Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that Moscow’s sale of a sophisticated missile defense system to President Bashar Assad could push the Middle East into war.
Netanyahu, who flew to meet Putin for emergency talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, told the Russian president that the S-300 had no relevance to Assad’s civil-war battles against rebel groups, and urged Moscow not to deliver the systems, Channel 2 reported on Wednesday night.
He said that if acquired by Assad, the S-300 — a state-of-the-art system that can intercept fighter jets and cruise missiles — “is likely to draw us into a response, and could send the region deteriorating into war,” the Channel 2 report said.
Undeterred by pleas and warnings from Israel, Russia made clear on Thursday that it will go ahead with its planned delivery of a highly sophisticated air-defense system to Syria’s President Bashar Assad.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin in an emergency face-to-face meeting on Tuesday that Moscow’s sale of the S-300 missile defense system to Assad could push the Middle East into war.
But Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, evidently unmoved by the dramatic Israeli warning, declared on Thursday that while Moscow was “not signing any new deals,” it would honor existing contracts with Syria, including for the air-defense systems. “We’ve already carried out some of the deal,” Lavrov said, “and we will carry the rest of it out in full.”
Anyone who uses Skype has consented to the company reading everything they write. The H‘s associates in Germany at heise Security have now discovered that the Microsoft subsidiary does in fact make use of this privilege in practice. Shortly after sending HTTPS URLs over the instant messaging service, those URLs receive an unannounced visit from Microsoft HQ in Redmond.
A reader informed heise Security that he had observed some unusual network traffic following a Skype instant messaging conversation. The server indicated a potential replay attack. It turned out that an IP address which traced back to Microsoft had accessed the HTTPS URLs previously transmitted over Skype. Heise Security then reproduced the events by sending two test HTTPS URLs, one containing login information and one pointing to a private cloud-based file-sharing service. A few hours after their Skype messages, they observed the following in the server log:
The access is coming from systems which clearly belong to Microsoft. Source: UtraceThey too had received visits to each of the HTTPS URLs transmitted over Skype from an IP address registered to Microsoft in Redmond. URLs pointing to encrypted web pages frequently contain unique session data or other confidential information. HTTP URLs, by contrast, were not accessed. In visiting these pages, Microsoft made use of both the login information and the specially created URL for a private cloud-based file-sharing service.
In response to an enquiry from heise Security, Skype referred them to a passage from its data protection policy:
“Skype may use automated scanning within Instant Messages and SMS to (a) identify suspected spam and/or (b) identify URLs that have been previously flagged as spam, fraud, or phishing links.”
A spokesman for the company confirmed that it scans messages to filter out spam and phishing websites. This explanation does not appear to fit the facts, however. Spam and phishing sites are not usually found on HTTPS pages. By contrast, Skype leaves the more commonly affected HTTP URLs, containing no information on ownership, untouched. Skype also sends head requests which merely fetches administrative information relating to the server. To check a site for spam or phishing, Skype would need to examine its content.
Back in January, civil rights groups sent an open letter to Microsoft questioning the security of Skype communication since the takeover. The groups behind the letter, which included the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Reporters without Borders expressed concern that the restructuring resulting from the takeover meant that Skype would have to comply with US laws on eavesdropping and would therefore have to permit government agencies and secret services to access Skype communications.
In summary, The H and heise Security believe that, having consented to Microsoft using all data transmitted over the service pretty much however it likes, all Skype users should assume that this will actually happen and that the company is not going to reveal what exactly it gets up to with this data.
The Sun has unleashed four massive solar flares in two days, each emitting energy equivalent to a billion hydrogen bombs. The latest flare on Wednesday might cause geomagnetic storms on Earth affecting satellites and communications systems.
Four significant X-class solar flares left the Sun in just 48 hours, sending powerful bursts of radiation into space, according to Space Weather website.
The first burst of solar energy was detected on Monday at 2:00 GMT. Fourteen hours later the Sun emitted a stronger X2.8-class flare, peaking at 16:05 GMT, according to NASA.
The third flare occurred in under 24 hours, peaking at 2:11 GMT and was classified as an X3.2 flare, the strongest X-class flare of 2013 so far. The latest X1.2-flare occurred on Wednesday at 01:52 GMT.
These images from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory show four X-class flares emitted on May 12-14, 2013 – the first four X-class flares of 2013.Photo from nasa.gov
All of the flares were tens of times the size of Earth, originating from an AR1748 sunspot, an active region just out of sight over the left side of the Sun.
The flares were associated with a solar phenomenon, called a coronal mass ejection (CME). Although the sunspot is not directly facing Earth, the last flare produced a CME with an Earth-directed component, the Space Weather website reports.
If the flares associated with CME are directed at Earth they can cause long lasting radiation storms, according to NASA.
When CME occurs it propels bursts of billions of tons of solar particles and electromagnetic fluctuations that can reach Earth’s atmosphere and harm satellites, communications systems, and even ground-based technologies and power grids.
The March 1989 CME produced by a X15-class solar flare resulting in a geomagnetic storm that caused the collapse of Hydro-Québec’s electricity transmission system in Canada.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of the X1.2 class solar flare on May 14, 2013. The image show light with a wavelength of 304 angstroms. Photo from nasa.gov
The latest 2013 flares were of X-class that denotes the most intense flares. The smallest ones are A-class, followed by B, C, M and X. The number that follows the class provides information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, and so on.
According to NASA the most powerful flare measured by modern methods occurred on November 4, 2003 during the previous solar maximum. It was so strong that the sensors were cut off when estimating the burst of radiation at X28.
Solar activity is currently ramping up toward what is known as solar maximum, which is expected in 2013. The solar maximum occurs approximately every 11 years.
“However, this same solar cycle has occurred over millennia so anyone over the age of 11 has already lived through such a solar maximum with no harm” said NASA in a statement.
The coming solar maximum explains the increased numbers of flares. The largest X-class flare in this cycle so far was an X6.9 on August 9, 2011.
The solar cycle was discovered in 1843 and scientists have been tracking it ever since.
Peter Sunde has announced he will run in the European Parliament elections next year. Sunde, the former spokesman for The Pirate Bay, will participate for the Finnish branch of the Pirate Party. Sunde has yet to sit out a prison sentence for his previous involvement with the infamous BitTorrent site but hopes to emulate the Swedish Pirate Party’s previous successes when they claimed seats for two MEPs.
Ever since the guilty verdict in the Pirate Bay case was made final last year, Peter Sunde has been fighting his looming incarceration. However, this hasn’t stopped him from looking ahead.
Today the former Pirate Bay spokesman announces his next big move. Born in Sweden but with Finnish roots, Peter Sunde will run as candidate for Finland’s Pirate Party in the European Parliament elections next year.
The Pirate Party movement currently has two Swedish Members of Parliament in Europe. Through the 2014 elections the Pirates hope to add many more, as local parties are participating in many countries. With Sunde the Finnish party has definitely reeled in an outspoken candidate.
“I am doing what I can to help solve the problems we have today, as well as the ones we will have in the future. That’s why I’ve decided to participate in the election for the European parliament 2014,” Sunde informed TorrentFreak.
“Even though I’m not a politician, or perhaps because of that, I think that my experiences and knowledge could help create the solutions we’re in dire need of,” Sunde says.
One of the topics the former Pirate Bay spokesperson hopes to tackle is the growing influence of the copyright lobbyists and other corporate interests. Patent reform and legalizing non-commercial file-sharing is part of this agenda.
“Non-commercial file sharing should of course become legal and protected, and must re-think copyright all together. Copyright is not the thing that makes ARTISTS money, it’s only for their brokers and distributors,” Sunde says.
“I’d rather see us sponsor culture by pushing more money to music education, and facilities for your people to create music. It would be much more sane for cultural advancement then extending copyrights.”
If elected Sunde hopes to be aggressive rather than defensive. This means not just responding to treats to Internet freedom, such as ACTA, but ensuring that this type of legislation doesn’t even make it onto the political agenda in the first place.
“I think there’s a huge possibility for us to impact the EU and I would like to be part of it,” Sunde says.
The Pirates are delighted to have the Pirate Bay founder on board. Harri Kivistö, chairman of the Finnish Pirate Party, says that Sunde’s candidacy will raise the visibility of the party during the upcoming election. Perhaps more importantly, his values fit well within the Pirate Party movement.
“Peter is a very famous pirate and a great example of someone who stands by his principles. He shares the pirates’ views on freedom of speech, online privacy, civil liberties, net neutrality etc and has proven by his actions that he is deeply committed to work on these issues and has the ability to get things done,” Kivistö tells TorrentFreak.
“The Pirate Bay has become a worldwide symbol of standing up against the corporate bullies for the rights of internet users around the glove. Flattr, on the other hand, is a great example of creating positive and constructive solutions at the same time, he adds.”
Amusingly, the Pirate ticket in Finland could have been even bigger than it is now. Sunde informs TorrentFreak that he also reached out to Finnish-born Kim Dotcom to join the race, but the Megaupload founder currently has other priorities.
Sunde himself hasn’t been waiting around either. Last month he launched the Cloud VPS Hosting service Moln.is with a group of friends, and he is continuing to work on other ventures including micro-donation service Flattr.
Perhaps the European Parliament will be added to his resume next year?
Almost prophetically, the Pirate Bay documentary TPB-AFK that was released a few months ago ends with a clip of Peter Sunde speaking before the European Parliament. To be continued?
The Dalai Lama gives a lecture in Maryland in the U.S. May 7, 2013.
AFP
A Tibetan monk found in possession of recordings of speeches by exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has been beaten to death by Chinese police, according to Tibetan sources.
Kardo, formerly of the Champa Ling monastery in Chamdo prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), was taken into custody on April 21 at his home in Dzogang (in Chinese, Zuogong) county by county police, a Tibetan living in India told RFA’s Tibetan Service on Monday.
“Two cassettes of the Dalai Lama’s speeches were discovered in his room,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity and citing contacts in the region.
“After he was detained, he was severely beaten by police, and he died on April 28,” the source said.
Kardo’s parents had died some time before, and he is survived only by a sister, the source said.
“Chamdo police called Kardo’s sister and told her to claim the body.”
Police decline comment
Called on Tuesday for comment, a police officer in Dzogang referred an RFA reporter to the county’s criminal investigation division, saying, “They are in charge,” but declined to provide a number for the office.
“The Chinese say that [Tibetans] enjoy freedom of religion, but that is not implemented in practice,” RFA’s source said.
“Tibetans are not allowed even to save the lives of animals in order to gain merit, and the Chinese also prevent monks from going to conduct prayers in Tibetan homes,” he said.
Kardo had studied for a long time at the Champa Ling monastery in Chamdo and was known to be good in his studies, but had left the monastery at an unknown date, the source said.
“He left because of the monastery’s worship of the Shugden deity.”
Shugden worship is a religious practice regarded as sectarian and discouraged by the Dalai Lama—a restriction that has led to divisions and ill feeling within the Tibetan exile community in India and elsewhere.
Harsh action
Dzogang county authorities have been known in recent years to take harsh action against Tibetan protesters who assert Tibetan national identity or otherwise challenge Beijing’s rule in the region.
On Feb. 10, Chinese police in Dzogang rounded up and brutally beat a group of Tibetans following a protest at the start of the Lunar New Year, leaving two with broken bones and taking at least six into custody, sources said.
The protest in the county’s Meyul township came after authorities insisted that area residents fly the Chinese national flag from the roofs of their homes, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“But the Tibetans refused to fly the flags from their roofs,” the man said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Instead, they tore them down and stamped on them,” he said.
And in January 2009, a young Tibetan living in Dzogang’s Punda township was reported beaten to death by police.
Pema Tsepak, 24, had been detained for taking part in a demonstration against Chinese rule, sources said.
“Chinese officials said he jumped off a building,” a Punda resident told RFA. “But we believe that he was beaten to death and then thrown off,” he said.
Reported by Soepa Gyaltso and Lobsang Choephel for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Last week the BC Conservative party fired Mischa Popoff from the Boundary-Similkameen riding for comments he posted in a column about single women and the missing women’s task force.
Now the candidate is bullied, by a real bull, as he responds.
Everybody’s having a hard time finding ammunition. Even people who work at ammunition manufacturing facilities are having a hard time finding ammunition. For months now, people have been buying all the ammo they can find in response to gun control proposals and laws passed and pending.
The effects of this have fallen at the feet of many law enforcement agencies, who are having an extra-difficult time finding both target and training ammunition as well as self-defense ammo.
It has gotten to the point where police departments are cutting back on training and rationing their existing ammunition.
When Proctor, Minn. chief of police Walt Wobig found out that his department wouldn’t be able to lay hands on ammunition for six to eight months, he put out a call for help, and the people answered.
I was really surprised, let’s just put it that way,” said Wobig to NNCNOW.com.
“I go, ‘Do you have 40–caliber qualification rounds?’ And [the supplier said], ‘Well, no. It’s going to take six to eight months,” Wobig continued. ”The citizens were like, ‘If you need something, we got plenty here.’”
“I had several other calls from other citizens that said, ‘Hey, if you need more ammunition we have plenty,’” said Wobig, “I know that if I need ammunition I have citizens out there that will gladly come forward.”
The Chief considers the ammo a “loan” and will replace what the department uses when they eventually get ammo through standard channels.
Last week, the California Assembly (same as House of Representatives in most states) passed Assembly Bill 1266 by a 46-25 vote. Currently, there are 54 Democrats, 25 Republicans and 1 vacancy. All 46 votes for the bill were Democrats as no Republicans voted for in favor of the measure.
But the kicker is this statement contained in the bill:
“SECTION 1. Section 221.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:”
“(f) A pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and facilities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”
In other words, any boy who claims he is a girl, even though he is anatomically still a boy, would be allowed to use the same locker rooms and showers that the girls use. On the opposite side, a girl claiming to be a boy but is still anatomically a girl would be allowed to shower with all the boys. They don’t even have to be undergoing any form of sex change therapy, just say they are the opposite sex from what they really are and they can parade around in all their glory in either locker room or shower
Would it surprise you to learn that the bill’s author, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is a Democrat and homosexual from San Francisco? He is also heavily involved in LGBT activist groups. In 1975 Ammiano became the first public school teacher in San Francisco to publicly admit that he was a homosexual.
In some warped sense of logic, Ammiano believes that this bill doesn’t violate or pose a problem to anyone else’s rights. Defending his gay bill he said:
“There’s no trampling of other people’s rights. There’s a recognition that other people have the same rights that you do. It’s also important to protect our children from prejudice.”
Oh really? What about the right of privacy, modesty and decency? What about the right of a parent to protect their child from sexual perversion and nudity of the opposite sex?
I wouldn’t expect anyone with the perverse morals of a homosexual to understand that millions of parents do not want their children exposed to the shameless naked displays of the opposite sex if at all possible, and that is exactly what this bill will allow.
What is to stop a boy from wanting his thrills by claiming to be a girl just so that he can shower with them and expose himself to them every day at school? What would stop that same boy from eventually claiming that he was wrong and that he’s really a boy so that he can return to his normal life when the thrill is gone? Will there be any monitoring of the so-called gender identity individuals to make sure that they are not taking advantage of a member of the opposite sex?
This bill is not about equal rights for gays, it’s about privileged rights! Yes it does trample on the rights of others but that’s exactly their intention. They don’t want equality, they want preferential treatment and rights that go above and beyond what normal people have. And unless Christians start standing up for their rights and get involved in politics at the local, state, and federal levels, we will lose all or privileges to the sexual perverts whose agenda is to destroy Christian America!
Read more: http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/05/boys-to-shower-with-girls-in-california-public-schools/#ixzz2TKTHLXHU
The G-7 are meeting this weekend outside of London. This was unscheduled and can only be considered as an emergency meeting. I have maintained all along that a “bank holiday” would ultimately occur which sets positions in cement while a revaluation of assets and currencies takes place. My guess is that the end game is in fact being discussed. How best to shut the current system down, reboot another
one AND retain as much power as possible. I truly believe that preparations are being discussed here and now “how best” (for
them) to close out this current chapter of world finance. All of this has been discussed and planned years ahead of time, these are not fools. The current discussion is merely about pulling the trigger.
I for one would love to be a fly on the wall to hear the goings on as I am sure the “outsiders” from the rest of the G-20 would. The G-7 are the traditional “power” nations, they are also the ones doing the most printing and inflating. Since the beginning of the Greatest Financial Crisis, these nations have bankrupted themselves the most, printed and borrowed the most and basically “lost power” with their actions. I might add that these nations of the “West” have also been responsible for Gold being shipped “East”…and thus with it “power”.
So what exactly is being discussed? We will soon find out (or see the results) but I would imagine that anything and everything pertaining to the “end game” will be touched upon. Bank weakness and insolvency must be at the top of the list, QE’s lack of traction is also surely up there. Gold inventories (or lack of) must also surely have been discussed and I would certainly think that currency collapse was on the agenda. “Currency collapse”, replacement of same and “bank holiday” including “bail ins” were probably all discussed and pre planned.
Tell me that I am crazy and that none of these topics were broached, the physical metals markets globally are telling me (and them) that they were and that the end game is near. The question is this, how much longer can inventories supply the outsized demand that has been created by the false and fraudulent “paper” crash of metals pricing? “We” do not know the answer to this question, “they” do. “They” know what is really left and whether or not the bottom of the barrel is already in sight.
To the above I would add that here in the U.S. we also have a dangerous week ahead. The Obama administration is taking huge body blows over the Bhengazi attack last year. None of the official stories add up and it turns out that orders came from somewhere to “stand down” while Americans were being killed. I say that this coming week is “dangerous” because “your” attention apparently needs to altered in a different direction. The distinct possibility/probability of some sort of false flag event is now off the charts.
I have maintained all along that a “bank holiday” would ultimately occur which sets positions in cement while a revaluation of assets and currencies takes place. As time has passed, this looks more and more likely to me as nothing has been done to avoid this scenario. In fact, the West has simply pressed the accelerator harder and opened the monetary spigots further…with almost zero effect on the real economy. Stock markets are acting like an early warning signal to a hyperinflation. Gold and Silver have not been allowed to do this which is why physical inventories have been attacked so fiercely.
Since I am not a fly on the wall and can only speculate until “we find out”, my guess is that the end game is in fact being discussed. How best to shut the current system down, reboot another one AND retain as much power as possible. Call me cynical, crazy or whatever, I truly believe that preparations are being discussed here and now “how best” (for them) to close out this current chapter of world finance. By the way, all of this has been discussed and planned years ahead of time, these are not fools. The current discussion is merely about pulling the trigger. Regards, Bill H.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that Moscow’s sale of a sophisticated missile defense system to President Bashar Assad could push the Middle East into war. Netanyahu, who flew to meet Putin for emergency talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, told the Russian president that the S-300 […]
Anyone who uses Skype has consented to the company reading everything they write. The H‘s associates in Germany at heise Security have now discovered that the Microsoft subsidiary does in fact make use of this privilege in practice. […]
The Sun has unleashed four massive solar flares in two days, each emitting energy equivalent to a billion hydrogen bombs. The latest flare on Wednesday might cause geomagnetic storms on […]
Peter Sunde has announced he will run in the European Parliament elections next year. Sunde, the former spokesman for The Pirate Bay, will participate for the Finnish branch of the Pirate Party. Sunde has yet to sit out a […]
The Dalai Lama gives a lecture in Maryland in the U.S. May 7, 2013. AFP A Tibetan monk found in possession of recordings of speeches by exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has been beaten to death by Chinese police, according to Tibetan sources. Kardo, formerly of the Champa Ling […]
What’s an election without a little bull. Last week the BC Conservative party fired Mischa Popoff from the Boundary-Similkameen riding for comments he posted in a column about single women and the missing women’s task force. Now the candidate is bullied, by a real bull, as he responds. […]
Everybody’s having a hard time finding ammunition. Even people who work at ammunition manufacturing facilities are having a hard time finding ammunition. For months now, people have been buying all the ammo they can find in response to gun control proposals and laws passed and pending. The effects of this have fallen at the feet […]
Last week, the California Assembly (same as House of Representatives in most states) passed Assembly Bill 1266 by a 46-25 vote. Currently, there are 54 Democrats, 25 Republicans and 1 vacancy. All 46 votes for the bill were Democrats as no Republicans voted for in favor of the measure. But the kicker is this statement […]
The G-7 are meeting this weekend outside of London. This was unscheduled and can only be considered as an emergency meeting. I have maintained all along that a “bank holiday” would ultimately occur which sets positions in cement while a revaluation of assets and currencies takes place. My guess is that the end game is […]
Ever since the guilty verdict in the Pirate Bay case was made final last year, 
