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Tuesday, January 3, 2012
The Syrian protesters' cry for help
Arab nations and the West are closer to acting against the Assad regime ? perhaps even militarily ? to end the slaughter of pro-democracy protesters. The consequences of inaction are becoming worse than no action.
One year on, the Arab Spring has liberated three countries ? Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt ? although they are only in North Africa. Now a pivotal nation in the Middle East, Syria, could be next ? depending on the conscience of the world.
Skip to next paragraphThe almost-daily killings of Syrian protesters by the Assad regime is finally forcing serious diplomatic action. In coming days, both the West and other Arab states will need to respond to the worldwide revulsion over televised videos of Syrians being slaughtered simply for demanding freedom.
Two pieces are already in place. A key player, Turkey, has turned on its onetime ally next door after thousands of protesters were killed. And international economic sanctions are biting the regime, although they don?t seem to be making much of a difference in Assad?s killing machine.
Last week, the 22-nation Arab League sent about 70 observers to Syria to try to curb the massacres, simply by their presence in major cities. Their efforts are too little and highly suspect, especially as they are led by a military general from Sudan held responsible for killings in Darfur.
And the Arab League?s advisory body, the Arab Parliament, insisted Sunday that the observers leave. President Bashar al-Assad is violating a pact with the league by, for example, not allowing journalists into Syria. And wherever the observers are present, the regime simply hides its tanks and relies on snipers to kill opponents.
All this is leading the White House to seriously weigh international options for humanitarian aid and a safety zone for opposition Syrians, much like the use of military force in Libya. ?If the Syrian regime continues to resist and disregard Arab League efforts, the international community will consider other means to protect Syrian civilians,? a State Department spokesman said Dec. 27.
That effort will be helped by a unity pact signed in Cairo last Friday between Syria?s two main opposition groups. The agreement promises a democratic Syria and asks for the international community to protect the protesting civilians.
Both the West and Arab leaders know that the regime?s days are numbered. Last Friday, an estimated half-million Syrians were out in protest, the largest demonstrations in months. Dozens were killed by the regime.
If Arab leaders would now ask the United Nations to approve a NATO-led no-fly zone over portions of Syria, then the world could finally see a Libyan-style liberation.
The big difference, however, is that regime change in Syria would affect the interests of Iran and Israel, and possibly cause a refugee crisis. The unknown consequences of a power vacuum in Syria have put a damper so far on the West?s humanitarian impulse to intervene.
The difficult task of finding a balance between saving lives and avoiding the unknown in the Middle East has now tipped toward saving lives. Syrians and most Arabs are ready to act. Will the West and the UN help them?
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/IqJNgBU86WQ/The-Syrian-protesters-cry-for-help
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Afghan president welcomes US remarks on Taliban (AP)
KABUL, Afghanistan ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday welcomed remarks from the Obama administration saying that Taliban insurgents were not America's enemies.
Earlier this month, Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with Newsweek magazine that the Islamist militants did not represent a threat to U.S. interests unless they continued to shelter al-Qaida.
Biden's comments came amid reports that the Obama administration and other governments are trying to establish a peace process with the Taliban to help end the 10-year war.
"I am very happy that the American government has announced that the Taliban are not their enemies," Karzai said in a speech to the Afghan Academy of Sciences. "We hope that this message will help the Afghans reach peace and stability."
A senior U.S. official has told The Associated Press that Washington plans to continue a series of secret meetings with Taliban representatives in Europe and the Persian Gulf region next year.
The U.S. outreach this year had progressed to the point that there was active discussion of two steps the Taliban seeks as precursors to negotiations, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Trust-building measures under discussion involve setting up a Taliban headquarters office and the release from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of about five Afghan prisoners believed affiliated with the Taliban.
On Tuesday, Karzai said his government would accept the Taliban establishing a liaison office in Turkey, Qatar or Saudi Arabia for the purpose of holding peace talks.
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Monday, January 2, 2012
Matthew Spiegl: Bits and Pieces of People's Lives: NOAA Investigates Origin of Recent Ocean Debris as People of Japan Wait
Bits and pieces of people's lives, that is what one reporter said; we are not to think of the Japan tsunami debris as litter when it begins to wash up on our shores in 2013, but rather as bits and pieces of people's lives. But is it already washing up on our shores?
2011 ended with a wave of sensationalized headlines from British Columbia, Alaska and Washington, reporting sightings of debris from the Japan tsunami already reaching shore on the West Coast; setting off a contentious debate between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and a few independent oceanographers and flotsam trackers. Waiting for word on the other side of the Pacific, are the people of Japan whose missing families and friends are symbolically represented in the bits and pieces of debris.
While painting a picture of 20 million tons of plastic and paper and metal and wood stretching a thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean, some news stories are also raising fear of radiation as a result of the Fukushima meltdown, and others even speak of the possibility of macabre scenes of body parts washing up on our beaches as severed feet in tennis shoes.
In response, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has been scrambling to keep up with this still developing and constantly changing story. The latest information concerning the Japan tsunami debris can be found on these two websites which should provide you with the most up to date scientific information and answers to the questions you might have: The Marine Debris Program: http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/japanfaqs.html; and The National Ocean Service: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/features/dec11/japan-tsunami-debris.html.
Most recognize that this story deserves great humanitarian reverence and cultural sensitivity for the victims and their families. But there are many who are not as eloquent in their description or mindful in their comments, and who continue to refer to the debris from this natural disaster as simply Japan's trash, a floating stream of junk, a garbage patch!
The tsunami debris is real, it is out there, and we are tracking it. Whether the first traces are washing ashore or not is academic. By every measure, the tsunami debris represents an environmental disaster coming toward us. So does it really matter what people call it?
I think it does, here's why:
That garbage patch -- those bits and pieces of people's lives -- began their journey toward us as Japan was rocked by the massive Tohoku Earthquake. As if not to be outdone by the wrath of the shifting earth that day, the ocean too roared with the fury of the ensuing tsunami. That earthquake and the tsunami that followed, took 15,700 lives, injured 5,314, and displaced 130,927. It also left nearly 4,647 men, women and children still missing; lost to the sea and to the ages, along with all the bits and pieces that made up their lives.
We were on the merciful end of the tsunami surge that wreaked havoc along the West Coast in places like Santa Cruz and Crescent City. I say that because on the other end -- the end of the tsunami that ravaged Japan -- it was cruelly lethal. People's lives became nothing more than bits and pieces to be swept up by the tsunami, pulled back into the ocean, and lost forever.
And so began the journey of those bits and pieces of people's lives.
Now another surge is coming to the West Coast. This time carrying the bits and pieces of the Tohoku victim's lives; lives that were taken, lives that were lost, lives that are still missing and missed by those whom they loved and who loved them.
The environmental threat we face as the tsunami debris continues its somber journey toward the West Coast is all too real, and will require a monumental cleanup effort to avoid an even greater environmental catastrophe. But I beg you to consider -- just for a moment -- the victims of this horrific natural disaster. Don't blame them for the garbage or the stream of junk coming our way. They didn't litter our beaches, or intentionally dump debris or discharge waste into the ocean.
If you must place blame, blame Mother Nature for her violent tantrum that sent these bits and pieces of people's lives drifting our way. As the tsunami debris approaches, ask yourself: How many bits and pieces are there to your life? How many bits and pieces make up your family? How many bits and pieces hold your neighborhood, your community, your city together?
The tsunami debris did not come from the infamous Pacific Gyre and should not be confused with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is quite profoundly the remnants of a human tragedy, slowly drifting toward us in silence, just as silent as its youngest, most innocent victims, who perished that day.
To love the sea is to know the sea is to respect the sea, and until the sea gives up these bits and pieces of people's lives by returning them to shore, there can be no closure.
I hope upon reflection, all will agree that these bits and pieces of people's lives deserve a moment of solemnness, dignity, and symbolic closure as the first wave of identifiable tsunami debris begins washing up on our shores -- the people of Japan want to know what we find.
To the blue community: ocean conservation advocates; marine life protectors; plastic pollution revolutionaries; and environmentalists -- you who are all so passionate and committed to caring for and protecting our oceans and ridding our shores of such litter -- will you channel that environmental passion into an act of humanitarian compassion, to help bring closure for the people of Japan, before we set out on the daunting task to clean up the bits and pieces of their families and friends lives from our shores?
The response so far gives me optimism for the future of our planet as we begin the New Year. From the international influence of Celine Cousteau and her Ocean Inspiration organization in New York, to the tireless staff and volunteers of the small, but mighty, Save Our Shores in Santa Cruz, California; ocean conservation advocates both near and far are engaging in this discussion of humanity, culture and the environment.
Earth is, after all, a small planet and we are all on it together. We need to share not only in the bounty of its natural resources, but also in the burden of its natural disasters.
This post originally appeared on Santa Cruz Patch.
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-spiegl/tsunami-debris-japan-noaa_b_1177092.html
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Total Collapse of The Dollar and Skyrocketing Oil Prices in 2012: Lindsey Williams Reports
2011-12-31 ? infowars.com
"Alex talks with pastor Lindsey Williams about the crisis now threatening to erupt in the Middle East and the possibility of skyrocketing oil prices that will decimate national economies."
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Sunday, January 1, 2012
Insert Coin: A look back at ten top projects from 2011
2011 has been a tremendous year for tech -- Amazon launched a $200 Android tablet, AT&T and Verizon continued their LTE expansion, Apple killed off the Mac mini's SuperDrive and Samsung introduced a well-received killer 5.3-inch smartphone. But tiny tech startups made their mark as well, proving that you don't need an enormous R&D budget to spur innovation. Still, development isn't free, and unless your social circle includes eager investors, seed money has been traditionally hard to come by.
For many of this year's indie devs, crowdfunding sites have been the answer, with Kickstarter leading the pack. We've seen an enormous variety of projects -- including a deluge of duds and plenty more semi-redundant iPhone accessories -- but a few treasures soared above the swill to be featured in our Insert Coin series, with many of those meeting their funding goals and even making their way into the hands of consumers. Now, as 2011 draws to a close, we've gone through this past year's projects to single out our top ten, and they're waiting for your consideration just past the break.
Continue reading Insert Coin: A look back at ten top projects from 2011
Insert Coin: A look back at ten top projects from 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/VJfI--UwoHY/
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In-Game - The top 10 gaming stories of 2011
Wikipedia
The U.S. Supreme Court conferred both legal protections and artistic credibility on the growing game industry this year, marking our largest game-related story of the year.
By Kyle Orland
The past year has offered plenty of major stories to keep gamers chattering. Here's what we thought were the most important stories to hit the industry over the past 12 months.
1. Supreme court gives games First Amendment protection
In the seemingly ceaseless battle over whether video games are "art" or merely "entertainment," the art side got a big boost this year from the federal government, of all places. In a landmark 7-2 decision handed down in June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that video games are protected speech deserving of full protection by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The ruling struck down a California law that would have limited sales of ultra-violent games to minors, and ensured that the self-enforcement regime of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board will remain the only retail protection for such sales. More than that, though, the decision helped legitimize a young-and-growing medium as a form of expression on par with literature, movies and music as far as the law of the land is concerned.
2. PSN suffers intrusion, extended outage
What started as a seemingly routine temporary outage for Sony's online gaming network was soon revealed to be a major breach of user data that potentially put millions of credit cards at risk. As the outage stretched out over weeks, Sony got hit with lawsuits and congressional subpoenas as it struggled to beef up its security and provide protection to its users. Sony offered a bevy of freebies to its users when the service finally came back after nearly a month, but the breach in trust is likely to make many Internet users reluctant to give their credit card information out online quite so readily.
3. 3DS fails to meet sales expectations, drops price quickly
While Nintendo's glasses-free, stereoscopic 3-D portable saw healthy first day sales, the new system's retail performance?quickly bottomed out as the novelty of the 3-D gave way to a lackluster launch lineup. Worldwide sales continued to languish until Nintendo suddenly lowered the price from $250 to $170,?just four months after the March launch. Not only was it the quickest and most drastic price cut in the company's history, the company simultaneously offered 20 free downloadable classic games to sweeten the deal. The move seems to have worked somewhat. Sales have slowly rebounded going into the holiday season, thank in part to high-profile titles like "Super Mario 3D Land" and "Mario Kart 7."
4. Nintendo unveils the Wii U
All eyes were on Nintendo at this year's E3 conference as the company prepared to unveil the follow-up to its best-selling Wii, and though vague details leaked out before the show, many gamers weren't prepared for the system's radical new design. Being built around a massive controller sporting a six-inch touch screen, as well as an array of buttons, joysticks and an accelerometer, the Wii U seems obviously influenced by Apple's iPad. Yet the handheld controller won't work when taken away from the TV-connected base console, making it less than useful as a true tablet computer. Despite the odd design, demos of hybrid, two-screen games like the "Metroid"-inspired "Battle Mii" and the rhythmic "Shield Pose" have convinced some skeptics of the system's potential.
5. PlayStation Vita goes from announcement to Japanese launch in under a year
The year had barely begun when Sony first showed off its long-expected PlayStation Portable follow-up, then code-named the Next Generation Portable, sporting an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink array of features. By E3, the system had a new name ? PlayStation Vita ? and a price point starting at $250 (without optional 3G functionality). Earlier this month, the new portable launched in Japan to respectable sales numbers, though associated software sales were surprisingly less robust. With European and North American launches set for February, the rest of the world will see Sony's next major console soon enough.
6. Japanese earthquake shakes game industry
Aside from being a humanitarian disaster, the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March caused major disruption for the country's gigantic game industry. Companies scrambled to delay and cancel games that featured apocalyptic themes that could upset victims, while damaged facilities and electricity rationing led to further delays. But the disaster also gave game companies a chance to show off their civic responsibility by raising substantial sums for philanthropic aid to help those hurt the most by the disaster.
7. Nintendo faces financial hardship
After decades of consistent profits, Nintendo's announcement that this year would likely mark its first ever fiscal loss came as a bit of a shock to industry watchers. The news was especially shocking given that the company had been riding high on record sales and profit from the Wii just two years back. Whether the financial troubles are a small blip caused by an awkward transition between console generations or a permanent transition caused by the rise of mobile phone and tablet gaming remains to be seen, but either way, it was enough to get Nintendo executives to slash their salaries and offer profuse apologies to shareholders.
8. Microsoft unleashes new, video-fueled Xbox dashboard
Video services like Netflix and Hulu Plus have long played a key role in the success of modern home consoles, but Microsoft raised the prominence of its video on demand offerings this year, rolling out a new Xbox 360 dashboard featuring video options from partners ranging from Verizon and Comcast to YouTube, Bravo and Syfy. Microsoft's video options may not have many people throwing out their cable boxes just yet, but its yet another sign that video games are no longer the exclusive focus of home game consoles.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
Live Poll
What was the top gaming story of 2011?
171874
Supreme court gives games First Amendment protection
40%
171875
PSN suffers intrusion, extended outage
36%
171876
3DS fails to meet sales expectations, drops price quickly
0%
171877
Nintendo unveils the Wii U
5%
171878
PlayStation Vita goes from announcement to Japanese launch in under a year
2%
171879
Japanese earthquake shakes game industry
2%
171880
Nintendo faces financial hardship
3%
171881
Microsoft unleashes new, video-fueled Xbox dashboard
5%
171882
Zynga goes public
1%
171883
Miyamoto
8%
VoteTotal Votes: 133
9. Zynga goes public
After years at the top of the hot social gaming market and months of speculation and planning, Zynga finally made its first public offering of stock earlier this month. While the initial offering price was well below what many market watchers had expected a few months before, and despite that price dipping even further as trading went on, Zynga still raised over $1 billion in cash during the sale, money it will likely use to help cement its position as a major player in the industry, whether traditional game publishers like it or not.
10.?Miyamoto "retires" (but not really)
If you want to see how important a single man can be to the perceived prospects of a company, look no further that Nintendo and its creative head Shigeru Miyamoto. A Wired report quoted the long-serving Mario and Zelda creator as wanting to retire from his executive position in order to focus on more hands-on development work on smaller games. By the time Miyamoto clarified his meaning later in the week, stating emphatically that his role at the company was not changing, Nintendo's stock had already dipped 2 percent and the entire game industry contemplated seriously, perhaps for the first time, the prospect of a world without its most celebrated game creator.?
Kyle Orland has written hundreds of thousands of words about gaming since he started a Mario fan site at the age of 14. You can follow him on?Twitter?or at his personal website,?KyleOrland.com.
Dragons and lightsabers defined some of the best games this year. These are the nominees for the game of the year. In-Game's Todd Kenreck reports.
Source: http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/29/9777865-the-top-10-gaming-stories-of-2011
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