Matthew Keys — the social media editor fired from his position at Reuters Monday for reasons he believes could be political — pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges that he conspired with members of Anonymous to attack Tribune Company websites, his former employer.According to the government’s indictment, Keys provided Anonymous hackers with information including usernames and passwords to access Tribune Company sites in late 2010, after he was fired from his job at a Tribune-owned station in Sacramento. Keys has rejected a plea bargain and, if found guilty, could face up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000. His attorneys argue that although Keys had communicated with Anons via online chatrooms, it was someone posing as the journalist who provided the Tribune Co. access information.”There’s an incongruity to all of this that we’re hoping to get to the bottom of in the next couple months,” Key’s attorney Jay Leiderman told HuffPo.Continue Reading… … Read More
Don’t Quote Me by Name, But My Friends the Koch Brothers Respect the Hell Out of Press Freedom
The New York Times finds anonymous sources to assure us that the Koch brothers are not trying to buy the Tribune newspapers in order to “destroy the other side.” But Mother Jones finds an actual person who explains how the Kochs actually treat media outlets whose reporting they don’t like. … Read More
North Korea Has Deliverable Nuclear Warhead! Or Maybe Not!
The panicky style of reporting on North Korea doesn’t seem to be changing much, if you glance at the front pages of the Washington Post and New York Times this morning. But both pieces, if read carefully, undermine the alarmism–and make you wonder why the stories are on the front page. … Read More
Mark Dayton, Minnesota Governor, Calls For Tax Overhaul, Higher Rates For Wealthy
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Minnesota would overhaul its state tax system under a $37.9 billion two-year general fund budget that Governor Mark Dayton unveiled on Tuesday. The Democratic governor called for a drop in local property taxes, an income tax rate increase for higher earners, a lower corporate tax rate coupled with the closure of tax loopholes, a cut in the sales tax rate, and a cigarette tax hike. Minnesota would gain $2.13 billion from the tax changes, allowing the state to eliminate a projected $1.1 billion deficit in the fiscal 2014-2015 biennial budget, while increasing funding for education, according to budget documents. But Republicans, the minority party in the Legislature, blasted the plan for increasing both spending and taxes. “Get ready for more taxes,” Senate Minority Leader David Hann told reporters, adding that services such as oil changes and haircuts would be subject to the sales tax. Under Dayton’s proposal, the sales tax rate would fall to 5.5 percent from 6.875 percent, while the tax base would be broadened to include certain goods and services. For instance, clothing is currently exempt from sales tax, but the revision would tax clothing that costs more than $100. Dayton and budget officials said that middle income consumers could expect the sales tax changes to be a wash, with the lower rate overall offsetting the broader base for the tax. The income tax rate on single residents with taxable income of $150,000 or more and married couples at $250,000 or more would increase by 2 percentage points to 9.85 percent. Minnesota’s corporate tax rate would fall to 8.4 percent from 9.8 percent, but tax breaks benefiting some businesses would be eliminated. Property taxes would fall by $1.4 billion in the upcoming biennium, which begins July 1, through increased state aid to local governments and other measures. Minnesota would join other states in overhauling its tax system, including Massachusetts where the governor last week proposed an income tax rate hike and a lower sales tax rate. Nebraska’s governor proposed a plan to eliminate personal and corporate income taxes, covering the lost revenue by ending sales tax exemptions. Likewise Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal called for ending the state’s income tax and corporate taxes with sales taxes compensating for lost revenue. California voters in November approved temporary hikes in the sales tax and in the income tax rates for the wealthy.Read More…
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Climate Change Study: Emissions Limits Could Greatly Avoid Future Damage
* 20-65 pct of adverse climate impacts could be avoided * Emissions need to peak in 2016, fall by 5 pct/yr to 2050 By Nina Chestney LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) – The world could avoid much of the damaging effects of climate change this century if greenhouse gas emissions are curbed more sharply, research showed on Sunday. The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, is the first comprehensive assessment of the benefits of cutting emissions to keep the global temperature rise to within 2 degrees Celsius by 2100, a level which scientists say would avoid the worst effects of climate change. It found 20 to 65 percent of the adverse impacts by the end of this century could be avoided. “Our research clearly identifies the benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions – less severe impacts on flooding and crops are two areas of particular benefit,” said Nigel Arnell, director of the University of Reading’s Walker Institute, which led the study. In 2010, governments agreed to curb emissions to keep temperatures from rising above 2 degrees C, but current emissions reduction targets are on track to lead to a temperature rise of 4 degrees or more by 2100. The World Bank has warned more extreme weather will become the “new normal” if global temperature rises by 4 degrees. Extreme heatwaves could devastate areas from the Middle East to the United States, while sea levels could rise by up to 91 cm (3 feet), flooding cities in countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, the bank has said. The latest research involved scientists from British institutions including the University of Reading, the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, as well as Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. It examined a range of emissions-cut scenarios and their impact on factors including flooding, drought, water availability and crop productivity. The strictest scenario kept global temperature rise to 2 degrees C with emissions peaking in 2016 and declining by 5 percent a year to 2050. FLOODING Adverse effects such as declining crop productivity and exposure to river flooding could be reduced by 40 to 65 percent by 2100 if warming is limited to 2 degrees, the study said. Global average sea level rise could be reduced to 30cm (12 inches) by 2100, compared to 47-55cm (18-22 inches) if no action to cut emissions is taken, it said. Some adverse climate impacts could also be delayed by many decades. The global productivity of spring wheat could drop by 20 percent by the 2050s, but the fall in yield could be delayed until 2100 if strict emissions curbs were enforced. “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions won’t avoid the impacts of climate change altogether of course, but our research shows it will buy time to make things like buildings, transport systems and agriculture more resilient to climate change,” Arnell said. About 190 nations are aiming to sign a deal by 2015 which will legally bind countries to make ambitious emissions cuts but it will not come into force until 2020. U.N. climate negotiations in Qatar in December ended with little progress on emissions cuts. “This research helps us quantify the benefits of limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees C and underlines why it’s vital we stick with the U.N. climate change negotiations and secure a global legally binding deal by 2015,” said Edward Davey, Britain’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. The study can be viewed at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1793 (Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Pravin Char)Read More…
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Steubenville Rape Case: Ohio Sheriff Confronts Protesters
By Drew Singer STEUBENVILLE, Ohio, Jan 5 (Reuters) – A county sheriff under fire for how he has handled a high school rape investigation faced down a raucous crowd of protesters on Saturday and said no further suspects would be charged in a case that has rattled Ohio football country. Ma’lik Richmond and Trenton Mays, both 16 and members of the Steubenville High School football team, are charged with raping a 16-year-old fellow student at a party last August, according to statements from their attorneys. Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla, accused of shielding the popular football program from a more rigorous investigation, told reporters no one else would be charged in the case, just moments after he addressed about 1,000 protesters gathered in front of the Jefferson County Courthouse. “I’m not going to stand here and try to convince you that I’m not the bad guy,” he said to a chorus of boos. “You’ve already made your minds up.” The “Occupy Steubenville” rally was organized by the online activist group Anonymous. Abdalla declined to take the investigation over from Steubenville police, sparking more public outrage. Anonymous and community leaders say police are avoiding charging more of those involved to protect the school’s beloved football program. The two students will be tried as juveniles in February in Steubenville, a close-knit city of 19,000 about 40 miles (64 km) west of Pittsburgh. The case shot to national prominence this week when Anonymous made public a picture of the purported rape victim being carried by her wrists and ankles by two young men. Anonymous also released a video that showed several other young men joking about an assault. Abdalla, who said he first saw the video three days ago, said on Saturday that it provided no new evidence of any crimes. “It’s a disgusting video,” he said. “It’s stupidity. But you can’t arrest somebody for being stupid.” The protest’s masked leader, standing atop a set of stairs outside the courthouse doors, invited up to the makeshift stage anyone who was a victim of sexual assault. Protesters immediately flooded the platform, which was slightly smaller than a boxing ring. Victims passed around a microphone, taking turns telling their stories. Some called for Abdalla and other local officials to step down from office for not charging more of the people and for what they called a cover-up by athletes, coaches and local officials. Abdalla then climbed the stairs himself and addressed the protest over a microphone. Abdalla said he had dedicated his 28-year career to combating sexual assault, overseeing the arrest of more than 200 suspects. Clad in a teal ribbon symbolizing support for sexual assault victims, Abdalla later told Reuters that he stood by his decision to leave the investigation with local police. He would have had to question all 59 people that the Steubenville Police Department had already interviewed in its original investigation, he said. “People have got their minds made up,” he said. “A case like this, who would want to cover any of it up?” (Editing by Daniel Trotta and Eric Walsh)Read More…
China tightens Internet restrictions
China has further restricted Internet usage, legalizing the deletion of posts or pages that contain illicit information and requiring all users to provide their real names to service providers.The new rules, issued on Friday, make it harder for businesses to protect commercial secrets and for individuals to access websites from abroad that the Chinese government believes are politically sensitive, The New York Times reported.The estimated number of Internet users in China has grown to more than 500 million, about 40 percent of the population, the Bangkok Post reported.Continue Reading… … Read More
