Topic Reactor

Anti-Putin

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:11:12 PST

Picture: AP

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have braved temperatures of -18C in Moscow to march through the city shouting "Russia without Putin" and calling for a rerun of disputed elections.

A series of similar actions in December shocked the Russian establishment with their size and giddy, infectious mood, as a famously passive part of the electorate coalesced into huge crowds that chanted “Putin, go away” and “We exist.” But the momentum seemed to dissipate during the month of January, as opposition factions squabbled and Mr. Putin’s victory in the March 4 election began to appear imminent and certain.

Protesters want a repeat of December's parliamentary elections, a probe into accusations of vote rigging, electoral reforms and the release of alleged political prisoners including the jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Opposition leader Ilya Yashin called the upcoming presidential election on March 4 "false and illegitimate." Grigory Yavlinsky, who was barred from running in the race for his opposition Yabloko party, said the anti-Putin movement would only grow.

"We are defending the future of our country," he said. "Our foes will soon see that it's only the beginning."
At the head of the march, people pressed around the anti-corruption blogger Aleksei Navalny, shouting, “Aleksei, we are behind you!” and “We will follow you!” At first, the crowd was so tightly packed that the column could not move forward.

“We’re cold, but we came,” said Mr. Navalny, who has attracted digitally connected young Russians new to political activism. “This is not some fashion for protest. This is a real protest, because people keep coming. People came on their own — we don’t have any buses, we’re not bringing people here. All we do is send out a call. And the people come.”

Several opposition leaders spoke from a stage. Sergei Udaltsov, a radical leftwing activist, drew cheers when he tore up a portrait of Putin.

The protesters are demanding a rerun of the parliamentary elections, the resignation of the head of the central election commission, reform of the political system and the release of political prisoners.

So far, the only sop offered by the Kremlin is a simplified process for registering political parties and the return of direct elections of regional governors, but it remains unclear when these changes will come into effect.

Attention now turns to the presidential election on 4 March. Putin is the clear frontrunner in that race and a rally of his supporters in a park on the edge of Moscow on Saturday also drew large crowds. However, he admitted this week that he may not get the 50% required to win in the first round of the vote, which would erode his authority.

Police deployed about 9,000 officers for the protests. No serious incidents were reported.

(AP, NY Times, The Guardian, DW)

The veto madness

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:35:55 PST

UN (AP) -- Russia and China have vetoed a Security Council resolution backing an Arab League peace plan that calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down.

The two permanent council members rejected the draft resolution, which came hours after activists accused Syrian security forces of killing at least 200 people in one of the bloodiest episodes of the uprising against Assad's regime. The U.N. says more than 5,400 people have been killed over almost 11 months in a Syrian government crackdown on civilian protests.

The other 13 council members, including the U.S., France and Britain, voted Saturday in favor of the resolution aimed at stopping the ongoing violence in Syria.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced deep regret after Security Council members were today unable to agree on a resolution backing an Arab League plan to resolve the crisis in Syria, where thousands of people have been killed over the past year since authorities crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising.

This is a great disappointment to the people of Syria and the Middle East, and to all supporters of democracy and human rights," he said in a statement issued by his spokesperson.

"It undermines the role of the United Nations and the international community in this period when the Syrian authorities must hear a unified voice calling for an immediate end to its violence against the Syrian people."

Mr. Ban said that in the wake of today's vote, it has "become even more urgent" for the international community to redouble its efforts to seek a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system."

He pledged the UN's willingness to step up efforts to "find a peaceful and durable solution which will bring the violence and the killing in Syria to a halt."

The US ambassador said the vetoes were "shameful", Britain was "appalled".

China and Russia defended their move, saying the draft was "unbalanced".

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticised the draft resolution for singling out the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and not containing measures against armed opposition groups.

But proposed Russian amendments to the text were described as "unacceptable" by the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice.

Mr Lavrov is due to have talks with Mr Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, along with the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Mikhail Fradkov.

In another development, Tunisia moved to sever relations with the Assad government.

SOPA "explained" by The Guardian

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:57:32 PST

Very cool video

STOP SOPA It's Dangerous

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:57:28 PST

SOPA:

Gives the government the right to unilaterally censor foreign websites.

Gives copyright holders the right to issue economic takedowns and bring lawsuits against website owners and operators, if those websites have features that make it possible to post infringing content.

Makes it a felony offense to post a copyrighted song or video.

This bill turns us all into criminals. If it passes, then you either stop using the Internet, or you simply hope that you never end up in the crosshairs, because if you’re targeted, you will be destroyed by this bill. You don’t have to be a big, mean, nasty criminal — common Internet usage is effectively criminalized under this law. This bill will kill American innovation and development of the Internet, as it will become too risky to do anything of value. It is toxic and dangerous, and should not, under any circumstances, be supported.

For more information go to Why SOPA Is Dangerous

Is it a crime to republish this article according to SOPA? Maybe...

'Kill Bin Laden' to a Pentagon Investigation

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:07:21 PST

(Source: NY Times). Back in August, Rep. Peter King, chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, raised concerns over director Kathryn Bigelow's upcoming Osama bin Laden movie, and whether she and screenwriter Mark Boal – the team behind the Oscar-winning project “The Hurt Locker” — were being leaked classified material regarding the recent capture and assassination of the late al Qaeda leader.

On Thursday, the CIA and Defense Department officially opened an investigation into the project, a move that King obviously agreed with. "I am pleased that the inspectors general at DoD and the CIA agree with me that potential leaks to filmmakers are something worth investigating and taking action to address," he said.

Mr. King has cited security concerns in pressing for an inquiry into the release of information about the May 1 Bin Laden raid in Pakistan. But for months he and others have also voiced suspicions that the film, an independent production to be released by Sony Pictures Entertainment, might exploit classified details of Bin Laden’s killing to boost President Obama’s political fortunes.

Originally scheduled to open shortly before the election, the film was moved to Dec. 19 after a hot public debate about its potential for partisan impact.

The untitled film -- tentatively called 'Kill Bin Laden' -- stars Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke and Chris Pratt and tells the story of the United States' hunt for Bin Laden. 2011's "It" actress, Jessica Chastain, as well as Mark Strong and Edgar Ramirez, are currently in negotiations to join the cast as well.

Death sentence for Hosni Mubarak

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:56:42 PST

(Source: AP). The prosecutor in the trial of Hosni Mubarak on Thursday demanded the death penalty for the ousted Egyptian leader on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during last year's uprising against his rule.

An 18-day uprising forced Mubarak, 83, to step down on Feb. 11 after a nearly 30-year rule. The military, led by a general who served as defense minister under Mubarak for 20 years, replaced him in power.

The prosecution says Egypt's ousted president, along with his security chief and six top police officers, were the "actual instigators" of the killing of more than 800 protesters during the uprising.

Mubarak and his seven co-defendants are facing charges of complicity in the killings and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Mubarak's two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and Alaa, face corruption charges in the same trial.

Bomb blasts at Christmas in Nigeria

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 03:20:10 PST

At least 40 people were killed and at least 52 others were wounded around the country by a series of attacks.
The first blast exploded just outside St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Madala, a satellite town about 40 km (25 miles) from the centre of the capital Abuja, after Christmas mass.
A few hours later, blasts were reported at the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church in the central, ethnically and religiously mixed town of Jos, and at a church in Gadaka in the northern state of Yobe.
Last Christmas Eve, a series of bomb blasts around Jos killed 32 people, and other people died in attacks on two churches in the northeast. A suicide bomber killed four officials at the State Security Service in one of the other attacks in the northeastern town of Damaturu, police said.
Boko Haram, a group with ties to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attacks, as they continued to escalate a campaign against moderate Muslims, Christians and Western influence.
The White House condemned "this senseless violence and tragic loss of life on Christmas Day."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the attacks and expressed his condolences "to the people of Nigeria and to the bereaved families."
"The Secretary-General calls once again for an end to all acts of sectarian violence in the country and reiterates his firm conviction that no objective sought can justify this resort to violence," a statement released by his office said.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Reuters, "We are close to the suffering of the Nigerian Church and the entire Nigerian people so tired of terrorist violence, even in these days that should be of joy and peace".
He called the attack "another manifestation of blind and absurd violence which has no respect for human life and seeks to enflame more hate and confusion".
He said the Vatican hoped that "this senseless violence does not weaken the will of the Nigerian people to live peacefully and promote dialogue in their country".

Well Done Anonymous…

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:56:04 PST

The hacker group Anonymous has indicated that central records of the U.S. security firm Stratfor cracked and it captured login data for credit cards. The attack was only the first of several to warn the hacker.

A large number of e-mail and credit card information online evidently hacker activist group Anonymous on Sunday the US-based Stratfor security institution stolen. The aim of this campaign was to steal a million dollars with the data and then to give away as Christmas gifts, the hackers told. Via Twitter the group published a link that points to the representation of their top-secret client list Stratfor . This therefore includes the U.S. military, and Internet companies such as Apple and Microsoft. In total, more than 4,000 credit card numbers of employees of affected companies and government institutions had been stolen.

“Not more so private and secure?” Anonymous wrote on Twitter and announced that the attack was to Stratfor, only the first of several that The hacker group planning the occasion of Christmas.

The newest NASA discovery: Earth-sized planets

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:03:45 PST

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NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are the smallest exoplanets ever confirmed around a star like our sun.

Kepler-20e, slightly more petite than Venus (measuring 0.87 times the radius of Earth), takes just shy of a week to whip around its star, and would be too hot for water, at 1,400 degrees. Kepler-20f, on the other hand, which is almost precisely Earth-sized in its diameter (measuring 1.03 times its radius), circles the sun in a little less than three weeks, and would be a more temperate 800 degrees. (Earth’s average temperature is about 59 degrees.)
The two planets circle a star called Kepler-20 (in the constellation Lyra), whose light takes 950 years to reach Earth. It has already been found to have three other planets in its solar system that are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. Kepler-20b, the closest planet, Kepler-20c, the third planet, and Kepler-20d, the fifth planet, orbit their star every 3.7, 10.9 and 77.6 days. All five orbit very close to their star - closer than Mercury is to our sun.

The discovery marks the next important milestone in the ultimate search for planets like Earth. It provides the powerful proof astronomers have been waiting for that it is possible - using a space-based telescope - to detect planets that fit the profile that has successfully spawned life in our own solar system.

Astronomers are still far from the ultimate dream of finding an inhabited world. But just weeks ago, scientists reported the discovery of a planet that is bigger than Earth, but otherwise just right - sitting squarely in the “Goldilocks zone’’ that is not too hot and not too cold for liquid water. Together, the discoveries signal that their search techniques are ready to pinpoint the right planets - if they are out there to be found.

Vaclav Havel, dissident, writer and former Czech president, died Dec. 18

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 03:10:02 PST

Czech Republic’s first President Vaclav Havel, who died in his sleep Sunday morning after a long illness, was an international icon for opposing communist regimes in the former Soviet bloc and helped lead the country to democracy.

Havel was born in Prague on October 5, 1936 into a wealthy family which lost its assets as the communists took power in 1948.

He established himself as a leading figure on the scene of Czechoslovakia’s “theatre of the absurd”. From 1960 to 1988, Havel wrote 17 plays, many of which were performed on stages around the world. During the same period, Havel became known for his political essays, which included “The Power of the Powerless” and “Politics and Conscience.”

In 1977, his involvement with the human rights manifesto Charter 77 challenging the communists brought him international fame as the leader of the opposition in Czechoslovakia; it also led to his imprisonment.

The 1989 Velvet Revolution launched Havel into the presidency. In this role, he led Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic to multi-party democracy.

His thirteen years in office saw radical change in his nation, including its split with Slovakia, which Havel opposed, its accession into NATO and start of the negotiations for membership in the European Union, which was attained in 2004.

Havel was given many awards in his lifetime, though never the Nobel Prizes (for peace or literature) which he so richly deserved. But notable among his prizes was Germany's prestigious Quadriga Award, which he won in 2009 and then returned earlier this year when Vladimir Putin was named the 2011 recipient.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says: "It was with immense sadness that I heard the news of the death of Václav Havel. He was a true European and has been a champion of democracy and liberty throughout his life."

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il Is Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 03:04:37 PST

Kim Jong Il, the dictator who used fear and isolation to maintain power in North Korea and his nuclear weapons to menace his neighbors and threaten the U.S., has died, North Korean state television reported early Monday.

Mr. Kim took power after the death in July 1994 of his father, Kim Il Sung, who founded North Korea in 1948. The country, a declining communist industrial power when he took control, fell into abject poverty under his rule.

Kim Jong Il never called himself president of North Korea. Instead, he bestowed on his father after death the title of "eternal president," while he took lesser titles such as chairman of national defense and general secretary of the main political party.

Mr. Kim, who was 69 or 70 years old, according to varying accounts, died during a train ride on Saturday, a weeping television announcer said. He was believed to have been in ill health since suffering a stroke in 2008, and North Korean media said he experienced an "advanced acute myorcardial infarction," or heart attack.

South Korea put its military on "high alert" and President Lee Myung-bak convened a meeting of the national security council after the news of Mr. Kim's death, the Associated Press reported.

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called an emergency meeting of his National Security group to assess the situation. Japan has been among the countries most worried about North Korea's military ambitions and nuclear tests. "I've issued instructions (to the defense ministry) to do everything to establish an alert, monitoring stance," Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa said on the way into the session on Monday.

When Mr. Kim suffered a stroke-like illness in August 2008 and was incapacitated for two months, forcing him to begin to groom a successor.

In 2009, reports surfaced that Mr. Kim had chosen Kim Jong Eun to carry on the family's regime. Those reports were confirmed in September 2010, when Mr. Kim appointed his son, who is believed to be 27 or 28 years old, a four-star general in the North Korean military and to high-level posts in the ruling political party.

In October 2010, Kim Jong Eun's first public image was released by North Korean state media, showing a striking resemblance to his father and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the North Korean founder. Since the public appointment, he has frequently been seen following his ailing father on "on-spot" inspections.

"Kim Jong Un's leadership provides a sure guarantee for creditably carrying to completion the revolutionary cause ... through generations," party said .

But little is known about the deceased leader's youngest son. Kim Jong Un is said to have a fondness for James Bond and the basketball star Michael Jordan. He is believed to have been schooled in Switzerland and is thought to be capable of speaking some English and German, and possibly some French.

Punk charity concert attenders arrested

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:32:21 PST

Police in the province of Aceh, one of the most conservative part of Indonesia, raided a punk-rock concert and inflicted a bizarre punishment on the young attendees: They shaved off their mohawks. Cops detained more than 65 youths, shaved them, took their piercings, and threw them in pools of water to cleanse them spiritually, reports AP. The detainees also have to attend 10 days in what amounts to a morality boot camp run by police. According to the deputy mayor, this punishment is to be applauded, and will continue, until the "social disease" of punk rock has been eradicated.

Metallica turns 30

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 03:00:40 PST

Since its inception back in 1981 Metallica given query, it will not play general rules of the music scene.

American rock and thrash / heavy metal band formed in San Francisco thanks to the efforts of 17-year-old Danish player Lars Ulrich, who moved with his family from Copenhagen to California and had a hobby of playing the drums. The other founder is his friend James Hetfield.
With the release of their first album, however, "Kill 'Em All" Metallica popular thrash metal enters triumphantly into mainstream music, this album during that time was considered the worst music ever released.

In the early 90s of last century Metallica show the world a completely new sound. This is the issue of their fifth studio album, which became known as "The Black Album" because of pure black cover, except for the group logo and snake, which only differ from the background.

Metallica's compositions are complex and heavy riffs, served as the basis for many groups-followers. Texts, the work most of the singer and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield, are profound, socially inclusive, dark and met with protest and rebellion or openly aggressive and violent.

Currently the group includes James Hetfield (vocals, guitar), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums) and Robert Trujillo (bass guitar). The main composition is unchanged over the years, except the bass, which are changed four bassists and guitar solo, where Hammett is the second row.

The end of the world

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:27:11 PST

People are fascinated by the idea of the end of the world.

Predicting the event has usually been a job for the world's great religions, but science is moving ever closer to understanding how, and when, humanity may be extinguished.

Isaac Newton predicted with 100 percent certainty that the end of the world would occur in 1867, 2060 or 2370 ...

When amateur astronomist Chuck Shramek took a fuzzy CCD image of the comet Hale-Bopp, which was set to reappear in 1997, he mistakenly observed that a Saturn-like object was trailing behind it. The observation reached message boards on the early, pre-YouTube Internet and spread, making UFO enthusiasts predict that an alien spacecraft was trailing the comet.

The closeness of the comet's appearance to the new millennium led religious cults like Heaven's Gate to see it as a sign of the apocalypse.

39 people in the cult committed mass suicide in California because they believed the UFO disguising itself through the comet was there to rescue them from a doomed Earth. How they thought killing themselves would help them get on the UFO makes no sense. Other cults who thought themselves to be creatures from other planets were waiting for the UFO to take them back home and end their "visit" on Earth.

The Large Hadron Collider that stretches 27 km between France and Switzerland is the largest particle accelerator ever built and was set to be turned on on September 10, 2008 to recreate the Big Bang.

It was built by Cern, the European Organization for Nuclear Research and cost 5 billion pounds (or almost 10 billion American dollars), which was paid for by 20 different countries.

The hadron particles within the accelerator would be crashed into each other at a speed almost as great as the speed of light in an area a billion times smaller than a speck of dust.

Some scientists were worried so they filed a lawsuit because they thought the experiment could create a black hole that would devour the Earth.

Scientists working on the Collider insisted that the chances of a black hole being created were minuscule and that even if one did appear it would be too small to affect the planet and would be gone in seconds. The Collider was turned on successfully and will run until 2014.

2012

noreply@blogger.com (Tihomira Dimitrova) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:23:02 PST

THE MAYAN CALENDAR DOES NOT END IN 2012 

The date December 21st, 2012 A.D. (13.0.0.0.0 in the Long Count), represents
 an extremely close conjunction of the 
 Winter Solstice Sun with the crossing point of the Galactic Equator (Equator
 of the Milky Way) and the Ecliptic 
 (path of the Sun), what that ancient Maya recognized as the Sacred Tree.
 This is an event that has been coming to resonance very slowly over thousands and thousands of years. It will come
 to resolution at exactly 11:11 am GMT. 

“…when a calendar comes to the end of a cycle, it just rolls over into the next cycle. In our Western society, every year 31 December is followed, not by the End of the World, but by 1 January. So 13.0.0.0.0 in the Mayan calendar will be followed by 0.0.0.0.1 – or good-ol’ 22 December 2012, with only a few shopping days left to Christmas.” – Excerpt from Dr Karl’s “Great Moments in Science“.