- You can't have it both ways, world. Either you want
Greece to dig out of its long-simmering economic funk or you want to protect
the environment, because satisfying both of those goals is unrealistic. The
conflict is best illustrated by the current situation in Ierissos, where bulldozers have
already begun flattening hundreds of acres for an open pit gold mine and a
processing plant. Canada’s Eldorado Gold Corporation hopes to open up its
newest Greek operation within two years, adding to other gold, copper, zinc and
lead mining operations its has in the area. On the surface (pun intended
because everyone loves some quality mining humor), adding as many as 1,500 jobs
by 2015 should be welcomed with open arms in the dismal economy of the
surrounding villages in a rural northeast region of Greece. However, local
protests over the new mining operation suggest otherwise. Critics argue that
the project is an indication that Greece will accept any development to jump-start
its economy, regardless of the environmental impact. These haters readily point
out that 10 years ago, Greece’s highest court ruled that the amount of
environmental damage that mining would do in this same region was not worth the
economic gain. Locals worry that Eldorado will barge in, strip the region of
its resources and move on, killing off goats the graze in the region, olives
that grow and bees that breed. The scene in Ierissos mirrors the one unfolding
in other regions around the country as Greece fumbles through its sixth year of
recession. Its creditors and the European Union member nations being forced to bail
the country out over and over are pressuring Greece to make progress now, but
environmentalists are pushing back, claiming that plans that would sell off
thousands of acres for solar fields and allow oil exploration near delicate
ecosystems will do more damage than good. “We see laws changing, policies
changing,” said Theodota Nantsou, the policy coordinator in Athens for the
World Wide Fund for Nature. “We see things getting rolled back under the guise
of eliminating impediments to investment. But over the long run, all these
things will have a heavy cost.” Such groups claim environmental standards are
widely being ignored or lowered, to the detriment of air, water and soil
quality. Maybe Nantsou has a better plan for paying back the International
Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission………
- Not a moment too soon, Big Ten, not a moment too soon. For
the past two-plus years, the Big Ten has had two very obvious problems with its
nomenclature. First, the conference has 12 teams and continues to call itself
the Big TEN. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the conference tried to
impose some sort of self-righteous, moralistic and upright persona by calling
its two six-team divisions the
Legends and Leaders. The names sounded absurd when they were first announced
and haven’t gotten any better since. Fortunately, Big Ten commissioner Jim
Delany said his league will consider changing its division names in 2014.
"It's on the table," Delany said. Why wait until 2014? It doesn’t
make sense, but 2014 is a convenient time to change because that’s when Maryland
and Rutgers are scheduled to join the Big Ten. Currently, the Legends Division
consists of Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and
Northwestern; the Leaders Division is Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, Penn
State, Purdue and Wisconsin. No announcement has been made about where the two
newcomers will fit in, but giving the new-look divisions new names is a smart
move. Asked about the horrible monikers conference officials chose in December
2010, Delany said the Big Ten "didn't have great options." "We
weren't going to go with 'Bo or Woody,' 'Black or Blue,' or 'Plains or Lakes,'
" Delany said. "Obviously we got some acceptance [with Legends and
Leaders], but not as much as we would have liked." Yes, you didn’t get much
acceptance……because those names suck donkey balls, Jimbo. American and
National, East and West, A and B….all would be better options than Legends and
Leaders and it sounds like Delany is finally accepting that fact. He may say
that whether a change is made or not “is to be determined,” but admitting that
he is open to the idea is the first step. Use the addition of Maryland and
Rutgers, neither of which fits well geographically, as an opportunity to shed
names that never worked in the first place. The commish does sound like he may
wage one final battle for Legends and Leaders before surrendering them to the
naming graveyard. "I honestly think building leaders and honoring legends
is relevant whether it's a branding campaign or divisional names,” he said.
Give it up, Delany, give it up……….
- International computer espionage? On a Monday? Epic. Too
few weeks start this way, so let’s all enjoy the news that security
researchers have uncovered an espionage malware network that's been operating
undetected for at least five years. This covert network has likely stolen
quantities of data that stretch into the terabytes, according to tech security
firm Kaspersky Labs. "The campaign, identified as 'Rocra' -- short for
'Red October' -- is currently still active, with data being sent to multiple
command-and-control servers, through a configuration which rivals in complexity
the infrastructure of the Flame malware," the company said in its
findings. "All the attacks are carefully tuned to the specifics of the
victims. For instance, the initial documents are customized to make them more
appealing, and every single module is specifically compiled for the victim with
a unique victim ID inside.” Operation Red October involves a series of highly
targeted attacks, according to Kaspersky, and these attacks are also customized
based on the target's native language, the specific software installed on their
system and the types of documents they prefer to use. In its findings,
Kaspersky said it has been following the attacks since October, when an
anonymous third party forwarded evidence of Red October’s existence. Oddly
enough, the spear-phishing attack emails seem to be a recycled version of an
attack campaign that targeted Tibetan activists and energy companies in Asia. Kaspersky
Labs worked with U.S., Romanian and Belarusian officials on the investigation
and found that as of last week, 250 different IP addresses registering more
than 55,000 connections to a sinkhole created to study the attacks had been
identified. Computers in Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belgium and India have
all been affected and unconfirmed reports of infected machines have also come
from western European countries such as Switzerland and Luxembourg. Attackers
use malware code to target organizations belonging to one of government,
diplomatic (including embassies), research institutions, trade and commerce,
nuclear or energy research, oil and gas, aerospace and military. It’s a heck of
a way to kick off 2013 in the tech world…….
- Nearly everyone who boards a plane needs some method of
stress release within the next few hours. Travelers passing through the Burlington International Airport in South
Burlington, Vt. now have an additional option beyond sighing in disgust, making
a snide remark or thumbing out an angry text message before the mandatory
shut-off of all phones aboard the plane. When a fellow passenger backs up the
line to board by trying to jam a carry-on bag that’s four times too large into
the overhead bin or that über-fat guy in the next seat won't stop oozing over
the armrest into their space because of his rolls of arm fat, travelers passing
through the airport will be able to relieve their tension with a few moments of
quiet meditation and a little bit of downward dog. That’s right, yoga has
arrived at the Burlington International Airport. While there aren’t organized,
regularly yoga classes offered at the airport yet, a new space dedicated to the
ancient art opened Saturday and airport officials organized a free yoga class.
The class attracted a large crowd, so large in fact that there was not enough
space to accommodate all who wished to participate. Many yoga-ers decided to
put their palms together and take deep breaths outside the new studio space
while those who arrived early worked out inside. The room is stocked with
pillows and yoga mats and for novices, instructions on beginning yoga exercises
to get started. Fully supported by donations, the space is free to use and even
though Burlington’s airport is relatively small and doesn’t have a ton of
layovers that force travelers to spend five or six hours waiting for their next
flight, airport director Gene Richards says there was high demand for the idea.
"We solicited a couple of people, we started talking to customers and it
was something that we very much needed and wanted," Richards said. Airport
employees and the public are both welcome to use the yoga studio and according
to Richards, Burlington International is one of only three airports in the
United States to offer such a space………
- What is the single-most infuriating experience any actor
could have in their career in the 21st century? There are plenty of worthy
candidates (losing out on a part to Paulie Shore, having to work with Rosie
O’Donnell as your director, trying to understand what the hell an aging Arnold
Schwarzenegger is saying on set), but being verbally excoriated by Lindsay
Lohan for not doing one’s job well enough has to be at the top of the list.
Just ask porn star James Deen how it feels after an audio file surfaced over
the weekend of Lohan tearing into him as the two were preparing to rehearse a
scene for the upcoming movie “The Canyons,” while director Paul Schrader attempted
in vain to give them instructions. "Do your f---ing job," Lohan
snapped at Deen during the brief rant, which eventually sapped Schrader of his
will to continue and compelled him to wrap filming for the day. The incident
goes on the growing list of Lohan’s diva-tastic ways on set during filming,
which includes being fired from the project before someone lost their mind and
inexplicably hired her back, locking herself in a closet (for lack of mental
stability?) before she was to go on camera and film a sex scene and showing up
on set too hung over to shoot. Deen’s ego shouldn’t be too shattered by the
tongue lashing, as anyone from the porn industry has long since flushed their
dignity and self-respect down the drain. Also, if he waits a couple of years,
the odds are high that Lohan will burn all of her remaining bridges in
Hollywood and reach her inevitable end point in the entertainment industry,
having sex with strangers on camera for money, just like Deen……..
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