Thursday, August 29, 2013
Latest Snowden Leaks Detail The 'Black Budget' And How Much The Gov't Wastes On Useless Surveillance
Latest Snowden Leaks Detail The 'Black Budget' And How Much The Gov't Wastes On Useless Surveillance
Source: VOA
The BRICS member-countries have come close to establishing a reserve bank which will operate as a stabilization fund, Chinese Finance Minister Chen Zhu Guangyao said. Should such a fund be set up, it will prove helpful in restricting the dollar’s influence on the developing countries’ economies, experts say.
The BRICS member-countries have come close to establishing a reserve bank which will operate as a stabilization fund, Chinese Finance Minister Chen Zhu Guangyao said. Should such a fund be set up, it will prove helpful in restricting the dollar’s influence on the developing countries’ economies, experts say.
Brazil
came up with the initiative to set up a reserve bank in 2012. A
relevant agreement was signed in March this year. The joint fund of the
BRICS member-states is meant for offering support to the countries
united in the BRICS Group in case their economic indices start to
deteriorate. Such help would be welcome now more than ever. After the
reports of the US Federal Reserve System about a possible reduction of
the quantitative easing (QE) programme, the fall of the developing
countries’ national currencies started. Since May this year the gold and
hard currency reserves of the developing countries have decreased by
more than 80 billion dollars. This forced the central banks of the BRICS
member-states to work out programmes aimed at saving national
currencies. Brazil alone has allocated 60 billion dollars for hard
currency interventions in support of its national currency – the real.
Uniting their efforts, the BRICS nations will be able to help their
national currencies to become less dependent on the dollar, Deputy
Director of the “Centre of Development” Institute (the Higher School of
Economics)Valery Mironov says:
“The
fall of the developing countries’ national currencies, including the
BRICS member-states, has become a serious problem for the majority of
them. The idea of establishing a reserve fund by the BRICS nations is in
harmony with the agreements which were reached this spring. It was
exactly at that time that the initiative to create a certain alternative
to the World Bank (WB) and to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was
discussed. It is a good idea, taking into account that a new wave of
currency instability on the developing countries’ markets is
inevitable”.
The
BRICS nations have agreed to create a reserve fund worth 100 billion
dollars. China will allocate 41 billion dollars, Russia, India and
Brazil – 18 billion dollars each, and South Africa – another 5 billion
dollars. This money will be used for crediting countries, which need
financial help, which, in its turn, will enable them to improve their
macroeconomic indices. Another goal here is to carry out the financing
of investment, innovative and infrastructure projects. And one more
circumstance of importance here : finances will be offered not only to
the BRICS member-states but will also be used to offer support to
projects in the other developing countries. Now the BRICS Business
Council is working out normative documents and relevant mechanisms.
Russia’s Finance Ministry believes that the drafting of these documents
will require another six months. And the ratification will also take
time. The reserve bank will be able to select and to finance its first
project only in 2015. Besides, the BRICS countries will have to reach
agreement involving decision making and the size of financial help,
President of the Association of Russian Banks Garegin Tosunyan says:
“The
reserve bank of the BRICS member – countries will operate like similar
international agencies. The new bank will be regarded as a response to
the position taken by the US Federal Reserve System and the European
Central Bank (ECB), which have refused to take on a responsibility for
non-residents, which are using both the dollar and the euro”.
In
the future the reserve bank will be open to other participants,
including new countries and international financial agencies. Very soon
the BRICS Group will pass from the current development model based on
the inflow of investments to the development model based on the boost of
technologies. And the reserve bank is expected to be of help here.
Besides, as a result, investors will have more trust in the developing
economies, and the influence of the developing countries on world
economy will grow.
Nasa researches Star Trek warp drive for future space travel
Nasa scientists are developing a Star Trek-style “warp drive” that may eventually allow spacecraft to travel to the stars faster the speed of light.
Nasa scientists are developing a Star Trek-style “warp drive” Photo: NASA
20 Aug 2013
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/10254857/Nasa-researches-Star-Trek-warp-drive-for-future-space-travel.html
Dr Harold White, a physicist at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre, is conducting
research to create a warp in space and time.
These so called “warp bubbles” could eventually allow spacecraft to at speeds
that appear to exceed the speed of light.
Essentially the warp creates a fold in the fabric of space and time that
allows an object inside to travel a much greater distance in a shorter time.
This would allow a spacecraft to overcome one of the central laws in physics –
that nothing can exceed the speed of light.
However, Dr White claims warp bubbles are theoretically
possible and has now begun work to create warp bubbles for the first
time in the laboratory.
Warp drives were an essential part of the Star Ship Enterprise in the
long-running science fiction series Star Trek, allowing the crew to between
the distant worlds they were exploring.
Dr White presented an update on his work at the Icarus Interstellar Congress, where scientists gathered to discuss ways of travelling between the stars.
He said that they have already begun conducting experiments and have generated some results suggest they are making progress towards being able to generate a warp bubble.
He said: “One of the problems is the amount of energy that would be required to create a space warp.
“We found two mechanisms that can reduce the amount of energy that would be required to create a space warp.
“It was this significant reduction in energy requirements that encouraged us to go on to generate some kind of manifestation of it in the lab.
“This is not something that you can bolt to a spacecraft, this is science trying to go through to find existence proof of the physics.
“It is the first step you want to take to move from the maths to an experimental set up.”
Currently the furthest mankind has managed to venture is to the edge of our own solar system, around 11.6 billion miles from Earth.
The Voyager 1 spacecraft, which was launched in 1977, is currently on the cusp of becoming the first man-made object to leave our solar system.
However, it would take it 75,000 years to reach our nearest star Alpha Centauri, which is around 4.3 light years.
Dr White, however, believes that by containing a spacecraft inside a warp bubble, it could travel over larger distances without having to break the speed of light.
The bubble would compress space and time in front of it.
Dr White is building on work by a Mexican scientist called Miguel Alcubierre who estimated that it would be possible to achieve this if an object had negative mass.
Dr White believes a spacecraft would need to be surrounded by a ring of exotic matter known as negative vacuum energy.
He found that by changing the shape of the bubble and oscillating its intensity, it was possible to reduce the amount of energy that would be required.
Dr White and his team have now set up their equipment in a laboratory that used to be used in the development of technology for the Apollo space missions in the 1960s.
The project, which he has named Eagleworks, uses a high-voltage capacitor ring that is charged up and discharged as a laser is fired through the centre.
Dr White is looking for changes in the way the light passes through it that may indicate the photons have passed through a warp bubble.
Their experiments have shown this may be possible but Dr White insisted it was too early to say anything definitive about what they have achieved.
He said: “We have two separate labs that have been working on this and I think we have some potential non-null results that are intriguing.
“However, these results are far from conclusive and it is way too early to say anything definitive, so we will continue to investigate.”
For those hoping that they may soon be able take a trip to our nearest stellar neighbours, Dr White believes they may still have some time to wait.
He said it could take anything from 20 to 200 years before such a spacecraft could be created.
Experiments that have attempted to break the speed of light in the past have ultimately proved to be unsuccessful. Albert Einstein propsed that nothing can travel faster than the speed ofl ight in a vacuum.
Physicists based at CERN near Geneva, however, stunned the scientific world two years ago by claiming to have shown that particles could move faster than the speed of light.
However, they were later shown to have made a mistake and the extra speed was due to a faulty wire connection in timing equipment.
Dr White and his colleagues, however, have already envisaged what a warp drive spacecraft would look like.
Their design would consist of a central section shaped like an American football where the crew and equipment would be surrounded by one or two rings that are attached to it by pylons
These rings would contain the exotic matter that would generate the warp field but it would also require engines to drive the spacecraft forward.
While it may still be some time before interstellar travel becomes possible, spaceships exploiting warp bubbles could be used to reduce the travel time in our own solar system, reducing journeys that take years to weeks or months.
Dr White told the conference: “What is necessary to make the trick work is the presence of the ring around the space craft. It would have exotic matter or negative vacuum energy.
“You will still need some kind of main propulsion system to make the thing work.”
In an interview with New Scientist he added: “You would have an initial velocity as you set off, and then when you turn on the ring of negative vacuum energy it augments your velocity.
“Space would contract in front of the spacecraft and expand behind it, sending you sliding through warped space-time and covering the distance at a much quicker rate.
“It would be like watching a film in fast forward.
“We are very much in the science rather than the technology phase.
“We have got some very specific and controlled steps to take to create a proof of concept, to show we have properly understood and applied the math and physics.”
Dr White presented an update on his work at the Icarus Interstellar Congress, where scientists gathered to discuss ways of travelling between the stars.
He said that they have already begun conducting experiments and have generated some results suggest they are making progress towards being able to generate a warp bubble.
He said: “One of the problems is the amount of energy that would be required to create a space warp.
“We found two mechanisms that can reduce the amount of energy that would be required to create a space warp.
“It was this significant reduction in energy requirements that encouraged us to go on to generate some kind of manifestation of it in the lab.
“This is not something that you can bolt to a spacecraft, this is science trying to go through to find existence proof of the physics.
“It is the first step you want to take to move from the maths to an experimental set up.”
Currently the furthest mankind has managed to venture is to the edge of our own solar system, around 11.6 billion miles from Earth.
The Voyager 1 spacecraft, which was launched in 1977, is currently on the cusp of becoming the first man-made object to leave our solar system.
However, it would take it 75,000 years to reach our nearest star Alpha Centauri, which is around 4.3 light years.
Dr White, however, believes that by containing a spacecraft inside a warp bubble, it could travel over larger distances without having to break the speed of light.
The bubble would compress space and time in front of it.
Dr White is building on work by a Mexican scientist called Miguel Alcubierre who estimated that it would be possible to achieve this if an object had negative mass.
Dr White believes a spacecraft would need to be surrounded by a ring of exotic matter known as negative vacuum energy.
He found that by changing the shape of the bubble and oscillating its intensity, it was possible to reduce the amount of energy that would be required.
Dr White and his team have now set up their equipment in a laboratory that used to be used in the development of technology for the Apollo space missions in the 1960s.
The project, which he has named Eagleworks, uses a high-voltage capacitor ring that is charged up and discharged as a laser is fired through the centre.
Dr White is looking for changes in the way the light passes through it that may indicate the photons have passed through a warp bubble.
Their experiments have shown this may be possible but Dr White insisted it was too early to say anything definitive about what they have achieved.
He said: “We have two separate labs that have been working on this and I think we have some potential non-null results that are intriguing.
“However, these results are far from conclusive and it is way too early to say anything definitive, so we will continue to investigate.”
For those hoping that they may soon be able take a trip to our nearest stellar neighbours, Dr White believes they may still have some time to wait.
He said it could take anything from 20 to 200 years before such a spacecraft could be created.
Experiments that have attempted to break the speed of light in the past have ultimately proved to be unsuccessful. Albert Einstein propsed that nothing can travel faster than the speed ofl ight in a vacuum.
Physicists based at CERN near Geneva, however, stunned the scientific world two years ago by claiming to have shown that particles could move faster than the speed of light.
However, they were later shown to have made a mistake and the extra speed was due to a faulty wire connection in timing equipment.
Dr White and his colleagues, however, have already envisaged what a warp drive spacecraft would look like.
Their design would consist of a central section shaped like an American football where the crew and equipment would be surrounded by one or two rings that are attached to it by pylons
These rings would contain the exotic matter that would generate the warp field but it would also require engines to drive the spacecraft forward.
While it may still be some time before interstellar travel becomes possible, spaceships exploiting warp bubbles could be used to reduce the travel time in our own solar system, reducing journeys that take years to weeks or months.
Dr White told the conference: “What is necessary to make the trick work is the presence of the ring around the space craft. It would have exotic matter or negative vacuum energy.
“You will still need some kind of main propulsion system to make the thing work.”
In an interview with New Scientist he added: “You would have an initial velocity as you set off, and then when you turn on the ring of negative vacuum energy it augments your velocity.
“Space would contract in front of the spacecraft and expand behind it, sending you sliding through warped space-time and covering the distance at a much quicker rate.
“It would be like watching a film in fast forward.
“We are very much in the science rather than the technology phase.
“We have got some very specific and controlled steps to take to create a proof of concept, to show we have properly understood and applied the math and physics.”
Will we ever want to have sex with robots?
Is this really the future of human-robot relations?
Meet
Roxxxy, the sex robot with a triple XXX. Depending on your view, "she"
is either at the cutting edge of the human-robot interface, or a modern
reflection on some men's difficulties in relating to real-life partners.
While sex aids are nothing new, what makes Roxxxy different
is that "we've taken artificial intelligence" and "combined it with a
human form," says creator Douglas Hines.Of course, humanoid robots have been the stuff of science fiction for decades - ever since Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis, or Isaac Asimov's I, Robot stories.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Douglas Hines TC Systems and True CompanionThe gap between what is robotic and mechanical and what's human-like will minimise”
The reality is somewhat more clunky.
Walking robots currently have little commercial value - they
are expensive and are prone to falling over if they are placed on
anything other than a flat surface.One of the best of the bunch is Japan's all singing and dancing female robot, HRP-4C, from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).
The main drawback of this type of robot is that they have a very short battery life - they only last for about 20 minutes.
It is enough for a rather impressive dancing routine from HRP-4C says the team, but for little else.
"One practical application for biped humanoid robots is the entertainment industry," says AIST "provided the robots can move very realistically like humans."
Loving the robot In 2007, the British chess player and artificial intelligence (AI) expert David Levy said in his book, Love and Sex with Robots, we would be having sex with robots in five years - and be capable of falling in love with them within 40 years.
His argument is based on improvements in robotic engineering and computer programming - and extrapolating from the income generated by the porn industry each year.
Magnificent but malevolent - Maria the robot from Fritz Lang's sci-fi classic Metropolis
As for Roxxxy, she weighs in at 60lb (27kg) is 5ft 7in (1.70m) high and comes with a variety of hair colours, moveable limbs and 'lifelike' skin.
She is the brainchild of electrical engineer and computer scientist Douglas Hines, the founder of TC Systems and True Companion, who formerly worked in the artificial intelligence lab at AT&T Bell Laboratories.
He says the sex robot developed from his firm's line of healthcare robots, which were designed to look after elderly or infirm patients.
"Our skill-set is based on commercial and military robotics and what we did is we looked for an opportunity in the marketplace to apply that technology.
"One very obvious market is healthcare - but there's a less-known which is gaining more and more momentum which is the sex industry."
'Exciting time' Mr Hines says his aim in developing his robot's artificial intelligence engine, was to go beyond a simple sex aid and to provide companionship.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Sherry Turkle MITThe pretend self of a robot calls forth the pretend self of a person performing for it”
"The life experience with a partner goes beyond that - and that's really what we've gone for," he told BBC World Service's Business Daily programme.
However, no matter how well-programmed a robot may be, it is
still a machine, and he agrees a plastic and metal humanoid is not
capable of replacing the real thing - yet. "We are getting closer and closer. The gap between what is robotic and mechanical and what's human-like will minimise, so it's a very exciting time."
Roxxxy costs up to $9,000 (£5,700) and there is also a male version called Rocky. Later this year the company plans a more advanced model which it says will be mobile and autonomous.
At the heart of our relationships with such machines, fictional or not, is the question of what it means to be human and to relate to others.
While no machine, however well-engineered, can ever feel empathy - something which defines us humans - it might be able to simulate it well enough to allow us to play along and treat it as if it were a sentient being.
Novelty appeal
Dancing queen - HRP-4C - is the one on the right
In a survey earlier this year, one-in-11 people - some 9% - told a YouGov poll for the Huffington Post in the US that they would be prepared to have sex with a robot.
That works out at over 25 million Americans - which could translate into a lot of robot sales.
Yet critics caution that we should not be too quick to embrace robots like Roxxxy.
"It is time to reconsider the premise that a robot is better than nothing," says Sherry Turkle, psychologist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Because, if you are trying to solve the problem of care and companionship with a robot, you are not trying to solve it with the people you need to solve it with - friends, family, community."
Not promising "We may think we are only making robots," she told this year's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, "but really we are re-making human values and connections.
"The pretend self of a robot calls forth the pretend self of a person performing for it," she said.
And that, she says is not promising "for adults trying to live authentically and navigate life's real, human problems".
Video: Giant Underground Stone Boxes Near The Pyramids In Egypt
"giants" in the boxes ??? hummmmmmm !!!
Video: Giant Underground Stone Boxes Near The Pyramids In Egypt
August 29, 2013 0
Giant Underground Stone Boxes Near The Pyramids In Egypt? Mysterious giant boxes below the Egyptian sands. More than 20 boxes were discovered. This is interesting and you can see everything very clearly. Watch
WikiLeaks Set To Reveal US-UFO War In Southern Ocean
Update January 12, 2011: First WikiLeaks’ Cable Mentioning UFOs Released
A new report circulating in the Kremlin today prepared for President Medvedev by Russian Space Forces (VKS) 45th Division of Space Control says that an upcoming WikiLeaks release of secret US cables details that the Americans have been “engaged” since 2004 in a “war” against UFO’s based on or near the Continent of Antarctica, particularly the Southern Ocean.
According to this report, the United States went to its highest alert level on June 10, 2004 after a massive fleet of UFO’s “suddenly emerged” from the Southern Ocean and approached Guadalajara, Mexico barely 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from the American border. Prior to reaching the US border, however, this massive UFO fleet is said in this report to have “dimensionally returned” to their Southern Ocean “home base”.
The fears of the Americans regarding these Southern Ocean UFO’s began, this report says, during the unprecedented events of July 11, 1991 (referred to as 7/11) when during the Solar Eclipse these mysterious aircraft appeared by the hundreds over nearly all of Mexico, even their Capital city. Most notable about the events of 7/11 were that as millions of Mexicans were watching on their televisions the National broadcasts of these UFO’s over Mexico City, the American media refused to allow their people to view it.
Since 2004, this report continues, fleets of Southern Ocean UFO’s have continued to emerge from their bases, with the latest such event being this Friday past when another of their massive fleets was sighted over the South American Nation of Chile.
The “immediate danger” to our World when these massive UFO fleets emerge from the Southern Ocean, this report warns, are the massive waves caused by their sudden eruption from what are believed to be their underwater base, or bases. In the past week alone, the Clelia II, an Antarctic cruise ship with 160 people onboard, was nearly capsized when hit by waves generated by these UFO’s emerging from the Southern Ocean, and just today the Number One Insung has been reported sunk with only 20 of its 42 member crew said saved due to the same cause.
Interesting to note in this report is its confirming our October 14th report US Shuts Down New York City Airspace Over UFO ‘Threat’ that these same Southern Ocean UFO’s were responsible for the closing of the airspace over New York City this past fall (October 13th) when they “appeared” openly and were witnessed by tens of thousands of people, and which, coincidentally, occurred during the same time frame as the mysterious Crystal Skulls of the ancient South American peoples were being exhibited there too.
Even more interesting to note is that the mysterious earthquakes being reported in the Gulf of Aden (where another “extraterrestrial” event is currently ongoing and we had reported on in our December 1st report Mysterious ‘Vortex’ Warned Is Creating Global Weather Catastrophe) are now being reported occurring in the Southern Ocean too.
This report goes on to state that after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange warned last week that he would begin releasing secret US cables relating to these Southern Ocean UFO’s, and the Americans “war” against them, he was immediately arrested by British Police on trumped up charges issued by the Swedish government which in our December 8th report, Global Rebellion Erupts After “Unprotected Sex Meets Disrobed Governments”, we noted were engineered against him as a “classic” CIA “Honey Trap”.
Note: Since our last report on the EU-US frame-up of Assange it is now being reported that one of his two accusers, Anna Ardin, has fled Sweden and is now in hiding in the Palestinian territories.
To if Assange, or his WikiLeaks website, will survive to see the whole release of these Southern Ocean UFO files it is not to our knowing, nor does this report say.
What is in our knowing, however, and when coupled with the information we reported on in our December 10th report Massive Earthquake Fears Rise After Mysterious Object Moves Nearer To Earth, suggests that the timing of these events, as we near the December 20/21 Total Lunar Eclipse, and as Mercury turns retrograde and joins Mars as it forms a conjunction with Pluto, that the ending of this year, 2010, truly marks the ending of this age as prophesied by the ancients.
In the Sorcha Faal’s seminal work published in 2007, Battle Begins For Throne of This World: The Return of the Einherjar Warriors, she notes that in these “last days” the “guideposts” to what the future will hold for humanity does, indeed, rest hidden to the discerning reader in the words handed down to us by the ancients, none being more important in this case than those of Nostradamus, who in writing of this coming Lunar Eclipse and feared conjunctions warned:
“The arms to fight in the sky a long time,
The tree in the middle of the city fallen:
Sacred bough clipped, steel, in the face of the firebrand,
Then the Monarch of Adria fallen.” Quatrain 3:11
Most ominously for our World today, “the tree in the middle of the city” has, indeed, “fallen” with news from Glastonbury that the 2,000-year-old Holy Thorn Tree, one of Christianities oldest and most revered symbols, has been cut down by vandals. With the great tree now “fallen”, the battle for this Earth now moves to the “sky” until the “Monarch of Adria” (Pope Benedict XVI) has “fallen” too.
Don’t Let Your Daughters Grow Up To Be Like Miley Cyrus
By Michael Snyder, on August 28th, 2013
The
ultra-raunchy performance that Miley Cyrus put on at the 2013 MTV Video
Music Awards the other night is a perfect example of how morally
bankrupt our culture has become. Since that performance, Miley Cyrus
has been the number one topic of conversation in America, and a whole
lot of people have actually been defending her. They have been saying
stuff like “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it” and a CNN article even
went so far as to say that we “need less outrage, less nannying”
about such performances. Unfortunately, the truth is that it would be a
tragic mistake to simply ignore such filth. Millions upon millions of
young girls absolutely adored Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana on the
Disney channel, and millions of those same girls are looking up to her
as a role model now. What they see her do is going to
affect their behavior. As for Miley Cyrus, she probably believes that
the kind of performance that she put on the other night is exactly what
her audience wants, and to a large degree that is probably true. It is
easy to denounce the garbage that we see at these award shows, but the
cold, hard reality of the matter is that the behavior that we see on
these shows is a reflection of who we are as a nation.But certainly what Miley Cyrus did the other night was a new all-time low. The following is how her performance was described by Time Magazine…
Bopping up and down the catwalk in hair-twist devil’s horns and a flesh-colored latex bikini, Cyrus lewdly wagged her tongue, tickled her crotch with a foam finger, shook her buttocks in the air and spanked a 6-ft. 7-in. black burlesque queen.If you have not seen her bizarre performance, I do not recommend that you go watch it. Once you have seen it, it cannot be unseen.
But for parents, one positive that can come out of this is that it can be used as a teaching moment for your children. In fact, one mother named Kim Keller wrote an open letter to her daughter on her blog entitled “Dear daughter, let Miley Cyrus be a lesson to you” that has gone viral all over the Internet…
Yes, this is what happens when you constantly hear everything you do is awesome. This is what happens when people fawn over your every Tweet and Instagram photo. This is what happens when no responsible adult has ever said the word “no,” made you change your clothes before leaving the house, or never spanked your butt for deliberate defiance.These are the kinds of conversations that mothers should be having with their daughters all over America right now.
If you ever even consider doing something like that, I promise you that I will run up and twerk so you will see how ridiculous twerking looks. I will duct tape your mouth shut so your tongue doesn’t hangout like an overheated hound dog. I will smack any male whom you decide to smash against his pelvis – after I first knock you on your butt for forgetting how a lady acts in public.
Why would I do that? Because I love you and I want you to respect yourself. Miley Cyrus is not edgy or cool or sexy. She’s a desperate girl screaming for attention: Notice me. Tell me I’m pretty. See how hot I am. I know all the guys want me. All the girls want to be me.
You probably know girls who will emulate this behavior at the next school dance. Don’t do it with them. You are far too valuable to sell yourself so cheaply. Walk away. Let the boys gawk and know in your heart that they see only a body that can be used for their pleasure and then forgotten.
And I love how Keller ended the open letter to her daughter…
Dear daughter, I am going to fight or die trying to keep you from becoming like the Miley Cyruses of the world.We have got to fight for our children.
You can thank me later.
Otherwise, our rapidly decaying culture will absolutely overwhelm them.
The following is how another mother described what happened when she sat down to watch the video music awards with her daughter…
Sadly, there are no longer many pastimes my teenage daughter, Flo, is prepared to enjoy doing with me. But, thankfully, watching TV together is one of them.The rest of the world is watching the filth that is being touted as “entertainment” in America today. As Americans, we like to think that we are setting an “example” for the rest of the world, but the only example that we are setting is a bad one.
And so I leapt at the opportunity to sit down with her to watch the much- anticipated 2013 MTV Video Music Awards featuring her favourite singers and bands.
How I wish I had done something — anything — else instead. Because what I witnessed had me reaching for the ‘off’ button faster than you can say ‘live streaming’.
I am talking about Miley Cyrus’ jaw-droppingly lewd dance routine — if that’s what you want to call it.
My ten-year old son Monty (who happened to walk through the room just at the moment she stripped down to a nude, latex bikini) probably describes it best.
‘That’s disgusting,’ he proclaimed. ‘Why are you watching lap-dancing?’
Is there any hope for our nation as it continues to go down this path?
The problem that we are facing is far, far larger than Miley Cyrus. Our entire culture is in the process of decaying. Ray Gano of Prophezine.com put it this way…
I am sickened with Miley for many reasons, but I am thoroughly disgusted with the United States and utter unacceptable filth that is being put out there.From a very young age, kids in America are being taught to be highly sexualized, and the results are predictable. The following statistics are from one of my previous articles…
As I said, Miley is a by-product of a nation gone bad. I look at some of the other pictures and there were hundreds of teenage girls in the audience going crazy over the performance.
Miley Cyrus was once an innocent girl, she is now the poster child for free and open porn to the masses.
What saddens me is that she used to claim the title “Christian” and I understand that her family stood on good Christian values.
Don’t be surprised to hear that Miley will pose for Playboy, Penthouse or produce some smut film in the near future.
She is leading the pack of young girls down the path of hedonism.
But what is worse is that this is what our nation wants and demands.
#1 There are 19 million new STD infections in the United States every single year. Approximately half of them happen to young people in the 15 to 24-year-old age bracket.
#2 It costs the U.S. health care system approximately $17,000,000,000 every single year to treat sexually transmitted diseases.
#3 There were more than 1.4 million cases of chlamydia reported in the United States in 2011. An astounding 33 percent of those cases involved Americans that were younger than 20 years of age.
#4 It is estimated that about one out of every six Americans between the ages of 14 and 49 have genital herpes.
#5 24,000 American women become infertile each year due to undiagnosed STDs.
#6 In the United States today, approximately 47 percent of all high school students have had sex.
#7 Sadly, one out of every four teen girls in the U.S. has at least one sexually transmitted disease.
#8 According to one survey, 24 percent of all U.S. teens that have STDs say that they still have unprotected sex.
#9 Amazingly, one out of every five teen girls in the U.S. actually wants to be a teenage mother.
#10 If you can believe it, the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate on the entire planet. In fact, the United States has a teen pregnancy rate that is more than twice as high as Canada, more than three times as high as France and more than seven times as high as Japan.
#11 When men don’t have to wait until they get married to have sex, then they are likely to delay marriage or never get married at all. According to the Pew Research Center, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all U.S. adults were married.
#12 Today, an all-time low 44.2 percent of all Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 are married.
#13 In the United States today, more than half of all couples “move in together” before they get married.
#14 The divorce rate for couples that live together first is significantly higher than for those that do not.
#15 America has the highest divorce rate on the globe by a wide margin.
#16 For women under the age of 30 living in the United States today, more than half of all babies are being born out of wedlock.
#17 At this point, more than one out of every four children in the United States is being raised by a single parent.
#18 Approximately 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States are on food stamps.
#19 The sexual revolution has caused women to be primarily looked at as sex objects. In this kind of environment, it should be no surprise that there has been an absolute explosion of pornography in recent years. An astounding 30 percent of all Internet traffic now goes to pornography websites, and the U.S. produces more pornography than any other nation has in the history of the world.
#20 One survey discovered that 25 percent of all employees that have Internet access in America visit sex websites while they are at work.
#21 Overall, more than 50 million babies have been killed in America since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.
#22 When you total up all forms of abortion, including those caused by the abortion drug RU 486, the grand total comes to more than a million abortions performed in the United States every single year.
#23 The number of American babies killed by abortion each year is roughly equal to the number of U.S. military deaths that have occurred in all of the wars that the United States has ever been involved in combined.
#24 It has been reported that a staggering 41 percent of all New York City pregnancies end in abortion.
#25 One study found that 86 percent of all abortions are done for the sake of convenience.
And as I wrote about the other day, our children are certainly not being influenced in the right direction at school either. In fact, sometimes teachers are some of the worst examples. For example, it has been reported that more than 200 teachers in Detroit are moonlighting as “sugar babies” in order to make some extra income.
As our young people sink even deeper into moral depravity, our culture is encouraging us to become more “accepting” of it. If you can believe it, one recent article in the Huffington Post actually encouraged parents to “help” their teens “have sex well” with their friends…
What in the world is happening to America?Just when I think I’ve heard it all, I come across something that makes me pause in disgust. This week, I read an article from the Huffington Post titled, “How Do You Feel about Sex and Teenage Sleepovers?”There’s no doubt how I feel, but let’s first take a look at what the author said. In the first paragraph she asks, “Why not teach children how to have sex well, the way you teach them how to do other things?” She elaborates, describing parents inviting the teenager’s partner over, having a nice dinner and then the couple “toddles” off to bed together. (In reality, that’s just permitting the behavior to take place, not actually educating.)
Then she goes further stating, “It seems logical to me that the same way I try to teach my kids to exercise, sleep well and be good people, I would teach them to have healthy sex with other good people.” Appalling mental scenarios come to mind, but I’m not going there.
Is there any hope for this country?
The unseen paths of the world’s information.
The nation’s electronic espionage agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, is in a partnership with British, American and Singaporean intelligence agencies to tap undersea fibre optic telecommunications cables that link Asia, the Middle East and Europe and carry much of Australia’s international phone and internet traffic.
Secret information disclosed by United States intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden has revealed that the British Government Communications Headquarters is collecting all data transmitted to and from the United Kingdom and Northern Europe via the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable that runs from Japan, via Singapore, Djibouti, Suez and the Straits of Gibraltar to Northern Germany.
Australia is connected to SEA-ME-WE-3 by a link from Singapore to Perth, and GCHQ’s bulk interception includes much of Australia’s telecommunications and internet traffic with Europe.
Australian intelligence sources have also told Fairfax Media that Singaporean intelligence co-operates with Australia in accessing and sharing communications carried by the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable which lands at Tuas on the western side of Singapore Island.
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Access to this major international telecommunications channel via
Singapore’s government-owned operator SingTel and the country’s Defence
Ministry has been a key element in an expansion of
Australian-Singaporean intelligence and defence ties over the past 15
years.It also underpinned the former Howard government’s approval of SingTel’s takeover of Australia’s second largest telecommunications company, Optus, in 2001.
Commissioned in 2000, the 39,000 kilometre long SEA-ME-WE-3 cable is owned by an international consortium that includes British Telecom, SingTel Optus, Telstra and other telecommunications companies across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Telstra has an 80 per cent stake in the southern segment that covers the 5000 kilometres between Singapore and Western Australia.
The Australian Signals Directorate also accesses the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable traffic from the cable’s landing in Perth.
Australian intelligence expert and Australian National University professor Des Ball said that intelligence collection from fibre optic cables had become “extremely important” since the late 1990s because such communications channels now carry more than 95 per cent of long distance international telecommunications traffic.
“Fibre optic cables are much more difficult to intercept than satellite communications,” Professor Ball said. Australia’s undersea cable links carry both international and domestic traffic because internal Australian communications are often routed overseas depending on traffic loads.
One former Australian Defence intelligence officer told Fairfax Media that access to submarine fibre optic cable traffic ”gives the 5-eyes [intelligence alliance] and our partners like Singapore a stranglehold on communications across the Eastern Hemisphere”.
In June The Guardian newspaper published details from top secret documents leaked by Mr Snowden of a major GCHQ interception program, codenamed Tempora, that involves harvesting all data, emails sent and received, instant messages, calls, passwords and more, entering and exiting Britain via undersea fibre-optic cables.
Details of telecommunications companies including British Telecom, Verizon Business sand Vodafone Cable involved in the British interception program were subsequently published by German newspaper Sü¨ddeutsche Zeitung which also gained access to some of Mr Snowden’s information.
Further information obtained via Sü¨ddeutsche Zeitung has now confirmed that the SEA-ME-WE-3 is one of the most important undersea cables accessed by GCHQ and the US National Security Agency.
Australian intelligence sources have separately confirmed that the Australian Signals Directorate and the highly secretive Security and Intelligence Division of Singapore’s Ministry of Defence also play key roles in intercepting communications traffic through Asia.
Professor Ball says the Australian Signals Directorate has a long history of co-operation with Singapore which has “probably the most advanced” signals intelligence capabilities in South East Asia.
Significantly SingTel also has close relations with Singapore’s intelligence agencies. In August 2001, the former Howard government approved SingTel’s $17 billion takeover bid for Optus in a deal that raised widespread comment on security and privacy issues.
Then Treasurer Peter Costello said the deal was in Australia’s national interest after SingTel entered into deeds of agreement with the Defence Department and ASIO.
These agreements dealt with the security of Australian telecommunications systems and the operation of interception facilities for ASIO and Australian law enforcement agencies. Mr Costello said that Australian national security interests were protected and that “full privacy laws in Australia [would] apply” to Australians’ phone calls and internet communication.
However, former Australian Defence intelligence officers said the Howard government’s approval of SingTel’s purchase of Optus also took into account growing Singaporean-Australian intelligence co-operation which in turn rested on Singapore’s access to the SEA-MEA-WE-3 cable, as well as the later SEA-ME-WE-4 cable from Singapore to the south of France.
The office of former prime minister John Howard did not respond to a request for comment.
US Government Launches $1 Billion Spy Satellite Into Space
This week the US government Launched a $1 Billion spy satallite that is capable of “distinguish the make and model of an automobile hundreds of miles below”
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
By JG Vibes
Intellihub.com
August 25, 2013
This Wednesday a giant rocket was launched from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying a billion dollar spy
satellite. Very few details about the satellite are known because the
project is classified, however, it has been admitted that the satellite
has a very high powered camera that can identify people from its orbit
in space.CNN reported that ‘It’s one of two launches the top-secret National Reconnaissance Office has on the books for late 2013, NRO Director Betty Sapp told a congressional committee in April.”[1]
The satellite is “a $1-billion high-powered spy satellite capable of snapping pictures detailed enough to distinguish the make and model of an automobile hundreds of miles below,” the Los Angeles Times reported.”[2]
“We are truly honored to deliver this critical asset to orbit,” said Jim Sponnick, United Launch Alliance vice president for the Atlas and Delta programs. “The ULA Delta 4 Heavy is currently the world’s largest rocket, providing the nation with reliable, proven heavy-lift capability for our country’s national security payloads from both the east and west coasts.”[3]
Sources:
[1] Spy satellite launched into orbit – CNN
[2] Monster rocket to blast off from Pacific coast, rattle Southland - Los Angeles Times
[3] America’s biggest rocket launches top-secret spy satellite - CNN
Writer Bio:
JG
Vibes is an Intellihub.com investigative journalist, staff writer and
editor. He is also the author of “Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance”, an
87 chapter e-book and is an artist with an established record label.
Obama Promises “Executive Action” On Gun Control
During a recent speech to a group of mayors at the White House, President Obama announced that he would do whatever he had to in order to pass gun control… And that he plans on using executive action to do so.
Who cares what Congress or the American people want… Right?
Good grief.
As reported by the Washington Times:
Mr. Obama “vowed to continue doing everything in his power to combat gun violence through executive action and to press Congress to pass common-sense reforms like expanding the background check system and cracking down on gun trafficking,” the White House said in a statement.Here are the mayors who were present at the event:
Mayor Greg Ballard (Indianapolis, IN)
Mayor Tom Barrett (Milwaukee, WI)
Mayor Cory Booker (Newark, NJ)
Mayor Vincent Gray (Washington, DC)
Mayor Sly James (Kansas City, MO)
Mayor Kevin Johnson (Sacramento, CA)
Mayor Mitch Landrieu (New Orleans, LA)
Mayor Mark Mallory (Cincinnati, OH)
Mayor Michael Nutter (Philadelphia, PA)
Mayor Annise Parker (Houston, TX)
Mayor Jean Quan (Oakland, CA)
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (Baltimore, MD)
Mayor Kasim Reed (Atlanta, GA)
Mayor RT Rybak (Minneapolis, MN)
Mayor Francis Slay (St. Louis, MO)
Mayor Dayne Walling (Flint, MI)
Mayor Molly Ward (Hampton, VA)
Mayor AC Wharton (Memphis, TN)
As you may remember, Obama failed to pass his gun control measures through the Senate this last spring. Most notably, Obama was pushing for mandatory background checks for all gun purchases.
What are your thoughts on Obama using executive action to push his agenda? Let us know in the comments section below.
50 Years Later - West Defiles Martin Luther King's Memory
Legendary equality, justice, and peace
activist who championed character over the color of one's skin is
compared with warmongering corporate servant Obama ... because of the
color of his skin.
August 28, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - The differences between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and current US President Barack Obama could not be greater. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that they are both black. Yet somehow, Western media outlets have managed to draw parallels between these diametrically opposed figures - presumably because they are indeed both black. AP recently published an article titled, "Obama Embodies King's Dream and His Struggle," stated:
There is no greater way to defile the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. than to compare him with US President Barack Obama - a servant of an engine for the greatest disparity, inequality, and injustice on Earth - driven by the very corporate-financier interests King stood up against, was opposed by throughout his entire life, and most likely was killed by.
Image:
A visual representation of the corporate-financier special interests represented
by US President Barack Obama's cabinet, past and present.
Indeed, despite the left-leaning facade President Obama displays publicly, his entire cabinet, past and present, is a collection of corporate-financier special interests, warmongers, criminals, and elitists who merely couch a corporate-fascist, self-serving agenda behind well-meaning liberal-esque causes. A look at these characters more closely reveals just this:
Image:
Brookings Institution's corporate backers - clear very un-liberal, and
clearly not the sort of interests Martin Luther King Jr. supported.
Of course, representation of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institution (page 19, .pdf) should give any genuine left-leaning liberal pause for thought. These are think-tanks created by and for big business. The Brookings Institution in particular is home of the very architects of "George Bush's" myriad of wars - as well as the wars now being waged under Obama.
In reality, Obama's policy is driven by not only the exact same corporate-financier interests that drove Bush's, but in fact, many of the exact same individuals are writing the policy versus nations like Libya, Syria, and Iran today who were behind "Bush's" Iraq and Afghanistan wars - the consequences of which still are reverberating. This is what is called, "continuity of agenda," with the feigned political proclivities of both Bush and Obama being nothing more than carefully orchestrated theater to divide and distract the public as a singular agenda transcends presidencies and perceived political lines.
King was also an Adamant Anti-War Activist
On the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a dream" speech, should he still walk this world today, would undoubtedly be taking the podium and speaking out against the latest war the US and its collaborators are gearing up for against Syria. He would undoubtedly have condemned the global war Obama has waged from Mali to Libya, from Syria to Afghanistan and the borders of Pakistan, from Yemen to Somalia, to Uganda and beyond.
In a speech given on April 4, 1967 in New York City titled, "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence," King gives what is perhaps the widest encapsulation of his philosophy and worldview, one that would undoubtedly criticize and clash with the disingenuous US presidents of today, during their hollow celebrations of King's iconic speech.
We should carefully reread King's enlightening speech criticizing the Vietnam War which in part states [emphasis added]:
It is safe to say that America has not mended its ways and only traveled further down the dark path King warned us of back in 1967. The man "leading" us, or at least the front-man for the corporate-financier interests that drive America's destiny, may honor King with carefully contrived words and well orchestrated public stunts, but in deeds and actions Obama and the corporate-financier elite that hold his leash, defile and dishonor King in every way imaginable.
If you want to honor King and his life's work, honor it by implementing the words he uttered while alive, not by playing along with a system that resisted him until his death, and has since dishonored and exploited his memory with disingenuous praise while maliciously carrying out an agenda contra to everything King ever stood for.
You can read and listen to the whole April 4, 1967 speech, "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence" on AmericanRhetoric.com.
August 28, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - The differences between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and current US President Barack Obama could not be greater. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that they are both black. Yet somehow, Western media outlets have managed to draw parallels between these diametrically opposed figures - presumably because they are indeed both black. AP recently published an article titled, "Obama Embodies King's Dream and His Struggle," stated:
"The scheduled appearance later Wednesday of Obama, the first African-American president, was certain to embody the fulfilled dreams of hundreds of thousands who rallied there in 1963..."Why? Merely because President Obama is black? Or because President Obama embodies any of the ideals of justice, equality, and peace that Martin Luther King Jr. championed for during life, and ultimately died for?
There is no greater way to defile the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. than to compare him with US President Barack Obama - a servant of an engine for the greatest disparity, inequality, and injustice on Earth - driven by the very corporate-financier interests King stood up against, was opposed by throughout his entire life, and most likely was killed by.
....
Indeed, despite the left-leaning facade President Obama displays publicly, his entire cabinet, past and present, is a collection of corporate-financier special interests, warmongers, criminals, and elitists who merely couch a corporate-fascist, self-serving agenda behind well-meaning liberal-esque causes. A look at these characters more closely reveals just this:
Timothy Geithner (Secretary of the Treasury): Group of 30, Council on Foreign Relations, private Federal Reserve
Eric Holder (Attorney General): Covington & Burling lobbying for Merck and representing Chiquita International Brands in lawsuits brought by relatives of people killed by Colombian terrorists.
Eric Shinseki (Secretary of Veteran Affairs): US Army, Council on Foreign Relations, Honeywell director (military contractor), Ducommun director (military contractor).
Rahm Emanuel (former Chief of Staff): Freddie Mac
William Daley (former Chief of Staff): JP Morgan executive committee member
Jacob "Jack" Lew (Chief of Staff) Council on Foreign Relations, Brookings Institution (Hamilton Project)
Susan Rice (UN Ambassador): McKinsey and Company, Brookings Institution, Council on Foreign Relations
Peter Orszag, (former Budget Director): Citi Group, Council on Foreign Relations
Paul Volcker: Council on Foreign Relations, private Federal Reserve, Group of 30
Ronald Kirk (US Trade Representative): lobbyist, part of Goldman Sachs, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts, and Texas Pacific Group partnership to buyout Energy Future Holdings.
Lawrence Summers (National Economic Council Director): World Bank, Council on Foreign Relations, Brookings Institution (Hamilton Project)
....
Of course, representation of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institution (page 19, .pdf) should give any genuine left-leaning liberal pause for thought. These are think-tanks created by and for big business. The Brookings Institution in particular is home of the very architects of "George Bush's" myriad of wars - as well as the wars now being waged under Obama.
In reality, Obama's policy is driven by not only the exact same corporate-financier interests that drove Bush's, but in fact, many of the exact same individuals are writing the policy versus nations like Libya, Syria, and Iran today who were behind "Bush's" Iraq and Afghanistan wars - the consequences of which still are reverberating. This is what is called, "continuity of agenda," with the feigned political proclivities of both Bush and Obama being nothing more than carefully orchestrated theater to divide and distract the public as a singular agenda transcends presidencies and perceived political lines.
King was also an Adamant Anti-War Activist
On the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a dream" speech, should he still walk this world today, would undoubtedly be taking the podium and speaking out against the latest war the US and its collaborators are gearing up for against Syria. He would undoubtedly have condemned the global war Obama has waged from Mali to Libya, from Syria to Afghanistan and the borders of Pakistan, from Yemen to Somalia, to Uganda and beyond.
In a speech given on April 4, 1967 in New York City titled, "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence," King gives what is perhaps the widest encapsulation of his philosophy and worldview, one that would undoubtedly criticize and clash with the disingenuous US presidents of today, during their hollow celebrations of King's iconic speech.
We should carefully reread King's enlightening speech criticizing the Vietnam War which in part states [emphasis added]:
A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.The US preparing to attack Syria, citing a humanitarian catastrophe it itself intentionally engineered as early as 2007 to divide and destroy both Damascus and its allies in Tehran, is surely "not just." Rushing to war with fabrications (again), is surely "not just." Sidestepping international law to pursue a hegemonic war dressed up as a humanitarian intervention is surely "not just."
America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.
It is safe to say that America has not mended its ways and only traveled further down the dark path King warned us of back in 1967. The man "leading" us, or at least the front-man for the corporate-financier interests that drive America's destiny, may honor King with carefully contrived words and well orchestrated public stunts, but in deeds and actions Obama and the corporate-financier elite that hold his leash, defile and dishonor King in every way imaginable.
If you want to honor King and his life's work, honor it by implementing the words he uttered while alive, not by playing along with a system that resisted him until his death, and has since dishonored and exploited his memory with disingenuous praise while maliciously carrying out an agenda contra to everything King ever stood for.
You can read and listen to the whole April 4, 1967 speech, "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence" on AmericanRhetoric.com.
Four College Athletes Caught on Surveillance Cameras Entering Closed Store – What They Did Next Stunned the Manager
Four football players from William
Paterson University entered a local general store in Wayne, N.J., on
Sunday afternoon in search of sunglasses and batteries. The door was
open, so they let themselves in and got the items they needed, but there
were no store employees to be found.
The four men were then captured on surveillance video…leaving
money at the register and waving to the cameras. One of the players
even dug through his pockets for change to make sure he paid the right
amount in tax.
Marci Lederman, Buddy’s Small Lots
store manager, said she was happy to see the football players pass on
the opportunity to “ransack” or steal items from her store.
“They picked up a few items, and they left cash on the counter and waved to the cameras. Who does that?” Lederman told Yahoo! News.
Apparently, Thomas James, Kell’E Gallimore, Jelani Bruce and Anthony Biondi do “that.”
William Paterson University head football coach Jerry Flora wasn’t the least bit surprised by his players’ honest act.
“That’s the kind of kids we try and
recruit in here so we can obviously deal with a lot less headaches if
you know what I mean,” he said.
So how did the men end up in an empty, unattended store?
Lederman said the players unknowingly
entered her business when it was closed due to a half-lit store and a
malfunctioning front door lock. Police reportedly called her to inform
her of a tripped alarm, but when she got to the store there was nothing
missing.
However, there was cash left at the counter.
“They could have ransacked the store.
They could have really done anything” but they “were perfect gentlemen.
They were looking to see if anyone was here. They looked in the back to
make sure no one was lying on the floor dead,” Lederman added.
More from CBS New York:
The store manager was so thankful that
she submitted the surveillance video to a local TV station, which
ultimately helped her identify the honest athletes. She then provided
each of the men a $50 credit to shop at Buddy’s Small Lots.
It really does pay to be honest.
“They were just very thankful and grateful,” Lederman said.
Grooveshark Signs With Sony, Steps Over that Wavy ‘Piracy’ Line
- August 28, 2013
What’s the difference between YouTube and Grooveshark?That’s not the start of some terrible geek in-joke but a question that Grooveshark founder Sam Tarantino has always been happy to answer, and for good reason.
Tarantino, the company’s current CEO, sees his streaming product as very much like a music-only version of YouTube. Just like its Google-owned counterpart, anyone can upload content to Grooveshark in order for the world to enjoy that same material on their machines.
But as Grooveshark has made clear to TorrentFreak in the past, the similarities don’t end there. Just like YouTube, Grooveshark is very aware that some users may upload content to which they don’t own the rights. So, in common with YouTube, Grooveshark abides by United States law and when someone notifies them that a copyrighted track has been uploaded, they take it down.
YouTube’s problems with rightsholders during the past few years (notably Viacom) have been widely documented but the company has largely sorted out its differences with rightsholders and has become a valuable marketing machine and source of revenue. Despite fighting lawsuits with several major labels, Grooveshark has always believed it can follow in YouTube’s footsteps, and now there are signs that against the odds they just might achieve their goal.
Grooveshark has just announced that it has reached a settlement with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The agreement, which puts all legal disputes between the companies behind them, sees the signing of a licensing agreement to make Sony/ATV content legally available from the Grooveshark platform.
“We are excited to add Sony/ATV Music’s impressive array of songwriters to our catalogue further advancing our mission to empower creators with the best audio platform in the world,” CEO Sam Tarantino said in a statement.
According to research from Informa, Sony/ATV is the world’s largest music publisher accounting for 30% revenue market share in 2012.
The licensing deal is the second in less than four weeks for Grooveshark. Earlier this month the company announced that it had settled its differences with EMI Music Publishing with the signing of a licensing agreement. According to Informa, EMI is the second largest music publisher with a 20% revenue market share in 2012.
So where now for Grooveshark?
Even on the back of May’s ‘consent judgments‘ no announcement has yet been made in respect of settlements or licensing deals with Universal or Warner. Furthermore, the company still has to shake off some unpleasant problems such as being the subject of a Danish ISP block and being censored by Google. TorrentFreak also asked the BPI if Grooveshark will remain a target in the UK, but we’ve yet to receive a response.
The big question now, however, goes back to the difference between YouTube and Grooveshark. The former proactively screens for infringing content based on lists supplied by rightholders and even has a deal with Universal that allows them to take down, seemingly, whatever they like.
Does Grooveshark aspire to be just like YouTube in all ways in the name of survival? Time will tell.
MPAA Wins Landmark Piracy Battle Against Hotfile
- August 29, 2013
Once one of the ten largest file-sharing sites on the Internet, Hotfile has become a prime target for Hollywood.February 2011 the inevitable happened when the MPAA filed a lawsuit against the file-hosting service. Since then they have been battling fiercely in court and Hotfile even sued MPAA member Warner Bros. right back for allegedly abusing its copyright takedown tools.
The MPAA hoped to avoid a trial and asked for a summary judgment on the alleged copyright infringements committed by Hotfile. The file-hosting service, which accused the MPAA of foul play, insisted that it’s merely a service provider and wants a jury to decide the outcome of the case.
After a thorough review and several motions, Florida District Court Judge Kathleen Williams has now decided in favor of the MPAA. The verdict has yet to be released in public but the MPAA has already claimed its victory.
According to the MPAA the court noted that “Hotfile was successful in large part because it did not control infringement activity on its system.” Judge Williams most likely found the file-hosting site liable for secondary copyright infringement, or a related charge.
The Hollywood movie studios praise the verdict which, according to them, shows that Hotfile’s entire business revolved around piracy.
“We applaud the court for recognizing that Hotfile was not simply a storage locker, but an entire business model built on mass distribution of stolen content,” MPAA CEO Chris Dodd commented on the decision.
The MPAA boss went on to describe the ruling as “a victory for all of the men and women who work hard to create our favorite movies and TV shows.”
Hotfile has always contested the characterization of being a “pirate haven,” and previously pointed out to the court that it had been following the DMCA for quite a while.
In addition, the site showed that the most downloaded files on the cyberlocker were not pirated movies but Open Source software. Hotfile also argued that affiliate programs are useful for compensating content creators for their efforts.
In the end, however, the District Court sided with the MPAA and issued a summary judgment.
TorrentFreak reached out to Hotfile for a comment on the decision, but we have yet to hear back from them. Considering the time and effort that has gone in to the legal battle thus far it wouldn’t be a surprise if Hotfile files an appeal.
The summary judgment is certainly a landmark ruling that may have negative implications for other file-hosting sites. We will take a closer look at this when the full verdict is released.