I'm Arnold Schwarzenegger in hospital after skiing accident

Recently transferred Patrick Schwarzenegger (18 years) the son of the star world ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Maria Schafer of the hospital, having suffered a freak accidentwhile skiing on the ice in "Sun Valley" of Idaho, was the work of first aid on the spot and then transferred directly to the hospital, wrote Patrick on his own site the famous social networking "Twitter": "I was the day to a simple skiing accident, the result was my exposure to a number of bruises and some of the" stitches "at the bottom of the back,and I thank all the doctors," Sun Valley "for their concern and the performance of their duty to the fullest."


Source: Seventh Day

Disagreement between the presidents of the most powerful Jewish organization in France

Witness the Representative Council of Jewish Organizations in France, a sharp contrast between the president and administrative head of Richard Praskiye honor Theo Klein, a lawyer and human rights activist who at the age of 92 years. The reason for the dispute report photographer who was the second French TV channel has aired, in 2000, the facts of the death of Palestinian child Mohammed al-Dura, in the early days of the second intifada.The Council is in the center of gravity of political life in France is keen presidents and senior politicians and party leaders to attend the annual dinner to him and to maintain good relations with his administration.And cause the report in a legal battle long and heated by journalist Charles de Onederlan Correspondent permanent second channel in Jerusalem, and photographer Palestinian worker with Talal Abu Rahma, after the statement of the agency to evaluate the performance of the media named Philippe Karsenty claiming that the report was the photographer for the killing of Dura false. The reporter filed suit against Karsenty and stop the Representative Council of Jewish Organizations in France with all his weight behind the defendant. But the court found him guilty, in 2006, on charges of second channel to broadcast the report of «Fiction» includes scenes «representative».Did not end the case, but moved to the Court of Appeal in Paris issued a decision which acquitted him in 2008. The reporter came back here and with it the second channel to transfer the case to the Court of Cassation issued a recent ruling to cancel a patent Karsenty, which paves the way for a retrial before a judge of appeal. However, the Representative Council of Jewish Organizations did not respect the judicial process and continued to attack, published in the media, the reporter and claim Bakabh. Which is not silence him honorary president of the Council. In a letter a few days ago and leaked to the press, he addressed the honorary president Theo Klein, the chief administrative colleague Richard Praskiye saying that «shocked and worried about harnessing the Bulletin Board to promote the proposals described by the French judiciary as libel and defamation, most of the time». The lawyer says Altsaina: The Council seeks to change the reality of things about «an unfortunate accident but can not deny the occurrence», ie, killing the boy-Dura at the hands of the Israeli army.Administrative head of the Council response to the accusation that he called the honorary president of the latter to see the film controversial, but Theo Klein twice rejected on the grounds of view and said: It does not need to see the report, the photographer because he has confidence in the integrity of reporter Charles Onederlan.

Source: Middle East

Woman arrested for filming police from home

Police arrested a woman in New York after she videotaped a traffic stop from her front yard.

A Rochester, NY woman is facing misdemeanor charges after police arrested her for filming a routine traffic stop from her front lawn.

Emily Good began recording officers on her iPhone outside her home after they pulled a man over shortly before 10 p.m. on May 12. Ryan Acuff, a friend of Good, writes that cops stopped a young black male, handcuffed him and detained him in their cruiser while they searched his car for drugs. While the suspect was released, Good wasn’t quite as fortunate.

A police report says Officer Mario Masic of the Rochester Police Department is the individual that told Good she had to retreat into her house after he noticed her filming.

Masic asks, "You guys need something?" to which Good responds, "I'm just — this is my front yard — I’m just recording what you're doing. It's my right.”

"Actually, not from the sidewalk," replies Masic.

While Good tells the officer that she has the right to record from her front yard, Masic tells her that he doesn’t “feel safe” with her there. The woman responds by pointing out that she is nowhere near him and clearly doesn’t have a weapon.

Masic alleges on tape that Good and her friend made an “anti-cop” statement before the recording began, but Good, her friend and their neighbors have since disputed that.

“I think, uh, you need to go stay in your house, guys," says Masic.

Good and Masic argue over if she is actually doing anything wrong — or threatening her safety — until the officer comes onto her property and says, "You know what, you're gonna go to jail. That's just not right."

Speaking to the Huffington Post, Good’s public defender, Stephanie Stare, says, “She was well within her rights."Acuff writes that the officers’ encroachment was trespassing onto Good’s property.

The official report filed says she was charged with Obstructing Governmental Administration, but Acuff writes that Good was taken to a parking lot of“minimize their wrong doing.”

In a statement from the Rochester Police, Chief James Sheppard says, “I have researched the incident and determined that the case is currently proceeding through the adjudication process.”

Speaking to Rochester’s WHEC, Councilman Adam McFadden didn’t seem too impressed with the way the police officer handled the situation.

"It did not look well for us in terms of how we police and what it is we're attempting to accomplish for public safety,”says McFadden.

National Press Photographers Association General Counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher has since written to the Rochester PD, and tells them that “While it may be understandable that your officers had a heightened sense of awareness, that is still no excuse for them to not recognize a citizen’s right to take photographs/video of an event occurring on a public street.”

To the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Osterreicher says that even if this video may be going viral, it is far from a rare occurrence across the country.

Good was arrested earlier this year after she and others staged a protest and attempted to block a home from being foreclosed. Oddly enough, that incident was videotaped by police.

Source: Russia Today

Government admits to spying through your cell phone

The government can take data from your phones to see where you are.

The US government is in a relationship with your cell phone provider, but “it’s complicated.”

When the general counsel of the National Security Agency was asked if the government was tracking citizens using data collected by their cell phones, the NSA’s Matthew Olsen said it does indeed have that authority but stopped there, saying that “it is a very complicated question.”

Perhaps “yes” or “no” is a bit too much to spit out for the NSA.

Olsen has been nominated to lead the National Counterterrorism Center and answered the question posed by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) this week. Specifically, the lawmaker asked if the government can “use cell site data to track the location of Americans inside the country.”

“There are certain circumstances where that authority may exist,” responded Olsen. He added that a proper response was a bit too hefty of a task and that the intelligence community is putting together a memo that will outline exactly what they can do. Olsen, however, wasn’t exactly clear who the “intelligence community” is or what it is they do. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has asked to have that memo in time for the first hearing of the National Counterterrorism Center, scheduled for later this year.

In April, researchers announced that mobile phones were storing locations and timestamps inside devices unbeknownst to the user. Apple, maker of the popular iPhone, confirmed that the devices do indeed collect data but said that they weren’t doing anything with it. “Apple must be able to determine quickly and precisely where a device is located,” the computer company responded. “To do this, Apple maintains a secure database containing information regarding known locations of cell towers and Wi-Fi access points.”

Speaking out against the possibility of government surveillance being allowed through the Patriot Act, in May Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo) told The New York Times, “Americans would be alarmed if they knew how this law is being carried out.”

This week’s discussion took place at the confirmation hearing for Olsen, who was President Barack Obama’s pick to lead the Center. Olsen faced other scrutiny on Tuesday as he defended himself before a Senate panel against allegations that he misled a congressman about plans to have Guantanamo Bay detainees resettled into Northern Virginia.

Later this year, the Supreme Court will be posed with another issue of surveillance — whether or not police will be able to affix GPS devices to the cars or criminal suspects without first obtaining a warrant.

Source: Russia Today

NSA refuses to disclose its links with Google

AFP Photo / Kimihiro Hoshino

Wondering if the US government’s shadowy security agents are working behind the scenes with the biggest entity on the Internet? Don’t hold your breath waiting — one advocacy group has to take Uncle Sam to court for an answer.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, is suing the United States National Security Agency to find out the truth behind any partnership between the NSA and Google, the Silicon Valley giants behind the Web’s most popular search engine and a laundry list of other online applications and services. EPIC has been asking for information on an alleged alliance since 2010, but with the NSA refusing to submit to Freedom of Information Act requests, the US District Court of Appeals will hear arguments later this month that the advocacy group hopes will mean that they will soon learn the truth regarding whether or not the two are in cahoots.

In February 2010, DC-based non-profit group EPIC filed a FOIA request with the NSA as reports were unearthed suggesting that the government’s security group was hammering out a deal with Google on the topic of cybersecurity. EPIC was curious at the time about any correspondence between the parties that could concrete rumors of a relationship and filed the necessary paperwork to obtain materials. Although the NSA responded that March, the agency did so by saying that they could neither confirm nor deny any partnership between the two. For failing to disclose information pursuant with the FOIA request, EPIC took NSA to US District Court last July, only for US District Judge Richard Leon to stand with the government and further reject EPIC’s requests.

More than two years after filing their first FOIA request, EPIC and the NSA will face off again this month when the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit will hear arguments on March 20. EPIC is hoping to have Judge Leon’s 2011 decision overruled, in turn approving the non-profit’s motion for summary judgment.

Although the last court ruling granted the NSA the motion for summary judgment that has kept them from having to disclose any documents, EPIC now says that the NSA cannot be entitled to summary judgment when it neglected to even search for the materials requested. “Without first conducting the search, not even the agency can know whether there is a factual basis for its legal position. The decision of the District Court should be reversed and the case remanded with an order requiring the agency to conduct the search for responsive records,” writes EPIC.

EPIC’s attorneys drafted and published their oral arguments in January and will present them before a three-person panel of appeals judges later this month. It will be then in a DC court that they will argue that the NSA is required to conduct a search for responsive agency records before the agency can flatly opine they can neither confirm or deny any partnership, an explanation referred to in legal circles as a Glomar response. Following the initial request from 2010, the NASA invoked Exemption 3 of the Freedom of Information Act to defer acknowledging any assistance — or lack thereof — of NSA records pertinent to the request. EPIC was quick to fire back, however, filing an administrative appeal that May stating that the NSA had failed to provide evidence that the materials in question warranted a response on par with what the agency provided.

In explaining their case now, EPIC’s attorneys write that “The Glomar response is appropriate where ‘to confirm or deny the existence of records … would cause harm cognizable under a FOIA exception.’” On the contrary, argues EPIC, “The NSA has failed to meet this standard and has failed to perform the segregability analysis required by statute to determine whether non-exempt records may be released.”

“The NSA asserted Glomar, a narrow doctrine for a special category for records, without ever searching for any responsive records within the agency’s possession, without ever attempting to identify materials that could be disclosed, without even creating a record that would allow appellant or the court to evaluate the agency’s position on an agency activity that is widely report in the national media, acknowledged by the former director of the agency, and impacts the interests of millions of Internet users. The agency’s position is contrary to FOIA and prevailing case law,”adds EPIC.

Over their lack of cooperation and assistance in the inquiry, EPIC charges that “While the agency may choose to assert several statutory exemptions if it wishes to withheld records in its possession, acknowledging the existence of unsolicited third-party e-mails sent to the NSA does not reveal any information about the NSA’s functions and activities. Moreover, if records in possession of the agency reveal activities that fall outside of the agency’s proper functions and activities, these too would be subject to disclosure under the FOIA.”

In appealing, EPIC quotes US President Barack Obama, who announced on his first full day in office that FOIA requests “should be administrated with a clear presumption: in the face of doubt, openness prevails.” Although Obama campaigned with the promise of creating an administration more transparent than any other in history, watchdog groups such as EPIC continue to be locked out of FOIA request and whistleblowers, including PFC Bradley Manning and WikiLeak’s Julian Assange, are prosecuted and shunned by the federal government.

EPIC also argues that the NSA has been responsive to FOIA requests in the past, which adds to the intrigue over a possible government-Google alliance. “This Court has never granted the broad authority that the NSA seeks in this case, to issue a Glomar response without conducting a search for responsive records, particularly when the agency itself has put so much information about the subject matter of the request in the public record,” claims EPIC.

Calling into question any conspiring between the search engine giants and the government, EPIC adds, “Google provides cloud-based services to consumers, not critical infrastructure services to the government.”

Despite an array of violations identified by the Securities and Exchanges Commission, Google has repeatedly been left off the hook by the federal government with merely a slap on the wrist. Earlier this month, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom attacked the partnership between Silicon Valley’s private sector and the US federal government for allowing Google to walk over copyright infringement charges while the alleged file-sharing kingpin could end up behind bars for life for similar crimes.

“I'm not Google. I don't have 50 billion dollars in my account and right now I've not a penny on my account. All my lawyers currently are basically working without a penny and they are all still on board and all still doing their job because what they see here is unfair, is unreasonable and is not justice,” Dotcom told New Zealand’s 3news, adding he felt the persecution was “political.”

Source: Russia Today

Holy scandal! Ex-governor meets Jesus in church fresco

Photo from time.kz

A former regional governor in Kazakhstan has been immortalized in a fresco inside a newly-built Orthodox cathedral.

Sergey Kulagin is famous for spending a record seven years and 10 months in office.

The politician, who now holds a senator's seat, is depicted among a group of people meeting Jesus at the gates of Jerusalem.

The fresco has outraged Church representatives. They say it is not the first time sponsors and local officials have been honored in this way.

Kulagin says he has no idea who is responsible for including his portrait in the mural and has ordered that it be removed.

Source: Russia Today

Da Vinci’s Battle over?

Peter Paul Rubens's copy of The Battle of Anghiari

An alleged Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece that has remained unseen for five centuries has been found on a hidden wall in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

According to Italian engineer Maurizio Seracini, looking for Leonardo’s unfinished mural The Battle of Anghiari, a hidden wall in Florence's palace contains colors consistent with those used by the creator of Mona Lisa.

The preliminary analysis has reportedly shown that the red, black and beige paint found is consistent with the paint that the Renaissance master usually used for his signature frescoes.

Leonardo’s unfinished fresco was allegedly concealed behind a more recent wall. Art historians have taken its samples for chemical analysis.

The epic artwork captures four men on war horses engaged in a battle. It is believed the polymath artist started painting his fresco in 1505, but had to give up the project due to difficulties arising from his experiments with oil painting techniques.

Source: Russia Today

Concrete message: Iran ‘supershield’ to thwart US ‘superbomb’

Satellite image of the destroyed military compound in Bid Ganeh, Iran (AFP Photo / GigitalGlobe)

Pentagon’s joy at getting tons of money for a bigger, badder bomb was, apparently, premature. Iran claims to have invented “super concrete” – of a type that will stop the Massive Ordnance Penetrator from penetrating… well, anything.

Iran is known for being one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. As a result, their scientists have gotten really good at creating ultra-high performance concrete, or UHPC, which is one of the toughest and most rigid building materials in the world. And like any dual-use technology, it can have military applications as well – something the Iranians are keen to utilize.What they’ve done is the exact opposite of that age-old adage: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. But it will allegedly allow Iran to effectively stop any potential bombing of strategic facilities that are in the Pentagon’s scope. No breaking, no fixing. Just good old stonewalling of the literal variety.

Vladimir Kremlev, RT

The move will most likely cause a lot of anxiety in Washington. But the irony is that not only did Iran make an unexpected knight’s move, but it did so by mirroring the steps taken by the US Department of Defense.

With tensions around Iran’s nuclear program mounting, US defense secretary Leon Panetta said the existing modification of the bunker-buster MOP bomb wasn’t up to scratch; that it wouldn’t, in fact, even make a scratch on facilities like the Fordo research center, hidden under 300 feet of Iranian bedrock. So they took the massively limited ordnance penetrator and added $86 million worth of modifications – all to increase the bunker buster’s range. 

It’s not known exactly how much money Iran spent on improving their UHPC, but it’s unlikely to be on the same scale as the US. The Pentagon has so far spent over $400 million on a bunker-buster bomb that looks unlikely to ever bust anything other than a hole in the budget. 

And one thing is certain: this is a concrete stumbling block for the American military.

Katerina Azarova, RT

Source: Russia Today

Bradley Manning treatment cruel, inhuman - UN special rapporteur

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning (Reuters / Jose Luis Magana)

The United Nations official investigating the American military’s treatment of Bradley Manning has ruled that the US government imposed cruel, inhuman, degrading and borderline torturous treatment on the alleged WikiLeaks contributor.

The UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, has completed his 14-month investigation into the detainment of Private First Class Bradley Manning, a 24-year old US soldier. Following allegations that he aided Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks site, Manning was arrested in May 2010 for disclosing classified material and has been in governmental custody for the nearly two years since. Despite a lengthy stint in military prison, Manning was formally arraigned only recently with a series of crimes that could put him away for the rest of life. In that period where Manning was held without charge, the UN now reports that the alleged whistleblower was subjected to reprehensible treatment at the hands of the United States.

In a just-published addendum on international torture issues submitted to the UN’s Human Rights Council, Mendez writes that his investigation into America’s detainment of Manning leads him to believe that the US is at fault for imposing cruel and inhumane treatment on the soldier. The rapporteur explicitly calls out the United States for holding Manning in solitary confinement for 23-hours a day for a period of nearly a year, all the while neglecting to formally file charges against the soldier.

"The special rapporteur concludes that imposing seriously punitive conditions of detention on someone who has not been found guilty of any crime is a violation of his right to physical and psychological integrity as well as of his presumption of innocence," Mendez reveals.

In explaining his write-up, the rapporteur argues that “solitary confinement is a harsh measure which may cause serious psychological and physiological adverse effects on individuals regardless of their specific conditions. Depending on the specific reason for its application, conditions, length, effects and other circumstances, solitary confinement can amount to a breach of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to an act defined in article 1 or article 16 of the Convention against Torture.”

Detailing his findings further to the Guardian, Mendez says, "I conclude that the 11 months under conditions of solitary confinement (regardless of the name given to his regime by the prison authorities) constitutes at a minimum cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of article 16 of the convention against torture.”

“If the effects in regards to pain and suffering inflicted on Manning were more severe, they could constitute torture,” he adds.

Despite being arrested nearly two years ago, the US military began pre-trial hearings over Manning’s alleged involvement with WikiLeaks only last December, finally arraigning him last month before an Armed Forces judge in Maryland. It was then that Manning was arraigned on 22 counts, including aiding the enemy, but the soldier deferred offering any plea.

As he awaits a court-martial later this year, the UN’s latest report is only the most recent to suggest that the US be reprimanded for their violations. Speaking to RT last year, whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg called out the United States for using torture to break down Manning while he awaited arraignment. “What is torture for?” asked Ellsberg. “It’s really a way of getting false confessions. That’s what it does. That’s what it’s for.”

Ellsberg, who was responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s while working for the US Department of Defense, added that he believes the government is trying to use Manning not only to make an example for other whistleblowers but to link him with Julian Assange himself. “In this case, I think they want not only an association with Assange as with some journalist or whoever, they want this very special, an ‘unjournalistic’ kind of thing. They want to show some kind of conspiracy . . .and they want to break him down,” said Ellsberg.

Mendez also notes in his report that the US government continues to deny him an unmonitored meeting with Manning. The special rapporteur argues that he should be able to meet in private with Manning, as a government presence could pressure the soldier to not come clean with the full truth behind his detainment. “Regrettably, to date the Government continues to refuse to allow the Special Rapporteur to conduct private, unmonitored and privileged communications with Private Manning, in accordance with the working methods of his mandate,” writes Mendez.

Last year, 50 members of European parliament wrote to US President Barack Obama, the US Congress, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of the Army John McHugh and US Army Chief Raymond T Odierno to allow the UN's special rapporteur on torture access to the soldier.

After being arraigned last month, the US government asked to delay a court-martial until August. David E. Coombs, the attorney representing Manning, argued that "If the government had its way, it would be over 800 days before the trial actually begins.”

Source: Russia Today