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WillyT's Journal
November 29, 2013
By Nicole Mortillaro - Global News
November 28, 2013 5:41 pm
This photo of Comet ISON was taken by NASA's SOHO spacecraft at 00:18 UTC. Clearly something of ISON remains after its close encounter with the sun. NASA/SOHO
<snip>
TORONTO – It’s been one heck of a roller coaster ride.
As astronomers, both professional and amateur, tuned in to astronomy sites and blogs around the world on Thursday, it looked like the sun had killed Comet ISON.
However, much to the surprise of astronomers on Thursday — including those at NASA — around 4 p.m., EST images from NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) showed that something had survived the trip.
<snip>
Link: http://globalnews.ca/news/997084/the-end-of-ison-not-quite/
X-posted from GD.
UPDATE: Comet ISON lives!
UPDATE: Comet ISON lives!By Nicole Mortillaro - Global News
November 28, 2013 5:41 pm
This photo of Comet ISON was taken by NASA's SOHO spacecraft at 00:18 UTC. Clearly something of ISON remains after its close encounter with the sun. NASA/SOHO
<snip>
TORONTO – It’s been one heck of a roller coaster ride.
As astronomers, both professional and amateur, tuned in to astronomy sites and blogs around the world on Thursday, it looked like the sun had killed Comet ISON.
However, much to the surprise of astronomers on Thursday — including those at NASA — around 4 p.m., EST images from NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) showed that something had survived the trip.
<snip>
Link: http://globalnews.ca/news/997084/the-end-of-ison-not-quite/
X-posted from GD.
November 29, 2013
By Nicole Mortillaro - Global News
November 28, 2013 5:41 pm
This photo of Comet ISON was taken by NASA's SOHO spacecraft at 00:18 UTC. Clearly something of ISON remains after its close encounter with the sun. NASA/SOHO
<snip>
TORONTO – It’s been one heck of a roller coaster ride.
As astronomers, both professional and amateur, tuned in to astronomy sites and blogs around the world on Thursday, it looked like the sun had killed Comet ISON.
However, much to the surprise of astronomers on Thursday — including those at NASA — around 4 p.m., EST images from NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) showed that something had survived the trip.
<snip>
Link: http://globalnews.ca/news/997084/the-end-of-ison-not-quite/
UPDATE: Comet ISON lives!
UPDATE: Comet ISON lives!By Nicole Mortillaro - Global News
November 28, 2013 5:41 pm
This photo of Comet ISON was taken by NASA's SOHO spacecraft at 00:18 UTC. Clearly something of ISON remains after its close encounter with the sun. NASA/SOHO
<snip>
TORONTO – It’s been one heck of a roller coaster ride.
As astronomers, both professional and amateur, tuned in to astronomy sites and blogs around the world on Thursday, it looked like the sun had killed Comet ISON.
However, much to the surprise of astronomers on Thursday — including those at NASA — around 4 p.m., EST images from NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) showed that something had survived the trip.
<snip>
Link: http://globalnews.ca/news/997084/the-end-of-ison-not-quite/
November 28, 2013
By Valentina Accardo, Reuters
11/28/13
<snip>
BOLOGNA, Italy — Raoul Weil, a former UBS banker charged by U.S. authorities five years ago for allegedly helping rich Americans dodge taxes via secret Swiss bank accounts, has agreed to go to the United States to face trial after being arrested in Italy, Weil's lawyer and judicial sources told Reuters.
Weil, a 54-year-old Swiss citizen, has been held in an Italian jail for more than five weeks after police arrested him in a hotel in Bologna where he was on vacation with his wife. U.S. authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Weil in early 2009, just months after he was charged for allegedly conspiring to help 17,000 American clients of Swiss bank UBS avoid taxes.
"Mr. Weil agreed to extradition to the U.S. because he has always been prepared to confront these charges," Weil's lawyer, Aaron R. Marcu of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in New York, said. Weil has said he has committed no wrongdoing.
The U.S. Justice Department spokespeople in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday, which is a holiday the United States. Weil's indictment in November 2008 was a landmark in efforts by U.S. authorities to clamp down on the use of offshore Swiss bank accounts.
<snip>
More: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/28/21659486-swiss-banker-for-us-tax-dodgers-to-be-extradited?lite
Swiss Banker For U.S. Tax Dodgers To Be Extradited - MSNBC
Swiss banker for U.S. tax dodgers to be extraditedBy Valentina Accardo, Reuters
11/28/13
<snip>
BOLOGNA, Italy — Raoul Weil, a former UBS banker charged by U.S. authorities five years ago for allegedly helping rich Americans dodge taxes via secret Swiss bank accounts, has agreed to go to the United States to face trial after being arrested in Italy, Weil's lawyer and judicial sources told Reuters.
Weil, a 54-year-old Swiss citizen, has been held in an Italian jail for more than five weeks after police arrested him in a hotel in Bologna where he was on vacation with his wife. U.S. authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Weil in early 2009, just months after he was charged for allegedly conspiring to help 17,000 American clients of Swiss bank UBS avoid taxes.
"Mr. Weil agreed to extradition to the U.S. because he has always been prepared to confront these charges," Weil's lawyer, Aaron R. Marcu of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in New York, said. Weil has said he has committed no wrongdoing.
The U.S. Justice Department spokespeople in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday, which is a holiday the United States. Weil's indictment in November 2008 was a landmark in efforts by U.S. authorities to clamp down on the use of offshore Swiss bank accounts.
<snip>
More: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/28/21659486-swiss-banker-for-us-tax-dodgers-to-be-extradited?lite
November 28, 2013
Jillian Berman - HuffPo
Posted: 11/26/2013 5:31 pm EST | Updated: 11/26/2013 5:58 pm EST
<snip>
Walmart has amassed a trove of personal data on 60 percent of adult Americans -- possibly over 145 million people -- according to estimates from a report released Tuesday.
The retailing giant collects information on what shoppers buy, where they live and what they like via in-store Wi-Fi, Walmart.com and other company apps, according to the report. The analysis was prepared by three pro-worker advocacy groups, The Center for Media Justice, ColorofChange.org and SumOfUs. Information on shoppers allows Walmart and more than 50 third-party sites to profile customers and infer things like relative age, income, gender and race in order to target people for specific products and deals, according to the report.
“This is part of a growing trend that leaves American consumers -- particularly consumers of color and poor consumers -- really vulnerable to violations of their online privacy,” said Malkia Cyril, the head of the Center for Media Justice, a left-leaning media rights advocacy group. In order to compile its figure, the report's authors used a Walmart statement in which the company's CEO said that 60 percent of Americans shop at the store each month. The authors then used U.S. adult population estimates, and assumed the company had information on all shoppers based on statements about Walmart data collection.
Walmart E-commerce Spokesman Dan Toporek disputed some of the report's findings, noting that most of Walmart's stores aren't Wi-Fi-enabled and that the company doesn't track shoppers in stores. He said the company takes pains to protect customer privacy and mostly uses customer data and passes it along to third-party sites in aggregate rather than individually. So for example, the company knows that people who buy detergent are more likely to also buy fabric softener, he said, allowing the company to target deals accordingly.
"We use that to deliver a better customer experience," Toporek said. "Third parties don't see that individual information."
While the strategy of using customer information from price scanners and loyalty cards to target customers isn't new, what's striking here is...
<snip>
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/walmart-data_n_4344879.html?utm_hp_ref=business
Walmart Now Possesses Info On An Estimated 145 Million Americans: Analysis - HuffPo
Walmart Now Possesses Info On An Estimated 145 Million Americans: AnalysisJillian Berman - HuffPo
Posted: 11/26/2013 5:31 pm EST | Updated: 11/26/2013 5:58 pm EST
<snip>
Walmart has amassed a trove of personal data on 60 percent of adult Americans -- possibly over 145 million people -- according to estimates from a report released Tuesday.
The retailing giant collects information on what shoppers buy, where they live and what they like via in-store Wi-Fi, Walmart.com and other company apps, according to the report. The analysis was prepared by three pro-worker advocacy groups, The Center for Media Justice, ColorofChange.org and SumOfUs. Information on shoppers allows Walmart and more than 50 third-party sites to profile customers and infer things like relative age, income, gender and race in order to target people for specific products and deals, according to the report.
“This is part of a growing trend that leaves American consumers -- particularly consumers of color and poor consumers -- really vulnerable to violations of their online privacy,” said Malkia Cyril, the head of the Center for Media Justice, a left-leaning media rights advocacy group. In order to compile its figure, the report's authors used a Walmart statement in which the company's CEO said that 60 percent of Americans shop at the store each month. The authors then used U.S. adult population estimates, and assumed the company had information on all shoppers based on statements about Walmart data collection.
Walmart E-commerce Spokesman Dan Toporek disputed some of the report's findings, noting that most of Walmart's stores aren't Wi-Fi-enabled and that the company doesn't track shoppers in stores. He said the company takes pains to protect customer privacy and mostly uses customer data and passes it along to third-party sites in aggregate rather than individually. So for example, the company knows that people who buy detergent are more likely to also buy fabric softener, he said, allowing the company to target deals accordingly.
"We use that to deliver a better customer experience," Toporek said. "Third parties don't see that individual information."
While the strategy of using customer information from price scanners and loyalty cards to target customers isn't new, what's striking here is...
<snip>
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/walmart-data_n_4344879.html?utm_hp_ref=business
November 28, 2013
BTW... Happy Thanksgiving DU !!!
I hope you have your fill of food and family tomorrow.
November 28, 2013
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/06/the_jfk_assassination_we_still_dont_know_what_happened/
Whoop, There It Is...
The assassination of President Kennedy and its subsequent coverup was a triumph for the rapidly growing U.S. national security state. Fifty years later, that surveillance colossus increasingly treats the American people as if we’re enemies of the state. We can begin to take control of our future by finally demanding ownership of our past.
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/06/the_jfk_assassination_we_still_dont_know_what_happened/
November 28, 2013
HopeYou're Watchin Lawrence... Cause Glenn Greenwald Is Seriously Kicking Ass Tonight...
November 28, 2013
Sometimes I Tend To Think The JFK Controversy Is A Monty Python Sketch...
It's WAY more important that that of course, yet...
November 28, 2013
Link: http://www.salon.com/2013/11/06/the_jfk_assassination_we_still_dont_know_what_happened/
RFK Jr: "The fragility of (JFK's) control over the military" Ellsberg: "Virtually a coup atmosphere"
Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/john-f-kennedys-vision-of-peace-20131120
Yep... They Killed Him...
JFK assassination: CIA and New York Times are still lying to usLink: http://www.salon.com/2013/11/06/the_jfk_assassination_we_still_dont_know_what_happened/
RFK Jr: "The fragility of (JFK's) control over the military" Ellsberg: "Virtually a coup atmosphere"
Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/john-f-kennedys-vision-of-peace-20131120
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