20090329
China - Hackers - International - Computer - Spying - Network - Investigation -  - Cams - Political - Economic - Media - Military - Tech - Canada - United Kingdom - US
"UPDATE: Deep computer-spying network touched 103 countries: Analysts find spyware installed on servers belonging to foreign ministries, embassies, and private companies." ... "A 10-month cyberespionage investigation has found that 1,295 computers in 103 countries and belonging to international institutions have been spied on, with some circumstantial evidence suggesting China may be to blame." ... "The 53-page report, released on Sunday, provides some of the most compelling evidence and detail of the efforts of politically motivated hackers while raising questions about their ties with government-sanctioned cyberspying operations." ... "[See also: Roger Grimes' Security Adviser blog]" ... "It describes a network which researchers have called GhostNet, which primarily uses a malicious software program called gh0st RAT (Remote Access Tool) to steal sensitive documents, control Web cams and completely control infected computers." ... ""GhostNet represents a network of compromised computers resident in high-value political, economic and media locations spread across numerous countries worldwide," said the report, written by analysts with the Information Warfare Monitor, a research project of the SecDev Group, a think tank, and the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto [Canada]. "At the time of writing, these organizations are almost certainly oblivious to the compromised situation in which they find themselves."" ... ""Attributing all Chinese malware to deliberate or targeted intelligence gathering operations by the Chinese state is wrong and misleading," the report said." ... "However, China has made a concerted effort since the 1990s to use cyberspace for military advantage "The Chinese focus on cyber capabilities as part of its strategy of national asymmetric warfare involves deliberately developing capabilities that circumvent [United States] U.S. superiority in command-and-control warfare," it said." ... "A second report [PDF], written by University of Cambridge [United Kingdom] researchers and published in conjunction with the University of Toronto paper, was less circumspect, saying that the attacks against the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (OHHDL) were launched by "agents of the Chinese government." The Cambridge team titled their report, "The Snooping Dragon."" (1, 2) -By Jeremy Kirk with contributions by Robert McMillan -IDG.net via -InfoWorld

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20090325
Hillary Clinton - Poll - Barack Obama - US - China - Human Rights
"Poll: Clinton has high job approval." ... "Seventy-one percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday said they approve of how [Democratic President Obama's Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton is handling her job as America's top diplomat. Fewer than one in four disapprove." ... ""Nine in 10 Democrats approve of Clinton -- that's no surprise," said Keating Holland, CNN's polling director. "But by a 50 percent to 43 percent margin, Republicans also think she is doing a good job at the State Department. That's an interesting result for a polarizing figure like Clinton."" ... "Clinton was met by large crowds and warmly received by world leaders on both trips, although "she met some criticism in Beijing [China's capital], where she was criticized for a lower-key approach that seemed to downplay the importance of human rights in the overall relationship with China," Labott said." ... ""Her aides said she wanted a new approach to dealing with China's human rights record, including less public criticism and more private discussions, which may prove more productive in changing Chinese behavior."" -By Paul Steinhauser -CNN

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20090206
China - Drought - Disaster - History - People - Food - Animals - Agriculture - Land
"China suffering worst drought in 50 years." ... "China is suffering another natural disaster -- this time, the worst drought in half a century. The land is parched and the irrigation dams have dried up. Crops and livestock are dying." ... "China on Thursday raised the drought-emergency-alert level from orange to red and allocated an additional $44 million dollars on top of the $13 million in emergency aid already released." ... "Since November northern and central China has had little rain. Many places have not had rainfall for more than 100 days." ... "In the drought, more than 4.3 million residents face a shortage of drinking water, as do 2 million livestock." ... "The drought has hit 12 provinces, including the wheat-producing areas in Henan, Anhui, and Shandong provinces. Chinese media says the total area affected has reached 1,370 million hectares (3,385 million acres)." -By Jaime Florcruz -CNN

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20090121
Barack Obama - US - China - Language - Politics - History
"China censors parts of inaugural speech." ... "The offending line [to Chinese censors listening to United States Democratic President Barack Obama's inauguration speech] was this: "Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions."" ... "Later, the president said: "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."" ... "Chinese translations of the speech published Wednesday omitted that line and the earlier one on communism. The government, however, has allowed the full English text to be published." -By Edward Wong -IHT.com

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20081216
China - US - British - Hong Kong - Taiwan - Foreign - Language - Websites - Police - Law - Journalists - Radio - Sports
"China 'bans BBC Chinese website': China appears to have banned a number of foreign websites, including the [United Kingdom's British Broadcasting Corporation] BBC's Chinese language news site and Voice of America in Chinese." ... "The sites had been unblocked after journalists attending the Beijing [China's capital] Olympics complained that the government was censoring sites deemed sensitive." ... "The BBC expressed disappointment at the apparent reinstatement of the ban." ... "But a Chinese government spokesman told journalists that some sites contained content that violated Chinese law." ... "Among the other sites blocked are Asiaweek, Reporters Without Borders and some Hong Kong and Taiwan sites." ... "China imposes strict controls on the dissemination of information through the web, employing teams of people to remove sensitive content, police bloggers and remove access to certain sites." ... "In a statement, the BBC said it was disappointed that Chinese-speaking audiences in China were denied access to BBCChinese.com." ... "It said that except during the 2008 Games, the website had been blocked since its inception nearly a decade ago, and Mandarin radio broadcasts had been "subject to persistent frequency interference for decades"." -BBC/News

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 BBCChinese.com

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20081211
Torture - Prisons -War Crimes - Secret - Military - Government - Intelligence - Law - Investigation - Human Rights - Politics - History - McCain - Ariz - Mich - US - Guantanamo - Cuba - Iraq - Afghanistan - China - Korea
"Bipartisan Report: Rumsfeld Responsible for Detainee Abuse: Senate Committee Finds Officials Made Decisions That Led to Offenses Against Prisoners." ... "A bipartisan panel of senators has concluded that [Republican President Bush's] former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials bear direct responsibility for the harsh treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay [Cuba], and that their decisions led to more serious abuses in Iraq and elsewhere." ... "In the most comprehensive critique by Congress of the military's interrogation practices, the Senate Armed Services Committee issued a report yesterday that accuses Rumsfeld and his deputies of being the authors and chief promoters of harsh interrogation policies that disgraced the nation and undermined U.S. security. The report, released by Sens. [ Senators] Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.[ Democratic-Michigan]) and John McCain (R-Ariz.[ Republican Arizona]), contends that Pentagon officials later tried to create a false impression that the policies were unrelated to acts of detainee abuse committed by members of the military." ... ""The abuse of detainees in U.S. [United States] custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of 'a few bad apples' acting on their own," the report states. "The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees."" ... "The report is the most direct refutation to date of the administration's rationale for using aggressive interrogation tactics -- that inflicting humiliation and pain on detainees was legal and effective, and helped protect the country. The 25-member panel, without one dissent among the 12 Republican members, declared the opposite to be true." ... "The [Republican President Bush's] administration's policies and the resulting controversies, the panel concluded, "damaged our ability to collect accurate intelligence that could save lives, strengthened the hand of our enemies, and compromised our moral authority."" ... "A Defense Department spokesman noted that the Pentagon cooperated extensively with the Senate investigation and has taken numerous steps in recent years to ensure the humane treatment of detainees." ... "The panel's investigation focused on the Defense Department's employment of controversial interrogation practices, including forced nudity, painful stress positions, sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures and the use of dogs. The practices, some of which had already been adopted by the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] at its secret prisons, were adapted for interrogations at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and later migrated to U.S. detention camps in Afghanistan and Iraq, including the infamous Abu Ghraib prison." ... "The true genesis of the decision to use coercive techniques, the report said, was a memo signed by [Republican] President Bush on [February] Feb. 7, 2002, declaring that the Geneva Convention's standards for humane treatment did not apply to captured al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. As early as that spring, the panel said, top administration officials, including National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, participated in meetings in which the use of coercive measures was discussed. The panel drew on a written statement by Rice, released earlier this year, to support that conclusion." ... "In July 2002, Rumseld's senior staff began compiling information about techniques used in military survival schools to simulate conditions that U.S. airmen might face if captured by an enemy that did not follow the Geneva conditions. Those techniques -- borrowed from a training program known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, or SERE -- included waterboarding, or simulated drowning, and were loosely based on methods adopted by Chinese communists to coerce propaganda confessions from captured U.S. soldiers during the Korean war." ... "The SERE program became the template for interrogation methods that were ultimately approved by Rumsfeld himself, the report says." -By Joby Warrick and Karen DeYoung -WashingtonPost

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[PDF] "Senate Armed Services Committee Inquiry Into The Treatment of Detainees In U.S. Custody." ... “What sets us apart from our enemies in this fight… is how we behave. In everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect. While we are warriors, we are also all human beings” -- General David Petraeus via -WashingtonPost

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Auto - Manufacturing - Politics - Jobs - Economic - History - Christmas - Consumer - US - China
"Senate Republicans Determined to Cause a Depression by Destroying Big 3." ... "Looks like the Senate Republicans are serious about killing the auto deal.  Here's the bottom line, if GM [General Motors] goes down, it will take Ford and Chrysler with it, because the three of them share suppliers.  Losing GM's business will put most of them into the red.  80% of American consumers will not buy a car from a company in bankruptcy, so the idea that going bankrupt is the solution to the auto companies woes is nonsense." ... "What comes out of any bankruptcy, even if they have the names GM, Ford and Chrysler, will be a shadow of what went into bankruptcy—assuming anything comes out at all.  More likely would be that big chunks would be gobbled up by foreign car companies, especially by the Chinese, who want expertise, but not to make cars in the US [United States]." ... "We can expect, then, to lose most o f the three million jobs related to the auto industry if the Big 2 1/2 go under.  To put this in perspective, in the last year the US has lost 2.7 million jobs.  This would be more than the job losses for an entire (lousy) year.  The US lost half a million jobs last month, and almost every economic forecaster expects the US to lose even more jobs in January, when retailers go fish-belly up due to an abysmal Christmas retail season." ... "Economic contractions of this sort are self-reinforcing.  The more people who lose their jobs, the less consumer spending there is.  The less consumer spending there is, the less money businesses make.  The less money businesses make, the more they have to lay off people.  The more people who lose their jobs, the less consumer spending there is.  The less... but why go on, you get the point." ... "The cascading financial and economic effect will make the oncoming economic storm far, far worse.  If 700 billion was ok to use to save Wall Street, whose business model was probably even worse than Detroit's (add up their losses and most of Wall Street didn't actually make any money for the last ten years), then 15 or 25 billion to save Detroit is peanuts." ... "Or we can make sure this turns into a Depression.  Guess the Republicans playing Scrooge this Christmas prefer that." -By Ian Welsh -FireDogLake.com

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20081210
China - Free Speech - Human Rights - Law - Politics - United Nations - History
"China arrests a signer of a freedom charter: Literary critic Liu Xiaobo had joined more than 300 in endorsing the 'Charter 08' document." ... "China has arrested at least one prominent dissident and has questioned and possibly detained others who were among more than 300 signatories to a declaration demanding more freedoms." ... "Liu Xiaobo, a prolific literary critic who spent 20 months in prison for joining students in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, was arrested Monday night at his home in Beijing [China's capital]. Human rights organizations said the 53-year-old Liu was being detained on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power," a charge often used against government critics." ... "The arrest came in the run-up to today's 60th anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a landmark document credited with inspiring the modern human rights movement." ... "The Chinese activists are using the anniversary as a peg to release what they are calling "Charter 08," a petition with recommendations for constitutional reforms that would make the ruling Communist Party more accountable." -By Barbara Demick -LAtimes

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20081126
Infant - Food - Health - Science - Politics - Industrial - Maker - US -China
"FDA finds melamine traces in U.S. infant formulas." ... "The Food and Drug Administration has found trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in some U.S. [United States] infant formulas, but at levels 10,000 times lower than those found in Chinese-made formula." ... "In China, where faked formula killed at least four children and sickened more than 53,000, large amounts of melamine were added to watered-down milk to make it appear to have an appropriate protein content." ... "The trace amounts of melamine and cyanuric acid, a melamine by-product, were found in formula from Abbott Laboratories, Nestle and Mead Johnson, which together make more than 90% of all infant formula produced in the United States." -AP via -USATODAY

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20081124
China - Media - Politics - Entertainment - Music - Free Speech - Law - US
"China state media blast new Guns N' Roses album." ... "A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party is blasting the latest Guns N' Roses album as an attack on the Chinese nation." ... "Delayed since recording began in 1994, "Chinese Democracy" hit stores in the U.S. on Sunday, although it is unlikely to be sold legally in China, where censors maintain tight control over films, music and publications." ... "In an article Monday headlined "American band releases album venomously attacking China," the Global Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn."" ... "The album "turns its spear point on China," the article said." -By Christopher Bodeen -AP via -Yahoo

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20081115
Global - Financial - Crisis - Terrorism - Intelligence - Nuclear - US - Pakistan - China - Afghanistan - Yemen
"Experts See Security Risks in Downturn: Global Financial Crisis May Fuel Instability and Weaken U.S. [United States] Defenses." ... "Intelligence officials are warning that the deepening global financial crisis could weaken fragile governments in the world's most dangerous areas and undermine the ability of the United States and its allies to respond to a new wave of security threats." ... "U.S. government officials and private analysts say the economic turmoil has heightened the short-term risk of a terrorist attack, as radical groups probe for weakening border protections and new gaps in defenses. A protracted financial crisis could threaten the survival of friendly regimes from Pakistan to the Middle East while forcing Western nations to cut spending on defense, intelligence and foreign aid, the sources said." ... "The crisis could also accelerate the shift to a more Asia-centric globe, as rising powers such as China gain more leverage over international financial institutions and greater influence in world capitals." ... "Some of the more troubling and immediate scenarios analysts are weighing involve nuclear-armed Pakistan, which already was being battered by inflation and unemployment before the global financial tsunami hit. Since September, Pakistan has seen its national currency devalued and its hard-currency reserves nearly wiped out." ... "Analysts also worry about the impact of plummeting crude prices on oil-dependent nations such as Yemen, which has a large population of unemployed youths and a history of support for militant Islamic groups." ... "Annual spending for U.S. intelligence operations currently totals $47.5 billion, a figure that does not include expensive satellites that fall under the Pentagon's budget." ... "U.S. officials are following developments with particular concern because of Pakistan's critical role in the campaign against terrorism, as well as the country's arsenal of dozens of nuclear weapons. Al-Qaeda has appealed directly to Pakistanis to overthrow their government, and its Taliban allies have launched multiple suicide bombings, some aimed at economic targets such as the posh Marriott hotel in Islamabad [Pakistan's capital], hit in September." ... "Economic and social unrest has helped drive recruiting for militant groups that cross into Afghanistan to attack U.S. troops." ... "China already was on track to surpass the United States as the world's largest economy, perhaps as early as 2030. Now, many experts believe the global recession could help it do so faster." (1, 2, 3) -By Joby Warrick -WashingtonPost

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20081106
Chinese - Hackers - US - Government - E-Mail - Network - Military - Technology - Intelligence - Politics
"Chinese hack into White House network." ... "Chinese hackers have penetrated the White House computer network on multiple occasions, and obtained e-mails between government officials, a senior US [United States] official told the Financial Times." ... "On each occasion, the cyber attackers accessed the [Republican President Bush] White House computer system for brief periods, allowing them enough time to steal information before US computer experts patched the system." ... "US government cyber intelligence experts suspect the attacks were sponsored by the Chinese government because of their targeted nature. But they concede that it is extremely difficult to trace the exact source of an attack beyond a server in a particular country." ... "The official said the Chinese cyber attacks had the hallmarks of the “grain of sands” approach taken by Chinese intelligence, which involves obtaining and pouring through lots of - often low-level - information to find a few nuggets." ... "Some US defence companies have privately warned about attacks on their systems, which they believe are attempts to learn about future weapons systems." ... "The National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, a new unit established in 2007 to tackle cyber security, detected the attacks on the White House. But the official stressed that the hackers had only accessed the unclassified computer network, not the more secure classified network." ... "The US has increased efforts to tackle cyber security, particularly since Chinese hackers believed to be associated with the Peoples’ Liberation Army last year perpetrated a major attack on the Pentagon." ... "US military computer experts battled for weeks against a sustained attack that eventually overcame the Pentagon’s defences. The cyber attackers managed to obtain information and emails traffic from the unclassified computer system that supports Robert Gates, the defence secretary. Pentagon IT technicians were forced to take the network down for days to conduct repairs." -By Demetri Sevastopulo -FT.com

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20081105
Barack Obama - John McCain - Sarah Palin - Fashion - Money - Internet - Hacking - Federal - Investigation - 2008 Election - Technology - Politics - US - Russia - China
"Hackers and Spending Sprees." ... "The computer systems of both the [2008 Election Presidential Candidates] Obama and McCain campaigns were victims of a sophisticated cyberattack by an unknown "foreign entity," prompting a federal investigation, NEWSWEEK reports today." ... "At the Obama headquarters in midsummer, technology experts detected what they initially thought was a computer virus—a case of "phishing," a form of hacking often employed to steal passwords or credit-card numbers. But by the next day, both the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] and the Secret Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: "You have a problem way bigger than what you understand," an agent told Obama's team. "You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system." The following day, Obama campaign chief David Plouffe heard from White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, to the same effect: "You have a real problem ... and you have to deal with it." The Feds told Obama's aides in late August that the McCain campaign's computer system had been similarly compromised. A top McCain official confirmed to NEWSWEEK that the campaign's computer system had been hacked and that the FBI had become involved." ... "Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to gather information on the evolution of both camps' policy positions—information that might be useful in negotiations with a future administration. The Feds assured the Obama team that it had not been hacked by its political opponents. (Obama technical experts later speculated that the hackers were Russian or Chinese.)" ... "NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost." (1, 2) -Newsweek

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20080806
Hacking - Business - Computer - Consumer - Data - Identity Theft - Privacy - US - Ukraine - China
"Theft ring accused of hacking 41 million credit card numbers." ... "Eleven people, including a U.S. [United States] Secret Service informant, have been charged in connection with the hacking of nine major retailers and the theft and sale of more than 41 million credit- and debit-card numbers, the Justice Department announced Tuesday." ... "The data breach is believed to be the largest hacking and identity-theft case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice, which said the suspects were charged with conspiracy, computer intrusion, fraud and identity theft." ... "Three of those charged are U.S. citizens, while the others are from places such as Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus and China." -StarTribune

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20080702
Secret - Torture - War Crimes - Prisons - US - Guantanamo - Cuba - Chinese - Korean - History - Medical - Science - Psychological - Military - Intelligence - Politics - Investigators
"China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo." ... "The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay [Cuba] in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” and “exposure.”" ... "What the trainers did not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners." ... "The recycled chart is the latest and most vivid evidence of the way Communist interrogation methods that the United States long described as torture became the basis for interrogations both by the military at the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and by the Central Intelligence Agency." ... "Some methods were used against a small number of prisoners at Guantánamo before 2005, when Congress banned the use of coercion by the military. The C.I.A. is still authorized by [Republican] President Bush to use a number of secret “alternative” interrogation methods." ... "Several Guantánamo documents, including the chart outlining coercive methods, were made public at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing June 17 that examined how such tactics came to be employed." ... "But committee investigators were not aware of the chart’s source in the half-century-old journal article, a connection pointed out to The New York Times by an independent expert on interrogation who spoke on condition of anonymity." ... "The 1957 article from which the chart was copied was entitled “Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions From Air Force Prisoners of War” and written by Alfred D. Biderman, a sociologist then working for the Air Force, who died in 2003. Mr. Biderman had interviewed American prisoners returning from North Korea, some of whom had been filmed by their Chinese interrogators confessing to germ warfare and other atrocities." ... "Those orchestrated confessions led to allegations that the American prisoners had been “brainwashed,” and provoked the military to revamp its training to give some military personnel a taste of the enemies’ harsh methods to inoculate them against quick capitulation if captured." ... "In 2002, the training program, known as SERE, for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape, became a source of interrogation methods both for the C.I.A. and the military. In what critics describe as a remarkable case of historical amnesia, officials who drew on the SERE program appear to have been unaware that it had been created as a result of concern about false confessions by American prisoners." ... "The only change made in the chart presented at Guantánamo was to drop its original title: “Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance.”" (1, 2) -By Scott Shane -NYTimes

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PDF Documents via NYTimes:
"Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions From the Air Force Prisoners of War (pdf) [September 1957 article by A. D. Biderman, Bull, N.Y. Acad. Med, Vol. 33, No.9, pp 616-625. 10 pages. NB: p. 4 (619), Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance]."
"Documents Released at Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on SERE Tactics (pdf)."

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20080621
China - Hackers - US - GOV - Lawmakers - Human Rights - Politics - Military -Intelligence - Investigation - Va - NJ - Ill
"More congressional computers hacked from China." ... "More Members of Congress have had their computers infiltrated by hackers within China than initially suspected, a lawmaker has revealed." ... "[Representatives] Reps. Frank Wolf (R-Va. [Republican-Virginia), Chris Smith (R-N.J. [Republican-New Jersey), and Mark Kirk (R-Ill. [Republican-Illinois]) admitted to having data removed from their Capitol Hill computers last week, but Wolf says there are more." ... "“I would suspect that the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Intelligence, (and) Appropriations committees would all be top targets,” Kirk said." ... "Wolf and Smith said they believe the hackers focused on them because of their continued objections to China’s human rights violations, and suspected that the hackers were looking for information on dissidents." ... "The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] asked the lawmakers not to speak publicly, fearing that if they did, they would be unable to track the IP addresses of the hackers, Kirk said." ... "“When you’re in the middle of a criminal investigation, you try not to alert the criminal of what’s happened so you can track it down,” he said." -By Jordy Yager -TheHill.com

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20080520
• US - Chinese - Torture- Intelligence - Politics - Guantanamo Bay - Cuba - Military- Government - Prison - Investigation - Law - "Report: U.S. Soldiers Did 'Dirty Work' for Chinese Interrogators: Alleges Guantanamo Personnel Softened Up Detainees at Request of Chinese Intelligence." ... "U.S. [United States] military personnel at Guantanamo Bay [Cuba] allegedly softened up detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officials who had come to the island facility to interrogate the men -- or they allowed the Chinese to dole out the treatment themselves, according to claims in a new government report." ... "Buried in a Department of Justice report released Tuesday are new allegations about a 2002 arrangement between the United States and China, which allowed Chinese intelligence to visit Guantanamo and interrogate Chinese Uighurs held there." ... "According to the report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, an FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] agent reported a detainee belonging to China's ethnic Uighur minority and a Uighur translator told him Uighur detainees were kept awake for long periods, deprived of food and forced to endure cold for hours on end, just prior to questioning by Chinese interrogators." ... "Susan Manning, a lawyer who represents several Uighurs still held at Guantanamo, said Tuesday the allegations are all too familiar." ... "U.S. personnel "are engaging in abusive tactics on behalf of the Chinese," she said Tuesday. When Uighur detainees refused to talk to Chinese interrogators in 2002, U.S. military personnel put them in solitary confinement as punishment, she said." ... ""Why are we doing China's dirty work?" Manning said. "Surely we're better than that." " (1, 2) -By Justin Rood -ABCNEWS.com

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20080517
• Obama - McCain - Osama bin Laden - US - Iraq - Iran - Palestine - Israel - Russia - China - Foreign - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Politics - History - Illinois - 2008 Election - "Obama Strikes Back at Bush On Diplomacy." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama pushed back Friday against [Republican] President Bush's implicit criticism of his approach to foreign policy, condemning his administration for not capturing Osama bin Laden and blaming its Iraq war policy for strengthening and emboldening Iran." ... ""If [Republicans] George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate that I'm happy to have anytime, anyplace, and that is a debate I will win because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for," the Democratic front-runner said." ... "At a news conference later Friday, Obama called it "disingenuous" to assert that he was not the clear target of the president's comments. Obama then used the exchange to link Bush's foreign policy record to McCain's stance toward the Middle East, and to outline the ways his own approach to the world's most vexing problems would differ from those of the current administration." ... "His list of grievances included a war fought on the premise of weapons of mass destruction that were never found, the failure to capture bin Laden and turning Iran into the "greatest beneficiary" of the Iraq war." ... "He said McCain will "need to answer" for a strengthened al-Qaeda leadership, Hamas's control of the Gaza Strip [Palestine], and Iran's ability to fund Hezbollah and pose "the greatest threat to America and Israel and the Middle East in a generation."" ... ""That's the Bush-McCain record on protecting this country," Obama said. "Those are the failed policies that John McCain wants to double down on."" ... "In a later appearance, Obama added that he is "puzzled" that the concept of meeting with controversial foreign leaders is a point of debate "when this has been the history of U.S. [United States] diplomacy until very recently."" ... "He pointed to [Democratic] President John F. Kennedy's meetings with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev when the United States and Russia were on the brink of nuclear war, and to [Republican] President Richard M. Nixon's meeting with China's Mao Zedong, "with the knowledge that Mao had exterminated millions of people." " -By Matthew Mosk with contributions by Perry Bacon Jr., Michael D. Shear and Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

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• Obama - McCain - Russia - China - Foreign- Military - Politics - History - Health-Care - Marketplace - Arizona - Illinois - Ore- US - 2008 Election - "Obama: Bush, McCain Should 'Explain Why They Have a Problem With JFK'." ... "ABC News Sunlen Miller reports: [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama went one step further today in his pushback against presumptive GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] presidential nominee [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain and [Republican] President Bush on appeasement, suggesting that both Republicans have a problem with presidents past who have engaged in direct diplomacy." ... ""If George Bush and John McCain have a problem with direct diplomacy, led by the president of the United States, then they can explain why they have a problem with [Democratic President] John F. Kennedy because that's what he did with [Soviet leader Nikita] Khrushchev, or [Republican President] Ronald Reagan, 'cause that's what he did with [Soviet leader Mikhail] Gorbachev, or [Republican President] Richard Nixon 'cause that's what they did with [Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung]," Obama said in Roseburg, Ore. [Oregon.] "That’s exactly the kind of diplomacy we need to keep us safe."" ... "Obama also blasted McCain's healthcare proposals during a town-hall meeting." ... ""Essentially his plan is we’re gonna dismantle the employer-based system and give everybody a tax break and then see if you can fend for yourself in the marketplace," Obama told the crowd. "He wants to give you the failed Bush health-care polices for another four years."" -ABCNEWS.com 

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20080514
• John McCain - Sudan - China - India - Oil - Politics - International - US - 2008 Election - "McCain's wife sells Sudan investments." ... "The wife of [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who has been a critic of the violence in Sudan, sold off more than $2 million in mutual funds whose holdings include companies that do business in the African nation." ... "The sale on Wednesday came after The Associated Press questioned Cindy McCain's investments in light of calls by her husband for international financial sanctions against the Sudanese leadership." ... "According to McCain's personal financial disclosure, Cindy McCain's investments include two mutual funds — American Funds Europacific Growth fund and American Funds Capital World Growth and Income fund — that are listed by the Sudan Divestment Task Force as targets for divestment." ... "Both funds have holdings in Oil & Natural Gas Corp. [Corporation], an India-based company that does business in Sudan. The American Funds Capital World Growth & Income Fund also has holdings in Petrochina, a Chinese government-owned oil company with vast investments in Sudan." -AP via -USATODAY 

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20080430
• Hillary Clinton - Indiana - Workers - 2008 Election - US - China - Military - Technology - Manufacturing - Corporation - "Clinton blasts Bush for not stopping a project Bill OK'd." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton loves to tell the story about how the Chinese government bought a good American company in Indiana, laid off all its workers and moved its critical defense technology work to China." ... "It’s a story with a dramatic, political ending. Republican President George W. Bush could have stopped it, but he didn’t." ... "If she were president, Clinton says, she’d fight to protect those jobs. It’s just the kind of talk that’s helping her win support from working-class Democrats worried about their jobs and paychecks, not to mention their country’s security." ... "What Clinton never includes in the oft-repeated tale is the role that prominent Democrats played in selling the company and its technology to the Chinese. She never mentions that big-time Democratic contributor George Soros [who also contributed to Republican John McCain's 2000 Presidential Candidacy] helped put together the deal to sell the company or that the sale was approved by her husband's [former Democratic President Bill Clinton's] administration." ... "In response, the Clinton campaign said that Bill Clinton's administration had gotten assurances at the time it approved the deal that production would remain inside the United States, and that the shift of jobs to China didn't occur until under the Bush administration." ... "In 2001, it [the Chinese manufacturing company] closed its original plant in Anderson, Ind[Indiana]." ... "And in 2003, it decided to close the Valparaiso [Indiana] plant, laying off its 225 workers." ... "Indiana politicians asked the Bush administration to intervene." ... "The [Republican President Bush] administration didn't block the move." -By Steven Thomma -McClatchyDC.com

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• Chinese - Child - Labor - Human Rights - Politics - "Chinese children sold "like cabbages" into slavery." ... "Thousands of children in southwest China have been sold into slavery like "cabbages", to work as labourers in more prosperous areas such as the booming southern province of Guangdong [China], a newspaper said on Tuesday." ... "China announced a nationwide crackdown on slavery and child labor last year after reports that hundreds of poor farmers, children and mentally disabled were forced to work in kilns and mines in Shanxi province and neighboring Henan." (1, 2) -Contributed to by Nick Macfie and Valerie Lee -Reuters

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20080421
• Global - Planet - Oil - Food - Agriculture - Car - Economy - China - "Running Out of Planet to Exploit." ... "Last week, oil hit $117." ... "Food prices have also soared, as have the prices of basic metals. And the global surge in commodity prices is reviving a question we haven’t heard much since the 1970s: Will limited supplies of natural resources pose an obstacle to future world economic growth?" ... "How you answer this question depends largely on what you believe is driving the rise in resource prices. Broadly speaking, there are three competing views." ... "The first is that it’s mainly speculation — that investors, looking for high returns at a time of low interest rates, have piled into commodity futures, driving up prices." ... "The second view is that soaring resource prices do, in fact, have a basis in fundamentals — especially rapidly growing demand from newly meat-eating, car-driving Chinese — but that given time we’ll drill more wells, plant more acres, and increased supply will push prices right back down again." ... "The third view is that the era of cheap resources is over for good — that we’re running out of oil, running out of land to expand food production and generally running out of planet to exploit." ... "I find myself somewhere between the second and third views." ... "There are some very smart people — not least, George Soros — who believe that we’re in a commodities bubble (although Mr. Soros says that the bubble is still in its “growth phase”)." -By Paul Krugman -NYTimes 

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20080420
• Don Young - Abramoff - Bob Schaffer - Money - Politics - Mariana Islands - Chinese - Garment - Factory - Industry - Labor - Women - Abortion - Human Rights - Investigations - Government - Immigration - Law- History - US - Colorado - Alaska- "Records expose Young-Abramoff ties: MARIANA ISLANDS." ... "[Alaska Republican Represenative] Rep. Don Young has said he never allowed convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to be an influential force over him in Congress." ... "But now a trove of old billing records from two of Abramoff's firms show that his team of lobbyists had more than 120 contacts with Young's personal and committee staffs over 25 months, including at least 10 with Young himself." ... "The available records cover a single Abramoff client, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. [United States] territory in the Pacific that Young oversaw when he chaired the House Resources Committee from 1995 to 2001." ... "The records show that one of the looming concerns of Abramoff and his fellow lobbyists at the time was a bill introduced by Young's fellow Alaskan, [Republican Senator] Sen. Frank Murkowski, to reform labor and immigration practices feeding the island's notorious Chinese-owned sweatshops. In 2000, Murkowski's bill passed the Senate unanimously, but Young stopped it cold in his committee, refusing to hold even a hearing." ... "Investigations by the government, media and human rights groups uncovered widespread abuses in the garment industry and among sex workers there starting in the mid-1990s, but Young asserted those investigations were bogus." ... "As a member of Young's Resources Committee, [Colorado Republican Representative and 2008 Election Colorado Senator Candidate Bob] Schaffer took a free trip to the Mariana Islands arranged by Abramoff's law firm, then played a central role in a 1989 committee hearing investigating Interior department officials in the [Democratic President Bill] Clinton administration who were trying to rein in the Saipan government [Saipan is the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' capital]." ... "A growing number of reports spoke of near slave-labor conditions, with workers kept in sealed compounds, required to work seven days a week without overtime, and sometimes getting no paycheck at all. There were widespread reports of women coerced into getting abortions to keep their jobs. Some women hired abroad found themselves working not in garment factories at all, but sex clubs." -By Richard Mauer -ADN.com

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20080417
• -  - Media - Politics - Corporate - Network - 2008 Election -  -  -  -  - Torture -  - Human Rights -  - Consumer -  -  - Safety -  -  -  - Death Penalty - "Okay, Now I'm Bitter." [Mary Mapes on what DISNEY/ABC didn't cover in the 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate debate in Pennsylvania with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama] ... "In Iraq, we've seen a rebound in suicide bombings and gotten the disquieting information that Iraqi soldiers have been fleeing the battlefield in frightening numbers." ... "Americans learned that detailed discussions of torture techniques had been held in the [Republican President] White House -- our White House -- and President Bush revealed that he knew this and approved." ... "[Home] Foreclosure rates have spiked to frightening levels." ... "U.S. [United States] shoppers were told that food prices in this country are rising at a higher pace than at any time in the past 17 years." ... "The airline industry floundered through dreadful days of groundings, amidst safety concerns, economic ailments and passenger anger." ... "Oil prices are setting new records almost every day and $4 a gallon gas is coming soon to a service station near you." ... "The anguish over China's human rights record and its handling of Tibet turned the Olympic torch relay into a cross between Spain's Running of the Bulls and 3rd grade keep-away." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, acting like a mean old man trying to chase those pesky voters off his lawn, refused to endorse a new GI bill that would help those currently serving our country get a college education." ... "The Supreme Court issued a fractured opinion on the death penalty that for the first time in years raises the real possibility of a national debate on the value and morality of the ultimate punishment." ... "And we are in the middle of what is clearly the most important, most consequential election of my lifetime -- and I'm no spring chicken." ... "Instead, I sat in front of my TV open-mouthed, listening to a hodgepodge of juvenile questions about flag jewelry, the possibility of a "dream" ticket, elderly radicals, Charlie Gibson's personal tax concerns and ministers who emote too much. What, no time for a question about Cindy McCain's purloined pork chop recipe?" -By Mary Mapes -HuffingtonPost.com

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20080414
• China - Military - Police - Terrorism - Religious - Censorship - Oil - Sports - Human Rights - "As world watches Tibet, China's Muslim Uighurs face growing repression." ... "Almost unnoticed amid the wide-scale protests by Tibetans over the past month is the social unrest among the 8 million or so Muslim Uighurs in China's resource-rich far western territory." ... "Recently, hundreds of Muslim women in black veils gathered outside the market in this oasis city [Khotan, China] in an impromptu protest. Some carried signs demanding an independent state." ... ""I saw the demonstration myself. There were 500 to 700 women in black, waving placards for East Turkestan," said Wu Jiangliang, a hydroelectric company employee." ... "China handled the unrest forcefully, ensuring the stability of a region rich in oil, coal and minerals. Police moved quickly to quell the March 23 protest, arresting numerous women and shooing others away. It drew only minor notice." ... "China also has broken up what it said were two terrorist rings that intended to disrupt the Beijing [China's capital] Summer Olympic Games and thwarted what it said was a terrorist attempt last month on a commercial airliner." ... "But as state officials employed a firm hand against restive Uighurs, pronounced WEE-gers, they also publicly demonized those behind the social unrest. Critics now say that while the state has stabilized ethnic areas, the harsh language may exacerbate tensions." ... ""The problem is that China's policies are alienating," said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group. "They are efficient in that political repression works. But they increase ethnic tensions."" -By Tim Johnson -McClatchyDC.com

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20080331
• Food - Crisis - World - People - Farmers - Land - Fuel - Money - Politics - History - Weather - Drought - China - UN - "Tensions rise as world faces short rations." ... "Food prices are soaring, a wealthier Asia is demanding better food and farmers can't keep up. In short, the world faces a food crisis and in some places it's already boiling over." ... "Around the globe, people are protesting and governments are responding with often counterproductive controls on prices and exports -- a new politics of scarcity in which ensuring food supplies is becoming a major challenge for the 21st century." ... "Plundered by severe weather in producing countries and by a boom in demand from fast-developing nations, the world's wheat stocks are at 30-year lows. Grain prices have been on the rise for five years, ending decades of cheap food." ... "Drought, a declining dollar, a shift of investment money into commodities and use of farm land to grow fuel have all contributed to food woes. But population growth and the growing wealth of China and other emerging countries are likely to be more enduring factors." ... "World population is set to hit 9 billion by 2050, and most of the extra 2.5 billion people will live in the developing world. It is in these countries that the population is demanding dairy and meat, which require more land to produce." ... "In 2007 alone, according to the U.N. [United Nations] Food and Agriculture Organization's world food index, dairy prices rose nearly 80 percent and grain 42 percent." [see also: Agflation] (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Russell Blinch and Brian Love with contributions by Ayesha Rascoe, Missy Ryan, Alistair Thomson, Ho Binh Minh and Eddie Evans -Reuters 

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