China's airing of 'V for Vendetta' stuns viewers

BEIJING -- Television audiences across China watched an anarchist antihero rebel against a totalitarian government and persuade the people to rule themselves. Soon the Internet was crackling with quotes of "V for Vendetta's" famous line: "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

The airing of the movie Friday night on China Central Television stunned viewers and raised hopes that China is loosening censorship.

"V for Vendetta" never appeared in Chinese theaters, but it is unclear whether it was ever banned. An article on the Communist Party's People's Daily website says it was previously prohibited from broadcast, but the spokesman for the agency that approves movies said he was not aware of any ban.

Some commentators and bloggers think the broadcast could be CCTV producers pushing the envelope of censorship, or another sign that the ruling Communist Party's newly installed leader, Xi Jinping, is serious about reform.

"Oh God, CCTV unexpectedly put out 'V for Vendetta.' I had always believed that film was banned in China!" media commentator Shen Chen wrote on the popular Twitter-like Sina Weibo service, where he has over 350,000 followers.

Zhang Ming, a supervisor at a real estate company, asked on Weibo: "For the first time CCTV-6 aired 'V for Vendetta,' what to think, is the reform being deepened?"

The 2005 movie, based on a comic book, is set in an imagined future Britain with a fascist government. The protagonist wears a mask of Guy Fawkes, the 17th-century English rebel who tried to blow up Parliament. The mask has become a revolutionary symbol for young protesters in mostly Western countries, and it also has a cult-like status in China as pirated DVDs are widely available. Some people have used the image of the mask as their profile pictures on Chinese social media sites.

Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia wrote on Twitter, which is not accessible to most Chinese because of government Internet controls: "This great film couldn't be any more appropriate for our current situation. Dictators, prisons, secret police, media control, riots, getting rid of 'heretics' ... fear, evasion, challenging lies, overcoming fear, resistance, overthrowing tyranny ... China's dictators and its citizens also have this relationship."

China's authoritarian government strictly controls print media, television and radio. Censors also monitor social media sites including Weibo. Programs have to be approved by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, but people with knowledge of the industry say CCTV, the only company with a nationwide broadcast license, is entitled to make its own censorship decisions when showing a foreign movie.

"It is already broadcast. It is no big deal," said a woman who answered the phone at movie channel CCTV-6. "We also didn't anticipate such a big reaction."

The woman, who only gave her surname, Yang, said she would pass on questions to her supervisor, which weren't answered.

The spokesman for the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said he had noticed the online reaction to the broadcast. "I've not heard of any ban on this movie," Wu Baoan said Thursday.

The film is available on video-on-demand platforms in China, where movie content also needs to be approved by authorities.

A political scientist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who used to work for CCTV said the film might have approval, or it could have been CCTV's own decision to broadcast it.

AP researchers Flora Ji and Henry Hou contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/20/3150116/chinas-airing-of-v-for-vendetta.html

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16 Things You Forgot Happened in 2012

1. GoDaddy Supported SOPA and Faced the Consequences

Technically this debacle took place in the last week of 2011, but the backlash lasted well into 2012. GoDaddy, the popular domain registrar and web hosting company, showed early support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a hotly contested bill regarding copyright violations that was introduced by U.S. Representative Lamar S. Smith. Many Internet users believed SOPA would lead to extreme censorship of the web and were shocked to hear that GoDaddy supported it. As a result, hundreds of high-profile sites joined a boycott and mass-transfer movement sparked by Ben Huh, founder of the Cheezburger Network, moving their domains away from GoDaddy. The company eventually withdrew its support for SOPA, but not before it lost many customers. In September 2012, GoDaddy faced another PR nightmare when its DNS servers went down due to a distributed denial of service attack, and with the servers went many customers' websites for a long period of time. The company apparently didn't have a backup plan, furthering soiling its reputation. Image courtesy of Flickr, dsleeter_2000.

Click here to view this gallery.

[More from Mashable: 7 Ways Augmented Reality Will Improve Your Life]

This has been quite the eventful year. What with the U.S. presidential election, Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, the continued influence of social media in the Arab Spring and countless other major headlines, it's easy for smaller yet nonetheless significant news events to escape our memories.

[More from Mashable: Cinemagram?s Picks for 13 Incredible GIFs of 2012]

Since it's nearly impossible to remember everything that happened in 365 days, we've rounded up 16 stories that you may have forgotten about in 2012. From the serious to the hilarious, the offensive to the heartwarming, you'll be reminded of something worth remembering.

What other 2012 news do you think is worth remembering? Share your small but important picks in the comments.

Image courtesy of Flickr, infomatique.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/16-things-forgot-happened-2012-121451170.html

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Hard Reset Samsung Galaxy S3 for Snappier, Error-Free Performance [Quick Guide]

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/416542/20121219/hard-reset-samsung-galaxy-s3-snappier-error.htm

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Vudu launches movie streaming / downloads to Android tablets, Xbox 360 app supports 1080p

Coming about a year after its launch on iOS, Walmart-owned Vudu has opened up access to its (UltraViolet-connected) movie library on Android. Interestingly, it's included a key feature not currently available in the iPad and iPhone Vudu Player app: users can download videos for offline viewing just like they do on PCs, not just streaming over WiFi in the browser. A free app ready for download to "select" Android tablets, there's no word on when or if it will appear on phones, but we're told the list of supported devices will continue to grow.

Vudu also notes in the press release (included after the break) that as of last month, its Xbox 360 app has been updated to support 1080p HDX streaming video. Do you really need another reason to give it a shot? If so, try this one on -- all new users who activate an UltraViolet account between now and March get 10 free movies. There's still the pain of creating multiple logins for the virtual locker, but between Vudu and Flixster offers you should be able to snag a bunch of free flicks watchable anywhere on your Android device without spending a cent (or hunting through torrents and the like, your choice).

Continue reading Vudu launches movie streaming / downloads to Android tablets, Xbox 360 app supports 1080p

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD, Mobile

Comments

Source: Google Play

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/TZFgyx5GPKI/

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Scientists discover how HIV virus gains access to carrier immune cells to spread infection

Dec. 18, 2012 ? Scientists from the AIDS Research Institute IrsiCaixa have identified how HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, enters the cells of the immune system enabling it to be dispersed throughout an organism. The new study is published December 18 in the open access journal PLOS Biology.

One of the reasons why we do not yet have a cure for HIV infection is that the virus infects cells of the immune system that would normally fight such an infection. The main targets of HIV are white blood cells named CD4 T lymphocytes (so called because they have the protein CD4 in their membrane), and while more than 20 different drugs are available today to help control HIV, all of them act by blocking the cycle that HIV follows to infect these CD4 T lymphocytes. However, these treatments do not fully act on another cell of the immune system, the dendritic cell, which takes up HIV and spreads it to target CD4 T lymphocytes.

Mature dendritic cells are responsible for activating an immune response by CD4 T lymphocytes, but when they carry viruses, their contact with T lymphocytes causes the virus to be passed on, thus increasing viral spread.

The results continue the research led by ICREA researchers at IrsiCaixa, Javier Mart?nez-Picado, and Nuria Izquierdo-Useros, in collaboration with research groups from Heidelberg University, Germany, and the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. This team published a previous PLOS Biology paper in April 2012, in which they identified molecules, called gangliosides, located on the surface of HIV that are recognized by dendritic cells and are necessary for viral uptake. The new results now identify a molecule on the surface of dendritic cells that recognizes and binds the gangliosides and allows HIV to be taken up by dendritic cells and transmitted to its ultimate target: T lymphocytes.

"We have observed that the protein that acts as a lock for the entrance of HIV could also facilitate the entrance of other viruses," explains Nuria Izquierdo-Useros. "Therefore, our results could also help us understand how other infections might exploit this mechanism of dispersion."

In order to identify the precise molecule located on the membrane of the dendritic cells capable of capturing HIV, the researchers studied one family of proteins that are present on the surface of these cells, called Siglecs. It is known that these proteins bind to the gangliosides on the HIV surface. In the laboratory, they mixed the virus with dendritic cells that displayed different quantities of Siglec-1, and found that a higher quantity of Siglec-1 led to those dendritic cells capturing more HIV, which in turn allowed for enhanced transmission of HIV to CD4 T lymphocytes, a process called trans-infection.

The team then tried inhibiting the Siglec-1 protein. Doing so in the laboratory, they found that the dendritic cells lost their capacity to capture HIV and, importantly, they also lost their ability to transfer HIV to CD4 T lymphocytes. With all these data, the scientists concluded that Siglec-1 is the molecule responsible for HIV entrance into the dendritic cells, and could therefore become a new therapeutic target.

"We had the key and now we have found a lock," explains Javier Mart?nez-Picado. "Now we are already working on the development of a drug that could block this process to improve the efficacy of the current existing treatments against AIDS."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Nuria Izquierdo-Useros, Maier Lorizate, Maria C. Puertas, Maria T. Rodriguez-Plata, Nadine Zangger, Elina Erikson, Maria Pino, Itziar Erkizia, B?rbel Glass, Bonaventura Clotet, Oliver T. Keppler, Amalio Telenti, Hans-Georg Kr?usslich, Javier Martinez-Picado. Siglec-1 Is a Novel Dendritic Cell Receptor That Mediates HIV-1 Trans-Infection Through Recognition of Viral Membrane Gangliosides. PLoS Biology, 2012; 10 (12): e1001448 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001448

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/9TZWu_j-r2A/121218203506.htm

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Harvey Organ's - The Daily Gold and Silver Report: Japan signals ...

Japanese Pension Funds With $3.4 Trillion In Assets Seek Safety In Gold

Today?s AM fix was USD 1,699.50, EUR 1,289.26 and GBP 1,048.10 per ounce.
Yesterday?s AM fix was USD 1,690.00, EUR 1,285.27 and GBP 1,043.21 per ounce.

Precious metals crept higher yesterday and closed with very slight gains for both gold and silver.?

Gold closed up 0.22% or $3.80 to $1698.00. Silver closed with a marginal gain of 0.12% - up 4 cents to $32.21/oz.

Prices crept gradually higher in Asian trading prior to some retrenchment in early European trading.

U.K. inflation held at the highest since May in November as higher food, electricity and gas costs kept consumer-price growth above the Bank of England?s target.

The fastest price rises were seen in the cost of fruit, bread and cereals, as well as in energy bills, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Inflation is now expected by many investors and economists to creep up further next year as further increases in electricity and gas prices take effect.

Many traders are on the sideline as trading slows down prior to Christmas. The focus remains on U.S. lawmakers attempts to cobble together a deal to avert the 'fiscal cliff'. There is optimism that a deal can be done to avert fiscal disaster.

While this may be the case in the short term - another short term political panacea which fails to address the very poor deep rooted structural fiscal challenges may lead to an even greater fiscal disaster in the course of President Obama's second term.

The fundamentals which have led to another annual gain in 2012 (8% in dollar terms) remain in place.

Ultra loose monetary policies from the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and other central banks will provide support, as currency debasement and rising inflation leads to continuing demand for bullion.

These fundamentals are leading to broad based global demand for gold - from retail investors to institutions and pension funds. Japanese pension funds are increasingly looking at gold according to an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning.

Diversification into gold is taking place in order to protect against sovereign risk, debasement of currency risk and inflation risk.

In March 2012, Okayama Metal & Machinery became the first Japanese pension fund to make public purchases of gold, in a sign of dwindling faith in paper currencies. Okayama manages pension funds for about 260 small and mid-sized companies in the Okayama area.

"By diversifying currencies, we aim to reduce risks associated with them," said Yoshi Kiguchi, the fund's chief investment officer. "Yields become stable if you put small amounts into as many types of holdings as possible."

Of its 40 billion yen ($477 million) in assets, the fund has invested around ?500 million-?600 million in gold, he said.

Initially, the fund aims to keep about 1.5% of its total assets of Y40bn ($500m) in bullion-backed exchange traded funds, according to chief investment officer Yoshisuke Kiguchi, who said he was diversifying into gold to ?escape sovereign risk?.

Other pension funds in Japan are following their lead according to the Wall Street Journal.

Japanese pension funds are diversifying into gold "largely to mitigate the damage from possible market shocks".

Japanese pension funds invest mainly in domestic stocks and bonds. Until recently, none have looked to gold or other physical assets.

For example, Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, the world's largest public pension, held 64% of its assets in domestic bonds, 11% in domestic stocks, 9.0% in international bonds, and 12% in international stocks, as of end-September. The remainder were in short-term assets.

This strategy has produced meager returns at a time when bonds offer historically low yields and the stock market has stagnated.

Worse yet, when crises have roiled the markets, big funds such as the GPIF have seen red. The GPIF lost 7.6% in the 2008 fiscal year, when the global financial crisis struck, and a less-painful 0.3% in the 2010 fiscal year, when the euro-zone debt crisis spooked markets.

Gold, whose price movement isn't historically correlated with those of stocks or bonds, can protect portfolios from being damaged too badly in times of market stress, investment managers say. Low interest rates also justify holding non-yielding gold in place of cash.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation said it has secured more than Y2 billion in investments from two pension funds for a gold fund it started in March.

Gold is also used as a hedge against inflation, which is becoming a bigger concern as global central banks buy ever-more bonds, market watchers say.

The Bank of Japan has increased its purchases of Japanese government debt from the market and is under political pressure to do more. Shinzo Abe, Japan's next prime minister, has said he wants the central bank to employ "unlimited easing measures" to achieve a 2% inflation target.

"Responding to inflation is becoming one issue," said Hiroaki Nakaoka, sales manager for SPDR ETF Japan at State Street Global Advisors (Japan) Co.

Higher inflation could drive up interest rates and erode the value of the Japanese government bonds in which pension funds have invested most of their money.

In some ways, Japanese pension funds are merely tracking a trend that has already been seen in other developed markets, industry watchers say. Gold's potential to offset inflation-linked losses has already prompted some U.S. and European pension funds to buy small volumes. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas pension trust fund, for example, held $235 million of SPDR Gold Shares GLD +0.19% out of its total investment net value of $111.1 billion, as of end-August.

The emergence of gold exchange-traded funds has enabled pension funds to invest in gold without holding the physical product. Some funds restrict themselves from investing in physical assets. The first ETF backed by actual gold was introduced in Japan in June 2008.

ETFs "opened the door" to investment in gold, said Tetsu Emori, chief fund manager at Astmax Investment Management Inc., which manages ?70 billion in assets. Roughly 60% of its portfolio is invested in commodities, with gold accounting for the largest portion.

In March 2011, Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. started incorporating gold in a package product for pension funds that invests in various assets, including gold ETFs. Gold accounts for about 3% of the package. The product has attracted ?180 billion in investment from about 200 pension funds.

The vast majority of pension funds continue to shy away from gold, an investment that offers no yield and, in the case of physical gold, actually costs money to store.

But the potential for market turmoil and expectations of inflation could change that, industry experts say.

The global pension market is of a huge scale - with the Japanese pension market alone worth some $3.4 trillion.?

Even a small allocation by pension funds internationally to gold would result in a significant new source of demand which could be a new fundamental factor which propels prices higher in the coming years.

NEWS

COMMENTARY

For breaking news and commentary on financial markets and gold, follow us on?Twitter. end?



The Queen: on seeing the gold bars at the Bank of England:

"Regrettably not all of them belong to us"

(courtesy GATA/Wall Street Journal)



Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2012-12-18 15:25.?Section:?Daily Dispatches

10:27a ET Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Becoming today the first British monarch to attend a Cabinet meeting since George III in 1781, Queen Elizabeth remarked on her visit last week to the Bank of England's gold vault, which was greatly publicized in the United Kingdom. (See?http://www.gata.org/node/12030.)

In a receiving line at 10 Downing St., addressing the chancellor of the exchequer, the UK treasury secretary, George Osborne, the queen said, "I saw all the gold bars. Regrettably not all of them belong to us."

Osborne replied that Britain still has some gold left, and apparently that was that -- nothing about swaps and leases and the purposes thereof, particularly secret currency market intervention to sustain the Anglo-American financial establishment that is bankrupting much of the Western world. (Seehttp://www.gata.org/node/12016.)
If any of our British friends happen to run into the queen -- and she?does?get around, being the most conscientious and selfless public servant in Britain -- they might let her know that GATA would be delighted to make a presentation to her about what her chancellor apparently won't tell her about her kingdom's gold and its former gold.

Of course under one of the basic U.K. laws -- is it the Act of Irrelevance? -- the sovereign and her immediate family are forbidden to do much more than serve as fodder for celebrity programs on television and the celebrity columns in the newspapers. But since there are no serious financial journalists anymore, one has to start somewhere, and if the queen could just keep talking about gold, maybe the issue eventually could break into "Inside Edition," "Entertainment Tonight," and People magazine if not "60 Minutes," "Panorama," and The Wall Street Journal.

The Telegraph's story about the queen's visit to the Cabinet meeting, posted at the link below, contains a 1-minute, 53-second video of the event, with the queen's exchange with the chancellor about gold coming at the 1-minute mark:

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

The Wall Street Journal report of Japanese pension funds seeking the safety of gold:

(courtesy Wall Street Journal/GATA)

Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2012-12-18 16:41.?Section:?Daily Dispatches

By Kosaku Narioka
The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, December 18, 2012

TOKYO -- A small number of pension funds in Japan have started to invest in gold for the first time, largely to mitigate the damage from possible market shocks.

Japanese pension funds invest mainly in domestic stocks and bonds. Until recently none have looked to gold or other physical assets.

For example, Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, the world's largest public pension, held 64% of its assets in domestic bonds, 11% in domestic stocks, 9.0% in international bonds, and 12% in international stocks, as of end-September. The remainder were in short-term assets.

This strategy has produced meager returns at a time when bonds offer historically low yields and the stock market has stagnated.

Worse yet, when crises have roiled the markets, big funds such as the GPIF have seen red. The GPIF lost 7.6% in the 2008 fiscal year, when the global financial crisis struck, and a less-painful 0.3% in the 2010 fiscal year, when the euro-zone debt crisis spooked markets.

Gold, whose price movement isn't historically correlated with those of stocks or bonds, can protect portfolios from being damaged too badly in times of market stress, investment managers say. Low interest rates also justify holding non-yielding gold in place of cash.

Among those moving into gold is Okayama Metal & Machinery Pension Fund, which manages pension funds for about 260 small and mid-sized companies in the Okayama area. It started buying gold in March.

"By diversifying currencies, we aim to reduce risks associated with them," said Yoshi Kiguchi, the fund's chief investment officer. "Yields become stable if you put small amounts into as many types of holdings as possible."

Of its 40 billion yen ($477 million) in assets, the fund has invested around Y500 million-Y600 million in gold, he said.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. said it has secured more than Y2 billion in investments from two pension funds for a gold fund it started in March.

Gold is also used as a hedge against inflation, which is becoming a bigger concern as global central banks buy ever-more bonds, market watchers say.

The Bank of Japan has increased its purchases of Japanese government debt from the market and is under political pressure to do more. Shinzo Abe, Japan's next prime minister, has said he wants the central bank to employ "unlimited easing measures" to achieve a 2% inflation target.

"Responding to inflation is becoming one issue," said Hiroaki Nakaoka, sales manager for SPDR ETF Japan at State Street Global Advisors (Japan) Co.

Higher inflation could drive up interest rates and erode the value of the Japanese government bonds in which pension funds have invested most of their money.

In some ways Japanese pension funds are merely tracking a trend that has already been seen in other developed markets, industry watchers say. Gold's potential to offset inflation-linked losses has already prompted some U.S. and European pension funds to buy small volumes. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas pension trust fund, for example, held $235 million of SPDR Gold Shares GLD -- 1.01% out of its total investment net value of $111.1 billion, as of end-August.

Partly because it is seen as a hedge against inflation, the price of gold has more than doubled since the end of 2007, rising 103% to $1,695.75 an ounce Monday, according to the daily London fixing price.

The emergence of gold exchange-traded funds has enabled pension funds to invest in gold without holding the physical product. Some funds restrict themselves from investing in physical assets. The first ETF backed by actual gold was introduced in Japan in June 2008.

ETFs "opened the door" to investment in gold, said Tetsu Emori, chief fund manager at Astmax Investment Management Inc., which manages ?70 billion in assets. Roughly 60% of its portfolio is invested in commodities, with gold accounting for the largest portion.

In March 2011, Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. started incorporating gold in a package product for pension funds that invests in various assets, including gold ETFs. Gold accounts for about 3% of the package. The product has attracted ?180 billion in investment from about 200 pension funds.

The vast majority of pension funds continue to shy away from gold, an investment that offers no yield and, in the case of physical gold, actually costs money to store.

But the potential for market turmoil and expectations of inflation could change that, industry experts say.

end

What!!!! Kitco??? worried about gold market manipulation? ?It can't be so....

(courtesy GATA)

Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2012-12-18 19:48.?Section:?Daily Dispatches

2:50p ET Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

The afternoon metals market roundup by Jim Wyckoff at Kitco News takes note of growing suspicion of manipulation in the gold market. Wyckoff writes:

"Tuesday's major selloff in the gold market, amid no major, fresh fundamental news to move prices so sharply, once again has many market watchers scratching their heads. The past few weeks have seen similar unexpected, and seemingly inexplicable quick downside price moves in gold and silver. Many traders and investors are wondering (and many are frustrated) regarding the role of 'manipulators' in the gold and silver markets.

"Watching, trading, and analyzing the markets on a full-time basis for more than a quarter century, there is no doubt in my mind that bigger players in the market place can and do manipulate markets -- on a short-term basis. The big boys like to catch the market in thin, low-volume conditions so they can have as big of a desired price impact as possible when they execute their bigger trades. Such activity is not exclusive to the gold and silver markets. It happens in nearly all traded markets -- and it is nothing new.

"What is important to remember is that no individual trader or individual firm can control (manipulate) a market's price for very long. Even the major central banks of the world have tried manipulation in the currency markets (central bank intervention to the tune of billions in currency) with only marginal initial success and not a lasting impact.

"Regarding any longer-term conspiracy to manipulate the price of gold or silver (lower), I cannot say for sure if that is the case or not because I have never had the time to completely research the matter. However, I do know that by looking at the longer-term monthly chart for gold I see that prices are in a solid 11-year-old uptrend and that gold has been one of the best upside market performers of any asset class for the past 11 years. If some big outfit has been trying to manipulate gold to the downside, it has not worked very well for them the past 11 years."

Of course GATA long has addressed the "controlled retreat" of central banks in the gold market and we're not going to belabor it today, but the documentation of central bank intervention in the market remains available to Wyckoff and anyone else who wants to make the time to visit our documentation archive here:

Of special interest recently are two confidential reports by the International Monetary Fund dated 1999 and disclosed by GATA this month.

The first is a survey by the IMF about central bank gold leasing, which concluded that about 15 percent of official gold reserves were on loan in 1999. The amount now is almost certainly much higher. That report is here:

The second is a report to the IMF's Executive Board about transparency in central bank accounting, which discloses that Western central banks objected to reporting their gold loans and swaps because doing so would impair their secret intervention in the currency markets:

Imagine if a Kitco News reporter ever tried to interview central banks about these reports and to interrogate them about their activities in the gold market.

But for the time being we'll have to settle for Wyckoff's musing, headlined "P.M. Kitco Metals Roundup: Gold Down Sharply, at 3.5-Month Low, on Technical Selling, Stops Hit; Manipulation Discussed" and posted at Kitco here:

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

A detailed look at the role of silver for China.

(Michele Smith/silver investing news)

Tuesday December 18, 2012, 4:15am PST The structure of the silver industry in China is almost unrecognizable from the situation 20 years ago, a new?reportfrom?Thomson Reuters GFMS states. In 1990, China was a relatively small player in silver. Now, the nation is responsible for 17 percent of global demand and produces 14 percent of the world?s silver. GFMS? latest research reveals that China?s expanding role in the silver market has been driven by the liberalization of its silver industry and over a decade of economic growth. After the revolution in 1949,?gold?and silver mining did not feature in the People?s Republic?s economic planning, GFMS explains. Investment in the industry was limited and private trading and personal ownership of the metals was forbidden. Get the latest Silver Investing News articles delivered to your email inbox.?Learn more

China?s low level of silver production in the early 1980s raised concerns among State Council members, who decided that local production needed to expand in order to support industrialization and move the country toward self-sufficiency.

In 1983, regulations that covered the various aspects of the silver and gold industries, from production to export, were rolled out. The People?s Bank of China (PBOC) was granted monopolistic authority to set prices and buy and sell silver.

That initiated the rise of China?s silver production, which resulted in China becoming a surplus producer by the end of the 1980s. Production surpluses continued in the 1990s, and by 1997, the PBOC realized state stocks were more than sufficient for China?s fabrication needs.

Authorities eventually came to see silver as a metal with which to test deregulation. Exploratory sales from state stocks began in 1998. In 2000, an official trading platform was designated and China?s monopoly on silver ended.

China?s silver supply

China is now the third-largest producer of silver after Peru and Mexico.

GFMS estimates that from 1998 to 2006, government stock sales totaled almost 350 million ounces (m/oz), more than 4 percent of global silver supply during that period. However, the firm confidently assumes that the PBOC has stopped selling silver as its stock levels are no longer ?excessive.? Its remaining silver will play a role in diversifying China?s reserve portfolio away from US dollars, the firm notes.

Still, total supply has grown from 94.2 m/oz?in 2002 to 281.5 m/oz?in 2011, the firm reports.

This growth was largely the result of China?s decade-long GDP growth, which drove industrial development by averaging 10 percent annually. Rising commodity prices also accelerated exploration and development.

Mine production more than doubled during this time, increasing from 52.9 m/oz?in 2002 to 104.6 m/oz in 2011. That growth is incidental as it was mostly due to China?s need to supply fabricators with base metals, GFMS explains. The volume of primary silver production in China is limited. 95 percent of its domestically mined silver originates as a by-product, mostly from?lead-zinc?deposits.

Despite this rapid supply growth, China experienced its first silver market deficit in 2002; that deficit grew to 23 m/oz in 2011. This gap has been filled in large part by hefty increases of imported base metal concentrates.

According to GFMS, since 2007, the largest source of silver supply in China has been base metals containing silver. Supply from that source increased from a mere 20.4 m/oz in 2002 to a peak of 150.3 m/oz in 2008.

China?s silver demand

GFMS states that China?s fabrication demand has grown about 12 percent per year from 2000 to 2011, representing a rise in offtake from 48.7 m/oz to 159.5 m/oz.

That is in stark contrast to the rest of the world, where fabrication demand has posted a double-digit fall over the same period, the report notes.

If China?s fabrication demand is viewed in segments, industrial demand is the largest slice. Within that segment, electrical and electronic applications represent the largest slice. Over the past decade, China has also become the world?s largest silver jewelry fabricator.

Growth in China?s investment demand is another notable development. With the liberalization of the market, Chinese investors? participation has grown, elevating the nation from being ?a marginal player just a few years ago ? [to] the world?s leading market for both physical investment and paper trading? today.

An explosion in local precious metals purchases has been driven by macroeconomic conditions in China and abroad, states GFMS. For example, the firm explains that Chinese households have a great deal of cash savings that need to find a home. Yet the property market has been volatile and is now more heavily regulated, the stock market has seen heavy losses and interest rates on savings are close to zero in real terms.

Investment has traditionally been dominated by coins as silver bars were only made available in mid-2009. Last year, China accounted for 8 percent of global net purchases of these products.

Interest has also grown in silver contracts. The launch of silver contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) in May means that three exchanges now offer silver paper trading. GFMS notes that the SHFE has become an important commodity exchange for silver futures trading on a global basis, ranked only after the COMEX.

China silver outlook

As long as the outlook for economic growth in China remains positive, the nation is expected to continue playing a major role in the silver market.

Its use and production of base metals are slated for growth, which should result in an increase of by-product silver supply. GFMS also forecasts strong increases in production from primary sources as new projects are realized.

Growth in paper trading could be dramatic, the firm states. Further growth in coin and bar demand in upcoming years is expected as people place their trust in precious metals as a store of value and inflation hedge, notes the firm.

Urbanization and rising incomes also paint a bright picture for silver in China. As GFMS points out, the urban population only exceeded 50 percent in China for the first time last year. That compares to 80 percent in the countries that make up the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and presents a bullish case for demand growth for silver-bearing products.

end

OK!!! Let's get the crooks into ?the copper game and relieve a little pressure on the gold/silver front:

(courtesy GATA/London Financial times)

Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2012-12-18 00:03.?Section:?Daily Dispatches

SEC Approves JPMorgan Copper ETF

By Emiko Terazono
Financial Times, London
Monday, December 17, 2012

A JPMorgan-backed investment vehicle that aims to track the price of copper has won the approval of US regulators in spite of strong opposition from users of the metal and senior politicians.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday approved the exchange traded fund, which is backed by physical buying of copper, opening the door to easy investment in the metal. The regulator's approval comes despite opposition from Carl Levin, chairman of the powerful Senate subcommittee on investigations, on the grounds that the proposed products "would allow speculators to create a squeeze on the market."

Senator Levin said that the SEC's approval of the ETF was "a blow to American businesses and consumers" and that it would "increase copper prices and volatility, and undermine market efforts to produce prices in response to supply and demand by copper users."

The SEC said it did not see the products disrupting the supply of copper available for immediate delivery and gave the go-ahead to NYSE Arca, the exchange, to list the JPMorgan ETF. NYSE has a separate request to list a rival BlackRock iShares copper ETF, which is now likely to go ahead too.

Leading US copper users have argued that the ETF would even "wreak havoc" on the global economy, given the metal's use in electrical wiring, which makes it essential to the manufacturing industry.

Companies such as Southwire, Encore Wire, Luvata, and AmRod as well as trading house Red Kite said the launch of the products would result in a "substantial artificially induced rise in near-term copper prices."

JPMorgan said it could not comment until the launch of the copper ETF, but in a previous submission to the SEC the bank had countered that the product would not consume metal but would merely hold it.

If and when the metal is needed by real consumers, the investors can sell their shares in the ETF and the copper will be available to the market within days.

Its regulatory filings suggest JPMorgan's ETF could hold 61,800 tonnes -- the equivalent to 27 per cent of the copper held in the London Metal Exchange's global network of warehouses.

The regulator said it believed the physical copper ETF would "provide another way for market participants and investors to trade in copper" and could enhance competition among exchanges.

The SEC added that the new copper ETFs would "provide investors another investment alternative, which could enhance a well-diversified portfolio" and "could increase competition among financial products and the efficiency of financial investment."

Source: http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/2012/12/japan-signals-purchase-of-massive.html

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A&M's Johnny Football is AP's Player of the Year

FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2012, file photo, Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel rolls out to throw a touchdown pass during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Sam Houston State in College Station, Texas. Manziel has become the first freshman to be voted The Associated Press Player of the Year in college football, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2012, file photo, Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel rolls out to throw a touchdown pass during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Sam Houston State in College Station, Texas. Manziel has become the first freshman to be voted The Associated Press Player of the Year in college football, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel, File)

FILE - This Nov. 10, 2012 file photo shows Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) celebrating after a review proves an Aggie touchdown during the first half of their first SEC meeting against Alabama in an NCAA college football game in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Manziel has become the first freshman to be voted The Associated Press Player of the Year in college football, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/The Decatur Daily, Gary Cosby Jr., File)

FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2012, file photo, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel throws a pass in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. Manziel has become the first freshman to be voted The Associated Press Player of the Year in college football, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Johnny Manziel ran for almost 1,700 yards and 30 touchdowns as a dual-threat quarterback his senior year of high school at Kerrville Tivy.

Who would have thought he'd be even more impressive at Texas A&M when pitted against the defenses of the Southeastern Conference?

On Tuesday, Manziel picked up another major award for his spectacular debut season. He was voted The Associated Press Player of the Year. As with the Heisman Trophy and Davey O'Brien Award that Manziel already won, the QB nicknamed Johnny Football is the first freshman to collect the AP award.

Manziel's 31 votes were more than twice that of second place finisher Manti Te'o, Notre Dame's start linebacker. He is the third straight Heisman-winning quarterback to receive the honor, following Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton.

Manziel erased initial doubts about his ability when he ran for 60 yards and a score in his first game against Florida.

"I knew I could run the ball, I did it a lot in high school," Manziel said in an interview with the AP. "It is just something that you don't get a chance to see in the spring. Quarterbacks aren't live in the spring. You don't get to tackle. You don't get to evade some of the sacks that you would in normal game situations. So I feel like when I was able to avoid getting tackled, it opened some people's eyes a little bit more."

The 6-foot-1 Manziel threw for 3,419 yards and 24 touchdowns and ran for 1,181 yards and 19 more scores to help the Aggies win 10 games for the first time since 1998 ? and in their inaugural SEC year, too.

Ryan Tannehill, Manziel's predecessor now with the Dolphins after being drafted eighth overall this season, saw promise from the young quarterback last year when he was redshirted. But even he is surprised at how quickly things came together for Manziel.

"It's pretty wild. I always thought he had that playmaking ability, that something special where if somebody came free, he can make something exciting happen," Tannehill said. "I wasn't really sure if, I don't think anyone was sure if he was going to be able to carry that throughout an SEC season, and he's shocked the world and he did it."

After Manziel sat out as a redshirt in 2011, Texas A&M's scheduled season-opener against Louisiana Tech this year was postponed because of Hurricane Isaac. That left him to get his first taste of live defense in almost two years against Florida.

He responded well, helping the Aggies race to a 17-7 lead early using both his arm and his feet. The Gators shut down Manziel and A&M's offense in the second half and Texas A&M lost 20-17.

But Manziel's performance was enough for Texas A&M's coaching staff to realize that his scrambling ability was going to be a big part of what the Aggies could do this season.

"The first half really showed that I was a little bit more mobile than we had seen throughout the spring," Manziel said. "Me and (then-offensive coordinator) Kliff Kingsbury sat down and really said: 'Hey we can do some things with my feet as well as throwing the ball.' And it added a little bit of a new dimension."

Manziel knew that the biggest adjustment from playing in high school to college would be the speed of the game. Exactly how quick players in the SEC were was still a jolt to the quarterback.

"The whole first drive I was just seeing how fast they really flew to the ball and I felt like they just moved a whole lot faster," he said of the Florida game. "It was different than what I was used to, different than what I was used to in high school. So it was just having to learn quick and adjust on the fly."

He did just that and started piling up highlight reel material by deftly avoiding would-be tacklers to help the Aggies run off five consecutive wins after that.

His storybook ride hit a roadblock when he threw a season-high three interceptions in a 24-19 loss to LSU. But Manziel used it as a learning experience, taking to heart some advice he received from Kingsbury.

"He just told me to have a plan every time, before every snap," Manziel said. "Make sure you have a plan on what you want to do and where you want to go with the ball."

"I feel like as the year went on, I just learned the offense more and knew exactly where I wanted to go, instead of maybe evading the blitz and just taking off running for the first down instead of hitting a hot route or throwing it underneath to an open guy and doing things a lot simpler and cleaner."

The Aggies and Manziel rebounded from the loss to LSU by winning their last five games, highlighted by their stunning 29-24 upset of top-ranked Alabama on Nov. 10.

By the time Manziel wrapped up a 253-yard passing and 92-yard rushing performance to lead Texas A&M to the victory in Tuscaloosa, you could hardly call him a freshman anymore.

"You keep growing and growing every week," he said. "By the time I played Alabama I had a much better grasp of the game than I did in the first one."

The 4,600 yards of total offense Manziel gained in 12 games broke the SEC record for total yards in a season. The record was previously held by 2010 Heisman winner Newton, who needed 14 games to pile up 4,327 yards. The output also made him the first freshman, first player in the SEC and fifth player overall to throw for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 in a season.

Manziel, who turned 20 two days before taking home the Heisman, has been so busy he hasn't had a second to step back and digest the historical significance of his accomplishments this season.

He's far more concerned with helping the Aggies extend their winning streak to six games with a win over Oklahoma on Jan. 4 in the Cotton Bowl.

"I think it will happen after the bowl game and after the season is completely over," he said. "I'm just ready for it to die down a little bit and get back into a practice routine where we get better and hopefully do what we want to do in the bowl game."

He'll have to do it without his mentor Kingsbury, who left A&M last week to become coach at Texas Tech, where he starred at quarterback not that long ago. Manziel said is happy Kingsbury got to return to his alma matter, but is still adjusting to the idea of playing without him.

"I'm the happiest guy on the face of the earth for him," Manziel said, speaking from California where he appeared on the "Tonight Show" Monday evening. "I think he deserves it with how hard he's worked this year to get us where we were. It's bittersweet though, because I'd like him to be here for the entire time that I'm here."

Manziel is eager to get back on the field for the Cotton Bowl and is focused on helping the offense pick up where it left off in the regular-season finale.

"Even though Kliff Kingsbury's not here anymore, we just need to continue to get better and do what we do," Manziel said. "Push tempo, go fast and be the high-flying offense that we have been all year."

_____

AP Sports Writer Steven Wine contributed to this story from Miami.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-18-FBC-AP-Player-of-the-Year/id-9820398b0ba74e8f92b915e2b99fc200

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2012 WWE Slammy Awards and WWE.com Slammy Awards winners

All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2012 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2012 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2012-12-17/slammy-award-winners

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Dakota Meyer speaks out on Twitter about fight

Dakota Meyer speaks out on Twitter about fight

Monday, December 17, 2012, 11:47 PM - Twitter

By now you've probably already seen the news reports about Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer being involved in a fight that ended up with him being hospitalized.

There has been an arrest and Meyer is out of the hospital already, but details of what went down remain sketchy at this point.

Meyer did issue a statement late last week saying, ""It's unfortunate the circumstances that have happened.? This is the first time since being back from Afghanistan that I have been in fear for my life.? It's also unfortunate that it happened in my hometown.? Hopefully a lesson can be learned, and this can be a stepping stone to making our community safer."

It appears the media was quick to report the news about the incident without all the facts, which upset Meyer.

He took to Twitter to speak out.

On December 14, Meyer tweeted:

?Disappointed in media who let accused criminal spread lies about me without talking to poIice. Bad journalism!?

Several people responded in support of Meyer.

Laurie C ?@TherapyDogsRock wrote:?

Sadly it's no longer journalism. It's all for "shock value" and ratings. Pathetic.

hubris @backtracesec wrote:

the media are idiots :-) #trustme

To keep up with Meyer on Twitter, you can follow him at @Dakota_Meyer

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News: Syrian rebel group feuds with WordPress

Sunday, December 16, 2012, 11:26 PM - News Stories Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel group is feuding with WordPress on Twitter. Jabhat al-Nusra, a Syrian rebel group whose name means ?victory front? and which the United States designates as a terrorist organization for its alleged links to al-Qaeda?s Iraq branch, is opening a new front in its war against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. Its target: WordPress, the Web publishing platform that recently shut down Jabhat al-Nusra?s blog. Its medium: Angry tweets...
(Washington Post)

The Syrian conflict: a war photographer's story. I have been covering the situation in Aleppo since August. When I first arrived here, I was taken to the Hullok and Hananu districts ? areas that were subject to heavy bombing. Since then, I have known what to expect. It scared me.? My time is spent photographing the situation faced by civilians in Aleppo, how they cope with hardly anything and how they deal with their tragedy. There is no electricity, no petrol, there is a lack of bread. It is also now winter and the city is freezing...
(guardian.co.uk)

News orgs circulate Facebook profile, photos of man who wasn?t the shooter. Reporters and producers around the country, frantically searching for information online about the alleged school shooter, found what seemed like a match. Ryan Lanza, 24, was believed responsible for the deaths of 27 people in Newtown, Conn., at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.? The Facebook profile showed a Ryan Lanza from Newtown, Conn., who currently lives in Hoboken, N.J. ? a male who looks like he?s in his 20s. The photo fit the description, so countless news orgs ran with it in stories and tweets.? Problem is, it was the wrong guy...
(Poynter)

Reuters journalists: Israeli troops assaulted us, forced us to strip in street. HEBRON, West Bank -- Israeli soldiers have been accused of punching two Reuters cameramen and forcing them to strip in the street, before letting off a tear gas canister in front of them, leaving one of them needing hospital treatment.? Israel's military said Thursday it took the allegations seriously.?? "The regional brigade commander was ordered to open an investigation," Israeli Defense Forces spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said in an email...
(NBC News)

Duggan: Veteran's story reaches way beyond war. Jumping into and out of a person?s life comes with the territory in journalism.? Reporters tend to meet a lot of people ? ?real? people, as we say in the trade, as opposed to officialdom ? who are not obliged to deal with media on a regular basis. We tell their stories as best we can in the context of some issue or trend and move on.? Getting to know strangers is one of the most interesting aspects of the work. But some short-term sources stand out in one?s crowded memory well after the story has been filed...
(The Coloradoan)

Google-backed Data Journalism Awards open for entries. The Global Editors Network has today announced the launch of next year's Data Journalism Awards.? It is the second year of the international competition which recognises the "outstanding work in the growing field of data journalism", GEN said in a release.? A total of ?15,000 (around ?12,000) will be awarded to eight winning projects in the Google-supported competition.? Launching this year's awards at a press conference at the Guardian, Datablog editor Simon Rogers, who is a judge of the awards, urged news outlets and organisations large and small to enter. Data journalism is "not expensive", he said, "it's not about maths".
(Journalism.co.uk)

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Inexperienced freelancers headed to war zones

Saturday, December 15, 2012, 09:12 AM - News Stories Are young journalists skipping much needed training before heading into war zones?? Training like how to administer first aid that could save their lives?

In a recent story, Stuart Hughes a BBC World Affairs producer, says some young journalists are not only skipping training that can help prepare them for hazardous assignments, some are rushing into war zones before they've even been published in hopes of getting a big career break.

"The scarcity of entry-level positions is encouraging some young journalists to skip the unglamorous training grounds of local newsrooms and head straight to some of the most hazardous countries on the planet in search of that elusive career break." writes Hughes.

"No non-motorist of sound mind would consider climbing behind the wheel of a high-performance sports car and putting the pedal down without first having a few driving lessons.? Yet ambitious writers and film-makers seem increasingly prepared to put their life at risk in some of the most hostile environments in the world without basic first aid training, insurance or protective kit, or any form of back-up plan in the event of an emergency."

Hughes spoke with journalist Sarah Topol, who received a Kurt Schork Award for her reporting from Libya for GQ magazine.?

Topol admits to following the same path of cutting corners, and says she discourages others from doing the same.

Full story here.

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Manager calls military "pathetic" on Facebook

Friday, December 14, 2012, 03:13 AM - Facebook, News Stories

Remember last month when Lindsey Stone created a furor after posting a photo on Facebook of herself disrespecting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers?

You know how that ended up.

Well, once again, someone has done something real stupid on Facebook to disrespect the military and it?s attracting a lot of attention.

This time, it?s happened in Fairbanks, Alaska.

According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, a manager at the local Boston?s The Gourmet Pizza franchise quit after he criticized the military on Facebook and the post went viral.

Jeff Richardson a reporter for News-Miner writes:

?Dusty Westbrook posted an item complaining about frequent requests for military discounts, saying it?s ?pathetic? they expect a markdown while other professions ? such as health care workers, police officers and firefighters ? don?t get one.

?I?m sorry YOU signed up for this job you CHOSE to take this filed (sic) YOU picked to work and defend the US I?m sorry you don?t deserve anything,? the post stated.?

On Wednesday, Boston?s Fairbanks Facebook page posted an online apology (screenshot above).

Here's what the company had to say:

"Boston?s in Fairbanks would like to set the record straight regarding comments made by Dusty Westbrook. First, we want to make it clear that Boston?s strongly disagrees with the opinions expressed by Mr. Westbrook, and that Boston?s has been, and always will be, a loyal supporter of the U.S. Military. Please know that his comments were isolated and do not represent our company.

We are deeply sorry that an individual no longer associated with our company made comments online that may have raised any doubts regarding our support for the U.S. Military, as Boston?s has always had the utmost respect and admiration for the men and women serving our country and fighting for our freedom."

Here?s a look at some of the mixed reactions:

Richard Hertz
?A lot of people are boycotting this company. The fact that an employee especially a manager who is put in that position to act on behalf of the owners. The military may be a large but it is a very small community and word travels fast. This company needs to also recognize all public service personnel. The service is terrible and the food is not great, but with limited locations in Fairbanks this company is trying to hold onto the small monopoly it has. I will continue to spread the word about this to as many people as I can. By the way Merry Christmas!?

Sandy Myatt
?I'm ex Military and until recently a Military spouse! It's hard to tell by these FACEBOOK posts, if this kid got fired or not? I personally do not believe what he said on a social networking site should have been taken as seriously as it was! For those of you up and arms about this, isn't he practicing the very thing that some many of us were willing to fight and die for...FREEDOM! Everyone is getting all worked up over Law Enforcement wanting to be able to monitor texts on a phone in the instance of a criminsl case, but a dumb ass, fast food manager has no right to post on FACEBOOK how he feels about an issue? Seriously, folks....facebook? He didn't say he hated the military, he didn't say he hated this Country...he merely stated he was sick of the Military asking for discounts in a restaurant he worked in. Scary to think that posting how you feel about something on facebook could get you fired or even worse! Get a life people...get pissed about things that REALLY matter to our Military...better combat supplies, better insurance, etc...getting excited over some kid in a Fairbanks, AK restaurant...! And shame on Bostons, a Canadian company, if they did fire this kid!!?

Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

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News: Death Star petition meets threshold

Friday, December 14, 2012, 01:27 AM - News Stories

Image Source: petitions.whitehouse.gov

Death Star Petition Requires White House Response. This petition has passed the 25,000 threshold needed for a response from the White House. The White House petition is now quite operational...
(BuzzFeed)

The best (and worst) media errors and corrections of 2012. 2012 was a competitive year for hoaxes.? There were many of note: the fake Bill Keller column from WikiLeaks, the teenager who fooled CNBC, the fake Army sniper who fooled ?Marketplace,? the paper that got fooled by a contributing cartoonist, the amusing ?Abraham Lincoln invented Facebook? hoax, and of course all of the hoax photos during Hurricane Sandy. (I?ll dig a bit deeper into what the increase in hoaxes means in my forthcoming post about the trends of note from 2012.)
(Poynter)

Social media sites connect service members and veterans with jobs and each other.? Social media has become the important lifeline for military families. From keeping connected with deployed service members via Skype to building a support network through Facebook, modern technology has made communication easier for service members and their families.? Now, several sites designed for active duty military members, veterans and their families are being used to help with things such as job searches, keeping in touch with fellow service members and even documenting military history...
(AL.com)

The scrappy Syrian TV station where reporters file via Facebook and Gchat. Syria?s media is almost entirely state-controlled, but through the chaos of the civil war, one scrappy, independent television station has been committed to providing citizens of Aleppo, the country?s largest city, with news about every bomb blast and street battle.? The editors of Aleppo Today, who are based outside of Syria, are mainly refugees who held other professions before the war, CNN reports...
(Washington Post)

Military Homecomings Still Bittersweet For Some. Thousands of Americans are still deployed overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few soldiers from Fort Campbell returned home on Thursday after a nine month deployment to Afghanistan...
(NPR)

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67 journalists killed so far (motive confirmed)

Thursday, December 13, 2012, 02:33 AM

Sixty-seven journalists have been killed this year, the highest number since 2009 when seventy-four journalists were reported killed.

The information comes from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide.

While the total number of journalists killed in 2012 is far higher, 67 of the reported deaths have been ?confirmed? by CPJ staff, meaning, that a journalist was killed in direct reprisal for his or her work; in crossfire; or while carrying out a dangerous assignment.

According to the website?s research page, ?Cases involving unclear motives, but with a potential link to journalism, are classified as "unconfirmed" and CPJ continues to investigate.?

Abou Deif, a reporter for El-Fagr, died from injuries yesterday, becoming the latest journalist killed.? On December 5, he was struck in the head by a rubber bullet in Cairo, Egypt during a protest.

Syria is the world?s deadliest place to be a journalist in 2012, with 28 journalists killed so far.? Naji Asaad was the last journalist killed in Syria.? According to CPJ, a sniper shot Asaad outside? his home in Damascus.

Here?s a look at the world?s top 4 deadliest places to be a journalist in 2012, according to the number of ?confirmed? killings.

1.? Syria: 28
2.? Somalia: 12
3.? Pakistan: 7
4.? Brazil: 4

Source: CPJ

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U.S. Army: How to Avoid Social Media Burnout

Thursday, December 13, 2012, 01:55 AM - News Stories How to Avoid Social Media Burnout. Social media is a way of life now, it?s not going away, so it?s important to learn how you can work with the platforms while at the same time avoiding the seemingly inevitable social media burnout. This Social Media Roundup offers seven tips that can help you mitigate the endless demands of social media (click on image to view the roundup)...
(U.S. Army)

New Army Manual Orders Soldiers Not To Criticize Taliban, pedophilia, "anything related to Islam" or "advocate for women's rights". The new U.S. military handbook for troops deployed to the Middle East orders soldiers not to make derogatory comments about the Taliban or criticize pedophilia, among other Islamic things.? Mass beheadings, gendercide, gassing of girls' schools, mass slaughter of non-believers and less than devout Muslims, attacks on US soldiers, acid attacks on women, brutal burka enforcement ..... must not be criticzed...
(Atlas Shrugs)

Who can save Ukrainian journalist kidnapped in Syria?? Ukrainian journalist Anhar Kochneva, abducted by militants in Syria in October, is in danger. The militants threatened to kill her if their demands are not met. Russian Foreign Ministry and the Syrian authorities promised to intervene, but so far the results of their actions are difficult to assess. Who can save the life of Ankhar, and what do the kidnappers need if their demands remain a mystery?
(Pravda)

At Ft. Bragg. I'm at Ft. Bragg for some meetings related to my embed.? I happen to have some unexpected free time, though no transpo, so if anyone cares to meet up, drop me a line at wolf1 at laughingwolf dot net.? Also, if you are a PAO with any of the groups here at Bragg, and would like to tell me about your operations or share a story, also drop me a line. -LW
(Blackfive)

Midland Students Thank U.S. Army Sgt. Evans for His Service (VIDEO). Two classes of grateful Midland School students welcomed United States Army Sgt. John Evans into their classroom to thank him for his service and learn more about what it means to be in the military on Dec. 7. Evans, 27, is a Port Chester resident who served in the army for five years and was twice deployed to Iraq. The first deployment was for 15 months and the second was 12. His active service ended in May, 2011, but he considers reenlisting every day, he said...
(

Patch)

Watch ?Wounded Warriors? Film Starring Korn?s Jonathan Davis. Korn fans now have a chance to see singer Jonathan Davis in a different environment, as the rocker?s recent short film, ?Wounded Warriors,? is streaming online. The 17-minute film follows Davis as he tours Germany?s Ramstein Air Base.? The movie, directed by Sebastien Paquet, finds Davis experiencing several of the tasks that soldiers go through on a daily basis. The singer says, ?I?m just in shock. This film is not about me. It is about all the troops and what they sacrifice to keep our life going. I am truly grateful for every single one of them.?
(Loudwire)

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Facebook shuts down Pakistani Taliban page

Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 02:42 AM - Facebook, News Stories

The Washington Post is reporting that a Pakistani Taliban Facebook page that was being used as a recruiting tool, has been shut down by Facebook.

The Facebook page, called Umar Media TTP, had gained nearly 300 "Likes" as of last Friday.

The Los Angeles Times which wrote about the page on December 7, said, "Its latest posting invites visitors to become contributors to a new quarterly magazine the group is publishing called Ahyah-e-Khilafat, or Sign of the Caliphate."

What is surprising, as the WashPo?s Caitlin Dewey points out, is that people actually ?Liked? the page.

Caitlin writes, ?In fact, the most intriguing part of the now-defunct page may be the people who ?liked? it. Regardless of your motive, identifying yourself as the ?friend? of a known terrorist organization takes guts ? or fervor, or social media ignorance, or some combination of the three. While there?s been no suggestion that the government tracked this specific page, the FBI has in the past monitored the social network as a part of certain terrorist investigations, in some cases even using it as evidence.?

Full story here.

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War Artist Rob Bates arrives in Afghanistan

Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 03:03 AM - Afghanistan Military Bloggers War artist and military blogger Rob Bates has begun his embed.

Earlier this year, Bates, who blogs at rb-portraits.com, raised $5,000 through the crowd funding website indiegogo to help cover expenses associated with the December trip, which he refers to as ?Sketching the Drawdown?.

The former Marine been updating his Facebook page regularly since arriving in Afghanistan last week.

Here?s a look at his latest entries:

December 10 - More than likely I will have access to internet while out here. Pretty calm here. My, has the war changed over the years. We are definitely in drawdown mode. Great sketches thus far.

December 7 - In Camp leatherneck sharing the media tent with a reporter from the BBC. Probably the last stop with internet for a while. I finally met my PAO who picked me up from the tarmac. She told me that the unit I'm going to has big plans for me, as they took into consideration that I used to be a grunt. Something about joint patrols with ANA. Can't disclose anything ele due to OPSEC. Hopefully it's exciting as it sounds.

December 6 - Spent the night in transient barracks with a bunch of Hungarian Soldiers. Feel refreshed and will fly out to the Marine side of the war in a few hours. Nothing exciting to report at this time.

December 6 - Made it safely in Kabul, and will be spending the night here. Jet-lagged as all hell.
You can keep up with Bates over at Facebook.

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War of 1812 Virtual Exhibition Launches

Monday, December 10, 2012, 11:36 PM - News Stories

The Canadian War Museum has issued a press release today, announcing that it is expanding its War of 1812 experience to include online and travelling exhibitions.

OTTAWA, Dec. 10, 2012 -- /CNW/ - The Canadian War Museum will soon reach more people than ever with its popular exhibition 1812. The four perspectives in the current exhibition in Ottawa will soon be available via a virtual exhibition that launches today and a 140 square metre version that will travel to venues across Canada after 1812 closes January 6, 2013.

"We are delighted that anyone across Canada and around the world can now enjoy this fascinating and thought-provoking portrait of the War of 1812," said James Whitham, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. "By learning about the motivations, aspirations and experiences of the four main participants, museum-goers as well as online visitors gain a richer, deeper understanding of this historical conflict that helped shape Canada as a nation."

Supported by National Presenting Sponsor TD Bank Group and National Supporting Sponsor Ancestry.ca, the original, award-winning exhibition at the Canadian War Museum has already been seen by more than 103,000 visitors.

"As the National Presenting Sponsor of 1812, TD is proud to join with the Canadian War Museum to help ensure that the story of this founding battle is shared with communities across Canada." said John See, Executive Vice President, Wealth Management, TD Bank Group.

The smaller travelling version of 1812 is now fully booked until May 2015 at venues in Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. It will engage visitors with close to 30 artifacts; high-realism mannequins, ship and battlefield models, portrait images, landscapes, battle scenes and maps representing different perspectives on the war.

In addition, a 40 square metre text-and-image only version of the exhibition is currently touring various venues in Canada and the United States. It has already been presented at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University in Boston,? the Penetanguishene Centennial Museum & Archives in Penetanguishene, Ontario and at various national historic sites across the province of Quebec.

The 1812 virtual exhibition, like the physical version, presents the War of 1812 from four distinct perspectives?American, British, Canadian (including Canadian First Peoples), and Native American. The conflict had surprisingly different meanings and consequences for its participants. By contrasting these points of view, the exhibition offers a nuanced perspective of this pivotal period in Canadian history.

Illustrated with dramatic images, works of art and artifacts, the virtual exhibition goes further in developing the concept of historical perspectives by inviting site visitors to share their own views through surveys and interactive modules. The experience will enhance their understanding and enrich their point of view on history at large.

The virtual exhibition can be found at warmuseum.ca/war-of-1812.

A complete list of all the upcoming locations and dates for the travelling exhibitions is provided in the attached backgrounder.

The Canadian War Museum is Canada's national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada's military history in its personal, national, and international dimensions.

Full press release can be found here.

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Ranger Up's Pope pic on Facebook upsets some

Sunday, December 9, 2012, 07:05 AM - Facebook, News Stories

The friendly and fun crew over at the military shirt company Ranger Up, whose blog The Rhino Den won Best US Army Blog in the 2012 Milbloggies, have stirred up some controversy in the last few days after posting a photoshopped picture of the Pope to Facebook.

While obviously nothing more than a joke, some viewers haven?t found it so humorous.

A writer for NewsBusters even went as far as publishing a story blasting the company for posting the photo.

?Someone who works for the pro-military company, which was started by people who "either were or are still in the military", must have found the crass Photoshopped image funny. However, it ultimately only serves the agenda of those who would like to smear all Catholic clerics as perverts who like to abuse children.

The graphic also dishonors the hundreds of thousands of Catholics who have served in the U.S. military since the American Revolution. Many of them died in the defense of the American republic. The two Navy SEALs who were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for sacrificing their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq - Michael Murphy and Michael Monsoor - were both Catholic.

Ranger Up's decision to post the image is even more incomprehensible in light of the fact that they sell T-shirts, sweatshirts, and even fight shorts with an image of Holy Michael the Archangel on them.?

Ranger Up responded on Facebook to the NewsBusters story yesterday: ?Apparently, a few people with no sense of humor are so offended they may never recover from the picture we reposted of the Pope.?

Fans also responded.?

Here are a few of their comments.

Robyn Lyon: "O M G the pope pic was one of the more tame pics RU has posted... Totally harmless in my opinion... Are there not more important issues demanding attention than a photoshopped, funny pic on FB?"

Jerry Leberer: " I didn't take offense to it and I'm Roman Catholic and St. Michael has watched over me every day of my life and I've worked security and got into extremely dangerous situations and I'm in the military and served in Iraq! That guy, is a moron who needs a sense of humor!!!"

Suzzy Parker: "Why are people so upright all the time? Why is it that people feel compelled to whine when things are not always what they call " politically correct".? Relax people. It's a bit of humor. No malice intended."

More at Ranger Up?s Facebook Fan Page.

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News: "Graphic" Pearl Harbor story published

Sunday, December 9, 2012, 04:03 AM - News Stories Reporter's untold story of Pearl Harbor attack is finally published. On Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, I was working as a reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. After a week of war, I wrote a story directed at Hawaii's women; I thought it would be useful for them to know what I had seen. It might help prepare them for what lay ahead. But my editors thought the graphic content would be too upsetting for readers and decided not to run my article. It appears here for the first time...
(The Seattle Times)

Steve Scauzillo: In Afghanistan, let's set YouTube free. My first experience with YouTube, the online video channel, came about 10 years ago when my sons posted their home videos on the Internet site.? As a father of teens during the digital revolution, my exposure to social media was a parental obligation. All eyes were on deck, and that included what my kids were experiencing from the World Wide Web.? Turns out, the videos were creative, funny and part of what we in America call freedom of speech. Inspiration can go from child to father, so I got busy one summer making a video of my own and posting it on YouTube...
(SGVTribune.com)

'Wounded Warriors' short film (Starring Jonathan Davis from Korn) WOUNDED WARRIORS?which won the Audience Choice Award at the 2012 GI Film Festival Hollywood?is a short film documenting Jonathan Davis, lead singer of Grammy Award-winning band KORN, returning to Ramstein Air Base in Germany August 11, 2012 to visit with members of armed forces stationed there as well as those in transit from Iraq and Afghanistan...
(YouTube)

Military Family Guest Blog: How We Connect from 7,000 Miles Away. Staying connected to your deployed soldier is always a challenge, but we were determined to make it a priority.? Before Tommy left, we decided to get two iPads. Although the price tag was a bit daunting, they proved to be worth their weight in gold.? We have utilized every possible avenue to keep him in the loop during these past nine months.? Of course Skype and Facetime have been invaluable for our communication, but Mikayla was not always on board with our scheduled video chat times.? But I was able to capture the first time she crawled, and he saw that on Facebook. Four months later, he saw her first steps when I put the video in his Dropbox...
(Parenting.com)

Military Wives Go Bare for PTSD (VIDEO) Military wife and mom Ashley Wise was tired of struggling in silence as she and her children dealt with her husband's post-traumatic stress disorder following his deployments.? So she decided to do something that would get everyone's attention...
(The Stir)

Acquitted blogger sues Conn. officials for $50M. A blogger who urged readers to "take up arms" against Connecticut officials is suing state government leaders for $50 million after being acquitted of threatening and inciting violence.? Harold "Hal" Turner, of North Bergen, N.J., filed the lawsuit in federal court in Newark, N.J., on Nov. 21 claiming he was falsely arrested, wrongfully imprisoned and maliciously prosecuted. A jury acquitted him last year...
(KTIV)

Some Second Thoughts and Reader Feedback About the Middle East and Social Media. When I wrote last Wednesday about The Times?s Jerusalem bureau chief, Jodi Rudoren, and criticism of her social media use, many readers ? and some of those quoted in the blog post ? responded. Readers who are on Twitter can see some of it there (though, let?s face it, in the Twitter universe, something that old is about as fresh as Chaucer), and others can see a lively and provocative discussion in the comments below the post...
(The Public Editor)

Civil War 150 HistoryMobile making final Va. stop. A history class on wheels is ending its 2012 tour at events marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Fredericksburg.? The Civil War 150 HistoryMobile is spending the weekend at National Park Service events relating to the Battle of Fredericksburg. Some 1,300 re-enactors are also due at George Washington's Ferry Farm in Stafford County and a Confederate encampment at Slaughter Pen Farm in Spotsylvania County.? The HistoryMobile has been touring for two years, and it's planning 35 events next year...
(WSET.com)

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Tweet-like bulletin of attack on Pearl Harbor

Saturday, December 8, 2012, 04:46 AM - News Stories

Yesterday was Pearl Harbor Day and many people from all over the United States remembered the fallen.

While reading through the news coverage of Pearl Harbor Day, I came across an interesting article in The Atlantic that discusses how the Associated Press learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor and the news flash that was sent after the AP got word of the attack.

The bulletin in the news flash read:

WASHINGTON, DEC. 7--(AP)--PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT SAID IN A STATEMENT TODAY THAT THE JAPANESE HAD ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII, FROM THE AIR.

The Atlantic reporter points out that part of the reason the news flash is so interesting is because of how concise the bulletin was.

??A day that would live in infamy for future generations -- a day whose consequences would mold the Greatest Generation and those that would follow it -- may as well have been sent as a tweet. The AP's bulletin clocked in, all told, at 138 characters.?

The image and story about the news flash were originally posted by AP News on Facebook in AP FLASHBACK.

The AP had this to say:

Here's an excerpt from "Breaking News: How The Associated Press has Covered War, Peace, and Everything Else," on how AP learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941:

"In Washington, it was 2:20 p.m., and AP editor William Peacock was in his office contemplating lunch ? a peanut butter and bacon sandwich, just delivered from the Peoples Drug Store next door ? when the phone rang, and a White House operator said, 'Stand by for a hookup and statement from Mr. Early. Important.'

"Stephen Early, who as a junior AP reporter in 1917 had been sent to pick up the 'Zimmerman note,' the secret German cable that sealed America's entry into World War I, now was press secretary to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A telephone hookup connected the White House simultaneously to AP, UP, and International News Service (INS).

"Just as Peacock took a bite, the White House operator said, 'All on, Mr. Early.' The press chief spoke. 'I have a statement from the president. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor from the air.'"

Look at the attached image to see the AP flash and bulletin that were transmitted moments later, along with an additional flash and bulletin sent after AP got word of another Japanese attack, on the Philippines.

You can read The Atlantic story here.

More AP FLASHBACK here.

(Image source: AP Corporate Archives)

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News: West Papua rebel gets outed on Facebook

Friday, December 7, 2012, 03:25 AM - News Stories West Papua rebel outed on Facebook. GERARD Micheal Little's alleged fight for the separatist cause in West Papua unravelled when a Facebook friend told police he had trained at a warfare school in a seedy corner of Ukraine.? In a multi-agency sting spanning two states, Australian Federal Police let the 45-year-old grandfather - known to friends as "Colonel Micheal" - get to the final barrier at Brisbane International Airport before stopping him from boarding a flight to Port Moresby...
(The Australian)

Air Force-wide inspections begin today. Commanders and supervisors in all corners of the Air Force will conduct a widespread sweep of all work spaces and public areas starting today, looking for pictures, calendars and other materials that objectify women.? The order covers all active, reserve and Air National Guard units and must be completed by Dec. 17...
(AirForceTimes)

BBB warns of scam involving pretend military member. Trying to scam someone is bad enough. Pretending to be a member of our nation's military while you're doing it is much worse.? Several people have received either text messages or e-mails like this one from people claiming to be serving in the military in the Middle East who've come across some money and need your help to smuggle it back to the U.S...
(WAFF-TV)

WMUK general manager tells son?s war story on NPR. The lives and stories of many military families and veterans can be very emotional and can bring tears to one?s eye.? In reality many of these stories rarely, if ever, get told.? However, Gordon Bolar, general manager for 102.1 WMUK on Western Michigan University?s campus, is speaking out and revealing his story about his son?s military involvement in Iraq. Bolar was interviewed on National Public Radio (NPR)?s StoryCorps program in Washington, D.C. where he recently returned from participating in the newly-launched Military Voices Initiative...
(Western Herald)

New National High School Video Challenge Puts Spotlight On Korean War U.S. Veterans. The GI Film Festival announced today that high school students from throughout the United States, its territories and armed forces schools around the globe are invited to submit their short videos to the U.S. Department of Defense 60th Anniversary of Korean War Commemoration Committee and the GI Film Festival to participate in a new educational outreach program entitled, ?Heroes Remembered: Voices of the Korean War.?? This new educational initiative allows high school students to submit a 3-5 minute documentary or narrative video featuring stories about U.S. veterans from the Korean War...
(Cision Wire)

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New York Times doesn't cover Manning Hearing

Thursday, December 6, 2012, 11:06 PM - News Stories

Here's a story that has picked up a?bit of attention in the last few days.

Apparently, The New York Times has decided to not send one of its reporters to the hearing of Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking classified information.

It's interesting to say the least, since The New York Times was one of the papers that published the leaked materials (known as the Afghan War Logs).

Many people have chimed in with their own opinions.

Margaret Sullivan, a public editor appointed by The New York Times offered this in a piece that was published online yesterday, "In failing to send its own reporter to cover the fascinating and important pretrial testimony of Bradley Manning, The New York Times missed the boat."

Eliza Gray for the The New Republic says, "The paper did not cover the hearings, picking up only one dispatch from the Associated Press. This is odd, especially considering the Times benefited as much as anyone from the material that Manning leaked. After partnering with WikiLeaks to release the cables in July 2010, the Times continued to rely on the documents Manning leaked to Assange in its reporting. In April 2011, an analysis in The Atlantic Wire showed that 54, or nearly half, of the newspaper?s 115 issues so far that year, had contained stories that ?relied on WikiLeaks documents as sources.?

According to Sullivan, David Leonhardt, the Washington bureau chief, explained in an e-mail that, ?The Times did not think the hearing itself demanded coverage.?

Image Source: Military.com

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Olbermann slams Vet J.R. Salzman on Twitter

Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 06:47 PM - Twitter

Political commentator Keith Olbermann and Iraq War veteran J.R. Salzman (pictured left)?have been in a Twitter war this week.

Examiner.com has the blow by blow account, which began when Salzman tweeted this past Sunday, "Getting 2nd Amendment advice from Bob Costas is a bit like getting career advice from @KeithOlbermann".

Salzman's tweet was in regards to comments made by NBC's Bob Costas regarding the right to keep and bear arms, reports the Examiner.

A number of messages were exchanged between the two.

Salzman tweets under the username @JRSalzman, while Olbermann tweets under the username @KeithOlbermann.

Olbermann eventually tweeted, "I'm sure you'll accomplish the second half of that if you haven't already. Your conduct on twitter embarrasses the military."

Examiner reported a number of people stood up for Salzman on Twitter according to Twitchy, a Twitter curation news site.

For those of you who don?t know Iraq War Veteran J.R. Salzman, he is a champion log roller who was wounded in Iraq when his vehicle was struck by an IED.

Salzman is also a military blogger, who has maintained his website Lumberjack in a Desert since the early days of blogging.

So, where?s the feud at right now?

Salzman tweeted hours ago, ?Btw, brave man Keith Olbermann blocked me so I couldn't respond after he tweeted that I was an embarassment to the military. #coward?

Full Story: Examiner

Image Source: Blackfive

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News: "War at Home and Abroad" digital project

Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 11:28 PM - News Stories Project preserves stories of veterans. Veterans are popular interview subjects ? those who served decades ago in World War II or Vietnam are invited to classrooms to share their experiences with students, or encouraged by historians to record their stories.? History educators at Cal State San Marcos, eager to build on the region?s deep military history, thought: Why not capture the everyday experiences of more recent, closer-to-home veterans, whether they served abroad or Stateside, while their memories are fresh?
(UTSanDiego.com)

Social media a powerful tool for army: ADF. AUSTRALIA'S military could eventually use social media to give the public a blow-by-blow account of some operations, similar to the way Israel used Twitter in the recent Gaza conflict, a senior Defence official says.? But that's a long way off, with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) still developing a strategy to better handle social media usage among its ranks.? ADF director general of public affairs Brigadier Alison Creagh on Wednesday discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by social media and how its use by the ADF could evolve...
(The Australian)

Tweets of rage: does free speech on the internet actually exist? Is Twitter more like a phone company or more like a newspaper? It's a laughably strained comparison ? Twitter is Twitter, not some relic of a previous era ? but the answer is central to understanding the pressures on large internet service providers to regulate what their users say. And as more and more speech takes place on the internet, the answer becomes more and more important: the future of free speech might have more to do with corporate censorship than the First Amendment...
(The Verge)

My POW story. ?George Coffin, the last known surviving World War II Prisoner of War from Crawford County, passed away Wednesday, November 21. Before his death, Coffin recorded his experiences as a POW for his granddaughter to present to sixth grade students at Ar-We-Va.? In honor of his dedication to the country, the Denison Bulletin and Review is running his remarkable story as a three-part series.? In Part 1, Coffin, who was a medical corpsman with the 81st Combat Engineers, detailed his capture by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and told about escaping and then being recaptured...
(SouthwestIowaNews.com)

Police Can Record Video Inside Your Home Without A Warrant, Appeals Court Says. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court provided some comfort to those fearing the seemingly limitless potential of new technologies to enable government privacy invasion. In holding that police could not attach a GPS device to a car and track it for 30 days without a warrant, the court said, ?At bottom, we must ?assur[e] preservation of that degree of privacy against government that existed when the Fourth Amendment was adopted.??
(Think Progress)

Amputations, beheadings and a crucifixion: Horrific stories from Yemen where Al Qaeda has imposed sharia law. Al Qaeda committed 'truly shocking' human rights abuses including crucifixions and the beheading of an alleged sorceror during its 16 months in control of a southern region of Yemen, a report by Amnesty International claimed today.? The London-based charity has also released a video which appears to show a suspected thief having his hand amputated by the Ansar al-Sharia militia, which seized power of the Abyan governorate in February 2011...
(Daily Mail)

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Army Strong Stories gets an all-new design

Monday, December 3, 2012, 04:30 PM - News Stories

Army Strong Stories, the popular blogging platform that lets Soldier bloggers and supporters share their views on Army life revealed a new design.

The announcement came today in a press release published via PRNewswire.

The all-new site includes:

- Enhancements and new functionality: Provides streamlined navigation and engaging visual content for bloggers and site visitors for an updated user experience. The website is now responsive, meaning it is seamlessly viewable from any desktop, mobile or tablet device.

- 15 topical pages: Give site visitors an all-access pass to hundreds of stories on topics of interest, painting a more complete picture of life in the Army. From basic combat training to educational opportunities and diversity in the Army, these pages offer an inside look at Army life. By sourcing content from beyond the site and Army walls, the picture is given greater credibility and places Army Strong Stories at the forefront of current habits in media consumption and discovery.

- Downloadable apps: Allow site visitors and bloggers the ability to access and contribute to the more than 5,700 written and video stories seamlessly using iPhones and iPads. Access the iOS app here: http://bit.ly/armystrongapp.

Learn more about the new design over at here.

Visit Army Strong Stories here.

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Syria rebels rely on Skype to communicate

Sunday, December 2, 2012, 05:29 AM - News Stories

You may have seen the news over the past few days that much of the internet in Syria was down, but it?s back online now.

That?s good news for Syria?s rebels who rely heavily on the internet and other tools to communicate with each other and with the rest of the world.

Amy Chozick, a reporter with The New York Times, has an in depth article that discusses just how useful Skype is to Syrian rebels and how dangerous it is also becoming.

?For months, rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad have used Skype, a peer-to-peer Internet communication system, to organize and talk to outside news organizations and activists?, writes Chozick.

The video chat and messaging service is so useful that Chozick goes as far as saying if the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt were Twitter Revolutions, then Syria is becoming the Skype Rebellion.

While Skype has been helpful, it also has a downside, Chozick points out.

?Using satellite phone service to connect makes Skype potentially more dangerous since it makes it easier to track a user?s location.?

Much more to the story over at NYT.

On a separate but related note, I checked in on the only blog written from Syria that is currently

Source: http://milblogging.com/index.php?entry=entry121217-234754

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