February 9, 2015

Charlie Sifford, Pioneer of the PGA

Long before Tiger Woods, there was Charlie Sifford.

A far less-heralded trailblazer, Sifford became the first black man to hold a PGA Tour card in 1961, doing for the highly-segregated world of professional golf what Jackie Robinson had done for baseball a decade-and-a-half earlier. He died Tuesday night in Cleveland at the age of 92, having finally earned the recognition toward the end of his life that had eluded him during his prime playing days. Sifford became the first African American inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004, and 10 years later he joined Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as the only professional golfers to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Tributes to Sifford poured in on Wednesday from leaders in sports, entertainment, and politics. President Obama lauded him "for altering the course of the sport and the country he loved." Woods, who said his father might not have picked up the game had it not been for Sifford, called his death "a terrible loss for golf and me personally."

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/02/charlie-sifford-pioneer-of-the-pga/385180/

February 6, 2015

Chinese hackers may be responsible for the Anthem breach

Source: WaPo

The massive computer breach against Anthem, the nation’s second-largest health insurer, exposes a growing cyberthreat facing health-care companies that experts say are often unprepared for large attacks.

Hackers gained access to the private data of 80 million former and current members and employees of Anthem in one of the largest medical-related cyber-intrusions in history.

Authorities said the breach, which was discovered late last month and disclosed this week, did not involve private health records or credit card numbers but did expose Social Security numbers, income data, birthdays, and street and e-mail addresses.

Investigators suspect Chinese hackers may be responsible for the breach, according to a person briefed on some aspects of the probe. There are also some indications that other health-care companies may have been targeted, said the individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Security experts said health care has become one of the ripest targets for hackers because of its vast stores of lucrative financial and medical information. Health insurers and hospitals, they added, have often struggled to mount the kinds of defenses­ used by large financial or retail companies, leaving key medical information vulnerable.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/02/06/the-switchboard-chinese-hackers-may-be-responsible-for-the-anthem-breach/

---

In before the usual dismissive "But the U.S. does it too" -derpitude....

February 4, 2015

Right on cue, Glenn Greenwald turns an ISIS atrocity into an anti-Obama screed...

(and no, I am not linking to it--although even his most ardent defenders must notice an unmistakable pattern by now)

What kind of alchemy is this? There isn't a single newsworthy tragedy in the world that Greenwald doesn't try to negate with something directly related to Obama or U.S. foreign policy...

Anybody finally want to start admitting I've been right about him and his "brand" of agenda-based slant journalism?


:large

I rest my case...Does anyone still want to defend his "because-America-did-something-once-everyone-else-should-stfu" moral equivocating?

February 4, 2015

The fiction ends here

There’s war between Russia and Ukraine. If you are new to this conflict, or have relied on nothing but radio and TV news, you might however think it’s a war between a horrible nazi state and peace-loving rebels.

So-called “established media” – championed by BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera, New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent and what have you – as represented by their indifferent, disinterested and ill-researched journalists, have dished out a Russian propaganda narrative ever since the Russian military invasion of Crimea. The narrative, or “story”, wants you to believe that fighting in Ukraine is a clash between Ukrainian regular troops (or even “troops loyal to Kiev”) and so-called “rebels”, “separatists” and “pro-russia forces”. The latter category is usually writ without citation marks, a not so minor omission that lends a measure of validity to a shaky concept.

This is a fiction.

It is high time to puncture the myth and the fiction surrounding these “rebels” and “separatists”, and to STOP using Russian semantics in reports and commentary about Ukraine.

The fiction has gained traction through a wide distribution of these concepts, not merely in media but also through politicians, security experts and other pundits who are widely cited among peers, thus making the wrongful use of misleading words permanent and exceedingly difficult to dislodge.

It’s a question of semantics: of the meaning and use of words, of association, of reference, substitution, concept and interpretation – classic topics that journalism schools worldwide should have on the curriculum. However, a quick glance shows that a very large proportion of commentators must have slept through that particular class.

The standard interpretation of “rebel” turns your mind to romantic guerilla warriors rising against an oppressive central power: Che Guevara, Pancho Villa, Guiseppe Garibaldi, Spartacus et al – or popular culture rebel icons such as James Dean, Robin Hood and Marlon Brando. It’s easy to like the rebel: he’s an underdog fighting for the people, for justice, for freedom. The Russian “rebels” have NOTHING in common with that concept or such role models.

The dictionary says that a rebel is someone rising in opposition against an established regime, brandishing pitchforks and Kalashnikovs doled out of cupboards and illicit crates. This is a decent description that could also apply to the “rebels” in Ukraine – were it not for the fact that 80-90% (opinions vary) of the “rebels” in Donbas comprise uniformed citizens of Russia, some hailing from Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Belarus and the farthest reaches of Wherever. The homegrown component of the”rebel army” is melting away daily and is used primarily as a fig leaf for regular Russian troops in their own or borrowed uniforms.

If these “rebels” were truly rebels, they would, as Russians, turn around and train their guns on Moscow, not Kyiv.

It is therefore gravely misleading to use the “rebel” title as description of Russian and/or Russian-backed militants fighting in Ukraine.

https://goupillon.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/the-fiction-ends-here/

Much, much more at the link...Sadly, 99% of the DUers who most need to read this won't...But they'll still be calling anyone opposing the Russian invasion a "neofascist" or whatever...

February 2, 2015

Hard-line judge in Iran is assigned case of jailed Post reporter Jason Rezaian

Source: WaPo

The family of Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who has been detained in Iran for more than half a year, issued a statement Sunday that was sharply critical of the Iranian government, after what they called the “very disturbing” development that Rezaian and his wife will be tried by a judge known for imposing harsh sentences.

Rezaian’s brother, Ali, and their mother, Mary Rezaian, questioned the rationale for assigning the case to Judge Abolghassem Salavati, the head of a Revolutionary Court branch where sensitive cases are tried. Salavati has imposed long prison sentences, lashings and in some cases death for defendants in a number of high-profile cases involving national security and political offenses. He has been sanctioned by the European Union since 2011.

“We find it very disturbing that the judiciary would select a judge to oversee the case who has been sanctioned by (and barred from entering) the European Union due to what it calls ‘gross human rights violations,’ ” the family said.

The 38-year-old reporter was arrested July 22 along with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who also is a reporter. Salehi was released on bail, but Rezaian has been detained ever since and has been unable to see a lawyer. The exact nature of the charges against him has never been made clear, other than a statement saying he was accused of activities beyond the scope of journalism.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/hard-liner-judge-assigned-case-of-post-reporter-jason-rezaian-jailed-in-iran/2015/02/01/5f21de04-a8c2-11e4-a06b-9df2002b86a0_story.html

---

I wish DU gave this case just a fraction of the attention it had given to whether or not James Risen would be compelled to testify...