Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down
February 4th, 2011Via: PC World:
These days, no popular movement goes without an Internet presence of some kind, whether it’s organizing on Facebook or spreading the word through Twitter. And as we’ve seen in Egypt, that means that your Internet connection can be the first to go. Whether you’re trying to check in with your family, contact your friends, or simply spread the word, here are a few ways to build some basic network connectivity when you can’t rely on your cellular or landline Internet connections.
Obama Administration Allows Unrestricted Planting of GMO Alfalfa
February 4th, 2011Via: Politics of the Plate:
On Thursday, the Obama administration showed whose side it is on in the battle between proponents of sustainable, organic agriculture and the big businesses that profit from conventional, chemical agriculture. Big Ag won. It wasn’t even close.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) had approved the unrestricted planting of genetically modified alfalfa sold by Monsanto Co. and Forge Genetics, despite protests from organic groups and public health advocates and comments from nearly 250,000 citizens asking the department to keep this GMO genie in its bottle.
If you eat meat or dairy, you indirectly consume alfalfa. It is a leading source of hay for cattle. In terms of acreage, alfalfa is the United States’ fourth biggest crop behind corn, soybeans, and wheat. It is also notoriously promiscuous, and its pollen can be carried by bees and other insects for five miles, making it all but certain that the GMO crop, designed to survive applications of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, will contaminate much of the country’s conventional alfalfa. Because GMO products are not allowed in USDA certified foods, it could become all but impossible to produce organic milk and meat in many areas unless organic farmers switch to less desirable sources of forage.
Earlier, the USDA said that it was weighing three options: (1) complete deregulation of GM alfalfa; (2) allowing it to be planted but requiring five-mile buffers between it and non-GM alfalfa; and (3)allowing unrestricted planting except in regions where alfalfa seed is grown. Vilsack went for the first: the most Big-Ag-friendly choice.
Related: Change We Can Believe In: Obama Chooses Monsanto Creature, Tom Vilsack, for Secretary of Agriculture
Research Credit: midnightagain
When Irish Eyes Are Crying
February 4th, 2011Via: Vanity Fair:
First Iceland. Then Greece. Now Ireland, which headed for bankruptcy with its own mysterious logic. In 2000, suddenly among the richest people in Europe, the Irish decided to buy their country—from one another. After which their banks and government really screwed them.
U.S. Discussing Transition Plan with Egyptians
February 4th, 2011The U.S. is the master of meet the new boss, same as the old boss, so watch as “democracy” goes on to be basically Mubarak by other means…
—Egypt Protests: America’s Secret Backing for Rebel Leaders Behind Uprising?
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Via: Reuters:
U.S. officials said on Thursday they are discussing with Egyptians a variety of ways of moving toward an orderly transition of power in Egypt, which may lead to a speedier departure of President Hosni Mubarak.
The New York Times reported the Obama administration is talking with Egyptian officials a proposal for Mubarak to resign immediately.
The White House would not confirm the Times report but said discussions have been under way with Egyptians in an attempt to resolve the 10-day crisis in Egypt.
And Now: New Egyptian VP Ran Mubarak’s Security Team, Oversaw Torture
Vodafone Colluded with Egyptian Regime’s Information Warfare PSYOP
February 3rd, 2011Via: AP:
Egyptian authorities forced Vodafone to broadcast pro-government text messages during the protests that have rocked the country, the U.K.-based mobile company said Thursday.
Micro-blogging site Twitter has been buzzing with screen grabs from Vodafone’s Egyptian customers showing text messages sent over the course of the demonstrations against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year-old regime.
A text message received Sunday by an Associated Press reporter in Egypt appealed to the country’s “honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor.” Another urged Egyptians to attend a pro-Mubarak rally in Cairo on Wednesday. The first was marked as coming from “Vodafone.” The other was signed: “Egypt Lovers.”
In a statement, Vodafone Group PLC said that the messages had been drafted by Egyptian authorities and that it had no power to change them.
“Vodafone Group has protested to the authorities that the current situation regarding these messages is unacceptable,” the statement said. “We have made clear that all messages should be transparent and clearly attributable to the originator.”
The company also said its competitors — including Egypt’s Mobinil and the United Arab Emirates’ Etisalat — were doing the same. Etisalat, known formally as Emirates Telecommunications Corp., declined comment.
Vodafone said the texts had been sent “since the start of the protests,” which kicked off more than a week ago. Vodafone did not immediately return an e-mail asking why the company waited nearly 10 days to complain publicly. Its statement was released only after repeated inquiries by the AP.
The company declined to reveal how many such messages it had sent, or whether it was still pumping them out.
Vodafone has already come under fire for its role in the Internet blackout that cut Egypt off from the online world for several days. The company said the order to pull the plug on its Egyptian customers could not be ignored as it was legal under local law.
Free Pool of IPv4 Address Space Depleted
February 3rd, 2011Via: Number Resource Organization Press Release:
The Number Resource Organization (NRO) announced today that the free pool of available IPv4 addresses is now fully depleted. On Monday, January 31, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) allocated two blocks of IPv4 address space to APNIC, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for the Asia Pacific region, which triggered a global policy to allocate the remaining IANA pool equally between the five RIRs. Today IANA allocated those blocks. This means that there are no longer any IPv4 addresses available for allocation from the IANA to the five RIRs.
IANA assigns IPv4 addresses to the RIRs in blocks that equate to 1/256th of the entire IPv4 address space. Each block is referred to as a “/8” or “slash-8.” A global policy agreed on by all five RIR communities and ratified in 2009 by ICANN, the international body responsible for the IANA function, dictated that when the IANA IPv4 free pool reached five remaining /8 blocks, these blocks were to be simultaneously and equally distributed to the five RIRs.
“This is an historic day in the history of the Internet, and one we have been anticipating for quite some time,” states Raúl Echeberría, Chairman of the Number Resource Organization (NRO), the official representative of the five RIRs. “The future of the Internet is in IPv6. All Internet stakeholders must now take definitive action to deploy IPv6.”
“This is truly a major turning point in the on-going development of the Internet,” said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Nobody was caught off guard by this; the Internet technical community has been planning for IPv4 depletion for quite some time. But it means the adoption of IPv6 is now of paramount importance, since it will allow the Internet to continue its amazing growth and foster the global innovation we’ve all come to expect.”
More: Moving to IPv6
Blocking Internet Cost Egypt At Least $90M, Says OECD
February 3rd, 2011Via: Network World:
The Egyptian government’s five-day block of Internet services cost the national economy at least US$90 million, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Thursday.
The Paris-based organization said telecommunications and Internet services account for between 3 percent and 4 percent of Egypt’s GDP, so the daily loss amounted to around US$18 million.
The Internet block was lifted on Wednesday, but it might be much longer before the true cost of the government’s action on the economy is known.
Related: $1 Billion in Tourism Related Losses
Egyptian Army Starts Rounding Up Journalists
February 3rd, 2011Via: AP:
The Egyptian military rounded up journalists on Thursday after they came under attack from supporters of President Hosni Mubarak who have been assaulting anti-government protesters.
The U.S. State Department condemned what it called a “concerted campaign to intimidate” foreign journalists in Egypt.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said via Twitter that the campaign against journalists is intended to interfere with their reporting, and “we condemn such actions.”
The leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain said in a joint statement that the “attacks against journalists are completely unacceptable.”
Global Food Prices Hit New Record High
February 3rd, 2011Via: Telegraph:
Global food prices have hit a new record high, amid fears that the escalating cost of bread and meat is adding to the turmoil in the Middle East.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) gave warning that the high prices, already above levels in 2008 which sparked riots, were likely to rise further.
The FAO measures food prices from an index made up of a basket of key commodities such as wheat, milk, oil and sugar, and is widely watched by economists and politicians around the world as the first indicator of whether prices will end up higher on shop shelves.
The index hit averaged 230.7 points in January, up from 223.1 points in December and 206 in November. The index highlights how food prices, which throughout most of the last two decades have been stable, have taken off in alarming fashion in the last three years.
Cotton: Highest Prices in 150 Years
February 3rd, 2011Via: Reuters:
U.S. cotton futures jumped for the third straight day on Wednesday, settling up the daily limit, as Asian mills fueled the rally on average volume.
Cotton futures have rallied almost 25 percent since the middle of January, the latest wave of a historic run that began in 2010 and sent cotton prices to their loftiest levels in almost 150 years.
