What's in the News

Now that is the kind of incompetence that is impossible to laugh off, disgusting.

Err...That is disgusting...and since in China things in this article is being censored, would it not be a good idea to change these things so the people monitoring the Internet does not decide that the Saloon is misbehaving???
The police jokingly laughed at the mentally ill farmer who was strangling a teenager...right,right...I am beginning to understand why most locals I meet have little, if anything, good to say about the police.

Police worldwide seem to suffer brain aneurisms when dealing with cannibals.  Jeffrey Dahmer was trying to take his 14 year old "boyfriend" back to his apartment.  The police didn't take the boy into protective custody and gave him back, despite the strange smell (from the corpse of a prior victim) coming from the apartment.  Jeffrey took the boy back inside, for dinner.

Too many people think cannibalism only happens in the movies, and consider it so "unthinkable" that the possibility isn't even considered.  It's rare, but it does happen.

Obama admits to stepping up 'Cyber Warfare'

President Barack Obama's administration has taken direct responsibility for a rapid acceleration in cyber-attacks against Iran's nuclear programme.

According to anonymous senior administration sources quoted in the New York Times, Obama decided to speed up a programme first launched by his predecessor, George W Bush, codenamed Olympic Games, whose aim was to use computer viruses to attack Iran's nuclear enrichment programme.

The decision to reveal Obama's role in the cyberwar against Iran follows hard on the heels of the highly political disclosure in an election year that the president had taken a personal role in approving terrorist targets for US drone strikes.

And the depiction of his key involvement in two major clandestine military operations follows photographs last year showing him, as commander-in-chief, awaiting news of the death of Osama bin Laden.

The revelations on Iran appear designed to neutralise Republican accusations that he has been weak over the issue of Iran's nuclear programme.

According to the New York Times, Obama took the decision to accelerate the pace of computer sabotage against Tehran in 2010 even after details about one of the cyberweapons developed to attack Iran, the so-called Stuxnet worm, accidentally leaked on to the internet because of a programming error.

That worm had been designed to target Iran's Natanz plant.

At a meeting in the White House situation room within days of the worm's "escape", Obama asked his advisers, including Leon Panetta, the head of the CIA, whether the effort should be wound up because it had been compromised.

According to sources in the room at the time, Obama asked: "Should we shut this thing down?" before deciding instead to push ahead with the attacks. The Natanz plant was hit twice more by versions of the worm, which damaged up to 1,000 high-speed centrifuges then enriching uranium.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/01/obama-sped-up-cyberattack-iran

So the US's military strategy under Obama seems to be to put more and more robot planes in the sky and create more and more powerful computer viruses. What could go wrong?

Obama admits to stepping up 'Cyber Warfare'

Quote

President Barack Obama's administration has taken direct responsibility for a rapid acceleration in cyber-attacks against Iran's nuclear programme. ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/01/obama-sped-up-cyberattack-iran

So the US's military strategy under Obama seems to be to put more and more robot planes in the sky and create more and more powerful computer viruses. What could go wrong?

Years back, the elder Bush had something officially called the Strategic Defense Initiative, but generally known as "Star Wars". Part of the plan was computer control of nuclear missiles. Moreover they were to be set up for "launch on warning"; the machines could fire them without human intervention. The idea was to guarantee that a surprise attack would not be a tempting strategy for those evil Russians; they might destroy America but they could not eliminate the answering missiles because those would be launched before the Ruski weapons hit.

If you know anything about software reliability issues, this idea is blindingly stupid and truly terrifying. The lobby group Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility was set up specifically because of this. http://cpsr.org/ They are still around and anyone who is greatly concerned about recent developments might consider joining.

For a while, my email signature was:
Test plan for SDI: step one, mount a scratch planet.

The reference is to: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/S/scratch-monkey.html

...this idea is blindingly stupid and truly terrifying.

Why? 

Couldn't they just program the computer to say "Ooooops... sorry about that."   

Gasp...hack...

China's Wuhan city covered in mysterious haze

(AFP) Young and old residents of the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan were advised to stay indoors on Monday after a thick haze blanketed the city of nine million people, official media said.

Described by residents as opaque with yellowish and greenish tinges, the fug descended suddenly in the morning, prompting people to rush to put on face masks, witnesses told AFP.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted the environmental protection department of Hubei province saying in a statement: "Children, the elderly and people with heart or respiratory diseases are advised to stay indoors."

Xinhua said straw burning was the cause and denied there had been any industrial accidents in or near Wuhan, after Internet rumours suggested there had been an explosion at a chemical complex northeast of the city.

"I looked out of the window of my office and I could not believe my eyes," said resident Li Yunzhong.

"At first I thought it was going to rain. In 31 years in Wuhan I have never known anything like it. We are very worried because we do not know what it is."

France's consulate-general in the central city advised residents to stay at home, close their windows and limit the use of air-conditioning.

"The source of the thick cloud that has covered the city of Wuhan since this morning is at present unknown," it said on its website.

"Local authorities have promised us the information as soon as possible."

Xinhua described the haze as grey-yellow in colour and said it was seen in seven cities in Hubei province, including Wuhan.

Air pollution is increasingly acute in major Chinese cities and authorities are frequently accused of underestimating the severity of the problem in urban areas, especially in Beijing.

Air-quality monitoring showed Wuhan's PM10 particulate concentration stood at 0.574 mg per cubic metre at 2:00 pm, more than triple the daily average of 0.150 mg, Xinhua reported.

But it quoted the environmental protection department saying industrial accidents were not responsible and analysis showed an increase in carbon particles from burning organic matter.

"Many farmers choose to burn crops that are left behind in their fields after harvesting," Xinhua said.

But Li was sceptical. "I doubt that," he said. "We don't practise large-scale shifting agriculture in our region."

Another resident told AFP she was leaving the city because of the cloud.

Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province and an industrial centre where many foreign firms have set up factories, including the French automotive group PSA Peugeot Citroën.

Alstom also manufactures boilers for coal-fired power plants there.

China's environment suffers from industrial pollution, increasing traffic and lax protection measures.

Official air-quality statistics are sometimes at odds with non-government measurements, and are often viewed with distrust.

A couple more pictures from Wuhan.





Even with an unholy amount of rain lately, it's not looking so good in Changsha either.

What I've heard about this is that the explosion was at a chlorine plant but I that's just rumour really.

Could be a preliminary stage or by-product, I guess. If it were pure chlorine gas no one in Wuhan would be on their feet, much less on a bicycle.

beijing has so far managed a record... 3 consecutive days of honest to goodness blue skies. We even have beautiful cloud formations. 

I do not want to piss on Wuhan's parade but the view looks similar to many of the days in Hangzhou.

This is the view from my window at 4pm today  - it has been like this all day.

 









 

That's what it looks like in Changsha but that yellow tint in Wuhan is not from being artistic with the photos apparently.

That's what it looks like in Changsha but that yellow tint in Wuhan is not from being artistic with the photos apparently.

My apologies to the good citizens of Wuhan - or those of you who are not abed and are still alive! After checking some numbers it sure looks like you are having a bad day:

Hangzhou API = 101 = Grade 3A

Wuhan    API = 233 = Grade 4A
(and I imagine they have not included the 'yellow stuff' in that)

http://english.mep.gov.cn/

I hate to imagine what it is like in Wuhan at this time.


 
  
  

I am just glad I am not living there anymore with this happening. It was always hazy there, but this one today is a strange one and that would worry me for sure. I think I would have to chain smoke to filter out the pollutants in the air just to stay healthy.