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Workers from North Korea stationed across the border in China are being advised to send home funds to support the Kim Jong Un regime as a demonstration of devotion to their country, according to sources in China and a North Korean defector with knowledge of the situation.
A source in China who regularly interacts with traders from the impoverished neighboring country said that North Koreans working there are expected to send money to their government leadership on an annual basis, regardless of their occupation and salary.
"Offering money in the name of loyalty is an annual event … No one can avoid this, including resident traders, restaurant managers and their employees, and laborers dispatched overseas," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"A trade representative close to me sent U.S. $3,000 last year. Maybe he will offer a similar amount this year."
The source said that as the third anniversary of former leader Kim Jong Il's death approaches in December, North Korea's regime was in need of "huge amounts of money for a large scale memorial ceremony" and expecting a share of it to come from workers in China.
A second Chinese source confirmed that North Koreans were being instructed yearly to send money to their government, but said that no fixed amount was required, causing confusion among workers and making them feel that giving too little could land them in hot water politically.
"Strangely, North Korea doesn't set the amount of money and simply advised workers to 'offer money according to one's own sincerity'," the source said.
"[This] makes workers feel more pressure than demanding a fixed amount."
The source said those offering too little money know they will be stigmatized as disloyal citizens, but that most workers could not afford to send much home, even if they wanted to.
He said workers in China commonly try to guess what their compatriots are sending home in order to determine what they should offer themselves.
'In the name of loyalty'
A North Korean defector from Pyongyang surnamed Lee, who now lives in South Korea, told RFA that sending the regime money as a sign of allegiance was not limited to those positioned in China.
"Residents of North Korea also have to offer money in the name of loyalty," Lee said, without providing details of how much is expected from those who live in the country, where workers often earn significantly less than they can abroad.
"If someone doesn't offer this money, they can become a political prisoner."
A third source in China said that Pyongyang had come to rely on North Korea's citizens as a source of income to help it govern the nation.
"The North Korean government is not only generating an income from exporting minerals such as coal," the source said.
"Money from North Korean residents and workers abroad is an easy means for producing governing funds."
According to figures released earlier this year, Chinese authorities granted 93,300 work visas to North Koreans in 2013—a roughly 17 percent gain from the prior year.
Reported by Joon Ho Kim for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Hanna Lee. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Manufacturers in North Korea contracted to produce export-bound apparel for companies in China are selling some of their finished products at bargain prices in the tightly-controlled country's black market, according to sources inside and outside North Korea.
Apparel such as coats are sold by the manufacturers without the knowledge of the Chinese companies and made from raw material skimmed off from the companies, the sources told RFA's Korean Service.
The North Korean manufacturers are known as toll processors and use specialized equipment to produce the apparel for the Chinese companies, which supply the raw material.
Chinese textile companies use factories in North Korea, where labor is much cheaper, to produce high quality, big-ticket items such as winter coats that can sell for more than U.S. $100 in China.
But these expensive items are sold on the black market in North Korea at highly discounted rates, the sources said.
A Korean-American based in China said he supplies to his North Korean manufacturer 10 percent more fabric than what is needed to complete an apparel order so as to compensate for production-related losses.
But the toll processor returns only 90 percent of his order, he said, adding that the remainder of the material he supplies is pilfered.
"I calculate that about 20 percent of the order volume remains with the processing company in North Korea," he told RFA. "It's hard to do consignment business with North Korea if I don't prepare for these losses."
Skimmed-off material
It is believed that powerful toll-manufacturing factory managers and their loyal employees skim off the material and apparel and sell finished goods, such as parkas, in black markets where ordinary North Koreans can afford them.
In return, low-paid factory employees can supplement their extremely meager incomes and buy food and other daily necessities with money they earn from selling the apparel.
One North Korean source who was visiting China in October and was delayed from returning home because of an Ebola border control check told RFA that he had purchased a high-quality parka on the black market in his country.
The parka, made with fine fabric and meticulous stitching, could sell in Chinese department stores for more than 1,000 yuan (U.S. $163), he said.
"This parka is produced by toll processing, but sold on the black market," he said.
He said foreign enterprises that send material to North Korean toll manufacturers usually provide more material than their orders require to compensate for a certain amount that they believe will be lost in the manufacturing process.
But "after delivering the volume of orders, many complete products made from surplus materials are left over," he said, implying that the items are sold in North Korea on the black market.
Another source in China gave further evidence of such apparel being sold on the black market by pointing out that some members of North Korea's upper class have been influenced by fashion trends that emerge from such clothing.
"Some North Koreans can follow foreign trends by buying clothing that finds its way to the black market," the source said.
North Koreans have had to rely on smuggling along the country's border with China for scarce items such as food, clothes, and used electronics.
More recently, the Chinese have been smuggling in cellphones, PCs, washing machines, and refrigerators, according to the website North Korea Economy Watch, citing information from Huanqiu, the website of China's nationalistic tabloid The Global Times.
Foreign companies in China, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and South Korea have produced various types of clothing in North Korea, making garment processing one of the country's most successful export-related activities, according to a 2012 report by Washington-based Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies' website 38 North.
They do business there to take advantage of North Korea's highly skilled labor force and the lowest wages in Asia, the report said.
"Clothing now accounts for a large portion of North Korea's light industry sector and is a major export sector," the report said. "It is also a successful foreign investment activity, with Chinese companies taking the lead in using North Korea as a production base."
North Korean garment processors produce a large variety of clothing, including undergarments, sportswear, winter coats, suits, knitwear and uniforms with the specific quality of products made according to client specification, it said.
The companies have a wide range of machinery for cutting, sewing, sealing, ironing, pressing, and embroidery, and use computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing technology, the report said.
At the time the report was published, North Korea had about 15 large garment-exporting enterprises that operated several factories around the country, and dozens of medium-sized companies.
Reported by Joon Ho Kim for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Hanna Lee. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.]]>
North Korea recently released two Americans who were detained in North Korea on charges of "subverting the communist state" and "unruly behavior," respectively, following Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's secret visit to the country on Nov. 8. It's not clear at this point what motivations drove Pyongyang to release the two Americans—Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller—while Washington said Clapper's mission was simply to secure the freedom of the two Americans in his capacity as President Obama's special envoy.
Changsop Pyon of RFA's Korean Service interviewed Amb. Joseph DeTrani , former U.S. Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks (2003-2006), about his thoughts on Pyongyang's intentions and its goal in releasing the two Americans. Amb. DeTrani, currently President of the nonprofit Intelligence and Security Alliance (INSA), also served as North Korea mission manager with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) from 2006 to2010 and its director of National Counter Proliferation Center (2010-2012).
Q: North Korea invited Amb. Robert King, U.S. Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights, to Pyongyang in February for the release of Kenneth Bae, but cancelled his visit at the last minute. Why do you think Pyongyang released the two Americans, including Mr. Bae, this time?
A: Well, it's very difficult to determine what, in this case, Kim Jung Un's motivation was, but we have to look at things he's done recently and then, based on that, we can make sort of an assessment as to what his real intentions were, and what he's trying to accomplish. First of all, we know that for the last two and a half years North Korea's policies have been a disaster. I mean, missile launches, nuclear test, threatening the U.S. and ROK with preemptive nuclear strikes, the brutal execution of his uncle, seizing four Americans and putting them in prison. These activities have engendered a lot of ill will, resulting in additional sanctions on North Korea, and certainly alienated their only ally, China.
So, this is a series of actions the DPRK took over the last two to two and a half years. And this, in my view, has been a disaster.
Then we look at what's happened in the last month and a half. Kim Jong Un has sent his foreign minister to the U.N. for the first time in 15 years;. He sent Choe Ryong-hae and Vice Marshall Hwang Pyong-so to South Korea for the closing ceremony of Asian Games and also meetings with the prime minister and national security advisor in the ROK. He sent Kang Sok-ju to the European parliament and other states in Europe to talk about North Korea's "peaceful intentions." And now, there's the release of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller.
This series of recent moves by North Korea shows that there is a good chance that people around Kim Jung Un are now saying "This is the right way to go, we need to build better relations." And most importantly, there's what's happening on the human rights issue, which is a very profound issue. The United Nations is now talking about going to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the possibility of indicting Kim Jung Un and senior leaders in Pyongyang, which has to be a very major concern of the North Korean leadership. So, you have a whole series of issues and actions on the part of the DPRK that speak to the fact that many in the DPRK realize that they have to change their behavior. They need to get out of the penalty box. They need to show they are a reasonable state actor that wants to engage and is prepared to come back to the Six-Party Talks. That's sort of my analysis.
Q: You just said that many in Pyongyang have realized the need to change their behavior. If that's the case, why couldn't they do so earlier?
A: I think there are two reasons. One is they wanted a very senior U.S. government official [to visit]. Certainly Director Clapper is a senior U.S. government official. The other reason is this was a decision the president had to make, and he felt, in my view, that the best person for the mission was the Director of National Intelligence. Why not send somebody who has 16 intelligence agencies under him and who understands what's going on in North Korea? So, President Obama decided to send the person who is most knowledgeable about North Korea and who meets the "senior" requirement. So, if they want to discuss missiles and their nuclear program, then Director Clapper is the man who can speak to the issues.
Q: Mr. Clapper delivered a letter from President Obama to Kim Jong Un, but this only mentioned his role as presidential envoy and the purpose of the visit. What did they try to get from Mr. Clapper's visit then? Was it simply some respect or a show of good will, for instance?
A: I think you said it. They got a little good will. I think they got a better image as a more rational actor, one with a little more humanity and compassion. That's all they got from something like this, I think.
Q: Given Mr. Clapper's very high rank, don't you think North Korea might have wanted to use him as a sort of a messenger to deliver their views directly to President Obama?
A: Well, let me say this. I may be wrong, but my personal understanding is that this was a decision that the President took to send Director Clapper, not the North Koreans. And I personally think the reason they concluded this was that he is not only smart but he is the smartest man on North Korea. Director Clapper has got 16 intelligence agencies working for him. And if North Korea had a message to send, they could certainly send it through this very senior official. Director Clapper could also very succinctly respond and refute, if confronted with "We don't have a nuclear program, we're not proliferating, and we don't have missiles." He could actually look at them straight in the eye and say "We know what you're doing."
Q: In other words, Mr. Clapper didn't go to Pyongyang to negotiate, right?
A: Well, let me tell you this. The release of these Americans is a humanitarian move on the part of the DPRK. My personal view is that it's not in their interest to hold these Americans as hostages, and it has nothing to do with the nuclear and missile strategic dialogue or negotiations with North Korea on their nuclear programs, illicit activities, and human rights. These are separate issues. The visit dealt strictly with the humanitarian release of the Americans.
Q: If they had wanted some positive signal from Washington about the reopening of a dialogue, might this have been a big miscalculation after all?
A: Yes. If they want a dialogue with the United States with the release, they have to be clear as to what that dialogue is about. If the dialogue is about implementing the Sept. 2005 Joint Statement, then yes, the U.S. would respond, in my personal view. But if you're just talking about an exploratory meeting, I don't think anybody wants to be there. We've been doing this for 20 years. So, I don't think a meeting for the sake of meeting would generate any interest.
I think if there is an exploratory meeting to determine what their intention is, then that would be fine. We can sit down and get right down to the issue and ask the North Koreans, "Are you prepared to comply with the Sept. 2005 Joint Statement? Are you prepared to implement a comprehensive and verifiable denuclearization program in return for security assurances and economic assistance and ultimately normal relations? Are you prepared to do that?" If the North says "Well, no…" then there is no point of talking. It's very simple. All they have to say is, "We're prepared to come back to negotiations to implement the Sept. 2005 Joint Statement."
Q: What might be the ultimate goal of Pyongyang on its nuclear issue at this point?
A: What is their ultimate goal? Does that mean they're prepared to denuclearize? No, we don't know that. In fact, what we know is they want to retain their nuclear capability, which is something that we will never accept. So, if my analysis is correct, they realized they made a number of terrible mistakes and they are now trying to rectify their mistakes by showing good will so as to reengage with the international community—but certainly with the United States, the ROK, Japan, China, and Russia in the Six-Party process. So, what are their intentions? We don't know. If North Korea wants to come back to the Six-Party process, we need to hear from them that they're prepared to denuclearize in a comprehensive and verifiable way, as they agreed to in Sept. 2005. If they are not prepared to do that, what's the point of going back to the talks?
Q: Do you think that Pyongyang is well aware of the U.S. position on this?
A: I think the North Koreans know that the U.S. position is reengagement with them. It is to reengage on the nuclear issues, and,not to renegotiate a new document. So, I think it's pretty clear what the US objective is in this instance. If Director Clapper shared anything with the North, if he was confronted with anything, I am sure it's in line with the U.S. position, that to talk with the North Koreans for any other reasons except the nuclear issue would be futile right now. The U.S. objective is to address the core issues of the nuclear and missile programs. And, then, obviously there are illicit activities and human rights issues, but those are bilateral issues, not Six-Party Talks issues.
Q: By now Director Clapper must have fully briefed President Obama and others about his Pyongyang visit, right?
A: I would assume he would be briefing the President of the United States and his national security advisors.
Q: Do you see any possible effect of Mr. Clapper's visit on the Obama administration's stance on its North Korea policy in the coming days?
A: I really don't know, because I don't know what was really shared with Director Clapper by the North Koreans. My sense here is that the U.S position has been very clear. The North Koreans might be sharing whatever they want, but what the people want to hear from the North Koreans is their willingness to come back to the negotiations for the dismantling of their nuclear programs.
North Korea has freed two Americans after detaining them for up to two years, the United States announced Saturday, in a release negotiated in Pyongyang by a top U.S. intelligence official who is accompanying the duo home, officials said.
The release of Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary from Washington state, and Matthew Todd Miller, from California, was secured by James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, after a secret mission to North Korea.
U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the release of the two men, just hours before leaving for a swing through Asia.
"It's a wonderful day for them and their families," Obama said at the White House, adding that Washington was "very grateful for their safe return" and appreciated Clapper "doing a great job on what was obviously a challenging mission."
Their freedom came following the release of a third American, Jeffrey Fowle, by Pyongyang in late October after being imprisoned apparently for leaving behind a Bible in a nightclub bathroom.
Bae was held in November 2012 and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for alleged crimes against the state while Miller, accused of espionage, had been in custody since April and sentenced to six years of hard labor.
Humanitarian grounds
The United States has been calling for their release on humanitarian grounds. Bae, 42, was said to be in poor health.
"We can confirm that U.S. citizens Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller have been allowed to depart the DPRK [North Korea] and are on their way home, accompanied by DNI Clapper, to re-join their families," Brian Hale, spokesman for Clapper's office, said in a statement.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said separately that the safety and welfare of U.S. citizens abroad was the department's "highest priority," noting that Washington had long called on Pyongyang to release them.
The State Department however strongly advised against all travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea, which had been accused of holding the three Americans as political hostages to extract diplomatic concessions.
The State Department told CNN that Clapper, who visited Pyongyang as Obama's envoy, did not make a "quid pro quo" offer for the men's release.
North Korea is anxious to revive six-party aid-for-denuclearization talks with the U.S., China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea, but Washington wants Pyongyang to first show a tangible commitment to denuclearization.
"North Korea knows what it needs to do if it wants a better relationship with the international community and wants to end its isolation and pariah status," the official told Agence France-Presse.
"North Korea must show it is serious and prepared to abide by its commitments, particularly concerning denuclearization. And they must take significant steps to improve their human rights record."
UN resolution
The European Union and Japan this week presented a United Nations resolution calling for a probe of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime for crimes against humanity.
The resolution was sent to a U.N. General Assembly committee despite a diplomatic campaign by North Korea to have key provisions removed, including one that urged the Security Council to refer Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court.
Bae's delighted son, Jonathan, told Reuters news agency from Arizona that he received a call late Friday and spoke to his father.
"The brief time on the phone, he sounded good," Jonathan said. "I'm sure he will be back to his old self in no time.
"It came out of the blue. One minute he was doing farm labor and the next minute they are saying, 'You are going home.' Just like everyone else, he was surprised."
Rick Larsen, a U.S. lawmaker from Washington state where Bae's family lives, said Bae's release was "fantastic news for the whole Bae family, after two years of uncertainty and pain."
"I am so happy for Kenneth and his family that he is free and headed for a reunion with his loved ones, and that he will be able to get the medical attention he needs," Congressman Larsen said.
U.S. Senator Patty Murray, also from Washington state, said Bae's sister Terri Chung, in particular, has made it her personal mission to bring her brother back and "her powerful voice and hard work truly helped make this day possible."
"This is a great day for Kenneth's family, friends, and all of us in Washington state who have worked, hoped, and prayed for Kenneth's return over the last two years."
Chung said in a statement that her family heard from the State Department that her brother was on a plane from North Korea with Miller. "They had left North Korean airspace, bound for America."
"I am thrilled to imagine hugging my brother soon. He will not have to spend another day at a labor camp. He can now recover from this imprisonment and look forward to his wife, kids, and rest of his life. Our Thanksgiving celebration this year will be one we will never forget."
Reported by RFA's Korean Service. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
The wife of North Korea's former number two official Choe Ryong Hae may have used her connections with the country's powerful First Lady to have her husband reinstated, according to a North Korea expert citing a source close to the regime.
Choe, 64, was replaced by Hwang Pyong So as director of the Korean People's Army's powerful General Political Bureau—a position widely viewed as second-in-command after leader Kim Jong Un—according to a May 1 report by the official Korean Central News Agency.
But Yoshihiro Makino, a visiting scholar and North Korea expert at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, told RFA's Korean Service that Choe's wife, Kang Gyung Sil, may have used her ties to Kim's wife Ri Sol Ju to propel him back to his former position.
"Kang, who hails from Chongjin in North Hamgyong province, has used 'royal family' connections," including with Ri and Kim's late mother Ko Young Hui, to return Choe to power, Makino said, citing a source with knowledge of the regime.
Ties "through kinship with Ko Young Hui, combined with Choe's influence" may have helped, he said.
"My source told me that Kang Gyung Sil is leading inner-circle gatherings among the spouses of North Korea's high-ranking officials, as she keeps close relationships with [ruling Korean Workers' Party] secretary Kang Sok Ju's wife as well as Ri Sol Ju."
Personal connections
Makino said that an increasing number of officials in North Korea are attempting to use their personal connections to advance their positions in the country, particularly through Ri, a former singer.
"Nowadays, there are more people in North Korea who are attempting to exercise influence using personal relationships, especially with Kim Jong Un's wife," the North Korea expert said, citing his source.
"I also heard that it has created concerns among the public who fear it could cause social unrest."
He said that an increasing number of people leveraging their connections to Ri instead of Kim could undermine the leader's authority.
Recent announcements
A number of recent official announcements and appearances by Choe, who now serves as vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, suggest that he may have reclaimed his influence within the elite circle of power in North Korea.
A report last week by South Korea's Kyunghyang Shinmun cited the KCNA as placing Choe ahead of Hwang in an article listing a group of officials who accompanied Kim to watch a women's football match at the May 1 Stadium in North Korea's capital Pyongyang.
Kyunghyang also cited a related article which referred to Choe as a member of the Politburo Presidium of the Workers' Party, saying that experts viewed the promotion as an advance in the line of power ahead of Hwang to reclaim the de facto number two position in the regime.
The report quoted Chung Sung-jang, a senior fellow at South Korea's Sejong Institute, as saying that he knew of no precedent where a party secretary was also a member of the Politburo Presidium, other than Kim Jong Il—Kim's father and the former leader of North Korea who died in December 2011.
"This confirms that Kim Jong Un's trust in Choe is very special," he said.
Execution and delegation
A report by The Diplomat quoted North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS), a group of North Korean dissidents based in South Korea, as saying that Choe had last month led the execution of Kim Kyong Ok, the first deputy director of the powerful Organization and Guidance Department of the Workers' Party, along with some of his aides.
NKIS told The Diplomat that Kim Jong Un had allegedly purged Kim Kyong Ok over concerns that the Workers' Party official was rapidly expanding his influence in North Korea.
NKIS said Kim Jong Un had entrusted Choe to eliminate all possible threats to his power because he does not have an extensive personal support base within the regime, and therefore is not himself a threat to the leader.
Choe also joined a delegation led by Hwang Pyong So and including director of the United Front Department of the Chosun Workers' Party Kim Yang Gon, in a surprise trip ostensibly to view the closing ceremonies of the Asian Games in Incheon on Oct. 4.
The high-profile visit sparked widespread speculation about North Korea's motives for sending the group, which met with South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae and director of National Security Kim Kwan-jin.
Reported by Jung Woo Park for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Jung Woo Park. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
North Korea's ruling Korean Workers' Party has established new age limits for party membership, forcing the retirement of older members in a bid to bring new youth and energy to party activities, according to North Korean sources.
Detailed information regarding the age at which rank-and-file party members are now obliged to resign was not immediately available, but is said to be fixed and "similar" to the age—60 for men and 55 for women—at which ordinary North Korean citizens retire from their jobs.
Sources say the scheme appears aimed mainly at limiting the numbers of older members of North Korea's ruling party.
The age-limit ruling has been vigorously implemented since Kim Jong Un took over as the country's leader in 2011, when his father Kim Jong Il died, one source said.
"There are as many members of the Korean Workers' Party now as there are stones in the street," a source in China told RFA's Korean Service.
"By reducing the number of party members, they are hoping to revitalize the party and increase the value of party membership," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
After retiring from party membership, ordinary party members are classified as "honorary" members, other sources said.
High-ranking government officials, on the other hand, retain their full party membership until they retire from their posts, and are classified as "honorary" members after that. There is no fixed retirement age for them.
Policy 'gradually implemented'
A resident of the capital Pyongyang, contacted while visiting relatives in China, told RFA that the new age-limit system has "been gradually implemented within the party for a while now."
A North Korean trader, also visiting China, said that though the system had previously been under internal review, "it was implemented with full force once Kim Jong Un took power."
Grass-roots party members who have not held public office are welcoming the requirement to resign party membership when they grow old, one source said.
"They like it because they won't have to pay a party membership fee or take part in work as a group anymore."
"Also, they are too old to be considered for selection to government posts," he said.
Many younger North Koreans still hope to join the Korean Workers' Party though, sources said, as party membership provides opportunities for employment in public office and to rise in social rank.
Reported by Joon Ho Kim for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Hanna Lee. Written in English by Richard Finney.
U.S. President Barack Obama held talks over the telephone Thursday with Myanmar President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, stressing the need to address communal tensions, forge a nationwide cease-fire pact, and hold credible general elections next year.
He made the separate calls hours before Thein Sein was scheduled to host an unprecedented meeting Friday with Aung San Suu Kyi as well as the country's powerful military chief and leaders of other political parties and ethnic groups aimed at grappling with the country's political problems.
Obama, who is scheduled to make his second visit to Myanmar in mid-November, discussed with Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi the status of Myanmar's ongoing political and economic reforms and the need for an "inclusive and credible process" for conducting the 2015 general elections elections, the White House said in a statement.
Obama gave the United States' "firm commitment to helping the people" of Myanmar "achieve a more free, open, and prosperous nation," it said.
Rohingya crisis
The statement said the U.S. leader stressed the importance for Thein Sein's government to take "additional steps to address the tensions and the humanitarian situation" in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where bloody communal violence between majority Rakhine Buddhists and minority Muslim Rohingyas since 2012 has left more than 280 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.
Human rights groups have accused the Myanmar authorities of discriminating against the Muslim Rohingya community, who they say bore the brunt of the violence. Rakhine Buddhists however accuse aid groups of favoring the Rohingyas, most of whom are considered illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though they have lived in Myanmar for decades.
Obama called Thursday for revisions to the Rakhine Action Plan, which U.S.-based Human Rights Watch says would entrench discriminatory policies that deprive Rohingyas of Myanmar citizenship and lead to the forced resettlement of over 130,000 displaced Rohingya into closed camps.
Human Rights Watch had called on Myanmar's international donors, the United Nations, and other influential actors to press Thein Sein's government to substantively revise or rescind the plan.
Obama also called for other measures "to support the civil and political rights of the Rohingya population."
The U.S. leader welcomed Thein Sein's commitment to the peace process, saying "every effort should be made conclude a national cease-fire in the short term."
The Myanmar government is negotiating with the country's ethnic armed groups to sign a nationwide cease-fire agreement, though the process has been repeatedly delayed.
Any agreement is to be followed by political dialogue with ethnic groups aimed at giving greater powers to ethnic states as well as giving them greater representation in parliament.
But the powerful military has refused to give up its veto on making any changes to the country's constitution, which are key to giving ethnic groups greater powers.
President Obama also underscored "the need for an inclusive and credible process" for conducting the 2015 elections, the White House statement said.
Aung San Suu Kyi may not be able to become president if her National League for Democracy (NLD) party wins the elections.
The constitution bars her from becoming leader of the country because her two sons are not Myanmar citizens, and the ruling party and the military are reluctant to amend the charter to pave the way for her to be in the running for the presidency.
The White House said Obama also discussed with Aung San Suu Kyi "how the United States can support efforts to promote tolerance, respect for diversity, and a more inclusive political environment."
Since the end of last year, Aung San Suu Kyi has been pushing for talks on Myanmar's political reform process with Thein Sein, Parliamentary Speaker Shwe Mann, and military commander-in-chief General Min Aung Hlaing, all of whom are to attend Friday's meeting at the president's residence in the capital Naypyidaw.
Some political party leaders have questioned whether Thein Sein had arranged the meeting solely to demonstrate to Obama and other world leaders that he is serious in his reform efforts, considering recent criticism over the delay in forging a nationwide cease-fire with armed rebel groups and the refusal by the military to give up its veto power in parliament.
"If this meeting is just to appease the world leaders who will be visiting, then it is up to the people who will be attending the meeting [to do something]," said Khin Maung Swe, chairman of the Federal Democratic Alliance (FDA), a coalition of nine political and ethnic parties and a leading official of the opposition National Democratic Force (NDF) party.
Myanmar will next month host a high-level meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit.
Obama will attend the East Asia Summit with leaders from China, Russia, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand as well as the 10 Southeast Asian nations.
A U.N. human rights investigator has said he is prepared to consider an invitation from North Korea to visit the reclusive one-party state, but only if he is allowed access to the country's network of political prison camps, which have been linked to massive human rights abuses.
Pyongyang had linked its invitation, issued on Monday, to a demand that a U.N.-mandated report drop a recommendation that North Korean leaders be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague for possible prosecution on charges of crimes against humanity.
North Korea's prison camps "have been uppermost" in the concerns of the international community regarding human rights abuses in the politically isolated country, U.N. special rapporteur on North Korea Marzuki Darusman told RFA's Korean Service in an interview on Wednesday.
"Therefore, a first visit will have to touch on that—at least the recognition on the part of North Korea that this has to be clarified," Darusman said.
If permission to visit the camps is refused, "then we cannot undertake a visit," he said.
Reports had said that the offer for a visit, which would be unprecedented, was made Monday by North Korean diplomats in a surprise meeting.
The next day, Darusman presented to the U.N. General Assembly the findings of a report by a U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) pointing to widespread abuses in North Korea including murder, starvation, torture, and other crimes—many of these committed in the politically isolated country's prison camps.
"What really prompted the establishment of the COI was the massive concern of the international community on the existence and the operations of these prison camps," Darusman, an Indonesian lawyer and participant in the inquiry before he was made rapporteur, told RFA .
"That was a primary factor," Darusman said.
Voting next month
A draft resolution co-sponsored by Japan and the European Union (EU) will be presented to the U.N. General Assembly later this week, with a vote expected next month, and will blame Pyongyang's rights abuses on policies set by senior leaders and call for North Korea's referral to the ICC.
And though North Korean envoys have pressed for removal of this language from the resolution, "deletion is out of the question," Darusman said.
"The recommendations stand as they are, and cannot be put aside because of political considerations."
"But having said that, there are ways of formulating these issues in ways that take into account the concerns of states other than the co-sponsors of the resolution," Darusman said.
Pyongyang's invitation to the special rapporteur to visit North Korea, however, is a "stand-alone, independent matter that should not be linked to any part of the text of the resolution," he said.
Reported by Borah Jung for RFA's Korean Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Dozens of luxury villas in North Korea's capital remain empty after being vacated by officials removed in an extensive purge of the government and military last year, according to sources inside the country.
The large scale homes in Pyongyang had formerly been inhabited by officials and executives loyal to leader Kim Jong Un's uncle Jang Song Thaek, who was executed in the December purge, a resident of the capital told RFA's Korean Service.
"These are dozens of luxury houses over 7,000 square feet (650 square meters) in size and remain vacant, despite their inhabitants having been evicted nearly one year ago," said the source, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity.
The homes are to be assigned by Kim to reward exemplary citizens who have worked to benefit the regime, he said.
The situation is "unusual" because a severe housing crisis in North Korea has prompted many people to move into homes that are still under construction, the source said, adding that the shortage had even forced wealthy executives to reside in modest homes.
A second source in Pyongyang told RFA that rumors had circulated that the villas may have been reserved for North Korea's gold medal winners in the recent Asian Games, where the impoverished country put up its best performance since 1990.
"A rumor had spread among area residents that these houses would be assigned to gold medal winners in the [2014] Asian Games in South Korea," the source said, referring to the multi-sport event held from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 in Incheon, during which North Korea won 11 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze medals.
But the source said that the homes were "not suitable" for athletes.
He said the specter of the massive purge that led to Jang's execution still hovers over the villas and that they were unlikely to be assigned new inhabitants in the immediate future.
"Residents still remember Jang Song Thaek and they—even executives—feel uncomfortable [about living in the homes]," the source said.
Jang was de facto number two under Kim before his execution and was considered instrumental in the leader's rise to power in December 2011 following Kim's father Kim Jong Il's death.
But the junior Kim has defended the execution of his uncle—who was married to his father's sister—saying it was a "resolute action" and labeling Jang "scum."
Many officials tied to Jang have since been demoted, according to sources.
Simhwajo purge
A North Korean defector surnamed Kim, who formerly lived in Pyongyang and has since resettled in South Korea, told RFA that the eviction of those tied to Jang was similar to what had occurred during the bloody "Simhwajo" purge of 1997.
During the purge involving Simhwajo, a nationwide network led by the Social Security Ministry, then-leader Kim Jong Il ordered the execution and demotion of some 20,000 officials, but many of those who were sidelined were reinstated at the end of the three-year ordeal.
Defector Kim said that when the officials were reinstated, the regime encountered difficulties in returning their homes to them because many of the residences had since been occupied by new inhabitants.
"It is presumed that the North Korean authorities are leaving the houses vacant because they don't want to repeat the confusion [of Simhwajo]," he said.
"It is possible that some of the people close to Jang Song Thaek could be reinstated."
The sources said that residents of Pyongyang have been closely watching the villas for any indication of what the authorities planned to do with them.
In April, sources told RFA that executive officials of the ruling Workers' Party's Administrative Department, which was overseen by Jang and disbanded following his execution, had been reassigned to positions that ranked them among "the lowest class of society" and excluded from future political appointments.
Sources have said that prior to Jang's death, Kim was already purging the country's military officer corps of personnel linked to his uncle in a massive shake-up that had led to a freeze on military exercises and delayed replacement of cadres in the ruling party but raised promotion prospects for younger officers.
Reported by Joon Ho Kim for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Hanna Lee. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Authorities in North Korea on Tuesday freed U.S. citizen Jeffrey Fowle, who had been detained in the reclusive country for much of this year, apparently for evangelical activities.
Fowle, 56, who was arrested in North Korea in April and among three Americans held there, is now en route back to the United States on a Pentagon plane, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We can confirm that Jeffrey Fowle has been allowed to depart the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and is on his way home to re-join his family," Harf said.
She welcomed North Korea's decision to release him and thanked Sweden for the "tireless efforts" of its embassy in Pyongyang. The Swedish embassy represents U.S.interests in the North Korean capital as Washington has no formal diplomatic relations with the hardline communist state.
Fowle was taken into custody in April after being accused of leaving a Bible in a nightclub in the North Korean port of Chongjin, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said in a report on Tuesday.
Pyongyang harshly restricts the practice of religion in the country, frequently jailing foreign missionaries who enter the country to proselytize for Christianity or otherwise spread religious teachings outside North Korea's system of state-controlled churches.
Others still held
While welcoming Fowle's release, Harf voiced continuing U.S. concern over the fate of U.S. citizens Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae, both now serving prison terms in North Korea, and called on Pyongyang to "immediately release them."
Miller, 24, was sentenced in September by the North Korean Supreme Court to six years' hard labor on a charge of illegally entering the country in April after he tore up his tourist visa at the Pyongyang airport and requested political asylum.
Bae, a Korean-American evangelical missionary believed to be in his 40s, was arrested in November 2012 and was later handed a sentence of 15 years at hard labor on a charge of plotting to overthrow the North Korean government
"The U.S. Government will continue to work actively on their cases," Harf said.
In statements released on Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers from Fowle's native state of Ohio hailed the release, with Congressman Michael Turner thanking the U.S. State Department "for their diligent work in bringing Jeffrey home to his family."
"I look forward to welcoming him back to our Southwest Ohio community," Turner said.
In a separate statement, senior U.S. senator from Ohio Sherrod Brown said, "I welcome the news that Mr. Fowle has been released and will be able to rejoin his family in Ohio."
"I commend both American and Swedish officials who worked to gain his freedom," he added.
"However, while we celebrate Mr. Fowle's release, we must remember that two American citizens remain detained in North Korea," Brown said.
"I urge continued diplomatic efforts to ensure all Americans are brought home safely and without further delay."


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Roller Coaster
by Marla Frazee
Compact | Rate recommendations
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This is about a little girl's first experience on a roller coaster and her reactions versus the reactions of everyone else in line as well as the process of riding a roller coaster from standing in line until the time you get off. It shows all the different reactions and emotions various people can have on a roller coaster and goes through them all in a way that makes them all seem like acceptable reactions. A great "what to expect" book. Appropriate for ages 3-6.
(Pierce College Fort Steilacoom library)
This book brought back fond memories of roller coaster rides as a kid. Neat illustrations, too!
This book is so wonderful. I've read it with a number of groups and it is a great starter for some writing lessons.
Ages: 5-8
Pierce ECE
This is a book about a young boy riding a roller coaster for the first time. He is very nervous waiting in line. He builds confidence and enjoys his first ride.
I loved the art in this book. Each person, and there are many, has a different expression on their face. Some look excited to ride the roller coaster and others look scared or nervous. I loved how the little girl, the main character, is anxious and scared to ride, and by the end she can't wait to get back in line to ride again.
References to this work on external resources.
Wikipedia in English
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0152057447, Paperback)All sorts of people ride roller coasters, people over a certain height that is. Marla Frazee zooms in on one pony-tailed girl who has never experienced a roller coaster before, ever, in this start-to-finish ride. The anticipation builds much like it does in real-life: "S-l-o-w-l-y the train is pulled up the hill by a chain. Clickity, clackity. Clickity, clackity. Up. Up. Up. And then..." As the train zips and zooms and dips and dives, the pony-tailed girl in the very front seat loves every minute, or almost. In the end, "Most of these people are dizzy./ Some of them have wobbly knees./ But at least one of them is planning/ to ride the roller coaster again." Frazee's crisply detailed watercolor drawings of waiting people, happy people, terrified people, and dizzy people are fun to peruse. Youngsters who are Disneyland-bound (or who would just like to be) may be the best audience for this minute-by-minute replay of a roller-coaster ride. (Ages 4 to 7) --Karin Snelson
(retrieved from Amazon Mon, 30 Sep 2013 13:56:52 -0400)
Twelve people set aside their fears and ride a roller coaster, including one who has never done so before.
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DEFINITION of 'Virtual Office'
A business location that exists only in cyberspace. A virtual office setup allows business owners and employees to work from any location by using technology such as laptop computers, cell phones and internet access. A virtual office can provide significant savings and flexibility compared to renting a traditional office space. Meetings can be conducted via teleconferencing and video conferencing, and documents can be transmitted electronically. Some companies even provide virtual office services to give virtual offices the prestige associated with physical offices, such as an important-sounding address, a professional phone-answering service and even occasional rental of office space and conference rooms.
INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'Virtual Office'
If the business has employees, each employee can work from the location that is most convenient for him or her, and the business is not restricted to hiring employees that live locally. The virtual office arrangement thus expands job options for employees and hiring options for businesses.
Facebook CreditsVirtual currency (currency used only on the internet) that can ...
Virtual AssistantAn independent contractor who provides administrative services ...
Satellite OperationA small office in a different location from a company or government ...
Video ConferencingA technology that allows users in different locations to hold ...
Topless MeetingA meeting in which participants are not allowed to use laptops. ...
E-MeetingA meeting that takes place over an electronic medium rather than ...
Are You An Entrepreneur?
Creating A Home Business Work Space
10 Breakout Ideas For Small Businesses ...
Investing Basics
Using Appreciative Inquiry To Solve ...


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Be sure to check out our constantly updated concert calendar.
Every once in a while in the rock 'n' roll timeline, a band comes along and blows the lid off the conventional definitions of "loud" and "fast." Most folks remember names like the Ramones, the MC5, and the Stooges but the legendary Tacoma, Washington, garage band the Sonics predated all of them. In ... More >>
On Sunday, Carrie Lucking, the executive director of the liberal nonprofit Alliance for a Better Minnesota, wished death upon the two teams competing on the Amazing Race (facetiously).SEE ALSO: Keith Ellison deletes 'Nothing like coke addicted James Brown to close GOP convention' tweetAs you'd expec ... More >>
PrinceDakota Jazz Club, MinneapolisWednesday, January 16, 2013The first of Three Nights with Prince at the Dakota Jazz Club proved to be as sumptuous as skipping the main course and heading straight to dessert. The entertainer can pack out United Center in Chicago and still be one of the most compel ... More >>
SEE ALSO:-- Keith Ellison deletes 'Nothing like coke addicted James Brown to close GOP convention' tweet-- Chris Fields: I didn't call Keith Ellison a reverse racist in "reverse racism" adLast Friday, Keith Ellison said he wasn't the author of a controversial Thursday night tweet sent from his offic ... More >>
Last year, Prince & the Revolution drummer Robert Rivkin, AKA Bobby Z was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack, and his survival was uncertain. After a year of rehabilitation, Z is healthy, and has started a foundation, My Purple Heart, to benefit heart health education and working in ... More >>
SoulTrain.comThere's one fewer soul survivor now that Don Cornelius has passed. The producer, creator, and host of Soul Train was found dead Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home. He was 75, and his death was reportedly a suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound.There really should be a movie ... More >>
Because James Brown was unavailable, local music blog contacts the next best thing on the spectral plane.
November 16; First Avenue; 612.332.1775
The Godfather of Hip Hop, the Master of Records, Afrika Bambaataa gave hip hop its name, reframing graffiti, DJing, breakdancing, and rapping as "four elements" of a single culture. (The "fifth element": knowledge.) A former member of the Black Spades, Bam founded the Universal Zulu Nation in the 19 ... More >>
How the Batson Brothers changed my life and helped start an endless garage revival
The oldest crew out of Minneapolis drops the boldest, most self-possessed hip-hop album of the year
L.A.'s BellRays recapture the experimental tension between rock and soul that once made punk more than a marketing strategy
Krust's ponderous vocalist talks him into a corner; Aphrodite gets down to drum 'n' basics
Spoken-word artist Truth Maze hitches the soul train to the peace train
All Tomorrow's Parties: We epitomize a revolutionary hip-hop scene.


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|By Jeremy Geelan
Article Rating:
|September 26, 2011 04:15 AM EDT
Ever since I first published here my tentative list of Top 50 Bloggers on Cloud Computing it became clear that an expansion would be needed before too long. Thanks to community feedback via my Twitter account (http://twitter.com/jg21) here goes - just three months before Cloud Expo Silicon Valley (November 7-10) - with an expanded roster, listed as before in alphabetical order since I am making no attempt at this stage to rank the various blogs, merely to map - and celebrate - their existence.
Dustin Amrhein | "A View from the Clouds"
Dave Asprey | "Cloudy Words"
Ian Bergin | "Clouded Issues"
Randy Bias | "Cloudscaling"
Rick Blaisdell | "Rickscloud"
Steve Bobrowski | "The Cloud View"
Rene Buest | www.CloudUser.de
Larry Carvalho | "Robust Cloud"
Andrew M. Chapman | "MemorableURL.com"
Sam Charrington | "Cloud Pulse"
Colin Clark | "Cloud Event Processing"
Peter Coffee | cloudblog.salesforce.com
Reuven Cohen | "Elastic Vapor"
Adrian Cole | jclouds.tumblr.com
Tim Crawford | "Cloud Computing & IT Optimization"
Ray DePena | innovation.ulitzer.com
James Downey | "Cloud of Innovation"
Paul Fallon | Paul Fallon's Blog
William Fellows | blogs.the451group.com
Stephen Foskett | "GestaltIT"
Tim Freeman | www.timfreeman.org
Jay Fry | "Data Center Dialog"
Dana Gardner | "Briefings Direct"
Barton George | "Barton's Blog"
Bernard Golden | "The Open Source"
Brian Gracely | Clouds of Change
George Hadjiyanis, | "The Cloud Blog"
James Hamilton | "Perspectives"
Marc Hamilton | Marc Hamilton's Blog
Derrick Harris | GigaOM Pro - Infrastructure
Christofer Hoff | "Rational Survivability"
Olafur Ingthorsson | CloudComputingTopics.com
Kevin L. Jackson | "Cloud Musings"
Steve Jin | www.DoubleCloud.org
Sam Johnston | www.samj.net
Jeff Kaplan | "THINK IT Services"
Jïm Kaskade | jameskaskade.com
Ben Kepes | "The Diversity Blog"
Markus Klems | "Cloudy Times"
Kent Langley | "Cloud Computing, Scalability, and Operations"
Walt Lapinsky | wrLapinsk's Blog
Lydia Leong | "Cloud Pundit"
Steve Lesem | "Cloud Storage Strategy"
Dave Linthicum | "Cloud Computing"
Ignacio M. Llorente | "Cloud Strategy & Innovation"
William Louth | williamlouth.wordpress.com
Lori MacVittie | devcentral.f5.com
Andi Mann | "Übergeek"
Jason McGee | "Cloud Jason"
Chirag Mehta | cloudcomputing.blogspot.com
Mario Meir-Huber | www.cloudvane.com
Paul Miller | "Cloud of Data"
Stuart Miniman | blogstu.wordpress.com
Sramana Mitra | sramanamitra.com
JP Morgenthal | "The Tech Evangelist"
K. Scott Morrison | scottmorrison.ulitzer.com
Ofir Nachmani | "I am On-Demand"
Greg Ness | www.infra20.com
Ray Nugent | "Cloudshaping: What's shaping the Cloud"
Greg O'Connor | Ulitzer Blog
Kamesh Pemmaraju | "Leaders in Cloud Computing"
Geva Perry | "Thinking Out Cloud"
Gregor Petri | The Lean IT Blog
Scott Powers | www.galetechnologies.com
Srinivasan Sundara Rajan | Ulitzer Blog
George Reese | enstratus.typepad.com/blog
Steve Riley | Riverbed Blog
Guy Rosen | www.jackofallclouds.com
Ellen Rubin | "Enterprise Cloud Computing Blog"
Ed Saipetch | "Breathing Data"
Scott C. Sanchez | "Cloudnod"
Chris Sears | Tumblr blog
Nati Shalom | "Middleware & Distributed Technologies"
Michael Sheehan | blog.gogrid.com
Lauren States | IBM Cloud Computing
Scott Stewart | "The Cloud CIO"
Krishnan Subramanian | "CloudAve"
Mark Theile | Mark Thiele's "Data Center Pulse" blog
John Treadway | "CloudBzz"
James Urquhart | "The Wisdom of Clouds"
William Vambenepe | "IT Management in a Changing IT World"
Werner Vogels | "All Things Distributed"
Phil Wainewright | "Software as Services"
Gavin Ward | LawCloudComputing
Simon Wardley | "Bits or Pieces"
George Watt | "Pragmatic Cloud"
James Watters | wattersjames.posterous.com
Alan Williamson | alan.blog-city.com
Alex Williams | "ReadWrite Cloud"
John M. Willis | www.johnmwillis.com
Simon Withers | "100 Days in the Cloud"
Chris Wolf | Virtualizaton Tips & Ramblings
Buck Woody | "Carpe Datum"
Jian Zhen | "Zen 2.0"
EDITORIAL NOTE: Suggestions for continuing additions remain wholly welcome. Thanks in advance for your suggestions to http://twitter.com/jg21
The 3rd International Internet of @ThingsExpo, co-located with the 16th International Cloud Expo - to be held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY - announces that its Call for Papers is now open. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the biggest idea since the creation of the Worldwide Web more than 20 years ago.
Nov. 28, 2014 05:00 PM EST Reads: 1,278
Cultural, regulatory, environmental, political and economic (CREPE) conditions over the past decade are creating cross-industry solution spaces that require processes and technologies from both the Internet of Things (IoT), and Data Management and Analytics (DMA). These solution spaces are evolving into Sensor Analytics Ecosystems (SAE) that represent significant new opportunities for organizations of all types. Public Utilities throughout the world, providing electricity, natural gas and water, are pursuing SmartGrid initiatives that represent one of the more mature examples of SAE. We have s...
Nov. 27, 2014 04:00 PM EST Reads: 1,357
The security devil is always in the details of the attack: the ones you've endured, the ones you prepare yourself to fend off, and the ones that, you fear, will catch you completely unaware and defenseless. The Internet of Things (IoT) is nothing if not an endless proliferation of details. It's the vision of a world in which continuous Internet connectivity and addressability is embedded into a growing range of human artifacts, into the natural world, and even into our smartphones, appliances, and physical persons. In the IoT vision, every new "thing" - sensor, actuator, data source, data con...
Nov. 27, 2014 04:00 PM EST Reads: 1,689
How do APIs and IoT relate? The answer is not as simple as merely adding an API on top of a dumb device, but rather about understanding the architectural patterns for implementing an IoT fabric. There are typically two or three trends: Exposing the device to a management framework Exposing that management framework to a business centric logic Exposing that business layer and data to end users. This last trend is the IoT stack, which involves a new shift in the separation of what stuff happens, where data lives and where the interface lies. For instance, it's a mix of architectural styles ...
Nov. 27, 2014 03:00 PM EST Reads: 1,361
The Internet of Things is tied together with a thin strand that is known as time. Coincidentally, at the core of nearly all data analytics is a timestamp. When working with time series data there are a few core principles that everyone should consider, especially across datasets where time is the common boundary. In his session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, Jim Scott, Director of Enterprise Strategy & Architecture at MapR Technologies, discussed single-value, geo-spatial, and log time series data. By focusing on enterprise applications and the data center, he will use OpenTSDB as an example t...
Nov. 27, 2014 03:00 PM EST Reads: 1,509
An entirely new security model is needed for the Internet of Things, or is it? Can we save some old and tested controls for this new and different environment? In his session at @ThingsExpo, New York's at the Javits Center, Davi Ottenheimer, EMC Senior Director of Trust, reviewed hands-on lessons with IoT devices and reveal a new risk balance you might not expect. Davi Ottenheimer, EMC Senior Director of Trust, has more than nineteen years' experience managing global security operations and assessments, including a decade of leading incident response and digital forensics. He is co-author of t...
Nov. 27, 2014 01:00 PM EST Reads: 1,704
The Internet of Things will greatly expand the opportunities for data collection and new business models driven off of that data. In her session at @ThingsExpo, Esmeralda Swartz, CMO of MetraTech, discussed how for this to be effective you not only need to have infrastructure and operational models capable of utilizing this new phenomenon, but increasingly service providers will need to convince a skeptical public to participate. Get ready to show them the money!
Nov. 27, 2014 11:00 AM EST Reads: 1,320
The Internet of Things will put IT to its ultimate test by creating infinite new opportunities to digitize products and services, generate and analyze new data to improve customer satisfaction, and discover new ways to gain a competitive advantage across nearly every industry. In order to help corporate business units to capitalize on the rapidly evolving IoT opportunities, IT must stand up to a new set of challenges. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Jeff Kaplan, Managing Director of THINKstrategies, will examine why IT must finally fulfill its role in support of its SBUs or face a new round of...
Nov. 27, 2014 10:00 AM EST Reads: 1,258
One of the biggest challenges when developing connected devices is identifying user value and delivering it through successful user experiences. In his session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, Mike Kuniavsky, Principal Scientist, Innovation Services at PARC, described an IoT-specific approach to user experience design that combines approaches from interaction design, industrial design and service design to create experiences that go beyond simple connected gadgets to create lasting, multi-device experiences grounded in people's real needs and desires.
Nov. 27, 2014 08:00 AM EST Reads: 1,282
Enthusiasm for the Internet of Things has reached an all-time high. In 2013 alone, venture capitalists spent more than $1 billion dollars investing in the IoT space. With "smart" appliances and devices, IoT covers wearable smart devices, cloud services to hardware companies. Nest, a Google company, detects temperatures inside homes and automatically adjusts it by tracking its user's habit. These technologies are quickly developing and with it come challenges such as bridging infrastructure gaps, abiding by privacy concerns and making the concept a reality. These challenges can't be addressed w...
Nov. 27, 2014 07:45 AM EST Reads: 1,558
The Domain Name Service (DNS) is one of the most important components in networking infrastructure, enabling users and services to access applications by translating URLs (names) into IP addresses (numbers). Because every icon and URL and all embedded content on a website requires a DNS lookup loading complex sites necessitates hundreds of DNS queries. In addition, as more internet-enabled 'Things' get connected, people will rely on DNS to name and find their fridges, toasters and toilets. According to a recent IDG Research Services Survey this rate of traffic will only grow. What's driving t...
Nov. 27, 2014 07:00 AM EST Reads: 1,531
Connected devices and the Internet of Things are getting significant momentum in 2014. In his session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, Jim Hunter, Chief Scientist & Technology Evangelist at Greenwave Systems, examined three key elements that together will drive mass adoption of the IoT before the end of 2015. The first element is the recent advent of robust open source protocols (like AllJoyn and WebRTC) that facilitate M2M communication. The second is broad availability of flexible, cost-effective storage designed to handle the massive surge in back-end data in a world where timely analytics is e...
Nov. 27, 2014 06:45 AM EST Reads: 1,362
Scott Jenson leads a project called The Physical Web within the Chrome team at Google. Project members are working to take the scalability and openness of the web and use it to talk to the exponentially exploding range of smart devices. Nearly every company today working on the IoT comes up with the same basic solution: use my server and you'll be fine. But if we really believe there will be trillions of these devices, that just can't scale. We need a system that is open a scalable and by using the URL as a basic building block, we open this up and get the same resilience that the web enjoys.
Nov. 27, 2014 06:45 AM EST Reads: 1,426
We are reaching the end of the beginning with WebRTC, and real systems using this technology have begun to appear. One challenge that faces every WebRTC deployment (in some form or another) is identity management. For example, if you have an existing service – possibly built on a variety of different PaaS/SaaS offerings – and you want to add real-time communications you are faced with a challenge relating to user management, authentication, authorization, and validation. Service providers will want to use their existing identities, but these will have credentials already that are (hopefully) i...
Nov. 27, 2014 04:00 AM EST Reads: 1,268
"Matrix is an ambitious open standard and implementation that's set up to break down the fragmentation problems that exist in IP messaging and VoIP communication," explained John Woolf, Technical Evangelist at Matrix, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Nov. 27, 2014 04:00 AM EST Reads: 1,225
P2P RTC will impact the landscape of communications, shifting from traditional telephony style communications models to OTT (Over-The-Top) cloud assisted & PaaS (Platform as a Service) communication services. The P2P shift will impact many areas of our lives, from mobile communication, human interactive web services, RTC and telephony infrastructure, user federation, security and privacy implications, business costs, and scalability. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Robin Raymond, Chief Architect at Hookflash, will walk through the shifting landscape of traditional telephone and voice services ...
Nov. 26, 2014 02:00 PM EST Reads: 1,653
Explosive growth in connected devices. Enormous amounts of data for collection and analysis. Critical use of data for split-second decision making and actionable information. All three are factors in making the Internet of Things a reality. Yet, any one factor would have an IT organization pondering its infrastructure strategy. How should your organization enhance its IT framework to enable an Internet of Things implementation? In his session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, James Kirkland, Chief Architect for the Internet of Things and Intelligent Systems at Red Hat, described how to revolutioniz...
Nov. 24, 2014 07:00 PM EST Reads: 1,745
Bit6 today issued a challenge to the technology community implementing Web Real Time Communication (WebRTC). To leap beyond WebRTC's significant limitations and fully leverage its underlying value to accelerate innovation, application developers need to consider the entire communications ecosystem.
Nov. 24, 2014 12:00 PM EST Reads: 1,646
The definition of IoT is not new, in fact it's been around for over a decade. What has changed is the public's awareness that the technology we use on a daily basis has caught up on the vision of an always on, always connected world. If you look into the details of what comprises the IoT, you'll see that it includes everything from cloud computing, Big Data analytics, "Things," Web communication, applications, network, storage, etc. It is essentially including everything connected online from hardware to software, or as we like to say, it's an Internet of many different things. The difference ...
Nov. 24, 2014 11:00 AM EST Reads: 1,782
Cloud Expo 2014 TV commercials will feature @ThingsExpo, which was launched in June, 2014 at New York City's Javits Center as the largest 'Internet of Things' event in the world.
Nov. 24, 2014 09:00 AM EST Reads: 1,812


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An investigative report prepared by the House Intelligence Committee finds little to support questions raised about CIA actions on the ground in Benghazi, Libya, the night of a deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound.
The report, from Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, and ranking member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland, concludes there was no intelligence failure prior to the attack, no stand-down order to CIA operatives trying to go assist at the besieged consular building, and found conflicting intelligence in the wake of the attack about the motive and cause, which were reflected in early public comments by the administration.
Republican-led report debunks Benghazi theories and accusations
An investigative report prepared by the House Intelligence Committee finds little to support questions raised about CIA actions on the ground in Benghazi, Libya, the night of a deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound.
House Republicans Pass Bill Forbidding Scientists from Advising EPA on Their OWN Research
Congressional climate wars were dominated Tuesday by the U.S. Senate, which spent the day debating, and ultimately failing to pass, a bill approving the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. While all that was happening, and largely unnoticed, the House was busy doing what it does best: attacking science.
H.R. 1422, which passed 229-191, would shake up the EPA's Scientific Advisory Board, placing restrictions on those pesky scientists and creating room for experts with overt financial ties to the industries affected by EPA regulations.
Senate Torture Report Talks Break Down As Administration Pushes For Redactions
Negotiations between the Obama administration and the Senate over how much of the upper chamber's CIA torture report can be released have hit a major snag, less than a day after the talks appeared to be wrapping up.
On Tuesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that negotiations had come "down to essentially one item in the redaction. It happens to be a very sensitive and important item. I talked to the president yesterday, I talked to his chief of staff the day before, I expect to hear about it hopefully today or tomorrow."
Senate blocks NSA phone records measure
The Senate on Tuesday blocked a bill to end bulk collection of Americans' phone records by the National Security Agency, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's primary proposal to rein in domestic surveillance.
The 58-42 vote was two short of the 60 needed to proceed with debate under Senate procedural rules. Voting was largely along party lines, with most Democrats supporting the bill and most Republicans voting against it. The Republican-controlled House had previously passed its own NSA bill.
Senate defeats Keystone XL pipeline
The Democrat-controlled Senate failed to gather the 60 votes it needed to approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Senate's 59-41 vote Tuesday night was a nail-biter to the end.
The Keystone XL pipeline project has been at the center of a major political debate since 2008 when TransCanda applied for permission to construct the 1,179-mile-long pipeline.
U.S. House passes Keystone XL pipeline bill... again
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives approved the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, but a similar measure struggled to get enough support in the Senate and President Barack Obama indicated he might use his veto if the bill does get through Congress.
The legislation, approved by 252 votes to 161, circumvents the need for approval of TransCanada Corp's (TRP.TO) $8 billion project by the Obama administration, which has been considering it for more than six years. No Republicans voted against the measure, while 31 Democrats voted for the bill.
Warren Joins U.S. Senate Democratic Leadership Team
U.S. Senate Democrats elevated first-term Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren to an expanded leadership team as they prepare to become the chamber's minority party in January.
Warren, who will act as a bridge to the party's liberal wing, said she'll use her role to focus on financial equality in the U.S.
"Wall Street is doing very well; CEOs are bringing in more and more, yet families everywhere are struggling," Warren told reporters at the Capitol in Washington.
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We will accept merchandise returns of non-furniture items at our stores within 90 days of customer receipt. Please understand, however, that bedding items may be returned or exchanged only if in their original packaging. Furthermore, Outlet purchases may only be returned to an Outlet store. All other Crate and Barrel non-furniture items merchandise may be returned to any other Crate and Barrel store (excluding Outlets) or by mail (if such item was ordered online or by phone and received by mail).
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Please note: Shop Cards, Gift Cards and eGift Cards are valid for Crate and Barrel, CB2 and The Land of Nod purchases and are not redeemable or subject to exchange for cash or a cash equivalent, except as required by applicable law.


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The Hertfordshire Police website has been hacked by a supporter of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, with data about members of the force published online.
Information about officers in Hertfordshire's Safer Neighbourhood Teams, including login details and passwords of officers, in addition to phone numbers and IP addresses, were accessed and shared. The hacker published the police data alongside an "OpFreeAssange" banner and a quote from Julian Assange (pictured).
The Safer Neighbourhoods section of the Hertfordshire Police website was taken down as a precaution while the force looks into how the breach occurred.
"Hertfordshire Constabulary is currently investigating following the publication on the internet of information stored on a database linked to the public Safer Neighbourhoods pages of the external constabulary website," said a statement from the force.
"As a precaution these pages have been temporarily disabled whilst the circumstances as to how this information was obtained are investigated. There is absolutely no suggestion that any personal data relating to officers or members of the public has been, or could have been compromised.
"Nevertheless, matters of IT security are extremely important to the constabulary and an investigation is already under way."
It represents the latest in a series of hacks after the government announced its intention to extradite Julian Assange, should he leave the Ecuadorian Embassy.
Hacker collective Anonymous has claimed responsibility for other attacks in support of the Wikileaks founder, but the Hertfordshire Police hacker denied being associated with them, posting: "I am not a member of Anonymous," alongside the published data.
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text: Tweet Jobs Companies & Reviews Companies Salaries Interviews Medical Manager Salaries 2 Salaries Sort: Popular Most Reports Salary Salaries in ₹ (INR) Average Min Max Medical Officer, Hospital Manager - Monthly Govt of Gujarat (1 Salary) n/a ₹38k ₹42k n/a ₹38k ₹42k Medical Affairs Manager AstraZeneca (1 Salary) n/a ₹349k ₹381k n/a ₹349k ₹381k Embed this report Anonymized Range [?] If we only have one or two salaries posted for at , showing that salary information may risk employee anonymity. So in that case we generate an anonymous salary range by adding and subtracting a small percentage from the posted salary. The small percentage difference offers additional anonymity while still minimizing the difference between the range and the employee's actual salary.


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Abortion and the end of the species
Find a Conversation
|Mon, 01-12-2009 - 4:48pm
I've been watching Battlestar Galactica. I've just gotten to the end of the second series, so NO spoilers on later episodes please! Anyway, there was an interesting abortion hypothetical raised, and here it is:
The human population is down to less than 50,000. People are dying of all the usual things, but are also being killed in combat as humanity is at war with the Cylon race who are trying to wipe us out. If humanity is to survive, our numbers have to increase. Basically, people need to have babies. Lots of babies.
Under these circumstances, should abortion be banned? What about contraception? How do we balance a woman's right to physical autonomy with the survival of the species?
Discuss. I'll give my thoughts a bit later on.
Edited 1/13/2009 7:01 am ET by lianne_67
|Wed, 01-14-2009 - 5:20pm
Oh that's a shame! But from the POV of seeing as much as you can, the Eurorail is probably a better idea.
LOL at your parenting advice - I'm taking a baby massage course and you have to start by asking the baby's permission to do the massage. Um, hello? He's SEVEN WEEKS OLD! *eyeroll* Babies don't get choices. They get parents. So there (at stupid massage teacher)!
|Wed, 01-14-2009 - 11:07am
Nope. That trip is off.
This is what happened. I was going to take Seth to Scotland for his 21st because he's so into our Scottish heritage, plays bagpipes, eats haggis, etc. Thought he'd LOVE that trip. Then, I found out that my alma mater is doing a trip to Croatia in the fall. He's also very interested in our Croation heritage from my dad's side. So I thought the right thing to do was to give him a choice.
Silly me. Never give a choice if you can avoid it. There's my parenting advice. ;P
He has decided the best thing to do is to go to Vegas. He wants to wait to go to Europe for the period after he's done with school but before he goes to the Marines and just get a Eurorail pass and poke around.
|Wed, 01-14-2009 - 5:10am
I completely agree, the world and universe will carry on without us. I saw a fascinating documentary some time ago that showed what would happen if humanity suddenly disappeared. Everything seemed to manage ok, lol! But that's not really the point of this thread. I'm just talking about humanity's continuation, not the world's or the universe's.
If it was in your power to help keep the human race from extinction, would you do it?
|Tue, 01-13-2009 - 7:54pm
|Tue, 01-13-2009 - 10:42am
Is your post supposed to be an example of Southern manners?>>>
What you really should say is "Well bless your heart".
Just a little lesson in Southern manners. LOL
So I'm leavin the White House to go tear Dallas a new party hole.
|Tue, 01-13-2009 - 7:21am
LMAO! So true!
Theoretically yes, the hunter/gatherer way of life is the best. But we'd have to reduce the population of the world by about 90% to make it workable, plus lose just about all the technological advances we've made, and it's amazing how few people are really willing to give up toilet paper ;oD


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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Nurse defends Sinclair decision
Believed he could advocate for himself
Brian Sinclair was sent alone in a taxi to Health Sciences Centre's emergency by a clinic because while he had a suspected bladder infection and his catheter was blocked, his condition was stable and he could advocate for himself.
An occupational therapist, who the year before assessed Sinclair's cognitive ability, said he could have forgotten he was given a doctor's note to give to the emergency department.
Shireen Loat, a nurse at the Health Action Clinic, said she helped another nurse do an examination of the 45-year-old Sinclair after he arrived unannounced on Sept. 17, 2008, complaining that no urine had passed through his catheter into the urine bag since the day before.
"He was answering questions," she said. "I think the only question I asked was 'Brian, when did you last see any pee coming into the bag?' -- and he said yesterday. He was concerned the catheter was not draining..."
"He didn't look in undue distress."
"I felt he needed to go to emergency because he likely had a bladder infection and he certainly had a blocked catheter," Loat said.
The inquest has been told that 34 hours after the taxi dropped Sinclair off at the emergency room, and he was directed to the waiting room by an HSC employee, the double amputee was found dead there in his wheelchair.
The inquest has heard testimony that Sinclair, who died of a bladder infection, could have been dead anywhere from two to seven hours before being discovered dead in the waiting room.
When asked by inquest counsel Melinda Murray why the clinic couldn't change the catheter itself, Loat said she believed pulling out the blocked catheter could have caused physical trauma to Sinclair and then he would have had to be taken to the hospital in a lot of pain and by ambulance.
As well, Loat said the clinic was closed on the weekend so any blood or urine samples they would take for testing wouldn't have the results back until Monday, far too long for the condition she believed Sinclair was in.
Loat said because Sinclair was deemed stable and able to answer their questions, he was sent to HSC emergency in a taxi with only a note from a clinic doctor. She said if the double amputee hadn't needed a wheelchair, a clinic aide would have been able to drive him to hospital.
"If he had a relative there he could have gone in just a regular car with his wheelchair," she said. "A relative could have rolled him (in his wheelchair) there."
She said the clinic usually phoned the hospital at the time, but said in Sinclair's case "I gather the phone call wasn't made. I guess because he was stable and could advocate his problems himself."
Later, Danielle Harling, an occupational therapist at the HSC, said a cognitive test she gave Sinclair more than a year before his death found he was functioning at a "partially independent" level.
Harling said in a memory test, while Sinclair would remember how much a stamp and bus fare were shortly after being told, about half an hour later he couldn't remember the prices.
When asked by lawyer Murray Trachtenberg, who is representing the Sinclair family, whether Sinclair's memory problem meant he wouldn't remember to give a doctor's note to HSC staff an hour after he was given it, Harling said that based on her testing "it would be a concern having him recall that particular information a significant amount of time later."
The inquest continues today.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 21, 2013 B2
Updated on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 9:29 AM CDT: Fixes spelling of Danielle Harling and adds blog box.
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I purchased this car In Stuttgart in 1984 and imported it myself, evidenced by the huge amount of paperwork I have. The previous owner was a woman and it was their second
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1979 Ford Thunderbird
79 tbird is in excellent cond in and out,leather int,mostly all power,cold ac automatic,only 65600 miles goes to local car shows.always kept in garage. all original car
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The Van is an excellent runner and starts first time, . The Van has had a reconditioned engine fitted approximately 38,000 miles ago. The Van also comes with a 3 way fridge,
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Carlos Marmol "very pissed off" about abuse charges, files blackmail countersuit
Feb 11, 2013, 1:20 PM EST
Carlos Marmol arrived at Cubs camp today and spoke to reporters about the abuse charges he's facing in the Dominican Republic.
Details have been scarce, but a 24-year-old woman filed a civil suit alleging a domestic assault incident in October. Marmol said today that he gave the woman a ride home from a party and then heard about the allegations on the radio, at which point he called a lawyer.
Marmol described himself as "very pissed off" and has filed a countersuit against the woman for blackmail and extortion. "They tried to hurt me," Marmol said, via Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. "I didn't do anything. The stuff she said is not true. It's about money."
Cubs president Theo Epstein spoke in support of the reliever, saying: "Every piece of information that we were able to gather backs up Carlos' story that he's guilty of no wrongdoing whatsoever and may in fact be a victim here if this case continues to be pursued like this."
Pablo Sandoval says goodbye to the Giants and their fans on his Instagram account
Nov 26, 2014, 10:04 PM EST
Here's the farewell Instagram post from third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who signed a five-year, $98 million free agent contract with the Red Sox earlier this week …
Royals acquire infielder Ryan Jackson from Dodgers
Nov 26, 2014, 8:18 PM EST
Jackson was limited to 11 minor league games in 2014 due to a right wrist injury that ultimately required surgery.
Padres, Dodgers have discussed a Matt Kemp trade
Nov 26, 2014, 6:43 PM EST
From FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal comes word that the Padres have shown interest in trading for Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp …
Yasmany Tomas signs a six-year, $68.5 million deal with the Diamondbacks
Nov 26, 2014, 5:10 PM EST
The Dbacks were not in the picture until very recently. But better late than never.
Thought experiment: How many MLB teams would wipe the slate clean?
Nov 26, 2014, 4:25 PM EST
Since there's no such thing as a stupid question …
The Wrigley Field bleachers may not be ready for Opening Day
Nov 26, 2014, 3:58 PM EST
Don't tell the people who like to hang out in the bleachers. They may not realize it, actually.
The Yankees talked to the Phillies about Jimmy Rollins but nothing came of it
Nov 26, 2014, 2:30 PM EST
It sorta makes sense I guess, even if it never goes down.
Rays designate Sean Rodriguez for assignment
Nov 26, 2014, 2:14 PM EST
Rodriguez was projected to make around $2 million via arbitration.
Rays sign Ernesto Frieri to incentive-laden contract
Nov 26, 2014, 1:40 PM EST
An intriguing scrap-heap pickup for the Rays.
Reds sign Brennan Boesch
Nov 26, 2014, 1:15 PM EST
This year he played at Triple-A for the Angels, hitting .332 with 25 homers and a 1.017 OPS in 95 games.
Texas Rangers prospect involved in a fatal accident in the Dominican Republic
Nov 26, 2014, 12:59 PM EST
Ronald Guzman is the Rangers' 17th-ranked prospect.
Chris Capuano is considering pitching in Japan
Nov 26, 2014, 11:19 AM EST
Capuano is 36 years old, so finding a guaranteed big-league job for 2015 could be difficult.
Angels make Michael Roth a free agent after three pro seasons
Nov 26, 2014, 10:47 AM EST
Drafted in 2012, free agent in 2014.
Ryan Braun says his thumb is at 100%
Nov 26, 2014, 10:30 AM EST
Thumbs up.
Korean team rejects winning MLB bid for Hyeon-jong Yang
Nov 26, 2014, 10:15 AM EST
Either the Rangers or the Twins had the winning bid.
The Marlins are snooping around Chris Davis and Evan Gattis
Nov 26, 2014, 9:44 AM EST
Need some dingers? I know a guy who can get you some dingers, man.
The Yankees won't get into a bidding war for Chase Headley
Nov 26, 2014, 9:13 AM EST
So who plays third base?
No, the Red Sox signing Pablo and Hanley is not proof that baseball needs a salary cap
Nov 26, 2014, 8:00 AM EST
It's like clockwork. A team signs a big free agent or two and someone argues that baseball is doomed without a salary cap. It's always baloney, of course.
Giants casting "wide net" that includes Max Scherzer
Nov 25, 2014, 10:12 PM EST
Max Scherzer, a client of Scott Boras, seems comfortable with slow-playing this market. We've seen loads of rumors and reports involving the other prominent free agent ace, Jon Lester, but it's hard to identify which teams are in the running at the moment for Max. The Giants may be one …
Lucas Harrell, Jim Adduci both sign contracts in Korea
Nov 25, 2014, 8:47 PM EST
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