Thursday, September 13, 2012

Huawei complains about US spying allegations, implies McCarthy-style victimization

Huawei complains about US spying allegations, implies McCarthystyle victimhood"We must remember always that accusation is not proof." So begins a report sponsored and published by Huawei, heavily quoting a 1954 US Senate report that condemned McCarthy and his anti-Communist hysteria. The document is a prelude to Huawei's forthcoming public testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee, and its message is clear: the Chinese manufacturer is tired of how it's being treated in America, where numerous telecoms contracts have been blocked over "national security concerns." Huawei wants to be seen as an "opportunity" rather than a "threat," claiming it has scope to expand its 140,000 workforce and would love to create more jobs in America -- if only the US government would remove its "roadblock."

Many other arguments are put forward, but some of the most interesting paragraphs deal with the background of Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei. The document claims that Zhengfei has been "tragically misunderstood" and that his alleged roles in the People's Liberation Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are "unsubstantiated." The report doesn't deny those memberships ever existed, but instead downplays their significance -- for example by insisting that the CCP is now focused on promoting "private entrepreneurs" and "democratization." We admittedly stopped reading at that point, but if you'd like to continue then the full 78-page PDF, written by Dan Steinbock of the India, China and America Institute, is linked below.

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There may be no anti-Islamic movie at all

Some interesting and convincing points are made.

By Dan Murphy,?Staff writer / September 12, 2012

An Egyptian woman holds a black flag with Islamic inscription in Arabic that reads, 'No God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet,' in front of the US embassy in Cairo, Egypt, on Sept. 12.

Nasser Nasser/AP

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As I finished this post, I came across an interview an actress who appears in some of the footage gave to Gawker. It goes a long way to clearing up some of the mystery, though not entirely.

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Cindy Lee Garcia tells the website that she was hired last summer for a small part in a movie she was told would be called "Desert Warriors," about life in Egypt 2,000 years ago (Islam is about 1,400 years old).

She told Gawker"It wasn't based on anything to do with religion, it was just on how things were run in Egypt. There wasn't anything about Muhammed or Muslims or anything and that, according to Gawker, "In the script and during the shooting, nothing indicated the controversial nature of the final product. Muhammed wasn't even called Muhammed; he was "Master George," Garcia said. The words Muhammed were dubbed over in post-production, as were essentially all other offensive references to Islam and Muhammed. Garcia said that there was a man who identified as "Bacile" on set, but that he was Egyptian and frequently spoke Arabic.

The online 14-minute clip of a purportedly anti-Islamic movie that sparked protests at the US embassy in Cairo and and the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya is now looking like it could have been ginned up by someone sitting a basement with cheap dubbing software.

Full credit goes to Sarah Abdurrahman at On the Media and Rosie Grey at Buzzfed who appear to be the first to highlight (there may be others, but they're the ones who caught my eye) the fact that almost every instance of language referring to Islam or Muhammad in the film has been dubbed in. That is, mouths are mouthing but the words you're hearing don't match.

There have already been a bunch of lies associated with the alleged film. A man named "Sam Bacile" was identified as being the writer and producer. He claimed to be an Israeli citizen. The Israelis say they have no record of him. He claimed to have spent $5 million on the movie. The clip online doesn't look like even $100,000 was spent. There is no record of a "Sam Bacile" living in California, and his strange insistence on the fact that he was Jewish and that he had exclusively Jewish funders for his film in an interview with the Associated Press now looks like something of a red flag.

The one verifiable person involved in this strange tale so far is Steve Klein, an evangelical Christian and anti-Islamic activist with ties to militia groups and a Coptic Christian satellite TV station based in California. Klein told Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic earlier today that he was a consultant on the film, that "Sam Bacile," was a pseudonym, that the person behind the name probably isn't Jewish, and he didn't know the real name of the man. He doesn't know the name of someone he worked on a movie with? Yet another strange, credulity-stretching claim.?

Now comes the part with the compelling case of no movie at all.

Abdurrahman writes:

If you watch closely, you can see that when the actors are reading parts of the script that do not contain Islam-specific language, the audio from the sound stage is used (the audio that was recorded as the actors were simultaneously being filmed). But anytime the actors are referring to something specific to the religion (the Prophet Muhammed, the Quran, etc.) the audio recorded during filming is replaced with a poorly executed post-production dub. And if you look EVEN closer, you can see that the actors? mouths are saying something other than what the dub is saying.

For example, at 2:53, the voiceover says ?His name is Muhammed. And we can call him The Father Unknown.? In this case, the whole line is dubbed, and it appears the actor is actually saying, ?His name is George (?). And we can call him The Father Unknown.? I assume the filmmakers thought they were being slick, thinking that dubbing the whole line instead of just the name would make it more seamless and less noticeable to the viewer. But once you start to look for these dubs, it?s hard to see anything else.

And Grey writes:

As the video above ??cut from the YouTube video tied to a global controversy ? shows, nearly all of the names in the movie's "trailer" ??is a compilation of the most clumsily overdubbed moments from what is in reality an incoherent, haphazardly-edited set of scenes. Among the overdubbed words is "Mohammed," suggesting that the footage was taken from a film about something else entirely. The footage also suggests multiple video sources ? there are obvious and jarring discrepancies among actors and locations... whoever made (it) may well have made use of little more than the standard editing software Final Cut Pro ??far from a cast and crew of over 100 and millions of dollars.

Both make very, very convincing points (read their full posts) and if you watch the footage carefully, it's hard to escape their conclusions. In one scene a man is apparently teaching his daughter about the evils of Islam and writes on a blackboard that "Man + X = BT" as he explains to her that "Man + X = Islamic terrorist." Then he writes the equation in reverse, again intoning "Islamic terrorist" as he writes "BT."

If suspicions are right, the low-quality footage has been re-purposed from somewhere, and you'd expect someone to come forward and explain soon (since a lot of actors are involved).

What's really going on here? I have no idea.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/b5tROzz3a-8/There-may-be-no-anti-Islamic-movie-at-all

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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Fall Paper Bag Crafts | Inspired By Family Magazine

One of my favorite things to do for party favors or class parties is to dress up a plain paper bag and make it look cute.? Here are some fun ideas for Fall paper bag crafts.

If you are a teacher these are inexpensive little treats you can give your students or for parents who want to give Halloween or?Fall?treats to their child?s class.? Your child or student

I used two methods to color my bags (you can buy them already colored) the first was spray painting and the other is paint brush painting.? I liked how fast and easy spray paint was to work with but I didn?t have all the colors I needed so I ended up just using a paint brush to paint my bags.

Basic Supplies:

Paper Bags of different sizes

Paint (acrylic or spray paint)

newspaper

Each bag took on its own form so some required different supplies after I painted them.

Set newspaper on your work space and paint each bag.

?

?

Pumpkin- You will also green construction paper, twine to tie bag and Spanish moss.

Spider- You will need black pipe cleaners and googly eyes. Glue legs and eyes to your black painted bag.

Bat- You will need a mini paper bag, construction paper and googly eyes.

Turkey- This craft was featured in the Celebrate Fall Issue for 5 Nature Inspired Crafts. You will need a large paper bag, leaves and all sorts of other nature findings, paint and glue. Rebekah from The Golden Gleam did an amazing job with this fun Turkey Craft.

Owl- You will need fun paper and orange paint. Fold the bag down and cut an upside down triangle. Paint the point of your triangle orange for the beak. Glue eyes to the triangle. Cut half an oval from your fun paper for the chest.

Mummy- Use a white paper bag and glue googly eyes. Then wrap white crepe paper all around glue parts of it so it doesn?t come undone.

Apple- You will need cinnamon stick for the stem, green construction paper?and twine to tie around the end. I was inspired by Brandy from Gluesticks?and Gluesticks Paper bag Apple Orchard in the Celebrate Fall Issue.? Hers are much cuter then mine so you should go check them out.

For Halloween:

Just for fun:

Source: http://inspiredbyfamilymag.com/2012/09/11/fall-halloween-paper-bag-crafts/

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The Politics of Benghazi & Cairo: The Chronology (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/247782993?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Jolie hears 'horrific' accounts of Syrian refugees

ZAATARI, Jordan (AP) ? Her eyes welling up with tears, actress Angelina Jolie said Tuesday she heard "horrific" and "heartbreaking" accounts from Syrian refugees who fled the civil war in their country to find shelter in a camp just across the border in Jordan.

The Hollywood star and U.N. refugee agency's special envoy spoke as she visited the Zaatari camp, which hosts about 30,000 Syrians displaced by the 18-month conflict that has so far claimed at least 23,000 lives, according to activists.

"I am very concerned, the world is very concerned," Jolie said during her high-profile visit aimed at focusing international attention on the plight of Syrian refugees and attracting more funding to help them. "What is very heartbreaking is when Syrian people ask you why you think no one is able to find a solution for them."

"What they described on the ground, hearing it from them is so horrific," she said, adding that the children's stories were especially moving. "When you meet so many innocent people and civilians, the people of Syria are asking who is on their side. 'Who is going to help us as the months go on?'"

The actress also said some of the refugees expressed fears "there will be no more of us" left in Syria as the relentless bloodshed grinds on.

Jolie also met separately with Syrian refugee women and toured the sprawling tent city in the company of U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.

"This mission that we are sharing has a key objective. It is to draw attention to the international community to express a much more stronger solidarity with Syrian refugees and the host countries that have kept their borders open to all those fleeing the conflict," said Guterres.

According to Guterres, Jordan has taken in some 200,000 Syrians ? the largest number in the region. The refugee chief acknowledged the sheer numbers are taking a toll on Jordan's economy and resources, stressing that the "camp needs massive international funding" and that its conditions were "still not acceptable."

The UNHCR in April promoted Jolie from serving as its goodwill ambassador to special envoy due to her exceptional work for the agency.

Jordan opened up the Zaatari facility for Syrians in July after long delaying a decision on whether to set up refugee camps, possibly to avoid angering Syrian President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime by showing images at his doorstep of civilians fleeing his military onslaught.

Jolie was also to visit Syrian refuges in Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq during the rest of her trip to the region.

In Geneva, the UNHCR said Tuesday that while the agency has 253,106 people registered or awaiting registration as Syrian refugees, the real number is likely far higher since tens of thousands are believed to have not yet registered. Some are getting help from family or friends, while some are afraid to register for fear of possible consequences from Assad's regime.

Agency spokesman Adrian Edwards said the refugees have reported continuing artillery and air attacks in villages and towns close to the Jordanian border, and that there are thousands of displaced in southern Syria.

The UNHCR also has been scaling up emergency operations for 200,000 people inside Syria who have been displaced by fighting and need medical care, shelter and schools.

___

Associated Press Writer John Heilprin in Geneva contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jolie-hears-horrific-accounts-syrian-refugees-092347835.html

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Lily Collins Talks 'Insane' Actions Shots In 'Mortal Instruments'

Star tells MTV News what it takes to bring the fantasy novel to life on the big screen.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Lily Collins
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1693557/lily-collins-mortal-instruments-action.jhtml

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Babies' ability to detect complex rules in language outshines that of adults, research suggests

ScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2012) ? New research examining auditory mechanisms of language learning in babies has revealed that infants as young as three months of age are able to automatically detect and learn complex dependencies between syllables in spoken language. By contrast, adults only recognized the same dependencies when asked to actively search for them. The study by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig also highlights the important role of basic pitch discrimination abilities for early language development.

The speed and apparent ease with which young infants learn the basics of a language regularly astound parents and scientists alike. Of course, adults are usually assumed to have the edge in sophisticated language learning. However, scientists Jutta Mueller, Angela D. Friederici and Claudia Maennel have now found that when it comes to extracting complex rules from spoken language, a three-month-old outperforms adult learners.

For 20 minutes, the scientists played a stream of syllables to babies while measuring their brain responses using electroencephalography (EEG). Pairs of syllables appeared together, but were separated by a third syllable. Jutta Mueller, first author of the study, stresses that "such dependencies between non-neighbouring elements are typical for natural languages and can be found in many grammatical constructions." For instance, in the sentence "The boy always smiles," the third-person-suffix "s" of the verb is dependent on the noun "boy." In the study, this was reflected in the use of combinations like "le" and "bu" in sequences like "le-wi-bu."

From time to time, however, combinations like "le-wi-to" would appear, in which one of the syllables was out of place. "EEG measurements showed us that the babies recognized this rule violation," Mueller explains. Additionally, the scientists would occasionally change the tone of one syllable to a higher pitch -- with an interesting outcome: Only those infants whose brains reacted to pitch changes in a more mature way could detect the syllable dependencies.

When facing the same task as the babies, adults only showed a reaction to the rule violations when asked to explicitly look for dependencies between the syllables. Mueller and her colleagues conclude that, evidently, the automatic recognition ability is lost later on. "What we found particularly interesting is that the small group of adults who did show evidence of rule learning also showed a stronger brain response to the pitch changes."

These findings not only help understand how children manage to learn language so quickly during early development, but also point to a strong link between very basic auditory skills and sophisticated rule learning abilities. In a follow-up study, the scientists are now investigating whether differences the babies showed in response to pitch changes and in rule learning ability have any long-term effects on language development.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Jutta L. Mueller, Angela D. Friederici, and Claudia M?nnel. Auditory perception at the root of language learning. PNAS, September 10, 2012 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1204319109

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/PNNJjuAFjkY/120910151613.htm

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