654: Q-Burn

NDAA and Overturning of Smith-Mundt Act

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA) allows for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to be released within U.S. borders and strikes down a long-time ban on the dissemination of such material in the country.[14][15][16]

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Archived Version

Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:00

Propaganda in the United States is propaganda spread by government and media entities within the United States. Propaganda is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to influence opinions. Propaganda is not only in advertising; it is also in radio, newspaper, posters, books, and anything else that might be sent out to the widespread public.

Domestic[edit]World War I[edit]The first large-scale use of propaganda by the U.S. government came during World War I. The government enlisted the help of citizens and children to help promote war bonds and stamps to help stimulate the economy. To keep the prices of war supplies down, the U.S. government produced posters that encouraged people to reduce waste and grow their own vegetables in "victory gardens." The public skepticism that was generated by the heavy-handed tactics of the Committee on Public Information would lead the postwar government to officially abandon the use of propaganda.[1]

World War II[edit]During World War II the U.S. officially had no propaganda, but the Roosevelt government used means to circumvent this official line. One such propaganda tool was the publicly owned but government funded Writers' War Board (WWB). The activities of the WWB were so extensive that it has been called the "greatest propaganda machine in history".[1]Why We Fight is a famous series of US government propaganda films made to justify US involvement in World War II.

In 1944 (lasting until 1948) prominent US policy makers launched a domestic propaganda campaign aimed at convincing the U.S. public to agree to a harsh peace for the German people, for example by removing the common view of the German people and the Nazi party as separate entities.[2] The core in this campaign was the Writers' War Board which was closely associated with the Roosevelt administration.[2]

Another means was the United States Office of War Information that Roosevelt established in June 1942, whose mandate was to promote understanding of the war policies under the director Elmer Davies. It dealt with posters, press, movies, exhibitions, and produced often slanted material conforming to US wartime purposes. Other large and influential non-governmental organizations during the war and immediate post war period were the Society for the Prevention of World War III and the Council on Books in Wartime.

Cold War[edit]During the Cold War, the U.S. government produced vast amounts of propaganda against communism and the Soviet bloc. Much of this propaganda was directed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under J. Edgar Hoover, who himself wrote the anti-communist tract Masters of Deceit. The FBI's COINTELPRO arm solicited journalists to produce fake news items discrediting communists and affiliated groups, such as H. Bruce Franklin and the Venceremos Organization.

War on Drugs[edit]The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, originally established by the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988,[3][4] but now conducted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy under the Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998,[5] is a domestic propaganda campaign designed to "influence the attitudes of the public and the news media with respect to drug abuse" and for "reducing and preventing drug abuse among young people in the United States".[6][7] The Media Campaign cooperates with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and other government and non-government organizations.[8]

Iraq War[edit]In early 2002, the U.S. Department of Defense launched an information operation, colloquially referred to as the Pentagon military analyst program.[9] The goal of the operation is "to spread the administrations's talking points on Iraq by briefing ... retired commanders for network and cable television appearances," where they have been presented as independent analysts.[10] On 22 May 2008, after this program was revealed in the New York Times, the House passed an amendment that would make permanent a domestic propaganda ban that until now has been enacted annually in the military authorization bill.[11]

The Shared values initiative was a public relations campaign that was intended to sell a "new" America to Muslims around the world by showing that American Muslims were living happily and freely, without persecution, in post-9/11 America.[12] Funded by the United States Department of State, the campaign created a public relations front group known as Council of American Muslims for Understanding (CAMU). The campaign was divided in phases; the first of which consisted of five mini-documentaries for television, radio, and print with shared values messages for key Muslim countries.[13]

NDAA and Overturning of Smith-Mundt Act[edit]The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA) allows for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to be released within U.S. borders and strikes down a long-time ban on the dissemination of such material in the country.[14][15][16]

Ad Council[edit]The Ad Council, an American non-profit organization that distributes public service announcements on behalf of various private and federal government agency sponsors, has been labeled as "little more than a domestic propaganda arm of the federal government" given the Ad Council's historically close collaboration with the President of the United States and the federal government.[17]

International[edit]Through several international broadcasting operations, the US disseminates American cultural information, official positions on international affairs, and daily summaries of international news. These operations fall under the International Broadcasting Bureau, the successor of the United States Information Agency, established in 1953. IBB's operations include Voice of America, Radio Liberty, Alhurra and other programs. They broadcast mainly to countries where the United States finds that information about international events is limited, either due to poor infrastructure or government censorship. The Smith-Mundt Act prohibits the Voice of America from disseminating information to US citizens that was produced specifically for a foreign audience.

During the Cold War the US ran covert propaganda campaigns in countries that appeared likely to become Soviet satellites, such as Italy, Afghanistan, and Chile.

Recently The Pentagon announced the creation of a new unit aimed at spreading propaganda about supposedly "inaccurate" stories being spread about the Iraq War. These "inaccuracies" have been blamed on the enemy trying to decrease support for the war. Donald Rumsfeld has been quoted as saying these stories are something that keeps him up at night.[18]

Psychological operations[edit]The US military defines psychological operations, or PSYOP, as:

planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence the emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.[19]

The Smith-Mundt Act, adopted in 1948, explicitly forbids information and psychological operations aimed at the US public.[20][21][22] Nevertheless, the current easy access to news and information from around the globe, makes it difficult to guarantee PSYOP programs do not reach the US public. Or, in the words of Army Col. James A. Treadwell, who commanded the U.S. military psyops unit in Iraq in 2003, in the Washington Post:

There's always going to be a certain amount of bleed-over with the global information environment.[23]

Agence France Presse reported on U.S. propaganda campaigns that:

The Pentagon acknowledged in a newly declassified document that the US public is increasingly exposed to propaganda disseminated overseas in psychological operations.[24]

Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the document referred to, which is titled "Information Operations Roadmap." [22][24] The document acknowledges the Smith-Mundt Act, but fails to offer any way of limiting the effect PSYOP programs have on domestic audiences.[20][21][25]

Several incidents in 2003 were documented by Sam Gardiner, a retired Air Force colonel, which he saw as information-warfare campaigns that were intended for "foreign populations and the American public." Truth from These Podia,[26] as the treatise was called, reported that the way the Iraq war was fought resembled a political campaign, stressing the message instead of the truth.[22]

See also[edit]References[edit]^ abThomas Howell, The Writers' War Board: U.S. Domestic Propaganda in World War II, Historian, Volume 59 Issue 4, Pages 795 - 813^ abSteven Casey, (2005), The Campaign to sell a harsh peace for Germany to the American public, 1944 - 1948, [online]. London: LSE Research Online. [Available online at http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/archive/00000736] Originally published in History, 90 (297). pp. 62-92 (2005) Blackwell Publishing^National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 of the Anti''Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Pub.L. 100''690, 102 Stat. 4181, enacted November 18, 1988^Gamboa, Anthony H. (January 4, 2005), B-303495, Office of National Drug Control Policy '-- Video News Release, Government Accountability Office, footnote 6, page 3 ^Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998 (Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999), Pub.L. 105''277, 112 Stat. 268, enacted October 21, 1998^Gamboa, Anthony H. (January 4, 2005), B-303495, Office of National Drug Control Policy '-- Video News Release, Government Accountability Office, pp. 9''10 ^Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, Pub.L. 105''277, 112 Stat. 268, enacted October 21, 1998^Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006, Pub.L. 109''469, 120 Stat. 3501, enacted December 29, 2006, codified at 21 U.S.C. § 1708^Barstow, David (2008-04-20). "Message Machine: Behind Analysts, the Pentagon's Hidden Hand". New York Times. ^Sessions, David (2008-04-20). "Onward T.V. Soldiers: The New York Times exposes a multi-armed Pentagon message machine". Slate. ^Barstow, David (2008-05-24). "2 Inquiries Set on Pentagon Publicity Effort". New York Times. ^Rampton, Sheldon (October 17, 2007). "Shared Values Revisited". Center for Media and Democracy. ^"U.S. Reaches Out to Muslim World with Shared Values Initiative". America.gov. January 16, 2003.

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Archived Version

Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed

Thu, 18 Sep 2014 20:31

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 18, 2014

EXECUTIVE ORDER

- - - - - - -

COMBATING ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order as follows:

Section 1. Policy. The discovery of antibiotics in the early 20th century fundamentally transformed human and veterinary medicine. Antibiotics save millions of lives each year in the United States and around the world. The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, however, represents a serious threat to public health and the economy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) estimates that annually at least two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths are caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the United States alone.

Detecting, preventing, and controlling antibiotic resistance requires a strategic, coordinated, and sustained effort. It also depends on the engagement of governments, academia, industry, healthcare providers, the general public, and the agricultural community, as well as international partners. Success in this effort will require significant efforts to: minimize the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria; preserve the efficacy of new and existing antibacterial drugs; advance research to develop improved methods for combating antibiotic resistance and conducting antibiotic stewardship; strengthen surveillance efforts in public health and agriculture; develop and promote the use of new, rapid diagnostic technologies; accelerate scientific research and facilitate the development of new antibacterial drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, and other novel therapeutics; maximize the dissemination of the most up-to-date information on the appropriate and proper use of antibiotics to the general public and healthcare providers; work with the pharmaceutical industry to include information on the proper use of over-the-counter and prescription antibiotic medications for humans and animals; and improve international collaboration and capabilities for prevention, surveillance, stewardship, basic research, and drug and diagnostics development.

The Federal Government will work domestically and internationally to detect, prevent, and control illness and death related to antibiotic-resistant infections by implementing measures that reduce the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and help ensure the continued availability of effective therapeutics for the treatment of bacterial infections.

Sec. 2. Oversight and Coordination. Combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a national security priority. The National Security Council staff, in collaboration with the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Office of Management and Budget, shall coordinate the development and implementation of Federal Government policies to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including the activities, reports, and recommendations of the Task Force for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria established in section 3 of this order.

Sec. 3. Task Force for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. There is hereby established the Task Force for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (Task Force), to be co-chaired by the Secretaries of Defense, Agriculture, and HHS.

(a) Membership. In addition to the Co-Chairs, the Task Force shall consist of representatives from:

(i) the Department of State;

(ii) the Department of Justice;

(iii) the Department of Veterans Affairs;

(iv) the Department of Homeland Security;

(v) the Environmental Protection Agency;

(vi) the United States Agency for International Development;

(vii) the Office of Management and Budget;

(viii) the Domestic Policy Council;

(ix) the National Security Council staff;

(x) the Office of Science and Technology Policy;

(xi) the National Science Foundation; and

(xii) such executive departments, agencies, or offices as the Co-Chairs may designate.

Each executive department, agency, or office represented on the Task Force (Task Force agency) shall designate an employee of the Federal Government to perform the functions of the Task Force. In performing its functions, the Task Force may make use of existing interagency task forces on antibiotic resistance.

(b) Mission. The Task Force shall identify actions that will provide for the facilitation and monitoring of implementation of this order and the National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (Strategy).

(c) Functions.

(i) By February 15, 2015, the Task Force shall submit a 5-year National Action Plan (Action Plan) to the President that outlines specific actions to be taken to implement the Strategy. The Action Plan shall include goals, milestones, and metrics for measuring progress, as well as associated timelines for implementation. The Action Plan shall address recommendations made by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology regarding combating antibiotic resistance.

(ii) Within 180 days of the release of the Action Plan and each year thereafter, the Task Force shall provide the President with an update on Federal Government actions to combat antibiotic resistance consistent with this order, including progress made in implementing the Strategy and Action Plan, plans for addressing any barriers preventing full implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan, and recommendations for new or modified actions. Annual updates shall include specific goals, milestones, and metrics for all proposed actions and recommendations. The Task Force shall take Federal Government resources into consideration when developing these proposed actions and recommendations.

(iii) In performing its functions, the Task Force shall review relevant statutes, regulations, policies, and programs, and shall consult with relevant domestic and international organizations and experts, as necessary.

(iv) The Task Force shall conduct an assessment of progress made towards achieving the milestones and goals outlined in the Strategy in conjunction with the Advisory Council established pursuant to section 4 of this order.

Sec. 4. Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. (a) The Secretary of HHS (Secretary), in consultation with the Secretaries of Defense and Agriculture, shall establish the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (Advisory Council). The Advisory Council shall be composed of not more than 30 members to be appointed or designated by the Secretary.

(b) The Secretary shall designate a chairperson from among the members of the Advisory Council.

(c) The Advisory Council shall provide advice, information, and recommendations to the Secretary regarding programs and policies intended to: preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics by optimizing their use; advance research to develop improved methods for combating antibiotic resistance and conducting antibiotic stewardship; strengthen surveillance of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections; prevent the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections; advance the development of rapid point-of-care and agricultural diagnostics; further research on new treatments for bacterial infections; develop alternatives to antibiotics for agricultural purposes; maximize the dissemination of up-to-date information on the appropriate and proper use of antibiotics to the general public and human and animal healthcare providers; and improve international coordination of efforts to combat antibiotic resistance. The Secretary shall provide the President with all written reports created by the Advisory Council.

(d) Task Force agencies shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide the Advisory Council with such information as it may require for purposes of carrying out its functions.

(e) To the extent permitted by law, and subject to the availability of appropriations, HHS shall provide the Advisory Council with such funds and support as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

Sec. 5. Improved Antibiotic Stewardship. (a) By the end of calendar year 2016, HHS shall review existing regulations and propose new regulations or other actions, as appropriate, that require hospitals and other inpatient healthcare delivery facilities to implement robust antibiotic stewardship programs that adhere to best practices, such as those identified by the CDC. HHS shall also take steps to encourage other healthcare facilities, such as ambulatory surgery centers and dialysis facilities, to adopt antibiotic stewardship programs.

(b) Task Force agencies shall, as appropriate, define, promulgate, and implement stewardship programs in other healthcare settings, including office-based practices, outpatient settings, emergency departments, and institutional and long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, pharmacies, and correctional facilities.

(c) By the end of calendar year 2016, the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) shall review their existing regulations and, as appropriate, propose new regulations and other actions that require their hospitals and long-term care facilities to implement robust antibiotic stewardship programs that adhere to best practices, such as those defined by the CDC. DoD and the VA shall also take steps to encourage their other healthcare facilities, such as ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient clinics, to adopt antibiotic stewardship programs.

(d) Task Force agencies shall, as appropriate, monitor improvements in antibiotic use through the National Healthcare Safety Network and other systems.

(e) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in HHS, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (USDA), shall continue taking steps to eliminate the use of medically important classes of antibiotics for growth promotion purposes in food-producing animals.

(f) USDA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and FDA shall strengthen coordination in common program areas, such as surveillance of antibiotic use and resistance patterns in food-producing animals, inter-species disease transmissibility, and research findings.

(g) DoD, HHS, and the VA shall review existing regulations and propose new regulations and other actions, as appropriate, to standardize the collection and sharing of antibiotic resistance data across all their healthcare settings.

Sec. 6. Strengthening National Surveillance Efforts for Resistant Bacteria. (a) The Task Force shall ensure that the Action Plan includes procedures for creating and integrating surveillance systems and laboratory networks to provide timely, high-quality data across healthcare and agricultural settings, including detailed genomic and other information, adequate to track resistant bacteria across diverse settings. The network-integrated surveillance systems and laboratory networks shall include common information requirements, repositories for bacteria isolates and other samples, a curated genomic database, rules for access to samples and scientific data, standards for electronic health record-based reporting, data transparency, budget coordination, and international coordination.

(b) Task Force agencies shall, as appropriate, link data from Federal Government sample isolate repositories for bacteria strains to an integrated surveillance system, and, where feasible, the repositories shall enhance their sample collections and further interoperable data systems with national surveillance efforts.

(c) USDA, EPA, and FDA shall work together with stakeholders to monitor and report on changes in antibiotic use in agriculture and their impact on the environment.

(d) Task Force agencies shall, as appropriate, monitor antibiotic resistance in healthcare settings through the National Healthcare Safety Network and related systems.

Sec. 7. Preventing and Responding to Infections and Outbreaks with Antibiotic-Resistant Organisms. (a) Task Force agencies shall, as appropriate, utilize the enhanced surveillance activities described in section 6 of this order to prevent antibiotic-resistant infections by: actively identifying and responding to antibiotic-resistant outbreaks; preventing outbreaks and transmission of antibiotic-resistant infections in healthcare, community, and agricultural settings through early detection and tracking of resistant organisms; and identifying and evaluating additional strategies in the healthcare and community settings for the effective prevention and control of antibiotic-resistant infections.

(b) Task Force agencies shall take steps to implement the measures and achieve the milestones outlined in the Strategy and Action Plan.

(c) DoD, HHS, and the VA shall review and, as appropriate, update their hospital and long-term care infectious disease protocols for identifying, isolating, and treating antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection cases.

Sec. 8. Promoting New and Next Generation Antibiotics and Diagnostics. (a) As part of the Action Plan, the Task Force shall describe steps that agencies can take to encourage the development of new and next-generation antibacterial drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, and novel therapeutics for both the public and agricultural sectors, including steps to develop infrastructure for clinical trials and options for attracting greater private investment in the development of new antibiotics and rapid point-of-care diagnostics. Task Force agency efforts shall focus on addressing areas of unmet medical need for individuals, including those antibiotic-resistant bacteria CDC has identified as public and agricultural health threats.

(b) Together with the countermeasures it develops for biodefense threats, the Biomedical Advanced Research Development

Authority in HHS shall develop new and next-generation countermeasures that target antibiotic-resistant bacteria that present a serious or urgent threat to public health.

(c) The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise in HHS shall, as appropriate, coordinate with Task Force agencies' efforts to promote new and next-generation countermeasures to target antibiotic-resistant bacteria that present a serious or urgent threat to public health.

Sec. 9. International Cooperation. Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretaries of State, USDA, and HHS shall designate representatives to engage in international action to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including the development of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action Plan for Antimicrobial Resistance with the WHO, Member States, and other relevant organizations. The Secretaries of State, USDA, and HHS shall conduct a review of international collaboration activities and partnerships, and identify and pursue opportunities for enhanced prevention, surveillance, research and development, and policy engagement. All Task Force agencies with research and development activities related to antibiotic resistance shall, as appropriate, expand existing bilateral and multilateral scientific cooperation and research pursuant to the Action Plan.

Sec. 10. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

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

(d) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.) (the "Act"), may apply to the Advisory Council, any functions of the President under the Act, except for that of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,September 18, 2014.

My exact issue is the use of sweeping generalizations (stereotyping)

directed toward women. It would be bad directed to any group, but you

seem to stereotype women more than others. You could balance it out by

stereotyping men more... but stereotyping any group is generally bad.

Sometimes it can be done for humor, maybe there are tasteful ways to

pull this off.

If you're unsure when you stereotype, I can go back to the previous

episode, keep track of the stereotypes, and send you times of when it

happens. If you like, I can link you to articles that explain why gender

stereotyping in media is harmful. The mainstream media does lots of

gender stereotyping, I love No Agenda because in most ways it gives me a

break from the leaps of logic that are so common.

Just to be clear, I don't find it offensive (though I can see why some

would), but stereotyping is in poor taste. You and Dvorak and are so

insightful, intelligent and witty - stereotyping a group seems too low

brow in the context of No Agenda. It's like a beautiful picture that has

some small but distracting smudge.

Maybe I notice it more since I'm an ethnic minority member, being

sterotyped (even positively) gets annoying, fast. However I still think

my concerns are valid.

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Archived Version

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 14:25

Originally published October 22, 2011 at 9:40 PM | Page modified October 22, 2011 at 9:41 PM

LOS ALTOS, Calif. '-- The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school in Los Altos. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants such as Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard.

But the school's chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens. They are not allowed in the classroom, and school officials frown on their use at home.

Schools nationwide have rushed to supply classrooms with computers, and many policymakers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: Computers and schools don't mix.

This is the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, one of about 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribe to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans.

The Waldorf method is nearly a century old, but its foothold among the digerati puts into sharp relief an intensifying debate about the role of computers in education.

"I fundamentally reject the notion you need technology aids in grammar school," said Alan Eagle, 50, whose daughter, Andie, is one of the 196 children at the Waldorf elementary school; his son William, 13, is at the nearby middle school. "The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic, that's ridiculous."

Eagle knows a bit about technology. He holds a computer-science degree from Dartmouth College and works in executive communications at Google, where he has written speeches for the chairman, Eric Schmidt. He uses an iPad and a smartphone.

But he says his daughter, a fifth-grader, "doesn't know how to use Google," and his son is just learning. (Starting in eighth grade, the school endorses the limited use of gadgets.)

Three-quarters of the students at the school have parents with a strong high-tech connection. Eagle, like other parents, sees no contradiction. Technology, he said, has its time and place: "If I worked at Miramax and made good, artsy, rated-R movies, I wouldn't want my kids to see them until they were 17."

While other schools in the region brag about their wired classrooms, the Waldorf school embraces a simple, retro look: blackboards with colorful chalk, bookshelves with encyclopedias, wooden desks filled with workbooks and No. 2 pencils.

Hands-on learning

On a recent Tuesday, Andie Eagle and her fifth-grade classmates refreshed their knitting skills, crisscrossing wooden needles around balls of yarn, making fabric swatches. It's an activity the school says helps develop problem-solving, patterning, math skills and coordination. The long-term goal: make socks.

Down the hall, a teacher drilled third-graders on multiplication by asking them to pretend to turn their bodies into lightning bolts. She asked them a math problem '-- four times five '-- and, in unison, they shouted "20" and zapped their fingers at the number on the blackboard. A roomful of human calculators.

In second grade, students standing in a circle learned language skills by repeating verses after the teacher, while simultaneously playing catch with bean bags. It's an exercise aimed at synchronizing body and brain.

Andie's teacher, Cathy Waheed, a former computer engineer, tries to make learning irresistible and highly tactile. Last year she taught fractions by having the children cut up food '-- apples, quesadillas, cake '-- into quarters, halves and sixteenths.

"For three weeks, we ate our way through fractions," she said. "When I made enough fractional pieces of cake to feed everyone, do you think I had their attention?"

Tough to compare

Some education experts say the push to equip classrooms with computers is unwarranted because studies do not clearly show that this leads to better test scores or other measurable gains.

Is learning through cake fractions and knitting any better? The Waldorf advocates make it tough to compare, partly because as private schools they administer no standardized tests in elementary grades. And they would be the first to admit that their early-grade students may not score well on such tests because, they say, they don't drill them on a standardized math and reading curriculum.

When asked for evidence of the schools' effectiveness, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America points to research by an affiliated group showing that 94 percent of students graduating from Waldorf high schools in the United States between 1994 and 2004 attended college, with many heading to prestigious institutions such as Oberlin, Berkeley and Vassar.

That figure may not be surprising, given that these are students from families that value education highly enough to seek out a selective private school, and usually have the means to pay for it. And it is difficult to separate the effects of the low-tech instructional methods from other factors. For example, parents of students at the Los Altos school say it attracts great teachers who go through extensive training in the Waldorf approach, creating a strong sense of mission that can be lacking in other schools.

The debate comes down to subjectivity, parental choice and a difference of opinion over a single word: engagement. Advocates for equipping schools with technology say that computers can hold students' attention and that young people who have been weaned on electronic devices will not tune in without them.

Ann Flynn, director of education technology for the National School Boards Association, which represents school boards nationwide, said computers were essential.

"If schools have access to the tools and can afford them, but are not using the tools, they are cheating our children," Flynn said.

Paul Thomas, a former teacher and an associate professor of education at Furman University who has written 12 books about public educational methods, disagreed, saying, "a spare approach to technology in the classroom will always benefit learning."

"Teaching is a human experience," he said. "Technology is a distraction when we need literacy, numeracy and critical thinking."

Waldorf parents argue that real engagement comes from great teachers with interesting lesson plans.

"Engagement is about human contact, the contact with the teacher, the contact with their peers," said Pierre Laurent, 50, who works at a high-tech startup and formerly worked at Intel and Microsoft. He has three children in Waldorf schools, which so impressed the family that his wife, Monica, joined one as a teacher in 2006.

And where advocates for stocking classrooms with technology say children need computer time to compete in the modern world, Waldorf parents counter: What's the rush, given how easy it is to pick up those skills?

"It's super easy. It's like learning to use toothpaste," Eagle said. "At Google and all these places, we make technology as brain-dead easy to use as possible. There's no reason why kids can't figure it out when they get older."

Not completely cold turkey

There are also plenty of high-tech parents at a Waldorf school in San Francisco and just north of it at the Greenwood School in Mill Valley, which doesn't have Waldorf accreditation but is inspired by its principles.

The Waldorf experience does not come cheap: Annual tuition at the Silicon Valley schools is $17,750 for kindergarten through eighth grade and $24,400 for high school, though financial assistance is available.

Lucy Wurtz, who, along with her husband, Brad, helped found the Waldorf high school in Los Altos in 2007, said the typical Waldorf parent tends to be liberal and highly educated, with strong views about education. Such parents also have the knowledge to teach their children about technology at home, she said. She would know: Brad Wurtz is chief executive of Power Assure, which helps computer data centers reduce their energy load.

The students, meanwhile, said they don't pine for technology, nor have they gone completely cold turkey. Andie and her fifth-grade classmates said they occasionally watch movies. One girl, whose father works as an Apple engineer, said he sometimes asks her to test games he is debugging. One boy plays with flight-simulator programs on weekends.

The students said they can become frustrated when their parents and relatives get so wrapped up in phones and other devices. Aurad Kamkar, 11, said he recently went to visit cousins and found himself sitting around with five of them playing with their gadgets, not paying attention to him or each other.

He started waving his arms at them: "I said: 'Hello guys, I'm here.' "

Finn Heilig, 10, whose father works at Google, said he liked learning with pen and paper '-- rather than on a computer '-- because he could monitor his progress over the years.

"You can look back and see how sloppy your handwriting was in first grade. You can't do that with computers 'cause all the letters are the same," Finn said. "Besides, if you learn to write on paper, you can still write if water spills on the computer or the power goes out."

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Archived Version

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 16:23

Video filmed by passenger shows travellers wearing oxygen masksPassengers are shrouded in a haze of smoke inside the cabin Twilight actor Jackson Rathbone was on board with his wife and young son and documented the harrowing ordeal on TwitterBy Chris Kitching for MailOnline

Published: 06:36 EST, 19 September 2014 | Updated: 09:58 EST, 19 September 2014

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A video filmed by a passenger wearing an oxygen mask shows the dramatic scene inside an aircraft after one of its engines malfunctioned and filled the cabin with smoke.

Passengers express confusion as they are shrouded in a haze of smoke and a wailing child is heard in the background, but everyone remains calm as they prepare for an emergency landing.

Oxygen masks were deployed after the engine failure occurred on a JetBlue flight from Long Beach, California, to Austin, Texas, on Thursday.

A video filmed by a passenger wearing an oxygen mask shows the dramatic scene inside an aircraft after one of its engines malfunctioned and filled the cabin with smoke

Passengers express confusion as they are shrouded in a haze of smoke and a wailing child is heard in the background, but everyone remains calm as they prepare for an emergency landing

Remain calm: The man who filmed the dramatic scene turns the camera on himself before giving a wave

Pilot announces on JetBlue flight 1416 right engine failure

The twin-engine Airbus A320 was carrying 142 passengers and five crew.

Amidst the confusion, a passenger asks, 'Did we blow an engine?', as the man films the cabin's interior and the scenery outside.

At one point, he turns the camera on himself, showing his oxygen mask, and gives a wave.

Moments later, the pilot announces that plane has suffered a right engine failure and the engine has been 'shut down'.

He tells passengers to remain in their seats while the aircraft returns to Long Beach Airport in suburban Los Angeles.

An air steward tells them to stay out of the bathrooms and keep seatbelts fastened.

The twin-engine Airbus A320 was carrying 142 passengers and five crew

The pilot informed passengers that the right engine had failed and the plane was returning to Long Beach

Twilight actor Jackson Rathbone, one of the passengers on board, documented the harrowing ordeal in a series of tweets and photos.

He wrote that the engine 'exploded' before smoke clouded the plane and revealed his relief at having landed safely.

Mr Rathbone, who played Jasper Hale in the wildly popular vampire franchise, told his Twitter followers that he said a prayer and held his wife and young son in his arms.

The actor posted a picture to whosay.com showing passengers coming off the plane with the help of the Long Beach Fire Department.

He wrote: 'From the bus, we all just followed one after another. I never felt so okay being a lemming.' He then posted a selfie, adding: 'Where are we going/ don't care we're alive- face.'

Airport spokeswoman Cassie Perez-Harmison said no one was injured during the evacuation, but three people were tended to at the scene and a fourth was taken to hospital for observation

Flight lands successfully after suffering from engine failure

A second video filmed by a passenger shows the cabin clear of smoke as it makes a safe landing.

Passengers evacuated onto the runway using the plane's emergency slides.

Airport spokeswoman Cassie Perez-Harmison said no one was injured during the evacuation, but three people were tended to at the scene and a fourth was taken to hospital for observation.

The pilot declared the emergency and used an 'extinguishing agent' when the cockpit received an 'overheat warning' on the engine.

Safe landing: A second video shows the plane arriving in Long Beach after the cabin was cleared of smoke

Passengers evacuated onto the runway using the Airbus A320's emergency slides

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Box OfficeBudget:$180,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:£4,253,736 (UK) (18 July 2008)

Gross:$223,806,889 (USA) (2 January 2009)

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 15:19

It's a fact of life that the video games industry is awash with marginalised, troubled people who have found it difficult to manage their lives in mainstream society. It's particularly the case when you look at independent or "indie" video game developers, a remarkable proportion of whom suffer from depression or anxiety disorders. Many of these people end up as enthusiastic campaigners for one or more causes they feel deserve wider attention.

The journalists who cover games and gamers are subject to similar peculiarities and challenges, which perhaps explains widespread frustration from players that every blog out there seems more concerned with policing misogyny and "transphobia" than reviewing the latest game releases. As a result, gaming sites and their readers have drifted apart in recent years. Journalists have sided with activists to pen soporific op-eds about the need for "equality" in video games, while the people who actually play games just want to know if the latest instalment is good value for money.

Meanwhile, there have been grumbles that journalists are getting too close to their subjects, and that they speak ever more insultingly about their bread and butter customers '' that is, their predominantly male readers '' the longer they spend in the company of feminist activists and other agitators.

You might think it cruel to delve too deeply into the private lives of damaged people. But when, say, a video game developer and activist with a history of outrageous dishonesty, whose games aren't up to much but nonetheless always seem to get glowing reviews, gets accused of exchanging sex for positive coverage and other benefits, the public interest is overwhelmingly clear.

Lying and cheating

Step forward Chelsea Van Valkenburg, who goes by the pen name Zoe Quinn. Quinn recently released an online novel called Depression Quest, described as an "interactive fiction game where you play as someone living with depression." It's an internet version of one of those old Choose Your Own Adventure books '' except boring, and as excruciatingly badly written as its promotional material suggests.

You can play it here, if you're feeling masochistic. It's barely a game at all, really, more of a hyperlinked Tumblr blog. Anyone could have made it, as this cruelly worded but factually sound run-down of the current controversy around Quinn points out. Quinn started furiously marketing her game just after Robin Williams died. Tasteless and opportunistic, sure, but many gave her the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps she was just trying to "raise awareness." But what later came out, thanks to a startling series of confessions from Quinn's ex-boyfriend, is just what an unpleasant and manipulative human being she is.

It's hard to believe some of the allegations made about Quinn, who has been held up as an icon of probity by the liberal tech press, but web sleuths have provided copious evidence in support of their claims. Though she presents herself as a champion for depression sufferers, Quinn picked on a forum for depressed men called Wizardchan, misrepresenting content there to claim she was being harassed. She used her influence to torpedo a charity '' a charity! '' which was later hacked by one of her supporters.

She is alleged to have used spurious copyright claims to stifle criticism. She threatened to end the careers of developers who disagreed with her in comment threads. She leveraged friendships with moderators at online forums to have nearly 25,000 comments deleted. She swept an allegation of sexual misconduct under the carpet using intimidation. There's even a theory floating around that she is planning to have herself beaten up at an upcoming conference. It's an unconfirmed internet rumour, but it illustrates Quinn's credibility to gamers.

Quinn is not alone. There is a platoon of irritants in the media whose talents are vanishingly slight, but who generate column inches by the thousand for victimising innocents and manipulating their way around an over-sensitive industry. Some of them, such as Anita Sarkeesian, have no discernible higher purpose in life, except to bother innocent games developers.

These women purposefully court '' and then exploit '' boisterous, unpleasant reactions from astonished male gamers and use them to attract attention to themselves. What's remarkable is how deeply unpleasant the skeletons lurking in their own closets often are, how completely those skeletons give the lie to their public image, and how uncritically their claims are repackaged by credulous games journalists.

Death threat hysteria

Let's be honest. We're all used to feeling a niggling suspicion that "death threats" sent to female agitators aren't all they're cracked up to be. And indeed there is no evidence that any violent threat against a prominent female figure in the media or technology industry has ever been credible '' that is to say, that any feminist campaigner on the receiving end of internet trolling has ever been in any real danger. Even in the most famous American case, that of Kathy Sierra, there is no evidence the target was ever at risk.

But that doesn't stop women like Quinn from using these admittedly feverish tweets and emails from angry men to change the subject (usually from their own shortcomings and misdeeds) and play the victim with the help of limp-wristed journalists. Tweets tagged #GamerGate, from video gamers frustrated by the antics of women like Quinn and the journalists who ignore her sins, have been skyrocketing in the past few days.

They're ungallant, obviously, but death threats are sent by bored, lonely people '' or simply out of casual malice. What's even more pathetic than taking to the internet to work off your anger, though, is using death threats to get sympathy, or to vindictively pursue your ideological opponents and see their lives destroyed with jail sentences.

Showing off injudicious responses from bewildered men has become something like a badge of honour for a certain generation of feminist campaigner, which gives you some indication of how seriously they take the implied threats. (That is: not in the least.) It's a sort of online Olympics, where women strut and peacock and compete to show off the most explicitly-worded and imaginative hate mail they've received.

Often, they call law enforcement agencies, try to get perpetrators banged up, and even tweet about how they've been "forced out of their homes." Broadcasting information about your whereabouts on social media is an odd strategy for a person who claims to be in fear for their life. The police tend to advise against it. But even drawing attention to that fact is enough to get you slandered on the internet these days, and branded a hateful bully.

The phenomenon's not unique to the video game industry, of course: back in British politics, it reaches a monstrous zenith with professional troll Caroline Criado-Perez. The jealousy from her fangirls, such as the New Statesman's Helen Lewis, is almost palpable. "How come CCP gets all the love?" you can almost hear them saying.

Death threat hysteria, whipped up by campaigners who are "offended by design," is a cancer in the public square. It is designed to stifle debate and silence critics. Conversations are hijacked. Police time is wasted. Serious journalism becomes impossible. So why are so many American video game journalists allowing themselves to be taken in by it? The answer is ugly and sinister: because they get themselves laid if they toe the party line.

Virtual currencies

The economics of the indie gaming world are intriguing. Far from the multimillion dollar turnover of so-called "AAA" developers, most amateur writers and programmers are flat broke - mostly because many of their games simply aren't very good. Many of the loudest voices seem to exist on handouts from the public. Even some mainstream gaming journalists can be seen begging for money online, which may explain their sympathy for women like Quinn, who regularly put out pleas for cash, alongside dubious claims about "muggings."

Writers such as Nathan Grayson '' with whom, along with at least four other men, Zoe Quinn cheated on her boyfriend for calculated professional advancement '' know that they will be rewarded with sexual favours for promoting substandard work by some female developers. Grayson wrote about Quinn a few days before he admitted to starting a sexual relationship with her. His editor, on learning this, said no disciplinary action was necessary or would be forthcoming.

And it's not just allegations of sex-for-coverage that's dogging video games: many of the same journalists who write about sexually liberated gals like Quinn even pay her money, publicly donating cash to keep her afloat while turning a blind eye to her vindictiveness and mendacity. Not for any specific purpose, you understand: just to exist. The chutzpah it takes for them to ignore each other's, and their own, conflicts of interest is astonishing. It has not gone unnoticed by their readers, who have been publishing expos(C)s of their own in the last two weeks, demonstrating more investigative flair than any supposed reporter I have encountered in the video game industry.

Some websites, such as Polygon, owned by Vox Media, don't care that their journalists financially support the same people they write about. (They do now ask for disclosures, though, in an apparent admission that there was a problem before.) Another website, Kotaku, part of Gawker Media, will not allow the donations to continue.

The mainstream gaming journalist linked to above, by the way, is Leigh Alexander, who writes for VICE, Gamasutra and the Guardian, among others, on video games. Alexander also runs a public relations consulting firm selling services to '' you guessed it '' game developers. The brazenness of it all is mind-blowing. She called a celebrity who mocked the uptight self-righteousness of gaming journalists "a washed-up crackhead."

So corrupt, unethical and unprofessional are these gaming sites, they make tech startup blogs look like the Wall Street Journal. The manner in which the liberal tech establishment has closed ranks on the issue in defiance of their readers is remarkable, and unprecedented in the decade I have been a journalist. It's fifty per cent political instincts, and fifty per cent the knowledge that they and their mates are up to their necks in it.

The penalties for dissenters, even other media outlets, can be severe. TechRaptor, one of the few gaming and technology sites that has posted positive coverage of #GamerGate, had its official account banned on reddit. reddit is a major traffic source for any technology outlet.

A fatal mistake

Instead of addressing allegations of corruption, examining their own prejudices and giving consideration to an industry-wide failure to provide any kind of acceptable service, the games press rounded on its own readers, accusing them of bigotry and misogyny and refusing to acknowledge that the community was sick of being lectured to and guilt-tripped on a daily basis by hypocrites and liars.

Watching the fallout on blogs, in forums and on Twitter, it's tough to understate the extent of the shockwaves from all this, or the rift that has opened up between writers and readers as a result of Left-wing journalists reflexively defending their ideological allies. Gamers have uncovered evidence of such widespread corruption and conflicts of interest that the gaming blogs may never recover from it. The response from reporters '' for the most part, denial and dismissal '' is akin to mass professional suicide.

While the entire gaming journalism establishment is speaking in one voice, mocking dissenters and tweeting that all men should be killed, readers and those outside the world of video games are scratching their heads, wondering how so many bright people found themselves selling their souls for sex, a few quid in their PayPal accounts, and a warm feeling of standing up to "misogyny."

There's a lesson here for would-be social justice warriors: bang on about equality, respect and ethics all you like. But don't expect to be treated as an oracle when your personal behaviour is utterly reprehensible. The internet being what it is, Depression Quest has already spawned a hilarious parody, which is perhaps the real moral of the story here. Although one substandard generation of journalists has been replaced in the internet era by another, with the advent of the internet, anyone can fight back at injustice in their own, uniquely, cruelly, hysterically funny fashion.

The enduring effect of #GamerGate is obvious: the gaming media has destroyed its reputation and its relationship with readers, who will never again trust it on any issue beyond which power-up is most likely to get you past level 17. By blaming its readers and burying its head in the sand, the politicised bloggers who previously influenced the opinions of millions have voluntarily given up their authority to rabid, single-issue campaigners who silence criticism and sleep with journalists, peers and even their own bosses, as Zoe Quinn did, to get ahead.

This is a subject I'll return to in a later column: a brief history of corruption in video game journalism needs to be written. In the meantime, those of us with some critical distance from the chaos can only sit back and marvel at how wide-ranging and fundamental the damage to the indie games industry has been these last two weeks. There are now two, bitterly opposed factions in the industry. Journalists and activists, who care more about gender politics than the video games they are supposed to be reporting on, and gamers, mocked, derided and bullied... but unbowed.

Video gamers, and video game culture, will never be the same again.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 15:15

Alexander is editor-at-large for Gamasutra. She also writes for VICE, Edge, Kotaku, Polygon, Boing Boing and regularly contributes to many other publications. In other words, she's a relatively big deal. Over the past five years or so, she has spearheaded a wave of journalists who have tried to refocus games journalism. These newcomers, predominantly female, share a common ideology: men are a problem to be solved. But it is in the work of Leigh Alexander that their dogma has been most clearly and repeatedly articulated, so it's worth looking at her life and works a bit more closely.

Followers of the scandal now known as #GamerGate will note that Alexander has had her professional ethics called into question. This is liable to happen if you run a public relations consulting firm and sell your services to the same people you write about as a journalist. (Yes, you read that right.) But as bad as the ethical failings of many games journalists have been, they were largely acts of stupidity and greed. Leigh Alexander's agenda however, is rooted in something far uglier: she actually hates gamers, despite being a journalist principally concerned with video games.

In other words, she hates her own audience.

Take a look at that "Gamers are over" article: "Games culture is a petri dish of people who know so little about how human social interaction and professional life works that they can concoct online 'wars' about social justice or 'game journalism ethics,' straight-faced.."

She laughs about the stereotype of shy and reserved gamers, but how funny is it to mock people who play games by calling them names? Sure, some gamers enjoy gaming because because it provides a space where refined social skills aren't necessary, but that doesn't make their complaints about crusading journalists any less valid. In her world, the reticence of gamers to swallow her Weltanschauung can only be caused by a neural development disorder.

Alexander also thinks that the current target audience for games developers needs to change. She asserts that this presumed group of disabled cavemen have been pandered to for too long and they need to have their toys taken away: "This is hard for people who've drank the kool aid about how their identity depends on the ageing cultural signposts of a rapidly-evolving, increasingly broad and complex medium. It's hard for them to hear they don't own anything, anymore, that they aren't the world's most special-est consumer demographic, that they have to share."

Using "nerd" as a pejorative term for gamer is a favourite pastime for Alexander and she is happy to expand on her hatred for those she associates with the term. On her own website she answers the question, "Why do you sometimes mock 'nerds' and 'gamers' so virulently?" with remarkable candour: "A lot of 'proud nerds' are people who used the fact they were picked on for their interests as children to maintain, as adults and and fathers (they are most often privileged men, now) a 'secret clubhouse' that lets them victimize and oppress other participants.

"Self-identified nerds are often so obsessed with their identity as cultural outcasts that they are willfully [sic] blind to their privilege, and for the sake of relatively-absurd fandoms '-- space marines, dragons, zombies, endless war simulations '-- take their myopic and insular attitudes to 'art' and 'culture' with tunnel-visioned, inflexible, embarrassing seriousness that often leads to homogeneity, racism, sexism and bullying."

This is her central philosophical belief: men with troubled childhoods found something they liked doing and because they don't want to do something else, they are evil monsters. She also accuses them of being bullies, another topic on which Alexander has personal expertise.

It's not unheard of for journalists to be prone to rash and angry outbursts on Twitter, but the venom spewed from Alexander's account is unparalleled for someone writing for mainstream publications. For instance, she once threatened to kill the dreams of aspiring games journalists with whom she disagreed. She brags how she has the power to make an example out of others. "Be careful with me, I am a megaphone," she warns.

You don't need to cherry pick from her account: the swaggering bluster is there for all to see. From gleefully stamping on other young women's careers to doxxing those who try to debate her. Is there any other genre of journalism in which this behaviour would be allowed to continue unchecked?

The "Gamers are over" article didn't come out of nowhere. The impunity with which she throws her weight around isn't happening in a vacuum. Alexander and her fellow travellers have been laying the groundwork for years. But before we come to that, there are some clues as to what may have initially sparked this angry lifelong crusade.

In response to a hashtag that encouraged people to tweet their favourite moments from video gaming, Alexander tweeted the following: "Twelve years old, in a room of hostile nerdmen, the slow dawning horror that they didn't want me to play too #gamingmoments".

Is it too fanciful to suppose that this youthful rejection, whatever its motivation, could have driven a twelve-year-old girl to embark on a lifelong mission of revenge against her oppressors? Whatever the truth, jihad has been declared and the long march to convince gamers that their industry will stagnate out of existence unless they embrace diversity, is well under way.

It may seem unkind to single out Leigh Alexander, but her writing has been central to the diversity movement. While pseudo-academics such as Mia Consalvo, the president of DiGRA (Digital Games Research Association), a group that provides much of the theoretical heft for gaming journalists, preach the same message as Leigh, they defer to her when it comes to finding solutions to their perceived problems.

Alexander's chosen method for pushing her gospel is to conflate dystopia with reality. Without evidence, she repeatedly claims that the feminist indie scene is the most important thing happening in gaming. She doesn't need proof; AAA games are made for a niche audience, apparently, whereas indie feminist games are for everyone. In Alexander world, it's just too obvious to need any further explanation. Never mind the sales figures.

However, away from the gaming sites, when she addresses the true believers, the veil slips. Speaking at the TIFF Nexus Women in Film, Games & New Media Conference in 2011, Alexander made clear what her regular calls to penetrate a "wider social consciousness" and to embrace "diversity" were really all about. And they have very little to do with the reality of video games.

"For me, I'm not a young dude, obviously, and none of my friends are. If my wish is to see an evolving landscape of games that people from all walks of life can enjoy, this homogenous model of creation is not going to get me there'... in game development is absolutely essential to the future health of the medium.. Because when I talk about homogeny in the space that I work I don't just mean, one's working background, or their hobbyist experience or their education.

"The issue that I'm getting at is that there's not enough, racial, cultural, or gender diversity in game development to create this really lush palette of voices that we need to help move the medium forward."

Revolution and overthrow drip from her lips as Alexander decries the homogeneity of gaming culture. And by homogeneity, she means white guys. In her world it doesn't matter how diverse the the backgrounds, experiences and philosophies of those creating games are; games developers who didn't grow up as black trans* orphans have no place in her new utopia.

It speaks volumes about the the openness and all-around general kindness of the gaming community that it has taken this long for these absurd views to be challenged so openly. But even the willingness of gamers to tolerate new and wacky ideas can't explain how Leigh, who once described herself as an evangelist without disciples, has become the ringmistress of games journalism. Just how did a small group of vivacious young women find themselves promoted by socially reserved male editors to upper echelons of gaming journalism so quickly? Gamers want to know.

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 13:18

A pejorative term for an individual who repeatedly and vehemently engages in arguments on social justice on the Internet, often in a shallow or not well-thought-out way, for the purpose of raising their own personal reputation. A social justice warrior, or SJW, does not necessarily strongly believe all that they say, or even care about the groupsthey are fighting on behalf of. Theytypicallyrepeat points from whoever is the most popularblogger or commenter of the moment, hoping that they will "get SJ points" and become popular in return. They are very sure to adopt stances that are "correct" in their social circle.The SJW's favorite activity of all is to dogpile. Their favorite websites to frequent are Livejournal and Tumblr. They do not have relevant favorite real-world places, because SJWs are primarily civil rightsactivists only online.

#1:A social justice warrior reads an essay about a form of internal misogyny where women and girls insult stereotypical feminine activities and characteristics in order to boost themselves over other women.

The SJW absorbs this and later complains in response to a Huffington Post article about a 10-year-old feminist's letter, because the 10-year-old called the color pink "prissy".

#2:Commnter: "I don't like getting manicures. It's too prissy."

SJW: "Oh my god, how fucking dare you use that word, you disgusting sexist piece of shit!"

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 13:14

Social Justice Warriors is a satirical role-playing game that transforms you into a crusader for online morality, a champion of internet justice, and the lone defender standing valiantly against the encroaching morass of willful human ignorance.

Inspired by the ridiculous list of ''social justice warrior'' videogame journalists to avoid, Social Justice Warriors translates the standard medieval fantasy heroes of role-playing games into social media crusaders facing an endless horde of ignorant, bigoted internet trolls.

For a thorough explanation of why this game exists, read Making a Social Justice Warrior Game.

Get the Game '' Become a Warrior

The WarriorsSocial Justice Paladins duel foes with tweets, retweets, and subtweets while shrugging off attacks with a press of the Block button, at least until their foes create new accounts.

Social Justice Clerics serve in the name of their patron subreddit deity, taking solace in its comforting presence to heal and summoning its divine power to smite their enemies.

Social Justice Mages cast powerful opinion pieces and blogs to turn public opinion against the trolls while occasionally summoning an activist organization or hurling a scathingly inflammatory fireball of a post.

Social Justice Rogues aren't bound by the honor codes of their brethren and prefer to fight fire with fire. Throw flurries of vitriolic character attacks, confuse enemies with smokescreens of alternate accounts, then delete accounts and withdraw into the shadows of the net.

The warriors and their opponents fight and fall by the measure of their Sanity and Reputation meters. Trolls will constantly confound your sanity with their ignorance and hate while actively working to destroy your reputation with wild accusations and photoshopped evidence of your misdeeds.

How you choose to respond to these attacks is up to you. Relying solely on logical arguments to change minds doesn't work very well online, but resorting to personal attacks and mudslinging will erode your moral high ground.

Think social commentary games don't have legitimate gameplay mechanics? Think again!

PressIf you write about videogames or social issues, contact me for a download key for Social Justice Warriors. I am available for interviews. You can find more information on the Press page.

Let's Play!As a developer, there's nothing more exciting than watching someone play your game. If you have a YouTube/Twitch/whatever channel, please contact me about obtaining a free key.

Make videos of my game. Make money on those videos. Become rich and powerful. Buy a yacht.

Send me your video link so I can show everyone I know. Then they'll buy my games so I can buy a yacht too and we can race them.

Box Quotes

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 15:22

While headlines across the world tell the story of Scotland voting against independence from the United Kingdom, other reports suggest that voter fraud could be a problem in this historic vote. There have been continued releases of instances where rigging the votes were being done with different methods.

One report is being investigated by police in Glasgow Scotland. It was reported on Yahoo News that election officials have confirmed that police had been called for an investigation after evidence shows that there were at least 10 occurrences where electoral fraud took place in Glasgow. The main problem says that when people showed up to vote for Scottish freedom from the UK the voter's names were already crossed off the list as people that had already voted.

This type of rigged voting is typically called personation where someone impersonates another voter and votes before the person arrives at the poll station. Colin Edgar from Glasgow City Council was quoted as saying, "Somebody turned up to vote, they gave their name, the presiding officer went to cross off their name on their list of voters to give them a ballot paper and found that their name had already been crossed off and a ballot paper already issued to somebody who apparently had the same name."

The investigation will take the ballots that were submitted from duplicate voters and be put in a secure location throughout the night so they can be tested for fingerprints. Police have claimed they will use gloves to handle all of the ballots and paper that was involved in the vote rigging scheme. If the police find that this truly was a case of personation, the votes that were duplicated will be invalid. The votes from the voters that already were marked off the list of voters will not be counted until the investigation can prove whether this is fraud or not.

These are not the only cases of voter fraud however and others are sharing their stories and accounts of Scotland vote rigging and fraud on YouTube and other social media outlets.

This following video is titled, "Scotland Independence vote rigging exposed - Smoking Gun Evidence of vote being rigged!" In the video you can see the ballot papers that say, "Should Scotland be an Independent Country" with a simple Yes or No checkbox. In the video a woman is seen switching the pile of YES votes and shifting them into the NO pile of votes. It was assumed that this was changing the counts as people were still voting that they wanted Scotland to gain freedom from the United Kingdom.

Another instance shows that piles of votes on a table marked NO votes there were ballots on top that clearly had the YES box checked.

Tagged as:Scotland Independence, Scotland Vote Rigged, voter fraud

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 22:20

Och, 3 wheels outta 4's nae si bad

In an unexpected development that the entire MSM failed to pick up, The Slog exclusively reveals tonight that Scottish voters in the Independence Referendum committed a margin of error close to 10%.

''There really is no doubt about it,'' a source at Survatimum Wallup polls told me earlier this evening, ''by voting No when Yes was the obvious way to stick a bagpipe up McCamerlot's back passage, 9.99% of Scots committed a grave error. As this was the exact margin of error involved in the result, it seems to us here at Survemupcodswallop that '' in the best tradition of EU Referendums '' the vote should be re-run until 50.1% vote Yes. This would produce a much smaller margin of error, and thus be both more fair and accurate''.

Keen Scottish Nationalist Sir Ally McTrout, having been given sight of this Slogpost, resigned his resignation, declaring that ''All of us here in this land of deep-fried resentment owe a debt of platitude to Mr McSlog for bringing this blatant case of electoral gerrymandering by the Westminster clique to our attention, and I shall be conferring with my campaign manager Dandelion McBurdock on the best way to take this matter forward in a destructive manner.''

Earlier at The Slog: More doubt after McSark independence result

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Fri, 19 Sep 2014 21:31

Ballot boxes are opened as counting begins in the Scottish referendum in Aberdeen. Photograph: Scott Heppell/AP

Russia has said the conduct of the Scottish referendum "did not meet international standards", with its observers complaining the count took place in rooms that were too big and that the procedure was badly flawed.

In an apparent attempt to mirror persistent western criticism of Russia's own elections, Igor Borisov '' an accredited observer '' said the poll failed to meet basic international norms.

Borisov and three other Russians arrived in Edinburgh on Wednesday evening, the state news agency Ria Novosti reported. The team from Moscow's Public Institute of Suffrage watched voting take place in the Scottish capital and the surrounding area. It also met with Scottish politicians, voters and representatives from non-governmental organisations, Ria said.

Borisov said he was unimpressed by what he saw. He said the room where he watched the count on Thursday night was a cavernous "aircraft hangar" next to an airfield. It was difficult to see what was going on, he said, adding: "The hangar is approximately 100m by 300m. There are tables, with voting papers stacked upon them, but the observers are stuck around the perimeter. Even if you want to, it's impossible to tell what's happening. It's also unclear where the boxes with ballot papers come from."

Borisov said the US state department, the UK and other western countries loudly hectored the Kremlin about Russia's supposed democratic deficiencies. But in this instance, he said, London and Edinburgh had not "fully met" the requirements of a proper referendum.

"Nobody was interested in who was bringing in the voting slips. There were no stamps or signatures as the bulletins were handed over," he said.

Supporters of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had been fervently hoping for a yes vote. Some Russian nationalists had even fixed yes badges to their Twitter profiles, with one ''Konstantin Rykov '' adding a "Mc" to the front of his Cyrillic surname. (The badge and "Mc" had disappeared by Friday morning). The Kremlin apparently saw Scottish independence as a way of justifying its own hasty annexation of Crimea in March, following a "referendum" conducted in just three weeks and condemned by the west, as armed Russian forces and irregulars swarmed over the Crimean peninsula. Moscow also felt that a yes vote would weaken the UK and bring to power a post-independence Scottish government more amenable to Moscow's wishes. Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, expressed qualified admiration for President Putin in an interview with GQ in March.

The Kremlin propaganda channel RT, meanwhile, speculated that the result might have been rigged and expressed surprise at the "North Korean" levels of turnout.

Afshin Rattansi, the presenter of RT's Going Underground show, said there were "international considerations", such as the UK's nuclear deterrent, which had affected the outcome. He said: "With the vote as close as this, with the mainstream media on one side, with a massive amount of people from Westminster running up to beg Scotland the other way, and certain recounts in certain bits of the poll, which way did the vote go, really?"

He added: "It is normally the sort of turnout you would expect in North Korea. Usually media here would go 'we don't believe it. How can it be nearly 90%?'"

On Friday the Donetsk People's Republic - the Ukrainian rebel enclave - said that it, too, believed the Scottish referendum had been falsified. Miroslav Rudenko, a member of the republic's self-declared supreme council, said he suspected the UK government was guilty of foul play. "I don't rule out that the British authorities have falsified the results of this referendum. The difference between those who voted in favour of independence and against it is not so great," he told the Russian news agency Interfax.

Rudenko said the west was guilty of "double-standards". It had allowed a referendum in Scotland but refused one for Donestk and Luhansk, the rebel enclaves where separatists backed by Kremlin firepower are fighting Ukrainian troops.

.

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Fri, 19 Sep 2014 21:30

19 September 2014Last updated at 13:47 ET Ed Miliband has signalled he will not sign up to David Cameron's plan for a new UK-wide devolution settlement in the wake of the Scottish referendum.

Mr Cameron wants enhanced powers for the Scottish Parliament and new powers for English MPs at Westminster agreed, in draft, before the 2015 election.

But Mr Miliband wants a "constitutional convention" after the election to discuss devolution plans for England.

And he says the focus should be on new powers for the English regions.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond says Scottish voters - who rejected independence in Thursday's referendum vote - would be "incandescent" if there was any "slippage" in the UK government's accelerated plans for further Scottish devolution.

The prime minister has pledged to honour promises made during the referendum campaign by his predecessor Gordon Brown - and backed by the main Westminster parties - to hand greater powers over tax and welfare to the Scottish Parliament and to publish draft legislation in January.

Scottish MPsBut he has said that changes are needed, at the same time, to the way England is governed - as well as new powers for Wales and Northern Ireland - to ensure the settlement is "new and fair".

In particular, he wants a simultaneous review of the role of Scottish MPs at Westminster, amid Tory calls for them to be barred from voting on legislation and other matters only affecting England.

At the moment, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs can vote on English-only matters, such as schools and health, but English MPs do not have any say on devolved matters elsewhere in the UK.

Mr Cameron has said he wants substantial progress on the two issues within the next six months.

In response, the Labour leader said he accepted the need for reforms and the process of debate should begin before the general election, to be held on 7 May.

Labour has insisted it is sticking to the same timetable for Scottish devolution set out by Mr Brown - and that legislation can ultimately be passed on both issues in the next Parliament if it wins power.

But the BBC's political correspondent Robin Brant said Labour - which has more than 40 Scottish MPs - wanted effectively to "decouple" the two issues.

'No quick fix'Mr Miliband said devolution in Scotland and Wales over the past 15 years had worked and recognised the demand for "significant" new powers for England.

But he said Scotland should be dealt with first, in isolation, and warned against a "quick fix" deal on English matters agreed "behind the scenes" at Westminster.

"We want to go as fast as possible...but we need to consult people and we need to get this right. One lesson we know is that we can't do this in a knee-jerk way. We have to do this in the right way."

He added: "We need a response that matches the scale of this moment. That starts with delivering on our promise of further powers to Scotland.

"But other people in Britain, including England, now deserve the chance to shape their own futures with a dynamic devolution settlement."

Under his plan, English regions would produce a series of recommendations "covering how sub-national devolution can be strengthened; how the regions can be given more of a voice in our political system; how we can give further voice to regional and national culture and identity'".

Mr Miliband said a Constitutional Convention would consider these and other proposals in the autumn of 2015, including reform of the House of Commons and the case for replacing the House of Lords with a new Senate of the Nations and Regions.

'Equal settlement'Many Conservative MPs have said they will not accept more powers being devolved to Scotland without fundamental changes to voting rights and UK-wide funding formulas at Westminster.

James Gray said it was time to "fundamentally and radically and rights the wrongs that are currently being done to the people of England".

Reacting to Mr Miliband's statement, Tory chairman Grant Shapps said Mr Miliband's approach "would kick this vital issue into the long grass".

"If he is serious about delivering on our joint commitment to publish draft legislation on devolving more powers to Scotland by January, Ed Miliband must say whether he supports an equal settlement for England - English votes for English laws," he said.

Mr Salmond, who has announced his intention to step down as SNP leader and Scottish first minister, said the "common front" between the Westminster parties on a timetable for further Scottish devolution appeared to be falling apart.

He suggested that the prime minister had refused to commit to a second reading on a new Scotland Bill during the course of the current Parliament - set to end in April.

Labour MP Diane Abbott said the plan seemed to be "unravelling" and Labour may be punished at the general election if it did not deliver on its "solemn promise" on more powers for Holyrood.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 17:04

The re-elected prime minister, John Key, celebrates on stage after delivering his victory speech on Saturday. Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty Images

The John Key-led National party will return to power in New Zealand for a third consecutive term, having survived waves of scandal during a volatile and antagonistic election campaign to secure an overwhelming victory.

National is on the brink of securing the first single-party parliamentary majority since New Zealand moved to its Mixed Member Proportional electoral system in 1996.

The result is a disaster for the main opposition Labour party, while the Mana-Internet party experiment, backed by Kim Dotcom, has spectacularly backfired, failing to win so much as a single seat.

Arriving at the party's headquarters on the Auckland waterfront to chants of ''three more years'', Key said the result signalled a ''victory for the people, the policies, the unity and the vision that National will bring to government for the next three years''.

Describing himself as ''humble and at the same time energised'', Key pledged to ''continue to provide the strong and stable government that is working for New Zealand''.

''We are the finest little nation on the planet, I truly believe that. Our future as a country is bright, our opportunities are unlimited.''

The provisional final count saw National win 48% of the party vote, which determines the composition of parliament under New Zealand's proportional system, enough to gain them 61 seats in a 121 seat chamber. The Labour party trailed on 25%, with the Green party on 10% and the New Zealand First Party, which had been picked as a likely kingmaker, on 9%.

The rightwing family-values Conservative party, funded by the millions of its leader Colin Craig, finished the night on 4%, failing to reach the crucial 5% threshold that is required to enter parliament by any party without an electorate seat.

Dotcom, currently being sought for extradition from New Zealand by the US to face copyright and money laundering charges, brokered and bankrolled to the tune of an estimated NZ $4 million the strategic alliance of the Internet Party with leftwing Maori-focused Mana party with the express purpose of removing John Key's government.

The party's success hinged on the Mana leader, Hone Harawira, winning his seat, Te Tai Tokerau, to bring other MPs in with him. He was defeated in the Maori electorate by Labour's Kelvin Davis, however, with National and New Zealand First both having urged their supporters to vote to support Davis and scupper the Dotcom project.

The German entrepreneur blamed himself for the result, acknowledging ''the brand Dotcom was poison''.

Even if the final numbers, following special votes, allow National to form a single-party majority government, Key will seek support from the Maori Party, ACT and United Future, which between them won four seats, the same group of parties with which he was previously allied.

Key said he intended to ''talk to other leaders of political parties, with a view to putting together a broader majority and to ensure a durable and strong government''.

Labour had hoped it might build a government encompassing Greens and NZ First, but the party, beleaguered by infighting in the lead-up to the campaign, are left facing a period of introspection, with a number of high-profile MPs losing their seats.

Speaking to the party faithful in west Auckland, Cunliffe said he intended to continue as leader, while acknowledging he would go through the selection process required under party rules. The the ''rebuild of the party and the campaign for the next election'' would begin immediately, he said.

He lamented ''a campaign beset by dirty politics and sideshows, involving potential abuses of power at the highest level that will still take months and months to unravel'', but which had ''distracted from the issues that are more core to the future of our country''.

Cunliffe added that the results on the night ''clearly stated that wealthy individuals cannot buy politics, be they Kim Dotcom or Colin Craig''.

Conventional policy arguments have been squeezed to the edges of the campaign, with two major controversies dominating headlines and putting Key on the defensive. The release of a book by Nicky Hager, Dirty Politics, described links between senior figures in the National Party and the rightwing attack-blog Whale Oil.

Further fuel was added to the fire with the repeated release of hacked online correspondence, upon which the book had drawn, by a mysterious character called ''Rawshark''. The revelations led ultimately to the resignation of the justice minister.

Just as the campaign was beginning to regain some normalcy, another intervention stole the spotlight. Hosted by Dotcom, journalist Glenn Greenwald's arrived in New Zealand promising to disprove Key's denial that mass surveillance was undertaken by local intelligence agencies. Key denied the claim, dismissing Greenwald a conspiracy theorist, a ''henchman'' for Dotcom, and even a ''loser''.

The controversy culminated in an event billed by Dotcom as ''the Moment of Truth'' at the Auckland Town Hall on Monday night, with Greenwald joined on the big screen by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The revelations from Snowden and Greenwald were muddied, however, by Dotcom's failure to provide the evidence he had promised to unveil showing that John Key had colluded with Hollywood lobbyists in planning for his extradition.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 17:02

By Stewart BakerSeptember 20 at 10:31 AMIf you think Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald have stopped attacking NSA, you haven't been following them closely enough. While American media have largely lost interest in Snowden and Greenwald, the pair continue to campaign outside the United States against the intelligence agency.

Their most ambitious effort was in New Zealand, a member of the ''Five Eyes'' intelligence alliance with the U.S. and U.K. The center-right New Zealand government has been embroiled in accusations of illegal surveillance of Kim Dotcom, who grew wealthy running a file-sharing site and is now fighting extradition to the United States for copyright violations. As part of that fight, Dotcom dove into New Zealand's national elections, hoping to unseat the two-term government and, in his words, ''to close one of the Five Eyes.''

Snowden and Greenwald dove in with him, joining eagerly in campaign events sponsored by Dotcom. Greenwald used his new Omidyar-funded news site to release a lengthy article in the last week of the campaign; it accused New Zealand of working with NSA to conduct mass surveillance. When the prime minister denied the accusation, Snowden called him a liar.

The combination of carefully timed Snowden leaks and Dotcom's millions looked potent. Dotcom even funded a new Internet Party, aligned with the small Mana party, which already had a seat in New Zealand's Parliament.

Well, New Zealanders went to the polls today, and the results are in.

The biggest losers? Snowden, Greenwald, and Dotcom.

The prime minister whom Snowden accused of lying won an ''overwhelming'' victory that may give him the first outright majority for any New Zealand party in nearly twenty years.

Meanwhile, Dotcom's Internet Party bombed, even costing its tiny ally the only seat it held in Parliament.

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Source: Weasel Zippers

Sat, 20 Sep 2014 17:17

How does the government not know what these are and who is behind them? Oh, that's right, Obama regime, porous security where it matters'...

Via Washington Times:

Mysterious ''interceptor'' cellphone towers that can listen in someone's phone call despite not being part of any phone networks have turned up near the White House and Senate.

A company that specializes in selling secure mobile phones discovered the existence of several of the towers in and around the nation's capitol.

''It's highly unlikely that federal law enforcement would be using mobile interceptors near the Senate,'' ESD America CEO Les Goldsmith told the technology website Venture Beat on Thursday.

The towers are also capable of loading spyware onto a mobile device before passing off a victim's call to a legitimate network.

''My suspicion is that it is a foreign entity,'' he told Venture Beat.

Keep reading'...

NDAA and Overturning of Smith-Mundt Act

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA) allows for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to be released within U.S. borders and strikes down a long-time ban on the dissemination of such material in the country.[14][15][16]

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:00

Propaganda in the United States is propaganda spread by government and media entities within the United States. Propaganda is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to influence opinions. Propaganda is not only in advertising; it is also in radio, newspaper, posters, books, and anything else that might be sent out to the widespread public.

Domestic[edit]World War I[edit]The first large-scale use of propaganda by the U.S. government came during World War I. The government enlisted the help of citizens and children to help promote war bonds and stamps to help stimulate the economy. To keep the prices of war supplies down, the U.S. government produced posters that encouraged people to reduce waste and grow their own vegetables in "victory gardens." The public skepticism that was generated by the heavy-handed tactics of the Committee on Public Information would lead the postwar government to officially abandon the use of propaganda.[1]

World War II[edit]During World War II the U.S. officially had no propaganda, but the Roosevelt government used means to circumvent this official line. One such propaganda tool was the publicly owned but government funded Writers' War Board (WWB). The activities of the WWB were so extensive that it has been called the "greatest propaganda machine in history".[1]Why We Fight is a famous series of US government propaganda films made to justify US involvement in World War II.

In 1944 (lasting until 1948) prominent US policy makers launched a domestic propaganda campaign aimed at convincing the U.S. public to agree to a harsh peace for the German people, for example by removing the common view of the German people and the Nazi party as separate entities.[2] The core in this campaign was the Writers' War Board which was closely associated with the Roosevelt administration.[2]

Another means was the United States Office of War Information that Roosevelt established in June 1942, whose mandate was to promote understanding of the war policies under the director Elmer Davies. It dealt with posters, press, movies, exhibitions, and produced often slanted material conforming to US wartime purposes. Other large and influential non-governmental organizations during the war and immediate post war period were the Society for the Prevention of World War III and the Council on Books in Wartime.

Cold War[edit]During the Cold War, the U.S. government produced vast amounts of propaganda against communism and the Soviet bloc. Much of this propaganda was directed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under J. Edgar Hoover, who himself wrote the anti-communist tract Masters of Deceit. The FBI's COINTELPRO arm solicited journalists to produce fake news items discrediting communists and affiliated groups, such as H. Bruce Franklin and the Venceremos Organization.

War on Drugs[edit]The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, originally established by the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988,[3][4] but now conducted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy under the Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998,[5] is a domestic propaganda campaign designed to "influence the attitudes of the public and the news media with respect to drug abuse" and for "reducing and preventing drug abuse among young people in the United States".[6][7] The Media Campaign cooperates with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and other government and non-government organizations.[8]

Iraq War[edit]In early 2002, the U.S. Department of Defense launched an information operation, colloquially referred to as the Pentagon military analyst program.[9] The goal of the operation is "to spread the administrations's talking points on Iraq by briefing ... retired commanders for network and cable television appearances," where they have been presented as independent analysts.[10] On 22 May 2008, after this program was revealed in the New York Times, the House passed an amendment that would make permanent a domestic propaganda ban that until now has been enacted annually in the military authorization bill.[11]

The Shared values initiative was a public relations campaign that was intended to sell a "new" America to Muslims around the world by showing that American Muslims were living happily and freely, without persecution, in post-9/11 America.[12] Funded by the United States Department of State, the campaign created a public relations front group known as Council of American Muslims for Understanding (CAMU). The campaign was divided in phases; the first of which consisted of five mini-documentaries for television, radio, and print with shared values messages for key Muslim countries.[13]

NDAA and Overturning of Smith-Mundt Act[edit]The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA) allows for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to be released within U.S. borders and strikes down a long-time ban on the dissemination of such material in the country.[14][15][16]

Ad Council[edit]The Ad Council, an American non-profit organization that distributes public service announcements on behalf of various private and federal government agency sponsors, has been labeled as "little more than a domestic propaganda arm of the federal government" given the Ad Council's historically close collaboration with the President of the United States and the federal government.[17]

International[edit]Through several international broadcasting operations, the US disseminates American cultural information, official positions on international affairs, and daily summaries of international news. These operations fall under the International Broadcasting Bureau, the successor of the United States Information Agency, established in 1953. IBB's operations include Voice of America, Radio Liberty, Alhurra and other programs. They broadcast mainly to countries where the United States finds that information about international events is limited, either due to poor infrastructure or government censorship. The Smith-Mundt Act prohibits the Voice of America from disseminating information to US citizens that was produced specifically for a foreign audience.

During the Cold War the US ran covert propaganda campaigns in countries that appeared likely to become Soviet satellites, such as Italy, Afghanistan, and Chile.

Recently The Pentagon announced the creation of a new unit aimed at spreading propaganda about supposedly "inaccurate" stories being spread about the Iraq War. These "inaccuracies" have been blamed on the enemy trying to decrease support for the war. Donald Rumsfeld has been quoted as saying these stories are something that keeps him up at night.[18]

Psychological operations[edit]The US military defines psychological operations, or PSYOP, as:

planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence the emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.[19]

The Smith-Mundt Act, adopted in 1948, explicitly forbids information and psychological operations aimed at the US public.[20][21][22] Nevertheless, the current easy access to news and information from around the globe, makes it difficult to guarantee PSYOP programs do not reach the US public. Or, in the words of Army Col. James A. Treadwell, who commanded the U.S. military psyops unit in Iraq in 2003, in the Washington Post:

There's always going to be a certain amount of bleed-over with the global information environment.[23]

Agence France Presse reported on U.S. propaganda campaigns that:

The Pentagon acknowledged in a newly declassified document that the US public is increasingly exposed to propaganda disseminated overseas in psychological operations.[24]

Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the document referred to, which is titled "Information Operations Roadmap." [22][24] The document acknowledges the Smith-Mundt Act, but fails to offer any way of limiting the effect PSYOP programs have on domestic audiences.[20][21][25]

Several incidents in 2003 were documented by Sam Gardiner, a retired Air Force colonel, which he saw as information-warfare campaigns that were intended for "foreign populations and the American public." Truth from These Podia,[26] as the treatise was called, reported that the way the Iraq war was fought resembled a political campaign, stressing the message instead of the truth.[22]

See also[edit]References[edit]^ abThomas Howell, The Writers' War Board: U.S. Domestic Propaganda in World War II, Historian, Volume 59 Issue 4, Pages 795 - 813^ abSteven Casey, (2005), The Campaign to sell a harsh peace for Germany to the American public, 1944 - 1948, [online]. London: LSE Research Online. [Available online at http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/archive/00000736] Originally published in History, 90 (297). pp. 62-92 (2005) Blackwell Publishing^National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 of the Anti''Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Pub.L. 100''690, 102 Stat. 4181, enacted November 18, 1988^Gamboa, Anthony H. (January 4, 2005), B-303495, Office of National Drug Control Policy '-- Video News Release, Government Accountability Office, footnote 6, page 3 ^Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998 (Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999), Pub.L. 105''277, 112 Stat. 268, enacted October 21, 1998^Gamboa, Anthony H. (January 4, 2005), B-303495, Office of National Drug Control Policy '-- Video News Release, Government Accountability Office, pp. 9''10 ^Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, Pub.L. 105''277, 112 Stat. 268, enacted October 21, 1998^Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006, Pub.L. 109''469, 120 Stat. 3501, enacted December 29, 2006, codified at 21 U.S.C. § 1708^Barstow, David (2008-04-20). "Message Machine: Behind Analysts, the Pentagon's Hidden Hand". New York Times. ^Sessions, David (2008-04-20). "Onward T.V. Soldiers: The New York Times exposes a multi-armed Pentagon message machine". Slate. ^Barstow, David (2008-05-24). "2 Inquiries Set on Pentagon Publicity Effort". New York Times. ^Rampton, Sheldon (October 17, 2007). "Shared Values Revisited". Center for Media and Democracy. ^"U.S. Reaches Out to Muslim World with Shared Values Initiative". America.gov. January 16, 2003.

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 14:27

More ABC news videos | Latest world newsCopyA British citizen captured in Syria two years ago has resurfaced today in a new ISIS propaganda video released on YouTube. But unlike the previous gruesome beheading videos of three westerners, journalist John Cantlie is seen alive, seated alone at a desk in a darkened room, delivering what he says is the first of a series of "messages" about ISIS.

Cantlie was abducted in November 2012 along with slain American journalist James Foley, who was beheaded by his ISIS captors, according to a former law enforcement official and others familiar with the journalists' kidnapping.

Until today, Cantlie's hostage status had been kept under a media blackout in the U.K. When Cantlie was seized with Foley it was the second time he had been kidnapped in Syria, and just prior to his being called as a witness in a British terror trial whose defendants were dismissed when Cantlie disappeared. Foley and Cantlie were working on a film about Cantlie's dramatic escape from his first abduction when they were kidnapped.

Digital Feature: What Is ISIS

'Pure Evil': ISIS Appears to Kill British Hostage David Haines in New Video

'So Little Compassion': James Foley's Parents Say Officials Threatened Family Over Ransom

Unlike the previous ISIS videos shot in outdoor locations, the dark indoor scene appears designed to prevent intelligence analysts and U.S. drones from gathering clues about where it may have been shot. U.S. intelligence analysts were studying previously released beheading videos for geographic clues that might lead to potential rescue operations.

In the video Cantlie says that he's going to appear in other videos that show the ''truth behind what happened'' in other kidnapping cases.

''Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'He's only doing this because he's a prisoner. He's got a gun to his head and he's being forced to do this,' Right? Well, it's true. I am a prisoner. That I cannot deny,'' Cantlie says. ''But seeing as how I've been abandoned by my government and my fate now lies in the hands of the Islamic State [ISIS], I have nothing to lose. Maybe I will live and maybe I will die.''

Cantlie, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, seated at a table, appeared to be reading his message from a teleprompter in a slickly filmed, three camera production. Unlike the previous videos no members of ISIS are seen in the film.

Cantlie said there would be future messages from him that would show the ''truth behind the systems and motivation of the Islamic State and how the Western media, the very organization I used to work for, can twist and manipulate that truth for the public back home."

"The video is almost certainly scripted by Cantlie's captors, and we shouldn't take it at face value,'' said J.M. Berger, terrorism expert and co-author of the forthcoming book ''ISIS: The State of Terror''. ''Ultimately they don't expect ordinary people in the West to take the bait. They are trying to stir up trouble on the fringes and reassure their base'... There is a clear effort to fuel political discontent over Western action against the Islamic State'...''

The video release comes after ISIS threatened to kill another British citizen, Alan Henning, over the British government's support for U.S. action against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

CLICK HERE to return to the ABC News Investigative Unit homepage.

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 14:21

John CantlieJohn Cantlie at Nangalam base, Pech Valley, Afghanistan 2012

DisappearedNovember 22, 2012[1]Syria[1]StatusApparent hostage of the Islamic StateOccupationWar photographer and correspondentJohn Cantlie is a British war photographer and correspondent who was kidnapped in Syria with James Foley in November 2012.[2] Cantlie was previously kidnapped in Syria in July 2012 and was rescued a week later.

Family history[edit]John Cantlie is the great grandson of Dr James Cantlie, who in 1896 was instrumental in the protection of the famous Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat Sen who might otherwise have been executed by the Chinese secret service. His grandfather, Colonel Kenneth Cantlie, designed the China Railways KF locomotive, at 260 tons the largest locomotive of post-war China that remained in service until 1972.

First abduction[edit]He was reportedly kidnapped by British Islamic extremists while crossing into Syria from Turkey on July 19, 2012, near Bab al-Hawa. Along with Dutch photographer Jeroen Oerlemans, Cantlie was shot whilst trying to escape their captors. In an interview with The Sun newspaper on 26 August 2012, Cantlie said it was "every Englishman's duty to try and escape if captured." Both photographers claimed they were about to be handed over to a jihad unit affiliated with al-Qaeda for ransom when they were rescued by the Free Syrian Army. Cantlie's apparent kidnapping is the first recorded case of a British journalist being held, shot and then rescued from fellow Britons during the revolutions of the Arab Spring.

The pair were reportedly held by the jihad group Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) whose leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, encouraged British Muslims to join the group to fight a Holy War against the government of Bashar al-Assad.[citation needed] It is alleged that the group used the cover of online aid agencies to smuggle European fighters across the Turkish border into Syria. In an account in The Sunday Times on 5 August 2012, Cantlie wrote:

"I ended up running for my life, barefoot and handcuffed, while British jihadists - young men with south London accents - shot to kill. They were aiming their Kalashnikovs at a British journalist, Londoner against Londoner in a rocky landscape that looked like the Scottish Highlands. Bullets kicking up dirt as I ran. A bullet through my arm, another grazing my ear. And not a Syrian in sight. This wasn't what I had expected."Oerlemans was shot in the left leg and Cantlie in the left arm during their escape attempt, Cantlie suffering ulnar nerve entrapment (loss of feeling and use to the hand) as a result. In an account of the shooting, Oerlemans says some of the British Muslims stood over him holding a rock as though to smash it onto his head and shouted, "die, kafir, die!" Oerlemans then stated that "the British guys were the most vindictive of them all." They were taken back to the camp where a fighter who claimed to be an NHS doctor stabilized them and treated their wounds. The pair said the doctor gave them information and extra food. Cantlie later wrote in the October 2012 edition of FHM magazine that this was Stockholm Syndrome, in which a hostage befriends one or more of their captors.

It's claimed that they were subjected to mock executions, beaten and at one point believed they would be beheaded when their captors started sharpening knives. "I honestly thought that was it," Cantlie wrote in The Sunday Times.

Then on 26 July 2012, one week after being kidnapped, they were rescued by four members of the Free Syrian Army. The rebels came into the camp shooting their weapons and held at least one jihad fighter at gunpoint while Cantlie and Oerlemans were helped into a waiting vehicle. Both photographers had to be assisted as their feet had been seriously injured when they tried to escape and neither could walk. They had lost all their camera equipment, passports and clothes in the incident, and were smuggled back across the border at a crossing used primarily by Syrian refugees. They were initially treated by a medic for The New York Times in Antakya before being debriefed by Turkish and then British intelligence.

On 9 October 2012 an individual suspected of being involved in the kidnap was arrested at Heathrow airport after arriving on a flight from Egypt.[3]

This was Cantlie's second visit to Syria. In March 2012 he became the first Western photographer to witness first-hand an incursion by government ground troops into a city when T72 heavy tanks rolled into the city of Saraquib in Idlib province and started shelling indiscriminately. In a feature in the Sunday Telegraph published on March 31, Cantlie wrote: "Then the tanks opened fire. Fist-sized pieces of shrapnel sliced through the air, decapitating one rebel immediately. His rifle clattered to the ground as his friends dragged his headless torso from the line of fire." To illustrate what the Syrian rebels were up against, Cantlie took a photograph looking down the barrel of an advancing T72. In an interview he later described taking the picture as "not terribly comfortable."

Second abduction[edit]Cantlie had not appeared in print or on social media since late 2012 and the trial against one of his alleged captors collapsed in 2013 when he could not be summoned as a witness.[4] This was because, in November 2012,[2] Cantlie was abducted a second time along with American journalist James Foley. They had reportedly been working together on a film about Cantlie's first abduction.[5]

September 2014[edit]A video posted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, titled "Lend Me Your Ears", was released on 18 September 2014, in which Cantlie discusses British foreign policy and his captivity.[6] Cantlie compared the positions of American and British governments in hostage negotiations to that of certain European nations, who pay for the release of their citizens, and claimed that the video was the first of a series of films in which he will discuss the views of IS.[6]

See also[edit]References[edit]^ abMezzofiore, Gianluca (September 18, 2014). "John Cantlie Video: British Photojournalist 'Kidnapped with James Foley'". IBT. Retrieved September 18, 2014. ^ abSeibel, Mark; Prothero, Mitchell (September 18, 2014). "British hostage John Cantlie, seized by Islamic State with James Foley, appears in new video". Mcclatchydc.com. Retrieved September 18, 2014. ^Sengupta, Kim (10 October 2012). "Suspect arrested at Heathrow". The Independent. ^"Syria Kidnap Case Against Doctor Dropped by Prosecution". BBC News. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2014. ^Meek, James Gordon; Schwartz, Rhonda (18 September 2014). "Missing British Hostage John Cantlie Surfaces Alive in New ISIS Video". ABC News. Retrieved 19 September 2014. ^ ab"Video of British hostage John Cantlie released". BBC News Online. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014. Cantlie, John (6 August 2012). "Are you ready to die?". The Sunday Times. O'Connell, Paddy (5 August 2012). "'We feared beheading'". BBC Radio4. Meikle, James (3 August 2012). "Photojournalists captured by British jihadis". The Guardian. Guru-Murthy, Krishnan (5 August 2012). "British photographer freed by FSA". Channel 4. Willetts, David (26 August 2012). "NHS doctor was terror chief". The Sun. Cantlie, John (31 March 2012). "I watched as Assad's tanks rolled in". Sunday Telegraph. Evans, Rebecca (26 August 2012). "Find NHS doctor". Daily Mail. Whitehead, Tom (10 October 2012). "Is terror suspect NHS doctor?". Telegraph. Romenesko, Jim (29 September 2011). "Military journalists honour NYT's 'A Year at War,' other contest entries". Poynter.External links[edit]PersondataNameCantlie, JohnAlternative namesShort descriptionPhotographerDate of birthPlace of birthDate of deathPlace of death

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Source: Weasel Zippers

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 03:44

Savages.

(YME) '' Islamic State (IS) member ''Sherko Omer'' would now be a dead jihadist hadn't he surrendered to the pro-Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northeast Syria earlier this year. Journalist Rozh Ahmad met him to learn more about the experience.

In this interview ''Omer'' explains how he left his hometown in Iraqi Kurdistan to join the Syrian opposition and eventually became an IS member, what he witnessed and the reasons for which he risked his life to exit the extremist Islamic organisation.

Why and how did you join the Islamic State (IS) in Syria?

Two friends and I decided to leave Iraqi Kurdistan to join the Syrian opposition and its fight against the regime. In October 2013 we got contacts from several people close to the Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal) in my hometown, Halabja. We were told that the contacts were members of the Free Syria Army (FSA). We met the contacts in Turkey and they took us to a hotel for few days. Afterward, they took us to a training camp on the Turkey-Syria border and we found ourselves at an ISIS (or IS) camp instead of FSA.

Is it true that IS trains new recruits for beheadings on dead bodies at the camps?

Not true for the camp I was at, where beheading training was practiced with chickens and other animals. I did not do it because when we arrived they asked for my skills and qualifications and because I am a technical professional and I had qualifications, I was assigned to technical works and trained with pistols and lightweight weapons. This is because my main duty was to learn the communication equipment, interception of enemy phone and radio lines as well as rescuing digital gadgets and archives during attacks. I never engaged in a firefight and this was the precise reason why Kurdish YPG fighters agreed to hand me back to my family after months of investigations.

Keep reading'...

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 20:41

Several months ago, when France vehemently opposed canceling the delivery of the Mistral amphibious warship to Russia, its largest bank BNP was "unexpectedly" slapped with a record $9 billion fine by the US Department of Justice for money-laundering. The retaliatory measure was so obvious even Putin opined on the US action: "We know about the pressure which our U.S. partners are applying on France not to supply the Mistrals to Russia,'' Putin said in July. ''And we even know that they hinted that if the French don't deliver the Mistrals, they would quietly get rid of the sanctions against the bank, or at least minimize them."

Fast forward a few months later when the French banking lobby has clearly gotten not only the upper hand in its ongoing fight with Hollande's imploding socialist leadership, now facing a record low approval rating, but realizes it once again has all the leverage, not only is the Mistral shipment on the verge of being scrapped, but it is time to make sure that another "BNP" never happens again: after all there are banker bonuses to think of.

As a result, the French administration is scrambling to demonstrate its faithful commitment to whatever warmongering cause the US may unleash on the world, in this case using the ISIS terrorist threat as a pretext to imminently bomb and crush Assad's Syrian regime, just so the Qatar natgas pipeline to Europe - which as a reminder was the underlying reason for the failed 2013 false flag campaign to eradicate Assad - can finally cross the country unopposed, and deliver the much needed alternative to Gazprom's product, eliminating the major leverage Putin has over Europe, which also explains why Russia is suddenly so vocal in its demands that the US halt its bombing of the Syrian regime. Follows a succinct situation summary on the Syrian situation from Al-Arabiya:

Russia was the third country to criticize the U.S. decision to bomb ISIS terrorists on Syrian territory, after the Syrian and Iranian governments. It's not the best company to keep when opposing Obama's decision in terms of international prestige and perception, however, it was to be expected.

The criticism came both from Russia's leader Vladimir Putin and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Alexander Lukashevich.

The criticism is based on one key point: without the Syrian government's agreement and a UNSC mandate, the U.S. strikes in Syria would be a gross violation of international law and should be considered an act of aggression. Moreover, Moscow didn't pass over in silence the double standard approach of Washington, as while helping Iraq to fight the terrorists on its territory, the U.S. president called for approval for more funding of the so-called armed opposition in Syria. Also, recent revelations by fighters in the pages of the Western press purport that the moderates in Syria are absolutely demoralized, weak and their ranks thinned out as the fighters join ISIS. In light of such reports, it is not clear which party Obama is going assist in this case and how his calls correspond to the real situation on the ground.

there are deep concerns that the U.S. will bomb not only ISIS positions in Syria, but also the Syrian government forces. These concerns can be explained by the fact that evidently the strikes against ISIS could play into hands of Damascus and this doesn't correspond with the U.S. interests. Taking into account that during all these years of the Syrian war the U.S. could have been trying to realize its plans to bomb Syria, they could take advantage of this situation.

If the U.S. bombs the positions of government forces, by mistake or with malicious intent, this would have doubly unpredictable consequences, both at the international and regional levels.

For sure, this will trigger a new crisis with Russia. The crisis of credibility in bilateral relations will reach the highest point. Russia will ultimately respond to the possible aggression. But how? It's a big question with a difficult to predict answer. Moreover, possible strikes against Damascus' forces will blow up the remains of credibility of international law, international systems and institutions. After the meeting over Iraq in Paris on Monday, Russia's foreign minister stressed that the international community should build common action ''on a solid foundation of the United Nations Charter and U.N. counter-terrorist instrument and mechanisms.'' The call to respect the U.N. Charter is clear and logical, however its solidness, as well as that of the U.N. system in general, is already in doubt. Any further violations of international law and U.N. principles will definitely be the last straw, leading to international chaos.

But back to France, which in order to do prove its undying commitment to the US, moments ago the French Defense Ministry took a page right out of the Pentagon/CNN playbook, and released footage of French warplanes striking targets belonging to the Islamic State after taking off from an airbase. Paris announced earlier this week it was taking part in military air strikes against the militant group in Iraq.

The video shows a pilot inspecting his aircraft, a French Rafale, before takeoff. The footage also shows several craft being refueled in mid-flight as well as infrared shots of the targets being bombed.

The statement released by the French Defense Ministry:

During the flight lasting about five hours, the two Rafales were refueled three times by the tanker aircraft C135-FR.

The French jets, delivered strikes between 9:40 and 9:58 with four laser-guided bombs GBU 12.

The maritime patrol aircraft Atlantique 2 conducted a ten-hour mission, coordinated with that of Rafale. Its sensors ensured the intelligence portion of the mission and performed a battle damage assessment (BDA) immediately transmitted to central planning headquarters in Paris.

During this mission, the recovery staff component, that is to say the ability to rescue pilots in hostile area, was insured by American military means.

In accordance with the will of the President of the Republic, new strikes will take place in the coming days to support the Iraqi armed forces in their fight against ISIS. These strikes will again be carried out in close coordination with the Iraqi as well as with our allies

And just like that, no more French banks will be sanctioned by the DOJ for as long as France understands just where its allegiances should lie.

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:06

The Dassault Rafale (French pronunciation: '‹[ʁafal], squall)[6] is a French twin-engine, canarddelta-wing, multirolefighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Dassault describes the Rafale as an omnirole fighter,[7][8] with a high level of agility,[9] capable of simultaneously performing air supremacy, interdiction, reconnaissance, and airborne nuclear deterrent missions. The Rafale is distinct from other European fighters of its era in that it is almost entirely built by one country, involving most of France's major defence contractors, such as Dassault, Thales and Safran.

In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and Navy were seeking to replace and consolidate their current fleets of aircraft. In order to reduce development costs and boost prospective sales, France entered into an arrangement with four other European nations to produce an agile multi-purpose fighter. Subsequent disagreements over workshare and differing requirements led to France's pursuit of its own development program. Dassault built a technology demonstrator which first flew in July 1986 as part of an eight-year flight-test programme, paving the way for the go-ahead of the project.

Many of the aircraft's avionics and features, such as direct voice input, the RBE2 AAactive electronically scanned array radar and the Optronique secteur frontalinfra-red search and track sensor, were indigenously developed and produced for the Rafale programme. Originally scheduled to enter service in 1996, post-Cold War budget cuts and changes in priorities contributed to significant delays to the programme.

Introduced in 2001, the Rafale is being produced for both the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations in the French Navy. While the Rafale has been marketed for export to several countries, it has only been selected for purchase by the Indian Air Force. The Rafale has been used in combat over Afghanistan, Libya, Mali and Iraq; features such as the SPECTRA integrated defensive-aids system have been crucial advantages in these theatres. Several upgrades to the radar, engines, and avionics of the Rafale are planned to be introduced in the near future.

Development[edit]Origins[edit]In the mid-1970s, both the French Air Force (Arm(C)e de l'Air) and Navy (Marine nationale) had requirements for a new generation of fighters to replace those in or about to enter service.[10] Because their requirements were similar, and to reduce cost, both departments issued a common request for proposal.[11] In 1975, the French Ministry of Aviation initiated studies for a new aircraft to complement the upcoming and smaller Mirage 2000, with each aircraft optimised for differing roles.[12]

In 1979, Dassault joined the MBB/BAe "European Collaborative Fighter" (ECA) project which was renamed the "European Combat Aircraft".[13] The French company contributed the aerodynamic layout of prospective twin-engine, single-seat fighter; however, the project collapsed in 1981 due to differing operational requirements of each partner country.[12] In 1983, the "Future European Fighter Aircraft" (FEFA) programme was initiated, bringing together Italy, Spain, West Germany, France and the United Kingdom to jointly develop a new fighter, although the latter three had their own aircraft developments.[14]

A number of factors led to the eventual split between France and the four countries. Around 1984 France reiterated its requirement for a carrier-capable version and demanded a leading role. It also demanded a swing-role fighter that was lighter than a design desired by the other four nations. West Germany, UK and Italy opted out and established a new EFA programme.[10][15] In Turin on 2 August 1985, West Germany, UK and Italy agreed to go ahead with the Eurofighter; and confirmed that France, along with Spain, had chosen not to proceed as a member of the project.[16][17] Despite pressure from France, Spain rejoined the Eurofighter project in early September 1985.[18] The four-nation project would eventually result in the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Design phase and prototype[edit]In France, the government proceeded with its own programme. The French Ministry of Defence required an aircraft capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground, all-day and adverse weather operations. Unlike other contemporary European fighter projects that required some level of international collaboration and cost-sharing, France was the sole developer of the Rafale's airframe, avionics, propulsion system and armament, and as such the aircraft was to replace a multitude of aircraft in the French Armed Forces. The Rafale would perform roles previously filled by an assortment of dedicated platforms, including the Jaguar, F-8P Crusader, Mirage F1C/CR/CT, Mirage 2000C/-5/N, Etendard IVP/M and Super Etendard.[10][19]

During October''December 1978, prior to France's joining of the ECA, Dassault received contracts for the development of project ACT 92 (Avion de Combat Tactique). The following year, the National Office for Aviation Studies and Research began studying the possible configurations of the new fighter under the codename Rapace. By March 1980, the number of configurations had been narrowed down to four, two of which had a combination of canards, delta wings and a single vertical tail-fin.[12] In October 1982, the French Ministry of Defence announced that Dassault would build a technology demonstrator named Avion de Combat eXp(C)rimental (ACX). France wanted to collaborate with West Germany and the UK on the project, but was prepared to build the ACX by itself. In 1984, the government decided to proceed with a combat variant of the ACX due to the conflicting technical criteria of the respective FEFA participant nations.[12][20]

The resultant Rafale A technology demonstrator was a large-delta winged fighter, with all-moving canards, embodying fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system.[10] Construction of the demonstrator commenced in March 1984, even before a contract was signed with the DGA, France's defense procurement agency.[12] The technology demonstrator was rolled out in December 1985 in Saint-Cloud, and took its maiden flight on 4 July 1986 from Istres-Le Tub(C) Air Base in southern France.[10] During the one-hour flight, the project's chief test pilot Guy Mitaux-Maurouard took the aircraft to an altitude of 11,000 metres (36,000 ft) and a speed of Mach 1.3. The 9.5-tonne (21,000 lb) demonstrator stopped in 300 metres (980 ft) upon landing.[21]

Throughout the flight test programme, the Rafale A performed numerous day and night take-offs and landings aboard the carriers Clemenceau and Foch to investigate the pilot's field of view during carrier operations. It reached a speed of Mach 2 and a height of 13,000 metres (42,000 ft).[22] The demonstrator was initially powered by General Electric F404-GE-400afterburning turbofans from the F/A-18 Hornet, instead of the Snecma M88, to reduce the risk that often comes with a first flight, and since the M88 was not considered sufficiently mature for the initial trials programme.[6][10] It was not until May 1990 when the M88 replaced the port F404 in the demonstrator, allowing the aircraft to reach Mach 1.4 and demonstrate supercruise, or sustained supersonic flight without use of afterburners.[citation needed] After 865 flights with four pilots, Rafale A was retired in January 1994.[10][22]

At the time of the Rafale A's maiden flight, France entered unsuccessful talks with Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway about a possible collaboration on the Rafale as a multinational project; at the time, Belgium was reportedly interested in the Rafale B. In June 1987, prime minister Jacques Chirac declared that the country would proceed with the US$30 billion project. Subsequently, on 21 April 1988, the French government awarded Dassault a contract for four Rafale prototpes'--one Rafale C, two Rafale Ms and one Rafale B. The first out of an expected 330 Rafales was scheduled to enter service in 1996.[23][24][25][26] However, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union, signalling the end of the Cold War, the French government drastically reduced its defense budget. The French Air Force was reorganised, the Mirage 5F was completely phased out and a total of 55 Mirage F1Cs were upgraded to a tactical fighter configuration, redesignated as Mirage F1CT. The budgetary cuts prolonged the Rafale's development considerably.[10]

During the Rafale A flight test programme, the French government in 1989 looked at the F/A-18 Hornet as a potential replacement for the rapidly aging F-8 Crusader, which has been serving since the 1950s. The French Navy entered talks regarding the purchase of second-hand F/A-18s with Australia, Canada and the US, after the decision was made not to upgrade the Crusaders. The US Navy agreed to supply two F/A-18s to the French Navy for "interoperability testing" aboard the carrier Foch.[27][28] The French government would not proceed with a purchase of the twin-engine fighter.

Testing[edit]To meet the various roles expected of the new aircraft, the Air Force required two variants: the single-seat "Rafale C" (chasseur, meaning fighter) and the "Rafale B" (biplace, or two-seater). The prototype of the C model (designated C01) completed its first flight on 19 May 1991, signalling the start of a test programme which primarily aimed to test the M88-2 engines, man/machine interface and weapons, and expand the flight envelope.[29] Due to budget constraints, the second single-seat prototype was never built.[30]

The C01 differed significantly from the Rafale A. Although superficially identical to the technology demonstrator, it was smaller and more stealthy through the coating the canopy with gold, re-designing the fuselage-fin joint, and the addition of radar-absorbent materials (RAM). This aircraft also saw extensive application of composite and other materials, which both reduce the radar cross-section (RCS) and weight. Moreover, Dassault opted to reject variable engine inlets and a dedicated air brake, which lessens maintenance loads and saves weight.[31] The B01, the only prototype of the two-seat B variant, made its maiden flight on 30 April 1993.[29] It is 350 kilograms (772 lb) heavier than the single-seater, but carries 400 litres (106 US gal) less fuel. The aircraft was used for weapon-systems testing. Later it saw validation roles regarding weapon separation and, specifically, the carriage of heavy loads. The aircraft's typical loadout consisted of two 2,000-litre (528 US gal) external tanks, two Apache/Scalp cruise missiles, in addition to four air-to-air missiles.[32]

The Navy, meanwhile, sought a carrier-based aircraft to supersede its fleet of ageing Etendard IPVMs, F-8P Crusaders and Super Etendard Modernis(C)s. While the Navy initially modernised the Crusaders, in the long term, the requirement was met with the Rafale M, a navalised variant. The M01, the naval prototype, first flew on 12 December 1991, followed by the second on 8 November 1993.[29][33] Since France had no land-based catapult test facility, catapult trials were initially carried out between during July''August 1992 and early the following year, at NAS Lakehurst in New Jersey. The aircraft then carried out trials aboard the carrier Foch in April 1993. Flown by Dassault's chief test pilot, Yves Kerherv(C), M02 made its maiden flight in November that year, while the first prototype completed the third round of testing at Lakehurst in November and December 1993.[34]

The Rafale M features a greatly reinforced undercarriage to cope with the additional stresses of naval landings, an arrestor hook, and "jump strut" nosewheel, which only extends during short takeoffs, including catapult launches.[29] It also features a built-in ladder, carrier-based microwave landing system, and the new fin-tip Telemir system for syncing the inertial navigation system to external equipment.[32] Altogether, the naval modifications of the Rafale M increased its weight by 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) compared to other variants.[34] The Rafale M retains about 95% commonality with Air Force variants including,[35] although unusual for a carrier-borne aircraft, being unable to fold its multi-spar wings for reducing storage space. The size constraints were eased by the introduction of the Charles de Gaulle, France's first nuclear-powered carrier, which was considerably larger than previous carriers, the Foch and Clemenceau.[32]

Production and upgrades[edit]Initially, the Rafale B was to be just a trainer, but the Gulf War showed that a second crew member is invaluable on strike and reconnaissance missions. Therefore, in 1991 the Air Force switched its preferences towards the two-seater, announcing that the variant would constitute 60% of the Rafale fleet.[36] The service originally envisaged taking delivery of 250 Rafales, but this was initially revised downwards to 234 aircraft, made up of 95 "A" and 139 "B" models",[33][37] and later to 212 aircraft.[36] The Navy, meanwhile, had 60 Rafales on order, down from 86 due to budget cuts.[33][36] Of the 60, 25 would be M single-seaters and 35 two-seat Ns.[37] The two-seater has been cancelled.[22]

Production of the first aircraft series formally started in December 1992, but was suspended in November 1995 due to political and economic uncertainty. Production only resumed in January 1997 after the Ministry of Defence and Dassault agreed on a 48-aircraft (28 firm and 20 options) production run with delivery between 2002 and 2007.[36] A further order of 59 F-3 Rafales was announced in December 2004.[38] In November 2009 the French government ordered an additional 60 aircraft to take the total order for the French Air Force and Navy to 180.[39] As of 2014[update], a total of 180 Rafales have been ordered by France.[40] The Rafale is planned to be the French Air Force's primary combat aircraft until 2040 or later.[41]

During the Rafale's design phase, Dassault took advantage of Dassault Systemes' CATIA (Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application), a three-dimensional computer-aided design, manufacture and engineeringsoftware suite that would become standard across the industry.[42] CATIA enabled digitisation and efficiency improvements throughout the Rafale programme, including implementing recently developed processes such as digital mockup (DMU) and product data management (PDM). It consists of 15 GB databases of each of the Rafale's components, assisting with various aspects of the design, manufacture and through-life support. The use of such software made the Rafale a "truly virtual aircraft", according to Dassault officials.[42]

According to the French magazine L'Usine nouvelle, apart from several non-sensitive components sourced from the United States, the Rafale is manufactured almost entirely in France. Different elements are produced in numerous factories across the country, and final assembly takes place near Bordeaux''M(C)rignac Airport. For example, the flight control surfaces are fabricated in Haute-Savoie, the wings and avionics in Gironde, the centre fuselage in Val-d'Oise, and the engines in Essonne.[43] Roughly 50% of the Rafale is produced by Dassault and the other half divided between two major partners, Thales and Safran, who rely on a network of 500 subcontractors. Altogether, the programme employs 7,000 workers. As of 2012[update], the fabrication process of each fighter took 24 months, with an annual production rate of eleven aircraft.[43]

Deliveries of the Rafale's naval version was a high priority to replace the Navy's considerably aged F-8 Crusaders, and so the first production model for the French Navy undertook its first flight on 7 July 1999.[44] Their first naval deployment was in 2002 on board the Charles de Gaulle; by March 2002, the aircraft carrier was stationed in the Gulf of Oman, where its complement of Rafales undertook training operations.[45] In December 2004, the Air Force received its first three F2 standard Rafale Bs at the Centre d'Exp(C)riences A(C)riennes Militaires (CEAM) at Mont-de-Marsan, where they were tasked to undertake operational evaluation and pilot conversion training.[33]

The total programme cost, as of FY2013, was around '‚¬45.9 billion,[4] which translated to a unit programme cost of approximately '‚¬160.5 million. This figure takes in account improved hardware of the F3 standard, and which includes development costs over a period of 40 years, including inflation.[46] The unit flyaway price as of 2010 was '‚¬101.1 million for the F3+ version.[47]

In 2008, French officials were reportedly considering equipping the Rafale to launch miniaturised satellites.[48] In 2011, upgrades under consideration included a software radio and satellite link, a new laser-targeting pod, smaller bombs and enhancements to the aircraft's data-fusion capacity.[49] In July 2012, fleetwide upgrades of the Rafale's battlefield communications and interoperability capabilities commenced.[50][51]

In January 2014, the Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced that '‚¬1 billion is allocated towards the development of the F3R standard. The standard will see the integration of the Meteor BVR missile, among other weapons and software updates. The standard is to be validated by 2018.[52][53]

Overview[edit]The Rafale was developed as a modern jet fighter with a very high level of agility; Dassault chose to combine a delta wing with active close-coupled canard to maximize maneuverability. The aircraft is capable of withstanding 9 g or ''3 g.[54] The Rafale is an aerodynamically unstable aircraft and uses digital fly-by-wire flight controls to artificially enforce and maintain stability.[54][N 1] The aircraft's canards also act to reduce the minimum landing speed to 115 knots (213 km/h; 132 mph); while in flight, airspeeds as low as 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) have been observed during training missions.[54] According to simulations by Dassault, the Rafale has sufficient low speed performance to operate from STOBAR-configured aircraft carriers, and can take off using a ski-jump with no modifications.[56]

Although not a full-aspect stealth aircraft, the cost of which was viewed as unacceptably excessive, the Rafale was designed for a reduced radar cross-section (RCS) and infra-red signature.[57][58] In order to reduce the RCS, changes from the initial technology demonstrator include a reduction in the size of the tail-fin, fuselage reshaping, repositioning of the engine air inlets underneath the aircraft's wing, and the extensive use of composite materials and serrated patterns for the construction of the trailing edges of the wings and canards.[41][57] Many of the features designed to reduce the Rafale's visibility to threats remain classified.[55]

Cockpit[edit]The Rafale's glass cockpit was designed around the principle of data fusion '' a central computer intelligently selects and prioritises information to display to pilots for simpler command and control.[59] The primary flight controls are arranged in a hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS)-compatible configuration, with a right-handed side-stick controller and a left-handed throttle.[60] The seat is inclined rearwards at an angle of 29° to improve g-force tolerance during maneouvering and to provide a less restricted external pilot view.[61] An intelligent flight suit worn by the pilot is automatically controlled by the aircraft to counteract in response to calculated g-forces.[62]

Great emphasis has been placed on pilot workload minimisation across all operations.[55] Among the features of the highly digitised cockpit is an integrated direct voice input (DVI) system, allowing a range of aircraft functions to be controlled by spoken voice commands, simplifying the pilot's access to many of the controls.[60] Developed by Crouzet, the DVI is capable of managing radio communications and countermeasures systems, the selection of armaments and radar modes, and controlling navigational functions.[63] For safety reasons, DVI is deliberately not employed for safety-critical elements of the aircraft's operation, such as the final release of armaments.[64]

For displaying information gathered from a range of sensors across the aircraft, the cockpit features a wide-angle holographic head-up display (HUD) system, two head-down flat-panel colour multi-function displays (MFDs) as well as a central collimated display. These displays have been strategically placed to minimise pilot distraction from the external environment.[65] Some displays feature a touch interface for ease of Human''computer interaction (HCI).[12] A head-mounted display (HMD) for target controlling, while optional according to customer preferences, can also be integrated.[2][60] The cockpit is fully compatible with night vision goggles (NVG).[60]

In the area of life-support, the Rafale is fitted with a Martin-Baker Mark 16F "zero-zero'' ejection seat, capable of operation at zero speed and zero altitude. An on-board oxygen generating system, developed by Air Liquide, eliminates the need to carry bulky oxygen canisters.[66] The Rafale's fight computer has been programmed to counteract pilot disorientation and to employ automatic recovery of the aircraft during negative flight conditions. The auto-pilot and auto-throttle controls are also integrated, and are activated by switches located on the primary flight controls.[60]

Avionics and equipment[edit]The Rafale core avionics systems employ an integrated modular avionics (IMA), called MDPU (modular data processing unit). This architecture hosts all the main aircraft functions such as the flight management system, data fusion, fire control, and the man-machine interface.[55][N 2] The total value of the radar, electronic communications and self-protection equipment is about 30% of the cost of the entire aircraft.[67] The IMA has since been installed upon several upgraded Mirage 2000 fighters,[68] and incorporated into the civilian airliner, the Airbus A380.[69] According to Dassault, the IMA greatly assists combat operations via data fusion, the continuous integration and analysis of the various sensor systems throughout the aircraft, and has been designed for the incorporation of new systems and avionics throughout the Rafale's service life.[55]

The Rafale features an integrated defensive-aids system named SPECTRA, which protects the aircraft against airborne and ground threats, developed as a joint venture between Thales and MBDA.[70] Various methods of detection, jamming, and decoying have been incorporated, and the system has been designed to be highly re-programmable for addressing new threats and incorporating additional sub-systems in the future.[71][N 3] Operations over Libya were greatly assisted by SPECTRA, allowing Rafales to perform missions independently from the support of dedicated Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) platforms.[72]

The Rafale's ground attack capability is heavily reliant upon sensory targeting pods,[73] such as Thales Optronics's Reco New Generation/Areos reconnaissance pod and Damocles electro-optical/laser designation pod.[67] Together, these systems provide targeting information, enable tactical reconnaissance missions, and are integrated with the Rafale's IMA architecture to provide analysed data feeds to friendly units and ground stations, as well as to the pilot.[74] Damocles provides targeting information to the various armaments carried by the Rafale and is directly integrated with the Rafale's VHF/UHF secure radio to communicate target information with other aircraft. It also perform other key functions such as aerial optical surveillance and is integrated with the navigation system as a FLIR.[74]

An upgraded pod, designated as Damocles XF, features additional sensors and added the ability to transmit live video feeds.[75] Thale's Areos reconnaissance pod is an all-weather, night-and-day-capable reconnaissance system employed on the Rafale, and provides a significantly improved reconnaissance capability over preceding platforms.[76][N 4] Areos has been designed to perform reconnaissance under various mission profiles and condition, using multiple day/night sensors and its own independent communications datalinks.[74]

Radar and sensors[edit]The Rafale is typically outfitted with the ThalesRBE2passive electronically scanned multi-mode radar. Thales claims to have achieved unprecedented levels of situational awareness through the earlier detection and tracking of multiple air targets for close combat and long-range interception, as well as real-time generation of three-dimensional maps for terrain-following and the real-time generation of high resolution ground maps for navigation and targeting.[77] In early 1994, it was reported that technical difficulties with the radar had delayed the Rafale's development by six months.[58] In September 2006, Flight International reported the Rafale's unit cost had significantly increased due to additional development work to improve the RBE2's detection range.[78]

The RBE2 AAactive electronically scanned array (AESA) radar is planned to replace the existing passively scanned RBE2. The RBE2 AA is reported to deliver a greater detection range, improved reliability and reduced maintenance demands over the preceding radar.[79] A Rafale demonstrator began test flights in 2002 and has totaled 100 flight hours as of December 2011. By December 2009, production of the pre-series RBE2 AA radars was underway.[76] In early October 2012, the first Rafale equipped with an RBE2 AA radar arrived at Mont-de-Marsan Air Base for operational service (the development was described by Thales and Dassault as "on time and on budget").[79] By early 2014, the first Air Force front-line squadron will receive Rafales equipped with the AESA radar, following the French Navy which was slated to receive AESA-equipped Rafales starting in 2013.[80] RBE 2 Aesa radar is known to have maximum range of 200km against a fighter size target .In future plans are there for conformal aesa radar installed in wings & fuselarge of the plane & incorporation of GaN T/R modules [81]

To enable the Rafale to perform in the air supremacy role, it includes several passive sensor systems. The front-sector electro-optical system or Optronique Secteur Frontal (OSF), developed by Thales, is completely integrated within the aircraft and can operate both in the visible and infrared wavelengths.[82] The OSF enables the deployment of infrared missiles such as the MICA at beyond visual range distances; it can also be used for detecting and identifying airborne targets, as well as those on the ground and at sea.[83] Dassault describes the OSF as being immune to jamming and capable of providing covert long-range survelliance.[77] In 2012, an improved version of the OSF started being used operationally;[79] earlier OCF versions were described as "lacking competitiveness" when compared to rivals such as the Sniper and LITENING pods.[84]

Armaments and standards[edit]Initial deliveries of the Rafale M were to the F1 ("France 1") standard, these had been equipped for the air-to-air interceptor combat duties, but lacked any armaments for air-to-ground operations.[85] Later deliveries were to the "F2" standard, which added the capability for conducting both air-to-ground and reconnaissance operations; the first F2 standard Rafale M was delivered to the French Navy in May 2006.[86] Starting in 2008 onwards, Rafale deliveries have been to the nuclear-capable F3 standard, increased integration with other it has been reported that all aircraft built to the earlier F1 and F2 standards are to be upgraded to become F3s.[2][60]

F3 standard Rafales are capable of undertaking many different mission roles with a range of equipment: air defence/superiority missions with Mica IR and EM air-to-air missiles, precision ground attacks typically using SCALP EG cruise missiles and AASM Hammer air-to-surface armaments, anti-shipping using the AM39 Exocet sea-skimming missile, reconnaissance via a combination of onboard and external pod-based sensor equipment, and nuclear deterrence operations when armed with ASMP-A missiles.[87] In 2010, France ordered 200 MBDA Meteorbeyond-visual-range missiles which will greatly increase the distance at which the Rafale can engage aerial targets when it enters service.[7][88]

For compatibility with armaments of varing types and origins, the Rafale's onboard store management system is compliant with MIL-STD-1760, an electrical interface between an aircraft and its carriage stores, thereby simplifying the incorporation of many of their existing weapons and equipment.[55] The Rafale is typically outfitted with 14 hard points, five of which are suitable for heavy armaments or equipment such as auxiliary fuel tanks, and has a maximum external load capacity of nine tons. In addition to the above equipment, the Rafale carries the 30 mm GIAT 30DEFA cannon and can be outfitted with a range of laser-guided bombs and ground-attack munitions.[55] According to Dassault, the Rafale's onboard mission systems enable ground attack and air-to-air combat operations to be carried out within a single sortie, with many functions capable of simultaneous execution in conjunction with another, increasing survivability and versatility.[55]

Engines[edit]The Rafale is fitted with the Snecma M88 engine, capable of providing up to 50 kN (11,250 lbf) of dry thrust and 75 kN (16,900 lbf) with afterburners. The engines feature several advances, including a non-polluting combustion chamber, single-crystal turbine blades and powder metallurgy disks, and technology to reduce electromagnetic and infrared signatures; Dassault describe the engine as providing "exceptional controllability, especially during acceleration".[55] The M88 enables the Rafale to supercruise while carrying a loadout of four missiles and one drop tank.[89][90]

Qualification of the M88-2 engine ended in 1996 and the first production engine was delivered by the end of the year.[91] Due to delays in engine production, some of the early Rafales were temporarily powered by the General Electric F404 engine.[92] In May 2010, a Rafale flew for the first time with the M88-4E engine, an upgraded variant with greater thrust and lower maintenance requirements than the preceding M88-2.[93] The engine is of a modular design for ease of construction and maintenance and to enable older engines to be retrofitted with improved subsections upon availability, such as existing M88-2s being upgraded to M88-4E standard.[91] There has been considerable interest in improved M88 engines by potential export customers, such as the United Arab Emirates.[94] As of 2007, a thrust vectoring variant of the engine designated as M88-3D was also under development.[85]

Operational history[edit]France[edit]In December 2000, the French Naval Aviation (A(C)ronavale), the air arm of the French Navy, received its first two Rafale M fighters. On 18 May the following year, the squadron Flottille 12F, which had previously operated the F-8 Crusader, became the first squadron to operate the Rafale after it was officially re-activated prior to the delivery of the sixth Rafale.[95]Flottille 12F immediately participated in Trident d'Or aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle with warships from ten other nations. During the maritime exercise, the Navy tested the Rafale's avionics during simulated interceptions with various foreign aircraft, in addition to carrier take-offs and landings.[95][96] After almost four years of training, the Rafale M was declared operational with the French Navy in June 2004.[97]

The Rafale M is fully compatible with US Navy aircraft carriers and some French Navy pilots have qualified to fly the aircraft from US Navy flight decks.[98] On 4 June 2010, during an exercise on the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), a French Rafale became the first jet fighter of a foreign navy to have its engine replaced on board an American aircraft carrier.[99]

In 2002, the Rafales were first deployed to a combat zone; seven Rafale Ms embarked aboard the Charles de Gaulle of the French Navy during "Mission H(C)racl¨s", the French participation in "Operation Enduring Freedom". They flew from the aircraft carrier over Afghanistan, but the F1 standard precluded air-to-ground missions and the Rafale did not see any action. In June 2002, while Charles de Gaulle was in the Arabian Sea, Rafales conducted several patrols near the India-Pakistan border.[12][100]

Rafales were delivered to the French Air Force several years after the naval variant, initially with the Centre d'Exp(C)riences A(C)riennes Militaires (French Air Force Evaluation Centre) at Mont-de-Marsan Air Base in the trials and training role. By this time, it was expected that Escadron de Chasse (Fighter Squadron) 1/7 at Saint-Dizier would receive a nucleus of 8''10 Rafale F2s during the summer of 2006, in preparation for full operational service (with robust air-to-air and stand off air-to-ground precision attack capabilities) starting from mid-2007 (when EC 1/7 would have about 20 aircraft, 15 two-seaters and five single-seaters).[97][101]

In 2007, after a "crash program" enhancement six Rafales were given the ability to drop laser-guided bombs, in view of engaging them in Afghanistan. Three of these aircraft belonging to the Air Force were deployed to Dushanbe in Tajikistan, while the three others were Rafale Marine of the Navy on board the Charles De Gaulle.[102] The first mission occurred on 12 March 2007, and the first GBU-12 was launched on 28 March in support of embattled Dutch troops in Southern Afghanistan, marking the operational d(C)but of the Rafale.[103] Between January 2009 and December 2011, a minimum of three Rafales were stationed at Kandahar International Airport to conduct combat operations in support of NATO ground forces.[104]

On 19 March 2011, French Rafales began conducting reconnaissance and strike missions over Libya in Op(C)ration Harmattan, in support of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973; initial targets were artillery pieces laying siege around the rebel city of Benghazi.[105] The Rafale could operate in Libya without the support of Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) aircraft, using the onboard SPECTRA self-defense system instead.[72] On 24 March 2011, it was reported that a Rafale had destroyed a Libyan Air ForceG-2/Galeb light attack/trainer aircraft on the runway.[106]

During the conflict, Rafales typically conducted six-hour sorties over Libyan airspace, carrying an armament of four MICA air-to-air missiles, four or six AASM "Hammer" bombs, a Thales Damocl¨s targeting pod and two drop tanks;[72] these patrols required multiple aerial refuelling operations per sortie from coalition tanker aircraft.[8] The AASM precision-guidance weapon system, using bombs weighing between 125 kilograms (275.6 lb) and 1,000 kilograms (2,204.6 lb), allowed the Rafale to conduct high-altitude bombing missions.[8] Reportedly, Rafale crews preferred to use GPS-guided munitions due to greater reliability and range. Storm Shadow SCALP weapons were deployed on only one or two sorties, such as against a Libyan airbase at Al-Jufra.[107]

In 2011, aviation journalist Craig Hoyle speculated that the Rafale's performance in Libya is likely to be pivotal to the aircraft's export future, reporting that the Rafale had managed to maintain a high operational rate throughout the Libyan deployment. Hoyle also noted that the Libyan combat experience had caused several urgent operational requirements to present themselves, such as the need for a lighter ground-attack munition and for modifications to the AASM weapon to be more effective when used in the close air support role.[8]

In January 2013, the Rafale took part of "Op(C)ration Serval", the French military intervention in support to the government of Mali against the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa.[108] The first mission was carried out on 13 January, when four Rafales took off from an airbase in France to strike rebel training camps, depots and facilities in the city of Gao, eastern Mali.[109] Subsequent airstrikes in the following days by Rafale and Mirage fighters were reportedly instrumental in the withdrawal of Islamist militant forces from Timbuktu and Douentza.[110] Both Rafale and Mirage 2000D aircraft used in the conflict have been based outside of North Africa, making use of aerial refuelling tanker aircraft to fly long range sorties across Algerian airspace and into Mali.[111]

In August 2013, it was proposed that France may halve the number of Rafales to be delivered over the next six years for a total of 26 aircraft to be delivered during this period; foreign export procurements have been viewed as critical to maintain production under this proposal. While production would be slowed, France would still receive the same number of Rafales overall.[112]

In September 2014, French Rafales began flying reconnaissance missions over Iraq as part of an international effort to combat Islamic State militants. Six Rafales are stationed at an airbase in the nearby country of the United Arab Emirates. Their initial focus was only on identifying IS positions in support of American airstrikes,[113] but on 19 September Rafales joined American operations to conduct attacks, launching four airstrikes near the Northern Iraqi town of Zumar that destroyed a logistics depot and killed dozens of IS fighters. More strikes by French warplanes are planned.[114]

Potential operators[edit]India[edit]The Rafale was one of the six fighter aircraft competing for the Indian MRCA competition for 126 multi-role fighters. Originally, the Mirage 2000 had been considered for the competition, but Dassault withdrew the Mirage in favour of the Rafale.[115] In February 2011, French Rafales flew demonstrations in India, including air-to-air combat against Su-30MKIs.[9]

In April 2011, the Indian Air Force (IAF) shortlisted Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon for the US$10.4 billion contract.[116] On 31 January 2012, the IAF announced the Rafale as the preferred bidder in the competition.[117][118] Under the proposed contract, 18 Rafales would be supplied to the IAF by 2015 in fly-away condition, while the remaining 108 would be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in India under transfer of technology agreements.[119][120] The contract for 126 Rafales, services, and parts could be worth as much as US$20 billion.[121][122]

The deal was stalled from disagreements over the fighter production in India. Dassault refused to take responsibility for the 108 HAL-manufactured Rafales, as it had reservations about the ability of HAL to accommodate the complex manufacturing and technology transfers of the aircraft. Instead, Dassault said it would have to negotiate two separate production contracts by both companies. The Indian Defence Ministry instead wanted Dassault to be solely responsible for the sale and delivery of all 126 aircraft.[123][124] In May 2013, The Times of India reported that negotiations were "back on track", with plans for the first 18 Rafales to be delivered in 2017.[125]

As of January 2014, the MMRCA contract is still being negotiated. In addition to the primary aforementioned disagreement, another point of contention is a provision where Dassault will have to reinvest 50 percent of the deal's earnings into India's defense sectors, either through purchases or technological expertise. Although negotiations were initially expected to end in March 2013, the Rafale deal is unlikely to be signed until April 2014 due to defence budget cuts.[126][127] The first aircraft would arrive in 2017.[128]

In March 2014 the two sides were reported to have agreed that the first 18 aircraft would be delivered to India in flying condition and that the remaining 108 would be 70% built by HAL.[129]

Canada[edit]The Rafale has been amongst various aircraft proposed to meet Canada's need for a modern jet fighter to replace the aging McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).[130] In 2005, according to Canada.com, a report compiled by Canada's Defence Department reviewing several competing aircraft had noted concerns over the Rafale's interoperability with US forces; Dassault had also then been unable to confirm engine performance during cold weather conditions.[131] In July 2010, the Canadian government announced the replacement for the CF-18 was to be the F-35 Lightning II, as the country has been a partner in the Joint Strike Fighter Program since 1997 and a Tier 3 partner for the F-35 since 2002.[132][133]

Then in December 2012, the Canadian government announced that the purchase of the F-35 had been abandoned due to greatly escalating costs, and that a fresh procurement process would begin.[134] In January 2013, Dassault responded to a request for information from the Canadian government and announced its readiness to enter a future competition for a future fighter procurement.[135] Various aircraft are to be considered to meet the requirement, including the F-35.[136] In January 2014, it was reported that Dassault offered a contract with full transfer of technology for much lower long-term support costs.[137]

Kuwait[edit]In February 2009, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that Kuwait was considering buying up to 28 Rafales.[138] In October 2009 during a visit to Paris, the Kuwaiti Defense Minister expressed his interest in the Rafale and said that he was awaiting terms from Dassault.[139] Islamist lawmakers in the Kuwaiti national assembly threatened to block such a purchase, accusing the Defense Minister of lack of transparency and being manipulated by business interests.[140] In January 2012 the French Defence Minister said that both Kuwait and Qatar were waiting to see if the UAE first purchased the Rafale and that Kuwait would look to buy 18''22 Rafales.[141]

Qatar[edit]The Qatar Emiri Air Force was, as of January 2011, evaluating the Rafale together with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Boeing F-15E and the Eurofighter Typhoon to replace its then inventory of Dassault Mirage 2000-5s. The decision for an order for 24''36 aircraft was scheduled to take by the end of 2012.[142][143][144] By June 2014, Dassault claimed it was close to signing a contract with Qatar for 72 Rafales. Delivery would likely occur in two batches of 36 aircraft. Qatar may sign the first official export contract for the Rafale, given the delays in India's attempts to negotiate a deal for their order.[145]

United Arab Emirates[edit]The United Arab Emirates Air Force is interested in an upgraded version of the Rafale with more powerful engines and radar, and advanced air-to-air missiles.[146] but also started to explore a purchase of the Eurofighter Typhoon[147] or the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.[148] This is reported to be because France's Defense Minister Herv(C) Morin asked the UAE to pay '‚¬2 billion of the total cost to upgrade the Rafale.[149] Deputy Supreme Commander of the Union Defence Force, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has called the French offer "uncompetitive and unworkable".[150] The French newspaper La Tribune reported on 2 February 2012, that the UAE is still interested in buying up to 60 Rafales in a deal worth US$10 billion. Interoperatibility among the Gulf air forces has led to renewed interest in the Rafale from Qatar and Kuwait.[151] On 9 January 2013, French president Francois Hollande stated that he would be discussing the potential sale of Rafale to the UAE during an official visit.[152]On 19 December 2013 it was announced that UAE had decided not to proceed with a deal for the supply of defence and security services, including the supply of Typhoon aircraft.[153]

Poland[edit]Poland is planning to purchase 64 multirole combat aircraft from 2021 in an update to the country's modernisation plans, it has been revealed. The new fighters will replace the Polish Air Force's fleet of Sukhoi Su-22M4 'Fitter-K' ground attack aircraft and Mikoyan MiG-29 'Fulcrum-A' fighter aircraft. The planned open tender procedure could include the F-35 Lightning II, JAS 39 Gripen E/F, the newest variants of Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale, and Boeing's F/A-18E/F Advanced Super Hornet.[154][155][156][157]

Failed bids[edit]Although the Rafale has been marketed for export to various countries, so far the most likely foreign operator of the type remains the Indian Air Force. Various commentators and industry sources have highlighted the high cost of the aircraft as detrimental to the Rafale's sales prospects. Its acquisition cost is roughly US$100 million (2010),[158] while its operational cost hovers around US$16,500 (2012) for every flight-hour.[159] The Saab JAS 39 Gripen, in comparison, costs only US$4,700 per flight-hour to operate.[159] According to a 2009 article by the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, unlike the American government and its relationship with Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the lack of communication between the French government and Dassault has hampered a worldwide cooperative sales effort, as demonstrated by the case with Morocco in 2007.[160]

Brazil[edit]In June 2008, the Brazilian Air Force issued a request for information on the following aircraft: F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F-16 Fighting Falcon, Rafale, Su-35, Gripen NG and Eurofighter Typhoon.[161] In October 2008, the Brazilian Air Force selected three finalists for F-X2 '' Dassault Rafale, Gripen NG and Boeing F/A-18E/F.[162] On 5 January 2010, media reports stated that the final evaluation report by the Brazilian Air Force placed the Gripen ahead of the other two contenders on ground of unit and operating costs.[163][164] In February 2011, the press announced that the new president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, had decided in favour of the American F-18.[165] After much delays due to budget constraints,[166] in December 2013, the Brazilian government selected the Gripen NG in a US$5 billion deal to equip the country's air force.[167]

Singapore[edit]In 2005, the Republic of Singapore Air Force embarked on its Next Generation Fighter (NGF) programme to replace the ageing A-4SU Super Skyhawks. The Defense Science & Technology Agency (DSTA) conducted detailed technical assessment, simulations and other tests to assess the final selection, and the original list of competitors was shortlisted to the final two '' Dassault Rafale and the F-15SG Strike Eagle. On 6 September 2005, it was announced that the Boeing F-15SG Strike Eagle had won the contract over the Rafale.[168]

United Kingdom[edit]During 2006, while there was potentially trouble with Anglo-American negotiations over the F-35 Lightning II, there was talk of purchasing the Rafale M for the British Royal Navy.[169] In October 2010 the UK amended their JSF requirement from the STOVL F-35B to the conventional F-35C CATOBAR carrier variant and their Queen Elizabeth-classaircraft carriers would be fitted with catapults capable of launching aircraft such as Rafales. However in May 2012 the UK reverted to purchasing the F-35B, citing the cost of equipping the UK's new aircraft carriers for the F-35C.[170][171][172]

Switzerland[edit]In February 2007, it was reported that Switzerland was considering the Rafale and other fighters to replace its Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs.[173] The one-month evaluation started in October 2008 at Emmen Airforce Base consisting of approximately 30 evaluation flights. The Rafale along with the JAS 39 Gripen and the Typhoon were to be evaluated.[174] Although a leaked Swiss Air Force evaluation report revealed that the Rafale won the competition on technical grounds,[175] on 30 November 2011, the Swiss Federal Council announced that it was planning to buy 22 Gripen NGs due to its lower acquisition and maintenance costs.[176]

Libya[edit]In January 2007, the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche reported that Libya sought 13''18 Rafales "in a deal worth as much as US$3.24 billion".[177] In December 2007, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi declared Libya's interest in the Rafale.[178] Libya would not order any Rafales; however, during the 2011 Libyan civil war French Rafales were dispatched over Libya in the international military intervention.[179]

Others[edit]In 2002, the Republic of Korea Air Force chose the F-15K Slam Eagle over the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and Sukhoi Su-35 for its 40 aircraft F-X Phase 1 fighter competition.[180]

In September 2007, La Tribune reported that a sale to Morocco had fallen through, the government selecting the F-16C/D instead.[181][182] In October 2007, La Tribune's earlier report appeared to have been confirmed that the Rafale would not be bought.[183]

In February 2009, France offered Rafales to Oman to replace its ageing fleet of SEPECAT Jaguars.[184] In December 2012, Oman placed an order for 12 Typhoons, after reports surfaced that the country had preference for the fighter in 2010.[185][186]

Variants[edit]Rafale ATechnology demonstrator, first flying in 1986.[10]Rafale DDassault used this designation (D for discr¨te) in the early 1990s to emphasise the new semi-stealthy design features.[187]Rafale BTwo-seater version for the French Air Force[29]Rafale CSingle-seat version for the French Air Force.[29]Rafale MCarrier-borne version for the A(C)ronavale, which entered service in 2001. For carrier operations, the M model has a strengthened airframe, longer nose gear leg to provide a more nose-up attitude, larger tailhook between the engines, and a built-in boarding ladder. Consequently, the Rafale M weighs about 500 kg (1,100 lb) more than the Rafale C.[29][188]Rafale NOriginally called the Rafale BM, was a planned missile-only two-seater version for the A(C)ronavale.[45] Budgetary and technical constraints have been cited as grounds for its cancellation.[22]Rafale RProposed reconnaissance-oriented variant.[57]Operators[edit] FranceA total of 180 have been ordered out of a planned 286, with an option for another 9.[2] Approximately 150 are confirmed to be delivered by 2019.[189][190] As of January 2014[update], 126 have been delivered.[2]French Air Force '' 87[2]1/7 Escadron de Chasse "Provence" (2006''present)[191]1/91 Escadron de Chasse "Gascogne" (2009''present)[191]3/30 Escadron de Chasse "Lorraine" (2010''present)[191]2/30 Escadron de Chasse "Normandie-Niemen" (2012''present)[191]2/92 Escadron de Transformation Rafale "Aquitaine" (6th october 2010''present, French Air Force Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) jointly operated by French Air Force and French naval Aviation)[191]French Navy '' 39[2]Flottille 12F (2001''present)[95]Flottille 11F (2011''present)[191]Accidents[edit]On 6 December 2007, a French Air Force twin-seat Rafale crashed during a training flight. The pilot, who suffered a black out, was killed in the accident.[192]On 24 September 2009, after unarmed test flights, two French Navy Rafales returning to the Charles de Gaulle, collided in mid-air about 30 kilometers (19 mi) from the town of Perpignan in southwest France. One test pilot, identified as Fran§ois Duflot, was killed in the accident, while the other was rescued.[193]On 28 November 2010, a Rafale from the carrier Charles de Gaulle crashed in the Arabian Sea. This aircraft was supporting Allied operations in Afghanistan. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by a rescue helicopter from the carrier. Later reports said the engine stopped after being starved of fuel due to confusion by the pilot in switching fuel tanks.[194]On 2 July 2012, during a joint exercise, a Rafale from the carrier Charles de Gaulle plunged into the Mediterranean Sea. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by an American search and rescue helicopter from the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69).[195]Specifications[edit]Data from Dassault Aviation,[196]Superfighters,[197] French Navy,[198]International Directory of Military Aircraft[199]

General characteristics

Crew: 1''2Length: 15.27 m (50.1 ft)Wingspan: 10.80 m (35.4 ft)Height: 5.34 m (17.5 ft)Wing area: 45.7 m² (492 ft²)Empty weight:C: 9,500 kilograms (20,900 lb)B: 9,770 kilograms (21,540 lb)M: 10,196 kilograms (22,480 lb[198])Loaded weight: 14,016 kg (30,900 lb)Max. takeoff weight: 24,500 kg (C/D), 22,200 kg (M) (54,000 lb)Powerplant: 2 — Snecma M88-2 turbofansDry thrust: 50.04 kN (11,250 lbf) eachThrust with afterburner: 75.62 kN (17,000 lbf) eachFuel capacity: 4,700 kg (10,360 lb) internalPerformance

Maximum speed:High altitude: Mach 1.8 (1,912 km/h, 1,032 knots)Low altitude: Mach 1.1 (1,390 km/h, 750 knots)Range: 3,700+ km (2,000+ nmi) with 3 drop tanksCombat radius: 1,852+ km (1,000+ nmi) on penetration missionService ceiling: 15,235 m (50,000 ft)Rate of climb: 304.8+ m/s (60,000+ ft/min)Wing loading: 306 kg/m² (62.8 lb/ft²)Thrust/weight: 0.988 (100% fuel, 2 EM A2A missile, 2 IR A2A missile) version MMaximum g-load: +9/''3.2 gArmament

Guns: 1— 30 mm (1.18 in) GIAT 30/M791 autocannon with 125 roundsHardpoints: 14 for Air Force versions (Rafale B/C), 13 for Navy version (Rafale M) with a capacity of 9,500 kg (20,900 lb) external fuel and ordnance and provisions to carry combinations of:Missiles:Air-to-ground:Air-to-surface:Deterrence:Other:Thales Damocles targeting podAREOS (Airborne Recce Observation System)reconnaissance pod[200]up to 5 drop tanksBuddy-buddy refuelling pod[60]Avionics

See also[edit]Related lists^"Longitudinal stability is moderately negative with a full fly-by-wire digital control system. The system is quadruple redundant with three digital channels and one separately designed analog channel. Design independence between channels is pivotal in preventing fatal flaws simultaneously affecting several channels due to software misconceptions."[55]^Quote: "The core of the enhanced capabilities of the RAFALE lies in a new Modular Data Processing Unit (MDPU). It is composed of up to 18 flight line-replaceable modules, each with a processing power 50 times higher than that of the 2084 XRI type computer fitted on the early versions of Mirage 2000-5."[55]^Quote: "SPECTRA provides all-weather reliable long-range detection, identification and location of threats, short response times and cutting-edge defensive measures based on combinations of jamming, decoying and evasive manoeuvres and on state-of-the-art technologies such as DRFM (Digital Radio Frequency Memory) signal processing."[55]^Quote: "According to DGA, Areos provides day identification capabilities that are two-and-a-half times better than those of the Mirage F1CR's Presto ''wet-film'' system and 8 times better than those of the legacy SDS250 photo pod of the Super-‰tendard."[74]References[edit]^"Dassault Rafale 2014" 25 July 2014^ abcdefg"France's Rafale Fighters: Au Courant In Time?". Defense Industry Daily. 12 January 2014. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. 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"Rafale: Dassault's New Dawn". Flight International (London, UK: Reed Business Information) 135 (4168): 80''88. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Jarret, DN (2005). Cockpit Engineering. Surrey, UK: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-1751-8. MacKenzie, Christina (19''25 March 2002). "Rafale Readies". Flight International (London: Reed Business Information) 161 (4824): 36''37. ISSN 0015-3710. Retrieved 19 October 2013. Richardson, Doug (2001). Stealth Warplanes. Grand Rapids, MI: Zenith Imprint. ISBN 978-0-7603-1051-9. Sedbon, Gilbert (26 January '' 1 February 1986). "Rafale partners sought formally". Flight International (London: Reed Business Information) 129 (3996): 11. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013. '--'--'-- (6''12 July 1986). "Dassault flies Rafale demonstrator". Flight International (London: Reed Business Information) 130 (4019): 4. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2013. '--'--'-- (14''20 February 1988). "Crouzet controls by voice". Flight International (London: Reed Business Information) 133 (4101): 30''31. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013. '--'--'-- (29 October '' 4 November 1989). "French Navy breaks ranks over F-18 sale". Flight International (London: Reed Business Information) 136 (4189): 6. ISSN 0015-3710. Retrieved 14 January 2013. '--'--'--; De Wulf, Herman (12''18 January 1986). "Belgium denies interest in lighter Rafale B". Flight International (London: Reed Business Information) 129 (3994): 9. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013. Spick, Michael 'Mike', ed. (2000). The Great Book of Modern Warplanes. St. Paul, MN: MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84065-156-0. Williams, Mel, ed. (2002). "Dassault Rafale". Superfighters, The Next Generation of Combat Aircraft. London: AIRtime Publishing. ISBN 978-1-880588-53-6. Wertheim, Eric (2007). Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-955-2. External links[edit]Rafale (official page), Dassault Aviation Arm(C)e de l'Air (official page) (in French), The French Air Force .

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Source: News From Antiwar.com

Sun, 21 Sep 2014 05:53

Turkish officials successfully negotiated the release of 49 hostages captured during the ISIS capture of Mosul, at the Turkish consulate. The hostages had been held since June 11, and arrived at the Ankara Airport today.

The hostage situation had been a huge issue for the Turkish government, which had prevented most media coverage of the situation, and has cited the hostages as a reason not to take a bigger role in the US war on ISIS.

The terms of the release were not clear, but it was a negotiated settlement. Turkish officials claimed no ransom was paid, and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu praised the intelligence agency for securing the release.

Though some US analysts were quick to speculate the release of the hostages freed up Turkey to join the ISIS war, there is so far no indication that is the case, and it is unlikely ISIS would've willingly released the hostages in a way that would draw Turkey into the war against them.

Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz

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Source: National Defense Magazine's Top Stories

Thu, 18 Sep 2014 20:47

Congress in the Safe Ports Act of 2007 stipulated that 100 percent of U.S.-bound shipping containers and cargo be scanned for nuclear threats by July 2012.That would require large nuclear detection portals in every port in the world that has shipping containers headed for the United States.

The department has had two problems fulfilling the mandate.

First, the second-generation radiation detection portals the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office was tasked with developing never worked well enough to be deployed, and the program was canceled in 2012.

The second was the high cost of executing the mission. Former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano testified that it could cost upwards of $12 billion.

Current DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson became the latest DHS leader to criticize the law.

''To be honest, it is a huge unfunded mandate. Congress told us, 'You got to go do this,' but they didn't give us the money to pay for it,'' he said at a Council on Foreign Relations speech.

There is a provision in the law that permits the secretary of Homeland Security to waive the requirement for two years. Napolitano did so in July 2012. Johnson did the same this year.

Still, despite a long string of secretaries and Customs and Border Protection commissioners speaking out against the practicality of the law, some members of Congress are still pushing DHS to fulfill the mandate.

Johnson has told them: ''It's a great idea. But there are huge logistical challenges to the United States government, [and] U.S. personnel, scanning the cargo at every foreign port around the globe bound for the United States.''

''Though I have recently waived the requirements of the law, what I've said, as long as this law is on the books '-- and it is on the books '-- we should at least strive in that direction. We need to have a plan to getting to 100 percent. '... We should raise that percentage and do the best we can with the resources and the budget resources that we have. That is the direction I have told our folks to move in.''

The Government Accountability Office in 2009 recommended that CBP conduct a feasibility study of carrying out the act's mandate. But the agency notified GAO that it wouldn't be able to because it did not have sufficient funds, Stephen Caldwell, director of homeland security and justice, said in written testimony in June before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

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Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 03:19

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 18, 2014

State Dining RoomTHE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Today, the United States continues to build a broad international coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL. As part of the air campaign, France will join in strikes against ISIL targets in Iraq. And as one of our oldest and closest allies, France is a strong partner in our efforts against terrorism, and we're pleased that French and American servicemembers will once again work together on behalf of our shared security and our shared values.

More broadly, more than 40 countries -- including Arab nations -- have now offered assistance as part of this coalition. This includes support for Iraqi forces, strengthening the Iraqi government, providing humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians, and doing their part in the fight against ISIL.

Here at home, I'm pleased that Congress -- a majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans, in both the House and the Senate -- have now voted to support a key element of our strategy: our plan to train and equip the opposition in Syria so they can help push back these terrorists. As I said last week, I believe that we're strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together. And I want to thank leaders in Congress for the speed and seriousness with which they approached this urgent issue -- in keeping with the bipartisanship that is the hallmark of American foreign policy at its best.

These Syrian opposition forces are fighting both the brutality of ISIL terrorists and the tyranny of the Assad regime. We had already ramped up our assistance, including military assistance, to the Syrian opposition. With this new effort, we'll provide training and equipment to help them grow stronger and take on ISIL terrorists inside Syria. This program will be hosted outside of Syria, in partnership with Arab countries, and it will be matched by our increasing support for Iraqi government and Kurdish forces in Iraq.

This is in keeping with a key principle of our strategy: The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission; their mission is to advise and assist our partners on the ground. As I told our troops yesterday, we can join with allies and partners to destroy ISIL without American troops fighting another ground war in the Middle East.

The strong bipartisan support in Congress for this new training effort shows the world that Americans are united in confronting the threat from ISIL, which has slaughtered so many innocent civilians. With their barbaric murder of two Americans, these terrorists thought they could frighten us, or intimidate us, or cause us to shrink from the world, but today they're learning the same hard lesson of petty tyrants and terrorists who have gone before.

As Americans, we do not give in to fear. And when you harm our citizens, when you threaten the United States, when you threaten our allies -- it doesn't divide us, it unites us. We pull together, we stand together -- to defend this country that we love and to make sure justice is done, as well as to join with those who seek a better future of dignity and opportunity for all people.

Today, our strikes against these terrorists continue. We're taking out their terrorists. We're destroying their vehicles and equipment and stockpiles. And we salute our dedicated pilots and crews who are carrying out these missions with great courage and skill.

As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be more proud of their service. As I told some of our troops yesterday, the American people are united in our support for them and for their families. And as we go forward, as one nation, I'd ask all Americans to keep our forces and their families in their thoughts and prayers. Thanks very much.

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Source: VK: Home

Sat, 20 Sep 2014 17:07

Bewerkt door: redactie '' 20/09/14, 16:44 '' bron: ANP

(C) reuters. Paus Franiscus in Letland

Paus Franciscus is een doelwit van Islamitische Staat (IS), dat uit is op aandacht in de media. Dit heeft de Iraakse ambassadeur bij de Heilige Stoel, Habeeb al-Sadr, vandaag gezegd in de Italiaanse krant Il Messaggero.

Het Vaticaan heeft, in samenwerking met buurland Itali, woensdag al de beveiligingsmaatregelen aangescherpt nadat geheime diensten een telefoongesprek tussen twee Arabieren hadden afgeluisterd. Die hadden het erover 'iets te doen in het Vaticaan'. De grootste krant van Itali, de Corriere della Sera, meldt vandaag dat de 'spanning zeer groot is en de terreurdreiging van IS angst inboezemt' in de Heilige Stad, symbool van het christendom, nu westerse leiders een offensief hebben aangekondigd tegen IS. De Italiaanse carabinieri (marechaussee) en politie voeren meer patrouilles uit op het Sint-Pietersplein.

De Italiaanse minister van Binnenlandse Zaken, Angelino Alfano, kwam eerder deze maand al met een 'urgente boodschap': Itali en Rome zijn 'geen onbelangrijke doelwitten' van IS. 'Itali is de wieg van het christendom', aldus de bewindsman. Hij riep op tot waakzaamheid.

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Source: The View From Falling Downs

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 03:32

Yes, small children have been cowering in their mothers' arms all over Australia, asking if those bad Mooslims were after their tiny perfect heads.The story that Muslim extremists were about to embark on a beheading frenzy in the land down under made headlines around the world. The subsequent story that all but two of the alleged terrorists have already been released has gotten far less attention.

Beheading; oh my, what a newsworthy terror trope.

Here in Canada, we are no strangers to the bestial practice. Some dude riding a Greyhound had his head lopped off a few years ago. Before that, there was the Despres case in New Brunswick. Not a Muslim terror suspect in view in either case.

Nor are we in any way distraught that our besties in Saudi Arabia lop off heads every other day.

But when their proteges in the Islamic State follow their mentors' example, all hell breaks loose. America and the coalition of the arm-twisted will spend another trillion dollars and millions of (mostly Arab) lives eliminating this scourge of beheading from the face of the earth.

Ironically, the most vocal ally for the latest US war on Islam is France. That's a country in Europe that employed beheading as the official state sanctioned mode of capital punishment as recently as 1977.

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Source: VK: Home

Sat, 20 Sep 2014 16:55

20/09/14, 18:11 '' bron: ANP

(C) anp. Vlaggen voor het Berlaymont gebouw in Brussel. Dit is het hoofdkantoor van de Europese Commissie.

De Belgische justitie heeft aanwijzingen dat jihadisten uit Den Haag plannen hadden om een aanslag te plegen op het kantoor van de Europese Commissie in Brussel. Dat hebben bronnen aan de NOS gemeld.

De twee, een man en een vrouw van Turkse afkomst, werden begin augustus op het Brusselse vliegveld Zaventem opgepakt toen ze terugkeerden uit Turkije. Vermoedelijk waren ze in Syri geweest. De twee verdachten hebben zich volgens de Belgische justitie schuldig gemaakt aan deelname aan een terroristische groepering, overtreding van de wapenwet en financiering van terrorisme.

Naar verluidt worden er in het Belgische onderzoek nog meer jihadisten uit Nederland gezocht. Volgens de Belgische justitie richt het onderzoek zich op Turkse Nederlanders die banden zouden hebben met jihadistische netwerken.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 17:39

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Source: WTF RLY REPORT

Sat, 20 Sep 2014 00:01

APSierra Leone confined its 6 million people to their homes Friday for the next three days as the Ebola-ravaged West African country began what was believed to be the most sweeping lockdown against disease since the Middle Ages.

In a desperate effort to bring the outbreak under control, thousands of health care workers began going house to house in crowded urban neighborhoods and remote villages, hoping to find and isolate infected people.

President Ernest Bai Koroma urged his countrymen to cooperate.

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Fri, 19 Sep 2014 02:43

The bodies of eight people, including several health workers and three journalists, have been found days after they were attacked while distributing information about Ebola in a Guinean village near the city of Nzerekore, according to Reuters.

"The eight bodies were found in the village latrine," Albert Damantang Camara, a spokesman for Guinea's government, told Reuters on Thursday. "Three of them had their throats slit."

When the delegation arrived on Tuesday to do disinfection work and educate people about preventing Ebola, angry and fearful residents began throwing rocks and beating people in the group with clubs according to the Los Angeles Times, which cited Guinean radio reports. The delegation, which included one local politician, fled into the bush to escape the attackers.

One journalist who managed to escape told reporters that she could hear the people looking for her while she hid, according to the BBC.

On Thursday, the bodies were found in the septic tank of a primary school in the village, according to Camara. They had been "killed in cold blood by the villagers," he added, according to the BBC.

Throughout this epidemic, public health officials have battled widespread fear and even doubts that the virus exists at all. The deadly attack illustrates the danger that health workers face as they try to spread information about the virus in an effort to control the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

The attack occurred in an area near where riots broke out last month because people feared that workers disinfecting a market were contaminating people, according to the BBC.

Guinean radio reported that the attack came after the group tried to spray disinfectant to prevent the virus from spreading in public places, the LA Times reported.

Earlier, the governor of Nzerekore told the BBC that he believed the group was being held captive. A government delegation had been sent to the Wome (Wamey) village but was unable to gain access because the main bridge leading to the town was destroyed to prevent authorities from reaching it, the BBC reported.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa began in a Guinea border town, Gu(C)ck(C)dou, which is near where Tuesday's attack occurred. The spread of the virus in the country has not accelerated as quickly as it has in other affected countries, particularly Liberia.

But 33 percent of the cases in Guinea have been reported in the last three weeks, signaling that the outbreak is far from under control. According to the World Health Organization, at least 2,622 people have died and 5,335 have been infected in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal.

[This post has been updated multiple times.]

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 20:43

(NaturalNews) On the very same day that vaccine maker GlaxoSmithKline is being fined $490 million by Chinese authorities for running an illegal bribery scheme across China [3], the media is announcing the "astonishing" launch of human trials for an Ebola vaccine.Care to guess who will be manufacturing this vaccine once it is whitewashed and rubber-stamped as "approved?" GlaxoSmithKline, of course. The same company that also admitted to a massive criminal bribery network in the United States, where felony crimes were routinely committed to funnel money to over 40,000 physicians who pushed dangerous prescription drugs onto patients.

This is the company that is now -- today! -- injecting 60 "volunteers" with an experimental Ebola vaccine.

"Normally it would take years of human trials before a completely new vaccine was approved for use," reports the BBC. [1] "But such is the urgency of the Ebola outbreak in west Africa that this experimental vaccine is being fast tracked at an astonishing rate."Yes, it's astonishing because it's impossible.

As any vaccine-related virologist already knows, the process of going from an in-the-wild infection of Ebola to a manufactured vaccine ready for human trials simply cannot be achieved in a matter of a few weeks or months. Apparently, we are all to believe that a spontaneous scientific miracle has now taken place -- a literal act of vaccine magic -- which has allowed the criminal vaccine industry to skip the tedious R&D phases and create a vaccine ready for human trials merely by waving a magic wand.

"The first of 60 healthy volunteers will be injected with the vaccine," says the BBC today, and vaccine pushers are of course lining up to proclaim the vaccine miracle which has spontaneously appeared before them like a burning bush:

Professor Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute in Oxford, who is leading the trial, said: "This is a remarkable example of how quickly a new vaccine can be progressed into the clinic, using international co-operation."

The far more likely explanation, of course, is that all this was scripted in advance: the outbreak, the international cry for help, the skyrocketing of the stock price for Tekmira (which has received financial investments from Monsanto), the urgent call for a vaccine and now the spontaneous availability of human vaccine trials. It's all beautifully scripted from start to finish, better than a Shakespearean tragedy played out on the international stage.The "heroes" of this theater have been pre-ordained to be drug companies and vaccines, and it is already written in the script that vaccines will be heralded as lifesaving miracles of modern science even if they infect people and cause widespread damage as has now happened to young girls in Colombia who are being hospitalized en masse after being injected with HPV vaccines. [2]

Incredibly, the official response from vaccine-pushing health authorities in Colombia is that all these girls who are suffering from paralysis are merely "imagining" their symptoms and suffering from "mass hysteria." Obviously, if vaccines are created by the gods of modern science -- the new cult of our delusional world -- then they must be perfect and infallible. Therefore, anyone who suffers side effects of such perfect vaccines must obviously be imagining things. Such is the delusional dogma of modern vaccine pushers.

This will be the exact same explanation leveled against anyone who suffers harmful effects from an Ebola vaccine, too. After all, the discovery of vaccine side effects simply isn't in the script being played out before us. Therefore, it cannot be allowed, and any person who actually suffers side effects will be immediately deemed to be mentally ill. (Yes, this is how insane and Orwellian the vaccine industry has become. All who do now bow down to the voodoo of dangerous vaccines are labeled mental patients and then treated with psychiatric drugs. The vaccine industry has quite literally become the Heaven's Gate Cult of modern medicine...)

This plot gets even more interesting when you realize that a patent on Ebola was awarded to the United States government just four years ago, in 2010.That patent, number CA2741523A1, is available here.

Astonishingly, the patent claims U.S. government ownership over all variants of Ebola which share 70% or more of the protein sequences described in the patent: "[CLAIMS] ...a nucleotide sequence of at least 70%-99% identity to the SEQ ID..."

Furthermore, the patent also claims ownership over any and all Ebola viruses which are "weakened" or "killed," meaning the United States government is literally claiming ownership over all Ebola vaccines.

What this means, of course, is that the U.S. government can demand royalties on all Ebola vaccines.

Even more Orwellian is the fact that the U.S. government can use this patent to halt all other research for treatments or cures for Ebola.

Do you remember the massive medical controversy over the BRCA1 gene tied to breast cancer in women? One corporation claimed patent ownership over the gene and then they used that patent to shut down all other research, testing or diagnosis of breast cancer related to that gene. To date, nearly 20% of the human genome has been claimed as "owned" by corporations, universities and even the government.The controversy went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which ultimately ruled that human genes cannot be patented. But the Supreme Court decision actually protected patents on gene sequences for viruses and other pathogens.

The truth of the matter is that anyone who owns the Ebola gene patent can legally use that patent to shut down all research on Ebola, including research for non-vaccine medical treatments and cures. This is how medical monopolies are reinforced: by monopolizing all the research and all the "cures."

Even more frightening, the "ownership" over Ebola extends to Ebola circulating in the bodies of Ebola victims. When Dr. Kent Brantly was relocated from Africa to the CDC's care in Atlanta, that entire scene was carried out under the quasi-legal justification that the U.S. government "owned" the Ebola circulating in Dr. Brantly's blood. Thus, one of the very first things that took place was the acquisition of his blood samples for archiving and R&D by the CDC and the U.S. Department of Defense.

(Only the gullible masses think that was about saving the life of a doctor. The real mission was to acquire the Ebola strain circulating in his body and use it for weaponization research, vaccine research and other R&D purposes.)

This brings us to the quarantine issue. As the whole world knows by now, the entire nation of Sierra Leone is now under a state of medical martial law, where Ebola victims are now being hunted down like fugitives in door-to-door manhunts. [4]Simultaneously, the United States government is now operating under Obama's executive order #13674, signed on July 31, 2014, which allows the U.S. federal government to arrest and quarantine any person who shows symptoms of infectious disease. [5]

This executive order allows federal agents to forcibly arrest and quarantine anyone showing symptoms of:

...Severe acute respiratory syndromes, which are diseases that are associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, are capable of being transmitted from person to person, and that either are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic, or, upon infection, are highly likely to cause mortality or serious morbidity if not properly controlled.

Part of the legal argument for justifying such a quarantine in the case of Ebola goes like this: If you are carrying Ebola in your body, then you are in possession of U.S. government property!

The fact that the virus is replicating in your body is, legally speaking, a violation of patent law. Because you are providing a host environment for the replication of the virus, you technically are breaking federal laws that restrict the copying and distributed of patented properties, which in this case include the Ebola virus.

Thus, the government has every right to "relocate" you and prevent you from violating patent law by replicating, distributing or spreading THEIR intellectual property (i.e. the Ebola virus).

Lest you think this legal argument sounds insane, just remember that the legal system is full of lawyers who make far more insane arguments on a daily basis, including the argument that human genes could be patented in the first place. And medical officials also make insane, irrational arguments almost constantly, including the argument that all those girls in Colombia who are suffering convulsions and paralysis from the HPV vaccine are merely "imagining" their symptoms. Such explanations flatly defy any attachment to sane thinking.

Ultimately, the patent on the Ebola virus provides the legal justification for forced government quarantines -- and even medical research -- on Ebola victims.

What I've outlined in this story is just a small taste of the crime against humanity which is taking place right before our eyes. I am now convinced that this Ebola outbreak is very likely not an accident, and many scientists in Africa wholeheartedly agree that the outbreak is actually the deployment of a biological weapon."Ebola is a genetically modified organism (GMO)," declared Dr. Cyril Broderick, Professor of Plant Pathology, in a front-page story published in the Liberian Observer. [6]

He goes on to explain:

[Horowitz] confirmed the existence of an American Military-Medical-Industry that conducts biological weapons tests under the guise of administering vaccinations to control diseases and improve the health of "black Africans overseas."

SITES AROUND AFRICA, AND IN WEST AFRICA, HAVE OVER THE YEARS BEEN SET UP FOR TESTING EMERGING DISEASES, ESPECIALLY EBOLA

The World Health Organization (WHO) and several other UN Agencies have been implicated in selecting and enticing African countries to participate in the testing events, promoting vaccinations, but pursuing various testing regiments.

AFRICAN LEADERS AND AFRICAN COUNTRIES NEED TO TAKE THE LEAD IN DEFENDING BABIES, CHILDREN, AFRICAN WOMEN, AFRICAN MEN, AND THE ELDERLY. THESE CITIZENS DO NOT DESERVE TO BE USED AS GUINEA PIGS!

Africa must not relegate the Continent to become the locality for disposal and the deposition of hazardous chemicals, dangerous drugs, and chemical or biological agents of emerging diseases. There is urgent need for affirmative action in protecting the less affluent of poorer countries, especially African citizens, whose countries are not as scientifically and industrially endowed as the United States and most Western countries, sources of most viral or bacterial GMOs that are strategically designed as biological weapons. It is most disturbing that the U. S. Government has been operating a viral hemorrhagic fever bioterrorism research laboratory in Sierra Leone.

The world must be alarmed. All Africans, Americans, Europeans, Middle Easterners, Asians, and people from every conclave on Earth should be astonished. African people, notably citizens more particularly of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone are victimized and are dying every day.

If you really want to learn the truth about all this, listen to the free Pandemic Preparedness audio course available right now at www.BioDefense.comAll MP3 files are freely downloadable, and new episodes are being posted every few days.

Also check out these 11 horrifying truths about Ebola that you're not supposed to know.

Nearly one million people have now visited www.BioDefense.com since its launch last week. Find out there what the mainstream media won't dare tell you. Your life may quite literally depend on it.

Sources for this article include:[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29230157

[2] http://news.yahoo.com/mystery-illness-plague...

[3] http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29274822

[4] http://www.naturalnews.com/046945_medical_ma...

[5] http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014...

[6] http://www.liberianobserver.com/security/ebo...

[7] http://www.google.com/patents/CA2741523A1

[8] http://www.naturalnews.com/036417_Glaxo_Merc...

[9] http://www.naturalnews.com/046259_ebola_outb...

[10] http://www.naturalnews.com/040400_gene_paten...

[11] http://www.naturalnews.com/028492_BRCA1_huma...

[12] http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2014/09/17...

About the author:Mike Adams (aka the "Health Ranger") is the founding editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's No. 1 natural health news website, now reaching 7 million unique readers a month.

In late 2013, Adams launched the Natural News Forensic Food Lab, where he conducts atomic spectroscopy research into food contaminants using high-end ICP-MS instrumentation. With this research, Adams has made numerous food safety breakthroughs such as revealing rice protein products imported from Asia to be contaminated with toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium and tungsten. Adams was the first food science researcher to document high levels of tungsten in superfoods. He also discovered over 11 ppm lead in imported mangosteen powder, and led an industry-wide voluntary agreement to limit heavy metals in rice protein products to low levels by July 1, 2015.

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Adams is well known for his incredibly popular consumer activism video blowing the lid on fake blueberries used throughout the food supply. He has also exposed "strange fibers" found in Chicken McNuggets, fake academic credentials of so-called health "gurus," dangerous "detox" products imported as battery acid and sold for oral consumption, fake acai berry scams, the California raw milk raids, the vaccine research fraud revealed by industry whistleblowers and many other topics.

Adams has also helped defend the rights of home gardeners and protect the medical freedom rights of parents. Adams is widely recognized to have made a remarkable global impact on issues like GMOs, vaccines, nutrition therapies, human consciousness.

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 05:55

21 September 2014Last updated at 00:15 By Mark DoyleBBC NewsFamilies and communities have been devastated by the deaths caused by West Africa's Ebola outbreak. But the disease also has consequences for the region's way of life, and in particular their traditional greetings.

One of the things the people of West Africa are very good at is greeting each other. In most of the region's countries it would be positively rude to exchange a passing, British-style "Hello, how are you?" and walk on.

In West Africa the normal thing to do would be to stop, reach out one hand, or even two, shake warmly and then embrace.

Continue reading the main storyListen to From Our Own Correspondent for insight and analysis from BBC journalists, correspondents and writers from around the world

Broadcast on Radio 4 on Saturdays at 11:30 BST and BBC World Service

This is followed by much backslapping, more handshaking on points of agreement and even the odd high five.

It's what children do, it's what men do, it's what elderly ladies do.

Well, not any more. Ebola is spread by contact with bodily fluids, so these days people shun contact with others - including handshakes.

Of course, the worst impact of this disease has been on those who have contracted it, and their loved ones. But the end of shaking hands has affected everyone, everywhere in the region.

The country that's been worst affected by Ebola - with the most deaths - is Liberia.

After President Barack Obama announced the US would be sending 3,000 troops to oversee the building of new treatment centres and help train medical staff in the country, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf broadcasted a "Thank-you" speech to the US. She also told Liberians: "Ebola will not defeat us."

President Johnson Sirleaf had earlier said the disease was damaging Liberians' way of life. One thing she was surely referring to was the unusual Liberian handshake.

It's been called the "Liberian finger snap". If that sounds painful, it isn't. But it is rather tricky to master.

The finger snap involves clasping hands in the normal way. But then - as the hands are released - each partner clicks the fingers of the other. This produces two loud snapping sounds.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

A demonstration of 'the Liberian finger snap'

It's something of a point of honour to make the pair of snaps as strong - and therefore as loud - as possible. The louder the snaps, the greater the friendship. But not any more.

Ebola virus disease (EVD) Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage Spread by body fluids, such as blood and saliva Current outbreak has mortality rate of about 55% Incubation period is two to 21 days There is no proven vaccine or cure How bad can it get?

I've visited Liberia many times, and I find it impossible to imagine the country without a soundscape of finger snaps. If I, as a foreigner, feel that way, I can't begin to imagine how odd the lack of handshaking must feel for a Liberian.

It's the same across the whole region. In French-speaking parts of West Africa, the traditional greeting of three kisses on the cheek has stopped too.

It's as if this terrible disease, not content with killing thousands of people, wants to rip the beating heart out of a naturally friendly, and communally-minded, population.

Something similarly shocking is taking place this weekend in Liberia's neighbour, Sierra Leone. It is being devastated by Ebola too, with hospitals overflowing and food prices rising.

In an effort to stop the spread of the disease, the authorities ordered a nationwide three-day lockdown. Everyone is supposed to stay in their homes while health workers mount a nationwide door-to-door check to seek out anyone infected.

The operation is fraught with difficulties and dangers. In the first place, it's far from clear if Sierra Leone has enough qualified health professionals to visit every house and hut in the land. Or what will they do if they find potential patients - the treatment centres are already full to overflowing.

The Sierra Leone government says the desperate situation requires desperate measures. But, even if the lockdown works, it's another example of Ebola changing a country's very way of life.

Most of its population are very poor. Many work as street traders or day labourers. Very few people have large stocks of food in their cupboards, and only a minority have luxuries like fridges. So they simply have to go out every day to work and shop - otherwise their family will not get fed.

Of course those worst affected by Ebola are the sick, the dying and their families. But everyone is being touched in other terribly important parts of their lives, however seemingly mundane - from the simple handshake to doing the shopping.

The president of Liberia said in her speech: "We are fighting against Ebola. We will win."

If and when this happens, one of the most precious things West Africans get back will be the ability to shake hands again.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 20:13

adminSep 15, 2014350.org / 1Sky, Avaaz, Foundations, Humanitarian Agencies, Imperialist Wars/Occupations, Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Pacifism as Pathology, Purpose, Purpose Inc., TckTckTckThe following contains excerpts from McKibben's Divestment Tour '' Brought to You by Wall Street | Part VII: The Wolves of Wall Street, to be published on Counterpunch.

September 15, 2014

By Cory Morningstar

WKOG ADMIN: This articles is available as a PDF document, as well as a downloadable brochure. Special thanks to PJ Lilley: gidget.koumbit.org | radicalcriminology.org

As the following information will demonstrate, The People's Climate March and supporting discourse is about protecting capitalism, not protecting the world's most vulnerable people from climate change.

Image courtesy of Mark Gould

The People's Climate March in New York City is a mobilization campaign created by Avaaz and 350.org, with 350.org at the forefront.

The oligarchs do not bankroll such a mobilization (via millions of dollars funnelled through foundations) without reason.

There is an agenda. The information that follows makes the agenda very clear and the only thing green about it is the colour of money. The term ''green'', in reference to environment is, officially dead.

PURPOSE?

Vision: ''Purpose is a global initiative that draws on leading technologies, political organizing and behavioral economics to build powerful, tech-savvy movements that can transform culture and influence policy.''

''Purpose was born out of some of the most successful experiments in mass digital participation. Our principals are co-founders of Avaaz, the world's largest online political movement with more than nine million members operating in 14 languages, and the creators of Australia's GetUp!, an internationally recognized social movement phenomenon with more members than all the country's political parties combined'....'' [Source]

Background

Above: Jeremy Heimans of Purpose at The Economist's Ideas Economy: Human Potential conference. | Photo: Taylor Davidson

Avaaz and GetUp co-founders Jeremy Heimans (CEO) and David Madden are also founders of the New York consulting firm, Purpose Inc. Avaaz co-founder James Slezak is also identified as a co-founder and CEO of Purpose at its inception in 2009.

From October 2011''October 2012 the''Managing Director of Partnerships'' for Purpose was Marilia Bezerra. From 2006 to 2011 Bezerra held an integral position within the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) executive leadership. [1]

The secret behind the success of both Avaaz and Purpose is their reliance upon and expertise in behavioural change. While the behavioural change tactics used by Avaaz are on public display, double-breasted, for-profit Purpose, with its non-profit arm, sells their expertise behind the scenes to further the interest of hegemony and capital. Whether it be a glossy campaign to help facilitate yet another illegal ''humanitarian intervention'' led by aggressive U.S. militarism (an oxymoron if there ever was one), or the creation of a new global ''green'' economy, Purpose is the consulting firm that the wolves of Wall Street and oligarchs alike depend upon to make it happen.

''We've been talking in a broader way about the future of consumer activism, of organizing people not as citizens but as consumers.'' '--Jeremy Heimanswhen asked how he was going to use the $100,000 he received from the Ford Foundation

Purpose Inc. (with its co-founders) is a favourite of high-finance websites such as The Economist and Forbes and sells its consulting services and branding/marketing campaigns to Google, Audi, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and many others that comprise the world's most powerful corporations and institutions. In 2012, it raised $3m from investors. ''Ford Foundation, which has given Purpose's non-profit arm a grant, reckons it is shaping up to be ''one of the blue-chip social organisations of the future.'' [Source] Purpose, like many other foundations, such as Rockefeller (who initially incubated 1Sky which merged with 350.org in 2011), also serves as an ''incubator of social movements.'' [Further reading on Purpose]

Purpose Action's Board of Directors includes the former campaign director at Avaaz, Brett Solomon and brand strategist Douglas Atkin. Atkin is a Purpose Fellow and previously Partner at Purpose. He is co-founder of Yackit, Meetup Fellow, founder of The Glue Project (''Are they like me?'' ''Will they like me?'') and author of ''The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers into True Believers.'' He's helped relaunch such brands as Lipitor, Mercedes, BMW, Mastercard and many others. [Source]

''Once a brand achieves cult status, it becomes almost impossible for a competitor to dethrone it. The Culting of Brands will reveal the secrets of fierce customer identification and, most important, unbreakable loyalty.'' '--''The Culting of Brands: Turn Your Customers into True Believers,'' Amazon

Make no mistake, the Yale (for example, Avaaz co-founder and former U.S. Representative *Tom Perriello) and Harvard graduates that comprise the ''Avaaz boys'' (many having been groomed by McKinsey and Company) are considered ''the dream team'' by the globe's most powerful capitalists, including those at the United Nations and the World Bank. Avaaz co-founder Andrea Madden works for the World Bank in Burma [Myanmar]. Her husband is Avaaz co-founder David Madden who has taken up residence in Burma. [March 23, 2013: Western Media Celebrates Faux Progress in Myanmar] Madden has co-founded a marketing firm, Parami Road in Myanmar: ''Our clients are mostly international companies entering Myanmar and they demand an international standard of work.''

''After years of isolation, Myanmar is opening up. Opportunities abound. However international companies have little experience here and local firms have little experience working with them. Parami Road meets this need.'' '' Parami website

[*Full profile on Avaaz co-founderTom Perriello:Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part II, Section I [Link]

One should note that in the case of many NGOs, on 990 tax forms it appears as though those at the helm are paid minimally, if at all. Rather than salaries, many founders of institutions make immense fees via consulting services where their names are not identified on 990 forms. In the case of Avaaz, co-founder Ricken Patel does take a salary (approx. $190,000.00 per year) plus consulting fees. Consulting fees must be considered the bread and butter of many ''progressives'' whose incomes rival CEOs of multinational corporations. The salaries and incomes are incredible when one accounts for the fact that many NGOs, such as Avaaz, rake in millions of dollars in donations from well-intentioned and hard-working citizens who are at or below the poverty line.

[Full profile of Ricken Patel: Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part II, Section I [Link]

Heimans, the Avaaz front man of Purpose, is a darling of the high-finance corporate world. ''In 2011, Jeremy received the Ford Foundation's 75th anniversary Visionaries Award. The World Economic Forum at Davos has named him a Young Global Leader, and the World e-Government Forum has named Jeremy and Purpose co-founder David Madden among the ''Top 10 People Who Are Changing the World of the Internet and Politics.'' [Source]

On the Rockefeller Foundation website under the article titled How to Scale Up the Impact? Heimans is identified as a panelist for ''scaling community conservation solutions at the World Wildlife Fund's Annual Kathryn Fuller Symposium.'' (Incidentally, to illustrate the link between the faux green economy and its infusion with current consumer principles, Heimans is empanelled with an associate from retail giant, Costco Wholesale, at the symposium.) WWF's subservience to Monsanto and the oligarchs as a whole '' at a cost to vulnerable campesinos and all life on the planet '' is well-documented in the eye-opening and explosive documentary WWF '' Silence of the Pandas.

The many facets of Purpose:

1) Purpose (tax identification number 68-0607622) is a for-profit certified B-corporation ''that uses an innovative model to pool some of the world's leading experts and practitioners in order to fund, launch and accelerate the growth of new social movement organizations.''

2) Purpose Action (tax identification number 45-2451509), the non-profit arm of Purpose, is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit advocacy organization ''focused on changing policy.'' Purpose Action Board of Directors includes Brett Solomon, executive director of Access, former campaigns director at Avaaz, former executive director of GetUp! [2]

3) Purpose Foundation (tax identification number 27-3106760) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization ''focused on education and changing culture.'' [3]

4) Purpose Campaign (tax identification number 68-0607622) ''Develops social and consumer movements.''

Heimans, like his co-founders at Avaaz, has close relationships with those at the helm of the push toward the illusory green economy, including Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace and Richard Branson who has founded the B Team, of which Heimans serves as a ''team member''. [Further reading on The B Team can be found in an upcoming segment of this investigative report.] Note that Avaaz and 350.org were the first two NGOs signed on to the 2009 Havas Advertising campaign TckTckTck. TckTckTck succeeded in successfully undermining the radical emissions reductions required, put forward by the State of Bolivia and the G77 at COP15. More recently Avaaz, 350.org and Greenpeace joined hands to form the NGO SumOfUs. [Further reading: SumOfUs are Corporate Whores | Some Of Us Are Not]

Like so many other left ''progressives'' jumping on board the ''socially responsible investment'' industry, Heimans is no exception, serving on the advisory board of Leap Frog Investments. [Source] On September 29, 2012 a media release announced ''The Vital Few'' '' a new social media platform for The Asset Owners Disclosure Project, an online forum to link individuals who are concerned about their pension fund investments directed towards the fossil fuel industry. The release included statements from both Kelly Rigg (TckTckTck) and Heimans. ''Supported by the head of the global trade union movement and other key civil society groups the platform, called 'The Vital Few,' will allow pension fund members to drive transparency and accountability in a $60 trillion industry that has become the largest pool of investment capital in the world'.... The Vital Few initiative, by starting with the issue of climate risk, is a milestone in helping restore genuine ownership to capitalism.''

The Strategy of ''Changing Everything''

Illustration courtesy of Stephanie McMillan

In the video published on November 21, 2012, Heimans discloses that the ''demand for the green economy is in a rut'' during a lecture on Purpose's innovative model of ''movement entrepreneurship.'' He states:

'''...how else could movement building and mass participation help transform society? And that's what we're working on at Purpose. We're thinking at Purpose not just how you build political movements but now what are some of the insights from that, that can be used to do things like scale demand for the green economy? Right? Demand for the green economy is in a rut. There isn't large-scale demand it. What if we tried to build a movement around that and organize people in a systematic way'....''

In the following Tedx talk (published September 7, 2012) the goal and the campaign to achieve the goal is made clear: kill ''green'' marketing (including the key term ''green economy,'' in order to push forward the green economy '' without saying as much.

Heimans states:

'''...Well, the results of our research really have two main conclusions I want to share with you today, and the first is a little startling and it may create a little bit of a disequilibrium'... and that is that I think we need to kill the language and imagery and green in order to have any real shot at scaling sustainable consumption. Sustainable consumption just isn't working right now as we'll talk about in a moment. We're going to have to kill green as a frame for consumers in order to try to rework that problem.''

It is worth repeating:

''Sustainable consumption just isn't working right now as we'll talk about in a moment. We're going to have to kill green as a frame for consumers in order to try to rework that problem.''

Hence '' you have the new terminology agreed upon and already being employed by both the foundations and the non-profit-industrial complex: The ''new economy.''

Heimans continues:

''So they like the idea of green, it's kind of a value they are happy to cloak themselves in, you know it's a brand value, but the reality is market share just isn't there because as soon as it's even slightly difficult they're out the door. So what do we do? So here's some things that I think we can do that might up-end this situation and as I said it does require starting with killing green as a friend. We can't lead with green, because most of the green products that are out there start by knocking on the front door and hitting you on the head and saying you know 'We're green, do the right thing.' We need a radically different approach to the way we introduce this issue to consumers. We need to put green aside.''

Heimans summarizes the methodology.

'''... the answer we think is to get behind the businesses that are at this intersection of mass participation where you can get lots of people in a network, you can grow market share very quickly of the new forms of businesses that are green, but don't knock on the door and announce themselves as green. If we can do this, if we can create a new economy that takes these models that can very quickly acquire market share and we can give people a sense they're part of something much bigger, we'll build the green economy, we just won't talk about it and we won't say that we're doing it.''

Heimans' last remark is key: ''If we can do this, if we can create a new economy that takes these models that can very quickly acquire market share and we can give people a sense they're part of something much bigger we'll build the green economy, we just won't talk about it and we won't say that we're doing it.''

Illustration courtesy of Stephanie McMillan

Subservience to Empire and Hegemony

Above: A Disruption movie marketing poster (from The New School). ''Green'' is out. ''New'' is in. This is the strategy that is to change everything.

Clearly, the shift of emphasis is toward this ''market share''. Note the following statement on the September 4, 2014 350.org press release, World Premiere of ''Disruption,'' New Climate Documentary with Van Jones, Chris Hayes, Naomi Klein, and More:

''This is not a green issue, this is an all of us issue,'' says Ricken Patel, executive director of the 38-million member civic organization, Avaaz. Avaaz is mobilizing its members around the world to take part in solidarity actions along with the march in NYC. [Emphasis added]

''Green'' is out. ''New'' is in. This is the strategy that is to change everything.

Also from the press release:

''The world premiere of Disruption in New York City is the flagship for hundreds of screenings taking place around the country on Sunday. A panel discussion will follow the premiere.

''Panelists will include (more detail at base of email):

Ricken Patel '' Executive Director '' Avaaz.orgEddie Bautista '' Executive Director '' New York City Environmental Justice AllianceKeya Chatterjee '' Director, Renewable Energy and Footprint Outreach '' WWF'''In the past, masses of people have taken the wheel of history and turned it,' says author Naomi Klein in the film. 'We have a responsibility to rise to our historic moment.'''

The film features Avaaz's Ricken Patel, WWF's Keya Chatterjee and 350.org board member Van Jones. Note 350.org's relentless co-opting of the civil rights movement leaders, who are utilized to market their campaigns at the beginning of the trailer. It is somewhat fitting is that at 12 seconds in CIA's Gloria Steinem is featured. The trailer and film seeks to inspire the global mobilizations that Purpose has been funded to create.

It is incredible (as in, difficult to believe) that today's biggest shills for the Empire of the 21st century double as the iconic symbols of progressive change and activism for the so-called left. Aldous Huxley often expressed a deep concern that citizens could become subjugated via refined use of the mass media. His fears were most prophetic. There is little doubt that if he were alive today, even he would be taken aback by the sheer ''success'' and madness of it. [Further reading: On the Eve of an Illegal Attack on Syria, Avaaz/350.org Board Members Beat the Drums of War]

Citizens who claim they wish to protect our shared environment must educate themselves on the role of foundation funding and the key NGOs (350.org, Avaaz, Purpose, WWF, etc.) being heavily financed to implement the illusory green new economy. Joan Roeloff's exceptional book, Foundations and Public Policy: The Mask of Pluralism, is a good place to start. If we are unwilling to do this work collectively, perhaps we deserve everything the oligarchs are designing for us and intend for us in the future. There will be tears.

As an example of Purpose's work to build acquiescence and a normalization of the green new economy, we can look at Purpose's work for Audi. The task at hand is how to take the human right to access clean water, and turn it into a commodity market that the public will embrace: ''[Purpose Inc.] helps them to build mass movements to support their favourite causes. Audi, for example, wants to design and promote machines to dispense clean water in India, a market where it hopes to burnish its car brand.'' Media is utilized to present the water ATM as an affordable benefit for the disenfranchised, underprivileged and poor: ''The perception that rural people won't pay for quality services is wrong, says Anand Shah, CEO of Sarvajal, an initiative by the Piramal Foundation to find mass-market solutions to India's water crisis. ''They want to be part of modern society. After a water ATM is set up, 15-20 % of the people immediately start buying water. They like to claim 'we have a water ATM.''' The idea of clean fresh water for all, as a human right, rather than an ''affordable'' commodity, will quickly disappear as fast as the drinking fountains one used to find in our communities not that long ago. One must note that today, we find corporations writing many of their own articles for media, who in turn present them as journalism. Round and round we go.

''Purpose also hopes to develop a business promoting 'new economy' products such as solar energy. It will recommend to its members that they buy solar power from such-and-such a provider. In return, it will charge a referral fee.'' '' The Economist, The business of campaigning, Profit with Purpose, Jan 26, 2013

We can assume this business model will be employed across the board. Purpose tells the story that entices the purchase, Purpose mobilizes the movements building on the foundation of the story, and Purpose receives their referral fee in the mail.

What you are about to witness is the global mobilization of ''consumers'' to be ushered into the green economy, without SAYING it is the green economy. The climate parade in NYC, coinciding with the release of 350's Naomi Klein's new book, is the launching pad.

The kings and queens of hegemony have rolled the dice and placed their bets on Avaaz, 350.org and Naomi Klein (350.org board member) to usher in the illusory green economy under the guise of a so-called ''new economy.'' Their winning bet is that author Naomi Klein's latest book will be the vehicle that ignites their new economy, and thus ''changes everything.''

It is not by accident that foundation-financed ''progressive'' media and those within the non-profit industrial complex are heavily promoting Klein's upcoming book release with multiple side events. It is not by accident that Avaaz's latest petition titled The Global People's Climate March has strategically modified the This Changes Everything book title to ''Join to Change Everything'' and ''To change everything, it takes everyone.'' Note the similar language employed by WWF: ''To change everything, we need everyone.''

The tragedy is that Americans appear incapable of building a legitimate movement on a foundation of knowledge and disciplined, resolute minimalism. There is no better example of this than the lifestyle of former left-wing guerrilla and current president of Uruguay, Jos(C) Mujica. Rather, as a culture cultivated on greed and individualism, we swallow the illusion (lie) that the only way out of our suicidal economic system is through more consumption '' with consumption this time around being branded with an ethical veneer. It's as though consumption has devoured our psyche and we are unable to escape it. Like sadistic prisoners of our own doing, we have trapped ourselves in a cage as ''consumers'' (the term Purpose Inc. uses for citizens) and have chosen to throw away the key.

The goal must be to weaken and sabotage the existing power structures until they collapse. When we lend our voices to the non-profit industrial complex, by extension we strengthen hegemony, capitalism and imperialism, ensuring our continued enslavement and, ensuring the annihilation of most all life on our shared planet.

We need to start thinking, stop consuming, and start living.

+++

The Behavioural Change Dream Team:

· Full profile of Jeremy Heimans: Avaaz: Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part II, Section II [link]

· Full profile of David Madden: Avaaz: Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part II, Section II [link]

· Full profile of James Slezak: Avaaz: Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part II, Section III [link]

Further reading on behavioural change: Avaaz: Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part II, Section II [link]

[Cory Morningstar is an independent investigative journalist, writer and environmental activist, focusing on global ecological collapse and political analysis of the non-profit industrial complex. She resides in Canada. Her recent writings can be found on Wrong Kind of Green, The Art of Annihilation, Political Context, Counterpunch, Canadians for Action on Climate Change and Countercurrents. Her writing has also been published by Bolivia Rising and Cambio, the official newspaper of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.]

Endnotes:

[1] As Clinton Global Initiative director of commitments, Bezerra led the redesign of member engagement and commitments services into a year-round operation. From 2007 to 2008, Bezerra held the position of sponsorship manager of the Clinton Global Initiative where she directly managed five major sponsorship accounts, including Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Procter & Gamble, valued at over $2 million dollars. From 2006 to 2008, Bezerra held the position of Commitment Development Senior Manager for the Clinton Global Initiative. In 2009, Bezerra was Deputy Director of Commitments for the Clinton Global Initiative. Bezerra took a central role in building the Clinton Global Initiative from its start-up. The Clinton Global Initiative was integral to the creation and funding of the Rockefellers' incubator project 1Sky, now merged with 350.org (which was also integral to the creation of 1Sky). The CGI is a partner to 350.org/1Sky. Bill Clinton is recognized as a notable ally.

Bezerra is the CEO and Founder of Aldeia Works, board member of Breakthrough and serves as an advisor to Inspiring Capital. In New York, Bezerra also served as the business and financial manager for AEA Consulting, ''a management consulting company with a client base of leading nonprofit cultural organizations throughout Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Bezerra is a board member of Rhize, (March, 2014 to present; http://www.rhize.org/) whose stated mission is ''building a global community driving peoplepowered democracy around the world.'' She also serves on the board of Atikus Insurance (January 2014 to present; http://www.atikusinsurance.com/) and as a ''Strike Team Member'' of the ForeSight Group.

[2] Purpose Action Board of Directors: Jon Huggett, founding chair of Social Innovation Exchange, former partner at The Bridgespan Group and Bain & Company; Rashad Robinson, executive director of ColorOfChange.org and former senior director of media programs at GLAAD; Brett Solomon, executive director of Access, former campaigns director at Avaaz, former executive director of GetUp!; Douglas Atkin, director of community at Airbnb, former chief community officer of Meetup, author of The Culting of Brands; Andre Banks, executive director of Purpose Foundation, former strategy director at Purpose and former deputy director of ColorOfChange.org; Jeremy Heimans, co-founder & CEO of Purpose, co-founder of Avaaz and co-founder of GetUp! [Source]

[3] Purpose Foundation Board of Directors: Carla Sutherland, research scholar at Columbia University's Gender and Sexuality Law Center's Engaging Tradition Project, former program officer at Ford Foundation and Arcus Foundation; Jeremy Heimans, co-founder & CEO of Purpose, co-founder of Avaaz and co-founder of GetUp!; Michael Evans, president of Moynihan Station Development Corporation and former chief of staff to the Lieutenant Governor of New York State. [Source]| Purpose Foundation's organizational documents and annual reports on Form 990 can be found here.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 20:27

adminAug 30, 2013350.org / 1Sky, Avaaz, Non-Profit Industrial Complex, The International Campaign to Destabilize Syria, Whiteness & Aversive Racism''Here's the awful truth: even if every person, every automobile, and every factory suddenly emitted zero emissions, the earth would still be headed, head first and at full speed, toward total disaster for one major reason. The military produces enough greenhouse gases, by itself, to place the entire globe, with all its inhabitants large and small, in the most imminent danger of extinction.'' '-- Barry Sanders, The Green Zone

Today's commentary by Cory Morningstar, WKOG Collective

August 30, 2012

Appalling.

350.org's Van Jones (U.S. Advisory Council Board member and NRDC trustee), is calling for airstrikes on Syria. [CNN Video below.]

From the 350.org website:

''Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy. He is a co-founder of three successful non-profit organizations: The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change and Green For All. Jones is the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs, The Green-Collar Economy. He served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House in 2009. Jones is currently the President of Rebuild the Dream.'' [Emphasis added.]

Never has the legacy of Ella Baker been so disgraced. Ella, today, spinning in her grave, once conveyed to the world:

''Remember, we are not fighting for the freedom of the Negro alone, but for the freedom of the human spirit a larger freedom that encompasses all mankind.''

Ella would surely spit on Van Jones if she were alive today.350.org's Ricken Patel (350.org International Advisory Council member '' and Avaaz founder) is also pounding the drums of war. Just 4 days ago, on August 22, 2013, Patel himself urged Avaaz supporters to demand world leaders ''place a no-fly zone over Syria.'' Those who comprise Avaaz are already up to their necks '' in the blood of the Libyan people who they helped annihilate. [Further reading: Did Libya's Citizens Demand Foreign Intervention? A ridiculous question, yet according to Avaaz, the answer is yes.]

The following link is Google's cache of the Avaaz/Patel campaign to demand a no fly zone (https://secure.avaaz.org/en/syria_no_fly_zone/). It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 22 Aug 2013 18:08:13 GMT: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:vzBe8PMa7H8J:https://secure.avaaz.org/en/syria_no_fly_zone/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&client=firefox-a

Screenshots of Patel's email:

Of course, organizations such as Avaaz and 350.org/1Sky, are created and financed by the very fraudsters that the World Bank whistleblower, Karen Hudes, warns us about. [WORLD BANK WHISTLEBLOWER ON SYRIA [THE IRAN, IRAQ, SYRIA PIPELINE PROJECT]The notorious war criminal, George Bush, first used the term ''axis of evil'' in his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002. He repeated the term throughout his presidency, to describe the governments that he accused of helping ''terrorism'' and seeking ''weapons of mass destruction''. Media perpetually echoed the message until it sunk into the American psyche. Iran, Iraq and North Korea were the key ''Axis of Evil'' countries targeted for demonization.

Perhaps forgotten is that the ''Beyond the Axis of Evil'' countries included Cuba, Libya, & Syria.

The demonization of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, (distinguished guest of U.S. Colombia University, 2006) was never so skillfully orchestrated.

The public lapped it up.

Over a million dead and counting.

Today, ''The Axis of Evil'' psyops (still drilled into the Euro-American psyche) has been coupled, if not superseded, with the manufacturing of fear. Add to this orchestrated fear, the ''Humanitarian Intervention'' and ''Responsibility to Protect'' doctrines. The cr¨me de le cr¨me of imperial rhetoric. Such doctrines, created by American ''think-tanks'', for the elite, by the elite, are of critical use for a declining and morally bankrupt empire. An empire that brilliantly attempts to convince and portray, utilizing the language within these doctrines, that the atrocities they manufacture, call for, and carry out, are somehow honourable and admirable '' as opposed to what they actually are: crimes against humanity. Orwell would have called this psychopathic persistence a stunning feat in doublespeak.

Many so-called civil society organizations/NGOs have been instrumental in making these doctrines palatable to the public.

The empire really needs you to believe.

Don't.Above: The video that Avaaz et al did not want you to see. ''That a million Libyans came out and filled Green Square, under the threat of NATO bombing, to show their support for Muammar al-Gaddafi was easily overlooked. A seduced person, a person who is loving the thrill of being seduced, no longer has any use for truth or facts.''[The ''Arab Spring'' and the Seduction of the Western Left]

[Cory Morningstar is an independent investigative journalist, writer and environmental activist, focusing on global ecological collapse and political analysis of the non-profit industrial complex. She resides in Canada. Her recent writings can be found on Wrong Kind of Green, The Art of Annihilation, Political Context, Counterpunch, Canadians for Action on Climate Change and Countercurrents. Her writing has also been published by Bolivia Rising and Cambio,the official newspaper of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.]

Further Reading on 350.org:

Rockefellers' 1Sky Unveils the New 350.org | More $ '' More Delusion

Why I Refuse to Promote Bill McKibben

The Climate Cartel: 1Sky, 350.org and Rockefeller Brothers | Stronger as One

Tar Sands Action & the Paralysis of a Movement | Part I

Obedience '' A New Requirement for the ''Revolution''

Unravelling the Deception of a False Movement

When Will Environmentalists Ever Wake Up? The Great Pipeline Scam

Keystone XL | The Ivory Towers Crushing the Last Remnants of Climate Justice

SumOfUs are Corporate Whores | Some Of Us Are Not

The Most Important COP Briefing That No One Ever Heard | Truth, Lies, Racism & Omnicide

Designer Protests and Vanity Arrests in DC

Keystone XL: The Art of NGO Discourse | Part I

Keystone XL: The Art of NGO Discourse '' Part II

Working for Warren: Corporate Greens

Further Reading on Avaaz:

The Grotesque and Disturbing Ideology at the Helm of Avaaz

SPEAKING TRUTH: A Profound Message to Avaaz from Poet Gabriel Impaglione of Argentina

Argentine Journalist Stella Calloni Denounces Avaaz | Latin American Unions Follow Her Lead

Avaaz: Empire Propaganda Mill Masquerading as Grassroots Activism

Rio Summit ''Good Versus Evil'' Advert Displays Blatant Racism and Imperialism at Core of Avaaz

Avaaz: Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part I, Section I

Avaaz: Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part I, Section II

Through the Looking Glass

Avaaz: Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part I, Section III

Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part II, Section I

Avaaz: Imperialist Pimps of Militarism, Protectors of the Oligarchy, Trusted Facilitators of War | Part II, Section II

Stella Calloni: Disinformation Against Syria is Criminal

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 20:49

The People's Climate March is being organized by an ever-growing coalition that comprises more than 1,500 organizations demanding world leaders take action to combat climate change. Because this is a ''movement of movements'' moment, the People's Climate March is being organized in a participatory, open-source model.

The full list of participating organizations is below. If you represent an organization looking to get involved, click here.

To see a list of celebrities, authors, athletes, and artists who have endorsed the march, click here.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 20:15

Posted: 9 June 2011The Avaaz Way: How We Work

From technology, new nimbleness and flexibilityPrevious international citizens' groups and social movements have had to build a constituency for each separate issue, year by year and country by country, in order to reach a scale that could make a difference.Today, thanks to new technology and a rising ethic of global interdependence, that constraint no longer applies. Where other global civil society groups are composed of issue-specific networks of national chapters, each with its own staff, budget, and decision-making structure, Avaaz has a single, global team with a mandate to work on any issue of public concern--allowing campaigns of extraordinary nimbleness, flexibility, focus, and scale.

Avaaz's online community can act like a megaphone to call attention to new issues; a lightning rod to channel broad public concern into a specific, targeted campaign; a fire truck to rush an effective response to a sudden, urgent emergency; and a stem cell that grows into whatever form of advocacy or work is best suited to meet an urgent need.

Avaaz's priorities and power come from membersEach year, Avaaz sets overall priorities through all-member polls (See 2014 poll results here), and campaign ideas are polled and tested weekly to 10,000-member random samples'--and only initiatives that find a strong response are taken to scale. Campaigns that do reach the full membership are then super-charged by, often, hundreds of thousands of Avaaz members taking part within days or even hours.An ethic of servant leadershipAvaaz staff write email alerts to the Avaaz community the way that an aide briefs a president or prime minister: we have just a moment to convey the vital information the reader needs in order to decide whether to get involved, and the campaign hinges on that decision.To make that moment of attention count, it's the job of staff to find ways that a few minutes, multiplied across huge numbers of people, can make a genuine difference on something that matters. Staff work with partners and experts to develop effective, member-driven campaign strategies; summarize them through clear and compelling alerts; and, if the Avaaz membership chooses to proceed, makes sure that the campaign is carried through'--delivering petitions and members' messages, arranging member-funded ad campaigns, or whatever else is required.

In other words, Avaaz staff don't set an agenda and try to convince members to go along with it. It's closer to the opposite: staff listen to members and suggest actions they can take in order to affect the broader world. Small wonder, then, that many of our most successful campaigns are suggested first by Avaaz members themselves. And leadership is a critical part of member service: it takes vision and skill to find and communicate a way to build a better world.

We focus on tipping-point moments of crisis and opportunityIn the life of an issue or a cause, a moment sometimes arises when a decision must be made, and a massive, public outcry can suddenly make all the difference. Getting to that point can take years of painstaking work, usually behind the scenes, by dedicated people focusing on nothing else. But when the moment does come, and the sunlight of public attention floods in, the most crucial decisions go one way or another depending on leaders' perceptions of the political consequences of each option. It is in these brief windows of tremendous crisis and opportunity that the Avaaz community often makes its mark.In any country or on any issue, those moments might come only once or twice a year. But because Avaaz can work in all countries and on all issues, these moments can crop up several times in a week.

Our member-funded model keeps us independent and accountableBecause Avaaz is wholly member-funded, democratic accountability is in our DNA. No corporate sponsor or government backer can insist that Avaaz shift its priorities to suit some external agenda'--we simply don't accept funds from governments or corporations. (Read more about why it's worth donating to Avaaz here, and chip in here.)Instead of fragmenting, we grow'--united by valuesMovements, coalitions, and organizations often fracture over time into many smaller pieces'--or spend more and more of their time trying to hold warring factions together. At Avaaz, we recognize that people of good will often disagree on specifics; instead of straining for consensus, each of us simply decides whether to participate in any particular campaign.But underlying Avaaz campaigns is a set of values'--the conviction that we are all human beings first, and privileged with responsibilities to each other, to future generations, and to the planet. The issues we work on are particular expressions of those commitments. And so, over and over, Avaaz finds the same thing: that people who join the community through a campaign on one issue go on to take action on another issue, and then another. This is a source of great hope: that our dreams rhyme, and that, together, we can build the bridge from the world we have to the world we all want.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 19:53

Tennis-Club Unilever SFS is a company at Switzerland,Fax is 041 729 28 88 (+41-041 729 28 88),Address is Grafenauweg 12, 6300 Zug. Postfach: 6301 Zug

Address:Grafenauweg 12, 6300 Zug. Postfach: 6301 ZugCity/Area:SwitzerlandCountry:SwitzerlandCategory: Sportvereine Ballsport Tennis

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 19:50

We support scientists in improving their communication and outreach.

We offer workshops in communication skills at professional meetings and labs, and assistance in preparing accessible materials for non-scientists. Below you can find examples of some of the work we've done.

In May 2013, Director Susan Hassol, along with journalist Dan Glick, led a media training workshop for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration staff at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, NC.

In March 2013, Susan conducted a national webinar for the NOAA and its affiliates, providing tools and tips about communicating climate change to the public.

In February 2013, Susan went to Washington DC for Climate Science Day on Capitol Hill, where she addressed scientists on communicating climate change to their representatives.

In December 2013, Susan, Science Director Richard Somerville, and photographer James Balog of Chasing Ice conducted a panel on communicating climate change at the fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

In May 2012, Susan traveled to Woods Hole to work with scientists at the Woods Hole Research Center, Marine Biological Lab, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and gave a lecture, led a roundtable with communications staff, and led a workshop on communications. She also gave a talk at the University of Arizona in March 2012, as the plenary speaker for the U of A's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences' EarthWeek 2012.

In April 2012, Susan, along with Aaron Huertas of the Union of Concerned Scientists, led a webinar on ''Bridging the Gap in Public Understanding of Climate Change: What Can Scientists Do?'' to an audience of several hundred scientists nation-wide.

In January 2012, Susan spoke via videoconference to a NOAA workshop in Maryland focusing on science communication. The workshop was conducted by NOAA and the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Susan and Richard have led several workshops on climate science communication at the annual meeting of AGU '-- one in December 2011, the other in 2010 (see photo above taken at the 2010 meeting). They also led workshops for the Climate Science Rapid Response Team. Susan and Richard both gave invited talks at AGU in 2011 (you can watch one of Susan's talks here and Richard's here).

In November 2011, Susan gave an invited seminar at the National Center for Atmospheric Research on ''Improving Scientists' Communication of Climate Change'' sponsored by Women Organizing Research and Leading Science.

Susan and Richard led climate communication workshops at NASA Langley in November 2011, and at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in March 2011. Susan and Richard both acted as mentors for early career PhD scientists during the week-long DISCCRS VI Seminar (Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research) in October 2011.

By Julie Stuart of Making Ideas Visual (click for larger version)

Susan gave a talk at the 2009 AGU meeting called ''Communicating With Congress (and Everyone Else)''. This visual mural was created during her talk by Julie Stuart of Making Ideas Visible. The mural was posted in the lobby of the Moscone Center throughout the AGU conference.

Susan was the Senior Science Writer on the 2009 report, Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, commissioned by the United States Government during the George W. Bush administration. She is currently working in this position again on the Third National Climate Assessment, due to be released in May 2014.

If you are a scientist or an organization that would like assistance, please contact us.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 14:40

Political leanings:Democratic/liberal

Spending target: $100 million

San Francisco billionaire and climate-change activist Tom Steyer spent millions in three high-profile 2013 elections, and his NextGen Climate Action group was reportedly ready to spend as much as $100 million or more in 2014. It is a fierce opponent of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project.

Steyer said in a Feb. 17 New York Times interview that $100 million would be a ''really cheap price'' to pay to influence policy toward what he called the ''generational challenge of the world.'' In May, he confirmed that his group's goal is indeed $100 million and announced that the group would target races in seven states. His NextGen Climate Action group states that its mission is ''to avert climate disaster and preserve American prosperity.''

In 2012 Steyer, who is reported to be worth $1.5 billion, sold the San Francisco-based hedge fund he had founded in 1986 and turned to philanthropy and political action. NextGen Climate Action says it was incorporated in early 2013 as a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization. A NextGen Climate Action Committee also registered July 22, 2013 with the Federal Election Commission as a super PAC, making only independent expenditures. Steyer personally contributed $9.3 million to the super PAC in 2013, and an unknown amount to the 501(c)(4), which is not required to disclose its donors.

Steyer poured an astonishing $8 million into the 2013 contest for governor of Virginia. Among other things, NextGen Climate Action Committee paid for a TV ad attacking Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli as a ''climate change denier'' who (as state attorney general) had engaged in a taxpayer-funded ''witch hunt'' against a University of Virginia professor whose research on climate change he opposed. On its website, the group claims credit for helping defeat Cuccinelli through a ''a massive integrated effort'' that also including door-to-door canvasing and targeted online ads.

Also in 2013, a sister group funded by Steyer, the CE Action Committee, spent about $1 million supporting Democratic Rep. Ed Markey and attacking his primary and general election opponents in a special race to fill the Senate seat formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry. In 2009, Markey co-authored an ambitious cap-and-trade bill to address climate change. It passed the House (then under Democratic control) only to die later in the Senate. Markey won the special election.

Steyer's group was less successful in a pivotal special election to fill a Washington state Senate seat. According to local news reports, Steyer spent more than $500,000 attacking Republican state Rep. Jan Angel in her successful bid to unseat the incumbent Democrat, state Sen. Nathan Schlicher, who had been appointed to fill a vacancy. It was the most expensive state Senate race in state history. Steyer's money helped fund TV ads attacking Angel for legislation to ''reduce access to mammograms'' and ''eliminate funding for cancer screenings.'' But she won anyway, and her victory padded the margin of the ruling majority coalition to 26-23. The coalition is made up of Republicans, plus two Democrats who caucus with the GOP.

According to the New York Times story in February, the group intends to use ''a hard-edge campaign of attack ads against governors and lawmakers'' in 2014, trying to pressure them to enact measures to address climate change. The organization announced in May that it would focus on races in seven states: Senate races in Iowa, New Hampshire, Colorado and Michigan, and governors' races in Pennsylvania, Florida and Maine. None of the targeted candidates is a Democrat.

The Senate candidates are Cory Gardner of Colorado, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Scott Brown of New Hampshire and Terri Lynn Land of Michigan. The gubernatorial targets are all incumbents: Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Maine Gov. Paul LePage.

As of mid-2014 the NextGen super PAC had reported spending $14.3 million, including a single contribution of $5 million in April to the Senate Majority PAC, a group dedicated to keeping Democrats in control of the U.S. Senate.

Fact-checking NextGen Climate Action:

Stretching Cuccinelli's Record, Sept. 19, 2013

The Messy Facts in Virginia, Aug. 23, 2013

Florida Fracking Fracas, Aug. 14, 2014

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Source: Consortiumnews

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 18:37

Even in the face of new scientific reports on the escalating dangers from global warming, the ''deniers'' continue to pick at the now overwhelming data and pick up their checks from oil and other industry groups, write Bill Moyers and Michael Winship.

By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship

Just as Sunday's big People's Climate March and next week's UN global summit on climate converge in New York City, the nation and world are experiencing weather of an intensity that should rattle the stubborn false convictions of even the most fervent climate change denier.

Terrible flooding in India and Pakistan, the worst in more than a century, with heavy monsoon rains, 500 lives lost and hundreds of thousands left stranded'... thousands of wildfires ignited by severe drought in California and the West'... flashfloods in Arizona'... the punch of a hurricane pounding Mexico's Baja coast, the strongest in nearly 50 years, battering locals and trapping tourists in their hotels without electricity.

The image of the Earth rising over the surface of the moon, a photograph taken by the first U.S. astronauts to orbit the moon.

We know it's important not to confuse day-to-day weather patterns with climate, which measure variations of things like temperatures and humidity over long periods of time, but it's clear that these disasters are made more powerful by global warming. The pain is only going to get worse for us and for future generations, unless we act now. Our governments must reduce those carbon emissions that are heating up the atmosphere before it's too late.But up to now, world leaders have refused to give global warming the crisis treatment that's needed, even as the evidence mounts day by day. A draft report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that the vast amounts of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere will have ''severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts,'' and that we're already seeing the effect in heat waves, floods and rising sea levels.

Another UN report, this one from the World Meteorological Organization, says that amounts of carbon dioxide '-- the gas that traps heat in our atmosphere '-- are increasing even faster than scientists predicted, more than in the last 800,000 years at least.

The accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers has crunched the numbers and spots an ''unmistakable trend'' that puts us just 20 years away from catastrophe. ''In a highly globalized economy,'' they write, ''no country is likely to be spared as the impacts of climate change ripple around the world'...''

If for some reason you don't believe the scientists and the accountants, listen to the birds. Last week, the National Audubon Society reported that of some 650 bird species studied in the United States and Canada, ''more than half are '... at risk from global warming.'' The study's chief author, Gary Langham, told The New York Times, ''The notion that we can have a future that looks like what our grandparents experienced, with the birds they had, is unlikely.'' Imagine a world without birdsong.

But climate change deniers persist in telling us it just ain't so, like the tobacco industry claiming for decade after decade that nicotine wasn't addictive or that cigarettes couldn't kill you. It's been more than a decade since Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, once chair of the U.S. Senate's committee on the environment and public works, told us that ''man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.'' He still says he thinks so and so do many of his allies.

Slick public relations and advertising campaigns are underwritten to fool the public and smear the truth-tellers. Foundations and think tanks have been created by industry just to create doubt and hammer away against the overwhelming evidence of climate disruption.

Last year, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that between 2002 and 2010, via two right-wing groups, Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, billionaires had given nearly $120 million to more than 100 anti-climate change groups. And the progressive Center for Media and Democracy revealed that a web of right-wing think tanks called the State Policy Network, affiliated with the notorious American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and funded to the tune of $83 million by companies including Facebook, AT&T and Microsoft, was pushing a hard-right agenda that includes opposition to climate change rules and regulations.

A new study from two groups, Forecast the Facts Action and the SumOfUs.org, says that since 2008, businesses have given campaign contributions to the 160 members of Congress who have rejected climate change that amount to more than $640 million. That includes Google, eBay, Ford and UPS; in fact, 90 percent of the cash came from outside the fossil-fuel industry.

Many of the naysayers are not in total denial; they either say climate change is happening more slowly than we think '-- the so-called ''lukewarmers'' '-- or they insist that global warming actually is good for you!

Here's a headline from the conservative Heartland Institute: ''Benefits of Global Warming Greatly Exceed Costs, New Study Says.''

And here's a statement responding to that new UN report on carbon dioxide from Chip Knappenberger, assistant director of the Cato Institute's Center for the Study of Science. Cato has received funding from the Koch brothers '-- much of whose billions have come from fossil fuels '-- and Exxon Mobil.

We should, Knappenberger said, be proud of those greenhouse gases and ''applaud our progress in energy expansion around the world,'' and he noted a previous statement of his in which he exulted that the rise in carbon dioxide ''is cause for celebration.''

Much of this has little to do with the reality of science, some has to do with fundamentalist religious beliefs but most has to do with, you guessed it, money and politics. A study by the journal Climatic Change finds that the more wealthy Republicans are, the more likely they are to think that rising global temperatures are non-existent or no big deal.

After all, the industries that are causing the problem '-- especially anything to do with the extraction or use of fossil fuels '-- are making them filthy rich. And many of them actually believe further climate change could be good for business. Those melting icecaps and glaciers are opening up waterways in the north, you see.

And the defense contractor Raytheon Industries sees big profit opportunities because ''climate change may cause humanitarian disasters, contribute to political violence and undermine weak governments.'' We're not making this up.

So intense is the political and corporate opposition to the concept of manmade climate change '-- despite a majority of Americans who accept it as reality '-- that some of the more rational officeholders and local governments quietly are trying to work around the resistance, preparing for the worst without mentioning the dreaded words climate change or global warming.

In Grand Haven, Michigan, AP reports, officials are preparing for heat waves and storm erosion without saying anything about you-know-what. In Florida, communities are taking steps to protect towns against rising sea levels without getting into a fight over what's causing them. In Tulsa, Oklahoma '-- where Senator Jim Inhofe used to be mayor '-- flood control and drought prevention are sought in the name not of warming but of disaster preparedness.

Meanwhile, some of the media finally are coming around, catching up with public opinion. Once enslaved to the notion of having to give equal weight to both sides despite the overwhelming evidence supporting climate change, they're changing their tune.

A few months ago, the independent BBC Trust said that the British broadcaster was giving ''undue attention to marginal opinion'' when it came to airtime for climate deniers and should adjust accordingly. The Los Angeles Times announced it would no longer print climate change denial letters to the editor '' contrast that with Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, which last year ran more anti-climate change letters than any other major newspaper.

And last month, The Washington Post, long criticized for the space given such climate deniers as columnist George Will, ran a week's worth of climate change editorials, declaring, in the words of its editorial page editor, ''an existential threat to the planet.''

So we have to ask, how long will we allow the climate deniers the prominence and weight that lets them give our political leaders cover to run and hide from reality?

Two men in Massachusetts decided: No longer. This past May, they used their lobster boat '' the Henry David T., as in Henry David Thoreau '' to block a coal freighter from docking at a Massachusetts power station. They turned themselves in and faced charges that could have resulted in two years in jail and thousands of dollars in fines.

But last week, the local district attorney, Sam Sutter, stood on the courthouse steps and announced that he had dropped the criminal charges. ''Climate change is one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced,'' he said. ''In my humble opinion, the political leadership on this issue has been gravely lacking.''

He then announced his intention to be at the People's Climate March in New York.

Pope Francis would say ''Amen'' to that. ''Safeguard Creation,'' he warned, just around the same time the Henry David T. was blocking that coal freighter. ''Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us!''

Bill Moyersis the managing editor of Moyers & Company and BillMoyers.com. Michael Winship is the Emmy Award-winning senior writer of Moyers & Company and BillMoyers.com, and a senior writing fellow at the policy and advocacy group Demos.

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

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 20:47

South Street Seaport, an area of lower Manhattan that was severely flooded during Hurricane Sandy, on March 31, 2014 in New York City Celebrities, activists and political leaders are expected to join more than 100,000 people in New York Sunday for what could be the largest climate change protest in history, organizers said.

Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, former US vice president turned advocate Al Gore, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio are due to take part in the "People's Climate March."

The event has been endorsed by more than 1,400 organizations, including environment, faith and justice groups, as well as labor unions. Students have mobilized marchers at more than 300 college campuses.

The protest will wind its way through Midtown Manhattan on a two-mile (3.2-kilometer) route starting at 11:30 am (1530 GMT).

After a moment of silence at 1 pm, participants will be encouraged to use instruments, alarms and whistles to make as much noise as possible, helped by marching bands and the tolling of church bells.

Artists have been making props ahead of the protest, working on floats in the hipster artist neighborhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn.

Around the world, more than 2,700 climate events in 158 countries are planned to coincide with the New York march, including rallies in New Delhi, Jakarta, London, Melbourne and Rio de Janeiro.

The rallies will take place ahead of a climate change summit hosted by Ban Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Ban is urging governments to support an ambitious global agreement to dramatically reduce global warming pollution.

More than 120 heads of state and almost 40 ministers are due to attend the summit that Ban hopes will energize negotiations on reaching a deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The meeting will set the stage for a crucial conference in Paris in December 2015 aimed at finalizing an agreement.

"We are breaking ground here on many different levels," UN climate chief Christiana Figueres told reporters.

"First, we're going to see unprecedented public mobilization for climate action."

Explore further:World will 'change course' on climate at UN summit

(C) 2014 AFP

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Target Concentration for CO2 in the atmosphere:

Since 1751, approximately 356 billion metric tonnes (gigatons) of carbon has been released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels (and cement production, which accounts for about 5% of global CO2 emissions because CO2 is a by-product of converting calcium carbonate into lime). Half of all fossil fuel emissions have occurred since 1980. (Biogeosciences, 9, 1845-1871, 2012)

In 2010, at UN climate talks in Mexico, 167 countries, together responsible for more than 87% of global carbon emissions, committed to prevent average temperatures rising more than 2ËC above pre-industrial levels. "Two degrees" has been adopted as the threshold which we must not pass.

To keep temperature rise within 2ËC, climate scientists calculate that human activity can add no more than another 565 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2050. At present rates, (31 gigatons globally during 2011 and rising) this figure will be reached by 2028. (Bill McKibben, Rolling Stone 2/08/12)

Average temperatures have so far risen by about 0.8ËC above pre-industrial levels, but even if carbon emissions from human activity stopped overnight, temperature would rise by another 0.8ËC, because it takes decades for the heat absorbed by the oceans to find its way to the atmosphere. Scientists calculate that there is a 53 - 87% probability that the 2 degree target will be exceeded if global greenhouse gas emissions stay more than 25% above 2000 levels in 2020. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v458/n7242/full/nature08017.html

Computer models indicate that current trends in emissions put us on track for an average temperature increase of 6ËC by the end of this century - a devastating change. The 2012 Report for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute "Turn Down the Heat" predicts that current emissions put us on track for a temperature increase between 4Ë and 6ËC by 2100.http://climatechange.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/Turn_Down_the_heat_Why_a_4_degree_centrigrade_warmer_world_must_be_avoided.pdf

The relationship between CO2 emissions and temperature is not immediately apparent. For this reason, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere provides a more useful metric for framing policy

The 2007 Stern Review warned about the consequences of reaching a concentration of 550ppm CO2(e): "The annual flow of emissions is accelerating, as fast-growing economies invest in high carbon infrastructure and as demand for energy and transport increases around the world. The level of 550ppm CO2e could be reached as early as 2035. At this level there is at least a 77% chance - and perhaps up to a 99% chance, depending on the climate model used - of a global average temperature rise exceeding 2ËC by the end of the century, giving at least a 50% risk of exceeding 5ËC global average temperature change during the following decades. This would take humans into unknown territory. An illustration of the scale of such an increase is that we are now only around 5ËC warmer than in the last ice age. Such changes would transform the physical geography of the world. A radical change in the physical geography of the world must have powerful implications for the human geography - where people live, and how they live their lives."

"In the long term, annual global emissions will need to be reduced to below 5 Gigatonnes (Gt) CO2e, the level that the earth can absorb without adding to the concentration of green house gasses (GHGs) in the atmosphere. This is more than 80% below the absolute level of current annual emissions." (Stern Review, 2007)

The Stern Review indicated that it will be very difficult to stabilise CO2 in the atmosphere at a level below 450ppm: "Anything lower would certainly impose very high adjustment costs in the near term for small gains and might not even be feasible, not least because of past delays in taking strong action". "The Economics of Climate Change, The Stern Review", 2007 http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sternreview_index.htm

More recent research by climate scientist James Hansen indicates that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is already at dangerous levels and must fall from the current 394ppm to at most 350 parts per million. Hansen warns "if the present overshoot of this target concentration is not brief, there is the possibility of seeding irreversible catastrophic effects". (Abstract of 'Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?, James Hansen et al : http://www.columbia.edu/-jeh/2008/TargetCO2_20080407

Hansen's key insight is that it will only be possible to stabilise at 350ppm if we stop burning coal, which releases more CO2 than gas or oil. A major grass roots campaign in the USA (www.350.org) is focussed on this aim. It also campaigns on key issues such as tar sands, but is up fighting well funded lobbying on behalf of fossil fuel companies (e.g. http://cei.org/about-cei) which deny climate change is a problem.

In 2008, the United Kingdom became the first country to pass legislation with binding targets for its future carbon emissions. The independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) http://www.theccc.org.uk/home was established to set national targets and monitor progress. It determined that UK carbon emissions should be cut by 2050 compared to 1990, based on the principle that each person is entitled to the same per capita share of a finite global carbon budget and that global emissions need to be be 50% less in 2050 than 1990.

The Committee on Climate Change's 2012 (4th annual) report to Parliament expressed growing concern at the UK's failure to meet unambitious initial carbon reduction targets, but is also relevant to other nations: "There are major challenges sustaining and increasing the pace of investment in low-carbon power generation, building fabric measures and other energy efficiency improvements, renewable heat, electric vehicles and travel behaviour change. Whereas when we first highlighted the need for a step change, there was a lead-time of several years, this has now elapsed. Therefore the step change is needed urgently if we are to remain on track to meeting future carbon budgets. In other words, it is crucial now to move from policy development to delivery." http://ebookbrowse.com/ccc-progress-rep-2012-execsumm-1-pdf-d363320438

Our View:The warnings from scientists have become increasingly urgent and make an unanswerable case for keeping future emissions within a precautionary, science-based, finite global carbon budget of 565 gigatons. However, we are addicted to carbon and most governments are currently more concerned about economic growth than cutting carbon emissions. It will be decades before renewable energy can replace fossil fuels, so it is vital that we waste less energy. However, we do not believe national measures to cut carbon emissions can succeed without a binding global climate deal which creates international peer pressure for all countries to act; requires industrialised countries to meet tough emissions targets and creates economic incentives for emerging and developing nations to build low carbon economies.

A recent report by the Carbon Tracker Initiative highlights the obstacles to a low carbon global economy. It shows that the proven fossil fuel reserves of coal, oil and gas owned by governments and fossil fuel companies have a total market value of around 27 trillion dollars. The stock value of major corporations depends on burning these. However, this would produce an estimated 2,795 gigatons of carbon emissions - five time the 'safe' limit of 565 gigatons - and take Earth's climate to uncharted territory. http://www.carbontracker.org/carbonbubble

In short, the world needs to end its addiction to fossil fuels in time to keep these carbon assets in the ground. We must therefore find a way to make the transition to a low carbon world in order to ensure future economic and social well-being - and do so before a low carbon infrastructure is in place. We believe this will depend on harnessing market forces to share a finite global carbon budget in accordance with overarching scientific and ethical principles.

Climate Consent Foundation: a company limited by guarantee (07909056) UK Registered charity (1146081)

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In March 2012, Carbon Tracker's seminal report 'Unburnable Carbon' was Highly Commended in the City of London's Sustainability Awards.

This award-winning analysis by Carbon Tracker discovers that:

Already in 2011, the world has used over a third of its 50-year carbon budget of 886GtCO2, leaving 565GtCO2All of the proven reserves owned by private and public companies and governments are equivalent to 2,795 GtCO2Fossil fuel reserves owned by the top 100 listed coal and top 100 listed oil and gas companies represent total emissions of 745GtCO2Only 20% of the total reserves can be burned unabated, leaving up to 80% of assets technically unburnable

Distribution of reserves across exchanges

By allocating reserves to exchanges, it is possible to build up a picture of where reserves are listed. The map shows how the listings of coal, oil and gas reserves are distributed, indicating that capital markets are supporting the continued exploitation of fossil fuel reserves around the world.

click image for larger version of map

Focus on the UK:

The analysis shows that London currently has 105.5 GtCO2 of fossil fuel reserves listed on its exchange, over ten times the UK's domestic carbon budget for 2011 to 2050, of around 10 GtCO2. This amount is only growing with the addition of companies such as Glencore, Vallar and Vallares, and the predominance of mining companies amongst new listings '' 70% in the first half of 2011.

Relevance for investors

Asset owners typically invest large amounts in passive funds which track the market, or active funds which are benchmarked against market indices. This means many investors are backing huge fossil fuel reserves purely as a result of the structure of the financial products they invest in. The continued focus on short term returns perpetuates the status quo.

Regulation needed

Carbon Tracker argues that the new Financial Policy Committee, set up to monitor risks and bubbles in the financial system, must urgently address the ''carbon bubble'' and ensure regulators require greater disclose on reserves and carbon emission in order to assess this material risk to financial stability. Carbon Tracker recommends that this market failure is also considered by the Kay review into the structure of Equity markets to deliver a more long-term, transparent system.

About this report'...

"Having written my first report on climate change in 1978, I have been dutifully tracking the evolving science for half a lifetime, but only on Friday 15 July 2011 did I truly feel that the climate, carbon and financial agendas had been spot-welded in a way that potentially brings all of this right home to people such as asset owners, rating agencies, brokers, analysts, investment bankers, accountants, data providers and financial regulators.

John Elkington

Executive chairman of Volans, co-founder of SustainAbility, a member of the IIRC

"I welcome this report as I believe, as reflected in Mercer's recent climate change and asset allocation work, that climate change constitutes an important source of risk that institutional investors need to monitor, manage and engage with policy makers on in order to protect the long term value of their investments.

Will Oulton

Head of Responsible Investment '' EMEA, Mercer; Vice-President of Eurosif

"It's a triumph of a report.. a real milestone! Congratulations to all of you for pulling it off.

Tessa Tennant

Executive Chair, ASRIA

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By Neelie KroesToday I want to post about the relations between EU and US. About what opportunities new technology brings for that relationship. And about how we can share and work together to bring digital benefits to each other '' and to the whole world.For any long-term relationship, it's tempting to focus on the difficulties and disputes rather than what binds you together.The relations between the EU and US are a case in point. Those relations are longstanding and vital, but we often find ourselves focusing on the differences and divisions, not the on opportunities.I am a great friend and fan of this alliance. But we need to take account of how the world is transforming: a change that affects each of us and our relationship.Especially when you look at technological advances and the development of the Internet economy.For any new technology, it's easier to spot the threats than the opportunities. My approach is not to ignore those issues; still less to dismiss them. My approach is to understand and learn from them, in all their subtlety and complexity. And figure out what we can do '' together - to make the threats benign and the opportunities beneficial.I am an optimist on these issues. I see the positive side '' because only then can we seize the great opportunities of digital. But I know not everyone does. And we need to engage with and talk to the sceptics, not ignore them.Recent revelations about mass surveillance and recent examples of Internet fraud, hacking and cybercrime have been deeply shocking: to many in Europe: and to many in the USA too.Shock is a natural reaction; so is outrage. But I look at it slightly more positively and pragmatically.Really this was a wake-up call. Those recent events woke people up to the reality and the risk. It underlined what some have known for ages: we must strengthen our defences. And that is what I am pushing for Europe to do.Because the real risk is a loss of confidence in the Internet. We cannot allow poor planning '' or bad sentiment '' to endanger the huge economic and social benefits that flow from digital technologies and servicesTake America's dominance in new tech. It's true that many of the big names and big platforms are from America '' Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook. But Europe also offers many startup hubs '' and with them, success stories - Skype, Spotify, Swiftkey, Rovio and more.In fact many ICT innovations used across the world came from Europe. From Marconi's radio and Meucci's telephone; from the CD to the standards for GSM, WiFi, Bluetooth and more.Meanwhile European companies like SAP and BMW are embracing and innovating for digital change.I don't see American leadership as a threat; this is not a competition; at least not one with losers. Wherever they come from, Europeans benefit from those innovations; millions use and enjoy them every day. And we can also learn from how America works and how it innovates.For me it starts with the mindset that is prepared to take a risk. That's something I really saw in Silicon Valley.Hundreds of years ago, the first Europeans left home to sail west.They weren't afraid to take a risk, to leave their comfort zone, to break out somewhere new. That risk paid off. Now we need to learn that lesson back in Europe.If we are serious about nurturing innovation and innovators: Europeans need to realise that it's OK to fail. It's not shameful, it's not a stigma, it's not a black spot on your career.Quite the opposite: it is absolutely needed. You simply cannot innovate without taking a risk. So if you never failed '' you probably weren't ever trying.That lesson is just one of many things we can share and learn from each other.And let's remember what the internet can do on the global stage. It is a powerful platform to promote freedom and democracy.Bloggers in Egypt; activists in Azerbaijan; those challenging a Twitter ban in Turkey.Over the years, I have met all those people, and been inspired by them all. They are people fighting for freedom; and their weapon is the Internet, most amazing engine for spreading ideas ever invented.These are not just European values; they are American too. When those same settlers left Europe, they were not afraid to change; but equally they did not abandon their vital values. And today, together Europe and the US are the world's natural home of freedom and democracy. Together we can ensure that helps the world.The fact is: fundamentally the EU and US share many values. The differences between us show '' not how far apart we are '' but how much we can learn from each other to promote those values. How much we have to gain by trade and exchange; of products, people, ideas.25 years ago, a network, first devised for the US military, benefited from protocols developed by a British scientist working in Switzerland. Today, the Internet is now used by 3 billion people across the world, the platform for billions of dollars of trade.That's what we got through the open exchange of ideas. Now that same spirit can help us make the most of that network.Ultimately what we share is greater than what divides us. We should not forget that. Working together can make us all stronger.The internet succeeds because it is open. That is what makes it the natural home of innovation, the new frontier of freedom. As Vint Cerf put it, this is one of the most powerful amplifiers of speech ever invented, a global megaphone for otherwise feeble voices. The more open we are; the more we will benefit. Within the EU, and within the US; but also between the two continents.That is partly about removing barriers to trade, and opening up markets at all levels. That is what TTIP '' the transatlantic trade and investment partnership '' is all about. And that will need to have a strong digital component.But it's not just about removing trade barriers and tariffs.We can work together in so many areas to enjoy this digital boost; constructively collaborating to make this platform work across the Atlantic. That is my dream '' a transatlantic digital single market.Here's just a few ideas for where to start.First people and businesses need online transactions to be safe and trustworthy. Whether you are signing a contract, or filing your tax return: it's often easier online. But you don't want to be hacked or impersonated.Those online services need to provide both confidence and convenience. In the EU, new rules make that possible: so you can use eIdentification across borders; to prove you are who you say you are, and make the most of Europe's online services.I know the US is working in this area too.But work together and we could expand those benefits even more '' even towards mutual recognition of eIdentification. And open up a transatlantic market of online services for hundreds of millions.Second example: as more and more of our economy goes online, protecting those networks and systems becomes essential policy. And as threats and outright attacks grow in number, we need to protect ourselves.In Europe we are planning to do that through an EU Directive, to boost security and resilience; I know the US is preparing legislation too. Once again: if we cooperate and compare approaches, we could enhance the online economy, empower citizens, engender their trust. We already have a joint working group on these issues '' now it's time to reinforce and operationalise that work.In fact these are just a couple of ideas. Indeed we have been working hard in many areas to make the EU a digital single market. After I leave- the subsequent team of Commissioners have made clear they will be working very hard at it too. From making it easier for telcos to operate across borders, in open competitive markets: to getting rid of the roaming surcharges that get in the way of holidays and business trips.Those are all good ideas '' too good to keep to ourselves. We should take all those ideas for a digital single market '' and consider whether they, too, could be transatlantic. That is the real way to spread this digital boost.And finally, we can work together to ensure the digital boost reaches the whole world '' with an internet that is governed for the world.That is why we are working with the US to maintain freedom and openness online; and preserve a global, unified network. Not abandoning the current open system for governance, the so-called "multi-stakeholder" system '' that would be a mistake.But rather, by modernising it, ensuring it is inclusive and credible enough. So that other, less liberal parts of the world do not simply walk away, seek to impose their own controls, and fragment the network. That is why I welcome the US announcement to globalise key functions for how the Internet is run.And as the system of governance becomes more global, we must also have credible and efficient accountability. With mechanisms to ensure diverse interests are properly taken into account, preserving the legitimacy of the system. That is something where Europe and the United States need to work closely together.In 1989, two walls came down. First the Berlin Wall, heralding the fall the Iron Curtain that split Europe. Many countries to the east have now been transformed, from tyranny and oppression to freedom and openness; they now enjoy democracy, stability, peace and prosperity.In the same year, a second wall came down, in Geneva, when the world wide web was invented; a common language to spread ideas across the globe; an open platform for freedom and democracy.Today, we are still feeling the consequences and echoes of those events. In places like Ukraine. That's a place where you see people longing for the freedom and prosperity we too often take for granted. But we should not take them for granted. Not ever.The EU is all about bringing down barriers: barriers to movement, to trade, to opportunity. And that needs to continue.The evidence shows that '' within the EU alone '' a digital single market could be worth 4% of GDP; that's on average an extra 1500 dollars a year pocket of each of our half a billion citizens. Make that digital single market transatlantic '' and the benefits are there to see: for innovation, for prosperity, for freedom.

Netherlands leads the way to net-neutrality, whereas Greece lags far behind. Netherlands versus Neanderthals! Whenever the internet encounters a bottleneck, such as the freakish government of Greece, it just goes around it, bypassing cybercensorship, stupid regulation, VAT, cancer of socialism, and sadomasochism! A major benefit of net neutrality is that it allows society to blow off steam. Broadcasting of ideas releases pressures which otherwise might become destructive. Free speech also allows the government to gather information about public concerns. FREAKISH GREEK BLOGBUSTERSMost Greeks oppose cybercensorship.GivingcybercensorshiptoGreek blogbusters is giving gin to alcoholics! Blogbusters galore! Freak! Freak! Freak! The freakish government of Greece, the most corrupt country in Europe, steals computers! Robbing dissident bloggers and locking them in jail is a freakish behavior that does not belong to the European Union, not even to this galaxy! No wonder some vain Greeks boast they come from Andromeda galaxy!The fight againstGreekcybercensorship is more essential than ever. By creating blogs for exchanging ideas and information, internet is a force for freedom. In Greece, where the mainstream media are controlled byGraecokleptocrats, the only independent news and information are to be found on the internet, which has become a forum for discussion and a refuge for those who want to express their views freely.However, more and moreGraecokleptocratshave realized this and persecute dissident bloggers. Greece has been affected by cybercensorship, whether arrests or harassment of dissident bloggers, online surveillance, website blocking, or the adoption of repressive internet laws. Greek dissident bloggers are being targeted byGraecokleptocratreprisals.Free speech, media, and information flows increasingly ignore and elude physical frontiers or national boundaries. Graecokleptocrats fearful of this lack of control, are trying hard to restore or fortify barriers to trace, block, target, and censor those who champion the truth. A healthy constitution should protect speech even when the subject or manner of expression is uncomfortable and challenges conventional religious beliefs, political attitudes, or standards of good taste. Unfortunately, the constitution of Greece corresponds to Third World countries.Civil society must persuade the freakishblogbusters to stop persecuting and robbing dissident bloggers. The enemies of blogosphere are Bahrain, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Persecuting dissident bloggers often results in their blogs being publicized more widely. TheStreisand Effectis a strong argument for the old adage that the best response to bad speech is more speech, not censorship.The Streisand Effect is a primarilyonline phenomenonin which an attempt to hide or remove a piece of information has theperverse effectof publicizing the information more widely. It is named afterBarbra Streisand, whose attempt to suppress photos of her residence generated further publicity.STANDING UP FOR GREEK FREEDOM ONLINEStanding up for Greek freedom online is the logical next step to Greek age-old endeavor for freedom of speech. For centuries, this fundamental freedom has been the driver of democracy. The fight for freedom of speech continues in Greece. But in the last decades, it has taken on an extra dimension, that of freedom online. Greek freedom of speech online is no different from freedom of speech offline. Only now, Greeks are faced with new technological possibilities and challenges. Greeks are still doing the same, only with different means, and much faster. Protecting Greek freedom online is to safeguard its democratic potential. It is time for Greek politicians, companies, information experts, the academic community and Greek civil society at large to join efforts. Net-neutrality means the internet has no gatekeeper.It encompasses all the issues related to the circulation of information on the internet, such as free speech, access to knowledge, copyright, or innovation. Thanks to this principle, everyone retain the freedom to access and produce the information they want. Socialists want prioritization of certain information flows by taking control of the network. Kleptocrats threaten net-neutrality by seeking to implement filtering techniques in order to re-establish the kind of control they used to have on traditional media.The persecution of Greek dissident bloggers is a worrying example of how freedom on the net is under increasing threat. As more Greeks use cyberspace to communicate, obtain information, express their views, socialize, and conduct commerce, Graecokleptocrats are stepping up their efforts to regulate and control it. Tight control on the internet impinges on Greek freedom of speech, association, and assembly. And it means that violations of other human rights are kept in the dark shadows of Athens.Greeks are increasingly turning to the internet to conduct important aspects of their lives, and they have to make sure that human rights are as respected online as offline. After all, the right to express one's views, practice one's faith, peacefully assemble with others to pursue political or social change are rights to which all Greeks are entitled, whether they choose to exercise them on Syntagma Square or on a blog. And just as Greeks have worked together since the last century to secure these rights in Greece, they must work together in this century to secure them in cyberspace.Your government is your #1 enemy. Brutal police and kangaroo courts are tools to enslave you to your government. But badges and benches do not grant extra rights. It's your duty as a citizen to become a popopaparazzo, recording police misconduct. Use your smartphone to unmask cops, kangaroos, marilizards, godzillas, and other bastards of kleptocracy. EU practices double standards on civil rights. It's freakish for EU to interfere in the civil rights of foreigners, but condone the abuse of my civil rights, a citizen of EU! EU should get its own house in order before lecturing others. EU should rein inGreece, the most corrupt country of Europe with prisoners of conscience, testilying police, malevolent prosecutors, perjurers, and stupidest jurists. Basil Venitis,venitis@gmail.com,http://venitism.blogspot.comGreece is an incivil nation with kangaroo justice, overcriminalization, brutal police, huge political corruption, persecution of dissident bloggers, huge bureaucracy, huge taxation, and 23% VAT. Freakish Graecokleptocrats use the kangaroo justice as a political tool to gag political opponents. I accuse the government of Greece for:· Persecuting me for four years· Stealing my life· Stealing my computer and files· Spreading lies about me on all Greek media· Using the kangaroo justice as a political tool· Postponing my trial eight times· Locking me in jail without toilet and pillow for a night· Taking away my hypertension pills· Making me urinate in a bottle· Humiliating me with handcuffs, fingerprints, and mug shotsAN UNCONSCIONABLE SILENCEThe political philosopher Edmund Burke once remarked that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good folks to do nothing. A glaring example is my persecution by the government of Greece, which grossly violates my civil rights.Martin Niem¶ller said: First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me!It's been now four years since the government of Greece stole my life, my computer, and my files. Nobody cares, nobody gives a damn! I have done absolutely nothing, and I am being persecuted by the Greek government without any real reason. My ordeal is against all rules of civil society and treaties that Greece has signed. Greece, a country without a functioning justice system, has gone bananas. Graecokleptocrats use the kangaroo justice as a political tool to gag political opponents. Graecokleptocrats think the laws exist to give them whatever they want! Basil Venitis,venitis@gmail.com,http://venitism.blogspot.comGEORGE ORWELL'S MINILUV AND MINITRUEMINISTRY OF PUBLIC DISORDER AND CITIZEN HARASSMENTPOLICE STEALING COMPUTERS!On October 18, 2010, a gang of six brutal cops of the violent Greek Cyber-Crime Unit (CCU),a real godzilla, supervised by a dishonest prosecutor,a disgusting liar, raided my home in Athens and stole my computer, software, files, documents, and personal data.The policemenlocked me in jail for a night, they humiliated me with handcuffs, fingerprints, mug shots, and lies, leaked false information to the media parrots, and the Greek government initiated sham ex-officio court proceedings for a stack of freakish trumped-up charges!There was neither pillow nor toilet facility in my jail cell. I had to urinate in a bottle! I, a 69-years-old man with high blood pressure, was not allowed to keep my hypertension pills with me. There was neither toilet paper nor soap in the whole CCU jail.MINISTRY OF INJUSTICE, OPACITY, AND HUMAN DEPRIVATIONSGreece, a country of infinite political corruption, perjury, injustice, and brutal police, must be revamped. Ex-officio law suit,αυÏεÏαÎ"Î"εÎ>>ÏÎς, the most dreadful word in justice, means the state sues somebody without involvement of the accuser. This terrible scheme has been used by the Greek government to persecute me. Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, sued me, and she wouldn't show up in court, because the state took over her position! DISGUSTING KANGAROO JUSTICEAt the ex-officio law suit, the accuser just hits and runs! This hit-and-run justice is the most disgusting kangaroo justice on Earth. The accused must be in a position to face his accuser eyeball to eyeball. The right to confront and cross-examine one's accuser is a sign of civility. The malicious accuser slings false accusations against you, the state takes over, the accuser disappears from the court, and the trial is postponed infinite times! This is penalty of the presumed innocent. This is penalty without trial. This is kangaroo justice of Third World countries! This is barbarity and brutality, pure and simple. Shame, shame, shame on Greece.· Calling for the immediate stop of the persecution of Basil Venitis.· Stating that you believe these trumped-up charges to be politically motivated and intended to prevent him exercising his right to freedom of expression against political corruption.· Seeking assurances that the civil rights of Basil Venitis will always be respected.

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Antonio MeucciBorn(1808-04-13)13 April 1808Florence, ItalyDied18 October 1889(1889-10-18) (aged 81)Staten Island, New York, U.S.ResidenceStaten Island, New YorkCitizenshipItalianFieldsCommunication devices, manufacturing, chemical and food patentsAlma materAccademia di Belle ArtiFlorence, ItalyKnown forInventing a telephone-like device, innovator, businessman, supporter of Italian unificationAntonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci (Italian: [anËtÉ--ːnjo meËuttʃi]; 1808''1889) was an Italian inventor and also a friend and associate of the Italian nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi.[1][2] Meucci is best known for developing a voice-communication apparatus which several sources credit as the first telephone.[3][4]

Meucci set up a form of voice-communication link in his Staten Island, New York, home that connected its second-floor bedroom to his laboratory.[5] He submitted a patent caveat for his telephonic device to the U.S. Patent Office in 1871, but there was no mention of electromagnetic transmission of vocal sound in his caveat. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for the electromagnetic transmission of vocal sound by undulatory electric current.

Early lifeEditMeucci was born at Via dei Serragli 44 in the San Frediano borough of Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, (now in the Italian Republic), on 13 April 1808, as the first of nine children to Amatis Meucci and Domenica Pepi.[6] Amatis was at times a government clerk and a member of the local police, and Domenica was principally a homemaker. Four of Meucci's siblings did not survive childhood.[2]

In November 1821, at the age of 15, he was admitted to Florence Academy of Fine Arts as its youngest student, where he studied chemical and mechanical engineering.[7] He ceased full-time studies two years later due to insufficient funds, but continued studying part-time after obtaining employment as an assistant gatekeeper and customs official for the Florentine government.[8] Meucci later became employed at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence as a stage technician, assisting Artemio Canovetti.[9]

In 1834 Meucci constructed a type of acoustic telephone to communicate between the stage and control room at the Teatro della Pergola. This telephone was constructed on the principles of pipe-telephones used on ships and still functions.[10]

He married costume designer Esterre Mochi, who was employed in the same theatre, on 7 August 1834.[11]

Meucci was alleged to be part of a conspiracy involving the Italian unification movement in 1833''1834, and was imprisoned for three months with Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi.[9][dead link]

Havana, CubaEditIn October 1835, Meucci and his wife emigrated to Cuba, then a Spanish province, where Meucci accepted a job at what was then called the Great Tac"n Theater in Havana (at the time, the greatest theater in the Americas).[6] In Havana he constructed a system for water purification and reconstructed the Gran Teatro.[12][13]

In 1848 his contract with the Governor expired. Meucci was asked by a friend's doctors to work on Franz Anton Mesmer's therapy system on patients suffering from rheumatism. In 1849 Meucci developed a popular method of using electric shocks to treat illness and subsequently experimentally developed a device through which one could hear inarticulate human voice. He called this device "telegrafo parlante" (lit. "talking telegraph").[14]

In 1850, the third renewal of his contract with Don Francisco Mart¬ y Torrens expired. Meucci's friendship with the General Giuseppe Garibaldi made him a suspect citizen in Cuba. On the other hand, the fame reached by Samuel F. B. Morse in the United States encouraged Meucci to make his living through inventions.

Move to Staten Island, New YorkEditOn 13 April 1850, Meucci and his wife immigrated to the United States, taking with them approximately 26,000 Pesos Fuertes of accumulated savings (approximately $500,000 in 2010 funds), and settled in the Clifton area of Staten Island, New York.[15][16] Meuccis would live there for the remainder of their lives. In Staten Island he helped several countrymen committed to the Italian unification movement (the "Risorgimento") and who had escaped political persecution. Meucci invested the substantial capital he had earned in Cuba in a tallow candle factory (the first of this kind in America) employing several Italian exiles. For two years Meucci also hosted in his cottage his friends, General Giuseppe Garibaldi, and Colonel Paolo Bovi Campeggi, who arrived in New York two months after Meucci. They worked in Meucci's factory.

In 1854, Meucci's wife Ester became an invalid due to rheumatoid arthritis.[17] Meucci continued his experiments.

Electromagnetic telephoneEditMeucci studied the principles of electromagnetic voice transmission for many years and was able to realize his dream of transmitting his voice through wires in 1856. He installed a telephone-like device within his house in order to communicate with his wife who was ill at the time.[18] Some of Meucci's notes written in 1857 describe the basic principle of electromagnetic voice transmission or in other words, the telephone:

Consiste in un diaframma vibrante e in un magnete elettrizzato da un filo a spirale che lo avvolge. Vibrando, il diaframma altera la corrente del magnete. Queste alterazioni di corrente, trasmesse all'altro capo del filo, imprimono analoghe vibrazioni al diaframma ricevente e riproducono la parola.

translated:

It consists of a vibrating diaphragm and an electrified magnet with a spiral wire that wraps around it. The vibrating diaphragm alters the current of the magnet. These alterations of current, transmitted to the other end of the wire, create analogous vibrations of the receiving diaphragm and reproduce the word.

Meucci devised an electromagnetic telephone as a way of connecting his second-floor bedroom to his basement laboratory, and thus being able to communicate with his wife.[19] Between 1856 and 1870, Meucci developed more than 30 different kinds of telephones on the basis of this prototype.

In about 1858, the painter Nestore Corradi made a sketch of Meucci's ideas (this drawing was used as the image on a stamp produced in 2003 by the Italian Postal and Telegraph Society[20]).

Meucci intended to develop his prototype but did not have the financial means to keep his company afloat in order to finance his invention. His candle factory went bankrupt and Meucci was forced to unsuccessfully seek funds from rich Italian families.

In 1860, Meucci asked his friend Enrico Bandelari to look for Italian capitalists willing to finance his project. However, military expeditions led by General Garibaldi in Italy had made the political situation in that country too unstable for anybody to invest.[21] Meucci then published his invention in the New York Italian-language newspaper L'Eco d'Italia, although no copy of such reports have ever been located dating back to searches prior to his court case in the 1880s.

BankruptcyEditAt the same time, Meucci was led to poverty by some fraudulent debtors. On 13 November 1861 his cottage was auctioned. The purchaser allowed the Meuccis to live in the cottage without paying rent, but Meucci's private finances dwindled so that he soon had to live on public funds and by depending on his friends.

As mentioned in William J. Wallace's ruling,[22] during the years 1859, 1860, and 1861 Meucci was in close business and social relations with William E. Ryder, who was interested in his inventions, paid the expenses of his experiments, and invested money in Meucci's inventions. Their close working friendship continued until 1867.

In August 1870, Meucci reportedly was able to capture a transmission of articulated human voice at the distance of a mile by using a copper plait as a conductor, insulated by cotton. He called this device, the "telettrofono". While he was recovering from injuries that befell him in a boiler explosion aboard the Staten Island Ferry, Westfield, Antonio Meucci's financial and health state was so bad that his wife Ester sold his drawings and devices to a second-hand dealer to raise some money.

Patent caveatEditOn 12 December 1871 Meucci set up an agreement with Angelo Zilio Grandi (Secretary of the Italian Consulate in New York), Angelo Antonio Tremeschin (entrepreneur), Sereno G. P. Breguglia Tremeschin (businessman), in order to constitute the Telettrofono Company. The constitution was notarized by Angelo Bertolino, a Notary Public of New York. Although their society funded him with $20, only $15 was needed to file for a full patent application.[23][24] The caveat his lawyer submitted to the US Patent Office on 28 December 1871 was numbered 3335 and titled "Sound Telegraph".

This is the text of Meucci's caveat, omitting legal details of the Petition, Oath, and Jurat:[25]

CAVEAT

The petition of Antonio Meucci, of Clifton, in the County of Richmond and State of New York, respectfully represents:That he has made certain improvements in Sound Telegraphs, ...

The following is a description of the invention, sufficiently in detail for the purposes of this caveat.

I employ the well-known conducting effect of continuous metallic conductors as a medium for sound, and increases the effect by electrically insulating both the conductor and the parties who are communicating. It forms a Speaking Telegraph, without the necessity for any hollow tube.

I claim that a portion or the whole of the effect may also be realized by a corresponding arrangement with a metallic tube. I believe that some metals will serve better than others, but propose to try all kinds of metals.

The system on which I propose to operate and calculate consists in isolating two persons, separated at considerable distance from each other, by placing them upon glass insulators; employing glass, for example, at the foot of the chair or bench on which each sits, and putting them in communication by means of a telegraph wire.

I believe it preferable to have the wire of larger area than that ordinarily employed in the electric telegraph, but will experiment on this. Each of these persons holds to his mouth an instrument analogous to a speaking trumpet, in which the word may easily be pronounced, and the sound concentrated upon the wire. Another instrument is also applied to the ears, in order to receive the voice of the opposite party.

All these, to wit, the mouth utensil and the ear instruments, communicate to the wire at a short distance from the persons. The ear utensils being of a convex form, like a clock glass, enclose the whole exterior part of the ear, and make it easy and comfortable for the operator. The object is to bring distinctly to the hearing the word of the person at the opposite end of the telegraph.

To call attention, the party at the other end of the line may be warned by an electric telegraph signal, or a series of them. The apparatus for this purpose, and the skill in operating it, need be much less than for the ordinary telegraphing.

When my sound telegraph is in operation, the parties should remain alone in their respective rooms, and every practicable precaution should be taken to have the surroundings perfectly quiet. The closed mouth utensil or trumpet, and the enclosing the persons also in a room alone, both tend to prevent undue publicity to the communication.

I think it will be easy, by these means, to prevent the communication being understood by any but the proper persons.

It may be found practicable to work with the person sending the message insulated, and with the person receiving it, in the free electrical communication with the ground. Or these conditions may possibly be reversed and still operate with some success.

Both the conductors or utensils for mouth and ears should be, in fact I must say must be, metallic, and be so conditioned as to be good conductors of electricity.

I claim as my invention, and desire to have considered as such, for all the purposes of this Caveat,

The new invention herein set forth in all its details, combinations, and sub-combinations.

And more especially, I claim

First. A continuous sound conductor electrically insulated.

Second. The same adapted for telegraphing by sound or for conversation between distant parties electrically insulated.

Third. The employment of a sound conductor, which is also an electrical conductor, as a means of communication by sound between distant points.

Fourth. The same in combination with provisions for electrically insulating the sending and receiving parties.

Fifth. The mouthpiece or speaking utensil in combination with an electrically insulating conductor.

Sixth. The ear utensils or receiving vessels adapted to apply upon the ears in combination with an electrically insulating sound conductor.

Seventh. The entire system, comprising the electrical and sound conductor, insulated and furnished with a mouthpiece and ear pieces at each end, adapted to serve as specified.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANTONIO MEUCCIWitnesses:

Shirley McAndrew.Fred'k Harper.Endorsed:

Patent OfficeDec. 28, 1871Analysis of Meucci's caveatEditMeucci repeatedly focused on insulating the electrical conductor and even insulating the persons communicating, but does not explain why this would be desirable.[26] The mouth piece is like a "speaking trumpet" so that "the sound concentrated upon the wire" is communicated to the other person, but he does not say that the sound is to be converted to variable electrical conduction in the wire.[27] "Another instrument is also applied to the ears," but he does not say that variable electrical conduction in the wire is to be converted to sound.[27] In the third claim, he claims "a sound conductor which is also an electrical conductor, as a means of communication by sound"[28] which is consistent with acoustic sound vibrations in the wire that somehow get transmitted better if electrical conductors such as a wire or metallic tube are used.[29] He emphasizes that the conductors "for mouth and ears... must be metallic", but does not explain why this would be desirable.[30] He mentions "communication with the ground"[31] but does not suggest that a ground return must complete a circuit if only "the wire" (singular, not plural) is used between the sender's mouth piece and the receiver's ear piece, with one or the other person being electrically insulated from the ground by means of glass insulators ("...consists in isolating two persons... by placing them upon glass insulators; employing glass, for example, at the foot of the chair or bench on which each sits, and putting them in communication by means of a telegraph wire.").[32]

Robert V. Bruce, a biographer of Bell, asserted that Meucci's caveat never became a patent and never could have become one because it never described an electric telephone.[33][34]

Conflicting opinions of Meucci biographersEditAccording to Robert V. Bruce, who gave his personal interpretation of Giovanni E. Schiavo's research, Meucci's own testimony as presented by Schiavo, would demonstrate that the Italian inventor did not understand the basic principles of the electric telephone, either before Bell invented it, or for several years after Bell invented it.[34]

However, other researchers have pointed to several bias, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies in Robert V. Bruce's account of the invention of the telephone, firstly with the very name used by Meucci to describe his invention '--Bruce referred to Meucci's device as a 'telephone', not as the 'telettrofono'. Meucci's purported relationship with Dr. Seth R. Beckwith was another example of Bruce's bias against Meucci. In fact, Meucci and his legal representative cautioned Beckwith against using and abusing his name for the company that Beckwith had founded in New Jersey.[35][36]

Moreover, not only did Beckwith's Globe Telephone Co. base its claims against the Bell Telephone Company on Meucci's caveat, but the claims were also supported by approximately 30 affidavits, whereby it was stated that Meucci had repeatedly built and used different types of electric telephones several years before Bell did.[37][38]

Additionally, English historian William Aitken did not share Robert V. Bruce's viewpoint. Bruce had indirectly referred to Meucci as "the silliest and weakest impostor",[39] while Aitken went so far as to define Meucci as the first creator of an electrical telephone.[40]

Other recognition of Meucci's work in the past came from the International Telecommunication Union, positing that Meucci's work was one of the four precursors to Bell's telephone,[citation needed] as well as from the Smithsonian Institution, which listed Meucci as one of the eight most important inventors of the telephone in a 1976 exhibit.[41]

Meucci and his business partners hired an attorney (J.D. Stetson), who filed a caveat on behalf of Meucci with the patent office. They had wanted to prepare a patent application, but the partners did not provide the $250 fee, so all that was prepared was a caveat, since the fee for that was only $20.[citation needed] However, the caveat did not contain a clear description of how the asserted invention would actually function.

Meucci advocates have alleged that the attorney erased margin notes that Meucci had added to the document.[2]

Telettrofono CompanyEditIn the summer of 1872 Meucci and his friend Angelo Bertolino went to Edward B. Grant, Vice President of American District Telegraph Co. of New York (not Western Union as commonly related), to ask for help. Meucci asked him for permission to test his telephone apparatus on the company's telegraph lines. He gave Grant a description of his prototype and a copy of his caveat. After waiting two years, Meucci went to Grant and asked him to be given back his documents, but Grant reportedly told him they had been lost.[42][43]

About 1873 a certain Bill Carroll from Boston, who had news about Meucci's invention, asked him to construct a "telephone for divers". This device should allow divers to communicate with people on the surface. In Meucci's drawing, this device is essentially an electromagnetic telephone encapsulated to be waterproof.[44][45]

On 28 December 1874, Meucci's Telettrofono patent caveat expired. Critics dispute the claim that Meucci could not afford to file for a patent or renew his caveat, as he filed for and was granted full patents in 1872, 1873, 1875, and 1876, at the cost of $35 each, as well as one additional $10 patent caveat, all totalling $150, for inventions unrelated to the telephone.[23][24][46]

After Bell secured his patents in 1876 and subsequent years, the Bell Telephone Company filed suit in court against the Globe Telephone Company (amongst many others) for patent infringement. Purportedly too poor to hire a legal team, Meucci was represent only by lawyer Joe Melli, an orphan whom Meucci treated as a son.

While the "American Bell Telephone Company v. Globe Telephone Company, Antonio Meucci, et al." trial was going on, the Bell Telephone Company became involved with another notable trial "The U.S. Government v. American Bell Telephone Company", instigated by the Pan-Electric Telephone Company which had secretly given the U.S. Attorney General 10% of its shares, employed him as a director, and then asked him to void Bell's patent. Had he succeeded in overturning Bell's patent, the U.S. Attorney General stood to become exceedingly rich by reason of his shares.[47][48][49]

TrialEditMeucci's telephone was said to be described in the L'Eco d'Italia newspaper of New York in the beginning of 1861, though no issues of the 1861''1863 period are available in the libraries of the United States. Meucci swore in court proceedings what he remembered writing in the newspaper. However, no other contemporary news reports prior to 1875 were ever located to validate Meucci's priority claims of an electromagnetic telephone.

The Havana experiments were briefly mentioned in a letter by Meucci, published by Il Commercio di Genova of 1 December 1865 and by L'Eco d'Italia of 21 October 1865 (both existing today).[50]

One of the most important pieces of evidence brought up in the trial was Antonio Meucci's "Memorandum Book". This book, produced by Rider&Clark, contained Antonio Meucci's noted drawings and records since 1862 up to 1882. In the trial, Antonio Meucci was accused of having produced records after Bell's invention and back-dated them. As proof, the prosecutor brought forward the fact that the Rider&Clark company was founded only in 1863. In the trial, Antonio Meucci said that William E. Rider himself, one of the owners, had given him a copy of the memorandum book in 1862; however, Meucci was not believed.[51]

On 13 January 1887, the United States Government moved to annul the patent issued to Bell on the grounds of fraud and misrepresentation. After a series of decisions and reversals, the Bell company won a decision in the Supreme Court, though a couple of the original claims from the lower court cases were left undecided.[52][53] By the time that the trial wound its way through nine years of legal battles, the U.S. prosecuting attorney had died and the two Bell patents (No. 174,465 and dated 7 March 1876 and No. 186,787 dated 30 January 1877) were no longer in effect, although the presiding judges agreed to continue the proceedings due to the case's importance as a "precedent." With a change in administration and charges of conflict of interest (on both sides) arising from the original trial, the U.S. Attorney General dropped the lawsuit on 30 November 1897 leaving several issues undecided on the merits.[citation needed]

During a deposition filed for the 1887 trial, Meucci also claimed to have created the first working model of a telephone in Italy in 1834. In 1886, in the first of three cases in which he was involved, Meucci took the stand as a witness in the hopes of establishing his invention's priority. Meucci's evidence in this case was disputed due to lack of material evidence of his inventions as his working models were reportedly lost at the laboratory of American District Telegraph (ADT) of New York. ADT did not join with Western Union to become its subsidiary until 1901.[35][54]

Meucci's patent caveat had described a 'lover's telegraph' which transmitted sound vibrations mechanically across a taut wire, a conclusion that was also noted in various reviews ("The court further held that the caveat of Meucci did not describe any elements of an electric speaking telephone'.....", and "The court held that Meucci's device consisted of a mechanical telephone consisting of a mouthpiece and an earpiece connected by a wire, and that beyond this the invention of Meucci was only imagination.") [47][55] Meucci's work, like many other inventors of the period, was based on earlier acoustic principles and despite evidence of earlier experiments, the final case involving Meucci was eventually dropped upon his death.[56]

Meucci's wife Ester became increasingly frail and was invalided for approximately five years before dying in 1884.[57] Meucci became ill in March 1889,[1] and died on 18 October 1889 in Clifton, Staten Island, New York City.[58]

Invention of the telephoneEditThere exists much dispute over who deserves recognition as the first inventor of the telephone, although Bell was credited with being the first to transmit articulate speech by undulatory currents of electricity.

The Federazione Italiana di Elettrotecnica has devoted a museum to Meucci making a chronology of his inventing the telephone and tracing the history of the two trials opposing Meucci and Bell.[59][60] They support the claim that Antonio Meucci was the real inventor of the telephone.[61] However, some scholars outside Italy do not recognize the claims that Meucci's device had any bearing on the development of the telephone. Tomas Farley also writes that, "Nearly every scholar agrees that Bell and Watson were the first to transmit intelligible speech by electrical means. Others transmitted a sound or a click or a buzz but our boys [Bell and Watson] were the first to transmit speech one could understand."[62]

In 1834 Meucci constructed a kind of acoustic telephone as a way to communicate between the stage and control room at the theatre "Teatro della Pergola" in Florence. This telephone was constructed on the model of pipe-telephones on ships and is still functional.[10][dead link]

In 1848 Meucci developed a popular method of using electric shocks to treat rheumatism. He used to give his patients two conductors linked to 60 Bunsen batteries and ending with a cork. He also kept two conductors linked to the same Bunsen batteries. He used to sit in his laboratory, while the Bunsen batteries were placed in a second room and his patients in a third room. In 1849 while providing a treatment to a patient with a 114V electrical discharge, in his laboratory Meucci is claimed to have heard his patient's scream through the piece of copper wire that was between them, from the conductors he was keeping near his ear. His intuition was that the "tongue" of copper wire was vibrating just like a leave of an electroscope; which means that there was an electrostatic effect. In order to continue the experiment without hurting his patient, Meucci covered the copper wire with a piece of paper. Through this device he claimed hearing an unarticulated human voice. He called this device "telegrafo parlante" (lit. "talking telegraph").[14][dead link]

On the basis of this prototype, Meucci is claimed to have worked on more than 30 kinds of telephone. In the beginning he was inspired by the telegraph. Differently from other pioneers of the telephone, such as Charles Bourseul, Philipp Reis, Innocenzo Manzetti and others, he did not think about transmitting voice by using the principle of the telegraph key (in scientific jargon, the "make-and-break" method), but he looked for a "continuous" solution, which means without interrupting the electric flux.

In 1856 Meucci is claimed to have constructed the first electromagnetic telephone, made of an electromagnet with a nucleus in the shape of a horseshoe bat, a diaphragm of animal skin, stiffened with potassium dichromate and keeping a metal disk stuck in the middle. The instrument was hosted in a cylindrical carton box.[19][dead link] He purportedly constructed this as a way to connect his second-floor bedroom to his basement laboratory, and thus communicate with his wife who was an invalid.

Meucci separated the two directions of transmission in order to eliminate the so-called "local effect", adopting what we would call today a 4-wire-circuit. He constructed a simple calling system with a telegraphic manipulator which short-circuited the instrument of the calling person, producing in the instrument of the called person a succession of impulses (clicks), much more intense than those of normal conversation.[dubious'' discuss][citation needed] As he was aware that his device required a bigger band than a telegraph, he found some means to avoid the so-called "skin effect" through superficial treatment of the conductor or by acting on the material (copper instead of iron).[dubious'' discuss][citation needed] He said he used insulated copper wire.

In 1864 Meucci is claimed to have produced his "best device", using an iron diaphragm with optimized thickness and tightly clamped along its rim. The instrument was housed in a shaving-soap box, whose cover clamped the diaphragm.

In August 1870, Meucci is claimed to have obtained transmission of articulate human voice at a mile distance by using as a conductor a copper wire insulated by cotton. He called his device "telettrofono". Drawings and notes by Antonio Meucci claimed to be dated 27 September 1870 show that Meucci understood inductive loading on long distance telephone lines 30 years before any other scientists.[63] The sketch made by Nestore Corradi in 1858 mentions the sentence "Electric current from the inductor pipe".[citation needed]

It was additionally claimed that about 1873 Bill Carroll from Boston, who had heard news about Meucci's invention, asked him to construct a device to allow divers to communicate with people on the surface. In Meucci's drawing, this device appears to be an electromagnetic telephone, encapsulated to make it waterproof.

Historical debateEditThe question of whether Bell was the true inventor of the telephone is perhaps the single most litigated fact in U.S. history, and the Bell patents were defended in some 600 cases. Meucci was a defendant in American Bell Telephone Co. v. Globe Telephone Co. and others (the court's findings, reported in 31 Fed. Rep. 729).

N. Herbert in his History of the Telephone said:

To bait the Bell Company became almost a national sport. Any sort of claimant, with any sort of wild tale of prior invention, could find a speculator to support him. On they came, a motley array, 'some in rags, some on nags, and some in velvet gowns.' One of them claimed to have done wonders with an iron hoop and a file in 1867; a second had a marvellous table with glass legs; a third swore that he had made a telephone in 1860, but did not know what it was until he saw Bell's patent; and a fourth told a vivid story of having heard a bullfrog croak via a telegraph wire which was strung into a certain cellar in Racine, in 1851.[64]

William J. Wallace's ruling was regarded by historian Giovanni Schiavo as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the history of the U.S., and one of the most offensive, too.[65]

2002 congressional resolutionEditIn 2002, on the initiative of congressman Vito Fossella, in cooperation with an Italian-American deputation, the U.S. House of Representatives passed United States HRes. 269 on Antonio Meucci stating "that the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci should be recognized, and his work in the invention of the telephone should be acknowledged." Within its preamble it stated that: "if Meucci had been able to pay the $10 fee to maintain the caveat after 1874, no patent could have been issued to Bell."[43][66][67] The resolution's sponsor described it as "a message that rings loud and clear recognizing the true inventor of the telephone, Antonio Meucci."[68]

In 2002 some news articles reported: "the resolution said his "telettrofono", demonstrated in New York in 1860, made him the inventor of the telephone in the place of Bell, who took out a patent 16 years later."[33][69]

A similar resolution was introduced to the U.S. Senate but no vote was held on the resolution.[70][71][72]

Some have disagreed with the House of Representatives resolution.[33][47][73] Additionally, there was some criticism that Resolution 269 impugned Bell's morality.

The Government of Canada responded ten days later by unanimously passing a parliamentary motion stating that Alexander Graham Bell was the inventor of the telephone.[74][75]

Others, however, believe House Resolution 269 redressed a historic injustice, and the Italian newspaper La Repubblica hailed the vote to recognise Meucci as a belated comeuppance for Bell.[3]

Garibaldi''Meucci MuseumEditThe Order of the Sons of Italy in America maintains a Garibaldi''Meucci Museum on Staten Island. The museum is located in a house that was built in 1840, purchased by Meucci in 1850, and rented to Giuseppe Garibaldi from 1850 to 1854. Exhibits include Meucci's models and drawing and pictures relating to his life.[76][77]

In popular cultureEditIn the 1990 motion picture The Godfather Part III, the character Joey Zasa mentions Meucci as the inventor of the telephone. Meucci's name was also on the license plate of the Cadillac Zaza was auctioning off.In 2003 the Italian Communication Ministry and the Italian Postal and Telegraph Society produced a '‚¬0,52 stamp portraying Antonio Meucci as the inventor of the telephone.Google commemorated with a special logo (doodle) Bell[79] (3 March 2008 '' 161st birth's anniversary); In April 2008 the Italian language Google website celebrated Meucci's 200th birth anniversary with a special holiday logo on their webpage (13 April 2008).[80][81] While Bell's logo was adopted by Google worldwide, the Meucci doodle was only visible on the Italian language Google.Other inventionsEditThis list is also taken from Basilio Catania's historical reconstruction[82]

1825 Chemical compound to be used as an improved propellant in fireworks1834 In the Florence's Teatro della Pergola, he sets up a "pipe telephone" to communicate from the stage to the maneuver trellis-work, at about eighteen meters height.1840 Improved filters and chemical processing of waters supplying the city of Havana, Cuba.1844 First electroplating factory of the Americas, set up in Havana, Cuba. Before, objects to be electroplated were sent to Paris.1846 Improved apparatus for electrotherapy, featuring a pulsed current breaker with rotating cross.1847 Restructuring of the Tac"n Theater in Havana, following a hurricane. Meucci conceived a new structure of the roof and ventilation system, to avoid the roof to be taken off in like situations.1848 Astronomical observations by means of a marine telescope worth $280.1849 Chemical process for the preservation of corpses, to cope with the high demand for bodies of immigrants to be sent to Europe, avoiding decomposition during the many weeks navigation.1849 First discovery of electrical transmission of speech.1850-1 First stearic candle factory of the Americas, set up in Clifton, NY.1855 Realization of celestas, with crystal bars instead of steel, and pianos (one is on display at the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, in Rosebank, NY)1856 First lager beer factory of Staten Island, the Clifton Brewery, in Clifton, NY.1858''60 Invention of paraffin candles. US Patent No. 22,739 on a candle mold for the same and US Patent No. 30,180 on a rotating blade device for finishing the same.1860 First paraffin candle factory in the world, the New York Paraffine Candle Co., set up in Clifton, NY, early in 1860, then moved to Stapleton, NY. It produced over 1,000 candles per day.1860 Experiments on the use of dry batteries in electrical traction and other industrial applications.1860 Process to turn red corals into a pink color (more valued), as requested by Enrico Bendelari, a merchant of New York.1862 US Patent No. 36,192 on a kerosene lamp that generates a very bright flame, without smoke, (therefore not needing a glass tube), thanks to electricity developed by two thin platinum plates embracing the flame.1862''63 Process for treating and bleaching oil or kerosene to obtain siccative oils for paint (US Patents No. 36,419 and No. 38,714). "Antonio Meucci Patent Oil" was sold by Rider & Clark Co., 51 Broad Street, New York, and exported to Europe. See expert comment.1864 Invention of new, more destructive ammunition for guns and cannons, proposed to the US army and to General Giuseppe Garibaldi.1864''65 Processes to obtain paper pulp from wood or other vegetable substances (US Patents No. 44,735, No. 47,068 and No. 53,165). Associated Press was interested in producing paper with this process, which was also the first to introduce the recovery of the leaching liquor. See expert comment.1865 Process for making wicks out of vegetable fiber, US Patent No. 46,607.1867 A paper factory, the "Perth Amboy Fiber Co.," was set up, in Perth Amboy, NJ. The paper pulp was obtained from either marsh grass or wood. It was the first to recycle waste paper. See expert comment.1871 US Patent No. 122,478 "Effervescent Drinks," fruit-vitamin rich drinks that Meucci found useful during his recovery from the wounds and burns caused by the explosion of the Westfield ferry. See expert comment.1871 Filed a patent caveat, (not a 'patent') for a telephone device in December with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).1873 US Patent No. 142,071 "Sauce for Food." According to Roberto Merloni, general manager of the Italian STAR company, this Patent anticipates modern food technologies. See expert comment.1873 Conception of a screw steamer suitable for navigation in canals.1874 Process for refining crude oil (caveat)1875 Filter for tea or coffee, much similar to that used in present day coffee machines.1875 Household utensil (description not available) "combining usefulness to cheapness, that will find a ready sale."1875 US Patent No. 168,273 "Lactometer," for chemically detecting adulterations of milk. It anticipates by fifteen years the well-known Babcock test. See expert comment.1875 Upon request by Giuseppe Tagliabue (a Physical Instruments maker of Brooklyn, NY), Meucci devises and manufactures several aneroid barometers of various shapes.1875 Meucci decided not to renew his telephone caveat, thus enabling Bell to get a patent.1876 US Patent No. 183,062 "Hygrometer," which was a marked improvement over the popular hair-hygrometer of the time. He set up a small factory in Staten Island for fabrication of the same. See expert comment.1878 Method for preventing noise on elevated railways, a problem much felt at the time in New York.1878 Process for fabricating ornamental paraffin candles for Christmas trees.1880 US patent application "Wire for Electrical Purposes"1881 Process for making postage and revenue stamps.1883 US Patent No. 279,492 "Plastic Paste," as hard and tenacious to be suitable for billiard balls. See expert comment.PatentsEditUS patent images in TIFF format

U.S. Patent 22,739 1859 '' Candle moldU.S. Patent 30,180 1860 '' Candle moldU.S. Patent 36,192 1862 '' Lamp burnerU.S. Patent 36,419 1862 '' Improvement in treating keroseneU.S. Patent 38,714 1863 '' Improvement in preparing hydrocarbon liquidU.S. Patent 44,735 1864 '' Improved process for removing mineral, gummy, and resinous substances from vegetablesU.S. Patent 46,607 1865 '' Improved method of making wicksU.S. Patent 47,068 1865 '' Improved process for removing mineral, gummy, and resinous substances from vegetablesU.S. Patent 53,165 1866 '' Improved process for making paper-pulp from woodU.S. Patent 122,478 1872 '' Improved method of manufacturing effervescent drinks from fruitsU.S. Patent 142,071 1873 '' Improvement in sauces for foodU.S. Patent 168,273 1875 '' Method of testing milkU.S. Patent 183,062 1876 '' HygrometerU.S. Patent 279,492 1883 '' Plastic paste for billiard balls and vasesReferencesEditNotes^ ab[1] Antonio Meucci's Illness. The New York Times. Published: 09 March 1889. Web. 25 February 2009.^ abcNese, Nicotra 1989, pp. 35''52.^ abSee http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/jun/17/humanities.internationaleducationnews^Several Italian encyclopaedias claim Meucci as the inventor of the telephone, including: '' the "Treccani" [2] '' the Italian version of Microsoft digital encyclopaedia, Encarta. '' Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (Italian Encyclopedia of Science, Literature and Arts).^Meucci, S., 2010. pp.71''72.^ abMeucci, S., 2010. pp.15''21.^Meucci, S., 2010. pp.16''17.^Meucci, S., 2010. pp.24 & 98.^ abCatania Basilio 2003 Antonio Meucci inventore del telefono, Notiziario Tecnico Telecom Italia, anno 12 n.1, dicembre 2003, pp. 109^ abPicture of the acoustic telephone, page maintained by the Italian Society of Electrotechnics[dead link]^Meucci, S., 2010. pp.36''37 & 100.^Catania Basilio 2003 Antonio Meucci inventore del telefono, Notiziario Tecnico Telecom Italia, anno 12 n.1, dicembre 2003, pp. 110^Meucci, S., 2010. pp.37 & 47''52.^ abMeucci's original drawings. Page maintained by the Italian Society of Electrotechnics^Meucci, S., 2010. p.66.^Biography of Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci, IncrediblePeople.com website, 25 February 2011.^"Antonio Meucci's Illness."The New York Times. 9 March 1889. Retrieved 25 February 2009.^Meucci, S., 2010. pp.72''73.^ abMeucci's original drawings. Page maintained by the Italian Society of Electrotechnics^Antonio Meucci stamp^Catania Basilio 2003 Antonio Meucci inventore del telefono, Notiziario Tecnico Telecom Italia, anno 12 n.1, dicembre 2003, pp. 112]^Globe Telephone Company 1884 '' Famous ATT Patent Fight 1996 '' 2007 Scripophily^ abU.S. Patent and Trademark Office. "The Story of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office". Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office. Washington:IA-SuDocs, Rev. August 1988. iv, 50p. MC 89-8590. OCLC 19213162. SL 89-95-P. S/N 003-004-00640-4. $1.75. C 21.2:P 27/3/988 '' - '' - Note: the 1861 filing fee is listed on Pg. 11, and the 1922 filing fee is listed on Pg. 22.^ abU.S.P.T.O. & Patent Model Association. Digital version of The Story of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: (section) Act of 2 March 1861, 2001. Retrieved from PatentModelAssociation.com website, 25 February 2011.^Text of Meucci's Caveat, pages 16''18^Caveat page 17 top^ abCaveat page 17^Caveat page 18^"metallic tube" in Caveat page 16 bottom^Caveat pages 17 bottom line '' 18 top line^Caveat page 17 bottom^Caveat page 17, 3rd paragraph^ abcEstreich, Bob. Antonio Meucci: The Resolution. Retrieved from BobsOldPhones.net website, 25 February 2011.^ abRobert V. Bruce, Bell: Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude, Cornell University Press (1973), page 272.^ abCatania, Basilio (October 1992, pp. 973 '' 984). Sulle tracce di Antonio Meucci '' Appunti di viaggio. L'Elettrotecnica, Vol. LXXIX, N. 10, ARTI GRAFICHE STEFANO PINELLI, Milano. , [3]^"It seems likely that Bruce's narrative account of Bell's invention of the telephone will'--with its shading and emphasis'--be the definitive one. Bruce's treatment of rival telephone inventors is less convincing, however, simply because he labels them in such an offhand fashion'--Daniel Drawbaugh, the 'Charlatan', Antonio Meucci, the 'innocent', Elisha Gray, whose 'bitterness' caused him 'to lash out [at Bell]'." Hughes, Thomas P. (22 June 1973, p. 1268-1269). The Life and Work of Bell. Science. , [4]^The Telephone Claimed by Meucci, Scientific American, N. 464. Blackie and Son Limited. 22 Nov. 1884, p. 7407. ^The Telegraphic Journal & Electrical Review: The Philadelphia Electrical Exhibition. The Telegr. J. and Electr. Review. 11 Oct. 1884, pages 277''83. ^Bruce, Robert V. Bell: Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude, Cornell University Press (1973), page 278.^Aitken, William (1939). Who Invented The Telephone?. Blackie and Son Limited, London and Glasgow, pages 9''12. , [5]^Smithsonian Institution: Person to Person '' Exhibit Catalog, 100th Birthday of the Telephone, National Museum of History and Technology, December 1976.^Catania Basilio 2003 Antonio Meucci inventore del telefono, Notiziario Tecnico Telecom Italia, anno 12 n.1, dicembre 2003, pp. 114]^ abVito Fossella's 2002 Press Release on Resolution 269[dead link]^Catania Basilio 2003 Antonio Meucci inventore del telefono, Notiziario Tecnico Telecom Italia, anno 12 n.1, dicembre 2003, pp. 116]^Antonio Meucci's original drawing, page maintained by the Italian Society of Electrotechnics^Estreich Bob. Antonio Meucci: Twisting The Evidence. Retrieved from BobsOldPhones.net website, 25 February 2011.^ abcRockman, Howard B."Intellectual Property Law for Engineers and Scientists."IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, Wiley-IEEE, 2004, pp. 107''109. ISBN 978-0-471-44998-0.^"Augustus Hill Garland (1832''1899)".Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture website. Retrieved: 1 May 2009. Note: according to this article: "Garland soon found himself embroiled in scandal. While Garland was in the Senate, he had become a stockholder in, and attorney for, the Pan-Electric Telephone Company, which was organized to form regional telephone companies using equipment developed by J. Harris Rogers. The equipment was similar to the Bell telephone, and that company soon brought suit for patent infringement. Soon after he became attorney general, Garland was asked to bring suit in the name of the United States to invalidate the Bell patent. He refused...." However, in Rockman (2004), there is no mention of Garland refusing to do so, and moreover Garland had been given his shares in Pan-Electric, by the company, for free.^"Augustus Hill Garland (1874-1877)", Old Statehouse Museum website. Retrieved: 1 May 2009. Note: According to this biography: "He did, however, suffer scandal involving the patent for the telephone. The Attorney General's office was intervening in a lawsuit attempting to break Bell's monopoly of telephone technology, but it had come out that Garland owned stock in one of the companies that stood to benefit. This congressional investigation received public attention for nearly a year, and caused his work as attorney general to suffer."^Basilio Catania's Proofs of Antonio Meucci's Priority[dead link]^Antonio Meucci's Memorandum Book, page maintained by the Italian Society of Electrotechnics[dead link]^"U.S. Supreme Court: U S v. AMERICAN BELL TEL CO, 167 U.S. 224 (1897)^United states V. American Bell Telephone Co., 128 U.S. 315 (1888)^History of ADT, ADT.com website. Retrieved 8 July 2009.^Grosvenor, Edwin S. "Memo on Misstatements of Fact in House Resolution 269 and Facts Relating to Antonio Meucci and the Invention of the Telephone." alecbell.org website, 30 June 2002.^Bruce 1990, pp. 271''272.^Meucci, S., 2010. p.92.^"Funeral of Antonio Meucci". New York Times. 22 October 1889. Retrieved 2009-02-25. "The funeral services over the body of the Italian patriot, Antonio Meucci, will take place at Clifton, S.I., this forenoon at 10 o clock. ..." ^L'invenzione del telefono da parte di Meucci e la sua sventurata e ingiusta conclusione[dead link]^Museo Storico Virtuale dell'AEIT Sala Antonio Meucci[dead link]^Basilio Catania's reconstruction, in English[dead link]^Antonio Meucci^Affidavit of lawyer Michael Lemmi , 1885.[dead link]^Casson, Herbert N., "The History of the Telephone" Chicago: McClurg, 1910, p. 96-97^Catania Basilio "Antonio Meucci una vita per la scienza e per l'Italia, vol.1"Antonio Meucci una vita per la scienza e per l'Italia, vol.2(in Italian), summary of Meucci's life and work and his trial against Bell, written on the occasion of the Meucci Day celebration in 2003 by the Italian Telecommunication Ministry[dead link]^House Resolution 269, dated 11 June 2002, written and sponsored by Rep. Vito Fossella.^Antonio Meucci and the invention of the telephone, Mary Bellis^"Rep. Fossella's Resolution Honoring True Inventor of Telephone To Pass House Tonight". office of Congressman Vito J. Fossella. 2002-06-11. Archived from the original on 2008-05-04. Retrieved 2008-05-24. ^Carroll, Rory (17 June 2002). "Bell did not invent telephone, US rules". The Guardian (London). ^United States Senate. Bill Text: 108th Congress (2003''2004) S.RES.223.IS, U.S. Congress' Thomas website, 10 September 2003. Retrieved 28 February 2011.^U.S. Senate. "SUBMISSION OF CONCURRENT AND SENATE RESOLUTIONS '' (Senate '' 10 September 2003)", U.S. Congress Thomas Website, Page: S11349, 10 September 2003.^GovTrack.us. S.Res.223 (108th Congress), Retrieved from GovTrack.us website on 28 February 2011.^Bethune, Brian. "Did Bell steal the idea for the phone?", Macleans, 23 January 2008. Retrieved: 30 April 2009.^"House of Commons of Canada, Journals No. 211, 37th Parliament, 1st Session, No. 211 transcript".Hansard of the Government of Canada, 21 June 2002, pg.1620 / cumulative pg.13006, time mark: 1205. Retrieved: 29 April 2009.^Fox, Jim, "Bell's Legacy Rings Out at his Homes", Globe and Mail, 2002-08-17;^The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum^The Garibaldi''Meucci Museum (Staten Island site)^RAI "Meucci l'Italiano che ha inventato il telefono"[dead link]^More Google: Holiday Logos[dead link]^Altro su Google: Loghi per le festivit [dead link]^Google, Meucci e Bell iteam5.net/blog^Basilio Catania's chronological list of Meucci's inventions[dead link]BibliographyFurther readingEditDocuments of the trialEditAntonio Meucci's Deposition (New York, 7 December 1885 '' January 1886), New York Public Library '' Annex, New York. NY (USA) National Archives & Records Administration, New York, NY, FILE : Records of the U.S. Circuit Court, Southern District of New York, The American Bell Telephone Co. et al. v. The Globe Telephone Co. et al.Affidavit of Michael Lemmi (Translation of Meucci's Memorandum book) sworn September 28, 1885. National Archives & Records Administration. Washington. DC. '' RG48. Interior Dept. file 4513- 1885. Enclosure 2)Scientific and historic researchEditCatania Basilio, 2002, "The U.S. Government Versus Alexander Graham Bell: An Important Acknowledgment", Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 22: 426''442Italian Society of Electrotechnics (Federazione Italiana di Elettrotecnica) Sala Antonio Meucci[dead link]Scientific American Supplement No. 520, 19 December 1885Rossi Adolfo, Un Italiano in America. La Cisalpina, Milano 1881.Schiavo, Giovanni E., Antonio Meucci : inventor of the telephone, New York : The Vigo press, 1958, no ISBN, IT\ICCU\SBL\0234690 (Italian National Library System).Sterling Christopher H., 2004, CBQ REVIEW ESSAY: HISTORY OF THE TELEPHONE (PART ONE): Invention, Innovation, and Impact. Communication Booknotes Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 4, Pages 222''241 doi:10.1207/s15326896cbq3504_1Vassilatos Gerry Lost Science (ISBN 0-945685-25-4, review)Other mediaEditJohn Bedini's Antonio Meucci-page Hearing Through Wires.Bellis Mary "The History of the Telephone '' Antonio Meucci"Dossena Tiziano Thomas, Meucci, Forgotten Italian Genius, Bridge Apulia USA N.4, 1999Dossena Tiziano Thomas, Meucci, The Inventor of the Telephone, Bridge Apulia USA N.8, 2002Fenster Julie M., 2006, Inventing the Telephone'--And Triggering All-Out Patent War, AmericanHeritage.comExternal linksEditUS Congress Resolution 269EditMuseums and celebrationsEditPersondataNameMeucci, AntonioAlternative namesShort descriptionClaim to have invented the telephoneDate of birth1808-4-13Place of birthFlorenceDate of death1889-10-18Place of deathStaten Island, New York

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Source: BBC News - Home

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 03:32

19 September 2014Last updated at 00:12 By Helen BriggsHealth editor, BBC News websiteReferrals to breast cancer clinics more than doubled in the UK after Angelina Jolie announced she had had a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer.

The actress revealed in May last year she had had the surgery, after being told she had an 87% chance of the disease because of a high-risk gene.

The news encouraged women with genuine concerns about their family history to get advice, a study found.

Mutations in high-risk genes for breast cancer affect about one in 500 people.

"The Angelina Jolie effect has been long-lasting and global, and appears to have increased referrals to centres appropriately," said a team led by Prof Gareth Evans of the University of Manchester.

The researchers looked at referrals to more than 20 genetic centres and clinics in the UK after the story hit the press in May 2013.

In June and July the number of GP referrals for genetic counselling and DNA tests for breast cancer mutations increased two and a half times compared with the same period in 2012.

The study, published in the journal, Breast Cancer Research, found referrals remained at twice the previous year's figure from August to October.

"Angelina Jolie stating she has a BRCA1 mutation and going on to have a risk-reducing mastectomy is likely to have had a bigger impact than other celebrity announcements, possibly due to her image as a glamorous and strong woman," said Prof Evans.

"This may have lessened patients' fears about a loss of sexual identity post-preventative surgery and encouraged those who had not previously engaged with health services to consider genetic testing."

Most breast cancers happen by chance but a small number of people diagnosed with breast cancer (5%) have inherited a fault in one of the known breast cancer genes; BRCA1, BRCA2 or TP53 which puts them at higher risk.

Jade GoodyAngelina Jolie is not alone in influencing health behaviour.

Attendance for cervical cancer screening rose in 2008 and 2009, when the celebrity Jade Goody was diagnosed with cervical cancer and died.

Baroness Delyth Morgan is chief executive at Breast Cancer Campaign, which part-funded the research.

"Without Angelina Jolie's openness in talking about her BRCA1 mutation and decision to have a risk-reducing mastectomy, followed by the publication and publicity around the updated NICE guidelines soon after, many women may not have approached health services and so would never have had their risk and risk-reducing options explained," she said.

Funding for genetic services must be able to respond quickly to demand, to ensure risk counselling and genetic testing is available for everyone in need, she added.

"The current level of funding available for this service should be reviewed, to avoid unnecessary delays, which can be very stressful for patients."

Gene riskWomen in general have a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer during their lifetime, but genes can put some at higher risk.

In the UK, about one in 1,000 people will have inherited a BRCA1 mutation and a similar proportion will have inherited a BRCA2 mutation.

Women who are tested early can take steps to prevent themselves from developing the disease.

This may mean a risk-reducing mastectomy, cancer preventing drugs, such as tamoxifen, and certain lifestyle changes like a healthy diet and more exercise.

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Fri, 19 Sep 2014 22:11

www.lightworker.com

We now know what happens at death:Resting comfortably in the recessed center of your brain, encased snugly within the corpus colossum, wrapped tightly between the dual-hemispheres of spongy nerve bundles, encased in the quarter-inch-thick armor-plating of skull, finally surrounded by your main and expressive organs with which you face the world, exists a tiny gland, long considered vestigial (serving little to no function), that holds the key to our interpretation of existence as we know it. I'm speaking of the pineal gland. This minute spec, roughly the size of a grain of rice, is more heavily protected than even the heart with its literal cage of protection, because if something happens to your heart you die, but if something happens to your pineal, you can't go to heaven.

Never heard of it?This pineal gland has influences on both melatonin and pinoline, but our interest is in the gland's role in the creation of dimethyltriptamine, or DMT. This chemical, DMT, may well be the reason we, as a species, are capable of sentience itself.

I'm not a chemist; break it down.First, DMT is a narcotic, schedule 1. It's scheduled as a highly illegal substance all over the planet, largely because DMT is one of the most potent psychedelics known to man. Intensely powerful. Yet, every day your pineal produces this stuff.

Secondly, DMT is the chemical that elicits dreams. That's right. Each night as you drift to slumber-land, not only are you tripping on a psychedelic, but you're also premeditatedly committing a federal offence; possession or consumption of DMT could land you a felony charge.

And third, this illegal gateway to dreamland is released in massive amounts at the moment of death. When I say massive, if a water glass of DMT evokes a dream, at death, an equivalent river excretes into your system. Any druggies reading this?

How have I not heard of this before?Well, the pineal's significance is neither a new idea, nor an unfounded one. Spanning the expanse of human civilization runs an undercurrent of worshipful adoration to the almighty pineal, more widely known as the inner eye, all-seeing eye, or the like '' considered the body's gateway to the soul.

www.magicdinero.com

Egypt had its Eye of Horus (now emblazoned on the US dollar bill). Hindu culture has its bottu (the familiar forehead dot). Even the ancient art of yoga recognizes the brow chakra, or ajna, as blossoming at the pineal, or third eye. That's only to name a few.

The hell you say! The truth behind the cult of the pineal has gone largely unnoticed collectively, though the symbols themselves have been downright ubiquitous. Tibetan Buddhists, as well, have long carried a belief that the soul enters the fetus precisely 49 days after conception. Likely, reading this, you are not a Tibetan Buddhist '' their numbers fall less than 20 million '' and whether you subscribe to an eternal soul or not isn't the point, because day 49 is the moment the pineal is formed in a fledgling brain.

Great, so what does all this have to do with death?Well, on an experiential level, shrooms distort perception, coke smacks you with raw energy, ecstasy grants superpower orgasms (ladies), and most notably, weed slows time '' time distortion seems to go hand in hand with most psychedelics as well '' so time passage then is totally subjective. Ask Einstein.

Meanwhile, among DMT smokers, out of the macrocosm of potential experiences, two major themes emerge nearly universally:

1) A stretching of time '' they experience the hectic 6 or 7 minutes as a near eternity or lifetime. Imagine Cobb's 50 year night in Inception.

2) They experience religious incarnations with a tilt toward whatever sect the subject is affiliated with.

Here's the clincher: after death, while this massive psychedelic dose courses through the brain, there is this mysterious several minutes where the brain still functions. With our new perspective, however, we at last understand what these minutes are'...

These few minutes after death, subjectively, are experienced as an eternity, engrossed in the DMT universe. Also, the trip itself is a highly personal experience dictated by the deepest realms of the subconscious.

Therefore, whatever at your deepest core you expect to happen when you die'... Congratulations, that's what'll happen'... Every religion was right.

Mystery solved. Peace on earth.

If you're resourceful, you can find this stuff and try it. The bigger question now is: do you really want to know where you'll be spending eternity?

Sources:

Vestigial

Pineal Gland

University of Wisconsin: Creation of DMT

Medical Hypothesis: Endogenous Hallucinogenics Central to Nervous System

Medical Hypothesis: Visions of Dream Sleep

DMT the Spirit Molecule

Erowid N,N DMT Legal Status

Third Eye

Third Eye Images and Symbols Around the World

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

The Universe-Solved!

Theory of Relativity

Erowid: DMT Experience Reports

PopSci: The First Few Minutes After Death

Baseline of Health Foundation: Brain Functions Even After Death

About Jesse Davis Jr.Always on the go in no particular direction, I get this wild gypsy hankering every few months to am-skray the hell outta dodge to greener pastures, but I'm starting to suspect each is the same shade. So my true home, other than wherever I lay my hat, has always been amongst you people, the miscreants of the inter-web. Hi friends.

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Fri, 19 Sep 2014 16:25

According to Torrentfreak and CNET, the Australian rights holders of US-produced shows and movies are trying to put a stop to the use of NetflixNetflix via VPNs. Virtual Private Networks allow users to access services by using a server based in the US to make it appear that they are physically located there. This is important to Australian users, because Netflix has not officially launched in that country yet.

Banning all VPN access is, however, totally impossible. Netflix could, if it wanted, stop people connecting from IPs known to be associated with VPN services. Hulu has recently done something similar, in a move that apparently affects US users of its service too. Additionally, cutting out VPN use will also block US subscribers who travel for work and like to watch their local version of Netflix. While this might not be strictly allowed, it's a harmless process that's totally different to a resident of a non-US region accessing the US service.

More than that though, there is no way to prevent people from accessing their own server on US soil and using that as a VPN. Shared VPS (virtual private server) boxes are incredibly cheap these days, and allow a vaguely competent user to build their own VPN with free software. This would allow you to freely access any geo-locked US service, as if you were in the States yourself. Of course, you'd need to be pretty dedicated to the cause of streaming TV and movies to bother with this, but there are plenty who are, and many who would do it just for the challenge.

Netflix (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So, what exactly is the problem here, given that anyone accessing the service has to be a paying member of Netflix? Well, it comes down to the complicated way that rights are handled for TV and Movies. Firstly, these are negotiated per-country with distributors. So Netflix might have a deal to show all films from studio X in the US, but only for residents of the US. That might be to reduce the licensing cost, or it might be because studio X only owns the rights to that library in the US, while some or all of it might be handled by studio Y outside of the United States. To some extent too, the Australian companies that own the rights to sell US content are cross, because they aren't making money when people watch these shows and movies, which they would if Netflix ran a local service for Australians.

The BBC has also weighed in on this recently too, with its commercial arm '' BBC Worldwide '' claiming that ISPs should block users who use a VPN and download a lot of data through it. The firm has a vested interest of course, as it sells access to the international version of iPlayer to non-UK residents, including Australians '' although not the US for some reason. But asking ISPs to block heavy VPN users is absurd, as many use these services for perfectly legal pursuits, like work where they are used to keep corporate networks secure, by only letting staff access services when connected directly to the network, rather than hosting things online.

Netflix does also have something of a reputation for being especially easy to spoof into believing that you are in a different country. It's easy for a UK resident to watch US library content by simply using a browser plugin that makes them appear to be in the US. From then on, you can watch what you want with no problems. That's a loophole that also applies to AppleApple, someone from a non-US country can buy a US gift card, and then use that to access the US iTunes library.

Ultimately, TV and Movie studios need to remember something. Netflix customers are paying for the service. Every Netflix user, whether they are connecting through a VPN or not has made the conscious decision to pay for entertainment rather than to download it from a torrent site. If rights-holders force Netflix to shut the door on these subscribers then it will simply force them to get the shows and movies they love in another way, with zero potential profit for anyone.

UPDATE: After I published this article VPN firm Golden Frog got in touch with a quote from its President Sunday Yokubaitis which pretty much agreed that VPN users are, for the most part, using these services to protect their privacy above all else. He said: ''When accusations are made against VPN users without any basis, this only discourages the use of VPN services and it puts people at increased risk. In an online world that is increasingly less private and secure, we'd hope the organizations would encourage privacy tools and stop inaccurately stereotyping VPN users. It is privacy '' not piracy '' that drives the popularity of VPNs. The perception that an internet user that desires privacy and security is a pirate needs to be changed.''

Follow me on Twitter @IanMorris78 or Google+ and read all of my Forbes articles on my profile page.

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Archived Version

Sat, 20 Sep 2014 22:10

Subscription video on demand provider Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) may have intentionally caused slowdowns of its own video stream during its well-publicized disputes with Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), the director of a conservative technology organization said.

Fred Campbell, director of the Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology and a former chief of the FCC's Wireless Bureau, wrote in a blog post Tuesday that Netflix "used its subscribers in a Machiavellian game of regulatory chess designed to win favorable Internet regulations."

Specifically, Campbell said, the SVOD service "knowingly slowed its video streaming service with the intention of blaming Internet service providers (ISPs)."

According to the post, Netflix admitted it did so in a filing with the FCC opposing the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger. Campbell linked to an amended comment from Netflix that changed wording in an Aug. 25 filing. The comment was amended to read "Globally, Netflix delivers its traffic without payment to 99 percent of terminating access networks."

Campbell accused Netflix of holding its subscribers hostage by deliberately choosing settlement-free peering connections that slowed down its streaming data as it crossed onto last-mile networks owned by Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and Time Warner Cable. Netflix has since signed agreements with all four ISPs and is working to optimize its connections with them, according to recent statements.

It's similar to an argument Verizon put forth in July. "While the links chosen by Netflix were congested (congestion occurs when use approaches or reaches 100% capacity during peak usage periods), the links from other transit providers (carrying non-Netflix traffic) to Verizon's network did not experience congestion and were performing fine," said David Young, VP of federal regulatory affairs for Verizon, in a blog post at the time.

A Netflix spokeswoman contacted by FierceOnlineVideo said the company had no comment on Campbell's assertions. "Our filing speaks for itself," she said.

Meanwhile, Netflix's August speed index showed that its video streams across Verizon's FiOS network sped up, averaging 2.41 Mbps.

Whether Netflix intentionally used slower peering connections is fairly specious thinking. Level 3 Communications, which along with Cogent Communications transports Netflix's data, argued in early July that Verizon was the bad guy in the slowdown scenario, causing problems by failing to make simple upgrades to its routers.

In a move unrelated to the former FCC official's assertions, the provider symbolically slowed down (meaning, didn't actually slow) its streaming feed on Sept. 10 as a participant in Internet Slowdown Day, a nationwide protest led by net neutrality advocates including providers like Vimeo, Foursquare, Etsy and Mozilla.

Updated Sept. 17 to clarify Netflix's role in Internet Slowdown Day.

For more:- see this blog post - and the FCC filing

Related articles:Netflix slows down to protest FCC's net neutrality proposalFeud over? Verizon FiOS climbs Netflix speed chartNetflix adds Time Warner Cable to its pay-for-faster-play list

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Archived Version

Source: WTF RLY REPORT

Sat, 20 Sep 2014 00:00

Zero Hedge

Despite celebrations of de-escalations and truce in US equity markets (by asset-gathering commission-takers), the situation continues to go from bad to worse in the nation almost forgotten now that ISIS is stealing American headlines. The Hryvnia plunged 7.5% this morning '' its biggest single-day drop on record '' following the release of a scathing IMF letter and devaluation warnings from BofA. The IMF blasted Ukraine's ''premature emission of extra money,'' and demanded it ''immediately halt these gross abuses,'' as BofA warns of risk of ''10-20% devaluation'' in the next year is high given reserves are at a ''critical level.''

UAH plunges 7.5% to record lows this morning'...

As far as the truce is concerned, we leave it to Bloomberg's Richard Breslow to explain the idiocy'...

For a truce that people keep celebrating '-- the 11th day '-- there seem to be a lot of people still dying, troops moving around, still questions about more sanctions, ultimate effects on Russia eco, the local markets look quite ill.

Russia itself has put out dire f/casts, growth down 3%-4% and recession;

RUB made yet another all-time low, seems to have quieted, Micex is up, hryvnia getting pole-axed

Additionally Luhansk Rebels Would Like to Switch to Ruble, RIA Says

Self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic hopes it won't have to use Ukraine's hryvnia much longer, RIA Novosti reports, citing republic's leader Igor Plotnitskiy.

Plotnitskiy says political issues complicate matter, though he doesn't expect hryvnia to be used for much longer: RIA

Luhansk still must resolve many economic, financial issues, including development of banking system: RIA

And then there is the IMF! (Source: e-news)

Which likely confirms BofA's warning of the potential for a Hyrvnia devaluation'...

Central bank may have to further deplete FX reserves, now near ''critical level'' of $15b, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Vadim Khramov says in report

Natural gas purchases for winter to widen current-account deficit: Khramov

''We see risks of 10%-20% hryvnia devaluation from the current level within a year'': Khramov

* * *

But apart from that, everything is under control in Ukraine. Given the extent to which the UAH is falling and the strong language from the IMF, one could be mistaken for thinking the USA is pushing for another leader to be put in place once again'...

Zero Hedge

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 12:59

Wie niet horen wil moet voelenEen woedende menigte heeft gisteren buiten het Oekra¯ense parlement een Oekra¯ens parlementslid staan opwachten. Toen het parlementslid, Vitaly Zhurasky, van de ''Economische Ontwikkeling Partij'' het gebouw verliet hebben ze hem opgepakt en in een vuilcontainer gegooid. Het is niet precies duidelijk wat Zhuravsky heeft gedaan om dit te verdienen. Volgens NBC news heeft het te maken met het feit dat hij in het verleden heeft geprobeerd om wetten door te voeren die anti regeringsprotesten moesten tegengaan. Hij is ook van het soort dat regelmatig klaagt dat de pers gemene dingen over hem zegt.

Wanneer zal de eerste Nederlandse politicus in een vuilcontainer eindigen?

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Source: Reuters: Technology News

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 23:57

By Bernie Woodall

DETROITFri Sep 19, 2014 6:37pm EDT

1 of 2. A Tesla Motors logo is shown on a Tesla Model S at a Tesla Motors dealership at Corte Madera Village, an outdoor retail mall, in Corte Madera, California May 8, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

DETROIT (Reuters) - Electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc on Friday announced it is rolling out a software upgrade over-the-air to its current Model S owners, a unique ability that other automakers are expected to offer within a few years.

Tesla, based in Silicon Valley, has completed more than a dozen over-the-air software upgrades since the Model S was first sold in mid-2012, said Egil Juliussen, director of research for automotive electronic technology for IHS Automotive.

Juliussen said other automakers have completed some over-the-air software upgrades but only on an experimental basis.

Normally, when an automaker wants to upgrade software in on-board computers in cars that are already on the road, owners must bring vehicles to dealerships.

Tesla is able to upgrade software remotely, similar to software updates on smartphones.

About 30,000 vehicles have been updated over the air this year, almost all by Tesla. By 2020, a full one-fifth, or about 22 million new vehicles globally, will have the ability to accept software upgrades over-the-air, said Juliussen.

Juliussen said by 2015, over-the-air software upgrades to cars already in consumer hands will expand to 230,000 and reach 1 million in 2016.

"The cost savings alone will make it very attractive for the auto manufacturers to use over-the-air software upgrades," said Juliussen.

Automakers are expected, he said, to team up with software developers for over-the-air communication with the vehicles they have sold.

Three privately held software firms are in the lead in this venture, he said. They are Red Bend Software, based in Waltham, Massachusetts; Symphony Teleca Corp based in Silicon Valley; and Arynga, based in San Diego.

He said that it can cost $400 to $500 every time an owner brings a car into a dealership for a software upgrade. Doing so remotely will cut those costs dramatically, and dealers will not have to purchase as much equipment, Juliussen said.

For the current upgrade, Tesla Model S owners will be notified of the availability of it and will be asked to select a time for it to be downloaded, which takes several hours, Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said.

Tesla, which connects to its cars through a 3G network of AT&T Inc, is calling the latest upgrade announced on Friday "Software v6.0." Tesla is rolling out the upgrades in North America and Europe now, and within a few weeks will be performing them for owners in its other markets, China, Hong Kong and Japan.

Among the new features being added in the current upgrade to the Model S are traffic-based navigation and commuting advice and remote starting by using a mobile phone.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 16:01

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Thursday voted against legislation authorizing President Obama to arm and train Syrian rebels, taking a stand that could distinguish her from Hillary Clinton in 2016.

She voted against legislation to fund the government until Dec. 11, which included a provision giving Obama Title 10 authority to equip Syrian militants in hopes they will fight violent Sunni extremists.

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Warren has a thin foreign policy r(C)sum(C) but by voting against the authority Obama requested, she will earn points with members of the Democratic base who are skeptical about another military campaign in the Middle East. ''I do not want America to be dragged into another ground war in the Middle East, and it is time for those nations in the region that are most immediately affected by the rise of ISIS to step up and play a leading role in this fight,'' she said in a statement.

Many liberals who distrust Clinton's cozy relationship with Wall Street, and bitterly remember her 2002 vote to invade Iraq, want Warren to challenge Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

Two other senators mentioned as possible challengers to Clinton in 2016, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), also voted against the stopgap spending bill and the attached Syria measure.

Gillibrand is considered a likely candidate if Clinton unexpectedly pulls out of the 2016 Democratic primary, but she has made it clear she will not challenge her predecessor as the junior senator from New York. She has strongly urged Clinton to run.

Sanders is actively exploring a 2016 presidential bid, but he has not decided whether to run as an independent '-- his current status within the Democratic caucus '-- or to officially switch to the Democratic Party.

The vote on arming Syrian rebels could become a defining issue in the 2016 presidential campaign, much like the 2002 vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq loomed over the 2004 and 2008 campaigns.

Clinton revealed in her memoir, Hard Choices that she wanted to arm Syrian rebels early during their fight against President Bashar Assad but failed to convince Obama.

In an interview last month, Clinton told Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic that the failure to arm the rebels led to the rise of ISIS.

Seven other Senate Democrats, a mix of centrists and liberals, voted Thursday against arming Syrian rebels.

Warren gave little indication how she would vote before the question was considered Thursday afternoon.

After the vote, she expressed concern that U.S. weapons could fall into the hands of radical Islamic militants.

''Even if we could guarantee that our support goes to the right people, I remain unconvinced that training and equipping these forces will be effective in pushing back ISIS,'' she said.

Last year, she issued a statement opposing calls to arm Syrian rebels who are seen as more moderate than extreme groups such as ISIS.

''We need clear goals and a plan to achieve them or else the United States could get bogged down in another war in the Middle East,'' she said, according to The Boston Globe.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who voted with Warren, said greater U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war would do little to degrade and destroy ISIS.

''The moderate Syrian rebels have shown a disturbing willingness to join forces with Islamic extremists like the Al Nusra Front, a wing of Al Qaeda, and it will be nearly impossible to stop the rebels we train from joining forces with groups that pose a real threat to the United States,'' he said in a statement explaining his vote.

Murphy said the moderate rebels would be likely to turn against ISIS because they share the goal of deposing Assad.

Other Democrats have warned Obama's request to back Syrian rebels could lead down a slippery slope to a broader military engagement.

''In regards to Syria, I have serious doubt about authorizing military operation. I think we need to have further clarification from the administration as to the ... objectives that they are accomplishing in Syria, and we have to be very careful about the authorization of the use of our military in a country where we are not invited,'' said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who ultimately voted for the legislation.

Other Democrats who expressed concern about arming Syrian rebels said they were reassured that the authority would run out by mid-December, when Congress is scheduled to debate a broader use-of-force resolution against ISIS.

'-- This post was updated at 9:00 p.m.

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Source: Weasel Zippers

Sun, 21 Sep 2014 05:56

Obama will have to do a recess appointment to stop Dingy Reid from obstructing her nomination.

Via WFB

President Barack Obama nominated a former Koch Industries executive and grant-maker at the Charles Koch Foundation to an administration post on Thursday.

Obama tapped Victoria Hughes for a spot on the Corporation for National and Community Service's board of directors, according to a White House statement released on Thursday.

Hughes is currently a development officer at Ashland University. Prior to that position, she served in senior roles at Koch Industries, the company owned by libertarian philanthropists Charles and David Koch, and for a number of Koch-affiliated groups.

Keep reading

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:14

''What did he know, and when did he know it?'' This famous question from the Watergate hearings apparently isn't just for asking politicians any more.

Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, got the question to explain the inadequate and clumsy handling of the domestic-violence case against Ray Rice, the former Baltimore Ravens running back.

It's a question that Robert S. Mueller III will try to get a good answer to. The league announced Wednesday that the former FBI director had been hired to conduct an independent investigation with ''the full cooperation of NFL personnel and access to all NFL records.'' Mr. Mueller is well regarded, having served as the top G-man for both George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

That's not good enough for some. Even before Mr. Mueller has called a witness or asked a question, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a Democrat, and the National Organization for Women demand Mr. Goodell's head. This is the same NOW that once advanced the hoax that Super Bowl Sunday was ''the biggest day of the year for violence against women.''

Though the thug problem in big-time sports is well-known, NFL officials say Mr. Goodell won't resign, and so far the team owners are standing behind him.

The ''what and when'' question centers on video footage from an elevator in an Atlantic City casino showing Mr. Rice knocking out Janay Palmer, then his fiancee and now his wife, and dragging her unconscious out of the elevator. It's brutal, stomach-turning stuff.

After initial footage surfaced, showing only what happened after the punch, the league suspended the running back for two games, which many thought was ludicrously insufficient punishment. The release of the rest of the video, including the left cross that knocked Ms. Palmer out cold, was put up by the website TMZ. The Ravens sacked Ray Rice at once, tearing up his multimillion-dollar contract. Nearly everyone said good riddance.

Mr. Goodell and other NFL officials continue to insist they hadn't seen the full video before Monday, despite claims by an unidentified law enforcement officer who told the Associated Press he had sent the video to an NFL executive as early as last April. He produced a voicemail message he received from a woman at the NFL's offices acknowledging receipt of the video. ''You're right,'' she said. ''It's terrible.''

Mr. Goodell and other league officials will have to answer this question: Even if they did initially see only the early footage showing Mr. Rice pulling a prone Ms. Palmer off the elevator, wouldn't it raise questions of what preceded it? Were they not sufficiently curious to investigate the matter then? If she had merely fainted, there would be no reason to punish Mr. Rice at all, with no debate about whether a two-game suspension was sufficient.

''When we met with Ray Rice and his representatives,'' Mr. Goodell, then in damage-control mode, told CBS News on Wednesday, ''it was ambiguous about what actually happened.''

The interviewer, Norah O'Donnell, asked what was ''ambiguous'' about it. ''That was the result that we saw,'' the commissioner replied. ''We did not know what led up to that.''

Mr. Goodell and the NFL, along with the rest of us, now know ''what led up to that,'' and as a consequence, Ray Rice is rightly out of the game.

The dozen attention-seeking Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee who now seek to insert themselves into the controversy by seeking information about the NFL's attempts to watch the elevator video should know this is not a federal concern. They should butt out and let Mr. Mueller do his job.

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:13

Last year, we helped uncover an unfortunate pattern: at least nine congressional Republicans voted against the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), but after President Obama signed its reauthorization, these same lawmakers issued statements suggesting they supported the law.

This year, the problem hasn't gone away.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) recently unveiled a remarkably deceptive campaign ad about his record on VAWA, and as Samantha Lachman reported, the Kentucky Republican isn't alone.Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.), who faces a strong challenge from Democrat Gwen Graham, released a new ad [late last week] in which a campaign supporter says Southerland ''is advocating for things like the Violence Against Women Act.'' A banner in the ad says ''Southerland: Voted for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.''

But the ad doesn't tell the full story. Southerland voted for the House GOP's version of the reauthorization, which left out expanded protections for LGBT, Native American and undocumented immigrant victims of domestic violence. He did not vote for the Senate's bipartisan version of the bill, which passed the Senate by a 78-22 vote and eventually became law.

It was the Senate bill that the Republican-led House eventually passed, which Southerland voted to kill, and which President Obama ultimately signed.

In other words, when it came to the Violence Against Women Act, there was one bill, which Southerland joined many other conservative Republicans in opposing. When his ad says the congressman supported ''things like'' VAWA, it's obviously misleading.

Which leads to the larger question: if all of these Republicans are so embarrassed by their vote, why didn't they just support the Violence Against Women Act in the first place?

VAWA has, after all, traditionally enjoyed broad bipartisan support. For that matter, it was a Democratic priority in the Senate and White House, putting Republicans in an awkward position.

By the time the Senate bill reached the House floor last year, and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he would ignore the so-called ''Hastert Rule,'' it was clear VAWA would pass rather easily. Republicans had a choice '' join the bipartisan majority and vote for a bill that was slated for approval anyway, or stand on principle and vote to kill a popular measure.

Most GOP lawmakers took the latter path.

That was, of course, their right. But if they opposed VAWA that strongly, why deliberately mislead voters now? Why pretend to support a proposal they tried to kill?

As we've discussed before, if Southerland and his colleagues can't defend their votes, maybe they shouldn't have cast those votes. The congressman's task during the election season should be to make his case to voters about why he opposed the legislation, not pretend he supported it.

If Southerland regrets his vote, that's fine, too '' he can apologize and tell the public he'll do better next time. But deception is the wrong way to go.

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Source: oswald of guadalupe

Sun, 21 Sep 2014 05:57

''Zbigniew Brzezinski, head of our National Security Council, writes that 'with the use of computers, human behavior itself will become more determined and subject to deliberate programming,' and that 'it will soon be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen.' ''I believe that the Nazis and the Minutemen and the Christian movement are going to get very strong, and at the same time there's going to be a massive depression. I see large masses of people around the world being deliberately starved every day. I see terrible things happening to reduce the population of this earth, so that those who control the corporations don't have to provide for the needs of the poor.''

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 17:41

The police hadn't even come for him. When four fully-armed officers of a Swat team burst into Jacob Elliott's house in Peoria, Illinois in April they were looking for the source of a parody Twitter feed that had upset the town's mayor by poking fun at him.

It transpired that one of Elliott's housemates, Jon Daniel, had created the fake Twitter account, @peoriamayor, and so incensed the real-life official, Jim Ardis, with his make-believe account of drug binges and sex orgies that the police were dispatched. Elliott was just a bystander in the affair, but that didn't stop the Swat team searching his bedroom, looking under his pillow and in a closet where they discovered a bag of marijuana and dope-smoking paraphernalia.

Elliott now faces charges of felony marijuana possession. He has also become the subject of one of the more paradoxical '' if not parody '' questions in American jurisprudence: can a citizen be prosecuted for dope possession when the police were raiding his home looking for a fake Twitter account?

A Peoria judge this week ruled that the police were entitled to raid the house on North University Street on 15 April under the town's ''false personation'' law which makes it illegal to pass yourself off as a public official. Judge Thomas Keith found that police had probable cause to believe they would find materials relevant to the Twitter feed such as computers or flash drives used to create it.

Daniel created the social media feed when he was bored one night and thought he would amuse himself and a handful of friends by deriding the mayor. In a stream of fake comments in 140 characters, he portrayed Ardis as a Tequila-sodden, sex- and drug-addicted oaf. ''Im bout to climb the civic center and do some lines on the roof who's in,'' one tweet said.

Daniel was never charged as the local prosecutor decided that ''false personation'' could only be committed in the flesh rather than through cyberspace. But his housemate, Elliott, still has the marijuana rap hanging over him and this week's court ruling means that his attempt to have his charges dismissed on grounds that the original police raid was mistaken has failed.

Meanwhile, Daniel has turned the law back against the authorities in Peoria, a town with a population of 120,000. With the help of the ACLU he has filed a lawsuit against the town for wrongful arrest.

''You can't do terrorist type of things or threaten people. But a simple joke, a parody, mocking somebody, that's obviously not illegal,'' he told Associated Press.

As for the mayor, he has tried to justify his reaction to the Twitter spoof by claiming that it had damaged his standing. ''My identity as mayor was stolen,'' he said a few weeks after he dispatched the police.

It is not known whether he now regrets his decision to send in the Swat team. One measure of its success is that there is no longer one parody feed ridiculing Ardis on Twitter '' there are 15.

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Source: Weasel Zippers

Sun, 21 Sep 2014 05:54

Via LA Times:

The intruder who scaled a White House fence and made it through the front doors was an Army veteran diagnosed with combat trauma, but authorities said Saturday the case was still under investigation.

A family member in California said Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas, near Ft. Hood, has been homeless and living alone in the wild and in campgrounds with his two pet dogs for the last two years.

''We talked to him on 9/11 and he said he planned to go to a Veterans Administration hospital to seek treatments,'' said the family member, who asked that he not be identified pending completion of the Secret Service investigation.

Keep reading'...

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 14:42

Football star apologizes for posing with porn actressRob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots apologized Wednesday after photos showing him posing shirtless with a porn star popped up online.

Text by Paul Hodgins, photo courtesy International Business Times

Another football star made the news for the wrong reasons this week.

Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots apologized Wednesday after photos showing him posing shirtless with a porn star popped up online.

The session was an attempt to get more Twitter followers, Gronkowski said.

The 22-year-old tight end is seen standing next to the blond performer. She is wearing his blue-and-white 87 Patriots jersey. Both are smiling. I mean, wouldn't you?

The porn goddess, BiBi Jones (star of ''Naughty Nanny 3'' and ''Cutie Pies 2,'' among other classics), posted the two offending photos Monday on her Twitter account.

Contrition came quickly for the sports star, who was signed by the Patriots last year for $4.4 million.

''I didn't intend anything to hurt the reputation of anyone on the New England Patriots or on behalf of (team owner) Robert Kraft,'' Gronkowski said.

During an interview with a Boston sports radio station, Jones said Gronkowski carries one of his jerseys around with him ''for times like this.'' You know, those posing-shirtless-with-a-porn-star times.

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:12

The law, first passed in 1994, makes it easier to prosecute domestic violence crimes in federal court and now provides extended coverage to immigrants, gays and lesbians. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

By Carrie Dann, Political Reporter, NBC News

Flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, the original author of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, President Barack Obama signed a reauthorization of the legislation Thursday.

"All women deserve the right to live free from fear," the president said in his remarks before signing the bill. "That's what today is about."

The reauthorization, which includes expansion of protections to gay couples and Native American women, passed the House last month after over a year of partisan disagreement over its renewal.

It was ultimately approved by the House by a vote of 286 to 138, with a minority of Republicans joining Democrats to support it.

The bill passed the Senate earlier in February by an overwhelming majority.

"This victory shows that when the American people make their voices heard, Washington listens," Obama said.

This story was originally published on Thu Mar 7, 2013 2:47 PM EST

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:08

MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them '-- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.

MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 1900 Campus Commons Drive, Reston, VA 20194. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.

Copyright (C) 2014, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 15:03

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 14:48

PROVISIONAL RULES OF PROCEDURE

OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL

(adopted by the Security Council at its 1st meeting and amended at its 31st, 41st, 42nd, 44th and 48th meetings, on 9 April, 16 and 17 May, 6 and 24 June 1946; 138th and 222nd meetings, on 4 June and 9 December 1947; 468th meeting, on 28 February 1950; 1463rd meeting, on 24 January 1969; 1761st meeting, on 17 January 1974; and 2410th meeting, on 21 December 1982. Previous versions of the provisional rules of procedure were issued under the symbols S/96 and Rev. 1-6)

UNITED NATIONS

New York, 1983

CHAPTER I . MEETINGS

Meetings of the Security Council shall, with the exception of the periodic meetings referred to in rule 4, be held at the call of the President at any time he deems necessary, but the interval between meetings shall not exceed fourteen days.

The President shall call a meeting of the Security Council at the request of any member of the Security Council.The President shall call a meeting of the Security Council if a dispute or situation is brought to the attention of the Security Council under Article 35 or under Article I I (3) of the Charter, or if the General Assembly makes recommendations or refers any question to the Security Council under Article 11 (2), or if the Secretary-General brings to the attention of the Security Council any matter under Article 99.Periodic meetings of the Security Council called for in Article 28 (2) of the Charter shall be held twice a year, at such times as the Security Council may decide.Meetings of the Security Council shall normally be held at the seat of the United Nations.Any member of the Security-Council or the Secretary-General may propose that the Security Council should meet at another place. Should the Security Council accept any such proposal, it shall decide upon the place and the period during which the Council shall meet at such place.

CHAPTER II. AGENDA

The Secretary-General shall immediately bring to the attention of all representatives on the Security Council all communications from States, organs of the United Nations, or the Secretary-General concerning any matter for the consideration of the Security Council in accordance with the provisions of the Charter.The provisional agenda for each meeting of the Security Council shall be drawn up by the Secretary-General and approved by the President of the Security Council.Only items which have been brought to the attention of the representatives on the Security Council in accordance with rule 6, items covered by rule 10, or matters which the Security Council had previously decided to defer, may be included in the provisional agenda.

The provisional agenda for a meeting shall be communicated by the Secretary-General to the representatives on the Security Council at least three days before the meeting, but in urgent circumstances it may be communicated simultaneously with the notice of the meeting.The first item of the provisional agenda for each meeting of the Security Council shall be the adoption of the agenda.Any item of the agenda of a meeting of the Security Council, consideration of which has not been completed at that meeting, shall, unless the Security Council otherwise decides, automatically be included in the agenda of the next meeting.The Secretary-General shall communicate each week to the representatives on the Security Council a summary statement of matters of which the Security Council is seized and of the stage reached in their consideration.The provisional agenda for each periodic meeting shall be circulated to the members of the Security Council at least twenty-one days before the opening of the meeting. Any subsequent change in or addition to the provisional agenda shall be brought to the notice of the members at least five days before the meeting. The Security Council may, however, in urgent circumstances, make additions to the agenda at any time during a periodic meeting.The provisions of rule 7, paragraph 1, and of rule 9, shall apply also to periodic meetings.

CHAPTER III. REPRESENTATION AND CREDENTIALS

Each member of the Security Council shall be represented at the meetings of the Security Council by an accredited representative. The credentials of a representative on the Security Council shall be communicated to the Secretary-General not less than twenty-four hours before he takes his seat on the Security Council. The credentials shall be issued either by the Head of the State or of the Government concerned or by its Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Head of Government or Minister of Foreign Affairs of each member of the Security Council shall be entitled to sit on the Security Council without submitting credentials.Any Member of the United Nations not a member of the Security Council and any State not a Member of the United Nations, if invited to participate in a meeting or meetings of the Security Council, shall submit credentials for the representative appointed by it for this purpose. The credentials of such a representative shall be communicated to the Secretary-General not less than twenty-four hours before the first meeting which he is invited to attend.The credentials of representatives on the Security Council and of any representative appointed in accordance with rule 14 shall he examined by the Secretary-General who shall submit a report to the Security Council for approval.Pending the approval of the credentials of a representative on the Security Council in accordance with rule 15, such representative shall be seated provisionally with the same rights as other representatives.Any representative on the Security Council, to whose credentials objection has been made within the Security Council, shall continue to sit with the same rights as other representatives until the Security Council has decided the matter.CHAPTER IV. PRESIDENCY

The presidency of the Security Council shall be held in turn by the members of the Security Council in the English alphabetical order of their names. Each President shall hold office for one calendar month.The President shall preside over the meetings of the Security Council and, under the authority of the Security Council, shall represent it in its capacity as an organ of the United Nations.Whenever the President of the Security Council deems that for the proper fulfilment of the responsibilities of the presidency he should not preside over the Council during the consideration of a particular question with which the member he represents is directly connected, he shall indicate his decision to the Council. The presidential chair shall then devolve, for the purpose of the consideration of that question, on the representative of the member next in English alphabetical order, it being understood that the provisions of this rule shall apply to the representatives on the Security Council called upon successively to preside. This rule shall not affect the representative capacity of the President as stated in rule 19, or his duties under rule 7.CHAPTER V. SECRETARIAT

The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity in all meetings of the Security Council. The Secretary-General may authorize a deputy to act in his place at meetings of the Security Council.The Secretary-General, or his deputy acting on his behalf, may make either oral or written statements to the Security Council concerning any question under consideration by it.The Secretary-General may be appointed by the Security Council, in accordance with rule 28, as rapporteur for a specified question.The Secretary-General shall provide the staff required by the Security Council. This staff shall form a part of the Secretariat.The Secretary-General shall give to representatives on the Security Council notice of meetings of the Security Council and of its commissions and committees.The Secretary-General shall be responsible for the preparation of documents required by the Security Council and shall, except in urgent circumstances, distribute them at least forty-eight hours in advance of the meeting at which they are to be considered.CHAPTER VI. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

The President shall call upon representatives in the order in which they signify their desire to speak.The Security Council may appoint a commission or committee or a rapporteur for a specified question.The President may accord precedence to any rapporteur appointed by the Security Council.The Chairman of a commission or committee, or the rapporteur appointed by the commission or committee to present its report, may be accorded precedence for the purpose of explaining the report.

If a representative raises a point of order, the President shall immediately state his ruling. If it is challenged, the President shall submit his ruling to the Security Council for immediate decision and it shall stand unless overruled.Proposed resolutions, amendments and substantive motions shall normally be placed before the representatives in writing.Principal motions and draft resolutions shall have precedence in the order of their submission.Parts of a motion or of a draft resolution shall be voted on separately at the request of any representative, unless the original mover objects.

The following motions shall have precedence in the order named over all principal motions and draft resolutions relative to the subject before the meeting:1. To suspend the meeting;

2. To adjourn the meeting;

3. To adjourn the meeting to a certain day or hour;

4. To refer any matter to a committee, to the Secretary-General or to a rapporteur;

5. To postpone discussion of the question to a certain day or indefinitely; or

6. To introduce an amendment.

Any motion for the suspension or for the simple adjournment of the meeting shall be decided without debate.It shall not be necessary for any motion or draft resolution proposed by a representative on the Security Council to be seconded before being put to a vote.A motion or draft resolution can at any time be withdrawn so long as no vote has been taken with respect to it.If the motion or draft resolution has been seconded. the representative on the Security Council who has seconded it may require that it be put to the vote as his motion or draft resolution with the same right of precedence as if the original mover had not withdrawn it.

If two or more amendments to a motion or draft resolution are proposed, the President shall rule on the order in which they are to be voted upon. Ordinarily, the Security Council shall first vote on the amendment furthest removed in substance from the original proposal and then on the amendment next furthest removed until all amendments have been put to the vote, but when an amendment adds to or deletes from the text of a motion or draft resolution, that amendment shall be voted on first.Any Member of the United Nations which is not a member of the Security Council may be invited, as the result of a decision of the Security Council, to participate, without vote, in the discussion of any question brought before the Security Council when the Security Council considers that the interests of that Member are specially affected, or when a Member brings a matter to the attention of the Security Council in accordance with Article 35 (1) of the Charter.Any Member of the United Nations invited in accordance with the preceding rule, or in application of Article 32 of the Charter, to participate in the discussions of the Security Council may submit proposals and draft resolutions. These proposals and draft resolutions may be put to a vote only at the request of a representative on the Security Council.The Security Council may invite members of the Secretariat or other persons, whom it considers competent for the purpose, to supply it with information or to give other assistance in examining matters within its competence.CHAPTER VII. VOTING

Voting in the Security Council shall be in accordance with the relevant Articles of the Charter and of the Statute of the International Court of JusticeCHAPTER VIII. LANGUAGES

Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish shall be both the official and the working languages of the Security Council.Speeches made in any of the six languages of the Security Council shall be interpreted into the other five languages.[Deleted]

Any representative may make a speech in a language other than the languages of the Security Council. In this case, he shall himself provide for interpretation into one of those languages. Interpretation into the other languages of the Security Council by the interpreters of the Secretariat may be based on the interpretation given in the first such language.Verbatim records of meetings of the Security Council shall be drawn up in the languages of the Council.All resolutions and other documents shall be published in the languages of the Security Council.Documents of the Security Council shall, if the Security Council so decides, be published in any language other than the languages of the Council.CHAPTER IX. PUBLICITY OF MEETINGS, RECORDS

Unless it decides otherwise, the Security Council shall meet in public. Any recommendation to the General Assembly regarding the appointment of the Secretary-General shall be discussed and decided at a private meeting.Subject to the provisions of rule 51, the verbatim record of each meeting of the Security Council shall be made available to the representatives on the Security Council and to the representatives of any other States which have participated in the meeting not later than 10 a.m. of the first working day following the meeting.The representatives of the States which have participated in the meeting shall, within two working days after the time indicated in rule 49, inform the Secretary-General of any corrections they wish to have made in the verbatim record.The Security Council may decide that for a private meeting the record shall be made in a single copy alone. This record shall be kept by the Secretary-General. The representatives of the States which have participated in the meeting shall, within a period of ten days, inform the Secretary-General of any corrections they wish to have made in this record.Corrections that have been requested shall be considered approved unless the President is of the opinion that they are sufficiently important to be submitted to the representatives on the Security Council. In the latter case, the representatives on the Security Council shall submit within two working days any comments they may wish to make. In the absence of objections in this period of time, the record shall be corrected as requested.The verbatim record referred to in rule 49 or the record referred to in rule 51, in which no corrections have been requested in the period of time required by rules 50 and 51, respectively, or which has been corrected in accordance with the provisions of rule 52, shall be considered as approved. It shall be signed by the President and shall become the official record of the Security Council.The official record of public meetings of the Security Council, as well as the documents annexed thereto, shall be published in the official languages as soon as possible.At the close of each private meeting the Security Council shall issue a communiqu(C) through the Secretary-General.The representatives of the Members of the United Nations which have taken part in a private meeting shall at all times have the right to consult the record of that meeting in the office of the Secretary-General. The Security Council may at any time grant access to this record to authorized representatives of other Members of the United Nations.The Secretary-General shall, once each year, submit to the Security Council a list of the records and documents which up to that time have been considered confidential. The Security Council shall decide which of these shall be made available to other Members of the United Nations, which shall be made public, and which shall continue to remain confidential.CHAPTER X. ADMISSION OF NEW MEMBERS

Any State which desires to become a Member of the United Nations shall submit an application to the Secretary-General. This application shall contain a declaration made in a formal instrument that it accepts the obligations contained in the Charter.The Secretary-General shall immediately place the application for membership before the representatives on the Security Council. Unless the Security Council decides otherwise, the application shall be referred by the President to a committee of the Security Council upon which each member of the Security Council shall be represented. The committee shall examine any application referred to it and report its conclusions thereon to the Council not less than thirty-five days in advance of a regular session of the General Assembly or, if a special session of the General Assembly is called, not less than fourteen days in advance of such session.The Security Council shall decide whether in its judgement the applicant is a peace-loving State and is able and willing to carry out the obligations contained in the Charter and, accordingly, whether to recommend the applicant State for membership.If the Security Council recommends the applicant State for membership, it shall forward to the General Assembly the recommendation with a complete record of the discussion.

If the Security Council does not recommend the applicant State for membership or postpones the consideration of the application, it shall submit a special report to the General Assembly with a complete record of the discussion.

In order to ensure the consideration of its recommendation at the next session of the General Assembly following the receipt of the application, the Security Council shall make its recommendation not less than twenty-five days in advance of a regular session of the General Assembly, nor less than four days in advance of a special session.

In special circumstances, the Security Council may decide to make a recommendation to the General Assembly concerning an application for membership subsequent to the expiration of the time limits set forth in the preceding paragraph.

CHAPTER XI. RELATIONS WITH OTHER UNITED NATIONS ORGANS

Any meeting of the Security Council held in pursuance of the Statute of the International Court of Justice for the purpose of the election of members of the Court shall continue until as many candidates as are required for all the seats to be filled have obtained in one or more ballots an absolute majority of votes.Appendix

PROVISIONAL PROCEDURE FOR DEALING WITH COMMUNICATIONS FROM PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL BODIES

A. A list of all communications from private individuals and non-governmental bodies relating to matters of which the Security Council is seized shall be circulated to all representatives on the Security Council.B. A copy of any communication on the list shall be given by the Secretariat to any representative on the Security Council at his request.

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The wife of a British aid worker held hostage and threatened with execution by the Islamist terror group ISIS issued a plea to his captors Saturday, saying he is a ''peaceful, selfless man'' who was only trying to help Syrians in need when he was captured.

Alan Henning, an ambulance driver who was captured by the militant group in December, was shown at the end of a gruesome ISIS video released last week, in which a different captive, David Haines, was beheaded. The black-clad, knife-wielding executioner warns that Henning will be next.

''Alan is a peaceful, selfless man who left his family and his job as a taxi driver in the U.K. to drive in a convoy all the way to Syria with his Muslim colleagues and friends to help those most in need,'' Henning's wife, Barbara, said in a statement released by the British government. ''When he was taken he was driving an ambulance full of food and water to be handed out to anyone in need. His purpose for being there was no more and no less. This was an act of sheer compassion.''

''I cannot see how it could assist any State's cause to allow the world to see a man like Alan dying,'' the statement went on, referring to another name by which ISIS is known, the Islamic State.

ISIS has so far executed three captives from Western nations '-- Americans James Foley and Steven Sotloff and Haines, a British citizen '-- and released video intending to send a warning to those governments to end airstrikes and military aid to Kurdish fighters opposing the group.

The Henning family said it has appealed to ISIS to open a dialogue '-- but so far have been met with silence. ''I pray that the people holding Alan respond to my messages and contact me before it is too late. When they hear this message I implore the people of the Islamic State to see it in their hearts to release my husband Alan Henning.''

Haines' family made a similar public appeal to the terror group on Sept. 13, imploring ISIS to make contact. A video showing Haines' beheading was released later that day.

'-- Phil HelselFirst published September 20 2014, 4:10 PM

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The smartest, wittiest, most incisive media analysis show in the universe. The weekly one-hour podcast of On the Media is your guide to how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield examine threats to free speech and government transparency, criticize media coverage of the week's big stories, explore new technology and unravel hidden political narratives in the media. In an age of information overload, OTM helps you dig your way out. The Peabody Award winning show is produced by WNYC Radio and distributed by NPR.

onthemedia.org/series/media-podcast

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 13:10

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Sun, 21 Sep 2014 12:45

DetailsCategory: Jim StoneCreated on 19 September 2014Written by Jim StoneHits: 802This time the beheading was of a fictitious TV character in a Turkish television drama titled "WOLVES VALLEY", which was filmed in February of 2014.That's right folks, WE HAVE THE BLUE PRINT PRODUCTION USED FOR THE ISIS FAKES, THIS IS THE FINAL NAIL.

You can view this HERE the relevant scene is at exactly 33 seconds.

Claims are being made now by some people in the Arab world that Mossad front SITE contracted out to this film maker to produce the ISIS beheadings as well. However, that would be difficult to confirm and I am not certain it is even necessary. The dating of this trailer to Feb of this year pretty much sews this up in a body bag.

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 22:10

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 17:09

Thanks, Texas. That's just what the country needs -- some lunatic jumping the fence at the White House and charging for the front door. And what the hell, Secret Service?

Reuters:

A man jumped over the White House fence and made it to the front doors of the executive mansion before being apprehended on Friday, sparking an evacuation within the complex shortly after President Barack Obama departed for the weekend.

Omar J. Gonzales, a 42-year-old white male from Texas, made it onto the grounds at 7:20 EDT, a U.S. Secret Service spokesman said. Gonzales ignored commands to stop and was ultimately caught, unarmed, just inside the North Portico doors of the White House, one of the building's main entrances.

The intruder's ability to get so far on the grounds before being apprehended is very unusual for a complex that is heavily guarded by Secret Service officers and snipers. He was arrested and taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.

"The Secret Service will review the response to ensure that the proper protocol was followed,'' spokesman Ed Donovan said.

Donovan said the fact that Gonzales had made it to the doors was "not acceptable to us and it's going to be closely reviewed."

Fortunately he was unarmed and even more fortunately, he was caught and the President wasn't there. And possibly most fortunate, he was apprehended without being shot full of lead, unlike others in other cities who pose less threat to national security.

The Secret Service damn well better review their procedures. As a taxpayer, this is absolutely unacceptable, no matter who inhabits the White House.

IL Judge: OK For SWAT Team To Raid Home Of Parody Twitter Account

Bernie Sanders Calls Out The Corporate Media For Ignoring Campaign Finance Reform

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 16:54

We have to decimate and discredit a militant cult masquerading as a religious movement.

Secretary Kerry on ISIL in his testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, September 18, 2014 (via statedept)

OG: We the American people have to decimate and discredit a militant cult masquerading as a democratic republic.

(via oswaldofguadalupe)

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 16:47

September 20, 2014 | 3:20

In this week's address, the President thanked Congress for its strong bipartisan support for efforts to train and equip Syrian opposition forces to fight ISIL.

Public DomainRead the Transcript

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Sat, 20 Sep 2014 15:38

Joe Scarborough thinks so.There really is no debate here. Hillary Clinton is a neocon.

She's not a Republican, so this confuses the Mika and the folks at MSNBC.

Joe revises, says she's an ''interventionist'' and Chris Matthews says she's a ''centrist'' on foreign policy.

Centrist means having moderate political views or policies.

So, invading Libya, killing 30,000 Libyans, turning a once relatively advanced nation (compared the rest of Africa) into a failed state and chortling about the brutal murder of Muammar Gaddafi on national television is, for Chris Matthews at least, centrist and moderate.

Makes sense. Especially for people who think sadistic Islamists in Syria are ''moderate.''

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