of U.S. spying on its Israeli ally, he continued, because that underscores the hypocrisy of what the U.S. itself is doing. The U.S. government, Greenwald charged, does exactly what it accuses its enemies of doing, and no country has the right to say other countries shouldn't do something while it is secretly violating that very same taboo.

While some may be willing to concede that Greenwald's charge of U.S. government hypocrisy is perfectly valid, the acclaimed ''independent'' journalist's remarks that American national security does not require surveillance of its so-called ''ally'' in Tel Aviv is at best na¯ve, at worst disingenuous:

Asked about the U.S. government's claim that the purpose of the eavesdropping is to fight terrorism, he responded by citing the documents' revelations that the NSA eavesdropped on both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli officials, asking, Does the U.S. government think Angela Merkel is a terrorist? Or that democratically elected Israeli officials are involved in terror?

Although many Greeks and other Europeans may justifiably view Chancellor Merkel's austerity measures as a form of economic terrorism, could Greenwald seriously be oblivious to Israel's long track record of terrorism, not only its state terrorism against the indigenous Palestinians and their neighbours but its less widely-known, albeit acknowledged, false flag terror attacks on its American benefactor and imperial proxy?

Given the account of the ''Five Dancing Shlomos'' caught celebrating in Liberty Park, New Jersey as the twin towers burned on Sept. 11, 2001, as well as much other well-documented evidence pointing toward Israeli complicity in the 9/11 attacks '-- seized on with great alacrity by Israel loyalists such as Joe Lieberman as a pretext to strip Americans of much of their constitutional rights while others such as Michael Chertoff profited from the hyped ''need'' for greater ''security'' in the post-9/11 ''Homeland'' '-- what kind of journalist genuinely concerned about civil liberties would deny that monitoring the conversations of a ''spook, terrorist or criminal'' such as Netanyahu, a harsh critic of NSA spying who infamously admitted that 9/11 as ''very good'' for Israel, is an essential requirement of any genuine fight against terrorism?

Like that other much-adored Jewish ''critic of Israel'' Noam Chomsky, Glenn Greenwald would appear to be just the latest branded anti-imperial ''hero'' serving to provide cover for a less transparent Israeli agenda.

Maidhc ' Cathail is an investigative journalist and Middle East analyst. He is also the creator and editor of The Passionate Attachment blog, which focuses primarily on the U.S.-Israeli relationship. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter @O_Cathail.

January 8, 2014 - Posted by aletho | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, Israel, Jonathan Pollard, United States, Zionism

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 14:16

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Signatories | Jews for Justice for PalestiniansJews for Justice for Palestinians is a network of Jews who are British or live in .....Szekely; Beth Tabatznik; Risa Tabatznik; Tony Tabatznik; Rabbi Larry Tabick ...Hertfordshire's Richest 50 - People - Hertfordshirewww.hertfordshirelife.co.uk/.../hertfordshire_39_s_richest_50_1_1568842- Cached - SimilarMar 20, 2012 ... Tony Tabatznik, a serial entrepreneur, has created two large and ... left his nativeAustria for Palestine in 1939, but came to Britain in the 1950s.tabatznik Jewish Voice for Peace - Google Search [Printable]adam.curry.com/art/1377667056_WMcWUVkG.html- CachedTabatznik, Tony British multi-millionaire Pharmaceuticals mogul. Tabb ... Jews forJustice for Palestinians is a network of Jews who are British or live inBritain, .Risa Tabatznik - Pipl Directoryhttps://pipl.com/directory/name/Tabatznik/Risa/

Get Information for Risa Tabatznik, Profile Photos, Address History, PhoneNumbers, Relatives, Education, Publications ... Risa Tabatznik... Israel Palestine.Jews for Justice for Palestinians - IsraCampus.Org.ilwww.isracampus.org.il/.../Petitions%20- %20Israeli%20Academics%20in%20Jews%20for%20Justice%20for...- CachedTo secure a lasting settlement to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis .....Szekely; Beth Tabatznik; Risa Tabatznik; Tony Tabatznik; Rabbi Larry Tabick ...Third Seminar 2012 - Greenhousewww.ghfilmcentre.org/index.php/.../31.../395-third-seminar-2012- CachedNeil Tabatznik- BLUE ICE'' HOT DOCS Documentary Fund, Canada ...Palestine,'Where the Deserts Meets Mountains' by Said Saad Eddine from Morocco, ...Even The Rain - Take One Actionwww.takeoneaction.org.uk/events/even_the_rain/- CachedOne of the unspoken weapons in the occupation in Palestine is boredom and ......With Brenda Davis (direct, Sister), Seth Tabatznik (Bertha Foundation for film ...January 21 at 6:34am - Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/EuromedAudiovisuel/.../470915272969900- CachedNeil Tabatznik from Blue Ice-Hot Docs Documentary Fund selected 5 projects ...Palestine, 'Where the Deserts Meets Mountains' by Said Saad Eddine from ...2013 Canadian Screen Awards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Canadian_Screen_Awards- Cached - Similar... Neil Tabatznik, Andrew Spaulding); Still Mine (Jody Colero, Avi Federgreen,..... Exile Without End: Palestinians in Lebanon (CBC News, Radio-Canada, ALT ...At last, mobile firms are competing | Columnists | BDlivewww.bdlive.co.za/opinion/.../at-last-mobile-firms-are-competing- CachedMay 9, 2013... by the Tabatznik family for R160m. The family is now resident in the UK, butwas previously South African and involved in pharmaceuticals.

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 14:17

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Shady Companies With Ties to Israel Wiretap the U.S. for the NSA...www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/04/shady-companies-nsa/- Cached - SimilarApr 3, 2012 ... The NSA is growing bigger and more powerful. But behind its curtains of secrecy,the secretive spying agency is relying on contractors with ...The Israeli Criminals Behind the NSA Spy Scandal - Christopher ...www.bollyn.com/the-israeli-criminals-behind-the-nsa-spy-scandal/- CachedTwo Israeli companies, Narus and Verint, are involved in the National SecurityAgency (NSA) spy scandal in which copies of our phone calls and email data are ...What was the Israeli involvement in collecting U.S. communications ...www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.528529- Cached - SimilarJun 8, 2013 ...Israeli high-tech firms Verint and Narus have had connections with ... a "secretroom" in the company's San Fransisco office, where the NSA ...Israelis Bugged The US For The NSA - Business Insiderwww.businessinsider.com/israelis-bugged-the-us-for-the-nsa-2013-6- Cached - SimilarJun 7, 2013 ... One theory: the NSA hired two secretive Israeli companies to wiretap the U.S.telecommunications network. In April 2012 Wired's James ...N.S.A. Spied on Allies, Aid Groups and Businesses - NYTimes.comwww.nytimes.com/.../nsa-dragnet-included-allies-aid-groups-and-business- elite.html

Dec 20, 2013 ... Secret documents reveal more than 1000 targets of U.S. and British surveillancein recent years, including the office of an Israeli prime minister ...Israel and the NSA: Partners in Crime - Antiwar.com Originaloriginal.antiwar.com/justin/.../israel-and-the-nsa-partners-in-crime/- CachedOct 28, 2013 ... The NSA's inquiries to the British, Canadians, Australians, New ... by the NSAoriginated in Israel, and was developed by Israeli companies with ...Israel and the NSA Scandal | The Occidental Observer - White ...www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2013/06/israel-and-the-nsa-scandal/- Cached - SimilarJun 19, 2013 ... Steve Sailer has an article on the tie-in between Israeli high tech firms and theNSA spying on American citizens (''Does Israel Have a Backdoor ...Jon Rappoport: NSA as Front for Two Israeli Companies, Narus and ...www.phibetaiota.net/.../jon-rappoport-nsa-as-front-for-two-israeli-companies -narus-and-verint-specializing-in-mass-surveillance-and-siphoning-...- Cached - SimilarNSA, the secret AT&T spy room, and 2 Israeli companies. Boom. Explosiverevelations. The NSA is using telecom giants to spy on anybody and everybody,in a ...National Security Agency gives data on Americans to the Israeli...mondoweiss.net/.../national-security-agency-gives-data-on-americans-to-the- israeli-government.html- CachedSep 11, 2013 ... Will there be fallout from the NSA sharing intel with Israel? ...... will learn thatIsraeli companies owned American internet pipelines and Isreali ...We Call a Top NSA Whistleblower ... And Get the REAL SCOOP on ...www.washingtonsblog.com/.../exclusive-top-nsa-whistleblower-spills-the- beans-on-the-real-scope-of-the-spying-program.html- Cached - SimilarJun 8, 2013 ... Specifically, an Israeli company called Narus processes all of the informationtapped by AT &T (AT & T taps, and gives to the NSA, copies of all ...Israel ETF - ISRAwww.vaneck.com/isra

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He next published Body of Secrets, also about the NSA, in 2001, and A Pretext for War (2004). His 2008 book, The Shadow Factory, became a New York Times best-seller and was named by The Washington Post as one of "The Best Books of 2008." It was the third book in his NSA trilogy and focused on the NSA involvement in the 9/11 investigations and intelligence failures. The NOVA's The Spy Factory[7] was based on this book. Bamford now lectures nationally in the United States and was a distinguished visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He also spent nearly a decade as the Washington investigative producer for ABC's World News Tonight. In 2006, he received the National Magazine Award for Reporting, the top prize in magazine writing.

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 14:19

June 13, 2013

At the center of the NSA scandal is a gang of Israeli high-tech criminals which is connected to the false-flag terror attacks of 9-11. These connections underline the involvement of the same Israeli criminals to both 9-11 and the NSA's secret program to collect and store our personal information and conversations, which came about mainly as a consequence of 9-11.

Two Israeli companies, Narus and Verint, are involved in the National Security Agency (NSA) spy scandal in which copies of our phone calls and email data are sent to secret rooms at NSA buildings across the country. These Israeli companies are closely connected to Unit 8200, the electronic espionage unit of the Israeli military. (Narus was acquired by Boeing in 2010.)

Jacob "Kobi" Alexander The founder and former chairman of Verint is wanted by the FBI for a long list of crimes. He is veteran Israeli intelligence officer.

Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, the former head of Comverse, the parent company of Verint, is a wanted criminal who has fled U.S. justice to Africa and probably subsequently to Israel. It is important to note that Kobi Alexander and Comverse were closely connected to Odigo, the Israeli messaging system that was used to warn Israelis to stay away from the World Trade Center on 9-11.

Furthermore, the NSA has used Israeli encryption software from RSA Security, Inc. since 2006, which means that Israelis hold the encryption keys to the entire NSA computer network. The Israelis obviously have easy access to everything at the NSA.

The following video clip is of James Bamford discussing the two Israeli companies, Narus and Verint, who are involved in the massive collection of our telephone and Internet data. Bamford was on "Democracy Now!" on October 14, 2008, discussing the role of these Israeli companies, who are closely tied to Israeli intelligence.

To have access to personal phone calls and emails allows Israeli intelligence to blackmail and control people, like General David Petraeus, who was forced to resign from his position as director of the C.I.A. after an extra-marital affair was revealed by unknown agents who had access to his personal email.

James Bamford on Democracy Now! - October 14, 2008Video Link - http://youtu.be/hI_k9Xt00YE

Bamford wrote an article entitled "Shady Companies With Ties to Israel Wiretap the U.S. for the NSA" for Wired.com in April 2012 in which he discussed the Israeli companies and the criminals who ran them:

In addition to constructing the Stellar Wind center, and then running the operation, secretive contractors with questionable histories and little oversight were also used to do the actual bugging of the entire U.S. telecommunications network.

According to a former Verizon employee briefed on the program, Verint, owned by Comverse Technology, taps the communication lines at Verizon, which I first reported in my book The Shadow Factory in 2008. Verint did not return a call seeking comment, while Verizon said it does not comment on such matters.

At AT&T the wiretapping rooms are powered by software and hardware from Narus, now owned by Boeing, a discovery made by AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein in 2004. Narus did not return a call seeking comment.

What is especially troubling is that both companies have had extensive ties to Israel, as well as links to that country's intelligence service, a country with a long and aggressive history of spying on the U.S.

In fact, according to Binney, the advanced analytical and data mining software the NSA had developed for both its worldwide and international eavesdropping operations was secretly passed to Israel by a mid-level employee, apparently with close connections to the country. The employee, a technical director in the Operations Directorate, ''who was a very strong supporter of Israel,'' said Binney, ''gave, unbeknownst to us, he gave the software that we had, doing these fast rates, to the Israelis.''

Several of the top people involved in these Israeli wiretapping companies are if fact criminals who are currently wanted for serious crimes committed in the United States, as Bamford explains in the 2012 article:

Like Narus, Verint was founded in Israel by Israelis, including Jacob ''Kobi'' Alexander, a former Israeli intelligence officer. Some 800 employees work for Verint, including 350 who are based in Israel, primarily working in research and development and operations, according to the Jerusalem Post. Among its products is STAR-GATE, which according to the company's sales literature, lets ''service providers '... access communications on virtually any type of network, retain communication data for as long as required, and query and deliver content and data '...'' and was ''[d]esigned to manage vast numbers of targets, concurrent sessions, call data records, and communications.''

In a rare and candid admission to Forbes, Retired Brig. Gen. Hanan Gefen, a former commander of the highly secret Unit 8200, Israel's NSA, noted his former organization's influence on Comverse, which owns Verint, as well as other Israeli companies that dominate the U.S. eavesdropping and surveillance market. ''Take NICE, Comverse and Check Point for example, three of the largest high-tech companies, which were all directly influenced by 8200 technology,'' said Gefen. ''Check Point was founded by Unit alumni. Comverse's main product, the Logger, is based on the Unit's technology.''

According to a former chief of Unit 8200, both the veterans of the group and much of the high-tech intelligence equipment they developed are now employed in high-tech firms around the world. ''Cautious estimates indicate that in the past few years,'' he told a reporter for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz in 2000, ''Unit 8200 veterans have set up some 30 to 40 high-tech companies, including 5 to 10 that were floated on Wall Street.'' Referred to only as ''Brigadier General B,'' he added, ''This correlation between serving in the intelligence Unit 8200 and starting successful high-tech companies is not coincidental: Many of the technologies in use around the world and developed in Israel were originally military technologies and were developed and improved by Unit veterans.''

Equally troubling is the issue of corruption. Kobi Alexander, the founder and former chairman of Verint, is now a fugitive, wanted by the FBI on nearly three dozen charges of fraud, theft, lying, bribery, money laundering and other crimes. And two of his top associates at Comverse, Chief Financial Officer David Kreinberg and former General Counsel William F. Sorin, were also indicted in the scheme and later pleaded guilty, with both serving time in prison and paying millions of dollars in fines and penalties.

When asked about these contractors, the NSA declined to ''verify the allegations made.''

Kobi Alexander is also closely connected to the 9-11 criminal atrocity. Alexander and Comverse are connected to the Israeli Odigo messaging company through which warnings were sent to the Israelis who were expected to be at work at the World Trade Center on 9-11. As I explained in an article entitled "Why was Kobi Alexander Allowed to Flee? The Israeli Fugitive, Odigo, and the Forewarning of 9/11" in August 2006:

The case of the Israeli criminal Kobi Alexander is like the proverbial "tip of the iceberg." While Alexander's crimes, through which he became immensely wealthy, are now evident, they are but a very small piece of a much larger Zionist criminal network '' connected to the 9/11 terror attacks '' which remains hidden beneath the surface.

Alexander, former head of the Israel-based Comverse Technology, was, until his crimes were discovered, one of the highest paid executives in the United States.

In the year 2000, for example, he reportedly earned some $102.5 million, with $93 million coming from the "exercise of options." We now know that most of Alexander's money was made through the fraudulent "exercise of options."

Comverse Technology, the U.S.-based "parent company" of an older and much bigger Israel-based company with the same name, is the owner of the Verint, Ulticom, Starhome, Mercom and Startel companies. The key positions in these companies are all held by Israeli nationals.

Alexander, was recently allowed to flee the United States after he and two other former Comverse executives were charged with securities, mail and wire fraud by U.S. prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York. A warrant has been issued for his arrest...

While Alexander is obviously connected with Israel's military intelligence apparatus and George Soros through the mutually owned investment fund ComSor, what is not widely reported is his company's close links with Odigo, the Israeli-run instant messaging company that received '' and conveyed '' urgent warning messages about the imminent terror attacks on the World Trade Center, several hours before the first plane hit...

Shortly after 9-11, Odigo was completely taken over by Comverse Technology, which had been part owner of Odigo since early 2000, if not earlier. Shortly after 9/11, five executives from Comverse were reported to have profited by more than $267 million from "insider trading."

Avner Ronen, the "founder" of Odigo, was Vice President of Business Development of Comverse Technology in October 2005. This indicates that Ronen and Alexander, both Israeli military officers with computer backgrounds, have been close business partners since early 2000.

Sources and Recommended Reading:

"Israelis Hold Keys to NSA/US Military Computer Networks," by Christopher Bollyn, June 16, 2006, also published as "Israeli Code on U.S. Government Computers" in Solving 9-11: The Original Articles, p. 157http://rense.com/general72/sisi.htm

"Narus knows what you are doing on the network" by Om Malik, Forbes, August 11, 1999http://www.forbes.com/1999/08/11/feat.html

"Shady Companies With Ties to Israel Wiretap the U.S. for the NSA" by James Bamford, Wired.com, April 3, 2012http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/04/shady-companies-nsa/all/

"Why was Kobi Alexander Allowed to Flee? The Israeli Fugitive, Odigo, and the Forewarning of 9/11" by Christopher Bollyn, August 24, 2006, also published as "The Israeli Fugitive and the Forewarning of 9-11" in Solving 9-11: The Original Articles, p. 162 http://www.bollyn.com/why-was-kobi-alexander-allowed-to-flee/

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 14:40

The National Security Agency routinely shares raw intelligence data with Israel without first sifting it to remove information about US citizens, a top-secret document provided to the Guardian by whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals.

Details of the intelligence-sharing agreement are laid out in a memorandum of understanding between the NSA and its Israeli counterpart that shows the US government handed over intercepted communications likely to contain phone calls and emails of American citizens. The agreement places no legally binding limits on the use of the data by the Israelis.

The disclosure that the NSA agreed to provide raw intelligence data to a foreign country contrasts with assurances from the Obama administration that there are rigorous safeguards to protect the privacy of US citizens caught in the dragnet. The intelligence community calls this process "minimization", but the memorandum makes clear that the information shared with the Israelis would be in its pre-minimized state.

The deal was reached in principle in March 2009, according to the undated memorandum, which lays out the ground rules for the intelligence sharing.

The five-page memorandum, termed an agreement between the US and Israeli intelligence agencies "pertaining to the protection of US persons", repeatedly stresses the constitutional rights of Americans to privacy and the need for Israeli intelligence staff to respect these rights.

But this is undermined by the disclosure that Israel is allowed to receive "raw Sigint" '' signal intelligence. The memorandum says: "Raw Sigint includes, but is not limited to, unevaluated and unminimized transcripts, gists, facsimiles, telex, voice and Digital Network Intelligence metadata and content."

According to the agreement, the intelligence being shared would not be filtered in advance by NSA analysts to remove US communications. "NSA routinely sends ISNU [the Israeli Sigint National Unit] minimized and unminimized raw collection", it says.

Although the memorandum is explicit in saying the material had to be handled in accordance with US law, and that the Israelis agreed not to deliberately target Americans identified in the data, these rules are not backed up by legal obligations.

"This agreement is not intended to create any legally enforceable rights and shall not be construed to be either an international agreement or a legally binding instrument according to international law," the document says.

In a statement to the Guardian, an NSA spokesperson did not deny that personal data about Americans was included in raw intelligence data shared with the Israelis. But the agency insisted that the shared intelligence complied with all rules governing privacy.

"Any US person information that is acquired as a result of NSA's surveillance activities is handled under procedures that are designed to protect privacy rights," the spokesperson said.

The NSA declined to answer specific questions about the agreement, including whether permission had been sought from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (Fisa) court for handing over such material.

The memorandum of understanding, which the Guardian is publishing in full, allows Israel to retain "any files containing the identities of US persons" for up to a year. The agreement requests only that the Israelis should consult the NSA's special liaison adviser when such data is found.

Notably, a much stricter rule was set for US government communications found in the raw intelligence. The Israelis were required to "destroy upon recognition" any communication "that is either to or from an official of the US government". Such communications included those of "officials of the executive branch (including the White House, cabinet departments, and independent agencies), the US House of Representatives and Senate (member and staff) and the US federal court system (including, but not limited to, the supreme court)".

It is not clear whether any communications involving members of US Congress or the federal courts have been included in the raw data provided by the NSA, nor is it clear how or why the NSA would be in possession of such communications. In 2009, however, the New York Times reported on "the agency's attempt to wiretap a member of Congress, without court approval, on an overseas trip".

The NSA is required by law to target only non-US persons without an individual warrant, but it can collect the content and metadata of Americans' emails and calls without a warrant when such communication is with a foreign target. US persons are defined in surveillance legislation as US citizens, permanent residents and anyone located on US soil at the time of the interception, unless it has been positively established that they are not a citizen or permanent resident.

Moreover, with much of the world's internet traffic passing through US networks, large numbers of purely domestic communications also get scooped up incidentally by the agency's surveillance programs.

The document mentions only one check carried out by the NSA on the raw intelligence, saying the agency will "regularly review a sample of files transferred to ISNU to validate the absence of US persons' identities". It also requests that the Israelis limit access only to personnel with a "strict need to know".

Israeli intelligence is allowed "to disseminate foreign intelligence information concerning US persons derived from raw Sigint by NSA" on condition that it does so "in a manner that does not identify the US person". The agreement also allows Israel to release US person identities to "outside parties, including all INSU customers" with the NSA's written permission.

Although Israel is one of America's closest allies, it is not one of the inner core of countries involved in surveillance sharing with the US - Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. This group is collectively known as Five Eyes.

The relationship between the US and Israel has been strained at times, both diplomatically and in terms of intelligence. In the top-secret 2013 intelligence community budget request, details of which were disclosed by the Washington Post, Israel is identified alongside Iran and China as a target for US cyberattacks.

While NSA documents tout the mutually beneficial relationship of Sigint sharing, another report, marked top secret and dated September 2007, states that the relationship, while central to US strategy, has become overwhelmingly one-sided in favor of Israel.

"Balancing the Sigint exchange equally between US and Israeli needs has been a constant challenge," states the report, titled 'History of the US '' Israel Sigint Relationship, Post-1992'. "In the last decade, it arguably tilted heavily in favor of Israeli security concerns. 9/11 came, and went, with NSA's only true Third Party [counter-terrorism] relationship being driven almost totally by the needs of the partner."

In another top-secret document seen by the Guardian, dated 2008, a senior NSA official points out that Israel aggressively spies on the US. "On the one hand, the Israelis are extraordinarily good Sigint partners for us, but on the other, they target us to learn our positions on Middle East problems," the official says. "A NIE [National Intelligence Estimate] ranked them as the third most aggressive intelligence service against the US."

Later in the document, the official is quoted as saying: "One of NSA's biggest threats is actually from friendly intelligence services, like Israel. There are parameters on what NSA shares with them, but the exchange is so robust, we sometimes share more than we intended."

The memorandum of understanding also contains hints that there had been tensions in the intelligence-sharing relationship with Israel. At a meeting in March 2009 between the two agencies, according to the document, it was agreed that the sharing of raw data required a new framework and further training for Israeli personnel to protect US person information.

It is not clear whether or not this was because there had been problems up to that point in the handling of intelligence that was found to contain Americans' data.

However, an earlier US document obtained by Snowden, which discusses co-operating on a military intelligence program, bluntly lists under the cons: "Trust issues which revolve around previous ISR [Israel] operations."

The Guardian asked the Obama administration how many times US data had been found in the raw intelligence, either by the Israelis or when the NSA reviewed a sample of the files, but officials declined to provide this information. Nor would they disclose how many other countries the NSA shared raw data with, or whether the Fisa court, which is meant to oversee NSA surveillance programs and the procedures to handle US information, had signed off the agreement with Israel.

In its statement, the NSA said: "We are not going to comment on any specific information sharing arrangements, or the authority under which any such information is collected. The fact that intelligence services work together under specific and regulated conditions mutually strengthens the security of both nations.

"NSA cannot, however, use these relationships to circumvent US legal restrictions. Whenever we share intelligence information, we comply with all applicable rules, including the rules to protect US person information."

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 18:19

What's This?

By Jason Abbruzzese2014-01-07 20:19:04 UTC

First Look Media, the company started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar (pictured above) with former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, has hired former EntertainmentWeekly.com Editor Bill Gannon.

Gannon previously oversaw the front page of Yahoo.com and later served as director of digital media at Lucasfilm. He is the first major hire by First Look since Omidyar announced the formation of the business as well as a $50 million investment.

Omidyar announced the news in ablog post that detailed Gannon's task of building the editorial side of First Look.

"Bill will assemble a specialized team to create a unique, digital approach to breaking news '' from politics and business to sports and entertainment," Omidyar wrote.

Gannon told Mashable that the chance to help create a media outlet from the ground up, along with the support Omidyar has provided, attracted him to the role.

"It was really just an opportunity to do what I love to do, which is create something new and meaningful," he said. "It's an opportunity to do that with a great technologist like Pierre [Omidyar], to find someone who wants to protect journalism from the financial and other pressures that are on journalism right now."

Technology will play an important role in First Look's efforts to build a diverse media organization that also features investigative reporters Lilian Segura, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras, Gannon said.

"If we're able to create this new technology platform that uses social and is able to leverage these great individual journalists, and we're able to package that up with a broader spectrum of journalism that will attract the broadest audience possible... imagine what that opportunity now looks like," he said.

Image: Brian Harkin/Getty

Topics: Business, ebay, glenn greenwald, Media, Startups

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 02:19

Today I'm pleased to announce that Bill Gannon joins us as a member of our editorial leadership team from Time Inc.'s EntertainmentWeekly.com. Drawing on his extensive experience in digital media as well as his diverse background in developing new editorial strategies and creating great user experiences, Bill will leverage all of his talents to help us build a next-generation media platform for a broad audience.

Bill will assemble a specialized team to create a unique, digital approach to breaking news '' from politics and business to sports and entertainment. Working to complement First Look Media's mission of original, independent reporting, Bill's expertise at pinpointing and presenting the Web's most reliable and relevant content will provide readers with a fresh, ''First Look'' at the day's rapidly shifting news and events.

As the editor of EntertainmentWeekly.com for the last three years, Bill owned editorial strategy and day-to-day operations for all content and digital platforms, including an overhaul of desktop and responsive mobile design. While working for EW Bill was recognized with a number of industry awards, reflecting his success in growing digital traffic and social media audiences and expanding video programming and editorial coverage.

Previously, Bill was Director of Digital Media at Lucasfilm Ltd., where he spent four years driving global digital strategies and operations across multiple business units and in support of a wide range of e-commerce, theatrical, television, and video game releases. At Yahoo! Inc., Bill oversaw news and editorial strategy and content operations for the front page of Yahoo.com, drawing hundreds of millions of unique visitors monthly. His time in Silicon Valley also included development of digital media products for Financial Engines Inc., a financial services technology company when it was in its startup phase.

A former John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University, Bill has been an adjunct lecturer at the Graduate School of Journalism, University of California at Berkeley since 2006.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 16:07

To: Martin Baron, Executive Editor, and Kevin Merida, Managing Editor, The Washington Post

Dear Mr. Baron and Mr. Merida:

On behalf of more than 25,000 signers of a petition to The Washington Post, I'm writing this letter to request a brief meeting to present the petition at a time that would be convenient for you on Jan. 14 or 15.

Here is the text of the petition, launched by RootsAction.org:

''A basic principle of journalism is to acknowledge when the owner of a media outlet has a major financial relationship with the subject of coverage. We strongly urge the Washington Post to be fully candid with its readers about the fact that the newspaper's new owner, Jeff Bezos, is the founder and CEO of Amazon which recently landed a $600 million contract with the CIA. The Washington Post's coverage of the CIA should include full disclosure that the sole owner of the Post is also the main owner of Amazon '-- and Amazon is now gaining huge profits directly from the CIA.

The petition includes cogent comments by many of the people who signed it.

I hope that you can set aside perhaps 10 minutes on Jan. 14 or 15 for the purpose of receiving the petition and hearing a summary of its signers' concerns.

For confirmation of an appointment, I can be reached on my cell phone'...

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Norman Solomon

Director and Cofounder, RootsAction.org

[January 2, 2014]

********************

Dear Mr. Solomon:

Thank you for your note. I was able to read the petition on the RootsAction.org site and to see the list of those who signed it. I certainly would be happy to review any additional information you might send.

The Post has among the strictest ethics policies in the field of journalism, and we vigorously enforce it. We have routinely disclosed corporate conflicts when they were directly relevant to our coverage. We reported on Amazon's pursuit of CIA contracts in our coverage of plans by Jeff Bezos to purchase The Washington Post.

We also have been very aggressive in our coverage of the intelligence community, including the CIA, NSA, and other agencies, as you should know. The Post was at the leading edge of disclosures about the NSA in 2013. Most recently, it reported on the CIA's hidden involvement in Colombia's fight against FARC rebels, including a fatal missile attack across the border in Ecuador. You can be sure neither the NSA nor the CIA has been pleased with publication of their secrets.

Neither Amazon nor Jeff Bezos was involved, nor ever will be involved, in our coverage of the intelligence community.

The petition's request for disclosure of Amazon's CIA contract in every story we write about the CIA is well outside the norm of conflict-of-interest disclosures at media companies. The Post is a personal investment by Jeff Bezos, whose stake in Amazon is large but well less than a majority. The CIA's multi-year contract with Amazon is a small fraction of company revenues that have been estimated at roughly $75 billion in 2013. Amazon maintains no corporate connection to The Post.

Even so, we have been careful to disclose Jeff Bezos' connection to The Post and Amazon when directly relevant to our coverage, and we will continue to do so. For example, such disclosures would be called for in coverage circumstances such as the following: CIA contracting practices, the CIA's use of cloud services, big-data initiatives at the CIA, Amazon's pursuit of cloud services as a line of business, and Amazon corporate matters in general.

We take ethics very seriously here at The Post. One of our policies is that we seek comment from the subjects of our stories prior to publishing them and that we make a genuine effort to hear and absorb their point of view. By contrast, I am unaware of any effort to hear us out prior to the launch of this petition drive. A personal meeting now does not seem necessary or useful

I hope this note explains our perspective. And again, if you wish to send additional information that you feel might be helpful to us, we will review it closely.

Sincerely,

Martin Baron

Executive Editor

The Washington Post

[January 2, 2014]

********************

Dear Mr. Baron:

Thank you for your letter.

Whatever the Post's guidelines and record on ethical standards, few journalists could have anticipated ownership of the paper by a multibillionaire whose outside company would be so closely tied to the CIA. Updating of the standards is now appropriate.

You write that The Washington Post has ''routinely disclosed corporate conflicts when they were directly relevant to our coverage.'' But the RootsAction.org petition is urging the Post to provide readers of its CIA coverage with full disclosure that would adequately address '-- and meaningfully inform readers about '-- relevant circumstances of the current ownership.

Those circumstances are not adequately met by a narrow definition of ''corporate conflicts.'' A reality is that the Post is now solely owned by someone who is by far the largest stakeholder in a world-spanning corporate giant that has close business ties '-- and is seeking more extensive deals than its current $600 million contract '-- with the CIA, an agency which the newspaper reports on regularly.

The petition requests that The Washington Post adopt a full disclosure policy that is commensurate with this situation. The gist of the request is recognition that, as the saying goes, sunshine is the best disinfectant for any potential conflict of interest.

When you write that the Post has a policy of routinely disclosing corporate conflicts when ''directly relevant to our coverage,'' a key question comes to the fore: What is ''directly relevant''? Given that few agencies are more secretive than the CIA '-- and even the most enterprising reporters are challenged to pry loose even a small fraction of its secrets '-- how do we know which CIA stories are ''directly relevant'' to the fact that Amazon is providing cloud computing services to the CIA?

Amazon's contract with the CIA is based on an assessment that Amazon Web Services can provide the agency with digital-data computing security that is second to none. We can assume that a vast amount of information about CIA activities is to be safeguarded by Amazon. With what assurance can we say which stories on CIA activities are not ''directly relevant'' to Jeff Bezos's dual role as sole owner of the Post and largest stakeholder in Amazon?

We actually don't know what sort of data is involved in what your letter calls ''the CIA's use of cloud services.'' The disclosure/non-disclosure policy that you've outlined seems to presume that, for instance, there would be no direct relevance of the cloud services contract to coverage of such matters as CIA involvement in rendition of prisoners to regimes for torture; or in targeting for drone strikes; or in data aggregation for counterinsurgency. Are you assuming that the Post's coverage of such topics is not ''directly relevant'' to the Bezos/Amazon ties with the CIA and therefore should not include disclosure of the financial ties that bind the Post's owner to the CIA?

Readers of a Post story on the CIA '-- whether about drones or a still-secret torture report, to name just two topics '-- should be informed of the Post/Bezos/Amazon/CIA financial ties. In the absence of such in-story disclosure, there is every reason to believe that many readers will be unaware that the Post's owner is someone with a major financial stake in an Amazon-CIA deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

If Amazon's $600 million multiyear cloud contract with the CIA is a small fraction of the company's revenue, there is clear intent for it to grow larger. And $600 million is, by itself, hardly insignificant; let's remember that Mr. Bezos bought the Post for less than half that amount.

''We look forward to a successful relationship with the CIA,'' a statement from Amazon said two months ago. In public statements, Mr. Bezos and Amazon have made clear that they view this as a growing part of Amazon's business: a feather in the corporate cap of the company in its drive to increase market share of such business operations. This is intended as a major and expansive income source for Amazon and for its CEO, Mr. Bezos, whose personal wealth of $25 billion is a consequence of Amazon's financial gains.

Why not provide a sentence in the Post's substantive coverage of CIA activities, to the effect that ''The Post's owner Jeff Bezos is the largest stakeholder in Amazon, which has a $600 million contract with the CIA''?

By declining to provide such disclosure, the Post is failing the transparency test when coverage of the CIA falls outside of the circumscribed areas where your letter says Post policy now provides for disclosure (''CIA contracting practices, the CIA's use of cloud services, big-data initiatives at the CIA, Amazon's pursuit of cloud services as a line of business, and Amazon corporate matters in general'').

Such concerns are among the reasons why tens of thousands of people, including many Post readers, have signed the petition to The Washington Post that I will be delivering on January 15. While it's unfortunate that you don't want to have a meeting for a few minutes on that day, I hope that you will mull over the concerns that are propelling this petition forward.

Sincerely,

Norman Solomon

RootsAction.org

[January 4, 2014]

********************

Dear Mr. Solomon:

Thank you for expanding upon your views.

Just to reiterate, The Post has among the strictest ethics policies in the field of journalism. Those policies are sufficiently expansive, comprehensive, and current to take into account The Post's acquisition by Jeff Bezos. The policies are strictly enforced. However, as I explained in detail in my previous note, your proposal is far outside the norm of disclosures about potential conflicts of interest at media organizations.

Meantime, as plain evidence of our independence, we will continue our aggressive coverage of the intelligence community, including the CIA. I hope you've noticed it. The CIA has, and it's not happy.

Sincerely,

Martin Baron

Executive Editor

The Washington Post

[January 4, 2014]

______________________________________________

Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include ''War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.''

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 03:42

'Underwear bomber' involved in a plot to attack jet was in fact working as an undercover informer with the CIA, it has emerged. Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA

A would-be "underwear bomber" involved in a plot to attack a US-based jet was in fact working as an undercover informer with Saudi intelligence and the CIA, it has emerged.

The revelation is the latest twist in an increasingly bizarre story about the disruption of an apparent attempt by al-Qaida to strike at a high-profile American target using a sophisticated device hidden in the clothing of an attacker.

The plot, which the White House said on Monday had involved the seizing of an underwear bomb by authorities in the Middle East sometime in the last 10 days, had caused alarm throughout the US.

It has also been linked to a suspected US drone strike in Yemen where two Yemeni members of al-Qaida were killed by a missile attack on their car on Sunday, one of them a senior militant, Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso.

But the news that the individual at the heart of the bomb plot was in fact an informer for US intelligence is likely to raise just as many questions as it answers.

Citing US and Yemeni officials, Associated Press reported that the unnamed informant was working under cover for the Saudis and the CIA when he was given the bomb, which was of a new non-metallic type aimed at getting past airport security.

The informant then turned the device over to his handlers and has left Yemen, the officials told the news agency. The LA Times, which first broke the news that the plot had been a "sting operation", said that the bomb plan had also provided the intelligence leads that allowed the strike on Quso.

Earlier John Brennan, Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser and a former CIA official, told ABC's Good Morning America that authorities are "confident that neither the device nor the intended user of this device pose a threat to us".

US officials have said the plot was detected in its early stages and that no American airliner was ever at risk.

The FBI is conducting forensic tests on the bomb as a first step towards discovering whether it would have cleared existing airport scanning systems. Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic senator for California who heads the Senate intelligence committee, gave an early hint when she said that she had been briefed about the device which she called "undetectable".

But AP quoted an unnamed US official as saying current detection methods probably would have spotted the shape of the explosive in the latest device.

Just how major an escalation in threat is posed by the bomb remains unclear. Security sources have told news agencies that it was a step up in levels of sophistication from the original underwear bomb that was used in a failed attempt to blow up an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009.

The device used a more refined detonation system, and Brennan said "it was a threat from a standpoint of the design".

When it comes to who made the device the focus is on an al-Qaida's offshoot, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Matthew Levitt, a counter-terrorism expert at the Washington Institute, said that the interception of the plot amounted to a significant achievement for US security agencies.

He said: "The FBI is holding the device, which suggests that this was done by having boots on the ground. This was a sophisticated operation that shows we are making in-roads in serious places."

Levitt, who was involved as a senior analyst in the FBI's investigation into 9/11, said that it was natural to be sceptical in a presidential election year about security announcements. "But this was not political, it didn't come from the White House and my sense was that it was a really unique success," he said.

Levitt said that the spotlight would now be even more intense on Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, AQAP's assumed bomb-making chief, who is thought to be hiding out in Yemen.

Asiri is believed to have been the creator of the Detroit underwear bomb as well as explosives that were packed into printer cartridges bound for Chicago in 2010.

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Archived Version

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 21:11

Matt Krantz and Beth Belton, USA TODAY9:29 p.m. EST January 5, 2014

The malware issue was the latest problem to hit the struggling Yahoo.(Photo: Chris Hondros, Getty Images file)

Story HighlightsYahoo ads infected with malwareUsers who click on ads are redirected to infected siteYahoo working to fix problemSHARE1328CONNECTEMAILMOREVisitors to Yahoo's Web pages who viewed ads the past few days are potentially at risk of having their computers infected by malware, according to published reports Sunday.

Fox IT -- an Internet security firm that discovered the alleged malware infection -- says 300,000 users were visiting the infected ads every hour. That means roughly 27,000 computers and devices were being infected every hour since typically 9% of computers are actually infected after visiting the site. Most computer users either use software that combats such infections or may have configured their computers to be resistant to the attacks.

Malware, short for malicious software, is software used to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems. Computers connected to a network can spread the malware onto many more computers. The malware may have started spreading on Dec. 30.

This is just the latest technical problem to hit the struggling Yahoo as it attempts to become more relevant as online services proliferate. The company's e-mail service experienced widespread outages and problems in late December.

Consumers should know that this Yahoo malware attack works by redirecting visitors on Yahoo's pages to an infected site, which then uses security holes in Oracle's Java to install malware. Java is a commonly used "plug in" designed to add additional computational capability to Internet browsers.

The infected site proceeds to install a variety of malware to the user's device including those called ZeuS, Andromeda, Dorkbot, Tinba or Necurs, Fox IT says. Most of the users affected have been in Great Britain, France and Romania.

In a statement, Yahoo said it is aware of the security issues. "On Friday, January 3 on our European sites, we served some advertisements that did not meet our editorial guidelines, specifically they spread malware. We promptly removed these advertisements. Users in North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America were not served these advertisements and were not affected," according to an updated Yahoo statement released Sunday evening. The infection rate has declined significantly, indicating that Yahoo is making adjustments to fix the problem, Fox IT says.

Computer users can protect themselves from this and other similar attacks. Perhaps the easiest form of defense is turning off the Java plug in, which is commonly installed in most browsers including Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Internet Explorer users can easily turn off Java by clicking on the icon that looks like a gear in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and selecting "Manage add-ons." Under the "Add-on Types," look for a section titled Oracle America, Inc. Right-click on any entry that starts with the word Java, and choose Disable. Oracle took ownership of Java following its acquisition of Sun Microsystems closed in 2010.

Any computer users concerned they might be infected should run a scan of their computer. Microsoft provides a free scanning tool called the Microsoft Safety Scanner that is able to detect and remove most malware.

SHARE1328CONNECTEMAILMORE

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Archived Version

Source: Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 21:45

Experts withdraw from Internet security conference1 hour ago by Jack GillumAt least eight researchers or policy experts have withdrawn from an Internet security conference after the sponsor reportedly used flawed encryption technology deliberately in commercial software to allow the National Security Agency to spy more easily on computer users.

RSA Security, owned by data storage giant EMC Corp., has disputed claims it intentionally introduced the flawed encryption algorithm, but otherwise has declined to discuss what a published report last month described as a $10 million government contract.

The revelation supplemented documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showing that the NSA tried to weaken Internet encryption.

The pullouts from the highly regarded RSA Conference represent early blowback by technology researchers and policy experts who have complained that the government's surveillance efforts have, in some cases, weakened Internet security even for innocent users.

Some U.S. companies that have agreed or been compelled to turn over customer records to the government have complained that their business relationships with customers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere are increasingly becoming arduous.

It was not immediately clear whether any researchers who still intended to make presentations at the conference would discuss the subject. Hugh Thompson, a conference organizer who works for security firm Blue Coat Systems, said the event is "an open venue where people can talk openly about security."

The researchers and experts include Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of Finland-based antivirus provider F-Secure, and Adam Langley and Chris Palmer, who work on security practices at Google.

Christopher Soghoian, a researcher with the American Civil Liberties Union, said Tuesday on Twitter that he withdrew from the conference after having "given up waiting for RSA to fess up to the truth" regarding its development of the Dual_EC_DRBG algorithm with the NSA.

RSA issued an advisory to its customers last summer urging them not to use the algorithm, following published reports of the software's potential weaknesses. But that wasn't enough for researchers who want answers about the government's contract with RSA, which thousands of businesses use to secure their data.

RSA said in a statement last month that as a security company, it "never divulges details of customer engagements, but we also categorically state that we have never entered into any contract or engaged in any project with the intention of weakening RSA's products, or introducing potential 'backdoors' into our products for anyone's use."

The published report said RSA received the $10 million contract from the NSA to use the agency's preferred method of number generation. The report said such a flawed algorithm in RSA's Bsafe software tool generates random numbers in such a way that it creates "backdoors" into the company's encryption products.

Organizers said next month's conference in San Francisco will host 560 speakers, and they expect more participants than the 24,000 who showed up last year.

The NSA has a history in developing encryption algorithms, with documents showing decades-old criticisms among civilian government scientists about the agency's role in developing communication standards. That includes scientists' discomfort, as early as the 1980s, over the Digital Signature Standard, a way to electronically sign documents and guarantee their authenticity. That became a federal processing standard by 1994.

In September, documents leaked by Snowden showed that the agency more recently wanted to water down Internet encryption in an effort to gather and analyze digital intelligence. In turn, the federal National Institute of Standards and Technology tried to shore up confidence in the important behind-the-scenes role it plays in setting standards that are used by consumers to make purchases online, access their bank accounts or file their income taxes electronically.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said that "it should hardly be surprising that our intelligence agencies seek ways to counteract our adversaries' use of encryption."

Explore further:NSA has long role as top US locksmith, lock-picker

(C) 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Javascript is currently disabled in your web browser. For full site functionality, it is necessary to enable Javascript. In order to enable it, please see these instructions.(C) Phys.org' 2003-2013, Science X network

Experts withdraw from Internet security conference1 hour ago by Jack GillumAt least eight researchers or policy experts have withdrawn from an Internet security conference after the sponsor reportedly used flawed encryption technology deliberately in commercial software to allow the National Security Agency to spy more easily on computer users.

RSA Security, owned by data storage giant EMC Corp., has disputed claims it intentionally introduced the flawed encryption algorithm, but otherwise has declined to discuss what a published report last month described as a $10 million government contract.

The revelation supplemented documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showing that the NSA tried to weaken Internet encryption.

The pullouts from the highly regarded RSA Conference represent early blowback by technology researchers and policy experts who have complained that the government's surveillance efforts have, in some cases, weakened Internet security even for innocent users.

Some U.S. companies that have agreed or been compelled to turn over customer records to the government have complained that their business relationships with customers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere are increasingly becoming arduous.

It was not immediately clear whether any researchers who still intended to make presentations at the conference would discuss the subject. Hugh Thompson, a conference organizer who works for security firm Blue Coat Systems, said the event is "an open venue where people can talk openly about security."

The researchers and experts include Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of Finland-based antivirus provider F-Secure, and Adam Langley and Chris Palmer, who work on security practices at Google.

Christopher Soghoian, a researcher with the American Civil Liberties Union, said Tuesday on Twitter that he withdrew from the conference after having "given up waiting for RSA to fess up to the truth" regarding its development of the Dual_EC_DRBG algorithm with the NSA.

RSA issued an advisory to its customers last summer urging them not to use the algorithm, following published reports of the software's potential weaknesses. But that wasn't enough for researchers who want answers about the government's contract with RSA, which thousands of businesses use to secure their data.

RSA said in a statement last month that as a security company, it "never divulges details of customer engagements, but we also categorically state that we have never entered into any contract or engaged in any project with the intention of weakening RSA's products, or introducing potential 'backdoors' into our products for anyone's use."

The published report said RSA received the $10 million contract from the NSA to use the agency's preferred method of number generation. The report said such a flawed algorithm in RSA's Bsafe software tool generates random numbers in such a way that it creates "backdoors" into the company's encryption products.

Organizers said next month's conference in San Francisco will host 560 speakers, and they expect more participants than the 24,000 who showed up last year.

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In September, documents leaked by Snowden showed that the agency more recently wanted to water down Internet encryption in an effort to gather and analyze digital intelligence. In turn, the federal National Institute of Standards and Technology tried to shore up confidence in the important behind-the-scenes role it plays in setting standards that are used by consumers to make purchases online, access their bank accounts or file their income taxes electronically.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said that "it should hardly be surprising that our intelligence agencies seek ways to counteract our adversaries' use of encryption."

Explore further:NSA has long role as top US locksmith, lock-picker

(C) 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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More than two decades ago, civilian government scientists were expressing concerns with the National Security Agency's role in developing global communications standards.

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The US National Security Agency is making strides toward building a "quantum computer" that could break nearly any kind of encryption, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

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More than 250 academics from around the world signed an online petition this week calling for an end to "blanket mass surveillance" by intelligence agencies.

Apple denies 'backdoor' NSA access Jan 01, 2014

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:37

Dennis Rodman is one strange dude.I once visited a club he had in Chicago, during the days of the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls championship years. The crowd was the strangest crowd I have ever seen in my life. It looked like a convention of a secret transvestite subchapter of the Hell's Angels.

Despite his strangeness, Rodman did have an influence on the nation by being the first to cover his body with tatoos. For whatever reason, millions have followed Rodman into getting inked-up bodies. Prior to Rodman's tattoos, they were mostly worn just by merchant sailors--and only one, on the arm.

But Rodman, his pro basketball playing days well behind him, is now in the national spotlight for playing exhibition games in North Korea at the invitation of NK's leader, the crazed Kim Jong-un.

I am sure he is doing it for the money. He spends money like, well, a drunken tattooed sailor.

In Chicago, during the Bulls championship runs, Rodman, Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan would occasionally dine at Tavern on Rush. The wait staff there had a name for Pippen, "No tippin' Pippen." He would leave 5% tips. Jordan would tip 25% and the waiters would fight to wait on Rodman. You could make a months worth of earnings by waiting on Rodman. He would ask all kinds of favors, but he would pay up. If he wanted a waiter to get him a cigar, he tipped $100 for the cigar.

Chris Cuomo did an attack interview with Rodman about his trip to North Korea. He asked Rodman why he wasn't doing anything to attempt get the American Kenneth Bae, who is imprisoned in North Korea, free. Rodman attempted to explain to Cuomo that he wasn't a diplomat, just a basketball player, but Cuomo wouldn't have any of it. Now, admittedly, Rodman's replies to Cuomo were quite inarticulate. But, this doesn't mean Rodman isn't a shrewd guy. I once had a conversation with him mostly about women, in Chicago's Whiskey Bar, and the guy has serious game.

This, btw, is in contrast to Michael Jordan, who could certainly get his share of women, because he was, afterall, Michael Jordan, but he had no rap. Jordan spent many a cold winter night in Chicago trying to get in the sack Christy Sweet, a stunning and smart bartender who then worked at a club called Narcisse. It never happened for Jordan.

But back to Rodman, though inarticulate in his responses, he did make the wise comment that his exhibition games, in a tiny way, may open up North Korea just a bit. And, indeed, study history and it becomes clear that free trade is a peacemaker. He was also wise to stay away from international politics, which he clearly understands he has no expertise in. But, CNN's Cuomo would have none of it. Then, CNN's Anderson Cooper piled on Tuesday night with more attacks on Rodman. It makes you wonder, when Cooper, the "former"-CIA guy, promotes the hell out of a story that could very well be ignored. Could the CIA actually have a problem with opening up relations with North Korea, if only a tiny bit with Rodman's exhibition games?

Then there's NBA commissioner David Stern, who issued a statement that said "The NBA is not involved with Mr. Rodman's North Korea trip and would not participate or support such a venture without the approval of the U.S. State Department. Although sports in many instances can be helpful in bridging cultural divides, this is not one of them."

Approval of the State Department? WTF?

I note that this statement comes from the commissioner of a league that plays the national anthem before each game of a country that has imprisoned whisteblower Chelsea Manning and has caused Edward Sowden to flee the United States for Russia. Maybe Stern should stop worrying about what a former NBA player is doing in North Korea and look in the mirror and think about the government actions of the country that he allows to be saluted before every NBA game.

Stern piled on during a television interview (on, surprise, CNN) when he told Wolf Blitzer ''Dennis will be Dennis. But I think there's a lot at stake here in terms of a country that has '-- a very dangerous country.''

Maybe Stern should ask Afghans and Iraqis which country they think is dangerous.

Stern also said he believes "a flash of North Korean money" has blinded Rodman. This comes from the commissioner of a league that regularly shakesdown cities to construct arenas. The built arenas ultimately shuffle huge profits that go into the pockets of the owners of NBA teams.

Bottom line: I find Stern's statements outrageous, and his State Department line much more dangerous than anything Rodman has said or done.

And, CNN, what can you say about CNN that hasn't been said before? It is a mouthpiece for the US government and heaven forbid a series of exhibition basketball games go on in a country that is not in the good graces of the USG. It all reminds of the Bobby Fisher saga and his willingness to thumb his nose at the USG and play a chess match in Yugoslavia.

Rodman, like Fisher, has done nothing but thumb his nose at the USG list of bad guys and is willing to ply his profession where he is called.

Dennis, keep up the peacemaking free trade!

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Archived Version

Source: BBC News - Home

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 07:01

8 January 2014Last updated at 00:10 ET Dennis Rodman has angrily defended his visit to North Korea, ahead of a basketball game to mark leader Kim Jong-un's birthday.

In an interview with CNN, Rodman was asked if he would raise the issue of a US citizen jailed in North Korea.

The former NBA player responded with a rant that at one point appeared to point blame at the man, Kenneth Bae.

Rodman's visit has been criticised by rights groups, with Washington making it clear he does not represent the US.

His team of former National Basketball Association (NBA) players will take on a North Korean team in an exhibition match later on Wednesday in Pyongyang.

Rodman says the match is to celebrate Kim Jong-un's birthday, although his official birthday and age have not been confirmed.

It comes weeks after the execution of Mr Kim's uncle, Chang Song-thaek, once seen as a major power in North Korea. His rapid and brutal purge has sparked concern over stability inside the country.

Meanwhile, state news agency KCNA has announced that elections for North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament will be held on 9 March - something which could provide a hint of who the key players are in the wake of Mr Chang's execution.

'Take the abuse'This visit is Dennis Rodman's fourth to North Korea. He has in the past described Mr Kim as a friend and says he is on a "basketball diplomacy" mission. He remains the highest-profile American to have met the young leader.

Rodman had been asked several times in the past whether he could use his relationship with Mr Kim to discuss Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American sentenced to 15 years' hard labour in May 2013.

North Korea said that Mr Bae - described as both a tour operator and Christian missionary - had used his tourism business to plot sedition.

Asked again in a CNN interview, Rodman appeared to lose his cool, saying: "If you understand what Kenneth Bae did ... Do you understand what he did in this country? ... I would love to speak on this."

His visit was about opening "the door a little bit", he said, even though the team would have "to go back to America and take the abuse".

A White House spokesman declined to comment on Rodman's remarks, but reiterated a call for North Korea to release Mr Bae - who is suffering from ill health - on humanitarian grounds.

Another player, former NBA star Charles D Smith, meanwhile, told the Associated Press news agency that he felt "remorse" for participating in the trip amid the backlash in the US.

"I feel a lot of remorse for the guys because we are doing something positive, but it's a lot bigger than us. We are not naive, we understand why things are being portrayed the way they are."

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Archived Version

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:07

PYONGYANG, North Korea '-- North Korea said Friday that an American citizen has been detained after confessing to unspecified crimes, confirming news reports about his arrest at a time when Pyongyang is facing criticism from Washington for launching a long-range rocket last week.

The American was identified as Pae Jun Ho in a brief dispatch issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang. News reports in the U.S. and South Korea said Pae is known in his home state of Washington as Kenneth Bae, a 44-year-old tour operator of Korean descent.

An expert said he is likely to become a bargaining chip for the North, an attempt to draw the U.S. into talks. Five other Americans known to have been detained in North Korea since 2009 were all eventually released.

North Korean state media said Pae arrived in the far northeastern city of Rajin on Nov. 3 as part of a tour.

Rajin is part of a special economic zone not far from Yanji, China, that has sought to draw foreign investors and tourists over the past year. Yanji, home to many ethnic Korean Chinese, also serves as a base for Christian groups that shelter North Korean defectors.

"In the process of investigation, evidence proving that he committed a crime against (North Korea) was revealed. He admitted his crime," the KCNA dispatch said.

The North said the crimes were "proven through evidence" but did not elaborate.

KCNA said consular officials from the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang visited Pae on Friday. Sweden represents the United States in diplomatic affairs in North Korea since Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations.

Karl-Olof Andersson, Sweden's ambassador to North Korea, told The Associated Press he could not comment on the case and referred the matter to the U.S. State Department.

The State Department was not immediately able to provide any additional information about the report.

The operator of a Korean language website for the Korean community in the Northwest, Chong Tae Kim of JoySeattle.com, said the detainee's father lives in Korea and his mother lives in Lynnwood, Washington.

"She hopes the State Department and Swedish Embassy help with his release," he said Friday. "She's trying not to speak to reporters, fearing that could affect her son's release."

The office of U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene says it has reached out to the mother and is pressing the State Department for information.

"We are very concerned about it and seeing what can be done on our end to help with this," said spokesman Viet Shelton.

State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell on Friday would only say that they were aware of the detention and that Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang is providing consular services.

"We can, indeed, confirm that a U.S. citizen has been detained in North Korea," Ventrell said, adding that he could not say more because of privacy restrictions.

In Seoul, the Segye Ilbo newspaper reported last week that Bae had been taking tourists on a five-day trip to the North when he was arrested. The newspaper cited unidentified sources.

News of the arrest comes as North Korea is celebrating the launch of a satellite into space on Dec. 12, in defiance of calls by the U.S. and others to cancel a liftoff widely seen as an illicit test of ballistic missile technology.

The announcement of the American's detainment could be a signal from the North that it wants dialogue with the United States, said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea. He said trips by former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to North Korea to secure the release of other detained Americans created a mood for U.S.-North Korea talks.

"North Korea knows sanctions will follow its rocket launch. But in the long run, it needs an excuse to reopen talks after the political atmosphere moves past sanctions," Cheong said.

Cheong said he expects that the American will be tried and convicted in coming months. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has the power to grant amnesty and will exercise it as a bargaining chip, Cheong said.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said earlier this week that Washington had been trying to reach out to Kim.

"Instead, that was met not only with an abrogation of agreements that had been made by the previous North Korean regime, but by missile activity both in April and in December," she told reporters.

She said Washington had no choice but to put pressure on Pyongyang, and was discussing with its allies how to "further isolate" the regime.

In April 2009, a North Korean rocket launch took place while two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were in North Korean custody after allegedly trying to sneak into the country across the Tumen River dividing the North from China.

They were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor before being released on humanitarian grounds after Clinton flew to Pyongyang to negotiate their release.

Subsequently, three other Americans were arrested and eventually released by North Korea. All three are believed to have been accused of illegally spreading Christianity.

North Korea has several sanctioned churches in Pyongyang but frowns on the distribution of Bibles and other religious materials by foreigners. Interaction between North Koreans and foreigners is strictly regulated.

___

Associated Press writers Foster Klug and Sam Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and Doug Esser in Seattle contributed to this report.

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 03:46

AP

North Korea announced today that US citizen Kenneth Bae had been sentenced to 15 years of "compulsory labor".

The arrest of Bae '-- also known as Bae Jun Ho '-- was announced in December last year.

However, one big question remains '-- what did Bae actually do?

Officially, the charges against Bae certainly sound serious. When his trial was announced this weekend, North Korea's official news agency reported that he "admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with hostility toward it."

"I think there were two charges that had been levied upon this man," Korean-American scholar Tony Namkung told NK News. "One, plotting to overthrow the North Korean regime, and two, plotting to kill the leadership '' without specifying who.''

As pretty much no one in the world trusts the North Korean justice system, however, it remains unclear what Bae really did.

His back story offers few clues. The 44-year-old was born in South Korea but became a naturalized citizen of the U.S., settling in Washington state.

AP

Kenneth Bae (right) during his days as a undergraduate at the University of Oregon (1988-90).

According to NK News, he ran a company that specialized in tours of North Korea. While the website for the company '-- NationTours.com'-- is now down, web hosting records suggest the website was registered in Los Angeles in late 2011. The website also had a Chinese phone number on it, suggesting a Sino-based operation.Bae appears to have been on leading a tour when he was arrested in November. He was in the North Korean city of Rajin, part of a special economic zone near China.

There's nothing unusual about being a tour operator in North Korea '-- there are a variety of companies offering tours in North Korea, the majority of which are run by foreign nationals like Bae.

However, the location of his arrest may be important. Rajin is across the border from the Chinese city of Yanji, where many Christian groups shelter North Korean refugees. CNN has reported that Bae was a member of a protestant religious movement, and his Facebook page (since closed) contains a link to one organization in Ohio called the Joseph Connection.

If Bae was working in some capacity Christian missionary it may help explain his arrest. North Korea has taken a hard line on missionaries before, arresting U.S. citizen and Christian activist Robert Park in 2010. Eddie Jun Yong-su, who was arrested on for an unspecified crime later that year, was said to have been involved in Christian missionary work (Yong-su was released six months later).

Multiple reports in the South Korean press said Bae may have been carrying something on him that angered authorities. One possibility is that Bae had bibles or other religious items found on him at the border, though Korean-American scholar Tony Namkung '-- who has been personally involved in the case '-- denied this in his interview with NK News.

Last year South Korean newspaper Kookmin Ilbo reported that Bae, or possibly a tourist he was escorting, was carrying a hard disk containing sensitive information about North Korea.

Exactly what "sensitive information" is in this context is hard to gauge. There has also been speculation that Bae may have taken photos of starving children in North Korea (known locally as "kotjebi" '-- fluttering swallows), while Reuters cites an unnamed "South Korean newspaper published by an evangelical family" that says Bae may have been arrested after photographing executions of dissenters and dissidents.

Regardless of the reason for his arrest, many have speculated that North Korea will use it to force a high-profile visit from a U.S. official.

"North Korea is using Bae as bait to make such a visit happen. An American bigwig visiting Pyongyang would also burnish Kim Jong Un's leadership profile," Ahn Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies think tank told AFP today.

Bae does have some high-profile support already. Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and Google chairman visited North Korea in January and were denied the opportunity to visit Bae, though Richardson did get a letter to the prisoner.

High-level visits have certainly helped before. In 2009 American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor after crossing the border from China. The pair were later pardoned and released after a visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

In 2011, a visit by Jimmy Carter led to the pardon and release of American Aijalon Gomes, who had been sentenced to eight years of hard labor. According to NK News, Carter has told staff he has no plans to visit North Korea at present.

The circumstances of this case, however, remain particularly murky. Adam Cathcart of SinoNKhas an impressive analysis of one report from a well-connected pro-North Korea group in Europe. One curious element of the the report is the argument that the U.S. has been uncharacteristically quiet in the case, waiting until North Korean media announced the arrest on December 21 to make any public statement.

The report interprets this silence to suggest that America is not fully "comfortable" with the circumstances with the case.

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Archived Version

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 03:19

Kenneth Bae (born Pae Jun Ho; 1968)[2][3][4][5][6][7] is an American citizen convicted by North Korea on charges of planning to overthrow the North Korean government, including setting up bases in China for the purpose of toppling the North Korean government. In April 2013, he was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment.[8][9] Bae is the longest-serving United States prisoner of North Korea since the end of the Korean War.[10]

Early life and education[edit]Bae was born in South Korea in 1968. Bae moved to the United States at age 16 in 1986.[11] Other news articles describe Bae as moving to the United States with his family in 1985.[12][13][14][15][16] Bae (as Jun Ho Bae)[17] graduated from West High School in Torrance, California in 1988.[18]

Bae studied psychology at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, before dropping out after two years.[19][20][21]

Bae had lived in Lynnwood, Washington in Snohomish County.[22][23][24] In 2005, Bae moved to China with his wife and their three children. He created a tourism company called "Nations Tour" for North Korean special economic zone visits that were secretly Christian missionary trips.[25][20][26]

Arrest and prosecution[edit]On November 3, 2012,[27] Bae was traveling with five European tourists in Rajin-guyŏk, Rason, North Korea when officials discovered that he was carrying a computer hard disk that contained pictures of starving North Korean orphans.[28]

North Korea claims Bae was prosecuted for several reasons:[29][30][31][32]

Planning an anti-North Korean religious coup d'(C)tat called "the Jericho operation".Admitting to setting up bases in China for the purpose of toppling the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.Encouraging North Korean citizens to bring down the government.Conducting a "malignant" smear campaign.In December 2012, human rights activists in Seoul reported that an American had been held in North Korea for a month.[27] On December 21, 2012, North Korea announced that it had charged an American identified as Bae Jun-ho with "hostile acts against the republic".[20][33] Between January 7 and January 10, former UN ambassadorBill Richardson was unable to meet Bae, and delivered a letter from Bae's son to North Korean authorities.[34]

On April 30, 2013, North Korea's Supreme Court sentenced Bae to 15 years of hard labor.[35][36]

Prison life[edit]On May 14, 2013, he was moved to a "special prison."[37] Bae would do eight hours of farm labor a day, which he had never done before.[29] Bae sent hand-written letters to his family stating that he was going blind and that help was needed.[32] On July 3, 2013, an interview with Bae was released, in which he spoke of health problems including diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver and a back problem.[29] When asked if the prison life was bearable, he replied "Yes, people here are very considerate. But my health is not in the best condition, so there are some difficulties. But, everyone here is considerate and generous, and we have doctors here, so I'm getting regular check-ups".[31] A Swedishambassador met with Bae in a hospital in August 2013; his sister reported that he was moved from the camp because of deteriorating health and after losing more than 50 pounds (23 kg).[38][39][40][29] Kenneth's mother, Myunghee Bae, arrived in North Korea on October 11 to visit her son for five days.[41][42] She was allowed three visits, totaling six hours.[43]

Reactions[edit]United States[edit]On the day he was sentenced, the United States called for the immediate release of Kenneth Bae on humanitarian grounds.[44] During the 2013 Korean crisis, North Korea stated that the reason why they did not invite US officials to Pyongyang for Bae's release is because he is not a "political bargaining chip".[45][46]

On July 3, 2013, an interview with Bae was released, in which he begged for forgiveness from his captors and for United States help.[31] Despite getting a weekly update from the State Department, Kenneth's family insisted that the United States government wasn't doing a good enough job bringing him back.[32] It was confirmed later in July that Jimmy Carter had no plans to visit North Korea and release Bae.[47]

On August 13, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf stated that the United States was "willing to consider a number of different options to secure his release".[48] On August 27, the United States announced that its North Korean human rights envoy, Robert R. King, would travel to Pyongyang and ask for the government to pardon Bae,[49] but three days later North Korea rescinded its invitation.[50] The reason given for the cancellation was that the United States used nuclear-capable bombers in military drills with South Korea.[51]

On November 30, the United States called for the release of Bae and Merrill Newman, an American citizen also being detained who confessed to "indelible crimes" during his service in the Korean War. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said "We continue to urge the DPRK authorities to grant [Bae] amnesty and immediate release".[52] American officials talk to relatives of both detainees. On December 7, Newman was released; Marie Harf stated "We welcome the DPRK's decision to release [Newman]. This positive decision by the DPRK throws into sharper relief the continuing detention of Bae. We call on the DPRK once again to pardon and grant Mr. Bae special amnesty and immediately release him as a humanitarian gesture so that he too can return home to his family."[53]

Dennis Rodman[edit]''I'm gonna try and get the guy out... It's gonna be difficult.'''--Dennis Rodman, May 10, 2013

On May 7, after reading an article from The Seattle Times,[54] former professional basketball player Dennis Rodman sent out a tweet asking his friend Kim Jong-un to do him "a solid" and release Bae.[55][56]

On May 10, Rodman promised that he would go to North Korea on August 1 to rescue Bae. Rodman criticized United States President Barack Obama, saying, "We got a black president [who] can't even go talk to [Jong-un] ... Obama can't do shit, I don't know why he won't go talk to him."[57][58] Rodman did not go to North Korea in August,[57] but did go in September 2013. While in Beijing, Rodman said he was visiting North Korea again to create a basketball league there and to fix American-North Korean relations. Rodman said that he would no longer be talking about Bae's release,[51][59] stating that "I'm not going to talk about that."[60] Rodman returned to China without Bae[61] and lost his temper when questions about the prisoner were asked; Rodman said ''Guess what? That's not my job to ask about Kenneth Bae, ask Obama about that. Ask Hillary Clinton".[62][63]

In January 2014, Dennis was asked if he'd raise the issue of Kenneth Bae. He became agitated and said "Kenneth Bae did one thing ... If you understand what Kenneth Bae did. Do you understand what he did in this country? No, no, no, you tell me, you tell me. Why is he held captive here in this country, why? ... I would love to speak on this."[64][65]

References[edit]^"æ''鮮起訴ä¸åç¾Žå'‹äºº éŸ'åª'稱æ''欲施å£'美å'‹è¬æ±‚對è(C)±". Sina.com. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013. ^http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2013/0510/North-Korea-explains-why-it-sentenced-American-Kenneth-Bae-to-hard-labor^http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/02/world/asia/north-korea-american-sentenced/^http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57560399/north-korea-american-citizen-detained-for-crime/^http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/12/north-korea-detained-american-citizen--83339.html^http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20808344^http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24486638^"North Korea to put American tour operator Kenneth Bae on trial for 'trying to overthrow the government'". The Independent. Retrieved 2013-04-27. ^"North Korea to issue verdict on US citizen". BBC News. Retrieved 2013-04-27. ^"Christian Missionary Kenneth Bae Is Longest Serving US Detainee in North Korea Since End of Korean War". Christian Post. November 5, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013. ^http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20130825/former-torrance-resident-kenneth-bae-imprisoned-in-north-korea^http://bigstory.ap.org/article/family-us-man-detained-n-korea-hospitalized^http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/10/10/kenneth-bae-mother-visit-north-korea/2963633/^http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kenneth-bae-moved-from-north-korea-prison-camp-to-hospital-after-losing-50-lbs-sister-says/^http://news.sky.com/story/1153292/north-korea-kenneth-baes-mother-visits-son^http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Baes-cheer-release-of-other-detained-American-234898081.html^http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20130825/former-torrance-resident-kenneth-bae-imprisoned-in-north-korea^http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20130825/former-torrance-resident-kenneth-bae-imprisoned-in-north-korea^"U.S. seeks North Korean amnesty for American jailed for 15 years". Chicago Tribune. May 02, 2013. ^ abcAlexander Abad-Santos (May 2, 2013). "How Ken Bae Went from North Korean Tour Operator to North Korean Prisoner". The Atlantic Wire. Retrieved August 12, 2013. ^http://www.katu.com/news/national/Mother-of-ex-University-of-Oregon-student-detained-in-N-Korea-ends-trip-227822891.html^http://bigstory.ap.org/article/video-shows-us-mans-life-nkorean-prison^https://www.nbcnews.com/id/53704142/ns/local_news-seattle_wa/#.UqQcPaWredA^http://www.kgw.com/news/White-House-renews-urge-for-N-Korea-to-release-Kenneth-Bae-233944681.html^"Kenneth Bae moved from North Korea prison camp to hospital after losing 50 lbs, sister says". CBS. August 12, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013. ^Nicola Menzie (August 12, 2013). "Christian Missionary Kenneth Bae Moved to Hospital in North Korea, Health May Be Failing". The Christian Post. Retrieved August 13, 2013. ^ ab"American Citizen Is Said to Be Held in North Korea". December 13, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013. ^Nicola Menzie (April 27, 2013). "US Citizen Kenneth Bae to Be Charged for Trying to Overthrow North Korea". The Christian Post. Retrieved August 13, 2013. ^ abcdPaula Hancocks; Jethro Mullen (August 12, 2013). "Kenneth Bae, American imprisoned in North Korea, moved to hospital". Retrieved August 12, 2013. ^"North Korea to put US citizen on trial". Al Jazeera. 27 Apr 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013. ^ abcMadison Park (July 3, 2013). "Bae from North Korean prison: Please help me". Retrieved July 5, 2013. ^ abc"Family of American held in N. Korea: U.S. not doing enough". CBS. July 25, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2013. ^Choe Sang-Hun (December 21, 2012). "North Korea Says It Detained American Over 'Hostile Acts'". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2013. ^Ayesha Rascoe (January 11, 2013). Doina Chiacu, ed. "Richardson delivered letter for detained American in North Korea". Reuters. Retrieved August 12, 2013. ^"UO alum Kenneth Bae sentenced to 15 years hard labor in North Korea". dailyemerald.com. Retrieved 2 May 2013. ^"Kenneth Bae Sentenced: American Sentenced To 15 Years Hard Labor For Crimes Against North Korea". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 May 2013. ^Jethro Mullen (2013-05-15). "North Korea says jailed American is now in 'special prison'". Retrieved 2013-05-15. ^"American jailed in North Korea hospitalized, sister says". Yahoo News. Retrieved 11 August 2013. ^"Full coverage: Kim Jong-un and North Korea tension". Yahoo News. Retrieved 12 August 2013. ^Paula Hancocks; Jethro Mullen (August 12, 2013). "Kenneth Bae, American imprisoned in North Korea, moved to hospital". Retrieved August 12, 2013. ^Madison Park (October 10, 2013). "Kenneth Bae's mother visits North Korea to see imprisoned son". CNN. Retrieved October 11, 2013. ^"Mother of jailed U.S. missionary in North Korea to see son". Reuters. October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013. ^Hancocks, Paula. "Kenneth Bae's mother tells of heartbreak after seeing, leaving imprisoned son". CNN. Retrieved 21 October 2013. ^"U.S. calls on North Korea to release detained U.S. citizen". Reuters. April 29, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013. ^Choe Sang-Hun (2013-05-05). "North Korea Says Jailed American Won't Be Used as 'Bargaining Chip'". Retrieved 2013-05-05. ^"N. Korea says won't invite U.S. figures over jailed Korean-American". Yonhap News Agency. May 5, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013. ^"Aide to former U.S. President Carter denies he plans North Korea visit". Reuters. July 29, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013. ^Matthew Pennington (August 13, 2013). "US signals willingness to engage NKorea on detained American". canada.com. Retrieved August 14, 2013. ^Paul Eckert; Eric M. Johnson (August 28, 2013). "U.S. envoy to visit North Korea over jailed American". Reuters. Retrieved August 28, 2013. ^Choe Sang-Hun (August 30, 2013). "North Korea Rescinds Permission for U.S. Envoy Visit". New York Times. Retrieved August 30, 2013. ^ ab"Dennis Rodman makes return visit to North Korea". Fox News. September 3, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2013. ^"US urges North Korea to release detainee Merrill Newman". BBC. November 30, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013. ^Greg Botelho (December 7, 2013). "U.S.: American Merrill Newman 'in hand' after he's 'deported' from North Korea". CNN. Retrieved December 7, 2013. ^Rodman, Dennis (May 7, 2013). "In direct response to your article headline, "Ok." Read your story @uscthanhtan, and I decided to help. http://ow.ly/kNvp3". Twitter. Retrieved May 8, 2013. ^Uri Friedman (2013-05-07). "Dennis Rodman calls on Kim Jong Un to do him 'a solid' and release American detainee". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2013-05-07. ^Rodman, Dennis (May 7, 2013). "I'm calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him "Kim", to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose.". Twitter. Retrieved May 8, 2013. ^ abRosie Gray (August 6, 2013). "What Happened To Dennis Rodman's North Korean Rescue Mission?". Retrieved August 13, 2013. ^"Rodman RIPS Obama Over North Korea -- 'He Can't Do S**t'". TMZ. May 10, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013. ^"Rodman returns to Pyongyang but says won't bring back jailed American". Reuters. September 3, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2013. ^"Dennis Rodman makes second North Korea trip". BBC.com. 3 September 2013. ^Lateef Mungin (September 7, 2013). "Dennis Rodman arrives in China after North Korea visit". CNN. Retrieved September 7, 2013. ^"Dennis Rodman visits North Korea AGAIN after claims Kim Jong Un executed his ex-girlfriend... but have his censors airbrushed an interpreter out of photos to make their beloved leader look better?". Dailymail. September 6, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2013. ^Gerry Mullany (September 7, 2013). "Rodman, Leaving North Korea, Says Prisoner Issue 'Not My Job'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 9, 2013. ^Calum MacLeod (January 7, 2014). "Dennis Rodman gets angry in Pyongyang". USA Today. Retrieved January 7, 2014. ^Laura Smith-Spark; Jethro Mullen (January 7, 2014). "Angry Dennis Rodman defends North Korea basketball game". CNN. Retrieved January 7, 2014. PersondataNameBae, KennethAlternative namesPae, Jun HoShort descriptionAmerican missionary held as prisoner in North KoreaDate of birth1968Place of birthSouth KoreaDate of deathPlace of death

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 14:33

hide captionPeople watch a TV news program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Kim's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, circled in red, at the Seoul Railway Station in South Korea on Dec. 3.

Ahn Young-joon/APPeople watch a TV news program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, and Kim's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, circled in red, at the Seoul Railway Station in South Korea on Dec. 3.

Ahn Young-joon/APWell, Mark did warn us.

Reports last week that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed his uncle and then fed him to dogs appear to be false. We say "appear" because the story first originated in a satirical post on Tencent Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site.

The post was picked up by Wen Wei Po, a Beijing-friendly Hong Kong tabloid, then by the South China Morning Post, and then by the Western media, turning, as the Guardian describes it, "a thinly-sourced horror story into an astonishing example of the media echo chamber gone awry."

Blogger Trevor Powell traced the story back to the post on Tencent Weibo. He wrote that the Hong Kong paper lifted a social media post by Pyongyang Choi Seongho, a widely followed China-based satirist. The background image on the satirist's Tencent Weibo account is Kim standing with both his arms and middle fingers extended.

Powell notes:

"It's amusing that given our faith in modern global news media to get to the bottom of a story, no one has actually gone back to the Wen Wei Po article and caught this. All analysis in the swaths of content that have been devoted to this report since it came out stops abruptly at a linguistic wall between the English language Straits Times story and the Chinese language Wen Wei Po article."

One takeaway from this, he says, is "that language is always a barrier." So is satire, apparently.

This isn't the first such story that's been reported as legitimate news. There was the time The Onion proclaimed Kim its Sexiest Man Alive in 2012. That story got picked up by China's People's Daily.

Then there was the story in "America's Finest News Source" that "the overwhelming majority of rural white Americans said they would rather vote for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than U.S. president Barack Obama." That story got picked up by Iran's Fars news agency.

Which just goes to show that you can use the Internet to translate language, but not humor.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 02:28

A few brave snowboarders ride up a ski lift during frigid temperatures Tuesday at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pa. Few people were on the mountain because of temperatures dipping to -4 below zero.(Photo: Butch Comegys, The Scranton Times-Tribune via AP)

Story HighlightsBrutal cold gives climate-change skeptics another chance to try to debunk scienceLimbaugh, Trump comment on unusually cold weatherMeteorologists say frigid cold snaps will continue even as planet warmsSHARE487CONNECTEMAILMOREIt happens every winter.

Sometime between Santa's squeeze down the chimney and the Groundhog's peek out of his hole, a cold snap or big snowstorm gives climate-change skeptics another chance to suggest that global warming isn't happening.

Some examples this week: Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said the "polar vortex" the cold was blamed on is a new term invented by the media to link the cold wave to man-made climate change. The term has been around for decades.

Donald Trump took to Twitter to write: "Record snowfall & freezing temps throughout the country. Where is Global Warming when you need it?!"

So if it's very cold, then global warming isn't real? Scientists say no: "This week's brutal cold wave was a 1-in-20-year type of event," says meteorologist Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground, "and we will continue to see such cold waves in the future, even as the planet warms."

Meteorologist Cliff Mass of the University of Washington agrees, writing on his blog: "This individual event says nothing about the impacts of global warming. Global warming will occur over the coming century ..... One event proves nothing. Furthermore, the real warming is in the future."

This short blast of cold remains a blip in an onslaught of warm records: In the past four years, the USA has set more than 90,000 record high temperatures and about 38,000 record low temperatures, according to data from the National Climatic Data Center. Additionally, in the past 40 years, winters have steadily gotten warmer (by about 0.61 degree per decade) over the contiguous USA, the climate center reports.

Globally, the decade of the 2000s was the warmest since record-keeping began in the 1880s.

Although it was very cold over parts of North America this week, it was unusually warm elsewhere: Australia is smashing heat records, with temperatures reaching 118 degrees, according to meteorologist Bob Henson, a science writer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Henson also says many Eurasian cities are seeing well above-average temperatures this week. Moscow temperatures will reach the 30s and Warsaw is expecting 40s.

Rice covers weather and science for USA TODAY

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 14:38

About 714,000 results

Polar amplification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPolar amplification also referred to as Arctic amplification, is the greatertemperature increases in the Arctic compared to the earth as a whole as a resultof the ...What causes Arctic amplification? - Skeptical Sciencewww.skepticalscience.com/What-causes-Arctic-amplification.html- Cached - SimilarMay 2, 2010 ... The warming trend in the Arctic is almost twice as large as the global average inrecent decades. This is known as Arctic amplification. What's ...Images for Arctic amplificationRealClimate: Polar Amplificationwww.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/.../polar-amplification/- Cached - SimilarJan 2, 2006 ... RealClimate: Guest commentary by Cecilia Bitz, University of Washington "Polaramplification'' usually refers to greater climate change near ...Arctic/Polar Amplification Effect '-- OSS Foundationossfoundation.us/projects/.../global.../arctic-polar-amplification-effect- Cached - SimilarThe Arctic/Polar Amplification Effect is mainly caused by a combination of a fewthings. The chief components include the magnitude of change regarding ice ...A new paper pushes back on the 'Arctic amplification is making ...wattsupwiththat.com/.../a-new-paper-pushes-back-on-the-arctic-amplification -making-extreme-weather-idea/- Cached - SimilarAug 20, 2013 ... There has been much worry that extreme weather is the result of changes in theArctic. For example: Jennifer Francis, Rutgers University, ...Arctic Sea Ice: Arctic amplificationneven1.typepad.com/blog/arctic-amplification/- CachedDec 10, 2013 ... Andrew Freedman outdid himself on Climate Central with an excellent overviewof the scientific debate on the link between Arctic sea ice loss ...Revisiting the evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme ...onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50880/abstract

Sep 4, 2013 ... [1] Previous studies have suggested that Arctic amplification has causedplanetary-scale waves to elongate meridionally and slow down, ...[PDF] The emergence of surface-based Arctic amplification - The Cryospherewww.the-cryosphere.net/3/11/2009/tc-3-11-2009.pdf- Cached - SimilarFeb 4, 2009 ... This Arctic amplification is largely driven by loss of the sea ice cover, allowing for... The concept of Arctic amplification, articulated by Manabe.Arctic Warming May Not Be Altering Jet Stream: Study | Climate ...www.climatecentral.org/.../new-study-questions-arctic-warming-extreme- weather-links-16375- CachedAug 21, 2013 ... Francis' work has also tied rapid Arctic warming, also known as ''Arcticamplification,'' to an increase in blocked or stuck weather patterns that ...Searches related to Arctic amplification

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 14:37

The cold air pushing toward America's heartland is of a duration and magnitude rarely seen since record-keeping began in the 1870s. In Minneapolis, forecasters warned that all-time wind chill records could be broken, with a stunning -65ºF predicted for Monday morning.

As the record-setting cold spreads across the US, brace yourself for this conversation:

Your friend: ''Sure is cold outside, amirite? Minneapolis is as cold as Mars right now. Crazy, huh? So much for that whole global warming thing, eh?''

You: ''Well'...''

In fact, despite the trolling of Donald Trump and other climate change deniers, global warming is probably contributing to the record cold, as counter-intuitive as that may seem. The key factor is a feedback mechanism of climate change known as Arctic amplification. Here's how to explain the nuts and bolts of it to your under-informed family and friends:

Snow and ice are disappearing from the Arctic region at unprecedented rates, leaving behind relatively warmer open water, which is much less reflective to incoming sunlight than ice. That, among other factors, is causing the northern polar region of our planet to warm at a faster rate than the rest of the northern hemisphere. (And, just to state the obvious, global warming describes a global trend toward warmer temperatures, which doesn't preclude occasional cold-weather extremes.)

Since the difference in temperature between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes helps drive the jet stream (which, in turn, drives most US weather patterns), if that temperature difference decreases, it stands to reason that the jet stream's winds will slow down. Why does this matter?

Well, atmospheric theory predicts that a slower jet stream will produce wavier and more sluggish weather patterns, in turn leading to more frequent extreme weather. And, turns out, that's exactly what we've been seeing in recent years. Superstorm Sandy's uncharacteristic left hook into the New Jersey coast in 2012 was one such example of an extremely anomalous jet stream blocking pattern.

When these exceptionally wavy jet stream patterns occur mid-winter, it's a recipe for cold air to get sucked southwards. This week, that's happening in spectacular fashion.

Climate scientist Jennifer A. Francis of Rutgers University explains this process in a short video (h/t Climate Progress):

This effect has already been measured with mid-level atmospheric winds in the northern hemisphere decreasing by around 10% since 1990. Not-so-coincidentally, that's about the same time when Arctic sea ice extent really started to crash.

The solid line is average west-to-east wind speeds midway up the atmosphere; the dashed line is Arctic sea ice extent.

Skeptical Science (the 'Snopes' of climate science) has a comprehensive explainer on Arctic amplification and the jet stream, for those that want to dig deeper on the subject. And, as a PSA, is a great-go to resource when situations like this arise.

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 14:05

MSNBC's Politics Nation on Friday featured a lab coat-wearing Al Sharpton pontificating about global warming. Instead of using real facts, the racial-agitator turned faux-scientist tried to exploit the "everybody believes it's real" argument to attack those who disagree with the anthropogenic global warming theory.

Welcome back to the first Politics Nation science lab of the new year. In the lab tonight, a right wing meltdown over global warming. A winter storm is battling much of the country and climate change scientists were stuck in ice. Which means the folks over at Fox have been trotting out a few theories of their own. Check it out.

Sharpton played four one-sentence news clips from Fox News before coming back with:

These right-wingers are boiling over with denial. Just because it snows in winter, doesn't mean the planet isn't getting warmer. Remember, a U.N. Panel said there's a 90% probability that humans are the primary cause of global warming. And over 97% of climate researchers surveyed in the United States academy of science agrees. It sure doesn't take much for the folks at Fox to hit their melting point. The results of tonight's experiments are in. And we've deduced the right wing could use a new talking point. This has been a special edition of the Politics Nation science lab.

If Mr. Sharpton conducted any research of his own, he would have realized that the 97% of climate researchers poll has been disproved many times over, and that most of the ''gloom and doom'' predictions made by the global warming theorists have not come true. Even the climate change histrionics one sees in the media after every major storm or fire are wrong, as the frequency of hurricanes, tornados, and wildfires are all way down.

Other facts arguing against the anthropogenic climate change theory include the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the U.N.'s global warming organization, which acknowledges that the Earth's temperatures haven't gotten warmer in over 15 years. Additionally, both polar ice caps are growing at near record rates. In fact, some peer-reviewed studies are predicting the earth is about to experience a mini ice age.

Perhaps Mr. Sharpton would be better off putting away the white coat and concentrating on what he does best: dividing the American people.

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:17

Climate change skeptics are pointing to the record cold weather as evidence that the globe isn't warming. But it could be that melting Arctic ice is making sudden cold snaps more likely'--not less

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty ImagesFans in Green Bay suffered through frigid temperatures, thanks to Arctic air that has come south

It's polar bear weather today for much of the Midwest. Temperatures are in the -20sº F (-28º C) and -30sº F (-35º C) in eastern Montana, North Dakota, northeast South Dakota, Minnesota and northern Iowa. With the stiff wind, it's even worse'--wind chills in the -40sº F (-40º C) and -50sº F (-45º C) are common across Minnesota and North Dakota, cold enough for exposed skin to suffer frostbite in just five minutes. By tonight, the freeze will reach the East Coast, where temperatures from Florida to Maine are expected to be 30º F to 40º F (16º C to 22º C) degrees below normal, extremes that haven't been seen in decades. The National Weather Service isn't kidding when it calls the cold ''life-threatening.''

Unsurprisingly, the extreme cold has brought out the climate change skeptics, who point to the freeze and the recent snowstorms and say, essentially, ''nyah-nyah.'' Now this is where I would usually point to the fact that the occasional cold snap'--even one as extreme as much of the U.S. is experiencing now'--doesn't change the overall trajectory of a warming planet. Weather is what happens in the atmosphere day to day; climate is how the atmosphere behaves over long periods of time. Winters in the U.S. have been warming steadily over the past century, and even faster in recent decades, so it would take more than a few sub-zero days to cancel that out.

(MORE: Arctic Blast: The Northern Air Mass Bringing Record-Breaking Cold to the U.S.)

But not only does the cold spell not disprove climate change, it may well be that global warming could be making the occasional bout of extreme cold weather in the U.S. even more likely. Right now much of the U.S. is in the grip of a polar vortex, which is pretty much what it sounds like: a whirlwind of extremely cold, extremely dense air that forms near the poles. Usually the fast winds in the vortex'--which can top 100 mph (161 k/h)'--keep that cold air locked up in the Arctic. But when the winds weaken, the vortex can begin to wobble like a drunk on his fourth martini, and the Arctic air can escape and spill southward, bringing Arctic weather with it. In this case, nearly the entire polar vortex has tumbled southward, leading to record-breaking cold, as you can see in this weatherbell.com graphic:

That disruption to the polar vortex may have been triggered by a sudden stratospheric warming event, a phenomenon Rick Grow explained at the Washington Post a few days ago:

Large atmospheric waves move upward from the troposphere '-- where most weather occurs '-- into the stratosphere, which is the layer of air above the troposphere. These waves, which are called Rossby waves, transport energy and momentum from the troposphere to the stratosphere. This energy and momentum transfer generates a circulation in the stratosphere, which features sinking air in the polar latitudes and rising air in the lowest latitudes. As air sinks, it warms. If the stratospheric air warms rapidly in the Arctic, it will throw the circulation off balance. This can cause a major disruption to the polar vortex, stretching it and '-- sometimes '-- splitting it apart.

(MORE: November Was Cold, But the Climate Keeps Warming)

What does that have to do with climate change? Sea ice is vanishing from the Arctic thanks to climate change, which leaves behind dark open ocean water, which absorbs more of the heat from the sun than reflective ice. That in turn is helping to cause the Arctic to warm faster than the rest of the planet, almost twice the global average. The jet stream'--the belt of fast-flowing, westerly winds that essentially serves as the boundary between cold northern air and warmer southern air'--is driven by temperature difference between the northerly latitudes and the tropical ones. Some scientists theorize that as that temperature difference narrows, it may weaken the jet stream, which in turns makes it more likely that cold Arctic air will escape the polar vortex and flow southward. Right now, an unusually large kink in the jet stream has that Arctic air flowing much further south than it usually would.

Still, this research is fairly preliminary, in part because extreme Arctic sea ice loss is a fairly recent phenomenon, so scientists don't have the long data sets they need to draw more robust conclusions about the interaction between Arctic warming and cold snaps. In fact, the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that it was likely that the jet stream would shift towards the north as the climate warmed, and that the polar vortex would actually contract, even as a 2009 study found that sudden stratospheric warming events are becoming more frequent, which in turn seems to be driven by the rapid loss in Arctic sea ice.

And while a muddle like that would seem to make the science less rather than more reliable, it's actually one more bit of proof that climate change is real. Global warming is sometimes thought of more as ''global weirding,'' with all manner of complex disruptions occurring over time. This week's events show that climate change is almost certainly screwing with weather patterns ways that go beyond mere increases in temperature'--meaning that you'd be smart to hold onto those winter coats for a while longer.

(MORE: November Was Cold, But the Climate Keeps Warming)

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 04:36

by Ed Driscoll

January 7th, 2014 - 6:42 pm

Click to enlarge.

As spotted by Steve Goddard, and linked to by Climate Depot:

In 1974, Time Magazine blamed the cold polar vortex on global cooling.

'Scientists have found other indications of global cooling. For one thing there has been a noticeable expansion of the great belt of dry, high-altitude polar winds '--the so-called circumpolar vortex'--that sweep from west to east around the top and bottom of the world.'

Another Ice Age? '' TIME

Forty years later, Time Magazine blames the cold polar vortex on global warming

'But not only does the cold spell not disprove climate change, it may well be that global warming could be making the occasional bout of extreme cold weather in the U.S. even more likely. Right now much of the U.S. is in the grip of a polar vortex, which is pretty much what it sounds like: a whirlwind of extremely cold, extremely dense air that forms near the poles.'

Polar Vortex: Climate Change Could Be the Cause of Record Cold Weather | TIME.com

To borrow from an item I wrote a few days before Christmas, as Zombie noted at PJM last year, the warnings for what industrialized man should do to fight global cooling are virtually identical to the warnings would-be ''climate'' ''scientists'' have given to fight global warming as well. You can also see the same cure for very different alleged symptoms in the clip below, of a ''scientist'' who was busted a few years ago for first predicting doom from global cooling, and decades later, predicting doom from global warming:

Related:Al Gore's Final Countdown for the Polar Ice Caps Expires, complete with video of Al warning in 2008 that ''the entire North 'polarized' cap will disappear in 5 years.''

At the PJ Lifestyle, Paula Bolyard notes that ''Survivors of the Blizzard of '78 Mock the 'Arctic Vortex.'''

Well, I'm one of the ''survivors of the Blizzard of '78,'' who's mocking those who don't remember what they were saying back then; close enough for anti-government work?

And Al Roker tweets a photo of a page from the 1959 AMS Glossary of Meteorology with the words ''polar vortex'' and their definition in it. As Twitchy adds, ''If the polar vertex has been around that long, maybe it's a bit premature to link this one to global warming.''

I suspect more than a few warm-mongers might soil their drawers over that notion.

Update (7:55 PM PST): Welcome readers of theDrudge Report. Please look around the site; there's lots here you might enjoy.

January 7th, 2014 - 6:42 pm

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 21:53

As the freezing winds triggered by the ''polar vortex'' continue their blistering ascent through the midwest and across the eastern seaboard, Rush Limbaugh took to his radio show to drive home a point about the global warming. The record-breaking lows, Limbaugh said, were a sign that global warming warnings were overstated and that the ''polar vortex'' was simply a confusing diversionary tactic created by the liberal media.

Do you know what the polar vortex is? Have you ever heard of it? Well, they just created it for this week'....Other wackos are saying it's a great example of climate change, but regardless, the agenda is that we're responsible, we're causing it, we have to pay the price. And so any weather extreme now is said to be man-made, and therefore it fulfills the leftist agenda on this.

The decree that unusually cool temperatures prove that climate change isn't happening was echoed not only by a slew of anchors on Fox News, but by so many others that MSNBC's Chris Hayes has dubbed winter the season of ''snow trolling.'' (In the New Yorker Andy Borowitz mocked the trend with a piece titled, ''Polar Vortex Causes Hundreds of Injuries As People Making Snide Remarks About Climate Change Are Punched in the Face.'')

A flurry of explainers countering the argument that a single instance of extreme cold challenges an overall pattern of warming have popped up at Weather.com and Media Matters. ''Using this event to try to disprove global warming is the height of anti-scientific crackpottery,'' wrote Bad Astronomy columnist Phil Plait at Slate. ''You might as well say that the existence of night disproves sunlight. ''

The team at Climate Central explains it differently, arguing that the polar vortex might even be propelled by climate change'--a view staffers discussed on multiple television newscasts Tuesday, with writer Andrew Freedman on PBS NewsHour and The Weather Channel's Wake Up with Al and meteorologist Bernadette Woods-Placky appearing on MSNBC's Lean Forward. In a Climate Central post, Freedman explains the vortex as the function of a weak inertia'--a ''slowly spinning top'' that, once it slows and topples, allows the contained chill to expand. He cites several studies suggesting that altering the proportion of heat between the North Pole and equator'--say, by melting ice caps, rising surface temperatures, and other effects of global warming'--the hefty current of these Arctic winds might make such vortex collapses more likely.

Freedman wrote that a body of research suggests that current global warming-induced changes correlate with an increased rate of such leakage:

''A study in September that found this Arctic paradox pattern has become common in years with low fall sea ice cover and rapidly advancing fall snow cover across parts of Asia, and that there is a likely link between the trends. The paper found the pattern was observed during the winter of 2012-2013, following the lowest fall sea ice extent on record in September 2012.

The Arctic has had a mild winter so far, in part because of an area of high pressure in the North Pacific Ocean that has blocked the flow of weather systems like a stop sign at an intersection, forcing the jet stream northward over western Canada, and then back down to the southeast across the U.S.

A few outlets covered the climate angle tentatively, with Al Jazeera America running areported piece on the climate change-linking confusion and The Guardian covering the science outlined in Climate Central with a post, ''US Polar Vortex May Be Example of Global Warming.'' The New York Times included a heavily caveated climate change reference in its polar vortex coverage; ''the decline in Arctic sea ice in particular, may play a role,'' said a climate researcher. ''But most researchers say there is not enough data to conclude that anything other than normal climate variability is involved,'' the post continued.

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

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 21:15

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Source: Dprogram.net

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:28

(SHTFPlan) - This morning The Daily Sheeple reported that the biggest sun spot in recent history had been identified on the sun and that it had moved into position facing earth. The spot is so large that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it could swallow three earths.

(Photo by Rocky Raybell : Sun spot AR1944 is so big it can be seen with amateur telescopes)

The spot was mostly quiet for the last few days and wasn't directly facing earth, though a smaller Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) glanced the planet in the early hours of January 7th.

Then at 12:32 Central Time it went wild:

Massive sunspot AR1944 has erupted. The X1 flare has sent a coronal mass ejection into space, and it's heading towards Earth.

'...

NOAA has upped the risk from further X-class flares to 50% for the next 24 hours. Risk of M-class up to 80%

The NASA-ESA Heliophysics Fleet is monitoring the sunspot and CME. Depending on its speed it could take anywhere from a day to three days to hit earth. NBC News reports that the flare is already responsible for radio traffic disruptions.

(Pictured: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a blast of activity originating from the center of the sun's disk on Tuesday)

Though an X-1 Class flare is not going to cause widespread power outages across earth, the possibility of increased activity on the sun has been noted by NASA and other researchers, as the sunspot destabilizes further.

The rapid formation of sunspot AR1944 and the earth-facing ejections highlight how quickly life on earth could change if the right conditions are met.

In the summer of 2012 a massive solar flare was ejected by the sun and narrowly missed earth.

Had it occurred just a week prior, the highly charged particles would have struck earth and, according to CU-Boulder Professor Daniel Baker, would have led to nothing short of a technological disaster across the globe.

The CME itself was massive'... and its speed was unprecedented, clocking in at 7 million miles per hour.

While typical coronal mass ejections from the sun take two or three days to reach Earth, the 2012 event traveled from the sun's surface to Earth in just 18 hours.

''The speed of this event was as fast or faster than anything that has been seen in the modern space age,'' said Baker.

'...

Had it hit Earth, the July 2012 event likely would have created a technological disaster by short-circuiting satellites, power grids, ground communication equipment and even threatening the health of astronauts and aircraft crews.

Source: Scientists Warn of Worst Case Scenario

But that flare wasn't a once-in-a-million-years event.

A decade ago in 2003 NASA identified the most powerful flare in recorded observational history:

In 2003 a solar flare emitted by the sun was the most powerful in recorded observational history, measuring in at levels so high that had it hit earth it would have likely disabled everything from the internet and mobile phones, to water utility plants and the whole of the U.S. electricity infrastructure.

That event was originally thought to have been an X-28 class flare, more powerful than necessary to take out modern electronics across earth. It was later revised to a ''whopping'' x-45.

These events occur quite regularly in the grand scheme. Recent observations suggest at least several occurrences in a lifetime. For the last hundred years since electronics made their way into our society we've been lucky, having experienced just minor disturbances.

But as the last decade shows, it can happen at any time and the after-effects would be catastrophic.

This is what prompted Senior Member of the House Homeland Security Committee Congresswoman Yvette Clarke to warn that the likelihood of a severe geo-magnetic event capable of crippling our electric grid is 100%.

Despite the various earthbound threats that exist, a solar flare is arguably the most probable threat we face as a civilization.

As Congressman Roscoe Bartlett has noted in the documentary Urban Danger, if an event of this magnitude hit earth we'd revert back to the stone age overnight:

We could have events in the future where the power grid will go down and it's not, in any reasonable time, coming back up. For instance, if when the power grid went down some of our large transformers were destroyed, damaged beyond use, we don't make any of those in this country. They're made overseas and you order one and 18 months to two years later they will deliver it. Our power grid is very vulnerable. It's very much on edge. Our military knows that.

So how does one survive such an event, where pretty much everything we have come to expect in our just-in-time modern society comes to a screeching halt within seconds of the disaster striking?

It won't be easy, but it is certainly survivable, and if you've developed a broad preparedness plan you would fair much better then the 90% of people who studies say wouldn't make it in such a scenario.

Imagine for just a moment what would be going through your mind and the minds of those with whom you share this report if sunspot AR1944 had emitted an X-25+ Class solar flare that was heading for earth right now and that it would be here within 48 hours.

Would you be prepared for what happens when the national power grid collapses? Would you be ready for the catastrophe that would follow within a matter of hours?

Preparedness for such an event starts with a simple grid-down supply. Once those basics are covered and you have enough to keep your family afloat for two weeks, you could broaden your preparedness horizons with long-term food storage, emergency medical supplies, gold and silver as bartering currencies, and self defense strategiesto protect against the inevitable hordes that would follow.

The threat is real. Countless officials and experts have warned of the possibility in our lifetimes.

What if tomorrow was the day?

Source: SHTFplan.com

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 23:01

Cosmic LogAlan Boyle, Science EditorNBC News

23 hours ago

NASA / SDO

A false-color composite image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a blast of activity originating from an active sunspot region at the center of the sun's disk on Tuesday.

The sun erupted with a powerful solar flare on Tuesday, disrupting radio traffic and sending a blast of electrically charged particles our way. And there may be more blasts to come.

The X1.2-class flare was recorded by sun-observing satellites, including NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, at about 2:32 p.m. ET. X-class flares are the strongest category of solar outbursts, although X1.2 is toward the category's low end. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center said the flare sparked a strong radio blackout.

For days, space weather forecasters have been bracing themselves for solar eruptions from a large active sunspot region called AR1944. This region has now turned to face Earth directly, which means strong solar flares are likely to send storms of charged particles '-- also known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs '-- heading straight for us.

Strong solar storms can damage satellites and electrical grids. One such outburst in 1989 knocked out power for a wide swath of Quebec. And don't get us started about the superstorm of 1859!

The geomagnetic storm generated by Tuesday's flare won't be that disruptive, but it could have an impact. NASA expects the CME to sweep over us somewhere around 3 p.m. ET Wednesday. The current space weather report says there's a chance we'll see more X-class flares through Friday.

Although space storms can be damaging, they can be beautiful as well: Be on the watch for enhanced northern lights over the next couple of nights. To get the auroral forecast for your area, check out the maps at SpaceWeatherLive.com. And for cool views of the aurora, keep an eye on SpaceWeather.com.

More auroral glories:

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding +Alan Boyle to your Google+ circles. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

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Source: The Ulsterman Report

Tue, 07 Jan 2014 05:01

Ignoring all recent evidence indicating otherwise, President Barack Obama, true to the progressive/socialist Big Government power grab that is the global warming/climate change hoax, issued an executive order just two months ago to lay the groundwork for a massive federal government plan to combat something that does not actually exist '' human made global warming.

Here's the executive order:

''The impacts of climate change '-- including an increase in prolonged periods of excessively high temperatures, more heavy downpours, an increase in wildfires, more severe droughts, permafrost thawing, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise '-- are already affecting communities, natural resources, ecosystems, economies, and public health across the Nation. These impacts are often most significant for communities that already face economic or health-related challenges, and for species and habitats that are already facing other pressures.''

''Managing these risks requires deliberate preparation, close cooperation, and coordinated planning by the Federal Government, as well as by stakeholders, to facilitate Federal, State, local, tribal, private-sector, and nonprofit-sector efforts to improve climate preparedness and resilience; help safeguard our economy, infrastructure, environment, and natural resources; and provide for the continuity of executive department and agency (agency) operations, services, and programs.''

That second paragraph is just more ''we need MORE Big Government'' nonsense of course, tying up everything and anything to the false progressive god that is climate change.

Here's what the people who actually make their living within the weather reporting environment are saying, just two months after Barack Obama's climate change freak-out executive order:

''This brutal cold will bring danger to millions from the northern Plains to the Midwest and down into the Tennessee Valley. Overnight lows are forecast to dip well below the zero-degree mark in these areas, even dropping to 30 below zero in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.''

There has been NO generalized warming of the earth's climate in nearly fifteen years, and 2013 and certainly the start of 2014 are among the coldest we have seen in some time. Possibly the only thing more of a hoax than global warming is Barack Obama himself. -UM

____________________________________

GET ALL OF D.W. ULSTERMAN'S BOOKS AVAILABLE HERE

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Source: Moral Volcano Daily Press

Tue, 07 Jan 2014 05:00

Daily Express article ''Global warming brigade lose the plot on a ship of fools'' by Leo McKinstry

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Moral Volcano is unsafe for children and pregnant women. Adults may experience discomfort when reading Moral Volcano. Symptomatic treatment is recommended. Moral Volcano has nothing to do with morals or volcanoes.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 18:08

A California-based correspondent shared the following vignette to a private email list early this morning.

An aside '-- had dinner with a Stanford biz prof teaching entrepreneurship. His 15 Chinese students were at the table too (big table). A few spoke English. One is international marketing head for China Nuclear Power Engineering Company '-- largest nuclear plant builder in their country. He said clearly that they plan to dominate the nuclear power market worldwide, just with present technology.

That triggered a response from me that forms the basis for the following thoughts. I've refined the rant a little; it still needs some additional work.

There is a key point in your vignette about the Chinese business students that needs emphasis:

plan to dominate the nuclear power market worldwide, just with present technology

From a practical business point of view, nuclear advocates have been a major obstacle to any effort to make near term gains in market share. Instead of refining the technology that we know and making it more and more competitive with an evolutionary approach, nuclear advocates squabble among themselves about the Next Big Thing.

Fossil fuel marketers love that idea. They have often encouraged it. Look at the history of the ''fast breeder reactor'' which captured essentially all government support in 1963. It also captured the attention of thousands of exceptionally bright people. That distraction lasted for the better part of three decades, during which many other battles were lost because of sharp-elbowed debates about the merits of that Next Big Thing.

Just when the fast reactor folks thought they had answered all of the questions and were ready to perhaps start capturing some actual sales, the ball was snatched away when the IFR project was halted in 1993.

Once again, Lucy moves the football

Look at the squabbling that has been going on for the past six to eight years about the suggestion that all of nuclear's problems could be solved by adopting the radically different LFTR or some other variant of molten salt. Even the most ardent supporters acknowledge that their concepts need at least a decade's worth of development before being truly ready to begin building in any significant numbers. After the design work is completed, it will take a decade or more to get the supply chain into place.In the meantime, how much capital will be invested in extreme hydrocarbon extraction techniques like hydraulic fracturing, oil sands mining, or deep underwater drilling? How many billions of tons of CO2 will be dumped into our common atmosphere, causing an uncertain level of climate disruption and a threatening change in ocean chemistry?

We have plenty of uranium and thorium to fuel thousands of LWRs. Their deployment will give us sufficient time to develop both fast reactors and molten salt reactors AFTER we capture a growing share of the world's energy market and start making some real impact on hydrocarbon consumption.

By the way, once nuclear fission energy starts capturing market share with the machines that already have a developed supply chain, there might actually be a little money in the business available for investing in the Next Big Thing. When that happens, nuclear advocates could stop wasting so much time trying to beg pennies from the government.

My favorite current punching bag program is the $452 million that the government has promised for SMRs. Even that amount is spread over six years of appropriations risk. It is incredible to me how that tiny amount of money has caused so much distraction among people who claim to be industry ''leaders.'' It's ''decimal dust'' in the DOE budget and completely invisible in the context of the energy industry.

Please do not misunderstand me; I am a huge fan of developing smaller reactors. In fact, a commenter here took me to task for my advocacy of small modular reactors (SMRs) and implied that I was not following my own advice by allowing myself to be distracted by the Next Big Thing. Since I like to ''reduce, reuse and recycle'' I will repeat my answer to his comment here.

Light water SMRs are not game changers, they are game expanders. Adding them to the mix is like hiring an excellent running back for a team that has a quarterback like Payton Manning or Dan Marino.

As the US demonstrated throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, building large numbers of small light water reactors at the same time as building large numbers of large light water reactors is eminently possible and even advantageous. The smaller reactors give parts suppliers sustaining business because they use exactly the same kinds of materials. The enterprise of operating smaller reactors is like the NCAA teams that supply experienced players for the pros.

Of course, we goofed up a good model by keeping the smaller reactors limited to the US Navy and telling all of the players that most of the information that they learned about those smaller reactors should be kept locked up in a very secret playbook.

I suspect that other leagues (Russian, Chinese, Korean, French) might learn from our mistake and make a different choice. It is generally good business to offer a larger line of similar products that can serve a wider variety of customer needs.

I'm fully aware that some readers get turned off by business competition discussions and sports analogies, but what the heck, I'm on a roll, so I will continue the mixing of metaphors in hopes that I can succeed in tweaking everyone into a response.

My own athletic experience has been in non-contact endeavors like swimming and sailboat racing where the only legitimate way to win is to practice and improve performance. Both of those sports have rules that make it unlikely for anyone to win by focusing on developing ways of slowing down the competition. (Of course, there are some participants in those sports that occasionally attempt to win using the Tonya Harding method of kneecapping the competition, but that's rare, often unsuccessful, and certainly not legitimate.)

I think it's great that the Chinese are working hard to get better at nuclear energy technology. Goodness knows that the world needs as much affordable clean energy as possible. In the same email thread as the one that stimulated me to write this post, there is a eye-popping, thought-provoking picture of a presentation slide that should wake people up to both the need and the opportunity for nuclear energy growth.

China's Power Sources Projected Through 2035

The best way for American companies to successfully capture a substantial portion of the world energy market using emission-free nuclear energy technology is to focus on our own strengths and weaknesses. We need to practice hard and sell what we know how to do well. We need to get better at the things that we do not do so well right now.

We became a strong nation by finding or making things that people wanted to buy and selling those things to the world. Mining and manufacturing are a valuable enterprises that provides useful, well-compensated jobs for a wide variety of people. I can testify from personal experience that working in a factory can be immensely satisfying; there is a good feeling at the end of the day when you can see the pallets of finished products from the day's work piled up on the loading dock, ready to ship to happy customers.

Nuclear technologists need to bear down and focus on producing things that make a difference. We need to learn how to tell both our opponents and our advocates to ''lead, follow, or get out of the way.'' We have an important product to sell; it should be pretty obvious to many people in North America who are shivering under a polar vortex that an energy system that depends on energy conservation, ''cheap natural gas'', wind and solar energy is not a great foundation for strength, prosperity or even comfort.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 19:05

The Ecologist

8th January 2014

The steam emanating from the top of Unit 3 Reactor Building indicates "no abnormality", according to plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).

However "steam continues to be confirmed at the top of unit 3 reactor building intermittently since summer when debris removal was conducted on the top floor". The likely cause of the steam is "accumulated rainwater" and "no safety concerns indicated".

Steam has been visible since 18th July 2013, and has mostly been observed "on days with comparatively low temperature and high humidity and, upon almost all occasions, when rain had fallen before."

The steam has been observed around the edge of the shield plug of the Primary Containment Vessel (PCV), which is the upper structure of the reactor.

"No significant changes were found in either the main parameters related to the plant ... nor the monitoring post readings, which indicates no abnormality of the cooling of the reactor, nor dangers to human health, the company explained."

There has also been been "no significant change in the radiation dose and nuclide analysis results (dust sampling data) compared to those from before the steam was observed."

Radiation levels remain high on the the Reactor Building 3 and decontamination of the area will continue.

But despite the re-assuring message from TEPCO the situation remains critical. Another moderately severe earthquake could fracture the already badly damaged building's fuel storage pond and this would trigger an immediate need for emergency cooling of the spent fuel rods.

The current situation of Fukushima Daiichi may be seen via Live Camera atwww.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/f1-np/camera/index-e.html

Latest radiation dose monitoring results are posted atwww.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/index-e.html andhttp://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/surveymap/index-e.html

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 03:16

Guest essay by Christopher Monckton of Brenchley

Unnoticed, the IPCC has slashed its global-warming predictions, implicitly rejecting the models on which it once so heavily and imprudently relied. In the second draft of the Fifth Assessment Report it had broadly agreed with the models that the world will warm by 0.4 to 1.0 Cº from 2016-2035 against 1986-2005. But in the final draft it quietly cut the 30-year projection to 0.3-0.7 Cº, saying the warming is more likely to be at the lower end of the range [equivalent to about 0.4 Cº over 30 years]. If that rate continued till 2100, global warming this century could be as little as 1.3 Cº.

Official projections of global warming have plummeted since Dr. James Hansen of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies told the U.S. Congress in June 1988 the world would warm by 1 Cº every 20 years till 2050 (Fig. 1), implying 6 Cº to 2100.

Figure 1. Projected global warming from 1988-2019 on three scenarios (above), and from 1988-2060 on scenario A only (below), based on Hansen (1988), who testified before the U.S. Congress that June that scenario A was his business-as-usual case. The trend from 1988-2050 on that scenario (arrowed) is approximately 0.5 Cº/decade.

IPCC (1990: p. xi) projected warming of 0.2-0.5 Cº/decade to 2100. IPCC (1995: p. 6) projected 0.1-0.35 Cº/decade. IPCC (2001: p. 8) projected 0.13-0.43 Cº/decade to 2050. IPCC (2007: p. 13, table SPM.3) projected 0.11-0.64 Cº/decade to 2100.

Figure 2. Near-term warming projections (2005-2050) relative to 1986-2005, based on 42 models (colors) against observations (black). The second-order draft of IPCC (2013) projected global warming at 0.4-1.0 Cº over 30 years (red arrows), equivalent to 0.13-0.33 Cº/decade. The final draft projected warming at 0.4-0.7 Cº over 30 years (green arrows), equivalent to just 0.10-0.23 Cº/decade. Diagram based on IPCC (2013, Fig. 11.25a).

The second-order draft of IPCC (2013: fig. 11.33) had projected 0.13-0.33 Cº/decade to 2050. However, the final draft slashed this projection to 0.10-0.23 Cº/decade (Fig. 2), the IPCC's best guess being closer to the lower than to the upper bound of the revised range.

The projected range in the second-order draft had been consistent with the models, but the revised range in the final draft was at the low end of models' projections (Fig. 3). Implicitly, the IPCC no longer accepts that models accurately project warming.

The IPCC says:

''Overall, in the absence of major volcanic eruptions '' which would cause significant but temporary cooling '' and, assuming no significant future long term changes in solar irradiance, it is likely (>66% probability) that the GMST [global mean surface temperature] anomaly for the period 2016''2035, relative to the reference period of 1986''2005, will be in the range 0.3°C''0.7°C (expert assessment, to one significant figure; medium confidence).'' (IPCC, 2013, p. 11-52).

Figure 3. Above: Models' global warming projections, 2016-2035 vs. 1986-2005, against the IPCC's projected interval of 0.4-1.0 K over 30 years, equivalent to 0.13-0.33 K decade''1 (between the gray dotted lines, based on IPCC 2013, 2nd draft, fig. 11.33c). Below: Final draft's revised interval of 0.3-0.7 K over 30 years or 0.10-2.33 K decade''1, visibly at the low end of models' projections (based on IPCC, 2013, fig. 11.25c). This implicit rejection of the models' forecasting skill has passed unnoticed until now. Reviewers of the second draft were not consulted about the change in the IPCC's key near-term projections, though many had argued for it.

The IPCC's explicit reliance on its own ''expert assessment'' rather than upon the models' projections is a significant climbdown. However, even its reduced best estimate of 0.13 Cº/decade may still be on the high side. Observed outturn since 1950 has been below 0.11 Cº/decade (HadCRUT4, 2013: Fig. 4).

Figure 4. Global mean surface temperature anomalies and 0.11 Cº/decade least-squares trend, January 1950 to November 2013 (from HadCRUT4 data).

That is not all. Despite record increases in CO2 concentration, there has been no global warming for almost 13 years (mean of GISS, HadCRUT4, NCDC, RSS, & UAH temperature data: Fig. 5), or, by satellite measurements, for more than 17 years (RSS, 2013: Fig. 6), and no warming distinguishable from the combined measurement, coverage, and bias uncertainties for 18 years (HadCRUT4, 2013: Fig. 7).

Figure 5. Monthly global mean surface or lower-troposphere anomalies (dark blue) and least-squares linear-regression trend (bright blue: mean of GISS, HadCRUT4, NCDC, RSS, and UAH data), January 2001 to November 2013, showing no global warming for almost 13 years notwithstanding continuing rapid increases in atmospheric CO2 concentration (gray).

Figure 6. Despite a near-linear increase of 2 μatm/year in CO2 concentration (NOAA, 2013, gray), the least-squares linear-regression trend (bright blue) on the RSS satellite monthly global mean lower-troposphere anomalies (dark blue) has been zero for 17 years 3 months (207 months).

Figure 7. HadCRUT4 monthly global mean surface temperature anomalies and trend, February 1996 to November 2013, showing a linear trend entirely within and hence indistinguishable from the combined measurement, coverage, and bias uncertainties.

In the light of the growing divergence between projection and observation, a direct comparison between the IPCC's now-reduced near-term global warming projections and observed temperature change since 2005 is of value as a performance indicator for the models' global-warming projections.

Fig. 8 shows such a comparison, based on the downgraded projections in IPCC (2013, fig. 11.25a: see Fig. 2 above). In the nine years since 2005, a divergence of 0.15 Cº has occurred.

Figure 8. Orange region: Models' projections of global warming, January 2005 to November 2013, on the interval 1.33 [1.0, 2.33] Cº/century (from IPCC, 2013, fig. 11.25a). The second draft's mid-range estimate is the final draft's high-end estimate; the former low-end estimate is now the central estimate. Thick red trend-line: central projection of 0.12 K warming over the 107-month period, equivalent to 1.33 Cº/century. Gray curve and trend-line: monthly CO2 concentration anomalies (NOAA, 2013) and 18 μatm (198 μatm/century) trend, which caused 0.24 W m''2 forcing (or 0.35 W m''2 including other anthropogenic forcings). Of the 0.21 Cº warming projected to arise from this forcing, almost half was previously committed. Thick bright blue trend-line: Global cooling of 0.03 Cº (0.30 Cº/century: mean of five datasets). Over the period, the models over-predicted global warming by 0.15 Cº (1.6 Cº/century).

Multiple lines of evidence now confirm that the models and consequently the IPCC have overestimated global warming. Yet neither that misconceived organization nor any of its host of unthinking devotees has displayed any remorse. Instead, they persist in maintaining that the warming is temporarily paused, though they cannot really explain why; or they blame particulate aerosols, their get-out-of-jail-free fudge-factor; or they pretend warming is really continuing unabated, saying it has gone into hiding deep in the oceans where, conveniently, we cannot measure it, or that the Earth-atmosphere system has a fever driven by four atom-bombs'-worth of heat content increase every second.

What they are not prepared to countenance, notwithstanding the real-world, measured evidence, is the growing probability that they and their precious models have so badly misunderstood the climate, or so well understood it and so badly misrepresented it, that global warming is simply not going to occur at anything like any of the exaggerated rates that they had until now so confidently over-predicted.

Do not underestimate the importance of the IPCC's climbdown, albeit that it is furtive and that there is not a hint of it in the Summary for Policymakers '' the only part of the latest assessment that lazy politicians and incurious journalists may ever get around to reading.

Figure 9. Five projections of global warming, 1990-2050, compared with the linear trends on two observed datasets. IPCC projections are mid-range estimates. The trend (green) on the HadCRUt4 monthly global mean surface temperature anomalies reflects the warming at 0.11 K decade''1 observed since 1950. The trend (dark green) on the RSS satellite data reflects the zero trend that has now persisted for more than 17 years. Both observed trends are extrapolated to 2050.

If anyone ever again tries to tell you The Science Is Settled, as the now-axed Klimate Kommissariat in Australia is still trying to do in its latest taxpayer-funded propaganda sheet, point to Fig. 9 and ask two questions.

First, point to the red zone marked Projections and ask which of the very wide range of official projections The Science has Settled upon.

Secondly, point to the green zone marked Observations and ask why the real climate has so persistently failed to pay any attention to the Settled Science.

Then sit back and listen to the increasingly demoralized and disjointed flannel. As the nonsense runs down, the game is up.

===============================================================

References

GISS, 2013, Monthly global mean surface temperature anomalies, 1880-2013, from http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/tabledata_v3/GLB.Ts+dSST.txt.

HadCRUT4, 2013, Monthly global mean surface temperature anomalies, from www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcrut4/data/current/time_series/HadCRUT.4.2.0.0.monthly_ns_avg.txt.

Hansen, J., I., Fung, A. Lacis, D. Rind, S. Lebedeff, R. Ruedy, and G. Russell, 1988, Global climate changes as forecast by Goddard Institute for Space Studies Three-Dimensional Model. J. Geophys. Res. 93 (D8): 9341-9364.

IPCC, 1990, Climate Change '' The IPCC Assessment (1990):Report prepared for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by Working Group I, J.T. Houghton, G.J. Jenkins and J.J. Ephraums (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Great Britain, New York, NY, USA and Melbourne, Australia, 410 pp.

IPCC, 1995, Climate Change 1995 '' The Science of Climate Change: Contribution of WG1 to the Second Assessment Report, J.T. Houghton, L.G. Meira Filho, B.A. Callander, N. Harris, A. Kattenberg, and K. Maskell (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Great Britain, New York, NY, USA and Melbourne, Australia.

IPCC, 2001, Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Houghton, J.T., Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden, X. Dai, K. Maskell and C.A. Johnson (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and New York, NY, USA, 881 pp.

IPCC, 2007, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Avery, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and New York, NY, USA.

IPCC, 2013, Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and New York, NY, USA.

NCDC, 2013, Monthly global mean surface temperature anomalies, 1880-2013, from ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/anomalies/monthly.land_ocean.90S.90N.df_1901-2000mean.dat.

NOAA, 2013, Monthly mean atmospheric CO2 concentration anomalies, 1958-2013, from ftp://ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/ccg/co2/trends/co2_mm_mlo.txt.

RSS, Inc., 2013, Global mean lower-troposphere temperature anomalies, 1979-2013, remss.com/data/msu/monthly_time_series/RSS_Monthly_MSU_AMSU_Channel_TLT_Anomalies_Land_and_Ocean_v03_3.txt.

UAH, 2013, Satellite MSU monthly global mean lower-troposphere temperature anomalies: vortex.nsstc.uah.edu/data/msu/t2lt/uahncdc.lt.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 02:57

When you first meet Richard Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan professor of meteorology at MIT, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, leading climate ''skeptic,'' and all-around scourge of James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Al Gore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and sundry other climate ''alarmists,'' as Lindzen calls them, you may find yourself a bit surprised. If you know Lindzen only from the way his opponents characterize him'--variously, a liar, a lunatic, a charlatan, a denier, a shyster, a crazy person, corrupt'--you might expect a spittle-flecked, wild-eyed loon. But in person, Lindzen cuts a rather different figure. With his gray beard, thick glasses, gentle laugh, and disarmingly soft voice, he comes across as nothing short of grandfatherly.

Thomas Fluharty

Granted, Lindzen is no shrinking violet. A pioneering climate scientist with decades at Harvard and MIT, Lindzen sees his discipline as being deeply compromised by political pressure, data fudging, out-and-out guesswork, and wholly unwarranted alarmism. In a shot across the bow of what many insist is indisputable scientific truth, Lindzen characterizes global warming as ''small and .'‰'‰.'‰'‰. nothing to be alarmed about.'' In the climate debate'--on which hinge far-reaching questions of public policy'--them's fightin' words.

In his mid-seventies, married with two sons, and now emeritus at MIT, Lindzen spends between four and six months a year at his second home in Paris. But that doesn't mean he's no longer in the thick of the climate controversy; he writes, gives myriad talks, participates in debates, and occasionally testifies before Congress. In an eventful life, Lindzen has made the strange journey from being a pioneer in his field and eventual IPCC coauthor to an outlier in the discipline'--if not an outcast.

Richard Lindzen was born in 1940 in Webster, Massachusetts, to Jewish immigrants from Germany. His bootmaker father moved the family to the Bronx shortly after Richard was born. Lindzen attended the Bronx High School of Science before winning a scholarship to the only place he applied that was out of town, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York. After a couple of years at Rensselaer, he transferred to Harvard, where he completed his bachelor's degree and, in 1964, a doctorate.

Lindzen wasn't a climatologist from the start'--''climate science'' as such didn't exist when he was beginning his career in academia. Rather, Lindzen studied math. ''I liked applied math,'' he says, ''[and] I was a bit turned off by modern physics, but I really enjoyed classical physics, fluid mechanics, things like that.'' A few years after arriving at Harvard, he began his transition to meteorology. ''Harvard actually got a grant from the Ford Foundation to offer generous fellowships to people in the atmospheric sciences,'' he explains. ''Harvard had no department in atmospheric sciences, so these fellowships allowed you to take a degree in applied math or applied physics, and that worked out very well because in applied math the atmosphere and oceans were considered a good area for problems. .'‰'‰.'‰'‰. I discovered I really liked atmospheric sciences'--meteorology. So I stuck with it and picked out a thesis.''

And with that, Lindzen began his meteoric rise through the nascent field. In the 1970s, while a professor at Harvard, Lindzen disproved the then-accepted theory of how heat moves around the Earth's atmosphere, winning numerous awards in the process. Before his 40th birthday, he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In the mid-1980s, he made the short move from Harvard to MIT, and he's remained there ever since. Over the decades, he's authored or coauthored some 200 peer-reviewed papers on climate.

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:09

An amateur video of a Geiger counter showing what appear to be high radiation levels at a Coastside beach has drawn the attention of local, state and federal public health officials. Since being posted last week, the short video has galvanized public concerns that radioactive material could be landing on the local coastline after traveling from Japan as a result of the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors.

Government officials say they are looking into the video shot on Dec. 23 and performing their own sampling of the beaches, but they have found no indication so far that radiation levels were hazardous.

''It's not something that we feel is an immediate public health concern,'' said Dean Peterson, county environmental health director. ''We're not even close to the point of saying that any of this is from Fukushima.''

First posted last week on YouTube, the seven-minute video shows the meter of a Geiger counter as an off-camera man measures different spots on the beach south of Pillar Point Harbor. The gadget's alarm begins ringing as its radiation reading ratchets up to about 150 counts per minute, or roughly five times the typical amount found in the environment.

Counts per minute is a standard way for Geiger counters to measure radiation, but it does not directly equate to the strength or its hazard level to humans. Those factors depend on the type of radioactive particles and isotope.

Nonetheless, the video went viral online, gaining nearly 400,000 views in the last week.

In a blog entry, the unidentified poster of the video noted that he has been monitoring local beaches for two years before noticing a sudden rise in radiation levels in recent days. The Review was not immediately able to contact the man who made the video.

In the following days, other amateurs with Geiger counters began posting similar videos online. The videos follow other alarming news last month that starfish were mysteriously disintegrating along the West Coast, a trend that has not been linked yet to any cause. Past computer simulations had indicated that radioactive cesium-137 from the Fukushima reactors could begin appearing on West Coast shores by early 2014. Those findings, published in August by the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems in Spain, also noted that any radioactive material that crossed the Pacific would likely be diluted and fall below international safety levels.

County health officials first learned of the radiation levels last week, and they sent their own inspector on Dec. 28 to Pacifica with a Geiger counter. Using a different unit, the county inspector measured the beach to have a radiation level of about 100 micro-REM per hour, or about five times the normal amount. REM stands for ''Roentgen equivalent man,'' a measurement of the dosage and statistical biological effects presented by radiation.

Although the radiation levels were clearly higher than is typical, Peterson emphasized that it was still not unsafe for humans. A person would need to be exposed to 100 microREMs of radiation for 50,000 hours before it surpassed safety guidelines by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, he explained.

Peterson admitted he was ''befuddled'' as to why radiation levels were higher than normal, but he was skeptical that the Fukushima meltdown could be the cause. He noted that many innocuous items could spike the radiation levels in an area, including red-painted disposable eating utensils.

''I honestly think the end result of this is that it's just higher levels of background radiation,'' he said.

Peterson forwarded the matter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Public Health, agencies with more expertise on analyzing radioactivity.

A state Public Health spokeswoman said her office was contacted on Thursday and was still looking into the matter. More information would be available by next week, she said.

''We can't comment on anybody's media creation. We really have no way of knowing right now whether it's valid or not,'' said spokeswoman Wendy Hopkins.

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Source: The Ulsterman Report

Tue, 07 Jan 2014 04:30

The Obama administration has enjoyed consistent and significant support from Silicon Valley business interests before and during his time at the White House. CBS News hints as to why, and the answer plays to the tune of over 100 BILLION dollars'...

(via WHD)

Despite billions invested by the U.S. government in so-called ''Cleantech'' energy, Washington and Silicon Valley have little to show for it

About a decade ago, the smart people who funded the Internet turned their attention to the energy sector, rallying tech engineers to invent ways to get us off fossil fuels, devise powerful solar panels, clean cars, and futuristic batteries. The idea got a catchy name: ''Cleantech.''

Silicon Valley got Washington excited about it. President Bush was an early supporter, but the federal purse strings truly loosened under President Obama. Hoping to create innovation and jobs, he committed north of a $100 billion in loans, grants and tax breaks to Cleantech. But instead of breakthroughs, the sector suffered a string of expensive tax-funded flops. Suddenly Cleantech was a dirty word. LINK

________________________________

Now I know some will ask why Congress, once again, had done nothing regarding this latest Obama pay to play scandal, so similar of course to earlier and related scandals like Solyndra. The answer lies in some very critically placed politicians who sit on powerful investigative committees who, like the president, enjoy consistent and $ignificant support from Silicon Valley.

The last five-plus years in Washington D.C. have been the most corrupt and abusive in the history of this nation. If we had a more honest Mainstream Media, much of which has been complicit in this corruption, Americans would have run this administration and its complex and ever growing support system out of town some time ago.

As it is, as it always is '' we must look to ourselves to solve this problem readers. The 2014 Midterm Election is the first major step in doing so. -UM

_________________________________

GET ALL OF D.W. ULSTERMAN'S BOOKS AVAILABLE HERE

GET ALL OF D.W. ULSTERMAN'S BOOKS AVAILABLE HERE

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 01:54

Deep Sea News, a blog written largely by professional ocean scientists, has been doing a really good job of debunking bogus stories about Fukushima radiation affecting ocean wildlife near North America. And there are a lot to choose from. It's damn near a genre, at this point '-- a genre that's full of misleading information and flat-out fabrications. For instance, the latest story to circulate on social media is all about how Fukushima radiation is causing massive die-offs of sea life off the coast of California.

But this claim falls apart pretty quickly. At Deep Sea News, Craig McClain, Assistant Director of Science for the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, found that, perhaps unsurprisingly, the real science behind this story has nothing to do with radiation or Fukushima. Instead, writers at Natural News apparently took a scientific journal article about climate and food cycles in the deep ocean and just decided, without any basis, that the bloom/die-off cycles recorded in the paper must have been caused by Fukushima. This, despite the fact that those cycles have been happening since before 2011.

McClain breaks down the research paper that Natural News used to make their Fukushima claims and explains what's really going on. One key point, the paper isn't even about mysterious deaths of massive amounts of marine creatures. It's about bloom/die-off cycles, a natural process in which small creatures like algae and jelly-like salps explode in number and then die, sinking to the seafloor where their bodies feed other animals. When the paper says that the die-offs are larger than they used to be, what it's really saying is that populations of algae and salps are getting larger and that sudden blooms in those populations are getting bigger. The real science is not a story about death, at all. It's a story about a food cycle on steroids.

From 2003 to 2012 the amount of phytoplankton production, fodder for marine snow, was higher than years prior. After 2006, the frequency of spikes in marine snow, i.e. blizzards, also increased. In the summer of 2011, the first of three dramatic blizzards occurred. During this event a large number of diatoms bloomed at the surface and sank rapidly to the seafloor. The second event in the spring/early summer of 2012, was triggered by a major bloom of gelatinous salps. As mentioned in the press release of the paper, ''These salps became so abundant that they blocked the seawater intake of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, located on the California coast east of Station M.'' When these salps died, as they do after a bloom, they carpeted the seafloor. In September 2012 another plankton bloom occurred and this combined with fecal pellets from salps (who hungrily munched on the algae) again carpeted the floor with marine snow. In addition the greatest amounts of marine snow and consumption by deep-sea life (as measured by respiration rates) occurred in the last two years of the time series.

... Nowhere does the paper or the press release mention radiation or Fukushima. Nilch, negatory, nadda, never.

But this is not good enough for staff writer Ethan Hunt and others outlets that continue to recycle this story. [Here McClain quotes the Natural News article:] "Though the researchers involved with the work have been reluctant to pin Fukushima as a potential cause '-- National Geographic, which covered the study recently, did not even mention Fukushima '-- the timing of the discovery suggests that Fukushima is, perhaps, the cause."

I'm really not kidding. Natural News literally pulled the Fukushima reference out of thin air, based solely on the fact that three large algae blooms occurred after the spring of 2011 '-- even though those were part of a pattern of especially large blooms dating back to 2006, and the overall quantity of small plants and animals involved in the bloom/die-off cycle has been especially high since 2003. And then Natural News insinuated that scientists and other news outlets were engaging in conspiracy or willful ignorance because those people didn't make wild, speculative claims with no basis in fact. Essentially, Natural News lies to you. And, for that, they're being rewarded with increased readership. So here's a better plan. In the future, when you see a headline on Facebook or Twitter telling you about Fukushima harming North American fisheries or ocean life, don't bother clicking on that link. Go check out Deep Sea News, instead, and get the real story behind the headline.

Image: A colony of salps, photographed by Lars Plougmann and used via CC

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 17:36

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Department of Health and Human Services each had proposed rulemaking changes published Tuesday in the Federal Register as part of Obama administration executive actions to further restrict the eligibility requirements for lawful possession of firearms. Among other changes, the ATF proposal would include those with involuntary outpatient commitments among prohibited persons, and the HHS notice would eliminate state privacy restrictions about sharing the identities of individuals.

An ''Amended Definition of 'Adjudicated as a Mental Defective' and 'Committed to a Mental Institution','' signed by Attorney General Eric Holder on January 2, and a notice of proposed rulemaking titled ''Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS),'' signed on December 31 by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, are the latest moves by an administration intent on accomplishing through the executive what the people's representatives in the legislature have not enacted.

While ''gun control'' advocates are positioned to exploit opposition to the rule changes as obstruction of ''common sense'' gun laws, many valid concerns must be identified and explored, and there is a provision for doing that through public feedback.

The comment period for the ATF proposal extends to 90 days, and will end on April 7. Comments may be submitted via the online form at Regulations.gov.

The comment period for the HHS proposal will end in 62 days, on March 10. Comments can be submitted via an online form at Regulations.gov.

As with all such comment opportunities, it is important to provide observations and concerns that will be practically and legally useful, particularly if enacted rules ignoring legitimate concerns provoke legal challenge. This column will monitor gun rights groups and other sources with the intent of sharing their analyses and recommendations for effective communications. That will include protections against mental health ''blanket dragnets,'' ensuring rights have been protected in all ''adjudications'' resulting in a firearms disability, and verifying valid and affordable means exist for having recognition of rights restored.

------------

If you're a regular Gun Rights Examiner reader and believe it provides news and perspectives you won't find in the mainstream press, please subscribe to this column and help spread the word by sharing links, promoting it on social media like Facebook (David Codrea) and Twitter (@dcodrea), and telling your like-minded friends about it. And for more commentary, be sure to visit "The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance."

------------

When your turn to be tested comes, how will you fare? Wouldn't it be better to stop the antis before they get that far? How can we, if most gun owners let a relative handful of activists do all the work? The latest GUNS Magazine "Rights Watch" column is online, and you can read it before the issue hits the stands. Click here to read "The Unconstitutional State.''

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 03:35

Sex. Drugs. Late nights.

You may be reading the first four words of my memoir. Or you could be simply listing three things that show signs of being a genius, according to various studies. There's evidence that shows that if you're spending less of your nights hitting the books and more time smoking weed and getting laid until 3am, then you're probably wiser than the rest of us. The three things that got me kicked out of college are apparently the things that the people at the best colleges do all the time.

Researchers in England have found that students studying at prestigious universities such as Oxford and Cambridge spend more on sex toys than their peers at other universities. Cambridge and Oxford's sex toy sales on just one website (Lovehoney.co.uk, who funded the research) totaled a staggering $31, 461. No word on what products they ordered, nor whether they kept their glasses on while they used them.

"The correlation probably has something to do with the open-mindedness that comes with intelligence," says Annalisa Rose, 23, who works at Honey, a high-end sex shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. "I think that the ability to engage in an open sex life comes with the abilities of introspection and logical thought, and those require some level of intelligence. If we're talking about an open sex life that comes from an emotionally healthy place, sexual mores are mostly made up anyway and intelligent people can rationalize past them," she continued.

The 2nd part of our "genius trifecta" is drugs. Smarter people are more likely to smoke pot or do a line than the average simpleton. This is because, according to many studies, a smarter person isn't more likely to choose the "smarter" choice of not doing drugs but is instead more likely to pursue the more evolutionary novel choice, one that would inherently expand their horizons. Smarter people don't necessarily 'think smarter' - they simply rationalize where they're supposed to "feel." So while a less intelligent person is less likely to pick up a heroin habit in the first place, the more intelligent person will rationalize it. (This explains every good jazz album ever made and also every Christian rock album ever made in the same sentence.)

A 2010 study that ran in Psychology Today (what, you don't subscribe?) also states that those with an IQ of 125 or higher are exponentially more likely to use drugs. Says the study:

Net of sex, religion, religiosity, marital status, number of children, education, earnings, depression, satisfaction with life, social class at birth, mother's education, and father's education, British children who are more intelligent before the age of 16 are more likely to consume psychoactive drugs at age 42 than less intelligent children.

... there is a clear monotonic association between childhood general intelligence and adult consumption of psychoactive drugs. ''Very bright'' individuals (with IQs above 125) are roughly three-tenths of a standard deviation more likely to consume psychoactive drugs than ''very dull'' individuals (with IQs below 75).

Late nights, too, play a leading role in that of the smart person: an academic paper entitled "Why The Night Owl Is More Intelligent," published in the journal Psychology And Individual Differences, says that for several millennia humans have been largely conditioned to work during the day and sleep at night. Those that buck the trend, the paper suggests "...that more intelligent individuals may be more likely to acquire and espouse evolutionarily novel values and preferences than less intelligent individuals." The paper goes on to say that those who are more liberal and more inclined towards atheism are more likely to be intelligent, too.

Essentially, if you're more of a forward thinker, if you're trying something new and pushing your boundaries, you're most likely more intelligent. This doesn't mean that Toronto mayor Rob Ford is some kind of lucid genius, however. It merely suggest that smarter people are more likely to have more sex, do drugs, and stay up late.

So if you're getting laid at 3am on Sunday morning and have a full bowl packed beside the bed and you aren't going to church the next day, you're probably a genius.

Either that or you're incredibly good at living your best life, as Oprah says.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 16:45

Kraft Foods Group is grappling with a Velveeta shortage just as the dip season kicks into full gear.

"Given the incredible popularity of Velveeta this time of year, it is possible consumers may not be able to find their favorite product on store shelves over the next couple of weeks," Kraft spokeswoman Jody Moore said in an email. "Our retail customers are aware of the situation and we expect it to be a short-term issue."

Ad Age contacted Kraft about the issue after reports of a shortage at a few East Coast grocery stores.According to an employee of a Brooklyn-area grocery, they weren't expecting shipments again until February due to a plant issue. When pressed for details, Ms. Moore said: "I can tell you there is a combination of factors involved, but the driver is really the high demand." She added: "We really haven't heard much from consumers about it at all. It's a short-term issue amplified by the fact that this is a key time for the brand."

Whatever the reason, Kraft could be losing out on sales as consumers search for dip options as they watch the NFL playoffs and other winter sporting events on TV. In recent years Kraft has formed a unique partnership with competing food company ConAgra to jointly promote Velveeta and ConAgra-owned Ro-Tel canned tomatoes, which are billed in ads as the perfect combo for dips.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 16:44

hide captionAccording to an AdvertisingAge report, Velveeta may be a little hard to come by in some areas over the next few weeks.

Paul Sakuma/APAccording to an AdvertisingAge report, Velveeta may be a little hard to come by in some areas over the next few weeks.

Paul Sakuma/APIf I say Super Bowl food, you think ... Velveeta? Maybe Velveeta with Ro*Tel.

Oh, yes. Ro*Tel's Famous Con Queso.

What could be more Sunday-in-January-indulgent than hot, creamy, processed cheese mixed with diced tomatoes & green chilies.

I have to admit, I've scooped up my share of con queso on a nacho chip or two.

But this year, whether it's the Sochi Olympics or football playoffs that have you snacking on the couch, might you be searching for an alternative to the Velveeta-made con queso?

According to an AdvertisingAge report, Velveeta may be a little hard to come by in some areas over the next few weeks.

Ad Age reports that an employee of a Brooklyn, N.Y., area grocery has been told that shipments of Velveeta won't come until February. And the publication says there are reports about shortages from a few other grocery stores on the East Coast.

A Kraft spokesperson cites high demand as a factor. "It's ... amplified by the fact that this is a key time for the brand," Jody Moore told Ad Age.

We asked Kraft if it has any plans to get the production chain moving a little faster, and we heard back from Moore, who told us in an email that it is "possible that consumers may not be able to find some Velveeta products on store shelves over the next couple of weeks."

But, she adds, "We have not heard many complaints from consumers so far." And, she says, "This is really a short-term issue."

A quick check at a chain grocery here in Washington, D.C., finds shelves well-stocked. I guess we'll have to keep tabs.

So is Kraft pulling some kind of publicity stunt here?

Nope. Judy Moore says, "This is not a marketing strategy."

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 03:10

Updated at 2:40 p.m. ET

Fans of warm, cheesy dips are getting some curdling news: There's a shortage of Kraft (KRFT) Velveeta cheese.

Some customers may not be able to find the product over the next few weeks, according to a Kraft statement sent to CBS MoneyWatch. "Any issues with availability are much more noticeable given the seasonal demand," the statement noted. "However, we have not heard from many consumers that they are having issues locating the product and we expect this to be a short term situation."

Advertising Age earlier reported shortages at some East Coast grocery stores, with one Brooklyn-area grocery noting that it wasn't expecting deliveries of the cheese until February. Kraft told AdAge that "combinations of factors" were involved, including demands on drivers.

Some consumers expressed alarm on Twitter. "Whatever will we do for dip!" one Twitter user wrote.

Of course, the shortage could lead to new-found demand for Velveeta. In fact, some cynics might accuse Kraft of staging a "shortage" just as the season for cheesy dips warms up. There's nothing like a scarcity to make consumers who might otherwise have turned up their noses suddenly feel nostalgic for the 86-year-old brand.

While it's unclear how widespread the shortage is, Kraft is risking losing out on sales during prime chips-and-dip season, as the NFL playoffs continue and lead up to the Feb. 2 Super Bowl.

Velveeta isn't just an icon of American food-processing ingenuity. The brand has been showing growth, according to Kraft's third-quarter earnings release. Velveeta slices -- thin slices of the cheese -- have boosted sales, while Velveeta dinner kits are continuing to win over consumers, the company said in its earnings release.

While it's not clear if the shortage is just for classic Velveeta or if it includes spin-off products like the Velveeta dinners, some fans may view the development as welcome as a hunk of Limburger cheese at a Super Bowl party.

(C) 2014 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 23:08

B00CK8CJVS,B006L9B616,B00FOR56VW,B00F3D4IVG,B00BATEIBC,B00C5R7EE6,B00DXKJOVA,B00C4BA4AE,B00BY5QX1K,B00H7RGOFE,B00E5UJAG6,B00E257U1G,B00E257TRG,B00GJG6ZB2,B00CNQ9PFK,B00DY3FFMS,B00BWQW73E,B00BSB2DBO,B00ET38FO2,B00C5R7HVG,B00FIP16EG,B00BAWHPX2,B00C1N5W20,B00C5QQI3A,B00A285LGI,B009Y4I9EM,B00E9FYUQM,B00CK8CLDY,B00C4GLYP8,B00E99YOXM,B00BSEQ3F8,B00C4BA4C2,B00BKRW50K,B00EOARZ4G,B00AEBEUHO,B00B0YPK3W,B00DG8ZYBI,B00C5R7H02,B00EZ3NF82,B00CIR97UC,B00CDUVSQ0,B00BIV1R98,B00C5R7F8G,B00C9CLZXI,B00CGI3DXK,B00CICPU4O,B00ER2X0ZY,B00D6II29Y,B009QJMXI8,B00CNQ7M6O,B00DTTWGWE,B00AEDDSUC,B00C4GUWTC,B00F8HCAQW,B00DVE484G,B008JHXO6S,B00B1FG7QO,B00E5W9YZG,B00A287PG2,B00EMXBZMS,B00B6TZKCC,B0050DIWB6,B00FLNVGS6,B00DA79YXE,B00C74YQFC,B00AFPTSH6,B00EP3NQOA,B00DMCV624,B00FN78A2A,B00BQMKCCM,B005AJM3U6,B00BRUQ7QI,B002C949LI,B00C5R7CHK,B005R9EB68,B00F1R0S0Y,B00DAD3ACO,B00CIR97SY,B00CCX6NIG,B008EKORIY,B00C4GRK4W,B00ADLSYU4,B00CQY9E5K,B00CKSWP58,B00EOAT5A8,B00DFM5C3U,B004Q3RDW0,B00EGJAZ06,B007ZHCEN2,B00EV0VGDA,B00B4FJO84,B000QCSA90,B000FCK4UE,B00BPY5PIM,B00G8Q849O,B00BSETVI4,B006LTIS7G,B000XUBC68,B00FK8Y274,B00AAYF8WG

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Source: JustOneMinute

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 04:21

Tear out the front page! Here is a shocker from former SecDef Gates, as reported by Bob Woodward:

In a new memoir, former defense secretary Robert Gates unleashes harsh judgments about President Obama's leadership and his commitment to the Afghanistan war, writing that by early 2010 he had concluded the president ''doesn't believe in his own strategy, and doesn't consider the war to be his. For him, it's all about getting out.''

Leveling one of the more serious charges that a defense secretary could make against a commander in chief sending forces into combat, Gates asserts that Obama had more than doubts about the course he had charted in Afghanistan. The president was ''skeptical if not outright convinced it would fail,'' Gates writes in ''Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War.''

So Obama was sending our young men and women off to a meat grinder with no real confidence in the likelihood of success. How like Lyndon Johnson [see AND McNAMARA, below].

Here is the NY Times version:

Obama Lost Faith in His Afghan Strategy, Book Asserts

In His New Memoir, Robert M. Gates, the Former Defense Secretary, Offers a Critique of the President

By THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON '-- After ordering a troop increase in Afghanistan, President Obama eventually lost faith in the strategy, his doubts fed by White House advisers who continually brought him negative news reports suggesting it was failing, according to his former defense secretary Robert M. Gates.

In a new memoir, Mr. Gates, a Republican holdover from the Bush administration who served for two years under Mr. Obama, praises the president as a rigorous thinker who frequently made decisions ''opposed by his political advisers or that would be unpopular with his fellow Democrats.'' But Mr. Gates says that by 2011, Mr. Obama began criticizing '-- sometimes emotionally '-- the way his policy in Afghanistan was playing out.

At a pivotal meeting in the situation room in March 2011, called to discuss the withdrawal timetable, Mr. Obama opened with a blast of frustration '-- expressing doubts about Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander he had chosen, and questioning whether he could do business with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.

''As I sat there, I thought: The president doesn't trust his commander, can't stand Karzai, doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his,'' Mr. Gates wrote. ''For him, it's all about getting out.''

I wish these two could agree on the timing of Gates' insight - per the Times, the "all about getting out" moment was March 2011; per Woodward,

...by early 2010 he had concluded the president ''doesn't believe in his own strategy, and doesn't consider the war to be his. For him, it's all about getting out.''

Well. I was saying the same thing back in September 2009. Activate the auto-quote:

Briefly, I think Obama escalated in Afghanistan for political show - he wanted to back his famous 2002 anti-Iraq war speech about not being opposed to all wars, just dumb ones with some suitably fierce rhetoric, so he campaigned on the notion that we had to abandon Iraq and win on the real battlefield of Afghanistan, despite the many obvious obstacle to success....

[A]s of January 20 2009 the US had better chances for something like a victory in Iraq than in Afghanistan, but Obama has remained committed to pursuing the lesser chance. For now - who doubts that the anti-war left will turn on the Afghan adventure and Obama will be quick to blame Bush and turn with them?

And again in July 2010, which may or may not have put me ahead of Gates in ruminating about Obama's goals in Afghanistan:

Plenty of progressives are wondering what happened to that nice lefty they voted for, and are wondering when his inner dove will fly forth. Believe me, plenty of righties are wondering the same thing.

My official editorial position is that if we had Lincoln in the White House, the Afghani equivalent of George Washington in Kabul, and Generals Marshall and Eisenhower peering at maps of Kandahar, we might still lose in Afghanistan. Gen. Petraeus is a great general and a great American, but he is not partnered with Lincoln and Washington.

Conversely, we might be lucky enough to win even without a President committed to victory, but I don't think it is worth the chance. It's too late now, but it would have been better if Obama had never escalated the war.

Yeah, Obama lacked commitment to victory in Afghanistan, and in a subsequent post I noticed that the sun rises in the East (and the sky was blue!). There is no way it took Gates until March 2011 to figure that out.

CAN WE IGNORE A SWIPE AT HILLARY? From Woodward:

Gates offers a catalogue of various meetings, based in part on notes that he and his aides made at the time, including an exchange between Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that he calls ''remarkable.''

He writes: ''Hillary told the president that her opposition to the [2007] surge in Iraq had been political because she was facing him in the Iowa primary. .'‰.'‰. The president conceded vaguely that opposition to the Iraq surge had been political. To hear the two of them making these admissions, and in front of me, was as surprising as it was dismaying.''

Wow, Hillary's opposition to the surge was political? Just like her support of the AUMF in 2002 was political. Which makes this genius wrong twice.

As a timesaver, future writers might just want to list the decisions Hillary made that were not political. Put them in the World's Shortest Books collection.

AND McNAMARA: The NY Times editors, by way of Cecil Turner, offered their thoughts on McNamara's pursuit of a Vietnam strategy in which he did not believe:

''Mr. McNamara must not escape the lasting moral condemnation of his countrymen,'' The New York Times said in a widely discussed editorial, written by the page's editor at the time, Howell Raines. ''Surely he must in every quiet and prosperous moment hear the ceaseless whispers of those poor boys in the infantry, dying in the tall grass, platoon by platoon, for no purpose. What he took from them cannot be repaid by prime-time apology and stale tears, three decades late.''

Obama has nothing to worry about from that quarter, obviously; it's hard to imagine liberal fashion changing that dramatically.

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Fri, 03 Jan 2014 22:07

HomeMailNewsSportsFinanceWeatherGamesGroupsAnswersScreenFlickrMobileMoreomg!ShineMoviesMusicTVHealthShoppingTravelAutosHomesYahoo omgSearch omg!Search WebSign InMailHelpAccount InfoHelpSuggestionsYahoo

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:10

Matt Rourke / APFormer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign has rented its email list to Ready for Hillary, the super PAC laying the groundwork for a potential second attempt at the White House.

On Sunday, the group emailed the Clinton list offering free ''I'm Ready for Hillary'' bumper stickers, but unlike dozens of recent emails from the group offering swag, this one had the return address info@hillaryclinton.com.

Seth Bringman, a spokesman for the super PAC, told TIME on Sunday that ''Ready for Hillary rented the hillaryclinton.com email list to connect with her past supporters.''

It's not uncommon for defeated political campaigns to rent out their email lists to causes their sponsors support. Several other groups, including the President Barack Obama's campaign and EMILY's List, have previously rented out Clinton's list.

Super PACs are not allowed to directly coordinate with candidates or campaigns, but because Clinton is not a declared candidate there is nothing improper about the list rental. But it is the latest indication of how seriously Clinton is considering another bid for the Oval Office. Clinton has said she will make a decision on whether to mount another campaign this year, and already a web of outside groups have formed to lay the groundwork for her if she decides to run, many with the support of top aides from the 2008 campaign and even the assistance of several top Obama operatives.

Clinton's campaign filed a termination report with the Federal Election Commission last year after she finished paying off her 2008 campaign debts and left the State Department. It is not clear from public records who maintains control of the email list.

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 23:02

20-year, $1.2 billion agreement will provide Jenin power plant with 4.75 billion cubic meters of gas from Leviathan field Avital Lahav

Palestine Power Generating Company has become the first company to sign a contract with the Leviathan Gas Field.

The agreement will supply the Palestinian energy company with $1.2 billion worth of natural gas in order to generate electricity from a power station that it will establish next to Jenin.

The gas reservoir west of Haifa, owned in part by Israeli companies Delek Drilling, Avner Oil and Gas and Ratio Oil Exploration, and which will be operated by plurality shareholder American company Noble Energy, contains about 550 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Over the course of 20 years, 4.75 billion cubic meters will be sold to the Palestinian company.

Sea ChangeIsrael's new motor fuels strategy leans on gas / ReutersNatural gas deposits aimed at replacing 60 percent of oil use in Israel by 2025, as switching from oil could bring consumer savings, tax income to add another percentage point to GDP

Full Story

The deal was signed in the American Colony hotel in Jerusalem. The controlling shareholder of Delek Drillings, Yitzhak Tshuva, said economic deals between the Israelis and Palestinians would only help advance the need for peace.

"Peace is a cooperative deed, done through economic cooperation, respect and mutual faith," he said. "Cooperative economic agreements, such as the one signed today, will help bring the two nations closer and will contribute to building to the base to peace."

Noble Energy CEO Lawson Freeman said his company welcomed the historic agreement, Leviathan's first.

"We hope to reach a state where we can sign more gas contracts with local customers," he said. "We're looking forward to seeing the development of Leviathan in the near future."

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:48

8 January 2014Last updated at 11:02 ET By Yuwen WuBBC ChineseThe stakes could not be higher for China, the largest investor in South Sudan's oil sector, as fierce fighting continues between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of his former deputy.

Some of the largest oil fields China operates are in areas controlled by fighters backing Riek Machar, the country's vice-president until he was sacked in July.

Oil production has already dropped by 20% since the onset of the conflict three weeks ago and more than 300 Chinese workers have been evacuated.

The spectre of their Libyan experience also weighs heavily on the Chinese minds - project after project now lies deserted because of heavy fighting during the Arab Spring uprising of 2011, inflicting huge losses on China.

Continue reading the main storyChina's investment in the Sudans An estimated $20bn before the countries split $8bn in South Sudan following secession It is no surprise then that China is putting its full weight behind the peace talks in Addis Ababa.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in the Ethiopian capital on Monday and made it clear that China wanted both sides to stop fighting and seek a reasonable and rational way out.

According to media reports, he was even willing to mediate personally between the warring sides.

It is unclear if Mr Wang has been able to do this, but his message was important, reports the BBC's Emmanuel Igunza from Addis Ababa.

It demonstrates how seriously the international community is taking the crisis - with many diplomats present at the talks, he says.

Apart from China's Africa envoy Zhong Jianhua, US special envoy Donald Booth and EU special representative Alexander Rondos are also attending.

Fraught with riskChina invested some $20bn (£12bn) in Sudan before it split into two countries in 2011, according to Chinese media reports.

Another $8bn was pledged to President Kiir during his visit to China the year following secession, to be used for infrastructure projects and the oil sector.

The heavy investment seems to have borne fruit, as in the first 10 months of 2013, China imported 1.9 million tonnes of oil (nearly 14 million barrels) from South Sudan, twice as much as China imports from Nigeria each year.

Though amounting to less than 1% of China's total oil imports, it makes up roughly two-thirds of oil exported by the world's youngest nation and is expected to increase.

Two years ago, China suffered heavy losses in its Libyan projects, including infrastructure, telecommunications and oil.

Many constructions were halted and sites looted or destroyed during the revolution which toppled long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The total loss was estimated by several Chinese media reports to be in the region of $20bn, although no official figures exist.

Compensation talks with the new Libya government stalled as their priority was very much on nation-building and improving the living conditions of the Libyan people.

Continue reading the main story''Start QuoteMore than half of China's investment in the overseas oil sector is found in areas which are considered unstable''

End QuoteEconomic boomExperts point out that China has taken tremendous risks in its search for oil.

This is because the country's economic boom continues to require a great deal of oil - home production is limited and reliance on exports reached 56% in 2012.

But all the known global markets have been dominated by Western companies or have been off-limits because of sanctions, leaving China with little choice but to adopt high-risk strategies.

Nowadays, more than half of China's investment in the overseas oil sector is found in areas which are considered unstable, including Iran, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan and Venezuela.

Chinese workers have been caught in the conflicts for control of oil by various forces in Sudan.

In 2008, five Chinese oil workers kidnapped by rebels in Sudan's South Kordofan province were killed during a rescue attempt.

Four years later, another 29 Chinese construction workers were abducted in the same province and were only released 11 days later after intense negotiations.

The Sudanese rebels were quoted as saying that they did not want to harm the workers, but they aimed to send a signal to the Chinese government that they did not want them to be involved in the conflict over oil in Sudan.

But what is currently happening in South Sudan seems far more serious than kidnappings.

China must be praying for a quick end to the trouble so life on the oil fields can return to normal.

In the meantime, some experts also predict that China might be forced into re-thinking its high-risk oil strategy.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

The BBC outlines the background to South Sudan's crisis - in 60 seconds.

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Source: StratRisks

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 21:40

Source: BBC

The stakes could not be higher for China, the largest investor in South Sudan's oil sector, as fierce fighting continues between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of his former deputy.

Some of the largest oil fields China operates are in areas controlled by fighters backing Riek Machar, the country's vice-president until he was sacked in July.

Oil production has already dropped by 20% since the onset of the conflict three weeks ago and more than 300 Chinese workers have been evacuated.

The spectre of their Libyan experience also weighs heavily on the Chinese minds '' project after project now lies deserted because of heavy fighting during the Arab Spring uprising of 2011, inflicting huge losses on China.

It is no surprise then that China is putting its full weight behind the peace talks in Addis Ababa.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in the Ethiopian capital on Monday and made it clear that China wanted both sides to stop fighting and seek a reasonable and rational way out.

According to media reports, he was even willing to mediate personally between the warring sides.

It is unclear if Mr Wang has been able to do this, but his message was important, reports the BBC's Emmanuel Igunza from Addis Ababa.

It demonstrates how seriously the international community is taking the crisis '' with many diplomats present at the talks, he says.

Apart from China's Africa envoy Zhong Jianhua, US special envoy Donald Booth and EU special representative Alexander Rondos are also attending.

Fraught with risk

China invested some $20bn (£12bn) in Sudan before it split into two countries in 2011, according to Chinese media reports.

Another $8bn was pledged to President Kiir during his visit to China the year following secession, to be used for infrastructure projects and the oil sector.

The heavy investment seems to have borne fruit, as in the first 10 months of 2013, China imported 1.9 million tonnes of oil (nearly 14 million barrels) from South Sudan, twice as much as China imports from Nigeria each year.

Though amounting to less than 1% of China's total oil imports, it makes up roughly two-thirds of oil exported by the world's youngest nation and is expected to increase.

Two years ago, China suffered heavy losses in its Libyan projects, including infrastructure, telecommunications and oil.

Many constructions were halted and sites looted or destroyed during the revolution which toppled long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The total loss was estimated by several Chinese media reports to be in the region of $20bn, although no official figures exist.

Compensation talks with the new Libya government stalled as their priority was very much on nation-building and improving the living conditions of the Libyan people.

Economic boom

Experts point out that China has taken tremendous risks in its search for oil.

This is because the country's economic boom continues to require a great deal of oil '' home production is limited and reliance on exports reached 56% in 2012.

But all the known global markets have been dominated by Western companies or have been off-limits because of sanctions, leaving China with little choice but to adopt high-risk strategies.

Nowadays, more than half of China's investment in the overseas oil sector is found in areas which are considered unstable, including Iran, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan and Venezuela.

Chinese workers have been caught in the conflicts for control of oil by various forces in Sudan.

In 2008, five Chinese oil workers kidnapped by rebels in Sudan's South Kordofan province were killed during a rescue attempt.

Four years later, another 29 Chinese construction workers were abducted in the same province and were only released 11 days later after intense negotiations.

The Sudanese rebels were quoted as saying that they did not want to harm the workers, but they aimed to send a signal to the Chinese government that they did not want them to be involved in the conflict over oil in Sudan.

But what is currently happening in South Sudan seems far more serious than kidnappings.

China must be praying for a quick end to the trouble so life on the oil fields can return to normal.

In the meantime, some experts also predict that China might be forced into re-thinking its high-risk oil strategy.

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Mon, 30 Dec 2013 15:22

When violence erupted two weeks ago in the world's youngest country, one of the first voices to speak out, before the US president or the head of the United Nations, was that of the Hollywood actor George Clooney. There was nothing particularly objectionable about his counsel, which in any case was more likely authored by the American activist John Prendergast, with whom he shared a byline. It spoke of the need for a robust UN response and, even as tens of thousands of civilians fled ethnically motivated death squads, of the "opportunities" present in South Sudan.

This is a country, not yet two and a half years old, whose birth has been soaked in celebrity like no other. As well as Clooney, Matt Dillon and Don Cheadle have been occasional visitors who have tried to use their star power to place the international public firmly in the corner of this plucky upstart nation.

Unsurprisingly, the actors were highly effective at communicating a narrative about the new country that borrowed from a simple script. The south had fought a bloody two-decade battle for its independence against an Islamic and chauvinist north led by an indicted war criminal. The cost of that war, regularly touted as two million lives, meant that the south would need huge development support to lift it from the impoverished floor of every quality of life index published.

The great threat in this narrative was the vile regime in Khartoum, the capital of rump Sudan, which would seek to undermine its southern breakaway, or march back to war to reclaim some of its lost oilfields.

It was a seductive story that could be well told by handsome movie stars against the lavish backdrop supplied by South Sudan's superheated swamps and deserts and often beautiful people. But the narrative '' part truth, part wilful misunderstanding '' was deeply flawed. This would have mattered less if it had only informed public opinion, but instead it found its way into the building of a state.

Sudan, the former British colony that became Africa's largest state, has been in a condition of slow-burning internal conflict almost since independence in the 1950s. The second instalment of civil war was ended by the comprehensive peace agreement signed in 2005. The deal provided for a cooling-off period of six years before a loosely geographically defined south would be given the chance to vote on secession from the north.

The war had been brought to life in the US by broadcast evangelicals such as Billy Graham, who cast it as a heroic battle by Christian and African underdogs against a more powerful Muslim and Arab foe. The fact that religious and geographical lines were never remotely this clear and clean-cut was routinely ignored. The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), under the leadership of the charismatic John Garang, was not fighting for an independent south but a democratic "new Sudan". Its forces were drawn from areas far beyond what are now the borders of South Sudan. And its battles were, for the most part, not against the national army, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) but against rival militia groups, often drawn from the same great southern tribes, such as the Dinka and Nuer, that the SPLA leadership came from.

Much of the fighting and dying took place in the south, often with funding and encouragement from the north. This meant that a new country would have to be built in what had been the main theatre of the war, with a nation drawn from opposing sides in much of that conflict. No serious effort was made by any side in the post-2005 cooling-off period to reconcile the north and south. The US, Europe, the UN and the south's near-neighbours, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya, all pushed for the country to be broken up. This effort was formalised in a referendum in 2011.

The pursuit of separation at all costs made it harder to admit certain truths such as ethnic divisions and created the need for the "big lie", as one senior UN official calls it. "The big lie is that there was no ethnic problem in South Sudan. There is a political problem."

The midwife to the state-building was the UN peacekeeping mission '' now known as Unmiss '' a sprawling operation costing roughly $1bn a year. A further $1bn in development aid was pumped in annually by donors such as the US and Britain. As it was believed that there were no entrenched ethnic issues to overcome, the mandate for Unmiss '' when it was drafted by the UN security council '' framed the challenges for the new country as purely developmental. The choice of Hilde Johnson, a former Norwegian minister of international development, to head the mission reflected this.

While demobilisation and disarmament schemes were announced, for much of the time between 2005 and the referendum governing consisted of farming out oil and aid money to civil-war-era military commanders in order to keep the peace. Little was done to break up old units and forge a truly national army. The SPLA had become a big tent into which armed ethnic militias with no uniform, training or shared identity had wandered in order to get paid.

The complete dysfunction of South Sudan's government since independence in 2011 was largely ignored. When the president, Salva Kiir, accused his own government of looting $4bn in state assets and foreign aid money, little was said. When Kiir, who is from the south's biggest ethnic group, the Dinka, began to entrench its power at the expense of other communities, creating what people called a Dinkocracy, the UN said nothing. In the meantime Johnson, who is criticised by her own staff in private for being too close to the president, trumpeted the need for "service delivery", even as a vicious power struggle raged in the ruling party.

While critics argue that the prime focus should have been security instruments (the army) and executive instruments (the government), all the talk was of democracy, human rights and development '' even though this was rarely matched by any action.

"You can't do that if the elites are arguing and trying not to kill each other," said the senior UN official, on condition of anonymity.

"A lot of people who knew about state building in Africa were screaming bloody murder."

When Kiir sacked his entire government to pre-empt a political power grab by his vice-president, Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer, from South Sudan's second most populous group, the international community chided him half-heartedly. As both sides mobilised their supporters along ethnic lines and prepared for a renewed conflict, the UN and diplomats continued to refer to the increasingly autocratic president as "steadfast".

When fighting finally broke out on 15 December and elements of the presidential guard went house to house in the fledgling capital, Juba, murdering Nuer civilians, the talk was still of a political not an ethnic conflict. When Nuer youths who mobilise under the banner of the civil-war-era White Army overran a UN outpost, killing two peacekeepers and murdering Dinka officials, it was blamed by some on media inciting tit-for-tat attacks.

Jok Madut Jok, an academic and former culture minister, who had been one of the most passionate exponents of South Sudan, was among many intellectuals who railed against international reporting of the ethnic slaughter as irresponsible and lacking in context.

After visiting Nuer colleagues among the 63,000 South Sudanese who had gone into hiding in UN bases around the country, he described in an open letter how he had wept by the roadside: "My Nuer friends are very scared and will not even fathom returning to their homes, given what they saw during the fighting in Juba. But their present circumstance is humiliating to them, big army officers, senior government officials and university students who feel they cannot be safe in their own capital city in which they have lived for many years."

Much trumpeted peace efforts remain just "talks about talks", according to diplomats involved. Both sides are dusting off veterans from the 1990s '' the era of the most deadly fighting. A battle looms for the oilfields of the ironically named Unity State, currently held by rebels under the former vice-president.

After years of denial from the international community, the only way out of a repeat of past wars will be another round of payoffs to military commanders and a reluctant return to square one on the state-building board, accompanied by an admission of past failures.

July 2011 South Sudan gains independence.

15 December 2013 Fighting erupts after gunmen fire at the presidential palace. President Salva Kiir blames his former deputy, Riek Machar, for attempting a coup.

24 December The UN finds three mass graves in two regions of South Sudan. A senior official claims the death toll has run "into the thousands".

27 December South Sudan commits to a ceasefire after two weeks of clashes that have caused more than 120,000 people to flee their homes.

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 14:09

The president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir (left), and his Sudanese counterpart, Omar al-Bashir, meeting in Juba. Photograph: James Akena/Reuters

China has called for an immediate end to hostilities in South Sudan, where the government is in talks with neighbouring Sudan to deploy a joint military force to protect vital oilfields from rebels.

In a rare overt political intervention in Africa, the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, said he was deeply concerned by the unrest in South Sudan, which has left more than 1,000 people dead and reduced oil flows by about a fifth.

"China's position with regards to the current situation in South Sudan is very clear," Wang told reporters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where direct talks aimed at a ceasefire finally got under way on Monday. "First, we call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and violence."

China would do what it could to help restore stability in South Sudan and urged international powers to back the Ethiopian-led mediation efforts. An Ethiopian delegate told Reuters that Wang met both rebel and government delegations. China is Africa's single biggest trading partner, having overtaken the United States over the past decade, but professes to remain neutral and not interfere in African states' internal politics.

It is the biggest investor in oilfields in South Sudan through state-owned Chinese oil groups China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Sinopec. The fighting forced CNPC to evacuate workers.

Similar in size to France, South Sudan is estimated by BP to hold sub-Saharan Africa's third biggest oil reserves. Its plight is attracting more global attention than most conflict-torn African nations. US president Barack Obama received daily briefings while on holiday in Hawaii, the New York Times reported, describing this as "a level of attention unheard-of for any other crisis in that part of Africa".

The high stakes were becoming increasingly apparent as Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir flew into Juba to meet his South Sudan counterpart Salva Kiir, less than two years after the governments almost went to war over oil.

Bashir's arrival reflected Sudanese fears that the three-week conflict could damage its struggling economy. All of landlocked South Sudan's oil is piped through its northern neighbour, providing vital hard currency in transit fees for Khartoum.

Sudan's foreign minister Ali Karti said the men were "in consultations about the deployment of a mixed force to protect the oilfields in the south". Neither of the presidents referred to the proposal during a press conference in the South Sudanese capital Juba. The return of Sudanese troops to the south could send the crisis in an unpredictable new direction; at least two million people died during the north-south conflict that eventually led to the south's independence.

Anti-government forces loyal to rebel leader Riek Machar control the town of Bentiu, the capital of oil-rich Unity state. The south's government has said oil is no longer flowing from Unity's fields. Most, if not all, of the Chinese and Pakistani oil workers have left the country because of the outbreak of violence.

Bashir, an indicted war crimes suspect wanted by the international criminal court, would not meet Machar, al-Jazeera reported. It said the Sudanese government attributed this to practical reasons and was not taking sides.

Kiir and Machar were comrades during the south's struggle against Khartoum, which culminated in a US-funded referendum and secession in July 2011. Relations with Sudan had remained fraught and renewed war seemed possible. But in March the two countries agreed to resume pumping oil through pipelines from south to north. A month later Bashir made his first visit to the south since it gained independence.

On Monday Bashir said he feared that after allowing South Sudan to hold a vote to break away from Sudan in 2011, the outbreak of violence could mean "that our huge sacrifice did not bear fruit."

"We have come to see what we can do to stop this war knowing all too well that armed conflict would never resolve a problem and also knowing that any problem no matter how complicated can be solved at the negotiation table," Bashir said. "We fought each other for 20 years and in the end we sat and talked peace. Any further fighting is just a perpetuation of suffering for innocent civilians and loss in of lives and more destruction."

He added: "We are convinced that armed conflict will only create complications that will do no good that the people (of South Sudan) must and will come back to the negotiating table."

Kiir told reporters that "taking power by military force is a crime" and that Machar's actions should be condemned by the international community.

Despite the international pressure from multiple sides, the violence goes on. Fighting continues outside the flashpoint town of Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, which has untapped oil reserves. On Sunday a South Sudanese army general was killed when a government convoy was ambushed.

Meanwhile Oxfam reiterated its warning of a growing humanitarian crisis, noting that the Awerial refugee camp on the banks of the Nile is now home to 75,000 people. Desire Assogbavi, head of the charity's African Union liaison office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said: "Thousands of families already living in extreme poverty have been pushed from their homes and cut off from what they need to survive.

"We are doing what we can to ensure those most affected by the violence have their basic needs met, such as access to food, water and sanitary living conditions. But if the conflict continues, it will become even more difficult to meet the increasing needs of those affected."

Kiir has blamed his long-term rival and former vice-president, Machar, whom he sacked in July, for starting the fighting in a bid to seize power. Machar dismissed the allegation but has acknowledged leading soldiers battling the government.

The conflict has taken on ethnic undertones: Kiir is from the majority Dinka community and Machar from the Nuer group.

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:48

US AFRICOM, Israel, and Uganda's Dictator-for-Life Yoweri Museveni set up in South Sudan, inflame conflict, push out China and prepare to take over oil. January 9, 2014 (LD) - RT's report "Who is to blame for the crisis in South Sudan?" gave a succinct background on the warring factions inside the new "nation" of South Sudan and the Western genesis of the conflict. The report would state: The SPLM has received support from the US and Israel throughout the duration of the civil war fought between southern rebels and Khartoum, which has historically had unfriendly relations with the West and has moved very closely to China in recent times to jointly develop the country's oil wealth prior to the separation. Romantic notions for self-determination did not motivate the West to support southern secession; the objective was to partition Sudan and deprive Khartoum of economically relevant territory in the south where most of the oil fields lie. In exchange for the financial, material, political, and diplomatic support received from the West, the new government in Juba endorsed a 'Faustian pact' with its sponsors to open its economy to international finance capital and multinational interests. The government in Juba even applied for IMF membership before it had even officially gained independence from Sudan.

The piece would continue by laying out the current dilemma for the West: Despite supporting the South's independence with diplomatic muscle and military aid, the United States has been unable to gain a foothold in the country's oil sector; Juba's crippled economy remains dominated by Asian companies, primarily from China. South Sudan must rely on pipelines that run through Khartoum to export its oil, and the two countries produced around 115,000 barrels of oil per day in 2012, less than half the volume produced in the years before South Sudan's independence. Both sides have nearly gone to war over disputed oil fields that straddle a poorly demarcated border. Judging from the poor economic performance of both countries since the partition and the dramatic loss of the life in the ongoing crisis, the experiment of South Sudanese independence is failing.

The piece would go on to note that peace deals reached leaving Sudan intact could have avoided the deadly conflict now raging - and that of course is correct. However, peace is not and never was the goal of the West and its involvement in Africa - economic gain is.Precisely because China still maintains extensive holdings in Sudan and South Sudan's oil infrastructure, the conflict will be brought to a fevered pitch - and unsurprisingly the conflict's epicenter corresponds with South Sudan's primary oil producing regions. If and when the Chinese are pushed out of South Sudan, the West will continue either across the border to establish routes for exporting their newly gained oil wealth from the landlocked country, or proceed through Kenya with or without the current government in Nairobi's backing.The BBC would report in their article, "China's oil fears over South Sudan fighting," that (emphasis added):The stakes could not be higher for China, the largest investor in South Sudan's oil sector, as fierce fighting continues between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of his former deputy.

Some of the largest oil fields China operates are in areas controlled by fighters backing Riek Machar, the country's vice-president until he was sacked in July.

Oil production has already dropped by 20% since the onset of the conflict three weeks ago and more than 300 Chinese workers have been evacuated.

The spectre of their Libyan experience also weighs heavily on the Chinese minds - project after project now lies deserted because of heavy fighting during the Arab Spring uprising of 2011, inflicting huge losses on China.

Most telling of all is the BBC's reference to Libya - another nation destroyed by Western military aggression that saw both Russian and Chinese interests crumble overnight and replaced by Western corporations. While South Sudan's chaos is being orchestrated more covertly by the West, the final goal of pushing out the Chinese and taking over is the same.Similar covert destabilization can be seen all across what the 2006 Strategic Studies Institute's report "String of Pearls: Meeting the Challenge of China's Rising Power across the Asian Littoral" calls China's "String of Perals." This includes US-backed militants attempting to carve off the province of Baluchistan from Pakistan where China has established a port at Gwadar and at another Chinese port in the state of Rakhine, Myanmar that has been the scene of brutal, genocidal violence carried out by "democracy icon" Aung San Suu Kyi's "saffron monks" against Rohingya refugees.Setting Up Shop in South Sudan There is no doubt that the US and its accomplices Israel and Uganda have decided to stay in South Sudan. The US corporate foundation-funded "Enough Project" provided the rhetorical justification for an enduring presence in the war-torn African state in its Al Jazeera op-ed titled, "Al Jazeera America Op-ed: South Sudan's Salva Kiir needs to put his black hat back on," which stated: To be sure, growing pains are common in societies working to secure their independence after years of marginalization and authoritarian rule. Building a cohesive national identity among South Sudan's 81 ethnic groups will take generations. Still, the looming specters of mass intercommunal violence means we cannot afford to be complacent. The United States committed itself to the South Sudanese people's long march toward independence decades ago. It would be a shame if America allowed a return to war when the South Sudanese are so close to securing their future.

With that humanitarian/freedom-promoting foot-in-the-door, the West has the pretext it needs to meddle for decades to come. To begin with, Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI) signed what it called a "water infrastructure and technology development" deal with South Sudan's government in 2012. The deal allegedly covers desalination, irrigation, water transport and purification, but a visit to Israel Military Industries Ltd. website indicates they are military contractors and arms manufacturers, not engineers and certainly not specialists in water infrastructure. Other sources claim IMI will serve as a conduit for actual Israeli water firms - but in light of US, Israeli, Saudi, and Qatari joint operations elsewhere, IMI will most likely serve as a conduit for weapons, cash, and conflict as well (or instead). Image: It is not entirely clear how a military contractor and weapons manufacturer like Israel's IMI is going to develop South Sudan's water infrastructure. Just like Qatar's use of humanitarian aid groups to smuggle weapons into Syria, Israel is most likely using "development" as cover for perpetuating conflict both within South Sudan to drive out the Chinese, as well as across the border in Sudan to the north to finally topple the government in Khartoum.In 2013, Israel and South Sudan would begin forging oil deals. In UPI's report, "South Sudan signs oil deal with Israel," it was stated: South Sudan says it has signed an agreement with several Israeli oil companies, a potentially significant strategic move that will consolidate the Jewish state's relations with the fledgling, oil-rich East African state.

UPI would continue, highlighting the glaring problem of actually exporting the oil to turn a profit: South Sudan's petroleum and mining minister, Dhieu Dau, announced the oil deal last week after he returned from a visit to Israel.

He said negotiations were ongoing with Israeli companies, which he did not identify, seeking to invest in South Sudan.

Dau indicated the southern government in Juba, ramshackle capital of the infant state, hoped to export oil to Israel, but observed that this could not happen before March.

He gave no indication how the landlocked south would achieve this, or what volume of crude would be involved. But it's a move Khartoum would do everything possible to wreck.

Finally, the UPI report indicates the much larger implications of Israel's (and the US') involvement in South Sudan, using it as a springboard to topple neighboring Sudan in the north:The prospect of Israel actually getting oil from South Sudan remains uncertain, given Juba's difficulties with Khartoum.

There has been talk of building a 1,000-mile export pipeline from South Sudan across Kenya to the Indian Ocean that would free Juba from reliance on Khartoum's pipelines.

But no definite plans for the project, expected to cost around $2 billion, have yet materialized.It may be that Israeli companies are seeking to help out in that regard -- if only to undermine the Islamic-oriented Khartoum regime and its alliance with Tehran, and to gain access to the Nile River, Egypt's primary source of water and a strategic target.

During Sudan's civil war, one of Africa's longest conflicts in which some 2 million people died, Israel provided the southern rebels with arms, training and funding, as it has done in other parts of Africa seeking to weaken its Arab adversaries.

Clearly, the presence of Israeli arms dealers is not to develop South Sudan's infrastructure but rather to flood the region with weapons to flush out the Chinese and eventually stab northward toward Sudan and its capital of Khartoum. UPI's report would go on to admit that military aid was still undoubtedly flowing to South Sudan for this very purpose. In addition to a proxy military confrontation with Sudan, the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have been attempting to overthrow the government in Khartoum from within - attempting an "Arab Spring-style" uprising in late 2013 that eventually fizzled. Enter US AFRICOM and Uganda's Museveni Infamous Western collaborator and Ugandan dictator-for-life Yoweri Museveni has been fighting the West's proxy wars in Africa for decades. He has also done much within his borders to appease the West including selling large tracts of land to foreign developers right out from beneath the feet of his own people - many times killing landowners who refused eviction. Image: Whatever pretext the West attempts to use to place Western troops inside of Africa while Fortune 500 corporations scoop up the continent's vast resources, it is nothing more than modern recolonization. US troops placed in Uganda to fight "Kony" are now conveniently in place to aid in the despoiling of neighboring South Sudan - a state carved out of proper Sudan via Western-fueled civil war. In 2011 under the false pretext of fighting Joseph Kony's "Lord's Resistance Army" the US would begin deploying troops to Uganda. By 2013, these troops would still be there - when violence began to spread across nearby South Sudan, US troops conveniently still stationed in Uganda would be mobilized for the evacuation of US citizens. Stars and Stripes would report in their article, "Marines airlift US Embassy personnel out of South Sudan," that:Nonessential U.S. Embassy personnel were evacuated Friday from South Sudan aboard two KC-130 aircraft assigned to a Marine crisis response team positioned in nearby Uganda.

The article would also report: Last week, the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response also was pre-positioned at Entebbe, Uganda, to provide additional support. The unit, from Moron, Spain, was formed less than a year ago to bolster AFRICOM's crisis-response capabilities.

Uganda, like Sudan, has clearly been permanently brought into AFRICOM's fold under an initial false "humanitarian" pretext that was then quietly shifted to the permanent occupation of African territory. And Uganda not only serves as a base for US AFRICOM, but is also using its soldiers to carry out AFRICOM's objectives beyond Uganda's borders. The Guardian would report in its recent article, "South Sudan peace talks falter as Uganda sends in troops," that: The South Sudan peace talks being held in Ethiopia have stalled, officials say, as a rebel commander claims big victories against the South Sudanese government and Uganda sends in more troops and military hardware.

The report would also claim: Uganda, he said, had sent 1,200 troops to secure installations such as the airport and state house, adding that Ugandan military aircraft had bombed several rebel-held positions.

Uganda says its deployment of more troops and military hardware to Juba this week came at the request of Kiir. Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda, a Ugandan military spokesman, said on Wednesday that reinforcements were dispatched on Monday and Tuesday "to plug security gaps". He denied the Ugandans were actively involved in combat.

Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, is a strong ally of Kiir. The neighbouring countries have built a bond that goes back to South Sudan's armed struggle for independence from Sudan and the Khartoum government. Museveni recently warned Machar that East African countries would unite to defeat him militarily if he does not agree to attend peace talks.

In essence, Uganda is providing the manpower on the ground while the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others provide the cash, weapons, and everything else. It is another proxy war, just like the ongoing conflict in Syria, albeit with Ugandan troops literally invading South Sudan to prop up the West's proxy government in Juba. Who is funding and arming rebel groups fighting the West's proxy government is still unclear. Reports indicate it may be dissident factions of South Sudan's own armed forces involved in a recent coup attempt. Other theories suggest that US, Uganda, and/or Israel may be funding and arming both sides hoping to carry the conflict onward to Khartoum. It is clear that Khartoum, Sudan, one way or another, is the US-Israeli-Saudi-Qatari goal - to complete the theft of Sudanese oil as well as the means to export it out of the broken, worn-torn, decimated country. This is the current state of the Wall Street-London global order in Africa - and a tattered, exploited Africa in our future should this state persist.

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Mon, 30 Dec 2013 15:26

China will send its special envoy for Africa to South Sudan to help push talks and protect its oil interests.

A South Sudanese woman with a child sits on December 25 2013 at the main hospital in Bor which troops loyal to President Salva Kiir re-captured from rebel forces. (AFP)

China will send its special envoy for Africa to South Sudan to help push talks, China's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Thursday, as the world's newest country spirals into violence.

The envoy will head to South Sudan "soon" to communicate with all parties, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, in comments carried on the Foreign Ministry's website.

Wang did not name the envoy, but he was likely referring to Zhong Jianhua, an urbane veteran diplomat who has deep experience of the conflict in South Sudan.

The announcement came a day after China called for all sides in the South Sudan conflict to stop fighting.

Big investorThe conflict has killed hundreds and some 45 000 civilians are seeking protection at UN bases. Violence erupted in the capital, Juba, on December 15 and quickly spread, dividing the land-locked country of 10.8-million people along ethnic lines.

"China is highly concerned about the evolving situation in South Sudan," Wang said.

China has extensive energy interests in South Sudan.

It is already the biggest investor in oilfields in South Sudan, through state-owned Chinese oil giants China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Sinopec. Beijing is also one of Sudane'a President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's major supporters.

The fighting has also affected oil production, which accounts for 98% of government revenue in South Sudan. It has forced CNPC to evacuate some of its workers. '' Reuters

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Mon, 30 Dec 2013 15:27

Violence in South Sudan may test China's absolute commitment to non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs

New waves of violence in South Sudan have worried governments around the world, and Beijing is no exception. Clashes between rebel forces and the South Sudanese government jeopardize the lives of Chinese citizens in the country, as well as throwing into question the future of South Sudan's vast oil fields.

Violence began in the South Sudan after President Salva Kiir announced that this his government has prevented a coup attempt by Vice President Riek Machar. Machar denied the accusation and accused Kirr of fabricating an excuse to crack down on opposition. Violence in the capital of Juba is believed to have killed hundreds of people, and the uprisings have spread. Unrest has continued along ethnic lines: Kirr is part of the majority Dinka ethnic group, while Machar is of the Nuer ethnic group.

The unrest has already caused at least one international incident. On December 19, a group of armed Nuer youths opened fire on a United Nations base that was providing refuge for Dinka civilians. According to the UN News Center, two UN peacekeepers from India and 20 civilians were killed in the attack. In addition to UN peacekeepers, many foreign oil companies have staff stationed in South Sudan. These foreign civilians could now be caught in the cross-fire. Rebel forces, according to the New York Times, have taken over control of some of South Sudan's oil fields.

In a press conference, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said that ''China strongly condemns the violent action against the UN Mission in South Sudan'' although she noted that ''Chinese peacekeepers in South Sudan are safe.'' She confirmed that the staff members of some Chinese companies in the region are preparing to return to China. ''The Chinese Embassy in South Sudan will continue to provide necessary assistance for the Chinese citizens in their evacuation, and it calls on the government of South Sudan to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions,'' Hua said.

The violence brings upheaval to a region that many hoped would settle down after years of the bloody civil war that preceded South Sudan's official split from Sudan. That conflict was a particular headache for China. Beijing had invested heavily in Sudan's oil industry before the violent civil war resulted in South Sudan's independence. The founding of South Sudan meant that much of the oil China sought was now located in a different country.

China recognized South Sudan in July 2011, shortly after the new country's founding. Hu Jintao sent a congratulatory message to South Sudan's new president, saying that ''China respects the political system and development path the South Sudanese have chosen.'' Hu added, ''China also stands ready to establish and develop friendly and cooperative relations with the new nation based on the five principles of peaceful coexistence.'' One of the referenced five principles is non-interference in each other's internal affairs, a principle that will become increasing difficult for China to honor if foreign unrest affects Chinese citizens and business investments.

Many are concerned that the violence will interrupt the country's oil production, which is a crucial part of South Sudan's economy. Global Witness estimates that oil revenue makes up 98 percent of South Sudan's annual budget, making oil production a logical target for rebels. China National Petroleum Company moved Friday to evacuate oil workers to South Sudan's capital, Juba. About 200 oil workers fled to a United Nations base in Unity State, seeking refuge from the violence. Xinhuanotes that South Sudan's government insists that ''oil is flowing normally from the production sites to Sudan's oil pipeline,'' but with rebel action targeting oil fields it's obvious that continued production is in question.

Beijing already has a lot invested in South Sudan. Since the country's founding, China has offered the South Sudan government loans and assistance for various development projects, including a September 2013 deal to provide aid to South Sudan's mining industry. China's oil companies are also active in the oil-rich state. According to Reuters, CNPC is a major shareholder in two large oil groups operating in South Sudan, Petrodar and the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company. Chinadialogue reports that China consumes over 80 percent of South Sudan's oil exports. Now, once again, China finds its investments in jeopardy.

On Monday, Hua noted that ''China is greatly concerned with the development of South Sudan's situation, and is promoting negotiation with its own way.'' ''We will work with all relevant parties to promote the conflicting sides in solving their disputes through dialogue and negotiation, and promote the situation of South Sudan to resume stability as soon as possible,'' Hua said. However, Beijing's options are limited by its long-standing insistence on non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.

China has made non-interference a keystone of its foreign policy, in part because China would like other nations to accord Beijing the same courtesy. However, as Chinese companies are increasingly global players, China's non-interference policy may come to clash with other fundamental national interests. Beijing is greatly concerned with ensuring food and energy security '-- two needs that are tied to foreign supply chains. When the internal unrest of another country, such as the South Sudan, threatens one of these interests, Beijing has tough calculations to make. Does a strict adherence to non-interference outweigh the potential threat to oil supplies? And what about the lives of Chinese citizens in affected areas?

Already, China has been pushed to mediate between South Sudan and Sudan to ensure oil production continues. When South Sudan shut down oil production, accusing Sudan of stealing oil, China was forced to help resolve the dispute. This time, the conflict is between internal factions within South Sudan. If China were to mediate, it would risk violating the sacrosanct principles of non-interference. This explains Hua's caveat that China ''is promoting negotiation with its own way.'' Beijing can't afford to do nothing, but its hands are tied by its foreign policy principles.

As China becomes more globalized, Beijing may be forced to take a more active role to safeguard the lives of its citizens and Chinese business interests. In the coming years, Beijing might have to rethink its foreign policy calculus, especially how it interprets ''non-interference.''

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Mon, 30 Dec 2013 15:32

As South Sudan's biggest oil customer, China has found itself at the centre of attempts to resolve disputes with northern neighbour Sudan.

China has UN peacekeepers deployed in both Sudan and south Sudan (Image copyright: United Nations Photo)

In January, South Sudan's government brought oil production to a dramatic standstill, accusing its neighbour, Sudan, of charging excessive export fees and seizing oil shipments. A few days later, the head of the major Chinese-led oil consortium was expelled from the country for ''non cooperation''. Oil companies, caught by surprise, were forced to close wells so quickly that congealing crude oil risked damaging the pipelines, a Chinese oil executive told Reuters.

An agreement signed by Sudan and South Sudan at the end of September, backed by Beijing, was due to see production resume last week, pulling the two countries back from the brink of war.

China's role in resolving the dispute has prompted speculation that it is ready to take a more active role in conflict resolution in the war-torn region. But is this really the case? China's authorities, in fact, appear reluctant, while larger territory disputes between Sudan and South Sudan, combined with internal ethnic conflict, still threaten to take the region beyond the help of intervention.

Chinese diplomacy?

South Sudan '' which depends on oil revenues for 98% of its annual budget '' broke away from Sudan after an independence vote last July, the culmination of a peace deal forged in 2005. It followed decades of war in which more than 2 million people died. Before the country divided in two, Sudan produced around 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The split left 75% of the oil fields in South Sudan and the north in control of a Chinese-built pipeline and port for export. Lack of agreement over how to divide the country's vast oil wealth has become an inevitable flashpoint.

To keep the oil flowing, China, as South Sudan's biggest oil investor and consumer (accounting for 82% of its oil exports), has been drawn uncomfortably into the high-stakes conflict between north and south. China's envoy for African affairs, Liu Guijin, was dispatched to break this year's deadlock, warning that if the two sides fail to resolve the problem, the "whole region would be affected; the repercussions would be very serious".

The state-owned China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) led the development of Sudan's oil industry during the 1990s in what was then China's first major overseas investment, when raging civil war in Darfur kept most western companies away.

Chinese involvement in South Sudan is newer, but nonetheless crucial to the continuity of Beijing's oil investments, which are now situated primarily in the south. Other Chinese companies and private entrepreneurs have flocked to Juba, South Sudan's capital, looking for opportunities in infrastructure and new markets to push their products, along with Indian, Malaysian and other international counterparts.

China also has political reasons for intervening, says Luke Patey, expert on oil investment in the Sudans at the Danish Institute of Development Studies. The government wants to be seen as a responsible player by the international community for ''doing their share to build peace alongside other international actors, particularly the US,'' he says.

This appears to sit uncomfortably with the cornerstone of China's foreign policy '' non-interference in other countries' affairs. Deborah Brautigam, expert in China-Africa relations and author of The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa, said in a recent interview with Voice of America: ''Sudan is fascinating because it's a good example of how China is getting pushed out of its comfort zone in its non-interference policy. You can see that in trying to broker this recent agreement. They've had their first special envoy '' shuttle diplomacy. The Chinese never did that before.''

Mounting risks, falling returns

The recent oil deal may have soothed international concerns, but the real challenges facing China are framed outside the agreement. ''The elephant in the room,'' explains Daniel Large, a UK based scholar on China-Sudan relations, are the other conflicts in the border region. ''The international community have hoped that China could offer 'a quick fix' when really the conflict is down to the two parties involved.''

Final status of the contested oil-rich Abyei state remains unresolved, while on the northern side of the border, rebellions in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states are worsening. In South Sudan, independence has inflamed internal conflicts, with militia contesting the legitimacy of central government, and between ethnic groups, fighting over scare resources and access to political power.

Heightened conflict has affected oil production and put workers at huge risk. In January, 29 Chinese construction workers were kidnapped in South Kordofan. In an earlier incident in 2008, Chinese oil workers were kidnapped and killed in the same region, sending shock waves back home.

At the same time, oil in South Sudan is no longer as important as it once was to China's global energy strategy; other regions, such as Iraq and Venezuela, now offer more lucrative opportunities for CNPC. ''Oil production in South Sudan was stagnating before the shutdown took place'', says Patey. ''What the industry needs now is new discoveries'...and also a lot of investment in advanced recovery techniques, water and gas pumping, and horizontal drilling.'' But savvy investors are unlikely to step forward in the current climate.

Chinese diplomats also seem to be taking a wait and see approach. The new government in South Sudan, which desperately needs infrastructure, has recognised the necessity of Chinese investment. But an US$8 billion infrastructure package reportedly agreed during South Sudan president Salva Kirr's state visit to Beijing in April notably went unconfirmed by the Chinese government.

Set against these concerns, however, is the symbolic importance China attaches to the region: Sudan is one of the Chinese Communist Party's longest standing allies in Africa and the first site of China's ''go out'' policy. Every Sudan-watcher chinadialogue spoke to stressed that this status is likely to ensure China takes a long-term perspective and holds out for more peaceful times.

Environmental and human impacts of oil investment

Even if China gets what it wants '' oil pouring out of the country '' the environmental and human impacts of oil activities in the region still raise huge concerns. The end of civil war may have stopped the most egregious human rights abuses, the massacres and displacements, associated with oil activities. But significant problems remain, according to Leben Nelson Moro, from the University of Juba. Continued property destruction, land expropriated without compensation and massive environmental damage is serving to fuel local resentment towards oil companies, also seen complicit in the abuses committed during the war.

The extent to which companies act responsibly will, say observers, depend on the strength of local laws. The vast savannah ecosystems and swamplands of South Sudan '' home to elephants, giraffe, water buffalo and which hosts the migration of Kob antelopes '' are particularly vulnerable in the face of renewed oil activities. ''Chinese companies will follow suit on the government's lead,'' says Dana Wilkins, campaigner at Global Witness, which is preparing to release a report analysing South Sudan's oil laws.

''Just look at CNPC at home,'' says Patey. ''They've been involved in major environmental disasters in the past 10 years: oil spills into Bohai Bay, gas spills in rivers, a huge gas explosion that killed people in 2005. So how these companies operate at home does not bode well for how they will operate in Sudan and South Sudan if there is no strong regulation from the government there.''

For more than a decade speculators have manipulated energy markets, forcing up the price of oil and the subsidies that go with it.

Chinese investors have broken a boycott on investment in African dams '' and loosened the grip of the environment lobby. This is good news for the continent, water expert Mike Muller tells Olivia Boyd.

Snapping up resources around the world, China's state-owned oil companies are feared as aggressive agents of government interest. But, increasingly, these players are led by market signals, not Beijing diktats.

Sam Geall introduces a series of articles that seek to enhance our understanding of environment and development in Africa '' and China's increasingly controversial role on the continent.

China's growing agribusinesses and demand for soybeans and meat is bringing intensive farming and the risk of further deforestation in Brazil and beyond.

Comments are translated into either Chinese or English after being moderated. Maximum characters 1200

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is on the brink of taking on oil and gas rights across more than 1 million hectares of Peru's Amazon '' including areas of serious environmental problems

China continues to invest in energy, infrastructure and agricultural projects in the region, with the aim of building a trade corridor as an 'East-West' gateway

We pick out the most popular and important stories published on chinadialogue from the past year, including the likelihood of nuclear disaster and life inside a mining company

A year of continuing environmental degradation, together with a failure to hold derelict and neglectful officials to account has left chinadialogue's Beijing editor Liu Jianqiang disappointed

Illicit recycling of lead batteries is blocking more environmentally-friendly methods of disposal

The opposition to the Tiger Leaping Gorge dam was a seminal moment for China's environmental protection movement, says director of a documentary on the campaign

The Fate of the Species by Fred Guterl is a bracing overview of the worst that can happen if humans do not overcome their ecological and Earth-systems illiteracy, writes Caspar Henderson.

特此ç--"掼šä¸­å¤–对è¯'不对ä>>>>何外部é'¾æŽ¥çšå†…容æ‰æ‹…è´£ä>>>>ã‚chinadialogue is not responsible for the content of linked external sites

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Archived Version

Mon, 30 Dec 2013 15:33

China to evacuate South Sudan oil workers to capitalTop News

China to evacuate South Sudan oil workers to capital

Fri, Dec 20 05:29 AM EST

BEIJING (Reuters) - China National Petroleum Company, a main oil investor in South Sudan, is evacuating oil workers to the capital, Juba, amid continued fighting in the world's newest country, a company official and state media said on Friday.

State news agency Xinhua said CNPC planned to fly out 32 workers.

"We are arranging the orderly evacuation of our workers, but the affected oilfield was not operated by CNPC," said a CNPC media official, without commenting on whether the company's oil production was affected.

Xinhua said an oilfield in the northern part of South Sudan, operated by a consortium of Indian, Malaysian and South Sudanese companies, was caught up in unrest on Thursday that killed 14 South Sudanese oil workers.

China's Foreign Ministry said that the embassy there would help evacuate Chinese nationals.

"The embassy will continue to urge the government of South Sudan to take measures to protect the safety of Chinese workers and organizations," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.

China has expressed concern about the unrest and urged a swift return to peace.

CNPC is major shareholder in two oil consortia that operate in South Sudan - Petrodar, which also counts Malaysian state oil firm Petronas as a partner, and the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC). India's ONGC Videsh also operates oilfields, and France's Total has exploration acreage in country.

South Sudan, a nation the size of France, has the third-largest reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa after Angola and Nigeria, according to BP.

Oil production, which had been about 245,000 barrels per day, supplies the government with most of its revenues.

The conflict in South Sudan has killed hundreds and deepened ethnic divisions in the two-year-old nation. South Sudanese government troops battled to regain control of a flashpoint town and sent forces to quell fighting in a vital oil producing area on Thursday, the fifth day of the conflict.

A United Nations official reported on Thursday that about 200 oil workers who sought refuge at a U.N. base in Unity State, a South Sudanese oil-producing region bordering Sudan, were expected to be evacuated by their employers, without naming the companies involved.

(Reporting by Adam Rose and Chen Aizhu; Editing by Nick Macfie)

China to evacuate South Sudan oil workers to capitalTop News

China to evacuate South Sudan oil workers to capital

Fri, Dec 20 05:29 AM EST

BEIJING (Reuters) - China National Petroleum Company, a main oil investor in South Sudan, is evacuating oil workers to the capital, Juba, amid continued fighting in the world's newest country, a company official and state media said on Friday.

State news agency Xinhua said CNPC planned to fly out 32 workers.

"We are arranging the orderly evacuation of our workers, but the affected oilfield was not operated by CNPC," said a CNPC media official, without commenting on whether the company's oil production was affected.

Xinhua said an oilfield in the northern part of South Sudan, operated by a consortium of Indian, Malaysian and South Sudanese companies, was caught up in unrest on Thursday that killed 14 South Sudanese oil workers.

China's Foreign Ministry said that the embassy there would help evacuate Chinese nationals.

"The embassy will continue to urge the government of South Sudan to take measures to protect the safety of Chinese workers and organizations," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.

China has expressed concern about the unrest and urged a swift return to peace.

CNPC is major shareholder in two oil consortia that operate in South Sudan - Petrodar, which also counts Malaysian state oil firm Petronas as a partner, and the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC). India's ONGC Videsh also operates oilfields, and France's Total has exploration acreage in country.

South Sudan, a nation the size of France, has the third-largest reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa after Angola and Nigeria, according to BP.

Oil production, which had been about 245,000 barrels per day, supplies the government with most of its revenues.

The conflict in South Sudan has killed hundreds and deepened ethnic divisions in the two-year-old nation. South Sudanese government troops battled to regain control of a flashpoint town and sent forces to quell fighting in a vital oil producing area on Thursday, the fifth day of the conflict.

A United Nations official reported on Thursday that about 200 oil workers who sought refuge at a U.N. base in Unity State, a South Sudanese oil-producing region bordering Sudan, were expected to be evacuated by their employers, without naming the companies involved.

(Reporting by Adam Rose and Chen Aizhu; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Mon, 30 Dec 2013 15:22

Hilde Frafjord Johnson (born 29 August 1963 in Arusha, Tanganyika) is a Norwegianpolitician from the Christian Democratic Party.[1] She is a former Minister of International Development of Norway, and member of the Norwegian Government. She currently serves as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan.[2]

Early life and education[edit]Born in Arusha, Tanzania to parents who worked for the Norwegian Missionary Society, she came to Norway at the age of 7.[3] She was awarded a Cand. polit. degree at the University of Oslo in 1991, specializing in development anthropology.

Becoming a member of the Young Christian Democrats at age 16,[3] she was elected to the Parliament of Norway for the Christian Democratic Party from Rogaland in 1993 and re-elected in 1997. She served as a member of the Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment. She served as Minister of International Development in Bondevik's First Cabinet from October 1997 to March 2000 and held the same position in Bondevik's Second Cabinet from October 2001 to October 2005.[4]

As minister, Hilde F. Johnson played a pivotal role in the peace process in Sudan, leading to the completion of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement in 2005. She has engaged in peace building efforts and post crisis-transition processes in relation to a number of countries in Africa, Asia and Central America, notably the Horn of Africa, Sudan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Guatemala and the Great Lakes-region.

She has been involved in efforts to build coalitions for change, both of the UN, in the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs) and bilateral aid. In 1998, Johnson initiated the Utstein-group, a group of key likeminded development ministers from the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway to spearhead this agenda. She worked closely with the senior leadership of the UN, the International Financial Institutions and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and leaders of developing countries, to bring about better pro-poor development policies. She has served as Governor and member of the Board of the World Bank for Norway and the Nordic/Baltic Constituency.

Prior to joining UNICEF she served as Senior Advisor to the President of the African Development Bank in charge of Fragile States policies. Johnson was the co-chair of the Global Coalition for Africa for several years. She was selected a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2001 . She was member of the High Level Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor led by Madeleine Albright, and has served as a member of the Oxford University Taskforce on UK Energy, Development Assistance and Foreign Policy, led by Sir Chris Patten. Johnson was a member of the UNDP hosted Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor.

Johnson served as Deputy Executive Director[5] of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)from 2007-2011.

References[edit]External links[edit]PersondataNameJohnson, Hilde FrafjordAlternative namesShort descriptionNorwegian politicianDate of birth29 August 1963Place of birthDate of deathPlace of death

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Archived Version

Sat, 04 Jan 2014 17:39

With the US shale revolution set to make America the largest exporter of crude, however briefly, the influence of Saudi oil is rapidly declining. This has been felt most recently in the cold shoulder the US gave Saudi Arabia and Qatar first over the Syrian debacle, and subsequently in its overtures to break the ice with Iran over the stern objections of Israel and the Saudi lobby (for a good example of this the most recent soundbites by Prince bin Talal ). But despite the shifting commodity winds and the superficial political jawboning, the reality is that nothing threatens the US dollar's hegemony in what many claim is the biggest pillar of the currency's reserve status - the petrodollar, which literally makes the USD the only currency in which energy-strapped countries can transact in to purchase energy. This may be changing soon following news that the Shanghai Futures Exchange could price its crude oil futures contract in yuan, its chairman said on Thursday, adding that the bourse is speeding up preparatory work to secure regulatory approvals.

In doing so China is effectively lobbing the first shot across the bow of the Petrodollar system, and more importantly, the key support of the USD in the international arena.

This would be in keeping with China's strategy to import about 100 tons of gross gold each and every month, in addition to however much gold it produces internally, in what many have also seen as a preparation for a gold-backed currency, which however would require a far broader acceptance of the renminbi in the international arena and most importantly, its intermediation in a crude pricing loop. It is precisely the latter that China is starting to focus on.

Reuters reports:

China, which overtook the United States as the world's top oil importer in September, hopes the contract will become a benchmark in Asia and has said it would allow foreign investors to trade in the contract without setting up a local subsidiary.

"China is the only country in the world that is a major crude producer, consumer and a big importer. It has all the necessary conditions to establish a successful crude oil futures contract," Yang Maijun, SHFE chairman, said at an industry conference.

Yang's presentation slides at the conference stated that the draft proposal is for the contract to be denominated in yuan and use the type of medium sour crude that China most commonly imports.

It is hardly panic time yet: Reuters adds that industry participants with direct knowledge of the plan have said the contract would be priced in the yuan, otherwise known as the Renminbi, and the U.S. dollar. However, one can argue that the CNY-pricing is for now a test to gauge acceptance of the Chinese currency, and will take on increasingly more prominence as more and more countries, first in Asia and then everywhere else, opt for the CNY-denomination and in the process boost the Renminbi to ever greater parity with the USD.

Here are the punchlines:

"The yuan has become more international and more recognised by the financial market," Chen Bo, Chinese trading firm Unipec's executive general manager, told Reuters.

"I don't think it would be unacceptable for the world to use the renminbi for commodities trading."

Certainly not, although it would also entail a depegging the CNY from the USD, something which China is for now unable and unwilling to do. Because once the Yuan is freely priced, kiss all those Wal-Mart "99 cent" deals goodbye.

Which in retrospect may be just what the US wants: a very gradual and controlled dephasing of the USD's reserve currency status. Recall that what the Fed wants at any cost is inflation which has so far failed to materialize at the level demanded by the Chair(wo)man thanks in part to cheap Chinese goods and ongoing US exporting of inflation to China. So if that means a spike in the prices of China imports - so key to keeping US inflation in check - so be it. Because we can already see the Fed's thinking on the matter - certainly it will be able to always restore the USD's supreme status in "15 minutes" or less when it so chooses.

Of course, by then China, and the Petroyuan, may have a very different view on the world.

Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 4.6(27 votes)

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:28

The biggest coal company in the world, China's state-owned Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd., is making a big commitment to drilling for natural gas in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Shenhua is making a $90 million investment in a joint venture with Energy Corporation of America to drill for natural gas in Greene County.

The Denver-based Energy Corporation of America said in a prepared statement that the natural gas wells would be drilled with Shenhua subsidiary Shenhua America Holdings Corp. over the next 18 months in Greene County. Shenhua will provide $90 million in initial capital for the drilling project, and Energy Corp. of America will operate the wells, with the rest of the capital needs being split evenly by Shenhua and Energy Corp.

Few other details were immediately available.

"It is only fitting for these operations to take place in Greene County. This area of Appalachia has been at the center of ECA's Marcellus development, as well as a hotbed of Marcellus development," said Energy Corp. of America CEO John Mork in a prepared statement. "We have an outstanding track record there, an excellent reputation, respect from local community members and leaders, and extensive experience working in the Marcellus. And '' we are experts in shale gas development. We are very pleased to be working with Shenhua on this joint venture, and this is only the beginning of what, I hope, will be a long, mutually beneficial working relationship."

Shenhua has 62 coal mines and produced 460 million tons of raw coal in 2012. It was founded in 1995 by the Chinese government, which owns it fully.

Energy Corp. of America has 1 million acres from New York to Tennessee and 4,600 wells, according to its website.

Paul J. Gough is digital producer at the Pittsburgh Business Times. Contact him at pgough@bizjournals.com or 412-208-3827. You can also follow him on Twitter.

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:15

Bai Zhongren, then Executive Director and Vice President of China Railway Group Limited, attends a news conference in Hong Kong in this April 25, 2008 file photo. Photo: Reuters

Bai Zhongren, the president of China Railway Group, a state-owned engineering giant behind many of the country's largest railway projects, jumped to his death over the weekend, Chinese media reported on Monday.

China Railway Group, which is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges, said in a short statement on Sunday that Bai died of "an accident", but did not give any details surrounding his death.

The operation of the company remains normal and its chairman will assume the responsibilities of the president until a new appointment to replace Bai, according to the statement.

The 53-year-old executive jumped to his death after suffering from depression in recent years, reported China Business News, a Shanghai-based business newspaper, citing Bai's family members.

Economic Information, a newspaper published by the official Xinhua News Agency, quoted a colleague as saying that part of the cause of Bai's depression might be the heavy debts that his company has run up. Wang Mengshu, one of the country's top railway engineers, said that Bai had been under intense pressure as some branches of the group ran into problems paying their workers' wages at the end of last year.

By the end of October, 2013, China Railways Group had total assets worth 626.5 billion yuan, and total outstanding debts of 531.9 billion yuan, with a debt-to-asset ratio of almost 85 per cent, according to the company's Q3 filings.

Bai's suicide came as Chinese courts are about to hand down verdicts for Zhang Shuguang, a former deputy chief engineer of the now-defunct Ministry and of Railways, and Ding Shumiao, a businesswoman with close tie with disgraced former railway minister Liu Zhijun.

Zhang was charged in September in 2013 for taking in 47 million yuan in bribes and Ding went on trial late that month for bribery linked to railway projects worth more than 185 billion yuan.

China's former railway minister, Liu Zhijun was given a suspended death sentence in July 2013 for abuse of power and taking bribes as the Communist Party scrambled to rein in rampant corruption within the railway industry during the debt-fueled high-speed rail construction boom in the last decade.

Bai is among several senior railway officials and executives who have committed suicide since corruption scandals implicating the senior railway officials began to come to light three years ago. However, there have been no direct links between China Railway Group and the corruption cases.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as President of China Railway Group commits suicide - reports

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Sat, 04 Jan 2014 22:20

DEN HAAG - Militairen en defensievakbonden noemen de gevechtspakken waarmee Nederlandse troepen vanaf maandag naar Mali worden uitgezonden van inferieure kwaliteit.

Er zijn veel betere en minder brandgevoelige stoffen, zo stellen zij, maar uit financile overwegingen is gekozen voor minderwaardige en veelal in China gefabriceerde uniformen.

NAVO-bondgenoten laten hun gevechtspakken maken van Defender M. Dit product van het Almelose TenCate kwam telkens als beste uit de bus. Zelfs het Amerikaanse Pentagon heeft die Nederlandse textiel uitverkoren.

Jean Debie, voorzitter van de Vakbond voor Burger en Militair defensiepersoneel (VBM): 'žHet zegt genoeg dat Amerikanen, die voor hun defensie bijna uitsluitend werken met de eigen industrie, dit bedrijf uit Almelo kiezen.''

Tijdens een recent bezoek aan de Patrioteenheid in Zuid-Turkije lieten militairen hun ongenoegen blijken. 'žBij een raketinslag en brand is het gevechtspak de allerlaatste beschermingsfactor. Dan telt elke vertragingsseconde. Bitter om te constateren dat Amerikaanse collega's wel goed zijn uitgerust.''

Voorzitter Jan Kleian van militaire vakbond ACOM is op de hoogte van de problematiek. 'žGeld mag nooit doorslaggevend zijn als het om de bescherming van militairen gaat die straks in Mali werken.''

De stof van TenCate is tot tweemaal toe door de Dienst Materieel Organisatie (DMO) onderzocht. Volgens bronnen bij Defensie werd daarbij textiel achtergehouden en doorgespeeld aan China en Indonesi met de vraag of dezelfde kwaliteit kon worden geleverd.

Een woordvoerder van het ministerie van Defensie stelt dat de Mali-gevechtspakken zijn getest door TNO. 'žMisschien is Defender M een beter product, maar ook het huidige uniform voldoet aan de eisen'', aldus Defensie.

De eerste veertien Nederlandse militairen vertrekken maandag naar Mali. De andere 350 komen in maart aan.

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 00:26

Photo: Stephen Jaffe/IMFInternational Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde is greeted at the Nairobi International Airport by Kenya's Central Bank Governor Njuguna Ndungu.

Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), arrived in Bamako today for a three-day visit to Mali. She will meet with President Keita, Prime Minister Ly and his cabinet, senior government officials as well as women leaders, representatives of the private sector, civil society and donors.

"I'm very pleased to be here in Bamako for my first visit as Managing Director of the IMF. This visit is a testimony to our strong relationship with Mali. I look forward to strengthening our partnership for the benefit of the people of Mali," Ms. Lagarde said after she arrived in Bamako.

Ms. Lagarde visited Kenya from January 4-7. As Managing Director, she has previously visited Cote d'Ivoire, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, and Mauritius in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to her meetings with officials, private sector and civil society, Ms. Lagarde will address the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of Mali.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 20:48

U.S. Navy officials have issued an apology for their response to a News4 reporter's request for materials related to the September 2013 Navy Yard shooting rampage.

In an email to News4's I-Team reporter Scott MacFarlane, Navy administrator Steve Muck asked MacFarlane to ''accept [his] apologies'' for an internal memo sent to MacFarlane by a Navy Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officer.

In the memo, a Navy FOIA officer details a strategy to reject and stymie MacFarlane's request for emails, photos and memoranda related to the Navy Yard shooting, in which 12 people died.

Another Navy official acknowledges the memo was sent to MacFarlane by mistake.

In the memo, Navy FOIA official Robin Patterson refers to the reporter's request for Navy Yard materials as a "fishing expedition."

Patterson recommends several methods for FOIA staff to deflect MacFarlane's request, including "negotiating with requester" to limit his search for photos.

In the memo, Patterson also suggests FOIA staff encourage MacFarlane to "narrow" his request for official Navy memoranda, by convincing the reporter his search would be "costly."

She also writes, "Just because they are media doesn't mean that the memos would shed light on specific government activities."

Patterson advises colleagues she is working on a separate response for MacFarlane's request for Navy officials' emails from Sept. 16, 2013. "This one is specific enough that we may be able to deny," Patterson writes.

The Navy has denied media access to Navy Yard Building 197, the site of the September shootings. Naval officials have temporarily relocated Building 197 employees to an office space at Buzzard Point in Washington, D.C., as repairs are made to the shooting site.

After MacFarlane posted images of the Navy FOIA office memo on social media, the agency apologized to MacFarlane by email.

The agency also posted a statement of its own on Twitter.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 03:08

S

When Andrew Scott Boguslawski was pulled over for speeding in Ohio, the cop, noticing a bumper sticker that said, "If you can read this, you're in range," asked the driver if he had any weapons.

Boguslawski said that he didn't, but it turned out he did '-- which the officer realized when he went to give Boguslawski a ticket and spotted the handle of a handgun sticking out from between his legs.

Boguslawski, Ohio police quickly discovered, was hauling a serious arsenal '-- two pistols, two rifles, 48 bombs, a bulletproof vest, and other bomb making material. Prosecutors say some of the explosives were connected to a remote detonating device, also found in the car.

Investigators are unsure what he planned to do with the explosives, but said he appeared to be headed to Indiana, where he works at a training facility for Navy Seals. One prosecutor told Dispatch.com that Boguslawski mentioned to a trooper that he planned to make an explosive vest.

Investigators say that Boguslawski - who listed listed his skills on an online profile as "Kung Fu, security, and intelligence" - had "schematics and other plans for buildings" that police believe may be from the Seals facility.

They are currently analyzing a GPS system, camera, and laptop seized from Boguslawski to determine if the case will go forward on a state or federal level.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 18:18

By Laura ArenschieldThe Columbus DispatchWednesday January 8, 2014 7:11 AM

An Indiana National Guardsman was arrested outside Columbus on New Year's Day after a state trooper found nearly 50 bombs and the blueprints for a Navy SEAL training facility inside his car, the Madison County prosecutor said yesterday.

Andrew Scott Boguslawski, 43, also had a remote-control device to detonate the bombs, Madison County Prosecutor Stephen Pronai said. Boguslawski's civilian job is as a groundskeeper at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in south-central Indiana. Prosecutors could not say definitively yesterday whether the blueprints in his car were for the facility where he worked.

Boguslawski also had a bulletproof vest in his car, Pronai said.

''He said something to the trooper about making a bomb vest,'' Pronai said.

Lt. Col. Cathy Van Bree, a spokeswoman for the Indiana National Guard, said Boguslawski is a specialist in the guard who does intelligence analysis and has top-secret clearance.

Pronai said Boguslawski, who is from Moores Hill, Ind., appeared to be heading to Indiana when a state trooper clocked him going 85 mph in a 70 mph zone on I-70. When the trooper came back to the car to give Boguslawski a ticket, he saw the handle of a gun between his legs.

The trooper ordered Boguslawski out of the car and called for backup. Investigators found three more guns in the car '-- all loaded '-- and 48 bombs. They also found material to make more explosives.

Pronai said most of the bombs were small. He said investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have searched Boguslawski's house, and that local and federal investigators are trying to determine whether Boguslawski planned to attack the military facility. They are also combing through a computer, cameras and GPS found in his car.

Boguslawski is charged in Madison County with one count of manufacturing explosives, a second-degree felony. A preliminary court hearing is scheduled for Friday. He is being held at Tri-County Jail in Mechanicsburg in lieu of a $1 million bond.

larenschield@dispatch.com

@larenschield

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 15:17

Hollywood double agents might want to watch their backs.

In an utterly unprecedented move, 34-year CIA employee John Rizzo is breaking the organization's code of silence to expose the government organization's darkest secrets for the very first time.

Chief among his bombshell revelations is the suggestion that Hollywood and Washington are much closer than anyone has previously thought: exchanging money, information '-- and in one staggering case '-- a request for $50,000 of cocaine!

PHOTOS: Hollywood Bodyguards Tell All '-- Who Steals, Sexts, Does Drugs & More Star Secrets Revealed

In his new book, Company Man: Thirty Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA, whistleblower Rizzo, who served as the acting general counsel for the entire CIA, admits, ''the CIA has long had a special relationship with the entertainment industry, devoting considerable attention to fostering relationships with Hollywood movers and shakers: studio executives, producers, directors and big-name actors.''

''There are officers assigned to this account full-time,'' he reveals, adding many Hollywood denizens offer up information to their country '-- at a price.

Movie industry vets are ''receptive to helping the CIA in any way they can,'' Rizzo claims, ''probably in equal parts because they are sincerely patriotic and because it gives them a taste of real-life intrigue and excitement.''

PHOTOS: Celebs Who Have Done Jail Time

On the other hand, for the government, ''their power and international celebrity can be valuable,'' Rizzo explains. ''It gives them entr(C)e to people and places abroad. Heads of state want to meet and get cozy with them.''

''But things can get complicated,'' he admits.

In one instance, Rizzo claims, the agency was approached blindly by ''a major film star at the time'' who ''somehow knew that another big star's production company had an association with the CIA's clandestine service over the years '... Now this guy was offering his own name and services to us. Free of charge. Anything he could do. Just out of patriotic duty.''

PHOTOS: America's Top 30 Political Sex Scandals

But it wasn't exactly a case of no-strings-attached, Rizzo would soon find out.

''As our guy related his story, I wondered to myself, why is he telling me this?'' he admits. ''It all sounded perfectly fine to me. It was kind of cool actually. And then he got to the kicker.''

PHOTOS: 55 Naughtiest Moments Of 2013: Hollywood's Bad Behavior Special

''There is one little kicker,'' Rizzo claims his underling said. ''The actor refuses to take any money, but he told us that instead all he wants of us is to score him the best fifty-thousand-dollar stash of cocaine we can find. He seems to think we can get the real primo stuff. So that's why I'm here. Is it ok for us to do it?''

'''Uh, no,''' I managed to get out of my agape mouth,'' Rizzo remembers. But the other agent wouldn't back down from the potential deal.

''We know a way to get some easily,' our guy added hopefully,'' Rizzo writes. ''I definitely wasn't eager to learn how, so I just repeated my response 'No. No way. Forget it.'''

PHOTOS: Bikinis! Sexy Stars Who Have Played Spies

''I later learned that the actor did provide some assistance to the CIA on a particular project,'' he admits. ''I was assured that his services were totally gratis.''

PHOTOS: 25 Stars Who Have Been Brutally Busted In Big Lies

Any guesses as to the identity of Hollywood's most patriotic coke find? Rizzo says the CIA wouldn't let him name the actor in his book, which is on sale now. But let us know your best guess in the comments!

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Source: bitcoin - Google News

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 12:28

Online gaming company Zynga announced it has begun testing accepting payments in Bitcoin for seven of its games.The announcement has caused Bitcoin prices to surge back to $1,000 on the Mt. Gox exchange.

Zynga made the announcement exclusively on reddit. Bitpay, one of the largest Bitcoin payment processing firms, will handle the transactions.

Here's the full text:

We wanted to share with the r/bitcoin community that Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is now conducting a Bitcoin test with BitPay (https://bitpay.com/), a leading Bitcoin service provider, in select Zynga.com web games.

In response to Bitcoin's rise in popularity around the world, Zynga, with help from BitPay, is testing expanded payment options for players to make in-game purchases using Bitcoin. The Bitcoin test is only available to Zynga.com players playing FarmVille 2, CastleVille, ChefVille, CoasterVille, Hidden Chronicles, Hidden Shadows and CityVille. The games can be accessed at http://zynga.com.

Zynga is always working to improve our customer experience by incorporating player feedback into our games. We look forward to hearing from our players about the Bitcoin test so we can continue in our efforts to provide the best possible gaming experience.

Check out the test and let us know your thoughts.

Thank you!

Zynga

TechCrunch was the first to report the news.

This is the first time since mid-December Bitcoin climbed back to $1,000 on Mt. Gox.

It's worth noting that in that time, Mt. Gox lost its claim to most-trafficked USD-traded Bitcoin exchange. There is now a virtual tie between Slovenia-based Bitstamp and BTC-e, which is said to be based in Russia.

Despite new severe restrictions in China, Bitcoin has benefitted from several recent high-profile endorsements. In addition to the Zynga announcement, Fortress Investment Group announced it was starting a Bitcoin fund, and a U.S. Congressman is looking to accept Bitcoin in his Senate race. And financial services firm Wedbush recently identified publicly traded companies that stand to gain from the rise of Bitcoin.

Here's the price chart. It's since come down a bit, to $987 (first reported by Coindesk).

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Source: EconomicPolicyJournal.com

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 05:59

NyPo has the story:''Coinye'' is the brainchild of an anonymous group of seven web developers who claim they are just a few guys ''excited about the future of cryptocurrency.''

The digital currency is designed to rival bitcoin and uses Kanye's name and image as a parody in a bid to help it become more mainstream.However Kanye hasn't taken kindly to his monetary likeness, with lawyers for Mr. West firing a cease and desist letter against the developers.''Mr West is an internationally renown musical artist, songwriter, producer, film director and fashion designer, to name just a few of Mr West's endeavours,'' says a letter dated January 6 that reads as if it could have been written by Kanye himself.The lawyers claim the name of the currency is ''substantially similar'' to Kanye's name and have demanded the group deactivate all websites and social media accounts associated with the currency.The developers have changed the name from Coinye West to Coinye and moved their website to India, according to the Wall Street Journal .However they've also decided what doesn't kill them makes them stronger and brought forward the launch date due to ''legal pressure,'' according to a note on their website.

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 17:46

A flash crash in the price of gold today is being blamed on everything from a ''fat finger'' event to price manipulation and high frequency trading (HFT), but are other issues being overlooked?

Gold drops $30 in secondsThe price of gold traded on the Comex dropped $30 per once in a matter of seconds today as 4,200 sell orders hit the electronic markets at 10:14 Eastern time, which triggered a 10 second trading halt, according to a price chart provided by Nanex and as reported on MarketWatch.

While the gold price crash is being reported in the media, a generally unreported flash crash occurred in the Treasury market on December 23, 2013. In this event bonds had close to a six point rally in a matter of seconds. Ultimately the CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME), the exchange where the contracts were traded, disallowed many of the trades. It is unclear if Comex, which is owned by the CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME), is going to disallow many of the gold trades in question.

According to Eric Hunsader, founder of Nanex, the two flash crashes looked like a different algorithm was at work moving the markets. ''The treasury market flash event took a relatively longer time to build (minutes). The gold crash was a straight line down and occurred in milliseconds.''

Flash crashes and the electronic eyeFlash crash events typically occur when markets experience a flood of orders on one side of the market. The most famous flash crash occurred May 6, 2010 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 1,000 points in a matter of seconds on enormous momentary sell orders. Behind the scenes the crash was said to involve electronic market making software and an apparatus known as the ''electronic eye.'' The electronic eye is designed to detect abnormal market behavior and can pull bids and offers when the flow of orders becomes unbalanced. Increasingly discussions regarding high frequency trading techniques and potential market crashes are being spoken about relative to national security. In November of last year the CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) reported its technical infrastructure was hacked in Hong Kong and the FBI is currently investigating.

By Mark Melin

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 05:52

Recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado and Washington, and medicinal marijuana laws exist in 20 states. New York soon will become No. 21 on that list. But federal law currently prohibits banks and credit card companies from processing pot business transactions.

That may all be about to change.

"Discussion with Justice to bring clarity to these issues for banks are underway," said Steve Hudak, spokesperson for the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCen.

Hudak told CNBC that "banks are obligated to report suspicious activity, but everyone involved is earnestly looking for a solution to this problem."

The problem he referred to is this: Buying weed from an authorized dispensary is legal in many states, but banking laws clearly have not caught up.

(Read more: Colorado's brand-new pot economy )

"Everyone at this point is working together, so it's just a matter of having a lot of different government agencies and bureaucracies ... all on the same page," said Dan Riffle, director of federal policies for Marijuana Policy Project, a lobbying group based in Washington, D.C. "We can find a solution that will make the banking services available to this industry."

He expect that the Treasury and Justice departments will work out the differences in federal and state laws. That will allow banks to lend money to legitimate marijuana businesses and to process their transactions before the end of the first quarter of 2014.

Laws legalizing recreational or medical pot-or both-are passing on ballots throughout the country, and governors are keen to tap into the potential tax receipts from marijuana sales. Colorado, for instance, expects to generate $70 million in tax receipts from sales this year.

"The issue here is federal law," Riffle said. "A lot of these businesses are going to need access to financing in order to get started. And because of federal laws, banks are unwilling to do business with marijuana-related dispensaries, because of fear of money-laundering charges."

As a result, he said, there's great interest in setting up private equity firms that "can provide start-up financing and capital to these businesses."

In one such move, executives at High Times magazine have created the HT Growth Fund and aim to raise $100 million fund for pot-related start-ups.

Over the next two years, HT Growth Fund plans to make investments of $2 million to $5 million in a variety of enterprises. It will be run by Michael Kennedy, who has served as the general counsel for High Times, and Michael Safir, a former business manager at the publication.

"It is important to note that the HT Growth Fund will not be seeking investors from the general public but only from those sophisticated enough to qualify as accredited investors," Matt Stang, director of advertising and new business for High Times, told CNBC.

(Read more: High Times aiming for $100M marijuana fund )

Pot-related small businesses often hold large amounts of cash, said Riffle, which makes those shops and their employees "targets for robbery, which obviously raises public safety concerns."

In addition, he said, keeping transactions out of the banking system could make it more difficult to ensure that sales are tracked and taxes paid appropriately.

The legal marijuana business is valued at $1.4 billion, according to ArcView Market Research. And even though pot is a legitimate business in 40 percent of states, a robust underground market still operates in many of the same areas.

(Read more: Why marijuana investments could go up in smoke )

According to the Huffington Post, many marijuana customers in Colorado still get their pot from their illicit dealers rather than visit one of the state's legitimate dispensaries. The reason: price.

Legal weed there retails at $65 for an eighth of an ounce-mainly because of high sales and excise taxes. That's nearly double the price for underground grass.

More From CNBC

Banking & BudgetingFinanceColorado

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Source: The Volokh Conspiracy

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 23:16

Just introduced today by Delegate Mark Keam:

If any person, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass any person, '... uses a computer, including an electronic communication device, or computer network to '... engage in bullying, as defined in § 22.1-276.01, he shall be is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

[§ 22.1-276.01:] ''Bullying'' means any aggressive and unwanted behavior that is intended to harm, intimidate, or humiliate the victim; involves a real or perceived power imbalance between the aggressor or aggressors and victim; and is repeated over time or causes severe emotional trauma. ''Bullying'' includes cyber bullying. ''Bullying'' does not include ordinary teasing, horseplay, argument, or peer conflict.

So if a high school student posts several Facebook items on her own page harshly castigating her ex-boyfriend for cheating on her, and this is seen as ''intended to '... harass'' and ''humiliate'' the ex-boyfriend (not implausible) and ''involv[ing] a real or perceived power imbalance'' '-- whatever that means '-- that would be a crime. Likewise if some students post Facebook items harshly castigating a classmate for committing a crime or some other misdeed, unless of course this qualifies as ''ordinary '... peer conflict.''

But wait: While the definition of ''bullying'' in the statute is drawn from a statute that is targeted at schoolchildren, nothing in the definition itself is limited to such children. And the statute that Del. Keam's proposal would modify applies to everyone, not just adults. So it may well be that the proposal, if enacted, would also apply to speech about adults. If someone harshly criticizes '-- on a blog, or on one's facebook page, or in a newspaper article posted online '-- a businessperson, a low-level government official, an academic, or anyone else in a way that is seen as ''inten[ded] to '... harass'' and ''humiliate,'' is ''repeated over time,'' and ''involves a real or perceived power imbalance between the aggressor or aggressors,'' that too would be a crime.

This strikes me as unconstitutionally overbroad (even if limited to speech about schoolchildren), and extraordinarily vague. What counts as a ''perceived power imbalance''? Given the context from which the definition of ''bullying'' came '-- behavior by students '-- the ''power'' may involve social influence and not just economic or governmental power (since alleged student bullies don't generally have such power) or physical power. If the target of the speech is disliked enough, and the speaker popular enough, does that make otherwise permitted speech into a crime? And of course what qualifies as ''ordinary teasing, horseplay, argument, or peer conflict''?

Such phrases might be constitutional when applied to academic discipline, though even there the vagueness doctrine would apply in some measure. But I think they are far from being precise enough to form the basis for criminal punishment, especially given the absence of any legal tradition of using the terms and clarifying them in the course of using them.

So this is a dangerous and deeply unsound proposal, which I hope Del. Keam's colleagues block. Thanks to Hans Bader for the pointer.

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Source: News From Antiwar.com

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 03:39

In a move that was nearly a month too late, the Obama Administration has finally gotten around to announcing an ''investigation'' into the December 12 drone strike against a Yemeni wedding party, which killed a large number of civilians.

The strike fueled massive opposition from locals, and also a rare rebuke from the Yemeni parliament, which has long looked the other way over civilian deaths. The Obama Administration hasn't learned any lesson however.

That's because even as the probe was getting underway, the US launched yet another drone strike against the Hadrawmut Province, killing two unidentified people.

Officially, both of the slain have been declared ''suspected al-Qaeda militants,'' but that explanation would be a lot more credible if the US hadn't labeled the wedding party the exact same way after that hit.

Though the US has long insisted virtually no civilians are slain in their strikes, they likewise have never identified a large number of their victims, shrugging them off as suspects unless someone says otherwise.

Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 05:35

No word yet on the images that might be used along with the usual messaging. | AP Photo

CloseThe Obama administration is planning an Olympic-size ad blitz to push health coverage during the winter games next month.

HHS confirmed Tuesday that it has bought advertising time in markets with high rates of uninsured people to air during the Winter Olympics, which run Feb. 7-23.

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To date, the administration has focused its outreach efforts in areas around Houston, Dallas, Tampa and Miami, dispatching senior officials like HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to spread the word about new benefits under Obamacare.

(PHOTOS: 12 Democrats criticizing the Obamacare rollout)

The ads, which will run in markets like these across the country, will be aimed at young uninsured people and their families, an HHS official confirmed. POLITICO also confirmed that ads will run in North Carolina. According to HHS, ratings for typical primetime and sports programming dip during the Olympics, so the administration moved some of its paid media budget to the NBC Olympic inventory to maximize viewership.

No word on the images that might be used along with the usual messaging, although high-injury events such as the giant slalom or snowboarding offer immediate visuals to underscore the risk of going without health insurance.

Asked about the ads, HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters said that officials are ramping up education and outreach efforts in the health exchanges ''as part of a sustained, aggressive campaign for the duration of open enrollment. HHS is using a mix of grass-roots activities and stakeholder engagement to raise awareness, as well as targeted television, radio and digital advertising with an emphasis on reaching young and healthy audiences in particular.'' Enrollment season runs through March.

The agency declined to specify the size of the ad buy.

The ads immediately became attack fodder in the fiercely contested Senate race in North Carolina, where endangered Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan has been hammered for supporting the law.

''It just reinforces the reality that Kay Hagan repeatedly broke promises she made about Obamacare to North Carolina voters and will not be able to hide from the unpopular law,'' said NRSC spokesman Brad Dayspring. ''Mary Landrieu said the 2014 elections are a referendum on Obamacare, and this suggests that the administration believes that.''

(PHOTOS: 2012 Olympics)

Hagan's campaign rejected the swipe, arguing that North Carolina voters would judge her for more than her position on the health law.

''Kay is focused on commonsense fixes to make this law work better for North Carolina, but her opponents want to go back to a time when insurance companies could drop you when you got sick or charge women more for care,'' said spokeswoman Sadie Weiner. ''This election isn't about the Affordable Care Act. It will be about Kay's record of standing up for North Carolinians contrasted with her special-interest backed opponents who gutted public education, want to voucherize Medicare, privatize Social Security and slash long-term unemployment benefits.

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 02:55

National leaders, meeting as the European Council, would be reduced to consultative, second chamber role similar to the House of Lords.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Ukip, said that Mrs Reding had revealed the true choice for British voters to make at polling stations.

"For people in power in Brussels that is the only choice on offer, no reform just a United States of Europe. On 22 May the British people must ask themselves if they want this and vote accordingly," he said.

"I am sure people will say no to this centralist fanaticism."

Mrs Reding's comments illustrate the growing gulf between a Europe committed to "ever closer union" and Britain, which is pushing to reduce the EU's powers.

"We assume Britain's leaving the EU so we don't even bother thinking about British sensitivities at the moment," said an official.

While Britain may have been written off, concern is mounting because hostility has reached unprecedented levels across continental Europe and anti-EU parties are leading the polls in France, the Netherlands and Greece.

Senior EU figures, such as Mrs Reding, want the European elections in May to move beyond debates over eurozone austerity by embracing a grand vision of Europe.

"This debate is moving into the decisive phase now. In a little more than four months' time, citizens across Europe will be able to choose the Europe they want to live in," she said.

"There is a lot at stake. The outcome of these elections will shape Europe for the years to come. That is why voting at these elections is crucial.

This will be our best weapon against the Eurosceptics: to explain to our citizens that their vote really matters."

In the run up to the springtime pan-European vote, the EU is gearing up to mount an unprecedented campaign for the hearts and minds of voters.

Speaking in Athens, Jos(C) Manuel Barroso, the commission president, signalled that the EU would use the centenary of World War One to warn that Euroscepticism, far-Right and populist anti-European parties could bring war back to Europe.

"No other political construction to date has proven to be a better way of organising life to lessen the barbarity in this world," he said.

"It is especially important to recall this as we will commemorate this year the start of the First World War. We must never take peace, democracy or freedom for granted. It is also especially important to remind this as in May the peoples of Europe will be called to participate in European elections."

The attempt by Mr Barroso and Mrs Reding to raise the stakes in the EU elections have not been well received by all governments.

"Federalist hyperbole about a United States is the opposite of helpful to the majority of countries who want a reformed EU to work better," said a European diplomat.

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 11:55

The Federal Bureau of Investigation may have bigger things to worry about than law enforcement. Foreign Policy is reporting a change in the bureau's latest fact sheet, in which the agency's primary mission has changed from "law enforcement" to "national security." It's in keeping with the bureau's post-9/11 duties as the nation's primary domestic counterterrorism agency, but the timing has many FBI-watchers scratching their heads. What's changed in the last year to make the bureau shift away from law enforcement?

The bureau has long been part of the National Security wing of the government, as distinct from purely civilian agencies like the Department of Agriculture, but its primary purpose was always seen as one of enforcing the laws of the nation. The new mission statement depicts the bureau as something larger than that, securing against a broad range of threats to the nation. Still, according to FBI spokesman Paul Bresson, it's a restatement of where the bureau's priorities have been for a long time. "We rank our top 10 priorities and CT [counterterrorism] is first, counterintel is second, cyber is third," Bresson told Foreign Policy. "So it is certainly accurate to say our primary function is national security."

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 23:10

A number of key aides are expected to leave the White House in the coming months as President Obama tries to build momentum after a tumultuous 2013 that left him with few significant achievements.

Departures of longtime and trusted West Wing aides will force Obama to go outside his comfort zone in seeking advisers.

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Strategists say that could be a struggle for the president, who they say has not done well in reaching outside his bubble for help and advice.It will be critical in 2014 for the president, who is focused on making sure his party does not lose its majority in the Senate.

The biggest boldface name expected to leave Obama is deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors, a key adviser on nearly every major negotiation the White House has had with Congress. Reuters reported late last month that Nabors was ''considering'' leaving the West Wing, but it seems more certain and imminent than that, say sources who have spoken to the top White House aide in recent weeks.

Nabors, who has recently taken some time off to deal with personal matters, is expected to depart the White House in the next several months.

Deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, a nine-year Obama veteran, is also mulling a departure. But sources familiar with her thinking say she hasn't made any decisions about leaving the West Wing yet.

The two exits would deprive Obama of two of his closest advisers, said one former senior administration official.

''I think the president really respects him,'' the official said of Nabors, ''and you see that in the amount of access and input he has, from foreign policy to domestic policy and everything in-between.''

''And Alyssa really knows what makes the president tick,'' the official said. ''More than any two people, both Alyssa and Rob demonstrate Obama's loyalty to his personal relationships.''

''He's comfortable around them.''

There are other departures, too, particularly in the Legislative Affairs Office, which recently lost its director, Miguel Rodriguez. Sources say officials Ed Pagano and Jonathan Samuels, who head up the House and Senate teams, respectively, have also been thinking about possible departures this year.

The White House looked outside the Legislative Affairs Office to pick a successor to Rodriguez, and selected Katie Beirne Fallon, a newcomer to Obama's orbit who served as deputy communications director at the White House.

Beirne Fallon's old role hasn't yet been filled, but White House aides are looking both inside '-- deputy press secretary Amy Brundage is one name floating around '-- and outside for the right candidate.

White House allies say other mid-level departures could come in the weeks ahead. But they say not to expect much change at the senior adviser level, which could get top-heavy if any other people are brought in to the West Wing.

Last month, the White House announced that John Podesta, who served as chief of staff to former President Clinton, will advise Obama. The White House also brought back Phil Schiliro, who served in several key roles during Obama's first term, to help iron out the glitches of the disastrous healthcare law rollout.

It's unclear how long Schiliro will stay in the role. But those close to him say, as of now, it's an indefinite time frame.

''Schiliro is truly loyal to the cause and he's not going to leave until healthcare is in a much better place than how he found it,'' one former senior administration official said.

Obama will also have to deal with the loss of Gene Sperling, the director of the National Economic Council and the assistant to the president for economic policy.

In the White House press briefing on Monday, Sperling told reporters he will be at the White House for January and ''quite a lot of February'' as well. But he added, ''I am quite confident that when March comes, I will be somewhere else.''

To be sure, Obama will still have a few familiar faces around him. Senior adviser David Simas, who didn't work on Obama's first campaign but is very close with former senior adviser David Axelrod, earned a place in Obama's sacred inner circle.

Simas, who has been at the helm of healthcare, will continue to help out on strategy and communications.

Senior advisers Valerie Jarrett and Dan Pfeiffer '-- who has been positioning himself for that role since the beginning of his time with Obama '-- don't have plans to go anywhere anytime soon.

Another former senior administration official predicted that the two would be ''turning out the lights'' on Obama's final day in office.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 22:54

2014 predictions: Top technology trends

An accidental drug overdose caused the untimely death of elite hacker Barnaby Jack, an autopsy has concluded.

Jack, who was famed for demonstrating cash machine hacks live on stage in Las Vegas and later highlighted the insecurity of smart medical devices, was found dead at home in San Francisco last July days before he was due to give a talk on hacking electronic medical implants such as heart implants at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas.

The sudden death of the 35 year old New Zealander spurred numerous online tributes from his peers in the security research community.

An autopsy carried out after his death, released last week, concluded that Jack died of a multi-drug overdose including a mix of heroin and cocaine as well as prescription drugs '' specifically, diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and alprazolam (Xanax). His girlfriend found him lying in bed and unresponsive, surrounded by beer and champagne bottles, when she returned home in the evening. Subsequent efforts to revive Jack proved unsuccessful and paramedics confirmed his death at the scene.

There was "no visible or palpable evidence of trauma" and the acute mixed drug overdose was likely to have been accidental, the autopsy concluded.

A copy of the autopsy report can be found here.

At the time of his death, Jack was the director of embedded device security at security firm IOActive.

More background on Jack's untimely death and reflections on his work can be found in a story on the autopsy finding by the BBC here and a blog post by freelance journalist Marcus Williamson here. ®

The master list of email delivery terminology

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 22:57

Barnaby Jack Autopsy ReportP. 1

Barnaby Jack Autopsy ReportRatings:(0)|Views:855|Likes:0

The full report released by the San Francisco coroner on the July 25, 2013, death of renowned hacker Barnaby Jack.

The full report released by the San Francisco coroner on the July 25, 2013, death of renowned hacker Barnaby Jack.

More info:Copyright:Attribution Non-commercial

Availability:Free download as PDF, TXT or read online for free from Scribd

http://www.scribd.com/doc/196531876/Barnaby-Jack-Autopsy-Report

01/07/2014

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 21:02

11:15 a.m.MCLOUD '-- Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth said he had never heard of ''an atomic wedgie,'' before suspect Brad Davis told investigators he gave one to his stepfather, Denver Lee St. Clair, on Dec. 21 at St Clair's home at 4 Shadowlake Drive in Pottawatomie County near McLoud. St. Clair was dead at the scene. Davis is St. Clair's stepson and lives in the area.

''I'd never seen this before, but when we first looked at our victim seeing the waistband of his underwear was around his neck,'' Booth said.

Booth said Davis told investigators that he went to his stepfather's residence and his stepfather ''jumped him.''

St. Clair had a head wound and appeared to have been in a fight. The underwear St. Clair was wearing had been pulled up his back and over his head, leaving the waistband around his neck. Booth said it was the first time he had ever heard of someone being killed by a pair of underwear.

The cause of death has been determined to be from blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation. The death has been ruled a homicide, said Amy Elliott, Oklahoma state medical examiner's spokeswoman.

Booth said a full report has been presented to the Pottawatomie County District Attorney's office where a murder charge is expected to be filed.

St. Clair was under a permanent protective order filed in 2008 by his wife Tressia Ann St. Clair. She lived in the home where Denver St. Clair was killed. Brad Davis is the son of Tressia St. Clair.

In the 2008 protective order, Tressia St. Clair claimed she found her husband embraced in a ''sexual way,'' with a drinking buddy and that he later grabbed her by the neck and threw her through a bathroom door.

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 18:40

By Stephanie Halasz and Nick Thompson, CNN

updated 3:23 PM EST, Mon January 6, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Angela Merkel fractures pelvis in skiing accident in Switzerland over winter holidayHer injuries are not serious, and she will make a full recovery, a spokesman saysMerkel will need help walking and will cancel some commitments, spokesman says(CNN) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel fractured her pelvis in a skiing accident in Switzerland over the holidays, her spokesman told reporters Monday.

Merkel was cross-country skiing when the accident occurred. Spokesman Steffen Seibert did not disclose the date of the incident, but said her injuries are not thought to be serious and it is thought she will make a full recovery.

Merkel, who has been Chancellor of Germany since 2005, will need aid to walk over the next few weeks and will be canceling some of her commitments, Seibert said.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said it will delay its party retreat, originally slated for January 10-11, as a result of her accident.

The news of Merkel's fall comes just eight days after her fellow countryman Michael Schumacher, the most successful driver in Formula One history, was critically injured while skiing in the French Alps .

Schumacher, who fell and hit his head on rocks while skiing off-piste on December 29 in Meribel, has undergone two operations and is in a medically induced coma. The German racing legend remains in a critical but stable condition, according to his manager.

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Archived Version

Source: The Local

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 13:08

Michael Schumacher remains in intensive care in Grenoble. Photo: DPA

Published: 06 Jan 2014 10:40 GMT+01:00Updated: 06 Jan 2014 10:40 GMT+01:00

UPDATE: French prosecutors will brief journalists on Wednesday on their investigation into Michael Schumacher's life-threatening skiing accident.

The press conference will be held on Wednesday at 11 am in the Alpine town of Albertville, local prosecutor Patrick Quincy told AFP.

Schumacher has been in a medically induced coma since the accident on December 29th.

Investigators are focusing on the retired racer's speed when he fell and slammed his head on a rock on a small off-piste section of the Meribel ski resort, prompting his evacuation by helicopter to the Alpine city of Grenoble.

Prosecutors are also looking at whether the limits of the ski runs next to the accident site were correctly marked and whether the rock in question was lying close enough to the piste to require some kind of protection or signage.

They are also examining whether the safety releases on Schumacher's skis operated properly in a probe aimed at determining responsibility for the accident.

In the most recent update on Schumacher's health, his spokeswoman said on Saturday that the Formula One legend remained in a "critical but stable" condition.

Schumacher was skiing at no faster than 20 kilometres an hour when he had the accident, a witness who captured the motor racing legend on video told Der Spiegel magazine.

A 35-year-old airline steward said that he was filming his girlfriend with a smartphone at the Meribel ski area last Sunday when he captured Swiss resident Schumacher in the un-groomed area where he ran into a rock.

''He came slowly,'' the man who was vacationing at the time told the publication.

''He was skiing at 20 kilometres an hour no more.''

The man said he made his video available to authorities and would be available to testify, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

Schumacher, who owns an estate overlooking Lake Geneva in the town of Gland in the canton of Vauid, hit a rock while skiing at Meribel on December 29th in circumstances that remain unclear.

On Saturday, the Formula One great remained in critical condition in a Grenoble hospital, according to authorities, who said his condition had neither worsened nor improved.

AFP reported on Friday that authorities were examining a camera that was attached to Schumacher's helmet as part of an investigation into what happened.

CHU, the university hospital of Grenoble, earlier stated that Schumacher was skiing at high speed in an off-piste area between a beginner's slope and one for intermediate skiers.

But this information was contested by Sabine Kehm, a spokesman for Schumacher, who said he was not going fast because he had helped a friend who had just fallen in the off-piste area.

According to German newspaper Bild, the person helped was the daughter of one of Schumacher's friends who fell in the zone between the two slopes.

The ski accident has sparked international media interest.

Hundreds of fans stood outside the Grenoble hospital on Friday to mark the 45th birthday of the retired Ferrari driver who won more Formula One titles than any other racer in career from 1991 to 2012.

READ MORE: Camera on Schumacher's ski helmet inspected

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Today's headlines

Photo: DPA

Chancellor Angela Merkel has fractured her pelvis in a cross-country skiing accident, her spokesman said on Monday. READ () >>

Michael Schumacher remains in intensive care in Grenoble. Photo: DPA

UPDATE: French prosecutors will brief journalists on Wednesday on their investigation into Michael Schumacher's life-threatening skiing accident. READ () >>

Police officers were injured when protests turned violent on Saturday December 21st. Photo: DPA

Police have turned a large section of Hamburg, including the centre of the city's nightlife area, into a restricted zone in the wake of attacks on officers and violent protests. READ () >>

Knut died suddenly aged four. Photo: DPA

German zoologists have released celebrity polar bear Knut's autopsy results almost three years after his death. It was the most in-depth post-mortem ever carried out on an animal. READ () >>

Photo: DPA

Drivers who rarely use Germany's motorways will be able to pay a reduced rate under plans being drawn up by the transport ministry to charge motorists. READ () >>

Photo: DPA

Items made of cat fur have been found in two leading German high street chains, it emerged on Monday. READ () >>

Photo: DPA

Star footballer Robert Lewandowski attempted to reassure Borussia Dortmund fans that he is fully committed to them despite having already agreed to move to bitter rivals Bayern Munich at the end of the season. READ () >>

Get the best of both North American and European academic curricula at European University in Munich. The multi-campus business school has a global network of campuses and the numerous programmes on offer are accredited internationally. READ () >>

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel. Photo: DPA

Europe's top economy Germany is grappling with how to handle immigration from poor EU members Romania and Bulgaria now that their citizens can seek work anywhere within the bloc. READ () >>

Photo: DPA

A camera fixed to the ski helmet of Michael Schumacher is being inspected by investigators probing the accident that has left the German retired racing legend comatose in a French hospital with critical head injuries. READ () >>

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Archived Version

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:30

PORTLAND -- Local emergency rooms are quickly filling up with flu victims and doctors said they are seeing a rise in H1N1, also known as swine flu, which caused a pandemic back in 2009.

A 5-year-old boy from Eugene died from the flu at Oregon Health & Science University after falling ill on Christmas day, according to officials from the hospital.

A neighbor saw emergency crews at the boy's home on Christmas day and news of the child's death came as a shock.

''It's just sad very devastating. I couldn't imagine what they might be going through,'' said Tim Yali.

The flu has been spreading all over the country and state officials now consider flu activity widespread in Oregon. Dr. Mo Daya works at OHSU. He said he expected to see more cases of the flu.

So far, at least two people have died of the flu in Oregon and 81 people have been hospitalized.

''It can become bad, very quickly,'' Daya said. ''In the time I've worked in the last two weeks, every shift has had at least one or two positive cases. At least one or two each sift have been admitted to the ICU.''

Daya said there is a vaccine for the swine flu that's not perfect but can help.

More: Ore. Flu Prevention

''The vaccine is the best preventative thing we have today. I encourage everyone who hasn't had the vaccine to get out and get the vaccine to try to protect this from occurring,'' he said.

-------------

KGW reporter Art Edwards contributed to this report.

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:31

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A 5-year-old Eugene boy died from flu-related complications in late December after health officials say he caught the H1N1 virus.

Calandra Burgess said her son Ronan received the flu vaccine in November.

"All thee of my children had the nasal spray. My other two kids didn't get sick at all," said Burgess.

She said her 5-year-old Ronan came down with the flu Friday Dec. 20 while she and her husband were working through the flu. Burgess took Ronan to his pediatrician when he developed a barking cough often characterizing croup.

"She didn't think about doing an influenza test, because it had been past the 48-hour mark for the antivirals," said Burgess.

She started giving Ronan doses of steroidal medication Monday, prescribed by his pediatrician to combat the coughing, croup symptoms.

Ronan's symptoms didn't seem to be improving, so Burgess took her son to the emergency room early Christmas morning. Doctors took a soft-tissue x-ray of his upper respiratory system.

"They said it looked like it was collapsed a little, but it was nothing to be too concerned about," Burgess said.

After spending the day with their son, Burgess and her husband felt Ronan needed to go back to the hospital.

"I went to put (Ronan's) pants on, got one leg on him'... my son collapsed right in front of me and turned blue," Burgess said.

Paramedics secured an airway while rushing Ronan to Sacred Heart in Eugene. Doctors there agreed that it was best to transfer the boy up to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.

"Once we got up there, it seemed like the worst was yet to come," Burgess said.

She said her son suffered severe brain damage due to a lack of oxygen from a collapsed airway. After numerous tests, treatments and hard decisions facing Burgess and her family, Ronan passed away on Dec. 29.

"Through this process I thought about how beautiful my son was, and how he was able to bring a smile to everyone's face," said Burgess. "He was a happy, sweet-natured boy. Always wanting to help out and be there for us ... he was my pride and joy."

Burgess said she wanted to find some sort of light through Ronan's passing. Along with making Ronan an organ donor, Burgess hopes people will learn from his death.

"The thing people seem to forget is that vaccines don't work all the time. In this case it wasn't a 100 percent guarantee, and people need to remember that," said Burgess. "It saved two of my children from getting horribly sick, and I will always make sure my family continues to get them each year."

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Source: WT Newsfeed

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 22:51

GRAND RAPIDS, MI '' People with serious mental illness who are trying to quit smoking have much better success with an extended course of treatment with Chantix and therapy, according to a new study that involved a Grand Rapids psychiatrist.

The report in the Wednesday, Jan. 8, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association looks at ways to lower the high rates of smoking among those with illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The rate of tobacco use has risen in the past 50 years for people with serious mental illness, even as the overall rate has declined dramatically in the United States. Fifty-three percent of those with serious mental illness smoke, about twice the rate of the general population, according to the study.

Dr. Anne Eden Evins, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, led a study evaluating the effectiveness of long-term use of varenicline, known by the brand name Chantix, and cognitive behavioral therapy in preventing relapses for those who kick the habit. Assisting in the study was Dr. Eric Achtyes, of Cherry Street Health Services and Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

The study included 87 patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disease who quit smoking during a 12-week program involving Chantix and therapy. One group continued receiving Chantix for another 40 weeks, and another group received a placebo; both continued with cognitive behavioral therapy.

At the end of the year of treatment, 60 percent of those who used Chantix were still non-smokers, compared with 19 percent in the placebo group.

Checking back 24 weeks after treatment, the researchers found abstinence rates were 30 percent in the Chantix group, compared with 11 percent of those who had taken a placebo.

''We know that relapsing to smoking is a big problem for smokers without psychiatric illness, but relapsing after a course of smoking cessation medication appears to happen even more rapidly in those with schizophrenia and related disorders," Evins said in a statement released by Massachusetts General. "Maintenance therapy to help these patients sustain abstinence could reduce an important source of stigma, along with their heavy burden of smoking-related illness."

Of those who don't quit smoking, half will die of a smoking-related illness, she said.

Evins said further study is needed to determine if medication combined with less intensive therapy support '' such as telephone quit lines '' would be as effective. Also, she said studies could look at whether other smoking cessation drugs, such as the anti-depressant bupropion, would work as well for maintenance treatment.

Sue Thoms covers health care for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email her at sthoms1@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 20:49

''Your dog may be at risk for a highly contagious flu!'' says Mutt Damon, a former dog flu sufferer and spokesdog for vaccination.Watch Mutt in his latest video, ''Even Dogs Get the Flu,'' to find out the signs of dog flu, its risk factors, and how to protect your pooch against it.

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 05:37

Mutt is based on elm (and written by the same author) so will feel familiar to people who've used elm.

).

Mutt has the ability to display messages by related discussion ("threads") rather than the more commonly seen (and jumbled) date sent. When reading through unread messages the effect is some topical consistency -- a great boon with high volume mailing lists or personal discussions. See the

(Internally mutt uses the In-Reply-To: and References: headers which are set automatically when replying by decent mail clients; it falls back by default on Subject:).

The "limit" command l filters the display of messages. Mutt's documentation doesn't make a big deal of "limit" nor introduces it until well into the manual but it's one of mutt's real gems and is well worth learning early.For example, paul.makepeace searches on subject, author and email address limiting the display to those that match. make would return at least as many results. All searches are case insensitive, and are regular expressions so ^, $, . (period) etc have special meanings. (Learn about 4.1 Regular Expressions.)

Often this method is enough but it's possible to limit on more specific patterns using a code prefixed with ~ (tilde). Here are some more examples:

Limit examples~s party : messages with subject containing "party"~d

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Archived Version

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 05:29

I'm a fan of the hashtag. It lets me find tweets that I know will interest me (like how a baseball game is progressing) and makes it easy for me follow a webinar or chat.

What I'm not so sure of is the use of hashtags outside the social setting. Case in point: I recently received an email with the subject line: ''Has Your Brand Gone Viral? #Winning #Digital #Strategy''

I have a few problems with this subject line, first of which is the number of hashtags used. According to Twitter best practices, you're not supposed to use more than two hashtags per tweet. This subject line had three. Add to that the fact the hashtagged words aren't really keywords specific to the email contents, which left me scratching my head. (Just do a search for the hashtagged words on Twitter and you'll find a lot of non-specific results.) A better idea would have been to create a hashtag specific to the content in the email.

To get more insight into the idea of using hashtags in an email subject line, I turned to our experts here at Knotice. One point was clear: always consider the message. Also keep in mind your brand's personality. But a brand that's not very active on Twitter, for example, or whose audience is not very social-media savvy probably should avoid the hashtag.

And just because hashtags are popular doesn't mean you should put them in your subject lines, as Dutch points out:

''If your campaign employs significant Twitter interaction or has a call-to-action that requires Twitter, by all means, use the hashtag. If not, consider the hashtag carefully as you may be adding confusion to your message or, worse, prompting your audience to interact with Twitter instead of your campaign. #mytwocents #toomanyhashtags''

Sarah, a graphic designer here at Knotice, shares the same sentiment:

''Although recognizable to users of certain social media, if you're looking from a purely functional aspect, I think it's a waste of time. Hashtags are contemporarily used in the indexing of information in the semantic web, and as far as I know, no email clients support them'.... If we're looking for something gimmicky, then by all means, use hashtags. But if we want something that could potentially be functionally useful in our spam rating and inbox hits, I think we should start looking into using Schema to mark up our emails LONG before we try using something even more unlikely to be recognized by search engines and indexes like hashtags.''

Patti, our director of marketing, had this to say: ''The purpose of the subject line is to help your message stand out in the inbox and get people to open. If using a hashtag helps you get the attention of your audience, it's a good thing. If your audience is social savvy and appreciate that sort of tone, then try it '' test and see. If you're looking for people to follow you, your event or your brand for some reason, then using a hashtag in a subject line may work tp compliment that call to action. It kind of reminds me of the use of symbols. Don't overuse it, keep it relevant to the email content, and test first see if it actually creates a lift. Clever doesn't always equate to clicks.''

What do you think? Have you used hashtags outside of social media? Have you received an email with a hashtag in the subject line? Let us know below!

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Archived Version

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 05:27

A few months ago, I suggested that email was missing an important ingredient. Email messages include a setting to indicate the urgency, but nothing to indicate the kind of email it is.

Does it contain an action item? Does it relate to an upcoming meeting? Is it something you really need to know? Or can it be read at your convenience (or not at all)?

I developed a series of four-letter tags for subject lines (like URGT for ''Urgent'') that were unlikely to appear in any email written in English'--so they could safely be used for filtering.

Today, it hit me. Why go to that much trouble? Why not use hashtags?

So I sent my first email with a hashtag in the subject line:

Now none of the well-known authors to whom I sent this are filtering for #ACTION. Probably no one is. Yet.

But you're also not likely to see ''I am asking you to take #action now'' in a typical email message. So filters set for hashtags aren't likely to be fooled by something else.

The big advantage of hashtags'--as opposed to a system that an organization might have to ''sell'' to its employees'--is that they consist of real words. Many people have extensive experience with hashtags. There's no learning curve. And no change-management effort. It should be a lot easier to get a group to agree on a set of hashtags than to convince them to adopt URGT instead of #URGENT.

What was I thinking?

The one non-trivial hurdle is this: The hashtags will work only for the group that decides to embrace them. Although if the group is a 50,000-person corporation, the benefits would be significant.

But to really put a dent in information overload, email hashtags would need to be adopted by nearly everyone.

Is anyone saying that can't happen?

About these ads

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 05:24

Email is a great invention'--so great that, collectively, we use it 300 billion times a day. And that number is only growing.

Each email message includes two very important pieces of information to help you deal with it effectively'--the subject line and the importance level.

What it's missing is an indicator to tell you what kind of email it is.

Does the email require you to do something? Is it important reading material? Does it relate to a project, a team, or an upcoming meeting? Is it personal or confidential?

If the software developers who created today's email systems were going to add this, they'd have done it by now.

But there's another option. We can do it ourselves. It's free, and it doesn't even require a software download.

Hashtags are simple. They're familiar (many people use them already). And they're easy to implement.

So easy that we can simply start using them. Now.

Only instead of attaching them to tweets, we suggest using them as the first word of email subject lines.

A standard set of email hashtags might help get things started. Let's begin with these six:

Hashtags not only provide at-a-glance visual cues, they can be used in rules and filters. That enables you to sort your email more effectively'--for instance, collecting all the #Action emails in one spot.

The list above might not be the most useful six. They're merely suggestions. Hashtags are a democracy. The best ideas will rise to the top.

We'd like to know what you think. Is this a good idea? How can we make it better? Would you include different tags in the proposed set? How can we encourage their adoption?

Most important of all, will you start using them?

If you will, you'll start a revolution in how we handle our email'--and how much time we reclaim as a result.

What you can do right now:

Use hashtags in your email subject linesEncourage others to use them, tooPromote emailhashtags.org in your email signature''Like'' this page and tweet the URLDon't wait for someone else to start the trend. Use a hashtag in the next email you send.

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Archived Version

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 05:16

Computerworld - Email is old and in decline. Chat, texting and social networks are how people interact now, right?

Well, not so fast.

With every new social network and social service, with every new instant and not-so-instant way to communicate, email rises in importance. The reason is that with everybody choosing a different communications medium, email is increasingly the only one we all have in common. It's the glue that holds the social Web together.

I prefer Google+. My mom and one of my kids are on Facebook. My other kid is on Twitter. One of my nieces is on Pinterest. One of my best friends is on Path. Another is on Pheed. My dad isn't really sure what a social network is.

The fact that everybody is using a social network, and a different one, doesn't matter. I still reach them all thanks to the Mother of All Social Networks -- email.

It helps that the regular social networks do (and must) integrate with email. For example, on Google+ I've added non-Google+ users to my circles. When I post to "Family," the family members on Google+ get a post in their stream and the rest get the post in their email in-boxes.

I also have my most important circles update me via Gmail. Those posts just show up there, and I can engage with them instantly, right in the message.

Even though I don't use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or other social networks much, I do have all those services set up to send, via email, posts from the people on those services I care about.

In all those cases, email is an extension of Google+. Email takes social networking posts where the social networks cannot go.

(It's a category-busting irony that I do all of my blogging on a social network and much of my social networking in an email service.)

My Hangouts chats and Google Voice texts, missed calls and voicemails all end up in email, too.

Like everybody else, I use a wide variety of communications media. But email is the central element in all of them.

So email is the glue that holds together dedicated social networks. It's also the biggest social network by far. There are 2.4 billion people on the Internet worldwide, according to website monitoring service Pingdom, and 2.2 billion of them use email.

That's why the idea that young people will never use email is absurd. Sure, high school kids can get by with just Snapchat. But once you have a job and an adult life, not using email is like not having a phone. Opting out of email is career suicide.

What's really interesting to me is that email has recently become an exciting category. No, really!

What is email, anyway?Email is really two things. First, it's an Internet-based messaging format standard. That's the part of email that makes it universal and therefore indispensable.

But email is also a software and cloud application category. And that's where the excitement is happening.

Recent innovations in user interface design and improvements in sorting algorithms have massively improved the experience of using email.

More to the point, software design has caught up with the reality of what people are really doing with email. Primarily, people are doing social networking, as in networking socially or professionally with the people they know. They're doing this email-to-email and also email-to-social-network.

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Mon, 06 Jan 2014 05:12

Popular imap modules - Node.JS ModulesimapAn IMAP module for node.js that makes communicating with IMAP servers easy

xoauth2XOAuth2 token generation for accessing GMail SMTP and IMAP

mail-listenerMail listener library for node.js. Get notification when new email arrived.

contextioOfficial Node.js client library for the Context.IO Email API

gmail-safeIntelligent backup client for GMail.

gmailAn API for fetching mail from GMail.com

utf7Converts text to and from UTF-7 (RFC 2152 and IMAP)

nodemailA simple web-mail base on nodejs.

mail-notifierNodejs library to get notified on new incoming email.

gmail-xoauthGenerate xoauth string from oauth 1.0 token for Gmail IMAP login. The logic is taken from http://code.google.com/p/google-mail-xoauth-tools/source/browse/trunk/python/xoauth.py

inboxThis is a work in progress IMAP client for node.js.

imapeeprovides imap access in a backbone model

bauhaus-imapimap functions for bauhaus library

imap-autoconfigDetect IMAP configuration for an e-mail address

Node.js is an official trademark of Joyent. This website is not formally related to or endorsed by the official Joyent Node.js open source or commercial project.

Created by corruptmem - Web - Email - GitHub - Twitter

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Archived Version

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 05:11

Detect e-mail connection settings

Require imap-autoconfig

var autoconfig = require("imap-autoconfig");Autoconfig objectCreate new autoconfig object

var detector = autoconfig.createIMAPSettingsDetector(config);Where config is an optional (if not set, predefined values will be used) configuration object with following properties:

redis - Redis configuration object (host, port, db)cacheExpire - Cache expiration in seconds for checked keys (set 0 for eternity, defaults to 24h)Check connection settingsCheck IMAP connection settings with autoconfig.detect

detector.detect(address, password, cached, callback)Where

address is the e-mail address to checkpassword is the password for the usercached is a boolean indicator - if set to true, checks the data from a cache, otherwise checks the servercallback is the callback function to run with an error object and imap settings objectExample

detector.detect("pipemail@node.ee", "zzzzz", true, function(err, data){ console.log(err || data);});Response data object has the following properties

host is the IMAP hostnameport is the port to the hostsecure indicates if the connection should be started with SSL (usually true for port 993 and false for 143)user indicates the format of the username, if it's %EMAIL% then, the IMAP username is also the email address, if it's %USER% then the local part of the user is the correct username, if it was unable to detect (password was not provided), it's set to falseexpires if the result came from cache, then this property indicates when the cache will be expiredExample value

{ host: 'imap.mail.yahoo.com', port: '993', secure: 'true', user: '%EMAIL%', expires: Thu Aug 09 2012 11:43:14 GMT+0300 (EEST) // Date object, not a String value}

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Archived Version

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 19:03

If you would like to create your own online e-mail system, you can use iRedMail. In this article, we will explain how you can do it.Step 1 - Droplet CreationWe use a 2 CPU Core / 2GB RAM droplet with Ubuntu 12.04 x64 image.iRedMail is currently supported on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and Ubuntu 13.04, among many other distributions of Linux.If you have a domain name you want to use, name your droplet as that domain name, which will become its hostname and reverse DNS record.Step 2 - Create a Domain NameFor our Cloud Mail purposes, we will register a free domain, cloudmail.tk from dot.tkOnce you have your domain name registered, point it to DigitalOcean's nameservers:ns1.digitalocean.com (198.199.120.125)ns2.digitalocean.com (141.0.170.89)ns3.digitalocean.com (198.199.95.114)Make sure to check those IP addresses manually, as they may have changed since the time this article was written.Now open your Control Panel on DigitalOcean and click DNS, located under Labs section.Click Add Domain and create a new record by pointing your new domain to your droplet's IP address:

Create a new MX record, make sure to have a trailing dot at the end of your domain name:

Add SPF records to make sure others cant spoof emails by pretending to send them from your domain.Make sure to have "-all" in your SPF record, and point it to your droplet's IP.The record's format would be "v=spf1 ip4:IP_ADDRESS -all"

There will be one more record to add after you have finished installing iRedMail - DKIM key.

Step 3 - iRedMail InstallationMake sure to set the hostname of your domain name, if you haven't done this during droplet creation:wget https://bitbucket.org/zhb/iredmail/downloads/iRedMail-0.8.6.tar.bz2tar jxvf iRedMail-0.8.6.tar.bz2 && cd iRedMail-0.8.6hostname cloudmail.tkbash iRedMail.shYou are greeted with a Graphical User Interface Installer by iRedMail:

If you have several droplets, you can even use GlusterFS for distributed, replicated e-mail storage, providing further redundancy:

For backend, we chose MySQL. You can also use OpenLDAP and PostgreSQL:

Since we have registered a domain in Step 2, we will place it here:

From package selection, you can omit phpMyAdmin and Fail2Ban.When asked whether you would like to use firewall rules provided with iRedMail, select 'No'.Firewall rules should be custom made for each server, and adopting a DROP ruleset from iRedMail's package is not recommended.We would also not recommend using Fail2Ban from their package, as it banned our own IP when we refreshed a page.

Reboot your droplet after completion.

All of the installation notes and logs can be found in iRedMail.tips file ( /root/iRedMail-0.8.6/iRedMail.tips ).Here you will have information on passwords, SSL certificate locations, and DKIM records.

Add the DKIM record to DigitalOcean's DNS control panel for your domain:

Step 4 - Add SSL CertificateAlthough this step is optional if you just want to use self-generated certificate, we would still recommend getting a trusted SSL certificate.By default, iRedMail will create a self-signed certificate and store it in /etc/ssl/certs/iRedMail_CA.pem and /etc/ssl/private/iRedMail.keyWe can get a free SSL certificate from InstantSSL

You would need to create a CSR and private KEY first:

cd /etc/sslopenssl req -out cloudmail.tk.csr -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout cloudmail.tk.keyThis will generate 2 files: cloudmail.tk.csr (your Certificate Signing Request file), and cloudmail.tk.key (your private SSL key which should not be shared with anyone).You would provide the CSR file (cloudmail.tk.csr) to InstantSSL during SSL request.After they have validated your request, you will receive the certificate file (in zip format) that contains two files:cloudmail_tk.ca-bundle (your SSL certificate bundle)cloudmail_tk.crt (your SSL certificate)

Place both files to /etc/ssl and modify /etc/apache2/sites-available/default-ssl

SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/cloudmail.tk.crtSSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/cloudmail.tk.keySSLCACertificateFile /etc/ssl/cloudmail.tk.ca-bundle.crtRestart Apache

service apache2 restartNow you should have SSL enabled, and you can proceed to logging in to iRedAdmin ( https://cloudmail.tk/iredadmin/ ) with username [email protected] and password you provided during installation in Step 3.From iRedAdmin, you can add new users, new admins, and new domains into your system:

Once you have created an e-mail account, you can access it at https://cloudmail.tk/mail/

And you are all done!

Includes 512MB RAM, 20GB SSD Disk, and 1TB Transfer for $5/mo! Learn more.

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Wed, 08 Jan 2014 03:59

In associating documents with applications, Finder® employs Launch Services. Launch Services uses several files to associate documents with applications and vice versa. If these files become corrupted, the following problems can occur:

The wrong application is opened when double-clicking a file.Multiple copies of a single application appear in the Open With menu for a given document.Incorrect icons appear on files, folders, or other objects.Finder error code -10660. Note that this error code can also occur if you are attempting to open a document whose associated application is in the Trash.This FAQ, derived from our Troubleshooting Mac® OS X series of books, provides the steps required to reset Launch Services. Be sure to read these instructions in their entirety, including the Notes, before proceeding.

There are two approaches to resetting Launch Services:

Use a third-party utility, such as Cocktail or Yasu, to rebuild or reset, respectively, the Launch Services database. Be sure to employ a version of the utility that is compatible with the version of Mac OS X you are using.Reset Launch Services manually: follow the steps in the order specified for the version of Mac OS X you are using:Reset Launch Services under Snow Leopard1.Log in to the affected account.2.Open Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.3.At the prompt, type the following command exactly as written:find /System/Library/Frameworks -type f -name ''lsregister'' -exec {} -kill -seed -r \;4.Press Return. The Launch Services database is rebuilt; it is finished when the Terminal prompt returns.5.End the Terminal session by doing one of the following:Press the Control-D keyboard shortcut.Type exit and press Return.6.Quit (Command-Q) Terminal.7.Check to determine if the problem is resolved.Reset Launch Services under Leopard1.Quit all running applications.2.Trash the following two files in the Macintosh HD > Library > Caches folder:

com.apple.LaunchServices-0230.csstorecom.apple.LaunchServices-023nnn.csstorewhere nnn is the User ID number of the affected account.

Type your Admin password if prompted to authenticate the deletion of these files. See Notes [1] and [2].

Note: If you upgraded from Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, this folder may also contain files with file names:

com.apple.LaunchServices-0140.csstorecom.apple.LaunchServices-014nnn.csstorewhere nnn represents the User ID numbers of accounts on the Mac. These files can also be deleted as they are leftovers from Tiger.

3.Restart your Mac.4.Log in to the affected account.5.If the problem is resolved, skip to step 6. Otherwise:

Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder. See Note [3].Repeat steps 1-4.6.Empty the Trash.Reset Launch Services under Tiger1.Quit all running applications.2.Trash the following two files in the Macintosh HD > Library > Caches folder:

com.apple.LaunchServices-0140.csstorecom.apple.LaunchServices-014nnn.csstorewhere nnn is the uid (User ID) number, as listed in the NetInfo database, of the affected account. Type your Admin password if prompted to authenticate the deletion of these files. See Notes [1] and [2].

3.Restart your Mac.4.Log in to the affected account.5.Empty the Trash.6.Verify that the problem is solved. If not:

Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder of the affected account. See Note [3].Repeat steps 1-5.Reset Launch Services under PantherQuit all running applications.Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.6B.csstore file in the Macintosh HD > Library > Caches folder. Type your Admin password if prompted to authenticate the deletion of this file. See Note [1].Restart your Mac.Log in to the affected account.Empty the Trash.Verify that the problem is solved. If not:Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder of the affected account. See Note [3].Repeat steps 1-5.Reset Launch Services under JaguarQuit all running applications.Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist file in the Home > Library > Preferences folder of the affected account. See Note [3].Trash the com.apple.LaunchServices.UserCache.csstore file in the Home > Library > Caches folder of the affected account.Restart your Mac.Log in to the affected account.Empty the Trash.Related LinksNotes[1] This step will result in you being prompted to approve the launch of the application associated with a given document the first time you double-click that document. These alerts are a result of the security feature in Mac OS X. The list of applications which you have previously approved are saved in the caches deleted in this step.

[2] The first user account defined on your Mac is generally User ID number 501, the second User ID number 502, and so forth. For example, the second file ID for the first account would be:

Under Leopard:com.apple.LaunchServices-023501.csstoreUnder Tiger:com.apple.LaunchServices-014501.csstoreUse the instructions in the following table to find the User ID number (Leopard) or uid number (Tiger) for any account:

Mac OS X 10.5 or later:1.Open System Preferences > Accounts.2.If the lock icon in the lower-left corner of Accounts is locked, click it and type your Admin account name and password when prompted to authenticate.3.Control-click the desired account and chose Advanced Options'... in the resulting shortcut menu.4.A sheet appears listing advanced options for the account selected in step 3. Write down the account's User ID number shown in the User ID field.5.Click Cancel.6.Quit (Command-Q) System Preferences.Mac OS X 10.4:1.Open NetInfo Manager, which is in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.2.Select users in the middle column of the NetInfo Manager window.3.Select the desired user account in the right column of NetInfo Manager.4.The data for the selected user, including uid, is displayed in the lower pane of the NetInfo Manager window.[3] This step will reset to default values all associations you have created between specific file types and applications. For example, if you set PDFs to open in Adobe® Acrobat® instead of Preview, they would now open in Preview again until the association of PDFs with Acrobat is reset.

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Archived Version

Tue, 07 Jan 2014 20:52

Shipmates,

The electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is an unseen but integral part of our daily lives. Almost every one of us uses a remote (or EM transmitter) to control our television and unlock our car. We use mobile phones (or EM transceivers) to constantly stay in touch with each other by talking, e-mailing and texting. And, for more than a century we have relied on radio (or an EM receiver) and later television for news and entertainment. Important as the EM spectrum is in our personal lives, however, it is essential to our military operations. Failing to use it effectively can, no'... actually it will be the difference between victory and defeat.

Now, we have also seen a merging in the last few years of the EM spectrum and cyberspace. High-bandwidth wireless networks in our homes, businesses and public spaces and satellite internet access for ships at sea and troops on the ground have made the electromagnetic spectrum an integral part of computer networks. Similarly, EM sensors such as radars and radiofrequency listening devices have become integral with the computer networks that control them and process their output.

This new EM and cyber environment presents us with challenges and opportunities in the 21st century similar to the undersea domain in the 20th century. Like the undersea domain, the EM and cyber environment is an area we can use to gain an advantage over our adversaries. To command this new environment, we need the ability to monitor and be aware of the environment, manage our emissions, discretely communicate, find, track and defeat threats, and conduct attacks as needed.

Today we are inextricably connected to the EM and cyber environment, and occasionally we conduct military operations in it. This situation parallels in many ways the period around the First World War, when submarines transited on the surface, preferred to submerge only to clandestinely move into firing position, and then surfaced to attack. In subsequent years, submarines spent more time submerged, and with the advent of nuclear power, no longer need to surface or snorkel. As a matter of survival, we developed an understanding of underwater acoustics and the ocean environment, a culture of sound silencing, and a doctrine of operating under water '' eventually turning the undersea environment into a primary warfighting domain.

We need to make a similar advancement in our command of the EM and cyber environment. Our Sailors need to sense, understand and employ the EM and cyber environment in a similar way that submariners (officers and enlisted) eventually mastered acoustics and the undersea domain. Today we understand how specific adversary radars and communications systems work, emissions that indicate a threat or attack, which signals and techniques can defeat those EM systems, and the effects of the atmosphere on EM activity. But this knowledge and capability is discreetly inherent in different '' but specific '' systems and people, and is not managed in real time. Going forward we will develop the sensors and ability to pull all this information together coherently and continuously.

Our Navy's undersea dominance resulted from the vision, discipline, and determination of Navy leaders and Sailors from World War I to today. They took a new and challenging domain and committed themselves to mastering it. However, they had the benefit of a clear technological and personnel advantage and built on their hard work and sustained investment.

We do not have such a clear advantage with regard to the EM and cyber environment. Unlike the undersea domain, most of the world uses the EM spectrum and cyberspace. Our potential adversaries can leverage commercial innovations to rapidly adapt and develop new capabilities. We need to tap into this same source of innovation. But we will also develop and leverage those strengths that are impossible to ''reverse-engineer'' '' the skill and perseverance of our Sailors, the expertise and flexibility of our defense research base, our expanding international alliances and partnerships, and our history of adaptation and warfighting success.

We will further discuss this challenge and our efforts to command the electromagnetic and cyber environment in upcoming posts and articles. Stay tuned.

JONATHAN W. GREENERTAdmiral, U.S. Navy

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 17:50

AT&T* today unveiled a new way for eligible 4G customers1 to enjoy mobile content and apps over AT&T's wireless network without impacting their monthly wireless data plan. Similar to 1-800 phone numbers or free shipping for internet commerce, AT&T's new 'Sponsored Data' service opens up new data use options for AT&T wireless customers and customer-friendly mobile broadband channels to businesses that choose to participate as sponsors.

With the new Sponsored Data service, data charges resulting from eligible uses will be billed directly to the sponsoring company; the customer simply enjoys their content via AT&T's wireless data network. Customers will see the service offered as AT&T Sponsored Data, and the usage will appear on their monthly invoice as Sponsored Data. Sponsored Data will be delivered at the same speed and performance as any non-Sponsored Data content.

The Sponsored Data service allows sponsors across a variety of industries such as healthcare, retail, media and entertainment and financial services with the opportunity to better engage with customers and their own employees. This exciting new service offers data sponsors many potential innovative uses such as:

Encouraging customers to try a new smartphone or tablet app.Promoting movie trailers or games.Providing patient healthcare support via wellness videos.Encouraging customers to browse mobile shopping sites.Allowing businesses with 'Bring Your Own Device' policies to pay for the data employees use for specific business-related apps and services.Enhancing customer loyalty programs by providing sponsored data access to products and services.''Customers love mobile content. Whether it's shopping, banking, entertainment or personal wellness, mobile content is increasingly available for customers almost anywhere and anytime. And that's what makes this a win-win for customers and businesses '' customers just look for the Sponsored Data icon and they know the data related to that particular application or video is provided as a part of their monthly service,'' said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility. ''This is an exciting new opportunity for us and, most importantly, our customers.''

Content providers and other businesses can use this innovative network solution with existing mobile websites and applications. The service is easily integrated into existing platforms and services and will be available across many mobile devices and operating systems. Additionally, the unique developer portal website includes intuitive features which allow sponsors to manage their offers, check billing and measure impact of offers using a robust analytics engine.

Mobile data traffic on AT&T's network increased more than 30,000% over the last six years2 and is expected to continue growing. Providing data via AT&T's Sponsored Data service gives companies an effective way to reach consumers and expand engagement in the growing, mobile-centric landscape.

''As content consumption has evolved from analog to digital, so have the ways for companies to reach consumers,'' said Andy Geisse, CEO, AT&T Business Solutions. ''The Sponsored Data model is just one way we're helping companies tap into our network to offer differentiated experiences and transform the way they do business.''

To find out more and apply for access to the service, developers can go to att.com/sponsoreddata. Businesses interested in learning more should contact their account rep or sponsoreddata@att.com.

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Thu, 09 Jan 2014 14:19

June 13, 2013

At the center of the NSA scandal is a gang of Israeli high-tech criminals which is connected to the false-flag terror attacks of 9-11. These connections underline the involvement of the same Israeli criminals to both 9-11 and the NSA's secret program to collect and store our personal information and conversations, which came about mainly as a consequence of 9-11.

Two Israeli companies, Narus and Verint, are involved in the National Security Agency (NSA) spy scandal in which copies of our phone calls and email data are sent to secret rooms at NSA buildings across the country. These Israeli companies are closely connected to Unit 8200, the electronic espionage unit of the Israeli military. (Narus was acquired by Boeing in 2010.)

Jacob "Kobi" Alexander The founder and former chairman of Verint is wanted by the FBI for a long list of crimes. He is veteran Israeli intelligence officer.

Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, the former head of Comverse, the parent company of Verint, is a wanted criminal who has fled U.S. justice to Africa and probably subsequently to Israel. It is important to note that Kobi Alexander and Comverse were closely connected to Odigo, the Israeli messaging system that was used to warn Israelis to stay away from the World Trade Center on 9-11.

Furthermore, the NSA has used Israeli encryption software from RSA Security, Inc. since 2006, which means that Israelis hold the encryption keys to the entire NSA computer network. The Israelis obviously have easy access to everything at the NSA.

The following video clip is of James Bamford discussing the two Israeli companies, Narus and Verint, who are involved in the massive collection of our telephone and Internet data. Bamford was on "Democracy Now!" on October 14, 2008, discussing the role of these Israeli companies, who are closely tied to Israeli intelligence.

To have access to personal phone calls and emails allows Israeli intelligence to blackmail and control people, like General David Petraeus, who was forced to resign from his position as director of the C.I.A. after an extra-marital affair was revealed by unknown agents who had access to his personal email.

James Bamford on Democracy Now! - October 14, 2008Video Link - http://youtu.be/hI_k9Xt00YE

Bamford wrote an article entitled "Shady Companies With Ties to Israel Wiretap the U.S. for the NSA" for Wired.com in April 2012 in which he discussed the Israeli companies and the criminals who ran them:

In addition to constructing the Stellar Wind center, and then running the operation, secretive contractors with questionable histories and little oversight were also used to do the actual bugging of the entire U.S. telecommunications network.

According to a former Verizon employee briefed on the program, Verint, owned by Comverse Technology, taps the communication lines at Verizon, which I first reported in my book The Shadow Factory in 2008. Verint did not return a call seeking comment, while Verizon said it does not comment on such matters.

At AT&T the wiretapping rooms are powered by software and hardware from Narus, now owned by Boeing, a discovery made by AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein in 2004. Narus did not return a call seeking comment.

What is especially troubling is that both companies have had extensive ties to Israel, as well as links to that country's intelligence service, a country with a long and aggressive history of spying on the U.S.

In fact, according to Binney, the advanced analytical and data mining software the NSA had developed for both its worldwide and international eavesdropping operations was secretly passed to Israel by a mid-level employee, apparently with close connections to the country. The employee, a technical director in the Operations Directorate, ''who was a very strong supporter of Israel,'' said Binney, ''gave, unbeknownst to us, he gave the software that we had, doing these fast rates, to the Israelis.''

Several of the top people involved in these Israeli wiretapping companies are if fact criminals who are currently wanted for serious crimes committed in the United States, as Bamford explains in the 2012 article:

Like Narus, Verint was founded in Israel by Israelis, including Jacob ''Kobi'' Alexander, a former Israeli intelligence officer. Some 800 employees work for Verint, including 350 who are based in Israel, primarily working in research and development and operations, according to the Jerusalem Post. Among its products is STAR-GATE, which according to the company's sales literature, lets ''service providers '... access communications on virtually any type of network, retain communication data for as long as required, and query and deliver content and data '...'' and was ''[d]esigned to manage vast numbers of targets, concurrent sessions, call data records, and communications.''

In a rare and candid admission to Forbes, Retired Brig. Gen. Hanan Gefen, a former commander of the highly secret Unit 8200, Israel's NSA, noted his former organization's influence on Comverse, which owns Verint, as well as other Israeli companies that dominate the U.S. eavesdropping and surveillance market. ''Take NICE, Comverse and Check Point for example, three of the largest high-tech companies, which were all directly influenced by 8200 technology,'' said Gefen. ''Check Point was founded by Unit alumni. Comverse's main product, the Logger, is based on the Unit's technology.''

According to a former chief of Unit 8200, both the veterans of the group and much of the high-tech intelligence equipment they developed are now employed in high-tech firms around the world. ''Cautious estimates indicate that in the past few years,'' he told a reporter for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz in 2000, ''Unit 8200 veterans have set up some 30 to 40 high-tech companies, including 5 to 10 that were floated on Wall Street.'' Referred to only as ''Brigadier General B,'' he added, ''This correlation between serving in the intelligence Unit 8200 and starting successful high-tech companies is not coincidental: Many of the technologies in use around the world and developed in Israel were originally military technologies and were developed and improved by Unit veterans.''

Equally troubling is the issue of corruption. Kobi Alexander, the founder and former chairman of Verint, is now a fugitive, wanted by the FBI on nearly three dozen charges of fraud, theft, lying, bribery, money laundering and other crimes. And two of his top associates at Comverse, Chief Financial Officer David Kreinberg and former General Counsel William F. Sorin, were also indicted in the scheme and later pleaded guilty, with both serving time in prison and paying millions of dollars in fines and penalties.

When asked about these contractors, the NSA declined to ''verify the allegations made.''

Kobi Alexander is also closely connected to the 9-11 criminal atrocity. Alexander and Comverse are connected to the Israeli Odigo messaging company through which warnings were sent to the Israelis who were expected to be at work at the World Trade Center on 9-11. As I explained in an article entitled "Why was Kobi Alexander Allowed to Flee? The Israeli Fugitive, Odigo, and the Forewarning of 9/11" in August 2006:

The case of the Israeli criminal Kobi Alexander is like the proverbial "tip of the iceberg." While Alexander's crimes, through which he became immensely wealthy, are now evident, they are but a very small piece of a much larger Zionist criminal network '' connected to the 9/11 terror attacks '' which remains hidden beneath the surface.

Alexander, former head of the Israel-based Comverse Technology, was, until his crimes were discovered, one of the highest paid executives in the United States.

In the year 2000, for example, he reportedly earned some $102.5 million, with $93 million coming from the "exercise of options." We now know that most of Alexander's money was made through the fraudulent "exercise of options."

Comverse Technology, the U.S.-based "parent company" of an older and much bigger Israel-based company with the same name, is the owner of the Verint, Ulticom, Starhome, Mercom and Startel companies. The key positions in these companies are all held by Israeli nationals.

Alexander, was recently allowed to flee the United States after he and two other former Comverse executives were charged with securities, mail and wire fraud by U.S. prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York. A warrant has been issued for his arrest...

While Alexander is obviously connected with Israel's military intelligence apparatus and George Soros through the mutually owned investment fund ComSor, what is not widely reported is his company's close links with Odigo, the Israeli-run instant messaging company that received '' and conveyed '' urgent warning messages about the imminent terror attacks on the World Trade Center, several hours before the first plane hit...

Shortly after 9-11, Odigo was completely taken over by Comverse Technology, which had been part owner of Odigo since early 2000, if not earlier. Shortly after 9/11, five executives from Comverse were reported to have profited by more than $267 million from "insider trading."

Avner Ronen, the "founder" of Odigo, was Vice President of Business Development of Comverse Technology in October 2005. This indicates that Ronen and Alexander, both Israeli military officers with computer backgrounds, have been close business partners since early 2000.

Sources and Recommended Reading:

"Israelis Hold Keys to NSA/US Military Computer Networks," by Christopher Bollyn, June 16, 2006, also published as "Israeli Code on U.S. Government Computers" in Solving 9-11: The Original Articles, p. 157http://rense.com/general72/sisi.htm

"Narus knows what you are doing on the network" by Om Malik, Forbes, August 11, 1999http://www.forbes.com/1999/08/11/feat.html

"Shady Companies With Ties to Israel Wiretap the U.S. for the NSA" by James Bamford, Wired.com, April 3, 2012http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/04/shady-companies-nsa/all/

"Why was Kobi Alexander Allowed to Flee? The Israeli Fugitive, Odigo, and the Forewarning of 9/11" by Christopher Bollyn, August 24, 2006, also published as "The Israeli Fugitive and the Forewarning of 9-11" in Solving 9-11: The Original Articles, p. 162 http://www.bollyn.com/why-was-kobi-alexander-allowed-to-flee/

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Tue, 07 Jan 2014 02:03

The U.S. government says Kim Dotcom is one of the world's biggest Internet pirates, but Dotcom insists he's a businessman

The following script is from "Hollywood's Villain" which aired on Jan. 5, 2014. Bob Simon is the correspondent. David Levine and Michael Gavshon, producers.

Hollywood's always had its bad guys. Think the Joker or Darth Vader. But their biggest villain is a man who calls himself Kim Dotcom. You won't see him on the big screen but, until recently, he ran a service that made it possible for you to see almost any movie you wanted to for next to nothing. Before his website, Megaupload, was shut down, federal authorities say it allowed people to access not only copyrighted films, but copyrighted music, books and video games. They claim he cost the entertainment industry more than $500 million in lost revenue. Hollywood considered him one of the worst pirates ever. The U.S. has filed an indictment against Kim Dotcom for copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering and requested his extradition from New Zealand, where he lives. That was two years ago, but Kim Dotcom hasn't gone anywhere.

PlayVideo

60 Minutes OvertimeInside Kim Dotcom's ''golden cage''60 Minutes tours the strange, luxurious world of Kim Dotcom, who is stuck in New Zealand under threat of extradition from the United States

Kim Dotcom was once master of the Internet but these days, his domain is 60 acres of rolling hillside near Auckland, New Zealand. Nice place. The only problem is this larger than life character can't leave New Zealand'...when he's not touring his grounds on a souped-up golf cart, Kim is fighting the entertainment industry and extradition to the United States. He is Hollywood's super villain, which is, in many ways, a role he always wanted to play.Kim Dotcom: I was inspired by the James Bond movies, you know? Where, you know, some characters had private islands and super tankers converted into yachts and space stations and underwater homes. So, you know, I got inspired by that.Bob Simon: But you're not playing James Bond, you're playing Dr. No.

Kim Dotcom: That's what everybody says.

Kim Dotcom changed his name from Kim Schmitz in 2005 when he started a file sharing service.

It was called Megaupload, and as this ad shows, it boasted the endorsement of celebrities like Kanye West, Will.i.am and Kim Kardashian.

"I was inspired by the James Bond movies, you know? Where, you know, some characters had private islands and super tankers converted into yachts and space stations and underwater homes. ..."Here's how it worked. If you wanted to send a friend a file that was too large to email -- a wedding video, for example -- you could just upload it onto Megaupload's servers and your friends could click a link to download it. It was a virtual warehouse where people stored and shared digital files.

By selling advertisements and premium subscriptions, Megaupload brought in an estimated $175 million. It became one of the most frequented sites on the Internet. How did it get so popular and profitable? According to federal authorities, by also allowing users to illegally share the hottest new movies, or hit songs, or TV programs, including some CBS shows.

Shawn Henry: Megaupload knowingly created and facilitated the distribution of stolen property.

Shawn Henry is former executive assistant director of the FBI. He was responsible for the Megaupload investigation.

Shawn Henry: No different than if somebody has a warehouse where stolen property is being dropped off. If you created the environment that facilitated it, and you encouraged it, and you incentivized people by paying them to drop off stolen property, I think that you are complicit.

In its indictment, the Justice Department calls Megaupload a ''Mega Conspiracy'''... a ''worldwide criminal organization whose members engaged in criminal copyright infringement and money laundering on a massive scale...'' But Kim argues that he is not legally responsible for what users chose to do on his site.

Kim Dotcom: Am I the one who's at fault if users upload that kind of stuff and up-- re-upload it again? Do I have to go to jail for that? Because I didn't do it. I didn't upload these things to Megaupload.

Bob Simon: The indictment called you a pirate. They weren't just charging you with copyright infringement. It was a whole list of crimes: racketeering, money laundering. Where do these charges come from?

Kim Dotcom: Well, they are all derived from the copyright infringement allegation. And-- the racketeering was added on top because in New Zealand, you cannot be extradited for copyright infringement.

Yet federal authorities allege Kim's whole business was built on piracy, offering cash incentives to users who uploaded popular content like movies and music. That copyright infringement allegedly cost the entertainment industry more than $500 million in lost revenue'...Kim was getting rich, they say, but every dollar he made was a dollar taken away from the people who actually produced the material.

Bob Simon: How much of a priority was this for Hollywood? How badly did they wanna shut him down?

Eriq Gardner: Hollywood wanted it terribly badly. I mean, this was the No. 1 pirate in their eyes.

Eriq Gardner is a senior editor at The Hollywood Reporter who's covered the Megaupload case extensively.

Eriq Gardner: This was a guy who was-- fostering infringements on a massive scale.

Bob Simon: Any idea how many users there were?

Eriq Gardner: There were-- reported to be about 50 million users on a daily basis.

Bob Simon: To me, I mean 50 million sounds virtually incomprehensible.

Eriq Gardner: To the entertainment industry, those are 50 million people who are not paying $12 for a DVD. Those are people who are not paying $15 for a movie ticket.

In 2010, the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents the film industry, referred the case to the Justice Department. The U.S. then enlisted the help of the New Zealand government, and on the morning of Jan. 20, 2012, after months of planning, their top anti-terror unit took action.

As you can see in these videos taken that day, they descended on Kim's compound as if it were an al Qaeda stronghold. They were working closely with officials from the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI who were in Auckland helping oversee the raid. It was a scene straight out of a summer blockbuster."To the entertainment industry, those are 50 million people who are not paying $12 for a DVD. Those are people who are not paying $15 for a movie ticket."Wayne Tempero: There was a serious group of individuals here.

Wayne Tempero is Kim's head of security. The morning of the raid he says found himself facing down two officers with automatic weapons.

Bob Simon: What kinda weapons?

Wayne Tempero: MP5s. Everybody had side arms on. There were shotguns. I saw people walking around with sledgehammers, everything.Tempero was tied up and held in the mansion's courtyard. The rest of Kim's staff, his three children and pregnant wife were rounded up as well.

Wayne Tempero: So this is the staircase up to the boss's private area of the house.

Kim had been lying on his bed working at his computer when he heard the ruckus outside.

Wayne Tempero: He walked over here and grabbed this. This is a panic button. He pressed that.

Bob Simon: And that goes through to you?

Wayne Tempero: Straight to me, a text message to me. Police were working their sledgehammers, but couldn't find Kim anywhere.

Wayne Tempero: And they were'--they'd done this damage here thinking that he was in the dumb waiter.

Tempero says he was forced to show them where Kim was.

Bob Simon: It's a closet?

Wayne Tempero: It's a closet. But if you push the back of the door--

OK, so this is the Red Room. As you can see, only because of the color of the carpet, nothing sinister.

The police found Kim sitting behind a pillar, not far from a locker that stored a shotgun. To this day, Kim believes the operation was excessive.

Kim Dotcom: This is an overreach of epic proportions.

Bob Simon: But there was a gun in the room?

Kim Dotcom: Yeah there was a gun in the room. But you know I mean you in the U.S., everyone has a gun in the room, right? That's not the reason why you go and invade the home with anti-terrorist forces.

PlayVideo

60 Minutes: Segment ExtrasA military-style raid on Kim Dotcom's compound''This was like the predator drone of copyright actions,'' says Susan Crawford, a professor at the Cardozo School of Law and former Obama Administr...

The police weren't finished. They seized his computers, carried away Kim's fleet of luxury cars, froze his assets and pulled the plug on Megaupload. Kim Dotcom was arrested along with three of his associates, and thrown in jail for a month. It was a global operation that sent shockwaves across the Internet.Bob Simon: Was the Megaupload bust designed to send a message?

Shawn Henry: I think that the judicial process is about deterrents. It's about people understanding that there are consequences for crime. This-- we didn't-- the FBI didn't investigate this case specifically to send a message, but certainly, that's a result.

Kim had always skated on the edge of legality. Before his foray into the entertainment business, he was a hacker and claims to have broken into computers at NASA and the Pentagon. He turned those skills into a successful business advising major corporations on how to protect themselves from hackers just like him.

Kim Dotcom: I'm good at this whole business game.

Bob Simon: You're just a plain businessman.

Kim Dotcom: I'm a businessman. Yeah.

Bob Simon: A plain businessman who, when he was a teenager, hacked into the Pentagon and NASA? Come on.

Kim Dotcom: Well, I-- I have to say that I love being a businessman much more than being a hacker.

Kim has had his hands in many businesses. Some of them met with disapproval. In the 90s, he was arrested for using computers to hack telephone lines and credit card numbers. Then he pled guilty to insider trading'...later, was found guilty of embezzlement. White collar crimes.

But in videos he circulated online, he loved portraying himself as a cartoonish action hero.

He used the Internet the way Hollywood's giants have always used the big screen'...creating an extravagant persona. There he was on yachts or private planes, and here he is with his wife showing off one of his luxury cars. Check out the license plate. His narcissism had no limits and he was never far from a photographer. When he finally settled down, it was in this modern-day Xanadu, a mansion only he...or Orson Welles'...could have imagined.

Bob Simon: Were all these extravagant things here when you bought it?Kim Dotcom: What do you mean?

Bob Simon: I mean, that's quite a chandelier.

Kim Dotcom: Oh no, I bought that. I like black and white, as you can see, that's a theme throughout the house.

When Kim moved to New Zealand from Hong Kong three years ago, Megaupload was a worldwide sensation.

Bob Simon: By the time you came here, you were already a very wealthy man.

Kim Dotcom: Yeah. I made good money.

Bob Simon: Right. Can you say how much at the time? What were you worth when you left Hong Kong?

Kim Dotcom: Well, we just did a valuation for the company because we wanted to do an IPO, and it was around two and a half billion dollars.

Bob Simon: Two and a half billion?

Kim Dotcom: Yes.

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60 Minutes: Segment ExtrasKim Dotcom dreamed of making millions as a kid''It must have been encoded in my DNA,'' Dotcom says of his childhood dream -- which he claims he achieved at eighteen.

The government says this empire was built, quite simply, on stolen goods. But Kim insists he complied with the law, went to great lengths to remove infringing material from the site. So why does he think the government's going after him?Kim Dotcom: Because of my flamboyant lifestyle, because of me being German, the way I am. I'm the easiest person to sell as a villain.

Bob Simon: You really think that that's what did it? You don't think there was anything about Megaupload that led them to say and think, "This guy's gone too far"?

Kim Dotcom: I'm the perfect target. And that's why they picked Megaupload.

Bob Simon: Kim Dotcom says he's convinced that he was chosen because he looks like a villain.

Shawn Henry: People sometimes tell me I look like a villain, right. People aren't investigated because of the way they look, or the type of car they drive. They're investigated because there's an allegation that they're involved in illegal activity, that they're committing a crime.

But if federal authorities hoped Kim would be in U.S. custody by now, they are surely disappointed. First, a judge in New Zealand ruled the warrants the police used were illegal. Then, New Zealand officials admitted to eavesdropping on Kim's communications. That was illegal too. Two years after his arrest, the battle over Kim Dotcom's extradition continues.

[Kim Dotcom: I was illegally spied on by the GCSB.]

Megaupload might not exist anymore but Kim's seized on the controversy to reinvent himself. Always a master of marketing, he's become the darling of the media in New Zealand and a self-styled privacy activist. He's announced plans to form a political party, and early last year, on the anniversary of that raid, he launched a brand new file sharing service.

He is, as always, the star of his own movie. But this time, he didn't write the script.

[Kim Dotcom: Stop this madness. Let's all be friends.]

We asked the Department of Justice and the FBI to talk to us about the case. They declined. So did the Motion Picture Association of America, but they sent us a statement saying, in part, ''no industry can compete with theft."

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