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Tag Archives: transparency
To Know the Truth Even if it Harms You
Distributed Denial of Secrets, or DDoSecrets, an NGO, had been a thorn in the side of secretive governments, corrupt corporations, and powerful law firms since its founding in late 2018. In June 2020, in a release known as BlueLeaks, the group published 269 gigabytes of law enforcement data, which exposed police malfeasance and surveillance overreach across the United States.
DDoSecrets also published incriminating records from overseas tax shelters, from the social media site Gab, and from a Christian crowdfunding site often used by the far right. The group has affected autocrats as well, exposing the Russian government's plans in Ukraine and mapping out the Myanmar junta's business dealings. These revelations have spawned numerous news stories in the public interest, making DDoSecrets a valuable source for journalists, but also rendering it a target: In July 2020, German authorities seized one of the organization's servers. August of 2020 brought ominous news of a Department of Homeland Security bulletin labeling DDoSecrets a "criminal hacker group." ..
Avowedly nonpartisan, DDoSecrets nonetheless exhibits an ethos that seems to fuse anarchist politics, a hacker's curiosity about forbidden knowledge, and a general sympathy for the oppressed. Its barbed Latin slogan, Veritatem cognoscere ruat caelum et pereat mundus, roughly translates to, "To know the truth, even if the heavens fall and the world perishes." Call it a bolder, more transformative version of "information wants to be free."
Emma Best…launched DDoSecrets in December 2018 with someone known only by the pseudonym "The Architect." Together, they set out to distinguish their group from WikiLeaks, which they felt had morphed into a vehicle for Julian Assange's ego…"Truth has an impact, regardless of the respectability politics some people choose to engage in when it comes to the alleged sources," Best wrote after Swiss law enforcement, at the request of U.S. authorities, arrested Tillie Kottmann, a hacker who alerted journalists to security vulnerabilities in a vast commercial network of surveillance cameras. "The world can no longer be rid of hacktivists or leaktivists. Not as long as people are willing."
Excerpts from Jacob Silverman, The New WikiLeaks, The New Republic, Aug. 18, 2021
This entry was posted in covert action, cyberwar, Environment, Human Rights and tagged coerced transparency, DDoSecrets, Distributed Denial of Secrets, government information, government surveillance, lack of transparency, military secrecy, radical transparency, secrecy, secret government, surveillance of citizens, transparency, transparency industry, Transparent Computing, wikileaks, Wikileaks against secrecy, wikileaks and democracy on August 24, 2021 by Stoa.
Out-of-Fashion: Aggressive Tax Planning
In December 2019, Royal Dutch Shell voluntarily published its revenue, profit, taxes and other business details in each of 98 countries. The disclosure aligns with a drive by the energy company, which often attracts criticism from environmental activists, to present itself as forward-thinking, transparent and socially-minded. That didn't stop the information feeding a predictable host of headlines in the U.K., where the company is partly based, that it didn't pay taxes in the country (because of losses carried forward and tax refunds). In the U.S., Shell accrued $137 million of tax—a rate of 8%. This kind of detailed reporting is required by tax authorities in about 100 countries including the U.S. since 2017, based on rules agreed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, but it is rarely made public.
Companies that don't jump may soon be pushed. Economy ministers from European Union countries are considering a proposal that would require all large companies with total revenue of more than €750 million ($834 million) operating in the bloc to publish the information annually. The Global Reporting Initiative, an organization that establishes sustainability standards, recently agreed to include a similar requirement. Greater transparency could also spur reform efforts and reduce incentives for complex tax arrangements. Companies, investors and states all agree that it is best to find a global solution to the problem of aggressive tax planning.
Excerpts from Rochelle Toplensky, Beginning of the End of Tax Secrecy, WSJ, Dec. 20, 2019
This entry was posted in geoeconomics, Globalization, lawbreakers, Markets, power elite, shadow finance and tagged Andorra tax haven, coerced transparency, Declaration on Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters, Dubai tax haven, financial sanctions against tax havens, OECD exchange of information in tax matters, radical transparency, tax arbitrage, tax avoidance, tax evasion, tax haven, tax haven Hong Kong, tax haven Switzerland, tax haven United States, tax havens, tax justice network, tax transparency, transparency, transparency industry on January 22, 2020 by Stoa.
How the Shipping Industry Gets its Way: pollution from ships
Do not give the regulated power over the regulators, unless you want consumers to lose out and producers to game the system. ..That lesson has been learned in many places around the world. National regulators are increasingly independent of the firms they regulate. But international ones still have further to go—and none further than the specialised agencies of the United Nations, such as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for shipping where the interests of the shipping industry are upheld d in several ways. The first is the distribution of voting rights between countries. At the IMO, for example, Panama and Liberia, with populations of just 4m and 4.8m respectively, can automatically get seats on its decision-making body as they have the world's biggest merchant fleets.
The second is the assignment of those voting rights by individual countries. Remarkably, many governments have handed voting rights to private-sector firms… At the IMO least 17 countries have assigned their voting rights to flag registries operated by private firms, reckons Transparency International, an anti-corruption group; that adds up to about a tenth of delegates. At an IMO environmental-committee meeting in 2017, almost a third of countries were represented, at least in part, by business interests.
The third way in which producer interests are protected is through a spectacular lack of transparency. The agenda of the IMO's council in November 2018 in London is available only to those with a password. Journalists are forbidden to report what delegates say or how they vote. There are no rules on the suitability or conflict of interests of delegates. In 2014 St Lucia appointed a Saudi billionaire without previous shipping experience as its IMO representative; a court in London judged in 2016 that the appointment was obtained in order to gain diplomatic immunity against divorce proceedings. There are no limits on the amount of gifts that can be showered on representatives. Goodies put on top of desks at an IMO assembly meeting last year were so heavy that they broke 137 sets of headphones underneath.
Such swampiness matters. The IMO is responsible for limiting emissions from ships, which were excluded from the Paris climate deal. Some countries are interested in reform. At the imo council meeting this week Australia proposed allowing journalists to report on its meetings as a first step. The Marshall Islands has taken back some of its votes from the private firm that runs its flag registry. But more radical change is needed. Countries should send civil servants, not private actors, as their representatives. The un's rules on conflicts of interest should be imposed. And voting rights should be allocated with the interests of consumers in mind. These lessons have been widely absorbed within borders. They ought to cross them, too
Excerpts from UN Regulatory Bodies: Agency Problems, Economist, Nov. 24, 2018, at 15
This entry was posted in climate change, corruption/Illegal markets, Environment, lawbreakers, marine pollution, Markets, power elite and tagged International Maritime Organization, marine pollution, regulatory capture, shipping industry, transparency, transparency industry on January 10, 2019 by Stoa.
The New Oil – Lithum
As demand heats up for lithium, a group of companies are hastening efforts to shine a light into the long-opaque market for the battery material that metal-industry cheerleaders call the "new oil." … Auto makers, battery companies, and smartphone and laptop providers have been racing to lock down supplies of lithium from major producers such as Albemarle Corp of United States, the world's biggest miner of lithium by volume, and Chilean company Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, the No. 2 producer. Some of the world's notable lithium users include Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and TeslaInc.
The surge in demand has sparked efforts to bring transparency to prices for lithium. …Because lithium isn't traded on any exchange—unlike gold or silver, for instance—buyers have long been at a disadvantage in negotiations with producers, according to market watchers. In opaque markets, producers often have greater access to information about fast-moving market dynamics, such as unintended mine outages or suddenly sagging demand. That is especially the case with lithium, a metal mined by a relatively small group of big suppliers in countries from Chile to Australia…Big lithium miners "may say they support transparency, but they really don't," said Chris Berry, founder of New York commodity consultant House Mountain Partners. "Keeping prices secret between themselves and their end users is good for them."
Excerpts from Scott Patterson Lithium Boom Raises Question: What Is Its Price? WSJ, Nov. 27, 2018
This entry was posted in Alternative Energy, climate change, Energy, Environment, Markets and tagged commodities markets, lithium, market transparency, opaque markets, transparency on December 6, 2018 by Stoa.
Data Mining: CIA, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Among the 38 previously undisclosed companies receiving In-Q-Tel funding, the research focus that stands out is social media mining and surveillance; the portfolio document lists several tech companies pursuing work in this area, including Dataminr, Geofeedia, PATHAR, and TransVoyant….The investments appear to reflect the CIA's increasing focus on monitoring social media. In September 2015, David Cohen, the CIA's second-highest ranking official, spoke at length at Cornell University about a litany of challenges stemming from the new media landscape. The Islamic State's "sophisticated use of Twitter and other social media platforms is a perfect example of the malign use of these technologies," he said…
The latest round of In-Q-Tel investments comes as the CIA has revamped its outreach to Silicon Valley, establishing a new wing, the Directorate of Digital Innovation…
Dataminr directly licenses a stream of data from Twitter to visualize and quickly spot trends on behalf of law enforcement agencies and hedge funds, among other clients. Geofeedia collects geotagged social media messages to monitor breaking news events in real time.Geofeedia specializes in collecting geotagged social media messages, from platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, to monitor breaking news events in real time. The company, which counts dozens of local law enforcement agencies as clients, markets its ability to track activist protests on behalf of both corporate interests and police departments.PATHAR mines social media to determine networks of association…
PATHAR's product, Dunami, is used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to "mine Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media to determine networks of association, centers of influence and potential signs of radicalization," according to an investigation by Reveal.
TransVoyant analyzes data points to deliver insights and predictions about global events. TransVoyant, founded by former Lockheed Martin Vice President Dennis Groseclose, provides a similar service by analyzing multiple data points for so-called decision-makers. The firm touts its ability to monitor Twitter to spot "gang incidents" and threats to journalists. A team from TransVoyant has worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan to integrate data from satellites, radar, reconnaissance aircraft, and drones….
The recent wave of investments in social media-related companies suggests the CIA has accelerated the drive to make collection of user-generated online data a priority. Alongside its investments in start-ups, In-Q-Tel has also developed a special technology laboratory in Silicon Valley, called Lab41, to provide tools for the intelligence community to connect the dots in large sets of data. In February, Lab41 published an article exploring the ways in which a Twitter user's location could be predicted with a degree of certainty through the location of the user's friends. On Github, an open source website for developers, Lab41 currently has a project to ascertain the "feasibility of using architectures such as Convolutional and Recurrent Neural Networks to classify the positive, negative, or neutral sentiment of Twitter messages towards a specific topic."
Collecting intelligence on foreign adversaries has potential benefits for counterterrorism, but such CIA-supported surveillance technology is also used for domestic law enforcement and by the private sector to spy on activist groups.
Palantir, one of In-Q-Tel's earliest investments in the social media analytics realm, was exposed in 2011 by the hacker group LulzSec to be innegotiation for a proposal to track labor union activists and other critics of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest business lobbying group in Washington. The company, now celebrated as a "tech unicorn" …
Geofeedia, for instance, promotes its research into Greenpeace activists, student demonstrations, minimum wage advocates, and other political movements. Police departments in Oakland, Chicago, Detroit, and other major municipalities havecontracted with Geofeedia, as well as private firms such as the Mall of America and McDonald's.
Lee Guthman, an executive at Geofeedia, told reporter John Knefel that his company could predict the potential for violence at Black Lives Matter protests just by using the location and sentiment of tweets. Guthman said the technology could gauge sentiment by attaching "positive and negative points" to certain phrases, while measuring "proximity of words to certain words."
Privacy advocates, however, have expressed concern about these sorts of automated judgments."When you have private companies deciding which algorithms get you a so-called threat score, or make you a person of interest, there's obviously room for targeting people based on viewpoints or even unlawfully targeting people based on race or religion," said Lee Rowland, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union."
Excerpt from Lee Fang, THE CIA IS INVESTING IN FIRMS THAT MINE YOUR TWEETS AND INSTAGRAM PHOTOS, Intercept, Apr. 14, 2016
This entry was posted in Espionage, Globalization, Human Rights, Markets and tagged cia, cyber-espionage, data mining, dataminr, facebook, geofeedia, In-Q-Tel, instagram, Lab41, Palantir, pathar, social media, spying, transparency, transvoyant, twitter on April 18, 2016 by Stoa.
Do Not Forget Fukushima
The nuclear disaster was a sensitive subject at the 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction for Civil Society that took place in Sendai, Japan, March 2015 . Masaaki Ohashi, the co-chair of Japan Civil Society Organization Coalition (JCC) a coalition of humanitarian NGOs formed ahead of the summit, praised the new Sendai disaster reduction framework for stating clearly that it applies to man-made and technological hazards – which covers nuclear power – as well as natural hazards.
He and others also noted the importance of an official presentation made at the conference about the lessons learned from the Fukushima crisis. "The Japanese government, represented by the Cabinet Office, has clearly indicated that they are breaking away from the 'safety' myth around nuclear power plants, so we're seeing a step forward," said Takeshi Komino, general secretary of aid agency CWS Japan.
"Our preparedness (for Fukushima) was totally inefficient – we assumed the incident would affect a 10 km radius from the plant, but it was more than 30 km," he said.The operation to evacuate people living in the danger zone was confused and not enough support was provided, he said. Failings meant that some hospital patients died at evacuation centres, he noted.A disaster prevention and evacuation plan has since been drawn up for 550,000 people, Yamamoto said. The government is continuing with its decontamination work, and is monitoring health in Fukushima, offering tests for thyroid cancer to those aged 18 and under, he added.
Civil society groups supporting Fukushima residents still struggling with the aftermath of the crisis launched a booklet at the Sendai conference containing 10 key lessons from the disaster, available in several languages including English.,,Komino of CWS Japan said it should be up to countries and communities to decide whether they want nuclear power, but "we are against the creation of the safety myth". "Pro-active risk identification and risk disclosure to the communities prior to the installation of such facilities is critical," he emphasised.
JCC2015's Ohashi said that, as the Japanese government aims to export nuclear energy technology to developing countries, it bears a "producer's responsibility" to share its knowledge about the risks and how to deal with them….
For example, in some countries that have shown interest in nuclear power, such as Bangladesh and Thailand, it may be difficult for people to shut themselves inside concrete buildings in the event of an accident. And in others, low literacy levels make written public education materials less useful than comic strip versions. Takeuchi questioned the legitimacy of suggesting that nuclear emergencies could really be prevented. "Even if you can put risk reduction measures in place, it would cost a ridiculous amount," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Fukushima…
Of the 160,000 people who left their homes after the nuclear accident, around 120,000 are still classified as evacuees. Some remain in cramped temporary accommodation, in prefabricated buildings erected on parks and other public land. In places like Iwaki City, south of the evacuation zone, the influx of displaced people seeking new homes and jobs has stirred resentment among residents Even though local officials have made preparations to revitalize empty towns and villages once they are decreed safe, there is concern that only older generations will want to return, raising questions about their future viability.
Excerpts from MEGAN ROWLING , Japan wants to share the lessons it learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Business Insider Australia, Mar. 27, 2015
This entry was posted in Energy, Environment, Human Rights, Markets, Nuclear Energy and tagged Disaster Risk Reduction, Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear-power plant, Fukushima disaster, nuclear emergencies, producer responsibility for exporting nuclear power, risk disclosure, transparency on March 30, 2015 by Stoa.
UK Nuclear Tests in Australia: Maralinga
In the mid-1950s, seven bombs were tested at Maralinga in the south-west Australian outback. The combined force of the weapons doubled that of the bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in World War Two. In archive video footage, British and Australian soldiers can be seen looking on, wearing short sleeves and shorts and doing little to protect themselves other than turning their backs and covering their eyes with their hands.Some reported the flashes of the blasts being so bright that they could see the bones of their fingers, like x-rays as they pressed against their faces.
A cloud hangs over Australia's Monte Bello Islands after Britain tested its first atomic bomb
Much has been written about the health problems suffered by the servicemen as a result of radiation poisoning. Far less well-documented is the plight of the Aboriginal people who were living close to Maralinga at the time…."A lot of people got sick and died," said Mima Smart, an aboriginal community leader."It was like a cancer on them. People were having lung disease, liver problems, and kidney problems. A lot of them died," she said, adding that communities around Maralinga have been paid little by way of compensation. It's a ten hour drive to the nearest big city, Adelaide. But people here say that the Australian government was wrong to let the tests go ahead and that Britain acted irresponsibly…
"They didn't want to do it in their own back yard because their back yard wasn't big enough," said Robin Matthews, caretaker of the Maralinga Nuclear Test Site."They thought they'd pick a supposedly uninhabited spot out in the Australian desert. Only they got it wrong. There were people here."During the 1960s and 70s, there were several large clean-up operations to try and decontaminate the site. All the test buildings and equipment were destroyed and buried. Large areas of the surface around the blast sites was also scraped up and buried.
But Mr Matthews said the clean-up, as well as the tests themselves, were done very much behind closed doors with a high level of secrecy."You've got to remember that this was during the height of the Cold War. The British were terrified that Russian spies might try and access the site," he said. The indigenous communities say many locals involved in the clean-up operation also got sick. Soil at the nuclear site grow so hot from the blast that it melted and turned to silicon has long been declared safe. There are even plans to open up the site to tourism.
But it was only a few months ago that the last of the land was finally handed back to the Aboriginal people. Most, though, say they have no desire to return there….And even almost 60 years on, the land still hasn't recovered. Huge concrete plinths mark the spots where each of the bombs was detonate
Excerpt from Jon Donnison, Lingering impact of British nuclear tests in the Australian outback, BBC, Dec. 31, 2014
This entry was posted in Environment, hazardous waste, Human Rights, indigenous peoples, nuclear weapons, property rights, public health, water resources and tagged indigenous peoples Australia, indigenous peoples rights, Maralinga nuclear, nuclear testing, right to information, transparency, UK nuclear testing Australia, UK nuclear testing Maralinga on January 6, 2015 by Stoa.
States Captured by their Energy Companies – Canada
Few governments have aligned their interests so closely to those of their country's energy and mining firms as Canada's Conservative administration. The prime minister, Stephen Harper, has boasted of Canada as an "emerging energy superpower". Under the banner of "responsible resource development", his government has done its best to ease the way for minerals firms, at home and abroad, including directing some foreign aid to countries where Canadian firms wanted to drill. Ministers point with pride to the C$174 billion ($169 billion) in export revenues from sales of minerals, oil and gas in 2013 and to the fact that Canada is home to more than half of the world's publicly listed exploration and mining companies.
But the downside of seeming so cosy with extractive firms is that whenever one of them gets in trouble—an inevitable occurrence with 1,500 firms active in more than 100 countries—the country's image is tarnished too. So the government has recently begun to reduce that vulnerability by taking a stricter line on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and bribery by Canadian firms operating abroad. Protecting the national brand is "a huge part of it," says Andrew Bauer of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, a group that monitors the industry and lobbies for openness.
Ed Fast, the international trade minister, admitted as much on November 14th, as he introduced new rules that require Canadian resources firms involved in disputes with local communities to take part in a resolution process. If any firms refuse, the government will withdraw its economic diplomacy on their behalf…[In the meantime there are ] protests against Canadian firms' projects, from Romania where environmentalists are objecting to plans for an opencast gold mine, to Guatemala, where guards at a nickel mine have been accused of gang rape…
A new Canadian law was introduced in October 2014 to curb bribery by mining and energy firms by demanding more transparency from them. The law, which still must be fleshed out in detailed regulations, requires them to disclose all payments made to domestic and foreign governments…It helped that the law was backed by an unusual coalition of non-government organisations and mining companies themselves. T It seems that the miners' experience in dealing with local communities is making them more sensitive to their concerns about corruption and other ills. In contrast, the oil and gas firms are lobbying for the transparency law to be weakened. They want to be given exemptions in countries whose local laws conveniently prohibit the disclosure of such payments. They also want to avoid having to give a project-by-project breakdown of their payments, without which the information would be of little use.
Excerpt Canada's natural-resources companies: Reputation management, Economist, Nov. 22, 2014
This entry was posted in corruption/Illegal markets, Energy, Environment, geoeconomics, hazardous waste, Human Rights, lawbreakers, Markets, property rights, public health and tagged Canada energy, Canada energy companies, Canada mines, Canada mining companies, corporate social responsibility, economic diplomacy, energy superpower, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), transparency on December 8, 2014 by Stoa.
PredPol Places, a US company, has developed] one of a range of tools using better data, more finely crunched, to predict crime. They seem to promise better law-enforcement. But they also bring worries about privacy, and of justice systems run by machines not people. Criminal offences, like infectious disease, form patterns in time and space….
Cops working with predictive systems respond to call-outs as usual, but when they are free they return to the spots which the computer suggests. Officers may talk to locals or report problems, like broken lights or unsecured properties, that could encourage crime. Within six months of introducing predictive techniques in the Foothill area of Los Angeles, in late 2011, property crimes had fallen 12% compared with the previous year; in neighbouring districts they rose 0.5%…
For now, the predictive approach works best against burglary and thefts of vehicles or their contents. These common crimes provide plenty of historical data to chew on. But adding extra types of information, such as details of road networks, can fine-tune forecasts further. Offenders like places where vulnerable targets are simple to spot, access is easy and getaways speedy, says Shane Johnson, a criminologist at University College London. Systems devised by IBM, a technology firm, watch how big local events, proximity to payday and the weather affect the frequency and location of lawbreaking. "Muggers don't like getting wet," says Ron Fellows, IBM's expert.
Predicting and forestalling crime does not solve its root causes. Positioning police in hotspots discourages opportunistic wrongdoing, but may encourage other criminals to move to less likely areas. And while data-crunching may make it easier to identify high-risk offenders—about half of American states use some form of statistical analysis to decide when to parole prisoners—there is little that it can do to change their motivation.
Misuse and overuse of data can amplify biases….But mathematical models might make policing more equitable by curbing prejudice…
This sort of transparency about what goes on in predictive systems, and what their assumptions are, may also be a partial solution to worries voiced by Andrew Ferguson, a law professor in Washington, DC. Mr Ferguson fears that judges and juries could come to place too much credence in the accuracy of crime prediction tools, jeopardising justice.
The legal limits on using social media to fish out likely wrongdoers, or create files on them, are contested. Most laws governing police investigations pre-date social networking, and some forces assert that all information posted to public forums is fair game. But Jamie Bartlett of Demos, a British think-tank, says citizens and police forces need clearer guidance about how to map physical-world privacy rights onto online spaces. He thinks gathering information about how someone behaves on social sites ought to require the same clearance needed to monitor them doggedly in public places. Officers who register anonymously or pseudonymously to read content, or send web crawlers to trawl sites against their owner's wishes, would require yet more supervision.
Identifying true villains among the oddballs and loudmouths found by social-media searches is tricky. Most police efforts are embryonic. Evgeny Morozov, an academic and technology writer, thinks the privacy-conscious have more to fear from crime detection algorithms cooked up by social networks themselves. Some of those firms already alert investigators when they suspect users of soliciting minors. Unlike the cops they employ clever coders who can process private messages and other data that police may access only with a court order.
These projects make life difficult for many criminals. But smart ones use the internet to make predictions of their own. Nearly 80% of previously arrested burglars surveyed in 2011 by Friedland, a security firm, said information drawn from social media helps thieves plan coups. Status updates and photographs generate handy lists of tempting properties with absent owners. It does not take a crystal ball to work out what comes next.
Predictive policing: Don't even think about it, Economist,July 20, 2013, at 24
This entry was posted in corruption/Illegal markets, Human Rights, Markets and tagged civil rights, crime, human rights, police, predictive policing, social media, transparency on August 26, 2013 by Stoa.
Who is Cryptome?
Cryptome unfamiliar to the general public, is well-known in circles where intelligence tactics, government secrets and whistle-blowing are primary concerns. Since its creation in 1996, Cryptome has amassed more than 70,000 files — including lists of secret agents, high-resolution photos of nuclear power plants, and much more.
Its co-founder and webmaster, a feisty 77-year-old architect, doesn't hesitate when asked why. "I'm a fierce opponent of government secrets of all kinds," says John Young. "The scale is tipped so far the other way that I'm willing to stick my neck out and say there should be none." Young describes several exchanges with federal agents over postings related to espionage and potential security breaches, though no charges have ever been filed. And he notes that corporate complaints of alleged copyright violations and efforts to shut Cryptome down have gone nowhere.
For Young, there's a more persistent annoyance than these: the inevitable comparisons of Cryptome to WikiLeaks, the more famous online secret-sharing organization launched by Julian Assange and others in 2006. Young briefly collaborated with WikiLeaks' creators but says he was dropped from their network after questioning plans for multimillion-dollar fundraising. Cryptome operates on a minimal budget — less than $2,000 a year, according to Young, who also shuns WikiLeaks-style publicity campaigns. "We like the scholarly approach — slow, almost boring," says Young. He likens Cryptome to a "dusty, dimly lit library." That's not quite the image that Reader's Digest evoked in 2005, in an article titled "Let's Shut Them Down." Author Michael Crowley assailed Cryptome as an "invitation to terrorists," notably because of its postings on potential security vulnerabilities.Cryptome's admirers also don't fully buy into Young's minimalist self-description….
Young considers himself a freedom-of-information militant, saying he is unbothered by "the stigma of seeming to go too far." Claims that Cryptome aids terrorists or endangers intelligence agents are "hokum," he said. "We couldn't possibly publish information to aid terrorists that they couldn't get on their own," he said, depicting his postings about security gaps as civic-minded. "If you know a weakness, expose it, don't hide it," he said…
As a motto of sorts, the Cryptome home page offers a quote from psychiatrist Carl Jung: "The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic poison which alienates the possessor from the community." The website says Cryptome welcomes classified and confidential documents from governments worldwide, "in particular material on freedom of expression, privacy, cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, and secret governance." Young attributes Cryptome's longevity and stature to its legion of contributors, most of them anonymous, who provide a steady stream of material to post. Among the most frequently downloaded of Cryptome's recent postings were high-resolution photos of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan after it was badly damaged in the March 2011 tsunami/earthquake disaster.
Cryptome also was a pivotal outlet last year for amorous emails between national security expert Brett McGurk and Wall Street Journal reporter Gina Chon, which led McGurk to withdraw as the Obama administration's nominee to be ambassador to Iraq. Other documents on the site list names of people purported to be CIA sources, officers of Britain's MI6 spy agency, and spies with Japan's Public Security Investigation Agency….
Another exchange with the FBI came in November 2003, according to Young, when two agents paid him a visit to discuss recent Cryptome postings intended to expose national security gaps. The postings included maps and photos of rail tunnels and gas lines leading toward New York's Madison Square Garden, where the Republican National Convention was to be held the next year….Another confrontation occurred in 2010, when Cryptome posted Microsoft's confidential Global Criminal Compliance Handbook, outlining its policies for conducting online surveillance on behalf of law enforcement agencies. Contending that the posting was a copyright violation, Microsoft asked that Cryptome be shut down by its host, Network Solutions. Criticism of Microsoft followed, from advocates of online free speech, and the complaint was withdrawn within a few days….
Moreover, Young urges Cryptome's patrons to be skeptical of anything placed on the site, given that the motives of the contributors may not be known. "Cryptome, aspiring to be a free public library, accepts that libraries are chock full of contaminated material, hoaxes, forgeries, propaganda," Young has written on the site. "Astute readers, seeking relief from manufactured and branded information, will pick and choose…"
Excerpts from DAVID CRARY, Older, Quieter Than WikiLeaks, Cryptome Perseveres, Associated Press, Mar. 9, 2013
This entry was posted in covert action, Espionage, Human Rights and tagged cia, Cryptome, cryptome.org, democracy, Espionage, FBI, freedom of information, human rights, secrecy, secrets, transparency, wikileaks on March 20, 2013 by Stoa.
Lack of Transparency – Drone Strikes
As scrutiny and debate over the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) [drones or UAVs] by the American military increased last month, the Air Force reversed a policy of sharing the number of airstrikes launched from RPAs in Afghanistan and quietly scrubbed those statistics from previous releases kept on their website. In October 2012, Air Force Central Command started tallying weapons releases from RPAs, broken down into monthly updates.
The Air Force maintained that policy for the statistics reports for November, December and January. But the February numbers, released March 7, contained empty space where the box of RPA statistics had previously been. Additionally, monthly reports hosted on the Air Force website have had the RPA data removed. Those files still contained the RPA data as of Feb. 16, according to archived web pages accessed via Archive.org. Metadata included in the new, RPA-less versions of the reports show the files were all created Feb. 22.
Defense Department spokesman Cmdr. Bill Speaks said the department was not involved in the decision to remove the statistics. AFCENT did not respond to a request for comment by press time.The data removal coincided with increased scrutiny on RPA policy caused by President Barack Obama's nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA. Brennan faced opposition in the Senate over the use of RPAs and his defense of their legality in his role as Obama's deputy national security adviser.
On Feb. 20, two days before the metadata indicates the scrubbed files were created, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sent a letter to Brennan saying that he would filibuster the nomination over concerns about using RPA strikes inside the U.S., a threat he carried out for over 12 hours on March 6 (Brennan was confirmed the next day). That same day, Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., told a crowd in South Carolina that strikes by American RPAs have killed 4,700 people. "Sometimes you hit innocent people, and I hate that, but we're at war, and we've taken out some very senior members of al-Qaida," Graham was quoted by the Patch website as saying.
Excerpts, Brian Everstine and Aaron Mehta AF removes RPA airstrike number from summary, Air Force Times, Mar 8, 2013
This entry was posted in Environment, War and tagged drones, remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), transparency, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), US Air Force, War, war Afghanistan on March 11, 2013 by Stoa.
Keep Talking, the State Listens
DARPA is funding a project that uses crowdsourcing to improve how machines analyze our speech. Even more radical: DARPA wants to make systems so accurate, you'll be able to easily record, transcribe and recall all the conversations you ever have... But it's not just about better recordings of what you say. It'll lead to more recorded conversations, quickly transcribed and then stored in perpetuity — like a Twitter feed or e-mail archive for everyday speech. Imagine living in a world where every errant utterance you make is preserved forever.
University of Texas computer scientist Matt Lease… has attracted enough attention for Darpa to award him a $300,000 award over two years to study the new project, called "Blending Crowdsourcing with Automation for Fast, Cheap, and Accurate Analysis of Spontaneous Speech." The project envisions a world that is both radically transparent and a little freaky.
The idea is that business meetings or even conversations with your friends and family could be stored in archives and easily searched. The stored recordings could be held in servers, owned either by individuals or their employers….
How? The answer, Lease says, is in widespread use of recording technologies like smartphones, cameras and audio recorders — a kind of "democratizing force of everyday people recording and sharing their daily lives and experiences through their conversations." But the trick to making the concept functional and searchable, says Lease, is blending automated voice analysis machines with large numbers of human analysts through crowdsourcing. That could be through involving people "strategically," to clean up transcripts where machines made a mistake. Darpa's older EARS project relied entirely on automation, which has its drawbacks….
Crowdsourcing is all about harnessing distributed networks of people — crowds — to do tasks better and more efficiently than individuals or machines. Recently, that's meant harnessing large numbers of people to build digital maps, raising funds for a film project at Kickstarter, or doing odd-jobs at Amazon Mechanical Turk — one system being studied as part of the project. Darpa has also taken an interest in crowdsourcing as a way to analyze vast volumes of intelligence data, and Darpa's sibling in the intelligence community, IARPA, has researched crowdsourcing as a way to find the best intelligence predictions.
It also raises some thorny legal and social questions about privacy. For one, there is an issue with "respecting the privacy rights of multiple people involved," Lease says. One solution, for a business conference that's storing and transcribing everything said by the participants, could be a mutual agreement between all parties. He adds that technical issues when it comes to archiving recorded speech are still open questions, but people could potentially hold their cell phone conversations on remote servers; or on individual, privately-held servers.
The other problem is figuring out how to search massive amounts of transcribed speech, like how search engines such as Google use complex algorithms to match and optimize search queries with results that are likely to be relevant. Fast and cheap web analytics — judging what people type and matching it up to what they click — is one way to do it. Studying focus groups are more precise, but expensive. A third way, Lease suggests, is using more crowdsourcing as a sort of a "middle-ground" between the two methods.
But it's unknown how the research will be applied to the military. Lease wouldn't speculate, and it's still very much a basic research project. Though if it's similar to EARS at all, then it may not be too difficult to figure out. A 2003 memorandum from the Congressional Research Service described EARS as focusing on speech picked up from broadcasts and telephone conversations, "as well as extract clues about the identity of speakers" for "the military, intelligence and law enforcement communities." Though Lease didn't mention automatically recognizing voices. But the research may not have to go that far — if we're going to be recording ourselves.
Excerpt, BY ROBERT BECKHUSEN, Darpa Wants You to Transcribe, and Instantly Recall, All of Your Conversations, Wired, Mar. 4, 2013
This entry was posted in covert action, Markets, War and tagged coerced transparency, crowdsourcing, DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), free speech, human rights, IARPA, privacy, radical transparency, transparency on March 8, 2013 by Stoa.
Coerced Transparency: Leaked Climate Change Report
The fifth assessment report (AR5) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is not due to be published in full until September 2013, was uploaded onto a website called Stop Green Suicide on Thursday and has since been mirrored elsewhere on the internet. The IPCC, which confirmed the draft is genuine, said in a statement: "The IPCC regrets this unauthorized posting which interferes with the process of assessment and review. We will continue not to comment on the contents of draft reports, as they are works in progress."
A little-known US-based climate sceptic called Alex Rawls, who had been accepted by the IPCC to be one of the report's 800 expert reviewers, admitted to leaking the document. In a statement posted online, he sought to justify the leak: "The addition of one single sentence [discussing the influence of cosmic rays on the earth's climate] demands the release of the whole. That sentence is an astounding bit of honesty, a killing admission that completely undercuts the main premise and the main conclusion of the full report, revealing the fundamental dishonesty of the whole." Climate sceptics have heralded the sentence – which they interpret as meaning that cosmic rays could have a greater warming influence on the planet than mankind's emissions – as "game-changing".
The isolation by climate sceptics of one sentence in the 14-chapter draft report was described as "completely ridiculous" by one of the report's lead authors. Prof Steve Sherwood, a director of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, told ABC Radio in Australia: "You could go and read those paragraphs yourself and the summary of it and see that we conclude exactly the opposite, that this cosmic ray effect that the paragraph is discussing appears to be negligible … It's a pretty severe case of [cherry-picking], because even the sentence doesn't say what [climate sceptics] say and certainly if you look at the context, we're really saying the opposite." The leaked draft "summary for policymakers" contains a statement that appears to contradict the climate sceptics' interpretation. It says: "There is consistent evidence from observations of a net energy uptake of the earth system due to an imbalance in the energy budget. It is virtually certain that this is caused by human activities, primarily by the increase in CO2 concentrations. There is very high confidence that natural forcing contributes only a small fraction to this imbalance." By "virtually certain", the scientists say they mean they are now 99% sure that man's emissions are responsible. By comparison, in the IPCC's last report, published in 2007, the scientists said they had a "very high confidence" – 90% sure – humans were principally responsible for causing the planet to warm.
Richard Betts, a climate scientist at the Met Office Hadley Centre and an AR5 lead author, tweeted that the report is still a draft and could well change: "Worth pointing out that the wording in the leaked IPCC WG1 [working group 1, which examines the "physical science basis" of climate change] draft chapters may still change in the final versions, following review comments." Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science, said that Rawls appeared to have broken the confidentiality agreement signed by reviewers: "As a registered reviewer of the IPCC report, I condemn the decision by a climate change sceptic to violate the confidentiality of the review process. The review of the IPCC report is being carried out in line with the principles of peer review which operate throughout academic science, including an expectation of high standards of ethical behaviour by reviewers. It is disappointing, if not surprising, that climate change sceptics have been unable to meet these high standards of ethical behaviour."
The IPCC, which publishes a detailed synthesis of the latest climate science every seven years to help guide policy makers, has experienced leaks before. In 2000, the third assessment report was leaked to the New York Times, while the fourth assessment report was published in 2006 by the US government a year ahead of its official publication.
Prof Bill McGuire, Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at University College London and contributing author on the recent IPCC report on climate change and extreme events, said that sceptics' reading of the draft was incorrect: "Alex Rawls' interpretation of what IPCC5 says is quite simply wrong. In fact, while temperatures have been ramping up in recent decades, solar activity has been pretty subdued, so any interaction with cosmic rays is clearly having minimal – if any – effects. IPCC AR5 reiterates what we can be absolutely certain of: that contemporary climate change is not a natural process, but the consequence of human activities."
Prof Piers Forster, Professor of Climate Change at the University of Leeds, said: "Although this may seem like a 'leak', the draft IPCC reports are not kept secret and the review process is open. The rationale in not disseminating the findings until the final version is complete, is to try and iron out all the errors and inconsistencies which might be inadvertently included. Personally, I would be happy if the whole IPCC process were even more open and public, and I think we as scientists need to explore how we can best match the development of measured critical arguments with those of the Twitter generation."
Landmark climate change report leaked online, Guardian, Dec. 14,2012
This entry was posted in agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, Energy, Environment, Markets and tagged climate change, climate change science, coerced transparency, Intergovernmental panel on climate change, IPCC, transparency on December 18, 2012 by Stoa.


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William Caxton, the merchant, diplomat, writer and printer, was the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England. Born about 1422 in Kent, he began his career at age 14 for Robert Large, one of the most wealthy and important merchants in London, and a leading member of the Mercers Company, an organization of merchants who dealt in textile fabrics. Here Caxton continued until the death of Large, in 1441, and though still an apprentice, left England and appears to have gone to Burgundy, where English cloth merchants had their most active European business connections. He prospered in Burgundy, and by 1463 was made Governor of the English Nation, the Company of Merchant Adventurers resident at Bruges, a diplomatic post, and one at which he was very successful. During this time Caxton interest in the English language increased, he was aware of its shortcomings; essentially it was a patchwork of dialects with no written foundation to maintain stability. He gave up this post to enter the service of the duchess of Burgundy, as a sort of semi-retired advisor and, in the leisure which this position afforded him, he turned his attention to literary work. A visit to Cologne in 1471 marks an important event in Caxton's life, for there, he saw a printing press at work. If we believe the words of his successor Wynkyn de Worde, he even assisted in the printing of an edition of Bartholomaeus de Proprietatibus Rerum in order to make himself acquainted with the technical details of the art. A year or two after his return to Bruges, he determined to set up a press of his own, and in about 1475 he issued Raoul Lefevre's The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, the first printed book in the English language. The book was Caxton's own translation from the French, a project he had begun in 1469, and finished in 1471, due to the encouragement of Margaret, duchess of Burgundy. Two other books were printed in Bruges, The Game and Play of Chess Moralised, and Quatre dernieres choses. In 1476, Caxton returned to England and set up his press in the abbey precincts at Westminster. In the two years following his arrival, he issued a large number of books, though very little from his own pen. We have it on the authority of the printer Robert Copland, who worked for Wynkyn de Worde, Caxton's assistant and successor, and who might himself have been with Caxton, that the first products of the Westminster press were small pamphlets. This description applies to a number of tracts of small size issued about this time. These are Lydgate's Temple of Flass, two editions of The Horse, the Sheep and the Goose and The Churl and the Bird; two editions of Burgh's Cato, Chaucer's Anelida and Arcite and The Temple of Brass, the Book of Courtesy and the Stans puer ad mensam. Service-books by Caxton include a Sarum Ordinale, and at least four editions of Books of Hours, and the Psalter, Directorium Sacerdotum, and some special services to add to the breviary. He is credited with printing about 100 editions of various books in his shop in Westminster. Twenty one works from Latin, French and Dutch literature were his own translation, and all but one of these were printed by him. Not only was Caxton England's first printer, type designer, and type founder, he also established England's first advertising agency. He used his new medium to tell people about his products and services, thus the first English advertising hand-bill was printed, followed by others that periodically advertised the work of his new printing business at the Sign of the Red Pale. Caxton's greatest contribution was to the English language, he had increased English speaking people's awareness of the poetry and literature of their time and paved the way for great English writers to follow.
A Selection of Printed Works
c. 1476 Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
1477 Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers (the first dated book issued in England, translation by earl Rivers).
c. 1477 The History of Jason, translated by Caxton from the French version of Raoul le Fevre.
1478 The Moral Proverbs of Christine de Pisan (translation by earl Rivers).
1479 Cordyale, or the Four last things (translation by earl Rivers).
1480 and 1482 Two editions of The Chronicles of England. This was the history known as The Chronicle of Brute, edited and augmented by Caxton himself.
c. 1480 Ovids Metamorphoses, translated by Caxton, and presumably printed.
1481 The Mirror of the World, Reynard the Fox and The History of Godfrey of Bologne, three of Caxton's own translations.
1482 The Polychronicon of Higden, which was Caxton's revising of Trevisa's English verion of 1387, and writing a continuation, bringing down the history to the year 1460. This continuation being the only piece of any size which we possess of Caxton's original work.
c. 1483 The Pilgrimage of the Soul and Lydgate's Life of our Lady, were issued, and also a new edition of The Canterbury Tales.
c. 1483 Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, and House of Fame.
c. 1483 The Golden Legend, Caxton's most important translation.
1483 Gower's Confessio Amantis.
1484 Caton, The Book of the Knight of the Tower, Aesop's Fables, The Royal Book, and The Order of Chivalry, all five translated by Caxton.
1485 The Life of Charles the Great, The History of Paris and Vienne, and Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur.
1487 The Book of Good Manners, Caxton's translation.
1489 The Fayttes of Arms, Caxton's translation.
c. 1489 The History of the Four Sons of Aymon and The History of Blanchardyn and Eglantine.
1490 The Eneydos, translated by Caxton.
c. 1490 The Mirror of the World, second edition.
1491 Caxton died, having just completed a translation of St. Jerome's Lives of the Fathers, which was printed by his successor in 1495.
This page contains information found in Typographic Milestones, Allan Haley, 1992; The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21), Volume II. The End of the Middle Ages, XIII. The Introduction of Printing into England and the Early Work of the Press; The Cambridge History of Early Modern English literature, David Loewenstein and Janel Mueller, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Julia Jarcho
Julia Jarcho is a New Yorker who writes and directs Minor Theater's plays. For our upcoming Marie It's Time (HERE Arts 2021) she also sings, acts and jumps through hoops. Her plays include: Pathetic (Abrons Arts Center 2019), The Terrifying (Abrons Arts Center 2017), Every Angel is Brutal (Clubbed Thumb 2016), Nomads (Incubator 2014), Grimly Handsome (Incubator 2013), Dreamless Land (New York City Players/Abrons 2011), and American Treasure (13P 2009). She has won an OBIE for Best New American Play (Grimly Handsome), a Doris Duke Impact Award, and a Mark O'Donnell Award, and has been a MacDowell Fellow and an LCT New Writer in Residence at Lincoln Center. Her book Minor Theater: Three Plays is available from 53rd State Press and her first critical book, Writing and the Modern Stage: Theater Beyond Drama, is published by Cambridge University Press. She is the Head of Playwriting at Brown University.


The Scottish National Portrait Gallery was just a refuge from the pipers and Fringe flyers on Princes Street, so I was unprepared for this whopping triple portrait, executed at dramatic scale and measuring 2½ metres by 2 metres. The floor dropped away and the gallery vanished. I had disturbed Professor Sir Alfred Cushieri and felt foolish in T-shirt and jeans. These oncologists had pierced the veil and were mapping the uncharted reaches of space. They laboured on the edge of a precipice and the view was both sublime and terrifying.
In part, Moore's debut collection reprises her two stunning pamphlets: the existentially inquiring, honest and dignified The Only Reason for Time, and Night Letter, short-listed for the Michael Marks Award for Poetry Pamphlets, 2016, and torn between poles of hope and despair. Both pamphlets sold out, so their availability in book form is a blessing.
sprawled across your bed writing his notes.
You'd gone out for a pee, the ward was quiet.
Moore's oncologist towers with Cushieri and his colleagues. His bold opening statement (he even starts the poem) suggests his considered thought – and of course he appreciates that no-one is better placed to document the human experience than a poet. He's powerful too as he commands the narrator to 'use' her experience for her good – for the general good. Moore implies the intimacy of his ongoing care with economy as the oncologist is 'sprawled' across the bed. And suddenly he's a priest of sorts, as the poem's 'you' leaves for a pee, creating a moment of intimacy – and showing how disease and dying drops its pockets of secrecy within our relationships. This poem is subtle, unflinching stuff. Although initially perceived as powerful and relaxed, we learn that the oncologist 'nursed his wife' – traditionally a female role – and reminding us that death knocks every door.
while people pose each other at the entrance.
[…] to be hanged like cattle.
where five still dangled in a line, narrow and bare.
There, in the space between 'five' and 'still' the cell is haunted by Hitler's would be assassins – except they're only there because the speaker has added them for us, as they were, in turn, added for her: 'Unless only the hooks are shown // and I've drawn the bodies from a slaughterhouse image'.
Moore's is a rare gift. We occasionally encounter artists, gatekeepers, who work at the limits of the known, of the utterable. Their work is shamanistic – rooted to experience, woven from the fabric of the universe. Moore would, doubtless contend this quasi-spiritual claptrap but her work achieves this. Like Currie's oncologists, her poems shimmer with unworldliness, despite their grounding.


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Volunteers, funds still needed as Southern Baptists continue serving Puerto Rico
By Brandon Elrod
(SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico)—Seven weeks after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, Southern Baptists continue to serve residents there. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) and Send Relief have created an island-wide response from the ground up.
Sam Porter, NAMB's national director for disaster relief, has spent several days in Puerto Rico over two separate trips to assist disaster response coordinator Jack Noble in facilitating the large scale Southern Baptist response in Puerto Rico.
"Though the plight of Puerto Rico has started to fade from the headlines," said Porter, "there are still plenty of needs and places to serve."
Send Relief has attained warehouse space in Puerto Rico for the collection of food, water and other resources. Items are then distributed to the various churches that are ministering to those in need across the island.
A part of the disaster relief strategy has involved equipping local churches across the island to serve as distribution centers for the surrounding region.
SBDR and Send Relief teams have prepared, as of Nov. 14, over 19,000 hot meals. Between Oct. 22 and Nov. 11, Send Relief and SBDR teams distributed nearly 254,000 meals, the majority of which were sandwich meals.
Trained SBDR teams and volunteers from state conventions in Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania-South Jersey, Maryland-Delaware, the Northwest Baptist Convention, the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV) and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention have been hard at work serving Puerto Rico and laying the foundation for future disaster relief efforts.
In addition to SBDR, volunteer teams organized through Send Relief are expected to serve from now through early 2018. Many collegiate teams are planning to use their winter and spring breaks to make the trip to serve in Puerto Rico. Churches and other ministries can make arrangements to send teams and serve communities across the island.
"We are seeking team leaders to work, people who have carpentry or disaster relief experience and can manage a group," said Porter. "If some would like to come for two to four weeks at a time, we could really use their services."
Many of the Southern Baptist churches in Puerto Rico have seen God move in spite of the debilitating effects of the storm.
"One of the good things about this disaster," said Carlos Rodriguez, a North American Mission Board (NAMB) missionary in Puerto Rico, "is that people are having to move from their pews and into the mission field. The people have started to see the need themselves, and they are moving out into their communities and serving, not just food but also sharing the gospel."
As Hurricane Maria left mass devastation in its wake, many of the church buildings became unusable, either because they lost power and running water or because they were severely damaged. In some cases, buildings were a total loss. Even so, Rodriguez, NAMB's national church planting catalyst in Puerto Rico, ministry is moving forward.
"People are getting saved," he said. "It has, in a way, been a revival for the churches. Churches are thinking in different ways. Their people are visiting others in their community and not just staying in the church."
Several Southern Baptist state conventions—Alabama, SBCV and Tennessee—have volunteered to take different regions of the island and coordinate partnerships between their churches and those in Puerto Rico. NAMB is working to facilitate partnerships between mainland churches and those in Puerto Rico. Churches or state conventions that would like to cooperate should contact NAMB.
Visit sendrelief.org in order to volunteer or to donate funds to the continuing relief efforts.
Brandon Elrod writes for the North American Mission Board.


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Gina Carano fired from 'Mandalorian' after social media post
LOS ANGELES — Lucasfilm says Gina Carano is no longer a part of "The Mandalorian" cast after many online called for her firing over a social media post that likened the experience of Jews during the Holocaust to the U.S. political climate.
'Judas and the Black Messiah''s Fred Hampton visited Canada weeks before his murder
TORONTO — Just two weeks before he was assassinated by the FBI in 1969, Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton gave a rousing speech at the University of Regina, addressing topics including the oppression of African Americans in the United S
B.C. premier 'alarmed' by systemic racism allegations, promises anti-racism law
VICTORIA — British Columbia's premier says the government is working on anti-racism legislation that may be introduced this year. John Horgan also said Wednesday he was "alarmed" to hear allegations of racism at the Royal B.C.
Hustler publisher Larry Flynt dies at 78
LOS ANGELES — Porn purveyor Larry Flynt, who built Hustler magazine into an adult entertainment empire while championing First Amendment rights, died Wednesday. He was 78.
Film, TV maker Joss Whedon faces 'Buffy' actor abuse claims
LOS ANGELES — Prominent film and TV creator Joss Whedon, who faced a claim of abusive behaviour on the set of "Justice League," drew criticism Wednesday from actors who worked with him on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
As music rights sales heat up, Merck Mercuriadis swoops in with big offers
TORONTO — Merck Mercuriadis is holding a Canadian treasure in his hands. Deep into a conversation about the future of the music industry, the head of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund steps away from his webcam to pull a vinyl record from his shelf.
In the Thicke of it, Robin finds the light
NEW YORK — A tabloid-heavy divorce and monstrous lawsuit about his biggest hit was hard enough, but then life hit Robin Thicke beyond the gossip column. His father, "Growing Pains" actor Alan Thicke, died.
Bruce Springsteen faces drunken driving charge in New Jersey
HIGHLANDS, N.J. — Bruce Springsteen is facing a drunken driving charge in New Jersey. Springsteen was arrested Nov.
Recently discovered sketch of a young Stompin' Tom Connors generates artistic buzz
FREDERICTON — Decked out in his trademark Stetson and plywood-pounding cowboy boots, it's hard to imagine country-folk legend Stompin' Tom Connors as a male model.
Review: Potent history in 'Judas and the Black Messiah'
Forces of revolution and oppression collide and entangle in Shaka King's blistering "Judas and the Black Messiah," a potent and vividly acted drama about the FBI's subversion and assassination of Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Hampton.


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Q: MySQL query to replace spaces in a column with underscores I have a MySQL database table 'photos' with a column 'filename'.
I need to replace the spaces in the filename column values with underscores.
Is it possible with a single/multiple query? If so how?

A: You can use the REPLACE function :

REPLACE(str,from_str,to_str)
Returns the string str with all
  occurrences of the string from_str
  replaced by the string to_str.
  REPLACE() performs a case-sensitive
  match when searching for from_str.

So, to replace all occurences of a character by another one in all lines of a table, something like this should do :
update photos set filename = replace(filename, ' ', '_');

ie, you search for ' ' in the column filename and use '_' instead ; and put the result back into filename.

A: update photos set filename = replace(filename,' ', '_');

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


WHILE I WAS a graduate student in clinical psychology my life was interrupted by the disturbing arrival of anxiety attacks. When the attack would sneak up on me, I would have to stop whatever I was doing. If I were driving a car, I would have to pull over to the side of the road and wait until it passed. There were times I would have to run out of the classroom because of the loss of equilibrium the anxiety brought. Sometimes these panic episodes were so intense I feared I was having a heart attack.
No matter what book I read about anxiety, it didn't help. Whether I read Carl Jung or Karen Horsey, it kept me more aware of the existence of anxiety in my life, and this tended to make it more present. Even thinking or talking about it could make me anxious. My experience with therapists was essentially the same as reading self-help and professional books. Although they might provide a moment of relief during the sessions when the therapists took over worrying about it, they more often than not brought me deeper into the mesmerizing spell that the disturbance held over my life.
I was fortunate to come across the work of the radical psychiatrist R. D. Laing, who embraced the disturbances of life as an opportunity for personal development and growth. In the spirit of his approach I decided to become a student of my symptom, to learn from it, and be guided by the way it was opening a new world of consciousness I had never experienced before.
contributes to its becoming bigger than life. You become drawn into making it more real and powerful than it actually need be and concretizing it as a deeply engrained part of your life.
One of the biggest traps we fall into is that we look for the origins of what we find disturbing as if it were a medical disease rather than an emotional state of dis-ease. Even the choice to give a disturbing experience a pathological name, like "symptom" or "problem," takes us further into a dark and immobilizing view of our condition and situation. When we pathologize our life, we become like an architect who designs a psychological structure for imprisoning our potential to move forward. As a victim of a symptom, it naturally follows that we will be dominated by a fear of the condition returning. What we fail to see is how the power of a symptom derives from the way we feed our fear of it. We fail to trust life and the processes it uses to teach and guide us.
The way out involves no particular understanding of your past or present situation, but a chaotic in how you relate to it. In my own personal encounter with anxiety, I moved from a terrified fear to a mobilized curiosity, and that was enough to take away the potency of its powerful grip. There are endless ways of relating to the disturbances that enter our life. However, any response that sets us up to conquer and eradicate the problem may paradoxically make it more present and discomforting. Any way of relating to the symptom that brings forth more imaginative and resourceful responses will not only loosen its grip but may very well result in gracing the quality of our life.
The mistake we make with discomforting experience is that we try to beat it rather than join it. We go to war with our discomfort, first giving it a name, that justifies our going into psychological or medical warfare with it. The main reason people are in trouble and end up going to a therapist is that they have already been doing psychology with their life and have spent weeks, months, and even longer trying to fight their symptom. The last thing needed is an escalation of this warfare with one's inner life.
Everyday soul is about fully attending to what is present and finding a way to resourcefully relate to it so as to bring forth a graceful outcome, even when this involves the most difficult and painful circumstances. Everything in life is a teacher with a lesson that is perfectly made for you during the time in which it is received. We are never given more than we can bear. Grace, the divine presence and generosity of spirit, befalls those whose hands are open to receive it. The work of spirit is toward making graceful outcomes and blessing all that we receive in life. It steps away from seeing problems that need to be solved and difficulties that must be surmounted. Spirituality embraces all of life, its upsides and downsides and does so with the serenity and calmness of a still but powerful compassion for the whole of creation.
"How do you feel when you bite them," Erickson suggested he let one nail grow long so he could enjoy the pleasure of chewing on a long, juicy one. The man grew the nail long but refused to bite it. He then grew all his nails, stopped biting them, began playing the organ as a hobby, and completed law school.
A visiting consultant said to him, "I hear you're Jesus and that you're a carpenter. It looks like you're missing a saw. Let me see what we can do about that." He then arranged to place a saw in the man's hands and to have someone hold lumber so that the man's arm movements now became the action of sawing wood. As a carpenter who was once missing a saw, he was now engaged in resourceful conduct. This patient began making a bookcase and eventually was discharged from the hospital, pursuing a career as a cabinetmaker.
In a similar fashion, the psychotherapist R. D. Laing was introduced to a young woman who had been diagnosed as a catatonic schizophrenic, meaning she would go into frozen postures for long periods of time. When he met her, he said, "I hear you have a talent for being still." He then persuaded her to use this ability to get a job as a model posing in an art studio. The same behavior that others used to impoverish the meaning of her life was transformed into a profitable resource, helping move her life toward a successful future.
"Use what you have to work with" not only applies to coaching a sports team but directs how we can most gracefully play the game of life.
Life itself is like an endless tape that repeats the same sound. What we hear, see, and feel are therefore statements about our participation in life rather than any objective representation of what is really happening to us. We are not passive recipients of life but active constructors of our experience. When we see problems, trauma, and shortcomings, we are acting in such a way as to bring forth that realization through a self-fulfilling prophecy. Spirituality invites us to act in such a way as to bring forth the spiritual gifts of healing, reconciliation, forgiveness, blessings, and peace.
When a person tells me that they have "depression" I usually ask them who told them so or what it is that makes them believe this is the case. They eventually respond with simple descriptions of their difficulties such as, "I have trouble getting up in the morning," "I don't know whether I can keep a job," "I worry too much about my kids," or "I feel heavy and slow." When I shift to these specifics of their day-to-day lives, I find that it is easier to come tip with some fresh ideas that might be useful, whereas a focus on an abstract concept like "depression," is less resourceful. It tends to explain why their life is miserable without giving a clue what might be done differently.
The great spiritual traditions have always taught that much of what we hold as true objective reality is but an illusion created by the hand that serves the eye beholding it. Drawing the world in terms of pathology sets us up to be held down in the darkness, unable to see the spiritual resources that surround us. I am not suggesting that people suffer only because they see themselves as suffering. What I'm saying is that there are many ways to relate to our suffering.
We do not need to be less compassionate about suffering but become more compassionate and hopeful about the ways in which suffering can be a spiritual teacher. This is the awareness that psychology too often forgets. Seeing the psychopathologies of everyday life as conditions of spiritual dis-ease moves us to a higher ground where we may relate to them in a more transformative way.
Each of us goes through the day proving to ourselves that life is exactly as we believe it to be. We punctuate the endless "cogitates" in such a way that we hear what we believe must be present. In this way, our beliefs are always kept true, even when they are not. For instance, if you rigorously demand that your spouse be more loving to you, then you may not believe that the forthcoming overtures of kindness are authentic. You may snap back with words like, "You're only giving me flowers because I asked you to, not because you really want to!" or "If you loved really loved me, I wouldn't have to question it." If you truly believe you are not loved, nothing anyone else does can prove otherwise.
Everyday life is sprinkled with vicious circles that keep us locked into nonresourceful conduct. For deeply engrained pessimists, no data can shift them away from their darkened outlook. If it's sunny, they'll say, "But it won't last, or "It reminds me of how much I miss the sun whenever it rains." It is possible to release virtuous circles into our performance of everyday life. We can choose to enjoy the sun when it comes out. To such a person, both rain and sunshine ere embraced and celebrated, evil and good are accepted as teachers, and sickness and health are understood as guides to life.


For some reason, Sbarro's humongous pizzas never fail to warm my heart. The pasta (most especially the ziti) is the best!
I don't visit Sbarro regularly, but everytime I do, I taste the same mozzarella goodness and the homey feel though the resto's always full.
As I've said in my previous blog post, I could always find another Italian resto, but nothing could replace Sbarro in my heart.


Should you find yourself in a bind you can purchase that lovely forgotten person on your list a gift certificate for Saul's! It can be used for services or to shop for new products and can printed out or sent by email. Click here to check em out!


In part 1 of this story I told about the discovery of Sedna, the first – and still only – body found far beyond the edge of the Kuiper belt. Part 2 described some of our early theories on how Sedna had gotten there and what it was telling us about the early history of the solar system. Here I'll begin talking about the most recent searches for more things like Sedna and how we're doing so far.
Seven years ago, I knew with certainty that the discovery of Sedna in a strange orbit that never brought it close to any planet was telling us something profound about our solar system. I also knew that Sedna would never divulge her secrets alone. To learn more, we'd have to find more things like Sedna.
Brian Marsden, long time director of the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center died today. While it is easy to say "he was the nicest guy…" in this case it was simply true. Everyone who came across him has stories about Brian. My book, coming out in out a few more weeks has a few too. Just last week I autographed a copy for Brian and bookmarked the spots where he appeared. I say nice things about him, which made me nervous to send him the copy. I was always a little worried about exactly how he would react to praise.But I really wanted him to see it to make sure he knew how much I appreciated everything he had done for me, for astronomy, and for the solar system.


One of our most loved characters is now available as an activity teether - Clip Clop! This soft, chewy-textured teether is perfect for gently massaging and soothing sore gums.
Easily attach a link and this Clip Clop activity teether can be attached to most prams, strollers or capsules to prevent losing. Clip Clop has textured teething rings that make Clip Clop sounds when you rattle and shake! The perfect teething buddy for at home or on the go!


"This the girl"The tall one whispered to his friend on the right.
OMG i had to leave there probably people who want to kill me for fun or something.So i got up and started running but all of a sudden i froze.
"What the..."My heart skipped a beat i could hear it in my ears, i couldn't even speak nothing i was just frozen.
My name is Cassie Lotte, at least that's what i thought it was. But in the span of two days everything changed, My whole life changed.
Although I'm not sure if it was for the better or worse.
I went from being an orphan to a Queen.
Instead of going to college I mastered my new found powers and learned how to fight.
I went from kissing college boys to kissing kings.
Instead of scrubbing floors on my knees to make ends meet, I had people bowing at my feet.
I went from being Cassie Lotte to becoming Cassandra Don Pira, Queen of Avalon.
Lost in the world is a princess that most be found, A warrior that most be made and a circle that will be formed in order to restore the kingdom to its former glory.
Now and then a child of the Three Gods will be chosen. Each child who receives a gift moves into the Institute for the three Gods' Chosen children. Every Chosen, who estates at the Institute, must provide with their powers and train to use them to perfection. Nora wakes up with the lack of memory where she is and how she got there, but also she has been chosen by the Three Gods, a gift to look into people's eyes and see their deaths.
How reading a a great book or going to a flick will help you find LOVE: the all caps kind.
Astrology is a long and endless study that opens the doors of my mind... freeing it to wander and wonder about the magic and mysteries of life. Please join me on these short journeys.


text:
Q: ImageIO: CGImageRead_mapData 'open' failed error = 24 (Too many open files) I am developing a small game app using Uikit + Uiimages. In the normal condition my app is running without any problem . but when i use rashly it will crash with the error
<Notice>: ImageIO: CGImageRead_mapData 'open' failed '/var/mobile/Applications/01E69C96-CF79-466F-93AB-3A6752AF1295/PictureBook.app/NextPage.png'

<Notice>: error = 24 (Too many open files).

I am releasing all the image views and videos after usage is complete. I tested my app with leak tool. There is no leaks also. No warnings, no potential leaks etc...
I searched for a good answer, but i didn't get the appropriate answer yet. Anyone knows the answer , please reply. I posted some of the codes below.
- (NSMutableArray *)flowerArray {

if (!_flowerArray) {

_flowerArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];

for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {

UIImage *flowerIm = [[UIImage alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"01_Flower_0%d.png",i] ofType:nil]];

[_flowerArray addObject:flowerIm];

[flowerIm release];

}

}

return _flowerArray;
}

-(void)flowerImagesAnimate {

self.flowerImage.animationImages = self.flowerArray;

self.flowerArray = nil;

self.flowerImage.animationDuration = 1.0;

self.flowerImage.animationRepeatCount = 3;

[self.flowerImage startAnimating];

}

-(void)playerPrepare
{

[self.view addSubview:[self.presentView playerPrepare]];

}
-(void)wakeUPPanjo
{
NSString *url = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"01_Anim"
ofType:@"mp4"];

NSURL *movieURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:url];

self.presentView.player = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc]
initWithContentURL:movieURL];

[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter]
addObserver:self
selector:@selector(movieFinishedCallback
name:MPMoviePlayerPlaybackDidFinishNotification
object:self.presentView.player];

[self.presentView.player prepareToPlay];

[self performSelector:@selector(playerPrepare) withObject:nil afterDelay:0.5];

wakeUpTimer = nil;

}

-(void)viewLoad
{

wakeUpTimer = [NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:videoDelay target:self selector:@selector(wakeUPPanjo) userInfo:nil repeats:NO];

[self performSelector:@selector(flowerImagesAnimate) withObject:nil afterDelay:flowerPopupDelay];
}

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view from its nib.

[self performSelectorOnMainThread:@selector(viewLoad)
withObject:nil
waitUntilDone:false];
}

A: Try to use initWithContentsOfFile in your whole project for loading images instead of UIImage's imageNamed.
imageNamed is auto released if you have too many images that can lead to serious problems, apple itself recommends to reduce the use of auto released objects.

iPhone OS Note: Because on iPhone OS an application executes in a more memory-constrained environment, the use of autorelease pools is discouraged in methods or blocks of code (for example, loops) where an application creates many objects. Instead, you should explicitly release objects whenever possible.

A: Had the same error when reading the image-data from my cache directory.
When your Image is contained in the App-Project, than afzal's suggestion is the best solution.
But when reading it directly from the Cache Folder, than do not use
[UIImage initWithContentsOfFile:<image-file-path>];
especially when you load like a bunch of Images from the Cache-Folder, because it might break some of your images and they could look like some were only half loaded. Load the Image Data like following
NSData *data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:<image-file-path>];
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageWithData:data];

This will most like not look damaged to any of your images.
I guess, its because of opening to many input-streams at once.

A: Run sudo fs_usage -f filesys PictureBook. In the second column, files should "open" and "close", but your app has too many "open" and too few "close" because you are opening files too fast or leaking file descriptors. Maybe you are not retaining _flowerArray and it is recreated everytime? It is unclear. Look for the offending files and add some logs around.
If you were used UIImage's imageNamed instead initWithContentsOfFile, files would be cached and reused, and it wouldn't be so prone to crashing, but anyway, it is highly likely that you are leaking/opening too fast.


Dream of a green and flourishing paddy field foretells harvest and happiness.
Dream of paddies suffering the harm caused by pests symbolizes disappointments and sorrow.
Dream of paddies getting stolen implies that the dreamer's strongest desire will be realized.
Dream of removing the husk of paddies denotes that the dreamer has the virtues of thrift and hard work.


It was the first World Cup to be held in Eastern Europe the 11th time that it had been held in Europe. Clearing them fixes certain problems like loading formatting issues on sites. Download lagu tum hi ho versi bahasa jawa. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July. When you use a browser it saves some information from websites in its cache , like Chrome cookies. At an estimated cost of over $ 14. Google has many special features to help you find exactly what you' re looking for.
The FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, an international football tournament contested by the men' s national teams of the member associations of FIFA once every four years. Search the world' s information images, videos , including webpages more.


Roaming the Countryside: "I think he had that surgery just so he could get the cane."
"I think he had that surgery just so he could get the cane."
If you've ever watched HOUSE on the FOX network, then you are probably familiar with his sport jacket, t-shirt, torn jeans, and of course... his cane.
I have admired the way his character wears the cane without apology. And so, after having a surgical procedure on the bottom of my right foot... I figured, why not?
I hobbled my way out of the store and immediately met the eyes of my laughing and smiling wife. As I dragged my bum leg into the car, I heard her cough out between laughs, "well, of course you would."
As my life would have it, this Sunday involved an announcement at church regarding our mission in Guatemala.
I absolutely love these last few days as we near the horizon. I am consumed by the desire to get there and to begin taking steps into the summer. I somehow can feel the future in my hands. We began counting down the days last July... 300 days ago.
My surgery finds me forced to sit still and unable to drive. The timing was perfect however for me to sell my car and so I concentrate on preparation via Skype, email, telephone, and Rosetta Stone.
Our 2 vehicles await us, we are enrolled to begin with 4 weeks of language school in Antigua, we have an apartment rented there for that time, Caleb & Aleks are scheduled to go to Camp Guamiski (a camp for missionary kids), they are also enrolled in the Christian Academy where Kellie will volunteer, my role is becoming clearly defined, passports, plane tickets, and suitcases are secured and in position!
Standing where we are now and looking back across the landscape of these past few years is absolutely breathtaking. The path of our lives is simply the shaping of the hands of God. He gave us the vision... we began walking... and He has indeed moved mountains.
Since the spring of 2012 our family has travelled to China (adoption), Texas (training), Guatemala twice, lived in my parent's basement and at Kellie's parents upstairs. From here we will stay at Mimi's house for a few days, then move to Antigua for a month, move to the house next door to Mimi's House, and will stay there as we adjust to the culture of Guatemala.
This past year has been incredible. We know God has used these days to prepare us for the journey to come. I think we have learned to enjoy each step of the way. We have found joy and happiness in a lot of unexpected places.
Even in a busted foot and a fancy cane.
While I did not have foot surgery just so I "could get the cane," I certainly am not going to let the opportunity pass me by! Ha!
opening our home to the lost and hurting of Guatemla.
So then, I won't be Dr. House, but I can be a pastor and missionary who lives in SHEPHERD HOUSE!


It's a member of a small and select group of organisations that shape international humanitarian action.
It's got immense potential. But how can it make the most difference to our collective work? Here are a few ideas. What do you think? Please make your comments below. Right now, there's a rare opportunity to help it get off on the right footing.
The HQAI was going to be called the "Humanitarian Certification Initiative" (see point 3.2 on these minutes from HAP, 8/6/15). The idea was that it would focus on certifying organisations, like HAP. That proved controversial (e.g. here and here). I'm delighted that the name has changed, and hope this signals that other, more powerful, approaches are being considered.
The CHS Alliance also stands to gain, by making it crystal clear that the Core Humanitarian Standard is separate from certification. I've talked to various UN agencies and major donors who have not wanted to adopt the CHS because they think it's still linked to certification.
Now, it should be easier to promote the CHS as a common tool that any organisation can use however they think best. We all gain by using common standards.
The vast consultation process for the World Humanitarian Summit brought up various ideas about 'independent monitoring & reporting'. Any of them could be a powerful direction for the HQAI.
Within a specific humanitarian response, the work of individial agencies could be reported on. Or the collective response as a whole could be monitored. Or the way that the highly influential donors work could be monitored. Or compliance with international humanitarian law could be monitored.
Monitoring could be undertaken in various ways. There's a strong zeitgeist towards feedback directly from affected people. An independent body could scrutinise financial flows, which are increasingly transparent, or commission focused research. By publishing any of this, they could influence the decisions that matter.
The Humanitarian Response Index used to independently monitor how well major donors met their commitments to "Good Humanitarian Donorship". It influenced their behaviour. The WHS consultation included calls for an "HRI 2".
The 2011 Sphere Standards include a requirement for agencies to monitor & report performance compared to the standards. An independent mechanism could monitor & verify their reports.
The HQAI could champion the views of affected people on the assistance they receive (e.g. building on surveys commissioned by the Fritz Institute or Groundtruth). This was recommended by the influential 1996 Rwanda Joint Evaluation, but not taken on. It was subsequently promoted by the Start Network among others in the WHS process. This way, the HQAI could encourage agencies to address the most urgent gaps in humanitarian action, globally.
Humanitarian action is often influenced by political considerations. So there's a particularly important role for independent oversight that shines a spotlight on how well authorities and agencies live up to their commitments.
The key question is: how can the HQAI use its precious collective resources to make the most difference to humanitarian action, over the long term?
Any monitoring or 'quality assurance' process should connect directly to the most significant decisions that shape humanitarian action. There are often about: respect for humanitarian law, access to affected populations, the availability & allocation of funds, and managing operational projects.
It's notoriously hard to get traction on the first two areas. They are inevitably bound up in high level diplomacy, which is beyond my ken.
I'd think that the HQAI could add real value to the second two areas, through a combination of any or all of the concrete suggestions in the bullet points above.
But I'm not on the board. These people are (scroll to the bottom). The Executive Director has just been announced. SCHR has been much involved, so the SCHR Principals and Working Group may still be influential, along with the handful of government donors funding the HQAI.
Our ability to make collective decisions is one of the most limited and precious resources in the whole sector. So what would you suggest to these decision makers about how to make best use of the new body they are bringing into being, for the common good?
Could they consider an open process to set the HQAI's goals and strategy, that strengthens its legitimacy, impact and support?
Hi Alex – enjoyed this . A very interesting and potentially powerful set of suggestions.
One aspect particuarly jumps out at me. Quality … a great word, and at the heart of what we strive to do, but through who's eyes…. quality as determined by who? There is a crying need for the views and perceptions of those we purport to be assisting to be represented, and heard by those in positions of power. This requires a champion.
Currently we see a situation where accountability activities that do take place in responses are …….
a) limited to an individual agency/ project activity… not at the response level.
b) shouting into a vacuum ….. there is no mechanism for ensuring that perceptions and view of communities are actively considered by response senior management, by donors and govt response agencies.
A non delivery body, promoting quality, with links to key sectoral players, could be the champion needed for such a process, and would at the same time strengthen the hand of the CHS – providing evidence based on community perception.
Hi I hope you still remember me Orlen fro ACDI VOCA on Farmers Voice.
I am also the Program Quality in charge of Action Aid Myanmar and we are developing also our own Program Quality contextualized standards and guidleines .
Hope to link with you and your NGO Performance and help us in developing it.
I just want also to keep our ties going on , the light of our friendship to keep burning.


text:
Additional major order from China for rail fastening systems
Award of the order to Vossloh underscores the continued strong market position in the high-speed segment in China
Order volume of €35 million, with deliveries starting in 2020 according to current information
Vossloh has won another tender for the delivery of rail fastening systems in China. The supplier is the Chinese company in the Fastening Systems business unit in the Core Components division. After the order in April, this is the second major order won in the high-speed sector in China this year, which underscores the strong market position of Vossloh in this segment. In April, Vossloh won the tender for the "Zheng Wan Chongqing section" project with an equivalent volume of approximately €30 million.
The new order encompasses an equivalent volume of approximately €35 million. The fastening systems are intended for a section of the planned high-speed line between Ganzhou in south-eastern China and Shenzhen, a city directly bordering Hong Kong. Based on current information, the rail fastening systems for both of these orders are scheduled for delivery beginning in 2020. A substantial increase in sales in China compared to the current fiscal year is thus not expected before 2020.
Vossloh has been present in China since 2006. Kunshan-based Vossloh Fastening Systems China Co. Ltd. is one of the locally leading providers of rail fastening systems for use on high-speed lines. At 23,000 kilometers (as of the end of 2017), China possesses the largest and most modern high-speed network in the world. Additional high-speed projects are under construction or in the planning stage, and should expand the rail network to 38,000 kilometers by 2025.
Werdohl, November 19, 2018
Vossloh is active in rail technology markets worldwide. The Company's core business is rail infrastructure. The Group activities in the area of rail infrastructure are organized into the three divisions of Core Components, Customized Modules and Lifecycle Solutions. In the 2017 fiscal year, Vossloh achieved sales of about €920 million in its core business, with more than 3,900 employees.