JPBarlow John Perry Barlow
Those who oppose incorporating Sharia into US law will doubtless resist codifying Christian law as well.
Aidan
3 hours ago
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
$10 drug now $1500 after FDA grants monopoly
A progesterone hormone injection, used to prevent preterm labor, used to be $10 a shot. Now that the FDA has assigned an exclusive right to create the easily-made formula to one company, KV Pharmaceuticals, the price has risen to $1500. Almost all of it is pure profit, and KV Pharma did not develop the drug or pay for its trials: the taxpayer did, via the National Institute for Health. It is said to be the only drug proven to prevent pre-term birth, and an expert cited by ABC News suggests that the profession was snookered into supporting the assignment as a quality standardization measure.
@'boingboing'
@'boingboing'
Secrecy and Darkness Surround Mysterious $900m Piracy Report
Anti-piracy reports that are commissioned by the entertainment industries are suspicious by definition, but the mystery that surrounds a recent study goes far beyond that. Despite being widely covered in the press, no journalist has actually seen a copy of the report. Even worse, the company that produced the in-depth report was registered only four months ago, and appears to be carefully hidden from the public.
To convince the government that harsher anti-piracy legislation is needed, a coalition of Australian entertainment industry outfits – under the umbrella name Australian Content Industry Group (ACIG) – commissioned a study on the economical impact of Internet piracy. Although by itself this is nothing out of the ordinary, the lack of transparency and shadiness that surrounds it is stunning.
In late February the report in question was first mentioned in a speech by Attorney General McClelland, who was speaking at a conference on future directions in copyright law. At the time the public were not yet aware of the report’s existence. Journalists too remained in the dark.
The same could be said for the Australian Content Industry Group. The copyright coalition, which doesn’t have a public website, was virtually unknown at that point also. The group consists of a variety of entertainment industry outfits, most prominently Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), but until then had only appeared in a few recent government consultations.
That’s some background on the report, now let’s fast forward two weeks.
On March 6th, Australian newspaper The Age published a series of articles on Internet Piracy. Interestingly enough, the aforementioned report was at the center of the series that quickly made headlines. In particular the hit piece “Nation of unrepentant pirates costs $900m”, written by freelance journalist Neil McMahon, was picked up by dozens of other news outlets.
Curious about this seemingly influential report that dominated the headlines last week, we decided to take a good look at the company that conducted the research — Sphere Analysis. However, this was easier said than done.
Like the Australian Content Industry Group, Sphere Analysis doesn’t seem to have a web presence. With no website and no employees, not even a single reference to the company could be found. How could this be? Wouldn’t it be logical that such a big report would be written by a renowned company?
To us it seemed a little suspicious to say the least, so the first question that came to mind was: Who are behind Sphere Analysis?
With help from the Pirate Party, we found that Sphere Analysis is a business name registered to the ‘Sphere Property Corporation’. This company, which again has no web presence, appears to operate in the real-estate business. Not the type of business you’d expect to write an analysis of Internet piracy on the Australian economy.
Interestingly, ‘Sphere Analysis’ was registered less than four months ago, which means that immediately after it was registered they got this major contract. So who are these people?
To find out more about the company, calls were made to several numbers associated with Sphere Property Corporation but again without results. All calls went to so-called ‘virtual offices‘, where either the company name didn’t ring a bell, or where the person who answered the line was not allowed to give out information.
Additional research eventually led us to an alleged employee of Sphere Property Corporation, Phil Nott, who lists himself as a Real Estate Consultant on Linkedin. No other employees were found and Mr. Nott has two Linkedin profiles, each with just one connection.
Aside from dealing with real estate, Sphere Property Corporation also seems to be connected to the investing company Sphere Capital Advisers and the recruitment business Sphere Associates.
None of the above companies has a website of course, so that’s pretty much where our Sphere Analysis trail ended.
Now that our interest in the report had been pushed even higher, we wanted to know how Sphere Analysis concluded that illicit movie, music and games downloads cost the industry $900 million a year as well as 8,000 jobs. Aside from a few key figures quoted in The Age article, the full report was unfortunately nowhere to be seen.
But we were not the only ones left in the dark. The journalist who wrote the original article for The Age confirmed to TorrentFreak that he wasn’t provided with the full report either. His article was based on information he was given by ‘someone’ he didn’t want to name without permission.
In an attempt to get a copy of the report, we then began emailing several outfits that fall under the Australian Content Industry Group, but without a response. In addition the Australian Pirate Party submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Attorney General’s office, but that is still being processed.
So here we are. After a week of sending emails, making phone calls, and digging through all kinds of information we were unable to get our hands on the full report. On the contrary, the mystery surrounding the report is even greater because of the vagueness surrounding Sphere Analysis.
This is worrying, especially when the Attorney General clearly indicates that it influences future legislation. The Pirate Party, who helped us in our quest for information, agrees.
“Where such reports or studies direct the policy direction of our governments, there is a democratic imperative that the information is made available transparently, that the methodologies are sound and adequately reflect reality,” said Pirate Party’s Rodney Serkowski.
“The Age article inferred that the Attorney General was basing the government’s policy direction on these research figures. This is a very, very shaky foundation for public policy — especially when there is a growing consensus that the institution of copyright requires radical structural reform, lest it becomes irrelevant,” he added.
And then there’s the issue with hiring the brand new and unfindable Sphere Analysis to conduct such an important report.
“This study, carried out by a virtually unknown entity with access only being granted to one journalist is highly dubious, even for the copyright lobby. Any study that gets reported as fact should be made available to the general public. The fact that it is not casts a question over its contents,” said Pirate Party’s Simon Frew.
So, will Sphere Analysis step forward immediately with a full copy of this apparent policy-setting report either to us or another news outlet? Is transparency the way forward or are we to blindly accept spoon-fed ‘statistics’ from faceless groups, regurgitate them as fact, help build credibility where none has been earned and then work the whole thing into law? That can’t be the way forward.
Ernesto @'Torrent Freak'
Hmmm!!!
Wisconsin's Governor Wins, but Is He Now Dead Man Walker?
The Wisconsin State Capitol had taken on an eerie quiet by late Friday. Gone were the throngs of protesters who had occupied its marble floors like it were a summer campground. The midnight honking of cars circling the white building had ceased. The chalk outlines around fake dead bodies etched with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's name remained in dismembered parts, not yet completely washed away by hoses.It was the governor, however, who had walked away the legislative victor in the showdown. On Friday, as angry protesters chanted "Shame" and blew horns and vuvuzelas, Walker took up a dozen pens, one at a time, to sign into law a bill that not only takes away the ability of unions to bargain collectively over pensions and health care but also limits pay raises of public employees to the rate of inflation and ends automatic union dues collection by the state. It also requires public unions to recertify annually. It was a coup by Wisconsin Republicans against the labor movement in one of its strongholds.
The governor allowed himself a moment to reflect on how his signature might play historically. "Some have asked whether this is going to set a national precedent," he said. "And I don't know ... but if along the way we help lead a movement across the state for true fiscal reform, true budgetary reform to ultimately inspire others across this country, state by state and in our federal government, inspire others to stand up and make the tough decision to make a commitment to the future so that our children across all states don't have to face the dire consequences we face because previous leaders have failed to stand up and lead, I feel that is a good thing." He also attempted to be magnanimous toward the thousands of protesters who had gathered in Madison since he first announced his legislative intentions on Valentine's Day. "I think we've had a civil discussion," he said. "It's been passionate, but it's been civil along the way...
The governor allowed himself a moment to reflect on how his signature might play historically. "Some have asked whether this is going to set a national precedent," he said. "And I don't know ... but if along the way we help lead a movement across the state for true fiscal reform, true budgetary reform to ultimately inspire others across this country, state by state and in our federal government, inspire others to stand up and make the tough decision to make a commitment to the future so that our children across all states don't have to face the dire consequences we face because previous leaders have failed to stand up and lead, I feel that is a good thing." He also attempted to be magnanimous toward the thousands of protesters who had gathered in Madison since he first announced his legislative intentions on Valentine's Day. "I think we've had a civil discussion," he said. "It's been passionate, but it's been civil along the way...
Continue reading
Dawn Reiss @'Time'
Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae (BBC Documentary)
The rocksteady era of Jamaican music in the mid-to-late 1960s is considered a golden age because rocksteady's sweet, soulful vocals, romantic but often socially conscious lyrics and prominent basslines gave birth to reggae, which went on to capture the world.
This documentary chronicles the coming together of rocksteady's surviving vocal stars - artists like the Tamlins, U-Roy, Ken Boothe, Leroy Sibbles from the Heptones, Judy Mowatt, Dawn Penn, Rita Marley and Marcia Griffiths - and some of the island's greatest players, to celebrate their greatest 60s hits, perform a reunion concert and celebrate that golden era. Think of it as a kind of Buena Vista Social Club for the great 60s architects of Jamaican music. It is also a beautiful portrait of Jamaica.
In 1962, Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain. There was celebration, optimism, economic growth and opportunity. Recording studios popped up all over Kingston and a generation of great singers and players emerged playing the tuneful, mellow music that became known as rocksteady - tunes like The Tide Is High, Rivers of Babylon and You Don't Love Me Anymore, No No No, which were so successfully celebrated by UB40 on their Labour of Love albums. By 1968, Jamaica's economic bubble had burst and social unrest took to the streets. As poverty, violence and political upheaval spread, rocksteady became politicised, upped its tempo and began to evolve into the music they call reggae.
(BBC)
via
♪♫ Pickers' Local 608 - There Is Power In A Union
About twenty of Madison, Wisconsin's bluegrass musicians, as the collective Pickers' Local 608, gathered at Audio For The Arts on Sunday, March 6th 2011, to record their version of the Billy Bragg song There Is Power In A Union, with special featured guest banjo man Bill Evans! Bluegrass Local 608 includes members of The Oak Street Ramblers, The Malt Liquors, The Cork n' Bottle String Band, The Pints, Spare Time Bluegrass Band, Northern Pikers, and others... Keep fighting the good fight!
Moritz von Oswald Trio - Horizontal Structures (Albumstream)
Since they debuted last year with Vertical Ascent, the Moritz von Oswald Trio have enjoyed cult status among electronic music fans. Despite the avant-garde sound of their music, the outfit were a staple of electronic festivals in 2010, nabbing slots at Mutek, Unsound (New York and Poland), Club to Club and Dissonanze to name a few. In concert they've occasionally picked up high-profile members like Carl Craig and Francois K, but the core trio consists of Max Loderbauer (of nsi.), Sasu Ripatti (aka Vladislav Delay, Luomo), and of course Moritz von Oswald, partner to Mark Ernestus in two of dub and techno's most influential groups, Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound. (Resident Advisor)
ALBUMSTREAM
4chan founder: Zuckerberg is “totally wrong” about online identity
Zuckerberg has spent a lot of time talking about his stance on identity and privacy, especially recently, as Facebook has taken more criticism for its various privacy policies. (To get the flavor of his remarks, check out VentureBeat’s post about Zuckerberg’s privacy stance from last May, as well as David Kirkpatrick’s book The Facebook Effect.) He’s been pretty aggressive about advocating for users to have one identity wherever they are online, because that encourages them to be more authentic (and also means they can carry their social connections with them to any site).
Poole, who is also known under his 4chan username “moot”, said, “I think that’s totally wrong.” He’s had plenty of opportunity to observe the pluses and minuses of anonymity in action, since 4chan is well-known for its anonymous user base. (In fact, the activist hacker group that emerged from 4chan is known as Anonymous.)
Poole argued that anonymity allows users to reveal themselves in a “completely unvarnished, unfiltered, raw way.” One of the things that’s lost when you carry the same identity everywhere is “the innocence of youth.” (“Innocence” isn’t the first word that would come to mind when I think of 4chan, but okay, I’ll go with him here.) In other words, when everyone knows everything you’ve done online, you’re a lot more worried about screwing up, and you’re less willing to experiment. Poole compared this to being a kid, moving to a new neighborhood, and having the opportunity to start over. On the Internet, you don’t get that opportunity.
“The cost of failure is really high when you’re contributing as yourself,” Poole said.
In the case of 4chan, users feel a lot more comfortable trying to create funny images that can become memes, because content that doesn’t catch on disappears quickly, and they’re not weighed down by their failures. Poole said another benefit to 4chan’s anonymity is that content becomes more important than the creator, which is unlike virtually any other online community. Rather than prioritizing the most valued and experienced users, 4chan allows anyone to access the site and post something that might take off.
At the same time, it seems Poole’s attitude towards privacy has evolved. He’s working on a new community site called Canv.as, which actually integrates with Facebook Connect, although users can still post anonymously. Poole said the fact that “you know that we know” the user’s real identity, even if other users can’t see it, discourages people from indulging in the most obnoxious behavior.
The “Wild West” approach, while important for 4chan’s popularity, has had an effect on Poole’s ability to turn the site into a real business. Very few brands are willing to run their ads alongside content that’s so unpredictable and potentially offensive, he acknowledged.
Anthony Ha @'VentureBeat'
4chan founder forms a new outlet
Assange confronts Australian PM with video question
Assange, under house arrest in London, made a surprise appearance on video during the ABC's QA program on Monday to ask whether Ms Gillard had swapped information about Australians, particularly those who work at WikiLeaks.
Ms Gillard, just back from a trip to the United States, rejected the claim.
'I honestly don't know what he's talking about,' she said, adding that no-one in the US had asked her about Mr Assange.
'So I'm afraid I can't help him with a full and frank exchange about people who work with WikiLeaks.
'To my knowledge it hasn't happened.'
But she conceded that the exchange of information between countries happened often, in cases relating to drug or people trafficking.
@'Sky'
Brian Cox says BBC is wrong over show music
Physicist Professor Brian Cox has said the BBC made a mistake by agreeing to turn down the music volume for his scientific series Wonders of the Universe.
The BBC agreed to lower the sound after receiving 118 complaints about the background music on the first episode being too loud and/or intrusive.Speaking on Radio 4's Start the Week, Cox said he thought it was an error.
"We can sometimes be too responsive to the minority of people that complain."
"It should be a cinematic experience - it's a piece of film on television, not a lecture," he added.
In the BBC Two series, Cox reveals how the most fundamental scientific principles and laws explain the story of the universe and humanity. Each show this series has been watched by more than 3m people.
Pop career The four-part series tackles life's big issues, such as what we are and where we come from, as well as how gravity sculpts the entire universe.
The BBC has yet to respond to Cox's comments.
Cox began his career as a rock star, when his band Dare signed a deal with A&M records in 1986. Dare recorded two albums and toured with Jimmy Page, Gary Moore and Europe before breaking up in 1992.
Cox then joined D'Ream, whose song Things Can Only Get Better was famously used by Tony Blair as the Labour Party election song in 1997.
He studied at Manchester University while he was in the band, and in 2009, he became a professor of particle physics at the same university.
He has since gone on to become a radio and TV presenter. His credits include BBC Two's Stargazing and Wonders of the Solar System.
@'BBC'
Obama Owns The Treatment Of Manning Now
By firing PJ Crowley for the offense of protesting against the sadistic military treatment of Bradley Manning, the president has now put his personal weight behind prisoner abuse. The man who once said that forced nudity was a form of torture, now takes the word of those enforcing it over a distinguished public servant. Money quote:
Andrew Sullivan @'The Daily Dish'
A little-known factor in Crowley's comments about Manning was revealed Saturday by April Ryan, a White House correspondent for American Urban Radio who covered Crowley in the Clinton White House. Ryan wrote on Twitter that Crowley "dislikes treatment of prisoners as his father was a Prisoner of War."Yes. It is not necessary to have had a father as a prisoner of war to see the evil of prisoner abuse, and the stain it places on everyone enforcing it. And in the military, as with Bush, so with Obama. As commander-in-chief, Obama is directly responsible for the inhumane treatment of an American citizen. And Crowley's firing will make it even less likely in the future that decent public servants will speak out against such needless sadism.
While it's true that Crowley's father was imprisoned during World War II, people close him downplay that as a major factor in his comments about Manning, saying the biggest factor is simply that Crowley believes what he said.
Andrew Sullivan @'The Daily Dish'
Monday, 14 March 2011
Psychedelic icon leaves 'lasting legacy'
Psychedelic icon Owsley 'Bear' Stanley in 1969 with the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia. (Rosie McGhee)Owsley "Bear" Stanley, who fuelled the 1960s flower power generation with LSD and worked closely with the Grateful Dead, has been remembered as a man of "enormous influence".
Stanley worked as a sound engineer for the band and is remembered for the millions of LSD doses he manufactured at his lab in San Francisco, which helped to kick off the psychedelic era.The 76-year-old died on Sunday in a car crash close to his home near Cairns, in far north Queensland. His wife Sheilah was also injured in the crash but has now been released from hospital.
Former Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead tour manager, Sam Cutler, says Stanley leaves behind a "long lasting legacy".
"Before LSD was legal he was one of the chemists in San Franciso who made it, and he made a lot of it. So he certainly had an influence on our times, as it were, on that level," he told ABC News Online.
"The psychedelic era is still with us. It's still out there happening, on one level or another.
"But that's just one aspect of the man - there are other things that he needs to be remembered for as well."
Cutler says his "brother, teacher and friend" developed music technology which is now taken for granted.
"When you go to a rock and roll concert, what you listen to is something in stereo sound. The person who invented that, and first brought it up, was the Bear," he said.
"The Grateful Dead were the first people to have a stereo sound system.
"Another thing he was responsible for were on-stage monitors, so you could actually hear what you were singing, or saying.
"Just those two things alone are major, major contributions to how popular music was presented to people."
Cutler says Stanley was a "rare and very special man" who was also a great artist.
"He was an alchemist, a wonderful man, a great thinker," he said.
"A very rare man, and very special. He's just an amazing man on all kinds of different levels.
"He made the most wonderful enamel sophisticated artworks - a kind of renaissance man of the 20th century. A bit of a Leonardo da Vinci for his time.
"He had enormous influence, in what he said and what he wrote - a huge amount of influence for just one individual.
"He affected the Grateful Dead but that was only one of the bands he had an influence on. Jimi Hendrix wrote Purple Haze as a result of the Bear's activities - there was an LSD of the Bear's called Purple Haze."
The guitarist, however, has denied the song's title takes its name from the drug.
Stanley is survived by his wife Sheilah, four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Cutler says many more will mourn him following the fatal crash, which happened "on a terribly bad stretch of road that has killed lots of people".
"He has a large extended family in Australia and America," he said.
"He will be sorely missed by a great deal of people - including lots of people who loved the man dearly, who never met him but whose lives were radically altered by him."
Monique Ross @'ABC'
Psychedelic icon killed in Qld car crash
blakehounshell Blake Hounshell
BTW, it looks terrible for the United States that Saudi intervention is happening the day after Bob Gates's visit to Bahrain
wikileaks WikiLeaks
Saudi Arabian forces prepare to enter Bahrain after day of clashes
Saudi forces are preparing to intervene in neighbouring Bahrain, after a day of clashes between police and protesters who mounted the most serious challenge to the island's royal family since demonstrations began a month ago.
The Crown Prince of Bahrain is expected to formally invite security forces from Saudi Arabia into his country today, as part of a request for support from other members of the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council.
Thousands of demonstrators on Sunday cut off Bahrain's financial centre and drove back police trying to eject them from the capital's central square, while protesters also clashed with government supporters on the campus of the main university.
Amid the revolt Bahrain also faces a potential sectarian conflict between the ruling minority of Sunnis Muslims and a majority of Shia Muslims, around 70% of the kingdom's 525,000 residents.
The crown prince, Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, said in a televised statement that Bahrain had "witnessed tragic events" during a month of unprecedented political unrest.
Warning that "the right to security and safety is above all else", he added: "Any legitimate claims must not be made at the expanse of security and stability."
The crown prince has also promised that national dialogue would look at increasing the power of Bahrain's parliament, and that any deal could be put to nationwide referendum.
However, some protesters have pressed their demands further to call for the toppling of the Sunni dynasty.
The unrest is being closely watched in Saudi Arabia, where Shia are some 15% of the population.
The secretary general of the Gulf Co-operation Council, Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Attiya, expressed the "full solidarity with Bahrain's leadership and people", adding that "safeguarding security and stability in one country is a collective responsibility".
In an apparent reference to Iran, which Gulf Arab ruling elites fear may capitalise on an uprising by Shiites in Bahrain, he also expresssed "strong rejection of any foreign interference in the kingdom's internal affairs, asserting that any acts aiming to destabilise the kingdom and sow dissension between its citizens represent a dangerous encroachment on the whole GCC security and stability." Reports that the Saudi National Guard was poised to enter Bahrain were cited by the Foreign Office, alongside a recent increase in protests, as it changed its advice to advise British citizens against all travel to Bahrain.
Earlier on Sunday, police moved in on Pearl Square, a site of occupation by members of Bahrain's Shia majority, who are calling for an elected government and equality with Bahrain's Sunnis.
Witnesses said security forces surrounded the protesters' tent compound, shooting tear gas and rubber bullets at the activists in the largest effort to clear the square since a crackdown last month that left four dead after live ammunition was fired.
Activists tried to stand their ground yesterday and chanted "Peaceful, peaceful" as the crowd swelled into thousands, with protesters streaming to the square to reinforce the activists' lines, forcing the police to pull back by the early afternoon.
At Bahrain University, Shia demonstrators and government supporters held competing protests that descended into violence when plainclothes pro-government backers and security forces forced students blocking the campus main gate to seek refuge in classrooms and lecture halls, the Associated Press reported.
The latest demonstrations took place a day after the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, visited Bahrain and said that the Khalifa family must go beyond "baby steps" reform and enact substantial economic and political change.
Ben Quinn @'The Guardian'
The Crown Prince of Bahrain is expected to formally invite security forces from Saudi Arabia into his country today, as part of a request for support from other members of the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council.
Thousands of demonstrators on Sunday cut off Bahrain's financial centre and drove back police trying to eject them from the capital's central square, while protesters also clashed with government supporters on the campus of the main university.
Amid the revolt Bahrain also faces a potential sectarian conflict between the ruling minority of Sunnis Muslims and a majority of Shia Muslims, around 70% of the kingdom's 525,000 residents.
The crown prince, Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, said in a televised statement that Bahrain had "witnessed tragic events" during a month of unprecedented political unrest.
Warning that "the right to security and safety is above all else", he added: "Any legitimate claims must not be made at the expanse of security and stability."
The crown prince has also promised that national dialogue would look at increasing the power of Bahrain's parliament, and that any deal could be put to nationwide referendum.
However, some protesters have pressed their demands further to call for the toppling of the Sunni dynasty.
The unrest is being closely watched in Saudi Arabia, where Shia are some 15% of the population.
The secretary general of the Gulf Co-operation Council, Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Attiya, expressed the "full solidarity with Bahrain's leadership and people", adding that "safeguarding security and stability in one country is a collective responsibility".
In an apparent reference to Iran, which Gulf Arab ruling elites fear may capitalise on an uprising by Shiites in Bahrain, he also expresssed "strong rejection of any foreign interference in the kingdom's internal affairs, asserting that any acts aiming to destabilise the kingdom and sow dissension between its citizens represent a dangerous encroachment on the whole GCC security and stability." Reports that the Saudi National Guard was poised to enter Bahrain were cited by the Foreign Office, alongside a recent increase in protests, as it changed its advice to advise British citizens against all travel to Bahrain.
Earlier on Sunday, police moved in on Pearl Square, a site of occupation by members of Bahrain's Shia majority, who are calling for an elected government and equality with Bahrain's Sunnis.
Witnesses said security forces surrounded the protesters' tent compound, shooting tear gas and rubber bullets at the activists in the largest effort to clear the square since a crackdown last month that left four dead after live ammunition was fired.
Activists tried to stand their ground yesterday and chanted "Peaceful, peaceful" as the crowd swelled into thousands, with protesters streaming to the square to reinforce the activists' lines, forcing the police to pull back by the early afternoon.
At Bahrain University, Shia demonstrators and government supporters held competing protests that descended into violence when plainclothes pro-government backers and security forces forced students blocking the campus main gate to seek refuge in classrooms and lecture halls, the Associated Press reported.
The latest demonstrations took place a day after the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, visited Bahrain and said that the Khalifa family must go beyond "baby steps" reform and enact substantial economic and political change.
Ben Quinn @'The Guardian'
REUTERSFLASH ReutersBreakingNews
Japan nuclear safety agency - Hydrogen explosion at Fukushima Daiichi No. 3 reactor, cannot confirm whether blast caused radioactive leak
Explosion rocks third Fukushima reactor
Explosion rocks third Fukushima reactor
My Embed with a Warlord
Half a dozen police officers were clustered around a radio in the headquarters at Pol-e-Khomri, capital of Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan. The Taliban insults came through loud and clear. The insurgents were only a few miles away. And they had good radios, Motorolas they had stolen from the police.
The radios had been taken last year in an incident the police didn't like to talk about but which was, nevertheless, revealing. Several policemen were captured by the Taliban. The insurgents seized their weapons and equipment. The policemen were beaten, and certainly humiliated, but they were not killed. That was only sensible on the part of the Taliban: War in Afghanistan has always been marked by changing alliances. Today's enemy may be tomorrow's friend. "This is not Iraq, where thousands of bodies were turning up in Baghdad with holes drilled in their kneecaps," one NATO officer with experience of both places told me.
The killing here may be restrained by pragmatism, but the exchange over the radio was bitter enough. "Murderers," the police officers shot back. "You servants of the Pakistanis. You brought Punjabis, ISI officers [Pakistani spies], Arabs, and Chechens here. You robbed millions of girls of an education. You destroyed this country to please your foreign masters."
The Taliban retorted: "You will pay. If you are men, why don't you fight us? Why do you hide like women? Why do you hide like foxes? Come out, sons of Jews."
The Taliban were about to get their wish. The police in Pol-e-Khomri were preparing an attack. An offensive was already under way across three other northern provinces. In Baghlan, the main thrust would be against one district, Borka, which was firmly in Taliban hands.
The man in charge of the offensive was a soft-spoken and charismatic general named Mohammed Daoud Daoud. He had once been secretary to martyred Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, whose picture is still displayed everywhere in this part of the country. Daoud now commanded all Interior Ministry forces in the north, including his own elite force of police commandos, Pamir 303. The government in Kabul was shortly to announce which parts of the country would begin transitioning to Afghan security control, and Daoud had invited my BBC crew -- me, my cameraman, a security guy, and an interpreter -- he said, so that we could see how Afghan forces were already conducting their own operations with very little help from NATO. He wanted to show us that Afghans were ready to lead the fight against the Taliban...
Continue reading
Paul Wood @'FP'
The Longevity Project: Decades of Data Reveal Paths to Long Life
Philip was a bright, nervous child. He was younger than average in his grade, his mother having started him a year early. He was close to his parents, who divorced when he was 13, and then lived with his mother, who struggled to make ends meet. As he grew up, married, and became a father, he evolved into a worrier. He divorced, remarried shortly after. He joined the military and seemed to enjoy it, but later reported that his job was not fully satisfying, and he felt he hadn't lived up to his potential. He died early, before his 65th birthday, of a heart attack.
Philip was one of 1,500 bright children who were tracked for more than 80 years in a massive longitudinal study begun in 1921 by psychologist Lewis Terman. Terman and his successors—he died before many of the children—collected millions of details about these subjects, including whether they were breast-fed, how much they exercised, what their marriages were like, how satisfying their sex lives were, how satisfying their jobs were. Could this sea of information teach us how to avoid Philip's fate?...
Continue reading
Veronique Greenwood @'the Atlantic'
Phil Lesh on Bear: 'There’s nothing wrong with Bear that several billion fewer brain cells wouldn't fix'
Fare thee well, Bear
A Beautiful Mind
I received a text in the middle of last night that Bear Stanley has
died in a car accident in Australia. Bear, for me, was a true kindred
spirit; when we first met, it was as if I had met a long-lost brother
from another lifetime. I am heartbroken and devastated at his passing.
He was a friend, a brother, an inspiration, and our patron at the very beginning of our creative lives. We owe him more than what can be counted or added up- his was a mind that refused to accept limits, and he reinforced in us that striving for the infinite, the refusal toaccept the status quo, that has informed so much of our work.
He never gave up his quest for pushing the limits of whatever he was working on. We had just been discussing his concept of point-source sound reinforcement in relation to a new project of mine, and his vision incorporated the latest developments in technology and perceptual research.
My heart goes out to his family, for whom he had such love and pride- his wife Sheilah, his children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren- who have lost their patriarch.
A mind like Bear’s appears very rarely, and it’s been my privilege and honor to have known and loved two such minds- Jerry and Bear. I always laugh when I think about what Jerry once said about Bear: There’s
nothing wrong with Bear that several billion fewer brain cells wouldn't fix.
I am eternally grateful for all of the gifts that Bear brought to the scene and to the music.
Fare you well; I love you more than words can tell.
- Phil
Wikileaks row: US spokesman Crowley quits over gaffe
US state department spokesman PJ Crowley has resigned after calling the treatment of the man accused of leaking secret cables to Wikileaks "stupid".
He said he was taking responsibility for the impact of his remarks about Bradley Manning.Private Manning is being held in solitary confinement at a maximum security US military jail.
He has been on suicide watch at the Quantico marine base in Virginia and is shackled at all times.
He faces 34 charges relating to the leaking of 720,000 diplomatic and military documents.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she accepted Mr Crowley's resignation "with regret".
She said he had served his nation "with distinction", "motivated by a deep devotion to public policy and public diplomacy".
Mr Crowley was speaking to an audience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about new media and foreign policy when he made the controversial remarks.
He was asked by a participant about the "the elephant in the room" - Wikileaks - and, in the questioner's words, "torturing a prisoner in a military brig".
"I spent 26 years in the air force," Mr Crowley reportedly replied.
"What is happening to Manning is ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid, and I don't know why the DoD [Department of Defense] is doing it. Nevertheless, Manning is in the right place."
He said his comments were on the record, though he later added that they were his own opinion.
In his resignation letter he said: "Given the impact of my remarks, for which I take full responsibility, I have submitted my resignation."
His remarks were revealed in a blog by the BBC's Philippa Thomas, who attended the event.
President Barack Obama later insisted he had received assurances that the terms of Pte Manning's confinement were "appropriate".
Earlier this year, rights organisation Amnesty International expressed concern about the conditions in which Mr Manning was being held.
It said he had been held "for 23 hours a day in a sparsely furnished solitary cell and deprived of a pillow, sheets, and personal possessions since July 2010".
He was also reportedly forced to disrobe on a daily basis.
@'BBC'
Full statement
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
