Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Time Is Running Out For SOPA Opponents Congressmen Warn At CES 2012

Source: Forbes.com

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) showed up at CES 2012 in Las Vegas to issue a stark warning: we’re running out of time to stop legislation aimed at cracking down on copyright infringement.

That legislation – the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect IP Act in the Senate – is intended to clamp down on piracy but is widely believed to go much further, with free speech and censorship ramifications that could have profound consequences on the way the internet works.

“This is a crucial window here for those who want to see the Net come out of this debate without this enormous collateral damage” caused by the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, Wyden told conference-goers. “We are not prepared to say that this juggernaut for innovation and freedom and citizen empowerment, the Internet, ought to be dealt such a serious body blow in the name of copyright.”

Newt Gingrich Believes his Criticism of Mitt Romney’s Bain Record a Mistake

Obviously someone high up in the Republican Party threatened to banish Gingrich if he didn't stop his attacks on Romney. They want to coalesce around Romney so that he can beat the hated President Obama:

Newt Gingrich signaled Wednesday that he believes his criticism of Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital is a mistake — and that he’s created an impression that he was echoing Democratic rhetoric.

Gingrich conceded the problem when pressed by a Rick Santorum supporter at a book signing here Wednesday.

“I’m here to implore one thing of you. I think you’ve missed the target on the way you’re addressing Romney’s weaknesses. I want to beg you to redirect and go after his obvious disingenuousness about his conservatism and lay off the corporatist versus the free market. I think it’s nuanced,” said Dean Glossop, an Army Reservist from Inman, S.C.

“I agree with you,” Gingrich said. “It’s an impossible theme to talk about with Obama in the background. Obama just makes it impossible to talk rationally in that area because he is so deeply into class warfare that automatically you get an echo effect. … I agree with you entirely.”
Full article


Poverty to Keep Rising due to Slow Recovery: Study

It will continue to rise if Obama is re-elected because he can't even utter the word...poverty:

Nearly 10 million more Americans have been driven into poverty since the 2007-2009 recession began, and the number is expected to increase due to the slow pace of the recovery, according to a study released Wednesday by Indiana University.

The study found the number of Americans living in poverty grew to 46.2 million in 2010, up 27 percent from 36.5 million in 2006, the year before the start of the recession. During the same period, the U.S. population increased 3.3 percent.
Full article

Why America's Spies Struggle To Keep Up

NPR.org » Why America's Spies Struggle To Keep Up
After much debate, the ODNI was created — but given almost no authority over the 100,000 or so spies who work for the Pentagon. The result? Essentially two separate spy networks within the intelligence community: the civilians who work for the 16 agencies reporting to the ODNI, and the 100,000 spies at the Pentagon who report to the undersecretary of defense for intelligence.

"They have separate budgets, they report to separate committees, and it is a structural nightmare," says Aid.

In his book Intel Wars, Aid details how overlapping jurisdictions, bureaucratic policies and a glut of data have crippled the intelligence community in its war against would-be terrorists.

Occupy Wall Street is back at Zuccotti Park (Liberty Square)

'We shall not be moved':

About 20 Occupy Wall Street protesters spent the night at New York City's Zuccotti Park after metal barricades surrounding it came down.

The barricades were removed late Tuesday. About 300 cheering protesters began filling the park.

By 6 a.m, about 20 remained, including Chris O'Donnell.

He says three people were arrested for lying down. A police spokesman couldn't immediately confirm any arrests.

Sleeping, tents and sleeping bags have been banned from the park since a Nov. 15 police raid evicted protesters.

On Monday, civil rights groups filed a complaint with the city's buildings department saying the barricades were a violation of city zoning law.

Zuccotti Park is a publicly owned private plaza and is required to be open 24 hours a day.
Up next? Occupy Congress:
Harnessing the considerable power of the Occupy Wall Street movement, protestors from all over the country are being called to participate in "Occupy Congress" next week.  It is the next stage in the widespread public protest that began last September in New York.

On January 17th, an Occupy "Call to Action" urges protestors to convene on the West Front Lawn at Capitol Hill in an effort to bring the movement's message to the doorstep of Congressional lawmakers.

Rallying against corporate greed and corruption, the so-called "99%" will arrive on Martin Luther King's birthday weekend to participate in a day of organized protests. According to the Occupy Congress website, the day's activities will include Teach-ins, an Open Mic, a Multi-Occupation General Assembly, Idea Sharing Sessions, and a DC Voting Rights Vigil.  The day will end with an "OCCUParty."

Report: Iran nuclear scientist killed in car bomb blast

Source:

A nuclear scientist was killed in a blast in a Tehran neighborhood Wednesday morning, an Iranian news agency reported, the latest in a string of attacks against such scientists that Iran has blamed on Israel.

A motorcyclist placed a magnetic bomb under Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan's Peugeot 405, the state-run IRNA news agency said.

The blast wounded two others who were passengers in the car, IRNA said.

State television channel Press TV reported later Wednesday that two people had been killed in the car bombing but did not give more details.

[...]Iranian nuclear physicist Daryoush Rezaie, 35, was killed in an attack last July in front of his Tehran home by assailants on a motorcycle, Iranian media reported.

And on January 12, 2010, Iranian university professor and nuclear scientist Massoud Ali Mohammadi was killed in a blast when an assailant stuck a bomb under his car. Majid Jamali Fashi, an Iranian, reportedly confessed to the bombing and was sentenced to death in August, IRNA reported at the time. Prosecutors accused him of being a spy for Israel, the agency said. Israel does not comment on such claims.

In November 2010, nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari was killed in a blast where, again, a bomb was stuck under a car by someone on a motorcycle.


Video: Hannity tells Perry he sounds like ‘Occupy Wall Street’

Even Republicans are using the language of Occupy Wall Street: