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FN’s nye klimacenter skal ligge i København

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:48:00 +0000

Den nybyggede FN Byen p Marmormolen i Kbenhavn skal ogs vre domicil for FN's nye Center for Klimateknologi (CTCN), oplyser udviklingsminister Christian Friis Bach (R) i en pressemeddelelse. Klimateknologicentret skal bist udviklingslandene med at udnytte den bedst mulige teknologi for at modvirke klimaforandringerne og fremme klimatilpasning. At Danmark bliver centrum for denne vigtige klimaindsats betyder, at vi kan give et solidt bidrag til kampen mod klimaforandringerne og for klimatilpasning i udviklingslandene. Det vil give Danmark en unik international styrkeposition indenfor grn vkst, og det kan blive til gavn for bde dansk viden og danske virksomheder, siger Christian Friis Bach. Besluttet i 2010FN besluttede at oprette centret under klimatopmdet i Cancun i 2010. FN's miljprogram, UNEP, blev herefter udvalgt som vrtsorganisation for centret. Og det har vret meget naturligt at placere det i Danmark, siger chefen for UNEP, Achim Steiner: Danmark er en trendstter for nye standarder for ressourceeffektive bygninger og er blandt de ledende lande i verden inden for ren energi, siger Achim Steiner. UNEP har i forvejen koncentreret en stor del af sine energiaktiviteter p Ris Centeret p DTU. Og regeringen arbejder yderligere for, at et center for energieffektivitet, der skal etableres under FN-generalsekretrens initiativ "Bredygtig Energi for Alle", ogs placeres i FN Byen i Kbenhavn. Glad ministerKlima- og energiminister Martin Lidegaard (R) glder sig ogs over FN's beslutning. Hvis vi skal bremse klimaforandringerne, er det vigtigt, at vi hjlper ulandene til at finde de bedste lsninger. Derfor bliver klimateknologicenterets arbejde betydningsfuldt, og jeg er stolt over, at centret bliver placeret i Danmark, siger Martin Lidegaard. CTCN vil flytte ind i FN Byen sidst p ret. … Read More

Live fra læge-klinik: Thomas Gorlén opsøges af ung kvinde med en depression

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:40:00 +0000

Reportage P besg hos lgenPraktiserende lge Thomas Gorln har p grund af lgekonflikten inviteret politiken.dk p besg for at flge hans arbejde p en ganske almindelig dag. Thomas Gorln har praksis i lgeklinikken Lgerne Sborg Torv ved Kbenhavn sammen med tre andre lger.Ls om klinikken her Vi opdaterer lbende denne artikel med, hvad der sker hos lgen. Thomas Gorln mener, at regeringens lovforslag om almen praksis vil medfre, at de praktiserende lger bliver styret oppefra. Ligesom den marionetdukke fra Prag som str p Thomas Gorlns kontor. Foto: Simon Fals7.30Thomas Gorln mder p klinikken Lgerne Sborg Torv, hvor han er en af i alt fire praktiserende lger. Klinikken har til huse p adressen Sborg Torv 12 p 3. sal. LS OGSPraktiserende lge om konflikt: Vi er proppen i badekarret Det frste, Thomas Gorln er, at f en overblik over dagens patienter. Han stter sig ved sit skrivebord ved computeren og ser p skemaet for dagens opgaver. Det er frste arbejdsdag efter pinse, s der er sat ekstra akutte tider af til patienter, som er blevet drlige over pinsen. Der er ogs en lgevikar p arbejde i dag, ellers kommer de akutte patienter til at vente for lnge. 8.00Frste patient kommer klokken 8. Det er en ung kvinde med en depression. Hun har gennem nogle mneder haft det skidt og befundet sig i et sort hul. Hun vil ndig tage piller, men har selv informationer med om en psykoterapeut. Det er der imidlertid ikke tilskud til. Lgen beder hende udfylde et kort sprgeskema og konkluderer, at hun sandsynligvis har en moderat depression. Hun skriver en henvisning til en psykolog, som har til huse p samme adresse, men p etagen ovenover. Kvinden fr en ny tid hos lgen om seks uger til opflgning. Fakta TavshedspligtPolitiken.dk sidder med hos lgens konsultationer, med mindre patienten ikke nsker det. Vi har tavshedspligt og slrer derfor patienternes identitet, s de ikke kan genkendes. Nste patient kommer klokken 8.15 og har haft problemer med blodtrykket og er nu kommet til rskontrol. Blodprverne ser fine ud, men et enkelt tal stikker en smule ud og skal tjekkes igen om seks uger. Patienten skal ogs have skyllet re og p grund af en misforstelse fr han en tid hos en af klinikkens tre sygeplejersker en halv time senere. Der bliver ogs tid til en kort snak om patientens astma, og hvor meget medicin vedkommende tager for den. Thomas Gorln siger farvel og noterer oplysningerne i computeren. Et kort notat og n regning til Sygesikringen. 8.30En kvinde kommer, hun har haft diffuse symptomer i meget langt tid, hun kan ikke arbejde og er ked af det, hun er uarbejdsdygtig, men har ingen diagnose og falder derfor mellem stolene og kan ikke f sygedagpenge lngere. Familien bliver formentlig ndt til at stte deres bolig til salg. Thomas Gorln taler og sttter hende og henviser til en specialist, der mske kan bringe hende videre. Det bliver en stttende samtale, lgen sprger ind til, hvordan brnene tager det, hvordan gteskabet fungerer og den slags. Det trster kvinden. Ny tid om seks uger. Han skriver et kort notat i computeren og gr ud i ventevrelset efter nste patient. S kommer en far ind med en yndig lille pige i favnen. Hun gumler p en riskiks. Pigen har astma, og forldrene mistnker, at hun muligvis ogs er allergisk over for pelsdyr. Hun reagerer i hvert fald, nr hun er i nrheden af katte. Det er en akuttid, forldrene ringede i morges og ville gerne til med det samme. Hun har hostet hen over pinsen. Thomas Gorln taler blidt itl pigen, lytter p hendes lunger, og det lyder fint. Hun skal have taget en blodprve nede i laboratoriet, som kan give en indikation p, om pigen lider af allergi. … Read More

Metro: Last Light Tested, Benchmarked

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:28:00 +0000

When the Metro 2033 was released in 2010 it contributed to raise the PC graphics bar making good use of the latest DirectX 11 rendering technologies. Metro: Last Light follows its predecessor roots by using a heavily customized and improved version of the 4A Engine. … Read More

5 Overlooked Lessons From the AP Subpoenas and Other Leak Investigations

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:27:00 +0000

The journalism world has been rightly outraged by the Justice Department dragging the Associated Press (and now a Fox News reporter) into one of its sprawling leak investigations. … Read More

I dag skal Fogh krydsforhøres om statsløse

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:17:00 +0000

I dag tager Natos generalsekretr, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, noget af en afstikker fra sine normale arbejdsrutiner, nr han lgger vejen forbi statslsekommissionens ydmyge lokaler p Fremtidsvej i Sborg. Her skal han forklare om sit kendskab - eller manglen p samme - til Integrationsministeriets relange misforvaltning af statslses konventions-sikrede rettigheder. Fogh sad p posten som statsminister frem til april 2009. P det tidspunkt havde Integrationsministeriet i mere end et r vret klar over, at man ikke overholdt de internationale konventioner, der skal sikre statslse mennesker ret til statsborgerskab p srligt lempelige vilkr. Minister advaretI august 2008 advarede embedsvrket direkte davrende integrationsminister Birthe Rnn Hornbech (V) om, at man var kommet p galt spor. Men sprgsmlet er, om embedsmndenes bekymringer ovre i Integrationsministeriet p et tidspunkt nede hele vejen over i Statsministeriet og ind til Anders Fogh Rasmussen selv. De hidtidige afhringer i kommissionen peger ikke i den retning. En forhenvrende afdelingschef i Integrationsministeriet, Kim Lunding, har tidligere forklaret, at han i januar 2009 etablerede en underhndskontakt til Statsministeriet for at sprge, om det var en mulighed for Danmark at opsige FN-konventionen om statslshed. LS OGSForundret Birthe Rnn: Hele min verden falder sammen her Men han gjorde under sin afhring udtrykkeligt opmrksom p, at han ikke oplyste til Statsministeriet, at Integrationsministeriet havde afgjort konkrete sager i strid med konventionen. Sprgsmlet om, hvad Statsministeriet vidste og ikke vidste om statslsesagen, har med andre ord ikke flyttet sig, siden Foghs efterflger p posten, Lars Lkke Rasmussen, i 2011 konstaterede, at Statsministeriet iflge hans oplysninger frst blev bekendt med affren, da den blev "rullet op i medierne". Det blev den i forret 2011, og sagen endte med, at Lkke fyrede Birthe Rnn Hornbech som integrationsminister. Selvom hun fik kendskab til konventionsbruddet i august 2008, s srgede hun ikke for at standse misforvaltningen, og der skulle g nsten to r, fr fejlene blev rettet. Industri-direktr skal vidneUd over Anders Fogh Rasmussen skal tidligere departementschef i Statsministeriet, nuvrende administrerende direktr i Dansk Industri Karsten Dybvad i vidneskranken. Ogs hans efterflger p posten fra 2010, Christian Kettel Thomsen, skal forklare sig for kommissionen. Ogs Venstres nuvrende formand, Lars Lkke Rasmussen skulle iflge planen have rundet betonbygningen p Fremtidsvej tirsdag. Men afhringen af ham er i sidste jeblik blevet til rykket til den 29. maj. LS OGSRnn afviser: Jeg gav ikke ordre til at fortstte fejlbehandling … Read More

Fresh clashes as more cars burn in Husby

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:28:00 +0000

Cars were engulfed in flames on Monday night and youth clashed with police in the northwestern Stockholm district of Husby for a second night in a row. … Read More

Udvalg overvejer opgør med hellig ko i retsvæsenet

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:55:00 +0000

Borgernes mulighed for frit at anke en dom str til at blive beskret ganske voldsomt. I et udvalg nedsat af Justitsministeriet diskuterer medlemmerne for tiden, om der skal gres et stort indhug i et ellers nrmest helligt princip i dansk retspleje. Lang frre end i dag skal have lov til at anke en dom fra byretten til landsretten. I dag kan byretsdomme i civile sager, som handler om 10.000 kroner og derover, ankes til landsretten. Men i udvalget drftes det nu, om belbsgrnsen skal hves til for eksempel 50.000, 75.000 eller 100.000 kroner. Det er den vej, vinden blser, siger et af medlemmerne af udvalget, advokat Lars Svenning Andersen, til Ritzau. Lange ventetiderManvren vil betyde en aflastning af Vestre og stre Landsret, som djer bde med et stigende antal sager og lngere ventetider. Men indgrebet kan indebre en ret hj pris for borgerne, vurderer Lars Svenning Andersen, der er formand for brancheorganisationen Danske Advokater. Flere kan ende med at st tilbage med en tvivlsom eller fejlagtig afgrelse, fordi de ikke m anke til landsretten. Jo hjere man stter barrieren, desto mere ger man risikoen for, at man som borger ikke fr den retssikkerhed, man skal have, siger Lars Svenning Andersen. LS OGSLandsretter slr alarm: Folk m vente alt for lnge Han er meget optaget af, at sagerne ekstraordinrt alligevel kan f grnt lys til at blive vurderet af nye dommerjne i landsretten. Der br vre en ordentlig dispensationsmulighed, siger Lars Svenning Andersen. Gennemfres indhugget i folks ret til at anke, vil de to landsretter undg at tage stilling til flere hundrede retssager. Ved en grnse p 100.000 kroner ville hver tredje ankesag sidste r vre blevet ngtet adgang til de to landsretter. De otte medlemmer af udvalget skal give opskriften p, hvordan civile retssager kan behandles mere effektivt. Udvalget ventes at aflevere sin rapport 1. september. … Read More

Praktiserende læge Thomas Gorlén om konflikten: »Vi er proppen i badekarret«

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:36:00 +0000

Borgere med en solid indtgt fr ingen problemer, hvis den hjspndte lgekonflikt betyder, at danskerne skal betale for at g til deres praktiserende lge. Helt anderledes forholder det sig med patienter uden for arbejdsmarkedet, der har en ringe indtgt og mske oven i kbet et skrantende helbred. Konflikten kommer til at gre ondt p dem, siger praktiserende lge Thomas Gorln, der er en af fire lger i klinikken Lgerne Sborg Torv ved Kbenhavn. Han har inviteret politiken.dk til at flge ham en dag for at f et indblik i, hvad en praktiserende lge laver. Hvis proppen i badekarret trkkes op, s lber vandet ud. S har de borgere intet sted at g hen Thomas Gorln De patienter har ikke rd til fysioterapeut og psykolog. Vi er det eneste tilbud til dem, og vi er bange for, at de vil holde sig vk, fordi de hverken kan betale eller lgge penge ud for besget hos lgen. Vi er proppen i badekarret. Vi er sidste instans for de mennesker. Vores navn str p det gule sygesikringskort. Vi er et navn, de kan kontakte, hvis noget gr galt. S kommer de her og bliver guidet gennem systemet. Hvis proppen i badekarret trkkes op, s lber vandet ud. S har de borgere intet sted at g hen. Det bekymrer os, siger 54-rige Thomas Gorln p et syngende dansk, der ikke levner nogen tvivl om hans norske baggrund. Arbejder 50 timer om ugenHan flyttede i 1993 til Danmark med sin danske hustru. I mange r havde han sin egen praksis i Brnshj, men for tre r siden bd muligheden sig for at f fat i nogle strre lokaler, hvor flere lger kunne sidde sammen. Det gav mulighed for faglig sparring, strre fleksiblitet i jobbet og muligheden for at anstte mere personale, s Thomas Gorln slog til. Klientellet i lgeklinikken er bredt sammensat. Her kommer patienter i alle aldre, en del socialt belastede fra lejlighedskvartererne, og ellers alle dele af middelklassen fra villakvartererne. Der bor ikke ret mange indvandrere i omrdet. Thomas Gorln, der arbejder omkring 50 timer om ugen, er sikker p, at regeringen og regionerne har tilrettelagt hele konflikten p forhnd, for, som han siger, man laver ikke et lovforslag p tre timer. LS OGSEn dag hos lgen: Politiken.dk flger en praktiserende lge Fakta Thomas GorlnPraktiserende lge Thomas Gorln er 54 r og har norsk baggrund. Han er uddannet i Oslo. Han bosatte sig i 1993 i Danmark med sin danske hustru. Sammen har parret tre voksne brn p 20, 27 og 29 r. Thomas Gorln blev ansat som projektleder i medicinalvirksomheden Lundbeck, da han kom til Danmark. Her arbejde han i godt halvandet r. Han overtog i januar 1995 en praksis i Brnshj, som han havde indtil 2010. I september 2010 overtog han sammen med tre andre lger nogle lokaler p Sborg Torv fra Gladsaxe Kommune. Her etablerede de lgeklinikken Lgerne Sborg Torv. Adressen er Sborg Torv 12, 3. sal. Vi har vret forberedt p det konflikten siden november, for der har ikke vret nogle reelle forhandlinger. Al udvikling er get i st. Alle investeringer i klinikken er stoppet. Nyt udstyr og kurser for personalet. Vi er ndt til at vente for at sikre os, at vi kan klare os igennem en konflikt konomisk. I frste omgang var vi bange for, at vi m lukke vores praksis. Vi m jo forvente en vis nedgang i indtgterne, hvis patienterne skal betale selv. Vi har ansvaret for lokalerne og personalet, s vi bliver ndt til at komme helt igennem det her, siger Thomas Gorln. Han mener, at konflikten er en ulykkelig situation, som ingen har glde af. Men der er ikke nogen vej uden om, nr regeringen er kommet med et lovforslag, der er helt urimeligt og vil delgge en velfungerende institution, som almen praksis er i dag. Vi bliver frataget den overordnede styring af vores egen virksomhed. Vi driver en forretning, hvor vi har det juridiske og konomiske ansvar. Hidtil har PLO (De Praktiserende Lgers Organisation, red.) og regionerne udstukket kursen sammen, s bde konomi og opgaver er fagligt funderet. Det forsvinder helt med det her forslag, siger Thomas Gorln. Flere opgaver som diabetes og KOLMen lgerne fr plads i et udvalg, der skal rdgive regionerne om, hvilke opgaver de praktiserende lger skal lse og hvordan? Jo, men vi fr ingen beslutningskraft. Vi har gennem de seneste par r set, at vi fr flere opgaver. Vi har overtaget diagnosticeringen, omsorgen og behandlingen af patienter med diabetes. Vi regulerer behandlingen, tager forebyggende samtaler med dem. Srger for insulinen. Tidligere kom de p ambulatorierne p sygehusene. Vi har ogs patienterne med KOL (kronisk obstruktiv lungelidelse, red.), som fr var p lungeambulatoriet p sygehuset. Vi taler rygestop med dem, og det tager tid. Vi flger op, nr de falder i og ryger. Vi drager omsorg for dem, taler om motion og om, hvordan de klarer hverdagen. Vi har ogs fra hospitalerne overtaget hjertepatienterne, der fr blodfortyndende medicin. Der har vel fulgt penge med til de ekstra opgaver? Ja, indtil april 2011, hvor der blev lavet loft over udgifterne, s de kun m stige to procent om ret. Det er meget fornuftigt at styre udgifterne, men man kan diskutere, hvor procentgrnsen skal ligge. Jeg kan i hvert fald se, hvad det betyder. Vi lber strkere, vi rationaliserer, vi fr flere opgaver, men har ikke penge til at betale for mere personale. LS OGSDagbog fra klinikken: Hvad gr I s? Vi var p et tidspunkt s pressede, at vi var ndt til at henvise noget s simpelt som frysning af fodvorter videre til hudlgerne. Det er en meget dyrere lsning Thomas Gorln Enten er der mindre tid til hver patient, eller ogs er vi ndt til at skre andre opgaver fra. Vi var p et tidspunkt s pressede, at vi var ndt til at henvise noget s simpelt som frysning af fodvorter videre til hudlgerne. Det er en meget dyrere lsning for regionerne, end hvis vi selv fryser vorterne. Den udvikling bliver forstrket med det her lovforslag, og derfor risikerer det at blive dyrere for samfundet, uden at det bliver bedre. Det er konsekvensen, hvis vi skal overleve i det her. Et kvarter til hver patientHvor meget tid har du til hver patient? Vi har to funktioner i hverdagen p klinikken. Den ene er almindelig patienttid. Det er 15 minutter inklusive alt. Det vil sige hente patienten i ventevrelset, tj af, tj p, skrive, samtale, skrive bagefter. Det er jo alt mellem himmel og jord, patienterne kommer med. Livsstil, stress, diabeteskontrol, nybagte mdre, depressioner, opflgning p en palliativ patient. Nogle gange har vi dobbelttider til enkelte patienter. S har vi de akutte tider, som er til patienter, som ringer og har behov for hjlp samme dag. De varer 7 minut med alt. Det kan vre halsbetndelse, hold i nakken, skrive dokumentation for, at en patient ikke kan komme til eksamen p grund af maveinfektion, akutte smerter, blodprop i benet, en knude i brystet, luftvejsinfektioner. Har I tid til overs? Vi har meget travlt, som det er nu. Det gr strkt. Vi har i klinikken hver dag n lge, som har ben liste til de akutte patienter, og som ogs tager p sygebesg hos ldre, der ikke selv kan komme herop. Det kan vre en patient p et plejehjem, som hoster og har feber. Vi andre tre lger er fuldt booket op. LS OGSRegionernes politiske chef til regeringen: Giv lgerne central indrmmelseHvad hber du, at der sker i denne konflikt? I Norge fr du en masse goder ved at tage job i yderomrdene. Du fr fire mneder fri p fem r Thomas Gorln Jeg hber, at regeringen tager lovforslaget af bordet, og at PLO og regionerne stter sig sammen igen og forhandler en god lsning p plads. Hvis vi skal bevare lysten til at drive vores praksis videre, s skal det ske i et samarbejde. Vi er enige om, at der skal lger til yderomrderne, men uenige i metoden. I Norge fr du en masse goder ved at tage job i yderomrdene. For eksempel fr du fire mneders orlov p fem r. Klar til at aflevere ydernummeretHvorfor skal lger have srbehandling? Sdan vil et privat foretagende gre, hvis de skulle anstte folk i stillinger, som er svre at f besat. En kommune gr det samme, hvis de nsker folk med specielle kompetencer. S tilbyder de noget ekstra for at trkke dem til. Jeg tror ikke p tvang. Vi er selv her i klinikken klar til at aflevere vores ydernummer, hvis det kommer dertil. Selv om det bliver en meget utryg situation for os. Vil vil vre tvunget til at tage betaling for at f det til at lbe rundt. For lgernes vedkommende, s skal vi frst betale ln til personalet og betale husleje, og s m vi se, om vi selv kan tage penge ud. Hvad tjener du? Det handler ikke om ln. Vi stter hele vores ln p spil for at bevare muligheden for at hjlpe patienterne bedst. Jeg havde sidste r inklusive pension 820.000 kroner fr skat og fr afdrag p praksisln, efter omkostningerne forbundet med klinikken var trukket fra. Det er lavere end en overlgeln. Vi kmper ogs imod myten om, at vi er ekstremt hjtlnnede. Jeg har seks ugers ferie om ret. Resten af tiden er jeg i klinikken. LS OGSVenstre er ikke dve: Lgerne skal kunne se sig selv i loven Du giver et barn dets frste vaccine, 15 r senere udskriver du p-piller til hende, og 20 r senere bliver hun gravid. Hun fder, og du vaccinerer babyen. Du flger dem fra starten i livet med al den usikkerhed, der er forbundet med det, og ser, hvordan de vokser til og bliver gode samfundsborgere Thomas Gorln Er du fristet af at droppe klinikken og tage job som vikar, tjene det samme p at arbejde mindre med mindre ansvar? Det skal g rigtig galt, fr jeg bliver fristet af det, for du mister kontinuiteten. Du giver et barn dets frste vaccine, 15 r senere udskriver du p-piller til hende, og 20 r senere bliver hun gravid. Hun fder, og du vaccinerer babyen. Du flger dem fra starten i livet med al den usikkerhed, der er forbundet med det, og ser, hvordan de vokser til og bliver gode samfundsborgere. Jeg fik en blomst fra en patient, som jeg har fulgt hele livet, og som nu er blevet 18 r. Det kan nsten ikke beskrives. Det gr jo ogs, at vi kan yde en srlig service. Vi kender familierne og deres tankegang. Det er den rolle, vi har. Vi bliver en tryg base for dem. Da jeg flyttede fra min praksis i Brnshj og her til Sborg, blev mange af patienterne vrede p mig. De havde planlagt, at jeg skulle vre deres lge for resten af deres liv, siger praktiserende lge Thomas Gorln. … Read More

En dag hos lægen: Politiken.dk følger en praktiserende læge

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:35:00 +0000

Politiken.dk besger i dag praktiserende lge Thomas Gorln, der er en af fire lger, der har konsultation i lgeklinikken p Sborg Torv i udkanten af Kbenhavn. Vi beskriver, hvordan en helt almindelig arbejdsdag forlber for en ganske almindelig praktiserende lge. Fakta Vigtige datoer i lgekonflikten3. maj 2013: Danske Regioner meddeler De Praktiserende Lgers Organisation (PLO), at regionerne har besluttet af opsige overenskomsten med lgerne. Tre timer senere sender sundhedsminister Astrid Krag (SF) et lovforslag om nye rammer for de praktiserende lgers arbejde i hring. 5. maj 2013: PLO aftaler p et bestyrelsesmde, hvordan man skal reagere p regeringens lovforslag. Beslutningen bliver at opfordre alle landets 3.600 praktiserende lger til at aflevere deres ydernummer til PLO i protest mod regeringen. Det er ydernumrene, som sikrer lgerne honorar fra Sygesikringen. Uden ydenummer m danskerne betale for lgebesg. Nr PLO har modtaget ydernumrene, vil PLO beslutte, om numrene samlet skal afleveres retur til regionerne, hvorved samarbejdet med det offentlige vil vre helt afbrudt. 13. maj 2013: Lgerne over hele landet tager fat p afstemninger om, hvor stor en andel der vil aflevere deres ydernummer i protest. Frste afstemning af blandt lgerne i Region Hovedstaden. Over 90 procent vil aflevere nummeret, samme billede ses i de vrige fire regioner. Nogle har endnu ikke besluttet sig, mens et ftal vil beholde ydernummeret. 17. maj 2013: Danske Regioners politiske chef, Bent Hansen (S) opfordrer regeringen til at justere sit lovforslag og give lgerne mere indflydelse p deres eget arbejde. Lgerne tager godt imod udmeldingen fra Bent Hansen, der reprsenterer lgernes arbejdsgivere - regionerne. 24. maj 2013: Sidste chance for at indgive hringssvar om regeringens lovforslag vedrrende rammerne for de praktiserende lgers arbejde. 28. maj 2013: Regeringen forventer at prsentere sit lovforslag i Folketinget. 1. september 2013: Overenskomsten mellem de praktiserende lger og Danske Regioner udlber. Hvis der ikke er en ny aftale eller et lovindgreb p plads, skal danskerne formentlig betale for at g til lgen fra denne dato. Regeringen har lovet at dkke udgiften. 1. september 2014: Denne dato udlber overenskomsten, hvis det str til regeringen. Den har nemlig i sit lovforslag foreslet at forlnge den gldende overenskomst med et r, s PLO og Danske Regioner i ro og mag kan forhandle en ny overenskomst p plads. De Praktiserende Lgers Organisation (PLO) og Danske Regioner har gennem lngere tid forgves forsgt at blive enige om en ny overenskomst, der stter rammerne for de fem regioners kb af ydelser fra de praktiserende lger. Lgerne mister indflydelseI begyndelsen af maj opsagde Danske Regioner overenskomsten med lgerne, og f timer senere prsenterede regeringen et lovforslag, der faststter nye rammer for de praktiserende lgers arbejde. LS OGSPraktiserende lge om konflikt: Vi er proppen i badekarret Regeringen vil sikre lgehjlp til alle danskere, ogs i tyndt befolkede omrder som Nordjylland og Lolland, hvor der er langt mellem de praktiserende lger. Derfor fratager regeringen lgerne deres indflydelse p, hvor der skal bne lgeklinikker. Regeringen vil ogs ensarte og hjne kvaliteten af behandlingen og overvge, hvad skatteborgerne fr for de otte milliarder kroner, der rligt bruges p de praktiserende lger. Endelig skal samarbejdet mellem lgen, hospitalet og kommunen vre bedre. Farvel til ydernummeretLgernes svar er entydigt. De mener, at regeringens lovforslag lgger op til en detailstyring af de praktiserende lger, s det bliver umuligt for dem at drive en privat praksis. Lgerne vil ikke afgive kontrollen med, hvad der skal foreg, nr de sidder med deres patient, og det vil iflge lgerne ske, hvis regeringens lovforslag bliver vedtaget undret. LS OGSDagbog fra klinikken: De praktiserende lger har som modsvar til regeringens lovforslag truet med at stoppe samarbejdet med det offentlige helt og aflevere deres ydernummer, som ellers giver dem ret til honorar fra Sygesikringen, nr de behandler patienter. Uden ydernummer m danskerne betale for at komme til lgen. Mens politikere, eksperter og organisationer diskuterer hjlydt om lovindgreb, ydernumre og overenskomst, s fortstter de praktiserende lger med deres arbejde som vanligt. De taler med patienterne, lytter p hjerte og lunger, udskriver recepter og alt muligt andet, der foregr i konsultationen, hvor patienten og den praktiserende lge mdes. Ved at flge praktiserende lge Thomas Gorlns arbejdsdag hber vi at kunne give et nuanceret billede af, hvad der sker p en ganske almindelig dag i lgeklinikken. … Read More

‘Cooperation in Iran’s interest to clarify peaceful nuclear intent’ – IAEA chief

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:31:00 +0000

The urgency of which to reach an agreement appears to be increasing, as Washington and Tel-Aviv threaten a possible military response if diplomacy and sanctions fail to make Tehran restrain its nuclear program. With an Iranian election set for next month, Tehran is looking increasingly unlikely to back down over its controversial nuclear program. Negotiations held last week failed to bring about any major shift or concession from either party. Over the past few months, the IAEA and Tehran have held several talks in an effort to develop a structured approach to addressing the Iranian nuclear issue.“What we can say about the nuclear activity of Iran is that Iran is conducting nuclear activities in a quite steady manner,” Yukiya Amano, Director General of the IAEA told RT.The watchdog, based in Vienna, has on various occasions expressed concerns that Iranian authorities have denied its inspectors access to Iran’s nuclear facility in Parchin. The IAEA says it needs such access to allay international concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran maintains that its nuclear research is conducted for peaceful purpose only.“We are not saying that Iran has nuclear weapons or that Iran has decided to develop nuclear weapons but we have pieces of information that indicate that Iran was involved in activities relevant to the development of nuclear explosive devises,” Amano stressed.The head of the nuclear watchdog added “We do not draw conclusions but we put questions and we tell our Iranian friends that they need to clarify the issues.”Though closely linked, the talks between the IAEA and Iran remain separate from discussions that Tehran is holding with six world powers, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany.Last week Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said that Tehran and the six world powers will resume talks on its nuclear program “in the near future,” most likely some time before the Iranian elections on June 14.But in the meantime, Amano underlined that “Cooperating with IAEA fully should be in the interest of Iran. They say all of their activities are for peaceful purposes and we would like to help Iran to clarify the issue.”The IAEA chief also stresses that a repeat of the Iraq scenario, where failure to cooperate was used as a pretext to invasion, is unlikely to happen with Iran. Asked about Israel’s double standards in regards to the alleged possession of nuclear weapons and Iran’s push for nuclear development, Amano said that international law applies differently to Israel as it is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.“Israel is not a member of the NPT so what IAEA can do is vary the activities in the facility which Israel decided to place under our safeguard, we do not have the authority to go beyond that.” The issue of Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons, which has not yet been officially acknowledged by Tel Aviv, is crucial to an international effort to create a region nuclear free zone. A conference on the introduction of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction was called for at a May 2010 conference to review the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The idea has failed to materialize, as Israel said it would not attend the international conference. “Many countries of the international community want Israel to attend a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Conference and the NPT. My role is to maintain the channel and share the information and advice,” Amano said.In regards to the use of nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster, the watchdog’s head said“Our safety features have been strengthened,” adding that the“Fukushima accident was a huge wake-up call for all the countries to enhance safety.” Despite the Fukushima accident, the use of nuclear power will continue and expand, Amano explained. … Read More

Rådne fisk forgifter fire mænd på Bornholm

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:11:00 +0000

Fire fiskere er indlagt p hospitalet til observation p forgiftning, efter at de mandag aften var ved at tmme en polsk fiskekutter p Bornholm. Kutteren lagde til ved Nex, og de tre fiskere kravlede ned i lasten. Men under arbejdet blev de drlige, fortller Bornholms Politi. En af de polske fiskere besvimede, men de tre andre var i stand til at hive ham op af lasten med et tov, lyder det. De frste meldinger gik p, at fiskerne var blevet kulilteforgiftet. Men iflge politiet har mndene i stedet symptomer p forgiftning af svovlbrinte - ogs kaldet hydrogensulfid - som kan vre livsfarlig. Det virker hmmende p iltoptagelsen og er opstet i forbindelse med forrdnelsesprocessen af fisk, siger vagtchef Michael Mortensen fra Bornholms Politi. Ingen af de fire fiskere skulle vre i livsfare efter ulykken, der fandt sted omkring klokken 23 mandag aften. … Read More

US history plagued by devastating tornadoes

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:04:00 +0000

The most destructive twister struck Ellington, Missouri at approximately 1:01 pm on March 18, 1925.The Great Tri-State Tornado traveled through Missouri before entering Illinois and finally dissipating in rural Indiana more than three hours after the vortex was first spotted. At least 695 people were killed in the Tri-State tornado with another 2,027 injured and $16.5 million in damage (over $1.4 billion in today’s dollars). The tornado registered as an F5, the highest possible on the Fujita scale. Unfortunately, like Monday’s tragedy in Oklahoma, areas with schools were the worst hit, with nine in all being demolished. “There was a great roar,” witness Judith Cox told the St. Louis Dispatch two days after the storm hit, as quoted by Popular Mechanics. “Like a train but many times louder. ‘My God!’ I cried, ‘It’s a cyclone and it’s here.’ The air was full of everything, boards, branches of trees, garments, pans, stoves, all churning together. I saw whole sides of houses rolling along near the ground.” The Great Natchez Tornado ranks second on the list of the deadliest tornados to strike the US. Although there was no Fujita scale at the time the Great Natchez Tornado is universally recognized as another F5, tossing more than 60 boats into the Mississippi River and drowning a total of 269 people. At least another 48 people were killed on land when the storm tore through Louisiana, but slave deaths were not counted at the time so the death toll is thought to be much higher. Tornado Alley is the name designated to the region of the United States between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian Mountains. The third ranking on the list, the St. Louis Tornado of 1896, landed directly in that region. Nearly $4 billion (in 2013 currency) was caused when a violent F4 tornado swept through downtown St. Louis, killing at least 255 people. Little else is known about the storm is known because few of the records taken survived the century since. Decades later, seventeen tornadoes (later combined into two, the fourth and fifth deadliest ever in the US) converged on the southeastern states, hitting Tupelo, Mississippi and Gainesville, Georgia the hardest. The storms destroyed an entire 48 city blocks, 200 homes and killed 216 people in Tupelo, among the victims was an entire family of 13 people.“My friends and I stopped in front of a store downtown when the owner came out and told use to take cover,” said Gainesville witness John Rudolph. “It was daytime but the sky was dark as night…When I woke up, I couldn’t move my leg. I waited for what seemed like hours for someone to come and help me. My leg was broken from fallen debris.” Again, the final death toll could not be calculated because newspapers refused to calculate the deaths of non-whites. The storm trigged flash floods and a department store fire that killed 20 people seeking refuge. An infant Elvis Presley was among the survivors. … Read More

Oklahoma tornado aftermath: LIVE UPDATES

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:50:00 +0000

4:03 GMT:Twenty four children remain unaccounted for after the devastating Oklahoma tornado, CNN reports.3:59 GMT:All public schools in Moore, Oklahoma will remain closed on Tuesday. 3:54 GMT:Officials at two Oklahoma hospitals have revised the number of patients they have been treating. Since a massive tornado hit suburban Oklahoma City a total of 120 patients, including about 50 children, wereadmitted to hospitals, officials said. 3:43 GMT:US President Obama has signed a major disaster declaration following a devastating tornado in Oklahoma, making federal funding available in Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma and Pottawatomie.3:17 GMT: Some of Oklahoma children earlier reported as missing have been found in local churches, CNN reports.2:45 GMT: As of 9:45 pm central time Oklahoma medical examiner’s office has confirmed 51 deaths and 233 injuries.2:35 GMT: Medical examiner's office says that at least 20 children were among those 51 confirmed dead after Oklahoma tornado.2:23 GMT: Two Oklahoma hospitals are treating more than 140 people, including about 70 kids, after massive tornado hit Oklahoma. … Read More

Shias, mass media, and Hezbollah: What lies behind the battle for Qusair

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:21:00 +0000

There are far more elements surrounding the situation in Qusair than first meet the eye, RT's Nadezhda Kevorkova reveals.The army’s advance to Qusair is a key strategic operation. Qusair is near Homs, which is located on the road connecting Damascus with the Mediterranean seaport. And Qusair itself is the closest town to the Lebanese border. So taking control of it allows the forces to control the Lebanese border with the Shias living on both sides. There is an important high point between Qusair and the Lebanese village Al-Qasr. The Syrian army was forced to leave this area in the fall of 2012, so locals lost their protection. Opposition fighters took over the region and tried to chase out the Shias and take control of the high point – there were severe battles here in April 2013. (I was in Lebanon’s Al-Qasr at the time – the village came under heavy fire). But the rebels lost to the fighters from the Syrian People’s Committees. They were able to hold the high point.Had the opposition forces won over this rather small and seemingly insignificant area, there would’ve been major consequences. The war would’ve spread to Lebanon, and Hezbollah would’ve been obligated to get involved. Jihadists would’ve been able to get into Syria from Lebanon and attack Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in the Beqaa Valley.But fighters from the Syrian People’s Committees didn’t let them do it and held the high point. Thanks to their effort, the government forces were able to deploy troops here and start the Qusair counter-offensive on May 19. Thirty-thousand Syrian Shias live on the Syrian side of the border (not the Alawites - the Shias). As we know, the border between Syria and Lebanon is relative - the Shias have lived here for ages. When colonial powers drew border lines between countries, they didn’t take the traditional settlement patterns of ethnic groups and communities into account. Many of the local residents have Lebanese passports.In the fall of 2012, rebels and foreign mercenaries began to sweep Shia villages with fire. They also intimidated people and conducted ethnic cleansing operations. In mixed communities they would go into Shias’ houses telling people to get out, drew “outlaw” signs on the buildings, snipers shot at those who tried to exit these houses. If a family left a home, it was burned down. Rebels planned to drive all Shias out of the area near the border. Opposition propaganda resources in major mass media and social networks have deployed a campaign in the Islamic world aimed at bolstering the idea that all the Shias are apostates – they are not Muslims, not native to these regions and are simply a tool that is used for proliferating Iranian policy across the Middle East. That is why jihad regards killing a Shia as noble. A number of propaganda resources that different sheikhs were using to broadcast anti-Shia sermons, were involved with the campaign. Moreover, the mass media are thus instilling the minds of Muslims with the idea that all the Shias, including ordinary peasants, are Hezbollah militants, and Hezbollah, in its turn, is a supplement to the 'dreadful thugs' of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. Such an approach, which is used by the opposition and backed by the world’s major mass media, has a precise analogy.The scorched-earth policy was first used in the region by the Irgun Jewish settlers in April 1948, when several Palestinian villages were wiped off the map (Deir Yassin is the most well-known). The goal was simple: the news about the massacre of 254 Palestinians – kids, women and old people would terrify all the rest so much, that they would run away voluntarily. The news about such unprecedented atrocities as, for instance, disembowelling pregnant women did strike terror into people: unarmed and unskilled in terms of war 740 thousand Palestinians fled from their home villages becoming refugees. Zionist ideologists still claim that the Palestinians are not native to Palestine and they were invited there as migrant workers, so they are either Bedouins, or nomads, or Gypsies from the Middle East who didn’t have any skills in agriculture and didn’t know how to farm. This is also the reason that has been driving the mass-media campaign to discredit Hezbollah that has been accused of allegedly fighting against the Syrian people. Video footage and photographs of fallen Hezbollah fighters dating back to the 2006 Lebanon War have been circulated as “proof” that Hezbollah is involved in Syria and suffering losses. Back in 2006, 800 Hezbollah fighters put up resistance to the ground invasion of Lebanon by Israel, and these numbers were officially announced by the party leader Hasan Nasrallah.I met with families that were forced to flee Syrian villages by the border. These were mostly large families who feared that their women, wives and daughters, would be raped by the opposition fighters and criminals that accompany them. Many also said that it was their strategy to intimidate the local population on purpose to have the houses vacated. Nonetheless many stayed and organized community defense volunteer squads to protect themselves from the rebel forces and mercenaries with arms in their hands.The battle of Qusair has been of strategic importance, but not only that - Qusair is the only town, however small (with 50,000 people of population ) that had been given up by the government forces in the past – while the rest of the towns in Syria are under the government’s control. Mass-media that are telling their audience that the purpose of the battle of Qusair was “to regain control over the Mediterranean coast” and “re-deploy the government forces to Aleppo” are lying. The army is already in full control of the coast. Last Sunday, the army launched a massive offensive on all transit routes for weapons and supplies coming into the country.As of today, Qusair is surrounded by the Syrian army, which is also in control of the downtown area. An escape corridor is being kept open for the fleeing population. The militants who fail to use it are contained in town’s quarters.As for the losses, all the numbers cited are pure speculation and part of the propaganda attack on Syria. For example, the opposition initially reported online that they had killed “90 Hezbollah militants,” yet after a while changed the number to 30, and that’s in addition to the Syrian army’s losses of 20 soldiers reported by the army itself.Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT … Read More

At least 51 dead after tornado tears through Oklahoma

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:04:00 +0000

Oklahoma tornado survivors speak 21/05/2013 05:54 CET Tornadoes rip through central US 20/05/2013 08:44 CET Christmas day tornados kill three in US 26/12/2012 19:33 CET Tornadoes tear through Texas killing 6 16/05/2013 10:04 CET Florida sinkhole search called off, man presumed dead 03/03/2013 08:56 CET

A tornado gusting at an estimated 320 kilometres per hour has cut a swathe through the US city of Oklahoma and surrounding state, leaving at least 51 dead and scores injured and missing.

Rescue teams have been mobilised and a full-scale operation is underway.

“We have had a massive tornado, a huge one has passed through this community. We do know there are fatalities, we don’t have a number count yet, we know there are a lot of injuries,” said Mary Fallin, Oklahoma State Governor.

“We know we have lost a tremendous amount of structures throughout this community and throughout the state,” she continued.

It is feared many are trapped in collapsed buildings. At the Plaza Towers Elementary School, children have been pulled from the debris.

“I just wanted to say first of all that our prayers and our thoughts are with the Oklahoma families that have been hit hard by this terrible storm these last two days,” added Fallin.

“In particular our hearts are just broken for the parents that are wondering about the state of their children that have been in the schools that have been hit today.”

More about: Natural catastrophe, Oklahoma City, Tornado, USA

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Why men do evil (while wearing a badge)

Anon — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:32:00 +0000

These stories are of fear and pain. These are stories of abuse by police. These stories are becoming more frequent. Entire website networks have sprung up to alert readers and web searches of the abuse caused by police officers. … Read More

Mile Wide Tornado Devastates Oklahoma, Elementary Schools Take Direct Hit

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:58:00 +0000

In a scene more reminiscent of a warzone than an American city, parts of Oklahoma City and its outlying suburbs have been wrecked by a mile wide tornado that left devastation in its wake. … Read More

Google Voice finds a new home in Google+ Hangouts

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:30:00 +0000

Google Voice has found a new home within Hangouts in Google+. Last week at Google I/O, the new standalone version of Hangouts was unveiled as an amalgam of all current Google messaging products with the exception of Google Voice. … Read More

Jolla unveils first Sailfish OS smartphone, set to ship this year

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:30:00 +0000

Jolla on Monday unveiled the first smartphone designed to run a Meego-inspired operating system called Sailfish. The Finnish mobile handset company, comprised of ex-Nokia employees, believes the self-titled mobile device will be a strong candidate in the mid- to high-end smartphone market. … Read More

Aid for F.C.C. in Defending Its Net Neutrality Rules

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:53:00 +0000

A Supreme Court decision seems to help the Federal Communications Commission’s high-profile attempt to defend its net neutrality rules against a court challenge. … Read More

Google pressing for fast adoption of royalty-free VP9 video codec

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:30:00 +0000

Last week at I/O 2013, Google said it is nearly finished developing the new royalty-free VP9 video codec. The new specification is available now for testing, and will be officially finalized on June 17, reports CNET. … Read More

The IRS’s Job Is To Violate Our Liberties

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:17:00 +0000

“What do you expect when you target the President?” This is what an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent allegedly said to the head of a conservative organization that was being audited after calling for the impeachment of then-President Clinton. … Read More

Mayor Bloomberg’s advice to students: become plumbers

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:07:00 +0000

Yes, that’s career advice courtesy of New York’s Michael Bloomberg: the Big Apple’s media mogul-turned-billionaire mayor who recently led an unsuccessful campaign to ban oversized sugary drinks in his city. Now after making a name for himself as the nanny of Manhattan, Mayor Bloomberg is apparently already considering another career change — this time as guidance counselor.During his weekly radio show on Friday, Bloomberg shared some words with listeners looking for career advice. It’s no secret that jobs are hard to come by nowadays, and the amount of debt brought on by unpaid college loans now surpasses what Americans owe on their credit cards. Mayor Bloomberg offered his input on the issue during last week’s show, and said students who aren’t destined for the top of the class should consider another option that’s not so costly.“The people who are going to have the biggest problem are college graduates who aren't rocket scientists, if you will, not at the top of their class," Bloomberg said. "Compare a plumber to going to Harvard College – being a plumber, actually for the average person, probably would be a better deal."“You don’t spend ... four years spending $40,000, $50,000 in tuition without earning income,” the mayor added.Later, Bloomberg explained that some vocational jobs — like plumbing — won’t ever been outsourced overseas or replaced by machines.“It’s hard to farm that out ... and it’s hard to automate that,” he said.One day later, the mayor had similar words for the graduating class of Ohio’s Kenyon College. According to Fox News, Bloomberg told graduates on Saturday that “I know that today’s job market is not easy,” and acknowledged, “...today, if I interview a recent college grad who tells me he or she spent the summer curing cancer, bringing peace to the Middle East, and writing the Great American Novel – I’m impressed.Again, however, the mayor said dreams of being successful shouldn’t be dashed just because college isn’t in the cards. “I’m more likely to hire the person who spent his or her summer working days, nights, and weekends for an auto-body shop or a construction company in order to pay tuition or help with family bills,” Bloomberg told the crowd.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for a manual worker like a plumber in 2010 was roughly $47,000, a good $15,000 a year annually more than other occupational workers pull in. And as MSN pointed out, recent college grads aren’t guaranteed much more than hefty student loans: for 2011 graduates, the average debt went up 5.3 percent from the year before. Bloomberg, on the other hand, was estimated to be worth $27 billion as of this year. … Read More

Ongoing military rape epidemic: 85k vets treated for sex abuse in 2012

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:05:00 +0000

The data shows the long-term financial and emotional costs of sexual assault in the military for both men and women. Of the 85,000 veterans suffering from what the Department of Veterans Affairs calls “military sexual trauma”, 60 percent were female and 40 percent were male. In comparison, only 4,000 American veterans sought disability benefits in 2012, which is 20 times less than those suffering from sex abuse trauma, the Associated Press reports.Ruth Moore, a veteran from Milbridge, Maine, first sought treatment from a counseling center 16 years after she was raped twice while serving the Navy. She has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder linked to the assaults, and has been unable to work.“We can’t cure me, but we can work on stability in my life and work on issues as they arrive,” she told AP.Earlier this month, the Pentagon acknowledged that “sexual assault is a persistent problem” among service members, and that about 26,000 military service members said they were sexually assaulted in 2012, ninety percent of which chose not to file a report.It is undeniable that victims of sexual assault often face emotional consequences. But Dr. Margret Bell, a member of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ military sexual trauma team, told AP that the US government should also be concerned about the costs of treating so many victims. Veterans who claim to have suffered sexual abuse in the military have access to free heath care.“It really is the case that a veteran can simply walk through the door, say they’ve had this experience, and we will get them hooked up with care,” Bell said. “There’s no documentation required. They don’t need to have reported it at the time.”Receiving treatment for sexual assault is easier than doing so for disabilities: veterans must be medically diagnosed with PTSD or a similar problem, submit proof of how they acquired their disability, and have an examiner confirm their condition before the disabled can receive health care.According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, one in five women and one in 100 men screen positive for military sexual trauma – but few seek treatment. This indicates that many more than 85,000 veterans have been victims of military sexual activity against their will. There are about 22 million veterans in the US.The numbers demonstrate the need for action to reduce the number of sexual assaults that occur in the military each year, both for victims’ health and the government’s cost. Moore estimates that her treatment will exceed $500,000 over the course of her lifetime -- money that the government could potentially save by doing more to address sexual assault in the military. … Read More

Færre udsatte bliver smidt ud af boligen

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:05:00 +0000

Indsatsen for borgere, der risikerer at ende med at blive smidt ud af deres hjem, virker. LS OGSBoligselskaber jubler: Nu smider vi frre lejere udSledes blev 600 frre danskere sat ud af boligen i 2012 i forhold til ret fr, et fald, der svarer til 14 procent, viser tal fra Domstolsstyrelsen. Kurven er vendtEn massiv indsats fra kommuner, boligselskaber og frivillige har sammen med afskaffelsen af de skaldte fattigdomsydelser formet at vende kurven efter flere rs stejl stigning i antallet af udsttelser. Det fortller Kbenhavns Kommune og Kommunernes Landsforening. I landets strste almene boligselskab, KAB, er faldet endnu mere markant. Her er antallet af udsttelser faldet med 24 procent, og de nyeste tal fra 2013 viser et yderligere fald.LS OGSFattigdanmark: Flere og flere smides ud af hus og hjemHver eneste udsttelse sparer boligafdelingerne og dermed naboerne for 55.000 kroner, siger direktr for KAB Jesper Nygrd og forklarer, at ogs kommunerne og beboeren selv sparer dyre omkostninger ved en udsttelse og eventuel genhusning. Kommunerne har sammen med boligselskaberne brugt flere strategier, der ser ud til at virke. Nr man skruer p ydelser for at motivere folk, risikerer man at skubbe folk helt ud p kanten Mikkel Warming Det drejer sig blandt andet om gldsrdgivning til konomisk pressede beboere og et styrket samarbejde mellem de kommunale forvaltninger, der gr det lettere for eksempelvis jobcentre at give en bedre sagsbehandling til udsatte, der er i fare for at miste kontanthjlpen.Desuden har en lovndring fra 2012 gjort det muligt for kommuner at g ind og hjlpe direkte med at betale en regning for udsatte borgere. Inden da kunne kommunerne st med skilsmissesager eller ddsfald, hvor de ikke mtte lgge ud for udgifterne for de efterladte og derved forhindre en udsttelse.Frygter deroute for ungeMens Kbenhavns socialborgmester, Mikkel Warming (EL), glder sig over udviklingen, aner han ogs tunge skyer i horisonten. Det glder kontanthjlpsreformen, som bliver sat i kraft i 2014, hvor unge mellem 25 og 29 gr over til den samme ydelse, som allerede glder for de 18-24-rige. Det betyder, at de vil have en mnedlig indkomst p omkring 6.000 kroner fr skat, hvilket man ikke kommer langt med, nr det glder husleje, mener han.Min pointe er, at nr man skruer p ydelser for at motivere folk, risikerer man at skubbe folk helt ud p kanten. Det kommer man ikke i arbejde af – det kommer man p en social deroute af, siger Mikkel Warming, som deler sin bekymring med flere kommunale embedsfolk og konomiske rdgivere, Politiken har talt med. LS OGSLejere m betale fattiges efterladte regningerDe ser i forvejen et stigende antal unge hjemlse og unge, der fylder uforholdsmssigt meget i udsttelserne. Derfor har Mikkel Warming stillet forslag til socialminister Karen Hkkerup (S), om at lave en srlig boligsikring til dem p ungeydelse for at forhindre, at de mister deres boliger. Nr regeringen giver os bedre mulighed for at forhindre udsttelser, men med det anden hnd skruer p indkomsten, gr man det mere sandsynligt, at folk bliver sat ud. Det skal regeringen tnke over, siger Mikkel Warming. Ogs forsker Lars Benjaminsen fra Det Nationale Forskningscenter for Velfrd, SFI, er bekymret. Konsekvensen af den kombination, vi har i dag med en ret lav ydelse for de unge og en stigende mangel p billige boliger, er, at en betydelig gruppe af unge str i en reel hjemlshedssituation, og det er meget alvorligt, siger han. Trods flere henvendelser fra Politiken har det ikke vret muligt at f en kommentar fra socialministeren. … Read More

Apple Stores Are Bringing In More Money Per Visitor Than Ever

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:46:00 +0000

Apple's stock has taken a brutal beating since last year, but a report says the company's retail stores are bringing in more money per customer than ever. … Read More

Paris drizzles as Moscow sizzles in Europe’s warped spring

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:45:00 +0000

When weather becomes climate 25/04/2013 12:13 CET Bonus interview: Adam Scaife 25/04/2013 12:11 CET Freak snowstorm hits parts of Europe 13/03/2013 05:36 CET Parts of Europe still reeling from severe weather 13/03/2013 12:06 CET Snow chaos in France, UK and Germany 12/03/2013 17:15 CET

Spring in the Pyrenees “arrives early and quickly feels like the summer”, according to one tourist website. Not this year.

Tourists usually come to cycle, hike, and marvel at wildflowers in the meadows. On Monday at the Col du Tourmalet (altitude 2,115 metres) they contemplated 10 metres of snow.

France and much of western Europe are experiencing the coolest May temperatures for 25 years. Bordeaux is seven degrees below normal; the Cannes Film Festival has been drenched.

In the Seine-et-Marne department east of Paris farmers squelch and shiver their way to work.

“For the strawberrries we are two to three weeks late, more because of the temperatures than because of the rain,” said farmer Thibaut Cozen.

“I love Paris in the springtime”: in the words of Cole Porter’s song, in the winter it “drizzles” and in the summer it “sizzles”.

There is no sign of a heatwave yet in the French capital. In fact forecasters say there is no sign of “any improvement” across the country between now and the end of May or even early June.

Tourists at Parc Astérix north of Paris clearly decided that if they were going to get wet anyway, they might as well do it in style. “Le Grand Splatch” rollercoaster ride, which needs little description, ends with an 11-metre plunge into water.

In parts of Germany and the Netherlands too it is the coldest month of May since 1962, the coolest on record. Forecasters say temperatures are set to drop still further over the next few days.

The lesson is: head east. The iron curtain may have disappeared; instead there is now a golden one across Europe as the two weather systems clash.

Moscow has been enjoying record springtime highs, and it is boiling hot across much of the former communist bloc.

More about: Europe, Weather

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Battle for Qusair inflicts heavy losses in Syria

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:34:00 +0000

Syria strikes kill 114 civilians in Aleppo – Human… 26/02/2013 20:04 CET Year end brings no break in Syrian conflict 31/12/2012 18:15 CET Syria: military chief defects to opposition 26/12/2012 17:15 CET Dead civilians as Assad air strike hits bakery 23/12/2012 18:35 CET UN warns of possible ‘war crimes’ by Syria rebels 02/11/2012 16:44 CET

Fierce fighting for the Syrian rebel stronghold of Qusair has inflicted heavy losses on all parties including Lebanese militants Hezbollah.

The battle for strategically important Qusair is a possible turning point in the war – a win for the regime would restore links between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast.

While the latest amateur video is said to show rebels fighting street by street, Hezbollah is thought to have lost at least 30 fighters with 70 more wounded as they back the Syrian regime. If confirmed it is the largest toll for the Lebanese militants in a single Syrian operation.

The conflict is rapidly raising regional tensions with propaganda being used on all sides.
Jeeps found in Qusair city centre are claimed by Syrian television to be Israeli although they may have been brought by Hezbollah. .

As the fighting rages Western countries and Russia, an ally of Damascus, continue to back opposing sides.

Meanwhile the spokesman for the special UN Syrian peace envoy has returned to Damascus.
Mokhtar Lamani said all efforts will now focus on the US and Russian-sponsored peace conference on Syria planned for next month.

More about: Armed conflicts, Bashar al-Assad, Syria, Victims

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Samsung to debut 3200×1800, 298 PPI 13.3" LCD panel (and more)

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:30:00 +0000

Samsung is set this week to pull the curtain on two LCD panels which boast pixel densities greater than those found on Apple's Retina Macbook Pro and even Google's Pixel Chromebook. Also expected to be unveiled at Display Week is an 85-inch 4K Ultra HD LCD TV panel and a... … Read More

Covert Israeli Forces Inside Syria Within Rebel Ranks? Israeli Military Vehicle Seized: Report

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:29:00 +0000

Media sources confirm the seizure of an Israeli military vehicle in Al Qseir inside Syrian territory. The vehicle’s licence plate corresponds to that of the Israeli military with a black background and the letter Tsade (צ) (see image below) Al Qseir is a strategic border town on the Northern frontier of Lebanon. Occupied by rebels, [...] … Read More

‘Cameron wants to kick EU exit issue into long grass’ – UKIP leader

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:12:00 +0000

With a lot of hard feeling swirling around the EU, one thing many seem agreed on is anger at Brussels. Nine European countries are now in recession and, with no end to austerity in sight, EU membership appears to be more trouble than its worth for some. The leader of the Euroskeptical UKIP party, Nigel Farage, says recent research show that by participating in the EU, Britain is annually losing more than £100 billion due to membership fees and the Union’s regulations. RT: Support for your cause is growing, and as our Berlin correspondent reported, the UK's EU cousins don't mind Britain leaving. So who wants the UK to stay?Nigel Farage: Germany wants the UK to stay – because Germany thinks that if the UK leaves the whole thing will unravel. And if it unravels, including the Eurozone, than the Germans will have some very big losses. And also, you know, the Germans are the ones that have benefited out of the Eurozone. Most of their growth over the last four, five or six years has been to the cost of other Eurozone countries. So the Germans – very very keen to keep Britain in.RT: There are repeated warnings that foreign investors are being put off by the uncertainty. Does Britain fully understand the possible ramifications of the exit from the EU?NF: Well, what would’ve been really damaging to the UK is if we’d been stupid enough to join the Eurozone. Thank goodness, we said ‘no.’ Otherwise we’d in a similar state to many of the Mediterranean countries today. That was the first big good decision that we’ve made. Now I do understand the argument about uncertainty, even though I very much take the view that trade would go on between Britain and the rest of Europe completely unaffected by us leaving the political union. After all, the European countries sell far more goods to us than we do to them. But I do understand that anything where you’re told there could be a four-and-a-half, perhaps a five-year debate on the subject could lead to uncertainty. All of which really reinforces my view that what [British PM, David] Cameron has done here is to attempt to kick this issue off into the long grass. And really we’ve got a have a referendum to sort this issue before the next general election. RT: Instead of keeping one hand on the exit, why aren't Euro MPs like yourself taking more advantage of trying to change things from within Brussels?NF: Oh, goodness me, if we try to reform this thing from within I’d need to live to 300 to have much chance. Listen, the interesting thing is that in response to the Eurozone crisis really almost everybody inside the EU – rather than saying let’s reform things, let’s change things, let’s accept this model isn’t really working – they’ve done the opposite. They’re saying: ‘Oh, goodness me, we must have more Europe, more integration, we must take yet more democracy away from member states. Nobody, but nobody, inside these institutions is talking about reform in the same terms as the UK debate and Mr Cameron are. They are two completely different things. RT: Britain's membership is estimated to be worth between £31 and 92 billion pounds per year in income gains according to business leaders – what would that be replaced with? NF: There are some business figures, many of whom have already got knighthoods or peerages, worth noting that and people, who are heads of giant multinational companies. And they’ve got businesses in Europe, and they’ve also got big businesses in Europe. And I can see the argument that if you’re multinational the EU way of making law is to your benefit because it puts out of business all of your small and medium-size competitors. So, I understand that. But the idea that because we’re members of the political union, because we’ve surrendered our democracy means that other countries in Europe will do business with us is nonsense. We do business all over the world without being in a political union with anybody else. And far from it being a big benefit to the British economy there are many other people – right through from the Institute of Directors, through some recent analysis from professor Tim Compton, one of the government’s former wise men, saying actually this is costing us, some say, more than £100 billion per year to be in, with membership fees and the regulation, which the British government would never ever choose. … Read More

Associated Press chief attacks White House over ‘unconstitutional’ investigation

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:09:00 +0000

More than one week after the AP announced that the Justice Department subpoenaed two months of phone records in an apparent attempt to discover the source of an intelligence leak, the president and CEO of the news agency attacked US President Barack Obama and his administration for what he considers an unconstitutional intrusion on the way journalism is conducted.Speaking to CBS News on how the Justice Department secretly sought months’ worth of phone records, AP President Gary Pruitt said the government has “no business” interfering with journalists.“I don’t know what their motive is, but I can tell you their actions are unconstitutional,” Pruitt said on Sunday’s Face the Nation.On the record, the government has yet to explain why they requested the logs for 21 different phone lines used by the AP. But according to the company’s top executive, the government is doing everything in its power — and some things that aren’t — to learn the identity of the source that went to the media about a foiled terrorist attack thwarted by the CIA in 2012.“We don’t question their right to conduct these sorts of investigations, we just think they went about it the wrong way,” Pruitt said. “So sweeping, so secretively, so abusively, and harassingly and overbroad that it is an unconstitutional act.”In spring of that 2012, the US Department of Homeland Security and the White House independently said there was no credible evidence of a terrorist plot aimed at an American target to commemorate the anniversary of the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Pruitt told CBS that wasn’t true, though, and during an interview over the weekend he explained why it was important to explain the administration’s mistake — and the mistakes the government made as a result.“We felt the American public needed to know this story,” Pruitt told CBS, calling claims from Washington that there was no credible evidence of a terrorist plot “misleading to the American public.”Pruitt said the AP went to the government and intelligence agencies to make sure there would not be a national security risk by publishing news of the foiled terror plot. After five days, they went live with their scoop after being told any risk had been eliminated.“We acted responsibly. We held the story,” Pruitt said. “We held it for five days. On the fifth day, we heard from high officials in two parts of the government that the national security issues had passed, and at that point we released the story.”In doing so, Pruitt believes the AP prompted a probe of the news agency that has crossed the boundaries of what the government can and can’t do. After the story was published, nearly two dozen direct lines, cell phones and home phones were subpoenaed by the Justice Department for offices in New York, Washington and Connecticut.“Approximately 100 journalists used these telephone lines as part of newsgathering,” said Pruitt, who added that “thousands upon thousands” of work-related calls by AP journalists were made on those numbers.Speaking to CBS, Pruitt said he believes the administration violated their own guidelines by gunning straight for a subpoena without trying to work out an investigation with the AP.“The rules require them to come to us first. But in this case they didn’t, claiming an exception, saying if they had it would have posed a substantial threat to their investigation. But they have not explained why it would, and we can’t understand why it would,” pleaded Pruitt. “We never even had possession of these records. They were in the possession of our telephone service company, and they couldn’t be tampered with. So usually they would come to us, we would try to narrow the request, the subpoena, if we didn’t come to an agreement we could go to a judge and an independent arbiter could decide on the scope of the subpoena. We never got a chance.”The result, warned Pruitt, has been a chilling effect that is already impacting the way journalists report news. “Already, officials that would talk to us and people we would normally talk to in the normal course of news gathering are already saying to us that they are a little reluctant to talk to us. They fear that they will be monitored by the government,” he said.In the days since the AP disclosed that they were targeted by the Justice Department, other reports have surfaced as well. On Sunday, the Washington Post revealed that a Fox News journalist was investigated by the DoJ after he published classified intelligence that was believed to have been leaked by a State Department official. To investigate a June 2009 article, the Justice Department obtained the records of Fox reporter James Roser and a State Department advisor, Stephen Jin-Woo Kim.“Rosen was not charged with any crime, but it is unprecedented for the government, in an official court document, to accuse a reporter of breaking the law for conducting the routine business of reporting on government secrets,” The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza reported on Sunday.Abbe Lowell, who is defending Kim on federal charges that he disclosed national defense information by going to Roser, told the Post that “The latest events show an expansion of this law enforcement technique.”Should the government continue to corner the Fourth Estate, Pruitt warned that future results could be catastrophic for the state of free speech."And if they restrict that apparatus ... the people of the United States will only know what the government wants them to know and that's not what the framers of the Constitution had in mind when they wrote the First Amendment.""It's too early to know if we'll take legal action but I can tell you we are positively displeased and we do feel that our constitutional rights have been violated,” Pruitt added to an AP article on the scandal. … Read More

European cinema in crisis ?

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:49:00 +0000

Slovenia’s looming bail-out 16/05/2013 10:30 CET Rehn accuses Cyprus of ignoring warnings over its… 08/05/2013 13:54 CET Europe Weekly: EU unveils results of horsemeat tests 19/04/2013 16:36 CET EU Parliament agrees bank bonus caps 16/04/2013 19:25 CET Eurozone: no jobs, no growth 02/04/2013 17:09 CET

The fizz has long come off the European Film industry, even if the champagne corks are popping in Cannes.

The financial crisis of 2007 has hit the business hard, subsidies being cut, even in countries which previously feather bedded the industry. Spain for example has seen state aid go from 124 million euros down to just 55 million.

It’s not just the present that is the concern. The industry may also be setting up problems for the future. The number of films made in the European Union is falling. This may not matter right now, but it will do in the coming months and years.

The only bright star at the moment is the UK. The now reliable banker, James Bond, saw huge success with the franchise’s latest outing, Skyfall. It notched up a box office of more than a billion dollars worldwide.

But fewer people are going to the movies ….. after a slight increase in 2011, a downward trend can be seen for 2012. This may be a reflection of the economic times.

Even in France, the cold winds of recession are blowing. State-run France Televisions, which runs a group of national TV networks, will reduce its movie investment by three million euros this year.

Euronews interview with Claude-Eric Poiroux, Director General of Europa Cinemas

Euronews:
The film industry is not just festivals, it is also a business, there are cinemas which need to make money. Given the crisis how are they performing ?

C-E. Poiroux:
The attendance figures for 2012 are quite a bit lower which therefore means that there is still a slowdown and there may be the beginning of a crisis. We do not know exactly what will be the outcome. What is happening across Europe is also quite uneven, not all countries are in the same situation. Spain, for example, is experiencing a real crisis for two reasons …. there is a crisis in the country as a whole, then there is an additional crisis in cinema. It has suffered from two or three decisions taken by the government, including that of increasing VAT, from 8 to 21 per cent. And at the same time there is a crisis in production because what we seeing today, may not be what is actually happening in terms of creation, production, investment, the type of movies that is, and also the number of being being made in Europe we’ll see the effects of those in a few months or years.

Euronews:
In times of crisis there are some styles of films that work better than others?

C-E. Poiroux:
We used to say in general cinema is not a victim of [economic] problems because it is a safe haven. We take refuge in the theatre [it’s where] we go to forget what is happening outside. This is what happened in the past several times. Now there is always a little more luck compared to other [sectors of the economy] they’re more affected. Now we also think that [going to] the movies also costs. Fortunately we can go into a cinema and not pay very much. This is not the most expensive hobby and [get] a performance of great quality. So we can say the relationship between quality and price is still something [that is] attractive to the public. If we want the public to continue to come and find escapism well there will be perhaps a change in the type of films. The movies may have to become [more] entertainment. Maybe a little less a place of reflection more where is a certain pleasure to be found.

Euronews:
So how we can summarize the crisis of European cinema in two or three words?

C-E. Poiroux:
I think that today there are still questions asked because many countries do not really have the choice to understand culture is essential as a response to the crisis. One of the concerns we feel in some countries, particularly Spain, Italy as well, and in some Central European countries: [in] Hungary, it is clear that today there are still things which threaten the existence of a cinema that Europe knows. …arthouse cinema which Europe is very good at, which can influence the public. The movies are really powerful, and should not be hampered, should be allowed to express itself.

More about: Cinema, Economic crisis, European Union

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Sony releases PS4 teaser video on eve of Xbox 720 reveal

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Sony has released a teaser video for the upcoming PlayStation 4 on the eve of Microsoft’s reveal for the next generation Xbox. The clip, less than a minute in length, opens with an out-of-focus shot of what we presume is the actual PS4 console before showing a series of close-up... … Read More

Tunisia PM slams hardline Islamist group

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:25:00 +0000

Tunisia 20/05/2013 19:25 CET Tunisian faith in the Revolution fades 17/12/2012 16:15 CET More sectarian clashes expected in Tunisia capital 31/10/2012 16:55 CET Tunisia declares curfew after violent clashes 13/06/2012 00:33 CET Salafists clash with police in Tunisia after rally is… 19/05/2013 16:24 CET

Tunisia’s Islamist government has spoken out against hardliners calling the radical group Ansar al-Sharia, terrorists.

The move follows Sunday’s clashes in the city of Kairouan where members of the movement who were due to hold their annual conference, defied a ban on demonstrating.

One protester died and scores were injured in the violence.

“The organisation Ansar al-Sharia is an illegal organisation….which exercises violence against individuals and shrines. It insults and challenges the state. It doesn’t recognise citizenship or the grounds on which the state is based. It is linked to terror and is an expert in it,” said Prime Minister Ali Larayedh.

Following the clashes the group has postponed its conference until next Sunday which could prolong tensions in the city.

Ansar al-Sharia is the most radical Islamist group to emerge in Tunisia since the Arab Spring. Its leader is a former al Qaeda fighter.

In a separate development in Kairouan, the activist named Amina was arrested for placing a feminist banner on a mosque.

More about: Clashes and riots, Islamists, Tunisia

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Valve announces Team Fortress 2 update made entirely by fans

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Valve is pushing out its 356th update for its free-to-play Team Fortress 2 since the game shipped in 2007. But this is not just some standard refresh filled with bug fixes and tweaks. Instead, the update brings a slew of new content created entirely by fans of the game. Dubbed Robotic... … Read More

Report: Adam Kokesh to be Charged With “Assaulting a Federal Officer”

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:57:00 +0000

The video below from a supporter confirms that Kokesh has been charged with felony assault of an officer and that he will not be allowed bail because of “a possibility of a history of excessive drug use.” … Read More

Texas votes on its own CISPA-like cyber bill

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:53:00 +0000

Lawmakers in the State Senate are expected to vote Monday on a bill that, if passed, would compel Internet Service Providers (ISPs) anywhere in the world to fork over private Web records if that information could aid in a criminal investigation.Federal legislation already in place would likely trump any attempts from Texas prosecutors to pry personal ISP records or other online communications from the likes of social networking sites, but the efforts on behalf of Lone Star lawmakers to get the ball rolling on a new cyber-spy bill are indeed very real. Last week, its companion bill in the State House of Representatives passed unanimously, and similar outcome in the Senate is all now expected any moment. Now should SB 1052 proves victorious in the Senate, an Internet surveillance bill written in Texas but with international implications could be added to the law books later this year.Ben Sherman of the Burnt Orange Report cautioned in a blog post last week that the bill could be very dangerous to all Americans if passed because it would let local authorities seize electronic records held on servers outside of Texas.“The bill requires any Internet provider to people in Texas (that is - just about the entire Internet) to respond to search warrants for online communications in 4-30 days. That is an extremely narrow window which makes it difficult for Internet providers to keep users' other information private,” he wrote.Following the failed attempts to pass cybersecurity bills on a national level, as seen most recently in the stalled Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a number of state and local governments have considered bills that would bring the tools asked for in aborted federal acts into the hands of prosecutors in Texas.Whereas CISPA sought to find a way to ease the sharing of potentially dangerous information between third-party businesses and the federal government, the efforts coming out of Texas would ensure that ISPs and any other businesses that operate over the Web would have to relinquish user data if a police officer argues there is probable cause it is pursuant to an investigation.“Internet communications companies often hold information and data vital to prosecute an offense under state law, particularly relating to Internet crimes. Although the certain electronic communications may take place within a state, law enforcement officers must apply for a local search warrant in an Internet company's jurisdiction, often found out of state,” wrote the bill’s author, Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas). “This limitation hampers law enforcement’s efforts to obtain evidence on Internet criminals, who are able to remove or change identifying data much faster than law enforcement can obtain warrants.”Sherman, however, thinks the law could be used broadly to bring any sort of online evidence under the magnifying glass of prosecutors, causing a widespread fishing exhibition that will allow law enforcement to essentially request any sort of electronic communication of any business that operates online.“The electronic communications at risk include all online communication - emails, Facebook messages, tweets and messages on private list servers,” wrote Sherman. “Additionally, the bar is set extremely low for police officers to prove that they may find something important in a person's online communications.”Indeed, SB 1052 only asks that probable cause “must be supported by the oath or affirmation of the authorized peace officer.”“That is almost not a standard at all,” insisted Sherman. “With a bar so low and a reach so broad, such legislation will lead to widespread abuse and exposure of private information, and enable politically motivated ‘investigations.’ This is government overreach and Texans of all political ideologies should oppose it. If this bill becomes law, any investigation that can be brought into the Texas jurisdiction would have all the tools of CISPA, in which any private online activity can be easily seized by the government, at its disposal. That is terrible news not only for Texans but for all Americans.”“The bill,” acknowledged Sen. Carona, “reciprocates the electronic data search warrant process with other states already implementing similar statutes, which would allow Texas to serve data search warrants directly to out of state companies as well.”Later in the text, the bill is described as extending “the jurisdiction of district judges by granting them privileges to issue data search warrants beyond the physical boundaries of the state for computer data searches only.”The House version of the bill — nearly identical to Sen. Carona’s version — passed on May 7 with no opposition. Rep. John Frullo (R-Lubbock) co-authored that bill and told lawmakers in the capital that passing the bill would be instrumental in stopping predators who stalk children online."Under current law," Frullo said, "Texas judges' ability to order a search ends at the state line. In our technology-driven society, this limitation hampers law enforcement's efforts to go after the evidence needed to prosecute those who commit these horrible crimes and exploit our children."“Predators are hurting, exploiting and assaulting our children through the use of the internet. That needs to stop,” he said in a press release earlier this year. After this week’s vote, his colleagues in the Senate will decide if they are willing to join his side — and at what cost to privacy. … Read More

Los Angeles goes after Vegas hospital for dumping 1500 patients

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:43:00 +0000

About one third of these patients, some of which were homeless, were given one-way bus tickets to cities in California. About 200 of the 1,500 mentally ill patients were sent to Los Angeles County, 150 of whom arrived in downtown L.A. Since 2008, patients were bused to cities in every continental US state, even though some had no family, friends or housing at their destination. After the Sacramento Bee published an exposé on the dumping practices of the Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital, the city of Los Angeles announced it would launch a probe investigating the matter.“It’s just an abhorrent practice,” Gil Cedhillo, a candidate for the L.A. City Council and a former state senator, told the Bee. “You can’t just take someone from a facility and dump them downtown.”L.A. has one of the strictest patient-dumping laws in the US, which was adopted in 2007 after a homeless schizophrenic was found walking the streets in his hospital gown while still connected to a catheter bag.The Bee obtained bus receipts from the Nevada Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services and found that the hospital sent its patients away on Greyhound buses, equipped with a small supply of medication and several bottles of a nutritional supplement that only lasted a few days.Health officials claim that most of the patients were sent off to cities where they had a place to stay, but the Bee discovered several cases in which mentally ill patients were forced to go to cities that they had no connection to.James Flavy Coy Brown, a 48-year-old homeless man who had received treatment at Rawson-Neal, was put on a bus that dropped him off in Sacramento – even though he had never been there and knew no one in the city.The former psychosis patient had only been treated for three days before doctors sent him out of state, despite his protests.“I said, ‘I don’t want to leave Nevada,’” Brown told ABC News. “[The doctor] said, ‘California sounds like a really nice state. I think you’ll be happy there.’”Equipped with a $306 one-way bus ticket, six Ensure nutrition shake bottles, and a three-day supply of psychiatric medications, he was sent away, only to end up on the streets of Sacramento – without medication. The man had no Social Security card, food stamp card or Medicaid card, and checked into a homeless shelter, feeling the effects of medication withdrawal and the return of his psychosis.“If I don’t take my medicine, I get really confused and I start hearing voices in my head, and they tell me to, like, jump off a bridge or to do something to purposefully get arrested or go to prison or jail,” he said. The Bee claims that as a result of its initial exposé last month, the hospital modified its procedures to require dispatched patients to be accompanied by a chaperone when bused out of state. In response to the investigations, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval also said that state officials have implemented a new policy that requires at least two physicians and a hospital administrator to approve a dispatch order – rather than just one physician.Still, the Joint Commission, an independent agency that certifies US hospitals, is considering pulling Rawson-Neal’s accreditation for its history of patient-dumping. The city attorneys in L.A. and San Francisco have also launched probes into the hospital’s practices. If the allegations are true, Rawson-Neal would lose federal funding and face steep financial penalties.L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and his team are currently scouting out former patients to see if they were released in violation of the city’s ordinance against patient-dumping.“This is 150 people allegedly on the streets of L.A.,” Trutanich said, referencing the number of mentally ill patients that the hospital sent to the city. “We’re already stretched as it is.”But if Rawson-Neal is found guilty, the hospital could be convicted of a criminal misdemeanor and charged a hefty fine. … Read More

Rioters in Sweden protest alleged brutality, racism after police shoot elderly man

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:35:00 +0000

Between 60 to 100 people – most of them young men – took part in the riots which began around 10pm local time in the Stockholm district of Husby. Police turned up at the scene after a car was set on fire. Upon arrival, officers were met with stone-throwing protesters, Police Chief Daniel Mattsson said, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. One policeman was attacked by youths kicking him and two others were injured by rocks, police officer Jorgen Karlsson told AP. Rioters torched cars in a local parking garage. Around 50 vehicles were damaged in the fire, which forced the evacuation of a nearby building. Windows were smashed at two schools and several local businesses. Mattson said there were 18 criminal incidents reported and that the unrest lasted for four hours.Allegations of police misconductWitnesses say that police officers reportedly called rioters and residents “monkeys” on Sunday night, discriminating against their race. Rouzbeh Djalai, editor-in-chief of local newspaper The North Side, told The Local that she spoke to a youth leader and some of teenagers after the riots. The group reportedly approached police asking if they could help. The youth leader told her that he was called a “nigger” by police, while the boys were called “monkeys.” They also said the police attacked them with batons."If the police don't want to cooperate, they should just say it; they don't have to call people names and hit them with batons," Djalaie said. Residents of Husby are angry that police are increasing their presence in the neighborhood, instead of focusing on long-term solutions to the area’s problems."There's frustration in Husby and it risks spiralling out of control; people want long-term solutions to social problems instead of an increased police presence," Djalai said. "It's a neighborhood where one third of junior high school graduates leave school without adequate grades; they step straight out into unemployment. It's obvious what the consequences are," she added.Seeking justiceThe riots were in response to the fatal shooting of an elderly man last week. The man was shot and killed by police after officers responded to a call that a person was roaming Husby with a knife. Once officers arrived, the man disappeared into an apartment, police spokesman Lars Byström told TT news agency. He then stepped onto a balcony and threatened officers."He screamed at police from the balcony that he wanted to kill them," a neighbor told the Expressen newspaper. Negotiators were called to the scene and police learned that a woman was also in the apartment. After failed attempts at negotiating, police broke down the apartment door in an effort to secure the woman’s safety. But things took a turn for the worse once officers arrived inside the residence. "Then the person in question appeared holding a machete. Officers felt cornered and threw a flash grenade so they could overpower the man. That didn't work either and they then felt forced to open fire," said Byström.It is unclear how many officers fired shots and how many shots were fired, but witnesses say police fired five or six shots in total. "We saw the flashes when they shot. Even if you'd never seen an actual shooting before, you knew what it was," a witness said.Police say the 69-year-old man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds.However, local youth organization Megafonen reported on May 15th that neighbors said there was never an ambulance. Instead, they say a hearse turned up to cart away the body at 2am.The woman inside the apartment escaped with no injuries, according to police. Her relationship with the man remains unknown.Megafonen arranged a protest against the alleged police brutality last week, in response to the fatal shooting. The group - a community-based organization aimed at organizing residents to fight for social justice - demanded an independent investigation and public apology."Last week, the police shot an old man who was holding a knife. How can they do this without taking responsibility? I can understand the reaction (riots)," Megafonen founder Rami al-Khamisi said.Prosecutors from the Swedish National Police Crimes Unit are currently investigating the shooting. … Read More

DirecTV said to be considering Hulu acquisition once again

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:00:00 +0000

There’s no shortage of potential suitors when discussing an acquisition of online video streaming destination Hulu. Earlier this month it was rumored that Yahoo was looking to pick up the asset following their failed Dailymotion bid but that was before Mayer and company agreed to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion. ... … Read More

AIDS expert warns against ‘so what’ attitude 30 years on

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:46:00 +0000

New coronavirus may be contagious from human to human 13/05/2013 12:05 CET Evidence grows for human to human transmission of… 12/05/2013 16:46 CET Tuberculosis: An injection of hope 18/03/2013 10:51 CET Early HIV treatment can ‘cure’ 10% 15/03/2013 13:58 CET Mississippi: baby ‘cured’ of HIV 04/03/2013 10:25 CET

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was discovered 30 years ago. In 1983, French and American scientists working separately came to the same conclusion and published their findings. Identifying and isolating the virus was an early step in setting out to fight it.

In spite of virologist Luc Montagnier’s pioneering work with the then mysterious new disease, he estimates that 34 million people throughout the world are living with it today.

Our Paris correspondent Giovanni Magi asked if enough research has been done in the past three decades.

Montagnier said: “AIDS is not finished, although a lot of young people believe it is because there are medicines for it. Research is fundamentally important, since it works towards developing shorter treatments for people, theoretically so that after a six-to-nine month course of treatment they would become HIV-negative. That is not the case today, and so a lot of research has to be done in this area. The second key area is knowing why the epidemic is still spreading so strongly, especially in South Africa – in a lot of regions in Africa, where women are affected at a disproportionately high rate, which is not the case further north in the world. In my opinion, there are also biological factors with these people, which we can treat. It’s not about treating the virus but about treating factors which make the virus more transmissible. That is entirely possible, even without a vaccine.”

Professor Montagnier highlighted South Africa; the second-worst affected country is Botswana, with one in every four adults HIV-infected. Sixty-nine percent of all the HIV cases in the world are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Botswana, in 2002, was the first country to launch an access-to-medicines programme, and to ask HIV-infected volunteers to help with prevention. David Ngele is one of these activists. In 1993 when he tested positive he was devastated.

Ngele said: “That’s why I started to think of hanging myself. And then I started to think that life is a gift from God, I am not supposed to take it myself. Then I started to think and say, from now, here, what am I doing?”

Concerted attention is paid to prevention in the United States also. Religious groups help, such as at the Union Temple Baptist Church in the capital, Washington. Religious leaders are asked to encourage members of the spiritual community to have the test done. Thirty congregations in the DC area are part of this programme.

Saul M. Levin, with the District of Columbia Department of Health, said: “Faith-base is very important to people in their lives. And they go to the churches, to the synagogues, to the mosques to seek the solace and comfort of religion. So they have a huge platform to be able to educate their community as to why they need to address this. And that’s why this initiative is so important to us.”

According to the government, one million people are infected with HIV in the US, and yet in one of every five cases they are not aware that they have the virus. This means it can be passed on – with terrifying and potentially damaging effect – unknowingly. There is one new case every ten minutes in the US – 50,000 more people each year who are HIV-positive and are, therefore, liable to fall ill.

Our correspondent in Washington, Stefan Grobe, said: “America is still far from getting AIDS under control. Given that most of the victims are gay men or black women, it’s a tough social issue as well. At least the funding of the federal AIDS programme has bipartisan support.”

Warren Buckingham has been at the forefront of the American government’s efforts to fight AIDS. A few months ago, he retired as US Global Aids Coordinator, but still acts as a special advisor. Buckingham was diagnosed HIV-positive 25 years ago. He has spoken out publicly about living with the disease, in a bid to soften the stigma with which it is associated both in the US and Africa. At his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, we asked him about how the virus has affected our societies.

Buckingham said: “Despite all of the loss, despite the death, despite the politicisation of many aspects of the epidemic, we see that it also has brought about some amazing transformations. It transformed individual people who are part of the response to AIDS, it has changed families and how they relate to their gay sons. It has changed how the US government deals with foreign assistance.

“Both here in the US and wherever we work around the world, we still haven’t quite figured out how to get people to change their personal behaviours on a sustained basis.

“I think the sort of knee-jerk stigma of the early years of AIDS – when it was first identified just with gay men and then with injection-drug users – has largely disappeared. But as the stigma has disappeared, so has some of the focus. And so there is an attitude of ‘so what? If I get infected, there are pills that I can take.’ And that’s a high risk.

“There is no population not at risk. We never can rest, and we have to maintain a focus on reaching everybody with messages that speak to them where they live and how they interact with other people.”

More about: AIDS, Disease, Health, Medical research

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Tumblr Founder Says Site Will Stay an ‘Independent’ Effort

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:46:00 +0000

A day after Yahoo’s board approved a deal to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion, Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s chief executive, and David Karp, Tumblr’s founder, reassured users that Tumblr would continue to operate as it did before. … Read More

US government claims 100% ownership over all your DNA and reproductive rights; genetic slavery is already here

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:45:00 +0000

To date, 20 percent of your genetic code is owned by someone else. About two-thirds of these patents belong to private companies, and one-third belong to universities. … Read More

UK to send astronaut to ISS in 2015

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:25:00 +0000

International Space Station crew arrive back on Earth 14/05/2013 06:26 CET Change of command at International Space Station 13/05/2013 07:26 CET Astronaut performs ‘Space Oddity’ on ISS 13/05/2013 12:37 CET ISS astronauts make emergency space walk 12/05/2013 09:15 CET Ammonia leak detected on board ISS 11/05/2013 10:23 CET

Major Timothy Peake is set to become the first British astronaut in space for more than 20 years.

Peake, a former apache helicopter pilot with the British army, is expected to visit the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015.

Before that, there is a lot to prepare for – as Peake explained to euronews:

“We do a lot of training in weightlessness, for example parabolic flights. We learn about EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity): how to do space walking. We learn about robotics,” Peake said.

“I’ve trained as a Eurocom, which a communicator with the space station. We actually work with crew on board and help them in their daily jobs. We’re kept very busy while waiting for our mission assignment,” Peake continued.

The UK Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: “We’ve got a very successful space industry that is growing at about eight per cent a year.”

“It’s an event like this, sending an astronaut up to the space station, that really brings home to people that we’re serious and it signals that Britain is a space-faring nation and proud of it,” Willetts added.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Peake’s selection, as one of six astronauts picked from 8,000 hopefuls, was a “landmark” moment for the UK.

More about: ISS, Space mission, United Kingdom

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Israel contests France TV over Palestinian boy’s death

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:25:00 +0000

Israel approves controversial settlement buildings 18/12/2012 13:55 CET Palestinians mark ‘Nakba’ anniversary 15/05/2013 01:35 CET Tensions high on Jerusalem Day 08/05/2013 22:17 CET Google’s Palestine polarises opinion on statehood… 06/05/2013 20:06 CET West Bank clashes on eve of ‘Land Day’ 29/03/2013 19:15 CET

Israel says there is new evidence that a French television report whose harrowing images helped inspire the second Palestinian uprising was unfounded.

The report in 2000 showed a father and son in Gaza caught up in Israeli-Palestinian crossfire. The 12-year-old was later pronounced dead – hit, said France 2, by Israeli troops.

Nearly 13 years later, the Israeli government-commissioned report says there is no proof Israel was responsible – adding that unbroadcast pictures suggest the two were perhaps not hit at all.

“The network has information in their own raw footage indicating that after he was allegedly dead, he moved and did it intentionally and on purpose which puts a lot of doubt on whether he was actually dead,” said the Israeli Ministry for Strategic Affairs, Yossi Kuperwasser.

Israel wants the TV report corrected, but in Gaza, Mohammed’s father denounced Israel’s claims as fabricated.

He has called for an international investigation into the shooting.

Afterwards Jamal al-Dura was reportedly treated for bullet wounds in Jordan. At his son’s graveside he said:

“Once they said Mohammed was alive and another time that he was killed by Palestinian gunfire. Also another time they filmed me and Mohammed as if we were Israelis and the Palestinians were shooting towards us. I told them, if Mohammed is alive, what happened to me?”

France 2 has offered to cooperate and to help exhume the boy’s body if necessary.

In France a long-standing defamation case by the France 2 TV reporter, Charles Enderlin, against Philippe Karsenty, a media analyst who said the item was staged, again comes to court this week.

More about: Controversy, France, Israel, Palestinian Territories

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Portugal bankers warn EU to stop ‘playing with fire’

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:25:00 +0000

The top bankers expressed concern that the treatment of Cyprus has set a new precedent and as a result nervousness in the region is reaching dangerous levels.“Leaders need to moderate their language. This could be very bad,” Ricardo Espírito Santo Salgado, chief executive of Banco Espirito Santo, told the Financial Times.“If someone had designed a plan to hurt the European market, it would be difficult to think of something better. You can’t keep playing with fire,” President of Millenium BCP, Nuno Amado said, talking about a “Cyprus virus.” In March Cypriot account holders were told to take a cut on their savings so that their government could qualify for a bailout package from the troika of international lenders. The impact of the shock decision is still being felt in Portugal and other Eurozone countries, economist Tobias Blattner told RT, stressing that EU leaders need to come up a concrete plan before they meet for an EU Summit in June this year.“There is a very strong consensus that the Cypriot bail-out was certainly not made in the best way, because it was made in unpredictable way and I think it clearly rose to the uncertainty among investors everywhere in euroarea. So there is a strong consensus there should be a bail-in, which is certainly something good in a long run but it should be according to clear spelled out rules and that essence it’s now very important that leaders in summit in June at the very latest will come out with a very clear bail-in packing order that uninsured depositors will not be hit in any restructuring of banks in euroarea in the future.” … Read More

Cisco: Big Data Is The Network, Too

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:07:00 +0000

The head of the world's biggest computer networking company says that the computer business and networking are collapsing into each other, as sensors and a bigger Internet deliver even more information to analyze. The implication is a lot of expensive acquisitions. … Read More

JPR: Nvidia GPU shipments are up despite turbulent PC market

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Jon Peddie Research (JPR) has released its first quarter estimates for the graphics processor market, reckoning the three month period as disappointing for Intel, but overall encouraging for Nvidia and AMD on the desktop. The company’s report tracks both integrated and discrete graphics solutions inside PCs, though it excludes servers... … Read More

Car bombs hit Dagestan capital Makhachkala

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Security concerns grow in Libya after deadly Benghazi… 13/05/2013 18:25 CET Violence returns to Somalia as 19 are killed in… 14/04/2013 18:04 CET 53 killed by Damascus car bomb 21/02/2013 17:36 CET Bombs claim lives of two in Libya 19/08/2012 10:01 CET

At least three people were killed on May 20 by two car bombs in Makhachkala, capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan.

Local media reported that more than 20 people had been wounded by the blasts, which took place minutes apart.

Dagestan is facing an insurgency by Islamist militants who want to carve out an independent state in Southern Russia.

More about: Car bomb, Dagestan, Explosion

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Cambodians mark Anger Day

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:29:00 +0000

Cambodian woman devotes life to healing war scars 10/10/2012 11:06 CET Former Khmer Rouge soldier faces up to past 03/10/2012 11:26 CET Fighting the war’s inheritance in Cambodia 01/10/2012 11:22 CET Khmer Rouge First Lady set free 16/09/2012 16:31 CET

At the Choeun Ek memorial site, Cambodians marked Anger Day on May 20 – with re-enactments of Khmer Rouge torture and executions.

Choeun Ek, from 17 kilometres south of the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, is one of the sites known as the Killing Fields – where the Khmer Rouge executed over more than a million people between 1975 and 1979.

More about: Cambodia, Crime against humanity, Khmer Rouge

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Youth riots in Stockholm suburb

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:29:00 +0000

Switzerland and Sweden to meet in World Championship… 19/05/2013 08:53 CET Man hit by train after robber leaves him to die 14/09/2012 10:53 CET

In the Stockholm suburb of Husby, police clashed with youths, who set fire to buildings and cars on May 19.

Authorities said that around 50 people were involved in the riot – and that they were unsure what caused it.

Local media reports that the violence was sparked by the fatal shooting of a Husby local by police on May 13.

More about: Clashes and riots, Stockholm, Sweden

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US claims Chinese military is on new cyber offensive against America

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:24:00 +0000

According to the New York Times, computer security experts and US officials alike say the PLA’s sophisticated cyber squadron is attempting to hack American businesses after a brief hiatus.Earlier this year, the Times cited a report by Northern Virginia security firm Mandiant when they alleged that Chinese hackers targeted businesses and government agencies inside the US, as well as a Canadian utility company and others. Mandiant said in the February report that the PLA “Unit 61398” group compromised 141 companies across 20 major industries during the last few years, infecting the computers at Coca-Cola, the Canadian arm of Telvent and others.Earlier this month, the US Department of Defense threw its weight behind Mandiant’s claims, and for the first time ever the administration of President Barack Obama accused China of cybercrimes.“In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military,” the Pentagon wrote.Now, the chief executive at Mandiant and a number of US officials admit that China relaxed its campaign after the February report was published — only to have already returned to its hacking ways weeks later.“They dialed it back for a little while, though other groups that also wear uniforms didn’t even bother to do that,” CEO Kevin Mandia told the Times on Friday. “I think you have to view this as the new normal.”Mandia told the Times that hackers halted their operations back in February and attempted to wipe clean their digital fingerprints by scrubbing away spyware and other espionage tools used to surveil US businesses. Only one month after pausing, though, the hackers have resorted to once again using sophisticated means to carefully and clandestinely pilfer intelligence from American computers.According to Mandia, Unit 61398 is now operating at 60 to 70 percent of what their campaigns resembled before being exposed in the original New York Times article.Obama administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not react in disbelief. One senior official that spoke to the Times said, “this is something we are going to have to come back at time and again with the Chinese leadership,” who, he added, “have to be convinced there is a real cost to this kind of activity.”Mandiant declined to identify which computer systems have been allegedly targeted in the latest round of attacks, but claimed that many of the very same entities hit before their report was published are once again in trouble.“The hackers now use the same malicious software they used to break into the same organizations in the past, only with minor modifications to the code,” wrote David Sanger and Nicole Perlroth for the paper. “[T]hey have gradually begun attacking the same victims from new servers and have reinserted many of the tools that enable them to seek out data without detection.”So far, though, the Chinese have largely refused to buy into the claims that a top-secret PLA group is orchestrating some of the most serious cyberattacks ever waged at American entities. It was nearly one month after the February Mandiant report was released when Premier Li Keqiang called the claims “groundless accusations” and impractical.Hacking is a “worldwide problem and in fact China itself is a main victim of such attacks,” Li said in March. “China does not support -- in fact it is opposed to - - hacking attacks.”At that meeting, a reporter asked Li, “Will China stop the cyber- hacking against the US since it has now become an issue of American national security?”“In your question I sensed the presumption of guilt,” the premier responded.Christopher Soghoian, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote on Twitter after this week’s Times article, “When the Chinese gov hacks into US computers, it is cyberwar. When the US gov does it, it is ‘installing software.’”It doesn’t hurt the cases brought up by both Li and Soghoian that perhaps the most destructive tool of cyberwar used yet by any nation-state — the worm Stuxnet — is largely considered to be a tool developed by scientists working for the US and Israel. Although the White House has yet to admit to those claims on the record, Obama administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity have attested that Washington ordered Stuxnet and other malicious codes to be used against Iranian nuclear facilities.Just days before Li’s remark, the head of the US Cyber Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee that his agency plans to have 13 separate units trained by 2015 specifically to launch offensive cyberattacks at foreign targets.“The teams are analogous to battalions in the Army and Marine Corps — or squadrons in the Navy and Air Force,” Gen. Keith Alexander said at the hearing. “In short, they will soon be capable of operating on their own, with a range of operational and intelligence skill sets, as well as a mix of military and civilian personnel.”“I would like to be clear that this team. . . is an offensive team,” he said.Speaking to the Wall Street Journal a month later, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, accused the US of "using cybersecurity as an excuse to take inappropriate actions against Chinese companies and individuals" without providing "proof and evidence.”"China stands ready to carry out constructive cooperation with all countries, including the US, to safeguard peace and security of the cyberspace on the basis of mutual respect,” he said. … Read More

Former finance minister Kudrin blames United Russia for economic stagnation

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:24:00 +0000

According to the former financial minister “even if we roll up our sleeves right now, we’ll have to sweat our guts out for three years or five years in order to achieve the new elements of effectiveness.” Kudrin put all the blame on United Russia in his speech at the so-called Open Tribune in the Duma. After the session, when asked by RIA-Novosti how he evaluates the performance of Dmitry Medvedev’s government, Kudrin said it was “unsatisfactory.” United Russia’s Andrey Isaev found the former minister’s comments “cynical and hypocritical.” The MP said that his party can only be blamed for not pushing for Kudrin’s resignation from the government earlier. Isaev said it was the ex-minister himself, who laid the foundations for the current financial difficulties as he refused to “use natural resources for the development of the country” during his time in office in 2000-11. The parliament’s speaker, Sergey Naryshkin, backed Kudrin, saying United Russia like any “political party must take responsibility for the decisions it makes.” Fair Russia party MP, Oksana Dmitrieva, stressed that United Russia has “no political will” as the party only reflects the will of the government in power. She claimed Kudrin himself was responsible for all the losses, “the great economic conditions in the last 13 years were lost largely because of Kudrin’s actions,” Dmitrieva added. In his recent interview with Komsomolskaya Parvada, Dmitry Medvedev confirmed that Russia’s economic growth was insufficient and has to be increased to 4 or 5 per cent per year. At the same time, the head of the Russian government has called the current world economic conditions “more or less acceptable” for the country. Medvedev promised that Russia wouldn’t see a repeat of the 2008-09 economic crisis, reassuring that there was no need to “squirrel away stewed meat, soap, matches and salt” this time. … Read More

Massive tornado touches down in Oklahoma causing extensive damage (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:18:00 +0000

A severe storm has generated baseball-sized hail, high winds and at least 28 tornadoes in the Midwest, including Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa. Residents remain in hiding as meteorologists forecast that the severe weather conditions will continue to generate destructive twisters.A large tornado touched down in Moore, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City, and seems to have caused catastrophic damage to several housing developments, and at least two schools in the area. Local television news deployed a helicopter to track the tornado as it moved through the area, and then began to survey the extensive destruction to the region.Officials say that 75 children and teachers took shelter at Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore, which was essentially flattened by the passing tornado, and was the site of an ongoing search effort. CBS confirmed that multiple casualties, including a three month baby and a four-year-old child.There was confirmation of at least one structure on fire, possibly caused by a gas leak following the tornado's path through the community. KOCO reported that cell phone service was down in the Moore region, and aerial footage showed wide swathes of homes wiped out.Moore was last hit hard by a tornado in 1999. That storm had the highest winds ever recorded near the earth's surface.Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared 16 counties as disaster areas. Power companies reported that more than 57,000 outages left people in the dark. In Shawnee, Oklahoma, the body of a 79-year-old man was found lying in an open area of a mobile home community.“You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter,” read a National Weather Service alert posted Sunday. “Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals.”<i><i>&lt;i&gt;&amp;lt;i&amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;i&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;i&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;i&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/i&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/i&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/i&amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;&lt;/i&gt;</i></i>In some regions, homes were destroyed, cars and trucks were flipped from highways, downed power lines were sprawled across neighborhoods, and trees were uprooted. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol shut down Interstate 40 after semi-tractor trailer trucks and several other vehicles were flipped by wind gusts, Newsok.com reported.“It’s tearing up everything. Just ripping everything up in its sight,” a helicopter pilot told CNN affiliate KFOR, referencing a tornado near Wellston, Okla. “…Everything was just gone. Like you took the house, you put it in a gigantic blender, you turned it on pulse for a couple minutes and then you just dumped it out.”The state was littered with debris from damaged houses, trailers, and vehicles. About 300 homes were in ruins and at least 23 people were injured, according to Fallin and Red Cross spokesman Ken Garcia.Ethan Mignard, a staffer at a local newspaper, told CNN’s iReport that the damage looked like something he had only ever seen on TV. In some areas, patches of dirt remained where mobile homes once stood, and children’s toys were littered across the ground and hanging from trees. Mignard even came across a plot of land with nothing remaining but the front steps to a house that is now gone.“It looks so out of place… To think that you would have taken these stairs to enter a home, but instead, you look around from up there and you see total destruction everywhere,” he said.Counties across Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri were all placed under tornado watches late Sunday, and are expected to experience more damage.“After over 300 reports of severe weather on Sunday, another round of dangerous severe weather is expected Monday with the greatest threat once again in the southern Plains targeting Oklahoma and parts of Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas,” the National Weather Service reported. “However, severe weather is possible much further north towards Chicago and Madison as well.” … Read More

Millions at risk as deadly tornadoes rip through US (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:18:00 +0000

‘Like hardened criminals’: UK police sample DNA from 120,000 children in 2 years

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:11:00 +0000

“It is disappointing to see valuable crime-fighting resources being wasted on taking DNA samples from thousands of innocent children while serious offenses go undetected,” said Francis Crook, chief executive of the legal activists Howard League for Penal Reform.The group was able to obtain the data for 2010 and 2011 with a Freedom of Information request. Other than the overall numbers, the biggest surprise was the age spread – showing that children aged 13 were almost as likely to be recorded in the police database as 17-year-olds.Seven out of 10 swabbed under-18s were boys.Most of the youngsters had been taken into police stations pending investigation, or as a caution for minor offences. The vast majority were never charged with recordable crimes.“Children who get into trouble with the police are usually just up to mischief. Treating so many like hardened criminals by taking their DNA seems excessive,” said Crook.A record of anyone’s DNA, or unique genetic code, acts as a more complex version of a fingerprint, and allows any piece of physical evidence to be traced a potential perpetrator, victim or witness. The test usually involves taking a swab from the youngster’s mouth.In total, the UK is storing over 1.2 million DNA samples taken from people when they were underage – as part of a DNA database that covers 6 million people, a tenth of the population, and one of the highest ratios in the world.Amanda Cooper, the leading DNA expert for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said the sheer numbers concealed a more complex picture – in which the children were not always suspects."These may be when a child has been a victim of crime, when police would take DNA to confirm an incident took place and check whether it can be linked to a perpetrator. Others will be as part of criminal investigation where a child is the suspect. DNA samples are also taken to conduct criminal paternity tests as part of sexual offence investigations."The unchecked growth of the country’s DNA database has been curbed with the Protection of Freedoms Act, which comes into force later this year."DNA evidence is a crucial tool in the fight against crime, but it must be used proportionately,” said a Home Office statement in light of the revelations."Through the Protection of Freedoms Act we are restoring common sense to the system by ensuring only those convicted of a criminal offence will have their DNA retained indefinitely."Now, only under-18s convicted of serious crimes or at least two minor offenses will have their DNA preserved indefinitely, while those cleared of serious charges can have their samples stored in the database for five years.But the Howard League for Penal Reform says this does not remove the problem of unnecessary tests, or personal freedom violations.“We welcome the government’s decision to stop storing innocent people’s DNA indefinitely, but it remains unclear how this will affect the number of children having their DNA taken needlessly,” said Crook. … Read More

‘Supercapacitor’ could fully charge your phone in less than 30 seconds

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000

An 18-year-old recently won $50,000 in scholarship funds for inventing a supercapacitor that could one day be used to fully charge a mobile device like a smartphone in just a few seconds. Eesha Khare and two other teens were among the top winners at the annual Intel International Science and... … Read More

Safety warning: ‘Golden parachutes’ for Russia’s senior managers to be cut

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:57:00 +0000

However, MPs from the United Russia party beat the government to it, and are already expected to make amendments to Russia’s Labor Code, which may come in force as of August 1. If they do, executive managers of state corporations will be entitled to three to 12 monthly paychecks and heads of companies with state involvement may receive from three to 18 monthly paychecks, Kommersant daily reports. The state corporations welcomed the initiative, calling it a logical and timely decision. The discussion was fueled by a 200 million ruble ‘parachute’ (roughly US$6.4 million) that Rostelecom paid to the outgoing head of the company, Aleksandr Provotorov. One United Russia MP drew Putin’s attention to that case and the president ordered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s government to take measures and limit such levels of compensation, saying “Russian people don’t understand that.” However the parliament acted faster. … Read More

Israeli police think twice over robbery as motive for bank shootout

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:47:00 +0000

OJ Simpson tries to get a retrial 13/05/2013 22:35 CET Israeli troops kill Palestinian on the Gaza border 23/11/2012 15:05 CET More deaths and rockets in Israel 21/11/2012 00:25 CET A quiet night in Gaza amid talk of a ceasefire 20/11/2012 06:06 CET Israel lets Egypt give peace a chance in Gaza 20/11/2012 11:35 CET

Police in Israel are investigating a shootout at a bank in the southern city of Be’er Sheva in which a man killed four people before turning his gun on himself.

The assailant is said to have been local, Jewish and in his 40s.

But what was at first thought to have been a bungled attempted robbery, police now think may have been a dispute over the refusal of a loan.

The incident drew comment from the Israeli prime minister:

“This is very serious. I do not remember such an event, certainly not in the last few years and it is not common place in Israel. An attack like this must not be allowed to happen again,” said Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Police are looking into whether the gunman had financial difficulties or if he had any other personal dispute with one of the bank workers.

All four victims, they said, were killed by the attacker and did not die in the shootout with security officials.

More about: Israel, Kidnapping, Robbery, Victims

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EU to look in detail at pros and cons of fracking

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:30:00 +0000

Fracking in Europe 02/11/2012 12:16 CET Romanian anger at Chevron shale gas plans 05/04/2013 08:20 CET Fish stock dilemma 28/03/2013 12:50 CET Eco-labels: a smart strategy 22/03/2013 11:17 CET Cooking up natural plastics 28/01/2013 15:21 CET

The European Union is to look more closely at hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – and the environmental concerns surrounding the practice, according to the EU’s energy commissioner.

Guenther Oettinger told the German newspaper Die Welt it would be “absolutely right” to protect areas where there is drinking and ground water.

Fracking has taken place in some European countries such as Poland. It involves pumping water, sand and chemicals at intense pressure to break up rock patterns and release shale gas. It could provide a relatively inexpensive energy source. But critics believe it could pollute the water supply and increase the risk of earth tremors.

The commissioner called on Germany, where some companies are looking to explore fracking, not to dismiss it too quickly. He said the country’s engineering expertise should make test drilling possible.

The British government is also reportedly keen to accelerate plans to develop the practice.

More about: Environmental protection, European Union, Gas, Water resources

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Prague metro plans to launch love train for singles

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:17:00 +0000

Czech Republic nuclear bunker turns Cold War museum 18/05/2013 03:05 CET Several wounded in ‘gas’ blast in Czech capital Prague 29/04/2013 12:25 CET Rescuers search for workers buried in Prague office… 29/04/2013 18:22 CET EU flag flies at Prague Castle 03/04/2013 17:55 CET Burning Bush pays tribute to Jan Palach’s family 28/01/2013 16:25 CET

Rail passengers searching for love in the Czech capital need look no further than the daily commute as the city makes plans to designate carriages on its underground trains for singles.

Prague transport company Ropid wants to set aside carriages on some or all of its trains for singles seeking a soul mate, a service that could launch by the end of this year. The city-owned company will start polling passengers to determine whether they would be interested.

Spokesman Filip Drapal said the initiative was one of the activities the city-owned company hoped would lure people out of their cars and onto public transportation.

“We want to emphasize that public transport is not only a means of travel but that you can do things there that you cannot do in your car,” he told Reuters.

Prague, with a population of 1.2 million, attracted 5.4 million foreign visitors in 2012 with a mix of centuries-old architecture and cobblestone streets and cheap Pilsner beer.

The city’s three metro lines span more than 59 km and transported 580 million passengers in 2011.

REUTERS

More about: Czech Republic, Prague, Public transport, Rail transport

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Riot police ‘resorted to racial slurs’ in Husby

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:14:00 +0000

Police officers on hand during the Husby riot in northern Stockholm stand accused of using racist language towards people on the ground, with one youth worker in the area claiming it is "not the last time" such scenes will occur. … Read More

Russian roulette: Luxembourg new offshore hotspot, Cyprus abandoned

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:00 +0000

According to the Central Bank of Cyprus, the once offshore paradise lost out on Russian accounts, as investors pulled their money as they sensed the banking crisis looming.In Luxembourg, Russian investments grew by $7 billion, in the British Virgin Islands by $4.7 billion, in Ireland by $4.6 billion, and in the Netherlands by $2.8 billion, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported.Head of Investments at the ‘Solid’ Investment and Financial Company, Michael Koroljuk explains the decline in market attractiveness in Cyprus since the crisis broke out.“The emergence of this 'stigma' of Cyprus is perceived as a bad tax authority and business partner,” Korljuk told Izvestia.Offshore oligarchs, trying to minimize their losses in Cyprus, didn’t bring their money to back Russia, but have reinvested their capital in other, more feasible, offshore zones.“Instead of Russia, it is rushing off to other offshore areas," Maxim Osadchiy, head analyst at BKF Bank, told Izvestia.Because they provide more financial security than Cyprus, other offshore zones are a little more expensive, but the figures show Moscow’s millionaires are happy to pay extra for peace of mind.The more ‘respectable’ offshore destinations still offer similar tax breaks, and offer more protection for businessmenThough the financial crisis sent many investors into a slight hysteria and prompted them to abandon ship, the actual losses incurred as a result of crisis appear to be fractional.Russia’s largest commercial bank, VTB, which had assets up to $1.8 billion in Cyprus, reported to be virtually unaffected by the collapse.Strengthening ties between Moscow and LuxembourgBy increasing their holdings in Luxembourg, Russians are reciprocating the small European financial hub’s long standing tradition of Russian investment. Luxembourg is the third largest country in total investments in the Russian economy, and has invested 28 billion euros in Russian projects.Russian investment only accounts for 4.4 billion euros of Luxembourg’s 43 billion euro economy.Luxembourg may be Russia’s new window to Europe, the Minister for Economy and Foreign Trade, Etienne Schneider, has stated."To develop serious business contacts and create new joint projects, we need to look ahead and prepare professionals who are familiar with economic realities of our countries," said Schneider. … Read More

‘Lean hospital a sign of Swedish welfare reform’

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:59:00 +0000

A Stockholm hospital saved from closure by private health care providers has been hailed by the Economist as one of modern's Sweden public-private success stories. … Read More

Battle for strategic Qusair: Syrian army, Hezbollah fight rebels for supply corridor

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:55:00 +0000

Earlier Monday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the army had "restored security and stability to most Qusair neighborhoods" and was "chasing the remnants of the terrorists in the northern district.” The agency quoted a military source as saying that army units dismantled a number of explosive devices, planted by terrorists in al-Souk area in the middle of the city. The source added that army units are continuing hunting the remnants of terrorists in some hideouts in the northern and southern areas of the city.“The Syrian army managed to make a full circle around the city, fighting the opposition fighters. The main achievement is to stop the line of supply chain between Lebanon and Syria,” local journalist Abdallah Mawazini told RT.“They started from the western side of the city, in the rural areas. They control this zone with some fighters from Lebanon. Some extremist groups were preparing to go into Syria to fight with the rebels, they were going to go make a bigger front in order to fight and expand the fighting line between the government and the opposition,” he said. But opposition activists denied that Qusair had been captured, saying that they had pushed back most of the attacking forces to their original positions, destroying at least four Syrian army tanks and five light Hezbollah vehicles.Troops backed by Hezbollah“made incursions into Qusair, but they are now basically back to where they started at the security compounds in east Qusair and at a...roadblock to the south,” local activist Tareq Murei told Reuters.Murei said that six people were killed by Hezbollah’s multiple rocket launches on Monday.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 48 rebels had been killed, as well as four civilians. The Observatory's director, Rahim Abdurahman, put Hezbollah casualties at 23 dead and 70 wounded. Lebanese security sources said at least 12 Hezbollah fighters had been killed.Qusair, which is about 18 miles (29km) southwest of Homs, is seen as a key city for both sides. It helps link the Syrian capital of Damascus with government strongholds on the Mediterranean coast and is a passageway for rebel supplies and fighters from Lebanon.According to UN figures, more than 80,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Bashar Assad began in March 2011. … Read More

Yahoo’s $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr a done deal

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:52:00 +0000

Yahoo first announced its intention to acquire the popular blogging site Tumblr on Sunday, and it has made the $1.1 billion deal official this morning. CEO Marissa Mayer is clearly trying to make good on her promise of turning Yahoo into a daily visit for all Internet users. … Read More

FSB prevents terror act in Moscow by militants trained in Afghanistan, Pakistan

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:49:00 +0000

Link: FSB prevents terror act in Moscow by militants trained in Afghanistan, Pakistan

Læger om kvalitet på sygehusene: Sundhedsministerens anbefaling er for luftig

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:43:00 +0000

Sundhedsminister Astrid Krag (SF) vil ge hospitalernes fokus p kvalitet og sammenhng i behandlingen. Det melder hun ud p baggrund af anbefalinger fra Udvalget for Bedre Incitamenter under Sundhedsministeriet. Men iflge Lgeforeningen er sundhedsministerens udmelding for luftig. LS OGSSundhedsministeren: Kvaliteten skal tilbage p sygehusene Foreningen kritiserer den for ikke at indeholde konkrete initiativer, der kan sikre, at kvalitet fr strre fokus end den konomiske styring af sundhedsvsnet. Det er skuffende, at hverken ministeren eller udvalget foreslr nye initiativer, som grundlggende sikrer fokus p kvalitet frem for konomi. Der er tale om mere af det samme, som vi kender i dag. Vi efterlyser modeller, som langt mere hndfast stter patienten og kvaliteten i centrum, siger Mads Koch Hansen, formand for Lgeforeningen. Belnning for kvalitetSundhedsministeren taler for, at personalet p de danske hospitaler skifter det konomiske fokus ud med en mission om, at kvalitet og mere sundhed for pengene skal styre mere i sundhedspolitikken. Den hidtidige styring har givet gode resultater, men har ogs betydet, at man for entydigt har fokuseret p, at sundhedsvsnet skulle behandle mere og mere - uanset om det var den behandling, der gav mest sundhed for pengene, siger Astrid Krag. Mads Koch Hansen peger p, at Lgeforeningen lnge har talt varmt for ndvendigheden af, at landets sygehuse belnnes for, hvor gode de er til at behandle patienterne og ikke for, hvor mange de behandler. Men formanden mener, at incitamentsudvalgets anbefalinger ikke er vidtrkkende nok til at sikre et strre fokus p kvalitet frem for konomisk styring. Det er ikke godt nok. At indfre den type systemer, krver national styring. Hvis det bliver op til den enkelte afdeling eller sygehus, stiger risikoen for, at det i sidste bliver hensynet til konomien, som vinder over hensynet til kvaliteten, siger Mads Koch Hansen. Flere af udvalgets anbefalinger vil indg i de i igangvrende forhandlinger om regionernes og kommunernes konomi for 2014, som blev skudt i gang i denne uge. … Read More

‘Syrian conflict is a war targeting Iran’

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:29:00 +0000

Hezbollah militants are fighting beside Syrian governmental troops to retake the strategic town of Qusair from the rebels. It's considered a key weapons smuggling route for opposition forces near the Lebanese border. The battle for the city in the contested Homs Province is viewed by both sides as a turning point which could prove crucial in deciding the conflict. Tariq Ali believes Hezbollah has joined the fight in order to protect the weapons smuggling routes of their own, those coming from neighboring Iran. As for the Syrian people, Ali says the majority just wants the war in the country to end, no matter which side gets the upper hand. RT: Shia Hezbollah have joined the fight against the mostly Sunni rebels. Is this conflict becoming sectarian?Tariq Ali: I think, effectively, what this war is now increasingly becoming is a war that’s targeting Iran and trying to remove Iran’s only Arab ally. It’s become very clear in the way which sectarianism has been used. Sunni versus Shia, Shia versus Sunni. I mean, without assigning blame or responsibility, that is what’s going on, effectively now, both in Iraq and in Syria. In Iraq you had a situation where the Sunnis constituted a minority, but ran the previous regime – the US intervened and effectively handed over power to the Shia religious parties of one sort or another. They then carried out large ethnic cleansings in Baghdad and in other cities, and we now see the response to that at a time when the US itself has very few – if any – troops left in Iraq. In Syria you had the opposite. You had a large Sunni majority, which was govern by an Alawite regime, very closely linked to Iran. And the Arab uprising that took place destabilized further. In my opinion, you have minorities supporting the Syrian government, minorities supporting the Islamist rebels and a large proportion of the population waiting for the war to end and hoping that something would happen to bring conclusion to this war. RT: Could Israel now attack Syria under the guise of defending itself, since its old enemy Hezbollah are there?TA: You know one reason Hezbollah is being actively defending the government forces in Syria is because they fear that their link to Iran will be broken and their long to getting weapons to defend themselves will be broken. The Israelis have already bombed Syria meeting with very little opposition – hardly any – from the so-called international community, which is the US and the EU. In fact the Israelis bombed Syria without getting some sort of green light from the US. Were they to do so again – it would create an even larger mess. The Israelis haven’t been threatened by Syria for a very long time. In fact, the Syrian government of President [Bashar] Assad and his father [former President Hafez Assad] had de facto collaborated with the Israelis in the past. So where they see the threat isn’t Syria, but Iran that’s the Israeli obsession. And in order to weaken Iran further they might carry out attacks on Damascus, but then they should be prepared for some consequences.RT: Strategic affairs analyst Salam Harba says militants are using the people in the city Qusayr as human shields. Could we see the Syrian government blamed for the civilian deaths?TA: Well, it could be. The situation is so confused. We still don’t know about the chemical weapons. The single United Nations’ reports blamed the rebels. The rebels blamed the Syrian government. The Syrian government says ‘Why should we even bother to use them when we’ve got MIG-29s in the air which can do more damage?’ Effectively, in my opinion, both sides are committing atrocities. There’s no doubt about it. In a civil war this is inevitable. It happens. So the fact that we’ve recently seen of Syrian or Islamist radicals eating the organs out of the body of a Syrian soldier is, of course, horrendous. And I think it’s done the rebels a great deal of harm. I think they are getting isolated from the Syrian people. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. People are desperate. They have no idea what’s going to happen, when this war comes to an end. … Read More

China: live turtles in bags sold as key rings

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:24:00 +0000

French President Hollande talks of human rights… 26/04/2013 05:56 CET ‘Airpocalypse’ smog in China 01/03/2013 12:00 CET World cities join in Chinese Lunar New Year 10/02/2013 17:46 CET Chinese multimillionaire brings fresh air to Beijing 31/01/2013 11:04 CET China on red alert over pollution 31/01/2013 18:46 CET

Living turtles, fish and salamander in tiny bags of water are being sold in Beijing as key rings for children.

To the horror of animal rights activists, the sale of live animals as trinkets is a growing trend in China.

A vendor at Beijing market said “I sell fifty of these a day!”

“I bought one because my child wanted one”, a mother explained

The bags are so small that the creatures can barely move inside and critics say they are likely to die within weeks.

The price tag is little more than the cost of a few sweets.

Although animal rights groups have highlighted the cruelty of these living toys, there is no law in China preventing their sale.

More about: Animal rights, Beijing, China

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Swedish extradition request for Assange ‘a fit-up’ – UK intel chatter

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:19:00 +0000

The Australian, who has been stranded at Ecuadorian embassy in London for almost 12 months, cited instant messages he received from Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British signal intelligence body.One message from September 2012, which Assange read out in a Sunday night interview with Spanish TV program Salvados, says: "They are trying to arrest him on suspicion of XYZ … It is definitely a fit-up… Their timings are too convenient right after Cablegate."Another conversation he cited goes: "He reckons he will stay in the Ecuadorian embassy for six to 12 months when the charges against him will be dropped, but that is not really how it works now is it? He's a fool… Yeah… A highly optimistic fool."Assange did not explain who the people exchanging the messages were, but said he managed to obtain them because they were not classified."[GCHQ] won't hand over any of the classified information," he said. "But, much to its surprise, it has some unclassified information on us."GCHQ confirmed to RT that it released the info to Assange under the Data Protection Act. It can be used by individuals to obtain personal information that UK bodies have about them. The agency is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, the usual mechanism for getting information of interest released by officials.It stressed that the comments Assange received do not reflect GCHQ’s official stance in any way.“As was made clear to Mr. Assange when the information was disclosed to him, the comments that he refers to in his recent interview were a small number of casual observations on a current affairs issue made by a handful of staff on GCHQ's internal informal communication channels. The comments were entirely unrelated to the individuals' official duties,” a spokesman for the agency said in an email.A British court ordered that Assange be extradited to Sweden, where authorities want to question him on sex-related allegations. He refuses to go to there unless it guarantees that it won’t extradite him to the US, where he faces espionage charges over data released by WikiLeaks.Ecuador has given Assange asylum and houses him in a small basement room in its London embassy. UK law enforcement keeps a close eye on the embassy, ready to arrest Assange should he leave the diplomatically-protected building.The cost of the surveillance, which is believed to involve two police vehicles and eight officers on duty at all times, is now over $16,500 a day, Scotland Yard recently reported. The operation cost British taxpayers over $5 million since Assange got his refuge on June 19, 2012. By the time the anniversary falls, the sum is expected to have gone over $6.3 million. … Read More

Tensions over Syria trigger clashes in Tripoli

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:13:00 +0000

Lebanon recognises Syrian refugees for first time 04/01/2013 20:07 CET Pro and anti-Syrian regime militants clash in Lebanon 09/12/2012 17:05 CET Lebanon holds its breath and hopes for peace 24/10/2012 00:43 CET Tensions high after sectarian fighting in Tripoli 25/08/2012 16:32 CET Lebanon clan renounces abductions 17/08/2012 01:50 CET

Lebanese soldiers have been patrolling an area of Tripoli after the deaths of at least three people in more clashes between Alawite and Sunni communities in the city. The fighting over two days has also left forty or so wounded.

The violence appears to have been triggered by the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Syria, in particular the current Syrian army assault on the rebel-led town of Qusair.

‘‘It looks like the order for combat has come from the Syrian regime to its Shabiha militia to open the battle in Tripoli in order to cover up what is happening in Qusair. But we reserve the right to retaliate,” said a Lebanese Sunni gunman.

Lebanese militants are believed to be crossing the border to join the fighting in Syria on both sides of the conflict.

Sunnis in Lebanon mostly sympathise with the Sunni-led revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose minority Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.

More about: Civil War, Death, Lebanon, Military, Syria

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Economic case for UK to stay in Europe is ‘overwhelming’

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:04:00 +0000

UK-EU relations still divisive in Britain 23/01/2013 17:15 CET Cameron’s major EU speech postponed again 17/01/2013 23:15 CET UK lawmakers want tax crackdown on multinationals 03/12/2012 14:45 CET The UK and the EU: in or out of the Union? 23/11/2012 11:04 CET Britain faces further cutbacks 10/10/2012 17:23 CET

First it was rebel members of parliament, now business leaders have waded into the debate over Britain’s membership of the European Union.

Top industry figures have signed a letter in the British Independent newspaper, saying the economic case to stay in Europe is “overwhelming.”

Virgin founder Richard Branson is among them.The leaders say the UK stands to lose up to 108 billion euros a year if it goes it alone.

It comes as British Prime Minister David Cameron is accused of “losing control” of his Conservative party, amid internal divisions over Europe. He has recently been forced to back a new bill that would enshrine an in-out referendum pledge in law.

Cameron’s problems have been made worse by claims that an unidentified, close aide described Conservative grassroots Eurosceptics as “mad swivel-eyed loons.” The comments have been denied by Downing Street.

More about: British economy, British politics, Business, David Cameron, European Union, United Kingdom

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E.On Russia to transfer 100% of 2012’s net profit into dividends

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:34:00 +0000

The company has recommended a dividend of 0.29 roubles per share for 2012, worth 18.3 billion roubles ($583 million), General Director Maxim Shirokov said on Friday.E.On Russia also plans to pay its shareholders 40-60 percent of its earnings under IFRS international accounting standards over the medium-term.According to Kommersant daily, German E.On needs money to compensate for the losses the company suffered after the German authorities pledged to turn their back on nuclear energy in favor of green energy. E.On is terminating the operation of the nuclear power plant it owns.The growing share of renewable energy sources and weak demand from industry have significantly reduced the profitability of the German company’s gas division.E.ON Russia’s payment of dividends will become the first time when foreign investors will get dividends from assets purchased during the split of RAO UES of Russia. Several Russian energy producers can boast dividends exceeding 1 billion roubles ($32 million). Others include RusHydro and Mosenergo. The Russian subsidiary of the German company has increased its energy production by 2.78 percent in 2012, according to the Finam business news agency. The increase is mainly due to the expansion of the Surgutskaya GRES-2 power plant - the largest power station in Russia. Two new 400MW units were commissioned to meet the energy requirements of the city of Surgut and Western Siberia, and have increased the existing capacity of the power station by 800MW, to 5,600MW. Investment in the expansion project is estimated at €2.8 billion.E.ON is the largest buyer of Russian gas and also the largest foreign investor in Russia. The expansion programme is part of the company's investment programme aimed at increasing the clean energy production to 2,400MW.Total power generating capacity of E.ON Russia exceeds one billion watts. The company includes five hydroelectric power plants (Surgutskaya GRES-2, Berezovskaya GRES, Shaturskaya GRES, Smolenskaya GRES and Yajvinskaya GRES) and «Heat networks of Berezovskaya GRES», delivering energy to consumers in the region surrounding the plant. … Read More

Bitcoin’s big mystery: who created the virtual currency system?

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

It’s no secret that Bitcoin comes with its fair share of controversy but what most people don’t realize is, it’s also shrouded in a veil of mystery. That’s because, even five years after its launch, nobody knows who came up with the original idea for the virtual currency system. ... … Read More

Fire sigtede efter blodigt drikkelag løslades

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:24:00 +0000

To kvinder og to mnd er blevet lsladt af en dommer efter et grundlovsforhr, hvor de alle var sigtet for drabsforsg, efter en 33-rig mand sndag aften blev stukket i lysken med en kniv under et drikkelag i Kaas ved Pandrup i Nordjylland. Det oplyser anklager Sren Beckermann ved Nordjyllands Politi til Ritzau. De to mnd p 48 og 52 r og kvinderne p 38 og 45 r var i huset, da offeret blev stukket. Da ambulance og politi nr frem sndag aften finder man den 33-rige, der er sret af et knivstik i lysken, i et vrelse. De to mnd er i gang med at give ham frstehjlp. Han har ingen puls, da han bliver fundet, men i ambulancen p vej til sygehuset, fr man pulsen op igen, sagde vagtchefen ved Nordjyllands Politi, Henrik Beck, til Ritzau. Uden for livsfareDen 33-rige mand er mandag uden for livsfare, men det har vret svrt for politiet at finde ud af, hvad der er foreget i huset. Der har vret noget drikkelag. De er alle fire kraftigt berusede og har forelbig ikke sagt noget om, hvad der er sket. S vi ved ikke, om han har stukket sig selv, men vi behandler sagen som et drabsforsg, fortalte vagtchefen. Den 33-rige samt en mand og en kvinde var tilsyneladende p besg hos det par, der bor i huset. Manden har angiveligt fet knivstikket i kkkenet. Der er blodspor fra kkkenet til det vrelse, han bliver fundet i, og vi har fundet den kniv, som blev brugt, gemt af vejen i kkkenet, fortalte Henrik Beck. Kriminalteknikere blev tilkaldt for at undersge huset og sikre eventuelle spor. … Read More

Motorcyklist rammer sten og omkommer nær Roskilde

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:18:00 +0000

En mand er drbt i en motorcykelulykke ved Kirke Hvals nr Roskilde, oplyser Midt- og Vestsjllands Politi, som er p vej til stedet. Det er en motorcyklist, som er blevet pkrt, men andet ved jeg ikke lige nu, siger vagtchef Allan Kronvold til Ritzau. Det er den anden ddsulykke p motorcykel i pinsen. En 60-rig mand mistede lrdag livet, da han krte galt p sin motorcykel ved Kolind p Djursland. Han kommer krende fra Kolind ad Ndagervej, da han i en venstrekurve mister herredmmet over sin motorcykel, sagde vagtchefen ved stjyllands Politi, Thomas Hinge. Manden rammer en sten i hjre side af vejen og fortstter ind i en motorcykel, der holder parkeret, samt nogle betonklodser, fr han til sidst rammer en trpl. … Read More

Man gets payout for not shaking woman’s hand

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:05:00 +0000

A town in western Sweden has agreed to pay damages to a man who was told he wouldn't be hired if he refused to shake a woman's hand for religious reasons. … Read More

New Film Exposes the Israeli Weapon and Security Industry

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:05:00 +0000

Yotam Feldman: the Israeli economy has become dependent on the massive security market. Governments act in hypocrisy when they purchase Israeli arms used against Palestinians, but criticize Israeli violence. … Read More

Banks Win Big as Regulators Refuse to Rein in $700 Trillion Derivatives Market

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:05:00 +0000

Bill Black: Weakness of financial regulators shows you can not "tame the scorpion" … Read More

Swedes sweep top French football awards

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:59:00 +0000

Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scooped up France's Ligue 1 player of the year award on Monday, with Sweden's Lotta Schelin taking home the same honour for the top French women's league. … Read More

Politiet er klar til nedrykningsbrag: Det bliver en meget, meget vigtig kamp

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:46:00 +0000

SuperligaenSeneste kampe Brndby IF - FC Nordsjlland 4 - 0 SnderjyskE - AC Horsens 4 - 2 Randers FC - FC Kbenhavn 1 - 0 AGF - AaB 3 - 0 Stillingen k p 1 FC Kbenhavn 32 64 2 FC Nordsjlland 32 57 3 Randers FC 32 51 4 Esbjerg FB 32 47 5 AaB 32 46 6 FC Midtjylland 32 44 7 AGF 32 41 8 SnderjyskE 32 40 9 OB 32 37 10 Brndby IF 32 36 11 AC Horsens 32 34 12 Silkeborg IF 32 30 Alt om SuperligaenSeneste resultaterAlle kampe i dagSeneste dages kampeKommende dages kampeAlle stillinger og resultater Forelbig nder alt fred og ro i Horsens f timer fr braget mellem Brndby og hjemmeholdet p Casa Arena. Alt meldes udsolgt p stadion, men udover de 10.400 personer, der har erhvervet sig en billet, forventes ogs en strre skare uden billetter at dukke op for at flge kampen p nrmeste hold p storskrme uden for stadion. Vi hber p en spndende kamp med glade tilskuere, og hvis der skulle vre nogen ind imellem, der laver ballade, vil vi forsge at hndtere det. Men det hber vi ikke, siger Steen Edeling, der er politiinspektr ved Sydstjyllands Politi, til politiken.dk. Han vil ikke komme nrmere ind p det konkrete beredskab. Men det er klart, at vi er mdt ind i forhold til, at vi ved, at det er en meget, meget vigtig kamp, siger Steen Edeling. LS OGSDe trre tal: Horsens plejer at sl Brndby i SuperligaenButikker holder lukketP hovedgaden i Horsens er der flere butikker, der har valgt at holde lukket, dels fordi det er helligdag, men iflge politiet muligvis ogs, fordi nogle har bange anelser. Det str jo folk frit for, hvis de tidligere har haft drlige erfaringer, siger Steen Edeling. Frygter kaosUd af de 10.400 pladser p stadion er 1.400 optaget af Brndby-fans, der sidder p udebaneafsnittet, og ledelsen i Horsens har tidligere meldt ud, at man frygter kaos omkring kampen, hvis Brndby-fans forsger at kbe sig ind via Horsens-tilhngernes billetter andre steder p stadion. P trods af politiets beredskab og et samarbejde med et vagtfirma, er AC Horsens-direktr Henrik Ravn nervs for, at der alligevel opstr tilskuerballade, hvis der dukker alt for mange Brndby-fans frem til et i forvejen udsolgt stadion. LS OGSHorsens-direktr til Brndby-fans: Bliv hjemme og se kampen p tv De Brndby-fans, som ikke har fet billet, fr mulighed for at se kampen p storskrm i et indhegnet omrde lige bag stadion. Her vil der ogs vre salg af l og vand. P den mde forsger vi at lave en lsning for de Brndby-fans, der gerne vil s tt p stadion som muligt for at sttte holdet. Men jeg vil egentlig helst opfordre dem til at blive hjemme og se den p tv, siger Horsens-direktr Henrik Ravn til sporten.dk. … Read More

Politiet er klar til nedryknings-brag: Det bliver en meget, meget vigtig kamp

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:46:00 +0000

Dell’s thumb drive-sized computer will ship in July for $100

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Project Ophelia, Dell’s Android-based computer on a USB stick that was first showcased at CES early this year, is scheduled to begin shipping in July for around $100. The device is designed to plug directly into the HDMI port of a monitor to turn any display into a PC, gaming... … Read More

Breaking: Feds Disappear Adam Kokesh!

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:29:00 +0000

As witnessed in footage of the event filmed by fellow activists, Kokesh appears to have been arrested for the victimless crime of exercising his First Amendment right to free speech. … Read More

Unge fra druk-stafet er uden for livsfare efter strøm-ulykke

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:18:00 +0000

En tragisk ulykke ved en rlig lstafet i Nordsjlland i grser nu ud til ikke at koste menneskeliv, selvom to unge mnd p 23 og 24 r fik krestrm igennem sig p Helsingr Station, oplyser Nordsjllands Politi. Vi fik en melding omkring klokken 11, om at de begge er uden for livsfare. Deres tilstand er stabil, men de er fortsat indlagt, siger vagtchef Ole Hestbk til Ritzau. De to unge mnd deltog i en rlig lstafet, hvor en gruppe p omkring 3000 udkldte unge gr fra Snekkersten Station til Kronborg, hvor de holder fest. P Helsingr Station kravler en ung mand op p et tog, der holder p et rangerspor. Her springer strmmen fra kreledningen og rammer ham, s han falder om, og der gr ild i hans tj, fortalte vagtchef Jan Hedager tidligere til Ritzau. Ville hjlpeDen anden mand ser, hvad der sker, og kravler op p taget for at redde den bevidstlse mand med ild i tjet ned fra toget. Men da han kravler op p toget, springer strmmen igen fra kreledningen og rammer begge mnd, som falder ned fra toget, forklarede Jan Hedager. LS OGS Kravlede op p et tog: To unge mnd er voldsomt forbrndte Politiet, der fulgte de unge mennesker p lstafetten, var hurtigt p stedet. Vi fr gennet resten af de unge videre og givet de to unge mnd frstehjlp, indtil to ambulancer og en akutlge kort efter nr frem til stedet, sagde Jan Hedager. Kort efter bliver den ene af mndene fljet i helikopter til Rigshospitalets Traumecenter, mens den anden bliver krt samme sted hen i ambulance med politieskorte. Iflge Helsingr Dagblad gr lstafetten, som de to mnd deltog i, under navnet Tour de Druk og samler hvert r flere hundrede unge. … Read More

Hot-air balloon collision leaves two dead in Turkey

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:15:00 +0000

The United Nations estimates that 700 people were killed in Iraq in April - the highest figure in almost five years. Tensions between Iraq's Sunni minority and Shi'ites, who lead the government, have reached their highest level since US troops pulled out in December 2011. At…

Violence in Iraq hits deadliest level in five years

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:15:00 +0000

Iraq: Baghdad and Basra hit by car bomb attacks 20/05/2013 11:18 CET Deadly bombings hit Baghdad 16/05/2013 14:14 CET At least 80 die in Iraqi bombings 18/05/2013 01:24 CET Iraq in first vote since US troop withdrawal 20/04/2013 13:45 CET Kerry asks Iraq to close its airspace to Iran 25/03/2013 03:16 CET

The United Nations estimates that 700 people were killed in Iraq in April – the highest figure in almost five years.

Tensions between Iraq’s Sunni minority and Shi’ites, who lead the government, have reached their highest level since US troops pulled out in December 2011.

At least 20 people were killed by a series of car bombings in the capital, Baghdad on May 20.

Police say the eight blasts mainly targeted Shi’ite neighbourhoods. Scores of people were injured.

In Basra, a predominantly Shi’ite city in the south, at least 14 people were killed by two car bombs – also on May 20.

More about: Baghdad, Car bomb, Iraq, Urban violence

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Politiet kræver fire fra drikkelag fængslet for drabsforsøg

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:11:00 +0000

To kvinder og to mnd fremstilles i et grundlovsforhr, hvor de alle er sigtet for drabsforsg, efter en 33-rig mand i aftes blev stukket i lysken med en kniv under et drikkelag i Kaas ved Pandrup i Nordjylland. Det oplyser vagtchef Per Vagn Nielsen ved Nordjyllands Politi til Ritzau. De to mnd p 48 og 52 r og kvinderne p 38 og 45 r var i huset, da offeret blev stukket. Da ambulance og politi nr frem sndag aften finder man den 33-rige, der er sret af et knivstik i lysken, i et vrelse. De to mnd er i gang med at give ham frstehjlp. Han har ingen puls, da han bliver fundet, men i ambulancen p vej til sygehuset, fr man pulsen op igen, sagde vagtchefen ved Nordjyllands Politi, Henrik Beck, til Ritzau. Uden for livsfareDen 33-rige mand er mandag uden for livsfare, men det har vret svrt for politiet at finde ud af, hvad der er foreget i huset. Der har vret noget drikkelag. De er alle fire kraftigt berusede og har forelbig ikke sagt noget om, hvad der er sket. S vi ved ikke, om han har stukket sig selv, men vi behandler sagen som et drabsforsg, fortalte vagtchefen. Den 33-rige samt en mand og en kvinde var tilsyneladende p besg hos det par, der bor i huset. Manden har angiveligt fet knivstikket i kkkenet. Der er blodspor fra kkkenet til det vrelse, han bliver fundet i, og vi har fundet den kniv, som blev brugt, gemt af vejen i kkkenet, fortalte Henrik Beck. Kriminalteknikere er tilkaldt for at undersge huset og sikre eventuelle spor. … Read More

Car bomb explosion kills 4, injures 46 in Dagestan, southern Russia

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:49:00 +0000

The first car with the explosive placed underneath reportedly went off causing no fatalities or injuries. Once law enforcement arrived at the scene, the second bomb detonated, Interfax reported citing the local Investigative Committee.“As far as I know there are three people dead. One of them is our employee,” spokesperson of the Court Bailiffs' Service Magomed Buttaev told RT.The death toll rose to four people after another man, an employee of the court bailiffs' service, died of his injuries in hospital, according an Interior Ministry spokesman.Initial reports suggested eight people died at the scene, Interfax news agency reported.“Two cars were detonated within several minutes. At least eight people have been killed, while the number of injured is being clarified. More than 20 cars have been damaged,” the agency quoted the representative of Dagestan’s Investigative Committee. However, the chief physician in Dagestan, Kazanfar Kurbanov, has later confirmed that three people died and 24 were injured. “There have been 46 people hospitalized,” Interfax reported citing its source.As said, the blasts occurred approximately 15 minutes apart from each other with the two bombs were detonated remotely. Interfax quotes a source who said that an explosive was also found in a trash can.“It has already been established that the first explosive was placed under the car,” one of the spokesman told media.The force of the second blast was the equivalent of up to 50 kg of TNT, Rasul Temirbekov from the local Investigative committee told ITAR-TASS, adding that the first blast was less powerful, nearly causing damage to nearby parked cars.According to law enforcement officials, perpetrators clearly used a tactic which is quite common in Dagestan, when the first blast is bait to attract more people and the second explosion goes off when people are at the scene, thus injuring and killing law enforcement members.“The majority of injured are police officers who arrived at the scene after the first blast. There are at least 15 of them now,” ITAR-TASS quotes the local Interior Ministry.Russia’s Emergencies Ministry has sent doctors and psychologists from Moscow to Makhachkala. The IL-76 jet will deliver 26 specialists to Dagestan, and then return with victims of the blast to Moscow hospitals if needed.No one has claimed responsibility for the double blast, with no suspects yet identified. Investigators have said they will use the registration plates of one of the vehicles involved, in a bid to track down the culprits.“We plan to ID the owner of the exploded car and unravel the case trough this information,” an investigative committee spokesperson said. There's a belief that the car was stolen.In a recent incident near a shopping center on May 1, two teenagers were killed and another two injured as they tried to uncover the dangerous object, wrapped up either in a box or a bag. … Read More

8 killed in double blast in Dagestan, Russia

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:49:00 +0000

DETAILS TO FOLLOW … Read More

Tumblr Community Responds to Yahoo Bid

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:41:00 +0000

Tumblr faithfuls took to the service with letters and animated illustrations to protest the sale of the company to Yahoo for $1.1 billion. … Read More

‘Conflict of interest’: US govt adviser on board of $334mn anthrax drug stockpile supplier

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:28:00 +0000

Richard J. Danzig, former secretary of the Navy, a prominent lawyer and biowarfare consultant to the US government, was involved with Human Genome, a biotech company. He received more than $1 million in director's fees and other compensation from the company between 2001 and 2012, reports the Los Angeles Times.Over the decade he was a strong advocate of improving America’s capability to respond to a possible bioterriorist attack. One of the scenarios he was warning about involved terrorist creating a strain of anthrax resistant to common antibiotics and weaponizing it.He had the ear of senior Pentagon and DHS officials, with the government eventually deciding to stockpile drugs to deal with such kind of anthrax. One of them called raxibacumab, or raxi, is produced by Human Genome.It was the first product that the company managed to sale and the US government is the only customer, the newspaper says. The US ordered 20,000 doses of raxi in 2006 and 45,000 more doses after 2009, when the initial batch expired. At shelf price of $5,100 per dose, the company received $334 million for the product, the newspaper says.The LA Times spoke to seven former top US officials, six of whom said they had no knowledge of Danzig being on board of the firm. One of them, Dr. Philip K. Russell, who helped the US prepare for biological attacks during the George W. Bush administration, said "Holy smoke—that was a horrible conflict of interest," when the newspaper explained the situation.Danzig said in an interview that no such conflict existed and that he had acted “very properly.”"My view was I'm not going to get involved in selling that," Danzig told the newspaper. "But at the same time now, should I not say what I think is right in the government circles with regard to this? And my answer was, 'If I have occasion to comment on this, it ought to be in general, as a policy matter, not as a particular procurement.’”Danzig started sounding the alarm about possible anthrax terrorist act after the widely-publicized 2001 attack, in which anthrax-laced letters killed five people and infected 11 others. In 2008, the DoJ named senior biodefense researcher Bruce Edwards Ivins, who had died a month earlier, as the sole suspect in the attack, but no formal trial was ever conducted.While the anthrax powder used in the 2001 attack was not resistant to antibiotics, Danzig said it would be “quite easy” for terrorists to create one. "Even at the high school level, biology students understand that an antibiotic-resistant strain can be developed," he wrote in his key policymaking 2003 report "Catastrophic Bioterrorism - What Is To Be Done?"But the notion is not shared by some microbiologists."It's not a trivial endeavor," Paul Keim, a Northern Arizona University geneticist and anthrax expert, told the newspaper. "This is something beyond the capability of a high school student or even someone with graduate training."Keim added that if anthrax were made resistant to antibiotics, it would decrease the bacteria’s stability and virulence, greatly reducing its lethality.Human Genome was acquired by the British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline last year for $3.6 billion.Raxi was tested only on animals, since the lethality of anthrax does not allow for clinical trials on humans. Luckily, no terrorist group has used anthrax – antibiotic-resistant or otherwise – for a massive attack, which would put US stockpile of raxi to good use. … Read More

New York City shocked as anti-gay hate crimes come out of closet

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:03:00 +0000

The brutal slaying marked the 22nd hate crime targeting gays in New York City this year, compared to 13 incidents at the same time last year, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said, as quoted by Reuters. Greenwich Village, the trendy New York neighborhood which many artists call home, has witnessed its share of historic victories for gay rights advocates. That legacy has given the neighborhood its reputation as a tolerant safe haven for the gay community. Until now, that is. Early on Saturday morning, Marc Carson was walking with his companion on Sixth Avenue at Eighth Street - not far from the Stonewall Inn, the site of the famous 1969 gay rights riot - when a man approached the couple and uttered an anti-gay slur. The assailant then asked if the two “want to die here” before shooting Carson point-blank in the face. Carson, 32, was rushed to the hospital where he died of his wounds. The killer, identified as 33-year-old Elliot Morales, fled the scene, but was quickly apprehended by police. Morales appeared on Sunday in Manhattan criminal court, where he was charged with committing murder as a hate crime. He is being held without bail and two of his companions are cooperating with police, The NYPD said it is investigating possible links between Saturday's killing and other incidents. Last week, also in Greenwich Village, a man was beaten up after leaving a bar. He told investigators the assailant had uttered anti-gay remarks before attacking him. In May, two couples in midtown Manhattan were assaulted by groups of men, in what are thought to have been hate crimes against homosexuals. A spokesman for Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) called the killing "a stark and sobering reminder of the rife homophobia that still exists in our culture."Too many victories, too soon?Following Saturday’s brutal slaying, some American media outlets asked the question whether recent gay rights victories may have contributed to the incidence of hate crimes against homosexuals.As Reuters put it, the spate of violence against gays could represent“a backlash against the recent advance of gay marriage laws across the United States.” Last week, the Minnesota Senate narrowly passed the same-sex bill, thus becoming the 12th US state to legalize same-sex marriages.Opponents of the bill questioned the speed with which the measure was being adopted, as well as fears that the interests of people opposed to such legislation are not being given due consideration.However, it is not just the issue of same-sex marriages that the American public – many of whom believe that marriage is an institution reserved for male and female partners – is being forced to consider.Alongside the same-sex marriage debate, Americans were also asked to accept homosexuality in perhaps the most conservative of national organizations, the Boy Scouts of America.The Supreme Court in 2000 recognized the First Amendment right of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA)“to select its leaders and members based upon the assertion by the BSA that homosexual activity was inconsistent with the Scout Oath and Law.” Despite the ruling, the BSA was placed under constant pressure to reverse its position on homosexuality within its youthful ranks. This week, delegates from the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America will gather in Grapevine, Texas, to vote on whether to include in its bylaws the accompanying clause:“No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.” Many individuals are wondering aloud why an organization that is devoted to nurturing the minds and bodies of boys is being forced to consider questions involving sexuality in the first place.Public demonstrations opposing the new resolution have been organized by a group called OnMyHonor.net, which claims the pending proposal "requires open homosexuality in the Boy Scouts." … Read More

32-årig knallertkører omkommer i ulykke med lav fart

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:58:00 +0000

En 32-rig mand fra Vinderup er dd i formiddag i en knallertulykke p Skjernvej i Holstebro, oplyser Midt- og Vestjyllands Politi. Han er erklret dd p stedet af lgen, og det er nok uheldige omstndigheder ved styrtet, der gr, at han dr, siger vagtchef Kjeld Nedergaard til Ritzau. Knallertkreren kom krende i relativ lav fart, og det samme gjorde en personbil i ulykken. Manden kom krende langs en cykelsti, da en bil krer langsomt frem og ud p vejen fra hjre. Knallertkreren snitter personbilen og vlter, fortller vagtchefen. Politiet blev tilkaldt til ulykken klokken 10.12. … Read More

British business says ‘Brexit’ will cost UK $140bn annually

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:47:00 +0000

Some of the UK’s leading business heavyweights including Sir Richard Branson and Sir Martin Sorrell as well as the current and next presidents of the Confederation of British Industry and the chairmen of BT, Deloitte, Lloyds and Centrica argue that exiting the EU could cost the British economy up to £92bn (almost $140 billion) a year, The Independent newspaper reports. A number of UK's most successful and eminent business figures have signed a letter to The Independent where they slam Eurosceptics for ignoring the national interest in their call for the UK to leave the European Union. It is the first coordinated response from the business community to the anti-EU rhetoric.The businessmen call for PM David Cameron to “strengthen and deepen” the European single market to drag an extra £110 billion ($167 billion) to the British economy. Opinion polls in the country reveal that exiting the EU is the most likely scenario. Anti-EU sentiment has been growing since 2007, when almost half the UK population didn't trust the European bloc. A similar survey undertaken last year revealed that 69 percent of those who took part were euro-sceptic.A draft bill on an in-out referendum has been proposed by the ruling Conservative party, saying it must be held before the end of 2017. According to The Independent, two cabinet ministers have already declared that they would vote to leave the EU if the referendum were held today. The newspaper also says that some senior Tories are quite certain a new EU membership deal for Britain that eurosceptics would support is hardly an option for Cameron.The businessmen in their letter refer to the economics, saying that exiting the EU would bring nothing but losses to the UK economy. “The economic case to stay in the EU is overwhelming,” the business leaders state in the letter to the The Independent. “To Britain, membership is estimated to be worth between £31 billion ($47 billion) and £92 billion ($139 billion) per year in income gains, or between £1,200 to £3,500 for every household.”“What we should now be doing is fighting hard to deliver a more competitive Europe, to combat the criticism of those that champion our departure. We should push to strengthen and deepen the Single Market to include digital, energy, transport and telecoms, which could boost Britain’s GDP by £110 billion ($167 billion) ,” they add. … Read More

Ceiling suspended: US takes on $300bn in new debt after hitting $16.7 trillion

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:44:00 +0000

Citing ‘extraordinary measures’, the US Treasury has further delayed tackling America’s debt, and will wait until Labor Day, September 2nd, to revisit the burgeoning crisis. The ceiling has been lifted, and the Treasury has promised it will keep cash pumping into government spending programs beyond the debt limit through a series of emergency cash tools. “It will not be until at least after Labor Day" when Washington will have reached their full borrowing capacity, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, told CNBC television on May 10th. Until then, the Treasury will borrow money to mend any gaps between government spending and revenues, adding to the already $16.7 trillion debt. On Friday, the Treasury Department announced it will suspend sales of State and Local Government Series loans (SLGS) until further notice. The suspension applies to demand deposit and time deposit securities.In the last four months, the US has accumulated $300 billion in debt. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the federal deficit will be $642 billion in FY13. The US economy has shown some promising signs of recovery. US consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in almost six years, jumping from 89.9 to 97.5, the highest post-recession consumer condition, the University of Michigan study found. “The global economic leadership position enjoyed by the United States rests on the confidence of Americans and people around the world that we are a nation that keeps its promises and pays all of its bills, in full and on time,” said Lew. US lawmakers first agreed to raise the debt ceiling two years ago, following a long, drawn out stand-off between Republicans and Democrats, which prompted Standard & Poor to strip the US of their AAA rating. The failed super committee ushered in sequestration, This time around, Lew has urged lawmakers to act more swiftly to not tarnish the reputation of the US economy."Congress should deal with this right away. The fact that they have more time should not put off dealing with this," he said. "I don't think that it's in the interests of the U.S. or the world economy for Congress to wait until the last minute and create a sense of anxiety,” said Lew. Lew hinted the debt ceiling is not up for negotiation, and that Obama would not bow to Republicans increase the debt ceiling but he does remain open for talks about a deficit deal.Lew was sworn in as Treasury Secretary on February 28th, 2013, after Congress voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling in January to avoid a default on the debt. … Read More

Syria: fierce battle for strategic town of Qusair

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:33:00 +0000

Syria army ‘in centre’ of Qusair amid assault on… 19/05/2013 19:14 CET Hezbollah says Syrian rebels will never oust Assad by… 01/05/2013 00:15 CET Syrian rebels retreat from Aleppo stronghold 08/08/2012 12:43 CET ‘Here to Stay’, Syrian President Assad’s defiant… 19/05/2013 10:05 CET US criticises Russia over missiles to Damascus 18/05/2013 10:34 CET

Around 30 Hezbollah fighters and 20 Syrian soldiers have been killed in fierce fighting in Qusair since Sunday May 19 – according to activists opposed to President Bashar al Assad.

The town, which is located near the Lebanese border, had been a stronghold of opposition forces until the Syrian regime launched an offensive to recapture the strategically important town.

The Syrian state news agency announced on May 20 that the army had taken control of most of Qusair and killed a hundred of what it called ‘terrorists’.

Activists, however, said the town had not been captured.

Qusair is seen as a conduit for supplies and fighters from Lebanon, which is just 10 kilometres away.

For the Syrian regime, controlling it would help link the capital Damascus with its strongholds on the Mediterranean coast.

More about: Bashar al-Assad, Death, Hezbollah, Mideast, Syria

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V-Ray for SketchUp – RT

Anon — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:17:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/v/grlCfFYME1Q?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata More here: V-Ray for SketchUp – RT