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Imagine discovering a secret language spoken only online by a knowledgeable and learned few. Over a period of weeks, as you begin to tease out the meaning of this curious tongue and ponder its purpose, the language appears to shift in subtle but fantastic ways, remaking itself daily before your eyes. And just when you are poised to share your findings with the rest of the world, the entire thing vanishes.This fairly describes my roller coaster experience of curiosity, wonder and disappointment over the past few weeks, as I’ve worked alongside security researchers in an effort to understand how “lorem ipsum” — common placeholder...

(Reuters) - Community Health Systems Inc , one of the biggest U.S. hospital groups, said on Monday it was the victim of a cyber attack from China, resulting in the theft of Social Security numbers and other personal data belonging to 4.5 million patients. That would make the attack the largest of its type involving patient information since a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website started tracking such breaches in 2009. The previous record, an attack on a Montana Department of Public Health server, was disclosed in June and affected about 1 million people. The attackers appear to...

Chinese troops are reported to have entered 25 to 30 km deep into Indian territory in Burtse area in Ladakh where they had pitched their tents last year that had led to a tense three-week standoff. Official sources said on Monday a patrol of Indian troops noticed the People's Liberation Army (PLA) personnel on Sunday while moving from their base towards the higher 'New Patrol base' post in Burtse area of North Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir. The area is at an altitude of 17,000 feet. The sources said the troops after walking barely 1.5 km from their base spotted...

John and Scott have commented on the indictment of Gov. Rick Perry. As they note, it fits a pattern of politically motivated indictments of prominent Texas Republicans. The Perry indictment also fits a pattern of harassment via the legal process of prominent Republican governors: Sarah Palin, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, and now Perry. What do these four have in common? Why, they all are (or were) potentially viable candidates for the national office. Invocation of the legal process against Christie may well be warranted. (So too with Bob McDonnell, whom I didn’t include in my list because, although once vaguely...

President Barack Obama is no friend of press freedom, says a New York Times reporter who may be sent to jail for refusing to reveal a source. “A lot of people still think this is some kind of game or signal or spin,” reporter James Risen told his own paper in a profile about his plight published Saturday. “They don’t want to believe that Obama wants to crack down on the press and whistle-blowers. But he does. He’s the greatest enemy to press freedom in a generation.” Risen’s troubles stem from the 2006 publication of his book “State of War,”...

HAEMI, South Korea (AP) -- Pope Francis made his strongest gesture yet to reach out to China on Sunday, saying he wants to improve relations and insisting that the Catholic Church isn't coming in as a "conqueror" but is rather a partner in dialogue.

On July 19, 2014, the P5+1 (the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China, coordinated by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton) and Iran affirmed that they will continue to implement the commitments described in the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) and the U.S. government has extended through November 24, 2014, the sanctions relief provided for in the JPOA. This extended relief comes into effect on July 21, 2014. The following documents are key components of the implementation of the JPOA as extended. Guidance Relating to the Provision Of Certain Temporary Sanctions Relief in Order to Implement the Joint...

Between 1989 and 2010, Congress rejected nearly 700 cap-tax-and-trade and similar bills that their proponents claimed would control Earth’s perpetually fickle climate and weather. So even as real world crises erupt, President Obama is using executive fiats and regulations to impose his anti-hydrocarbon agenda, slash America’s fossil fuel use, bankrupt coal and utility companies, make electricity prices skyrocket, and “fundamentally transform” our economic, social, legal and constitutional system. Citing climate concerns, he has refused to permit construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and blocked or delayed Alaskan, western state and offshore oil and gas leasing and drilling. He’s proud that...

China's National Bureau of Statistics revealed data on August 13th that the nation’s credit plunged by a dramatic and wildly unexpected 86% plunge in July, down to the slowest pace since the 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the start of the global financial crisis. With a collapsing housing sector and falling exports, China now faces a brutal credit crunch.  The collapse in Chinese credit from $320 billion in June to $44.3 billion in July is causing panic across the nation as anecdotal stories from local officials indicate the credit contraction is being “policy-driven”. This would mean that the Chinese...

August 15, 2014 By Barbara Kollmeyer Oh, goody. It’s 13F time, when mere mortals like us get to see how the big boys rolled the dice in the last quarter. Among the highlights, Soros Fund Management increased a bear-call bet on the S&P 500 in a huge way. The fund lifted a put position — a bet the market will go lower — on the S&P 500 ETF SPY to its biggest size yet, in terms of value and portfolio percentage, making a 605% leap over the previous quarter. Bullion Baron, who has long kept a beady eye on Soros’s...

As a result of the present EBOLA crisis in the country, the front office staff at the Bintumani Hotel, Aberdeen in the west of Freetown has confirmed to Awoko, that the virus spread has negatively affected their business operations. According to them, the hotel usually receives over a hundred residential guests during peak periods, and several hundreds who visit on a daily basis. Presently they informed this medium that the hotel has less than twenty residential guests, including the Chinese Centre for Disease Control (CDC) team who are presently in town, to train medical personnel on the proper use of...

The United States’ top military officer is in Vietnam for historic talks with Communist Party officials, as part of the latest effort to expand defense ties between the two former foes. General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meets Thursday in Hanoi with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh. Before entering a closed-door meeting, Dempsey told reporters the visit is “one of the highlights” of his career. It is the first time since 1971 a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has visited Vietnam. Vietnam’s defense ministry said the talks...

Leadership: As our space program, once an example of American exceptionalism, now sits mainly in museums, Beijing's ambitious program takes another leap forward toward an eventual return of man to the moon. As the world unravels, efforts to leave it don't seem very newsworthy, and efforts by our strategic rivals to do what we did decades before seem redundant and almost irrelevant to more immediate concerns. Yet China's space program does matter, as it's part of that country's dream of world leadership and, yes, domination. It represents a commitment to world leadership that we have lost under this administration. Beijing...

Although investors hang on every comment by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen to get insight on the direction of interest rates and what it means for the economy and asset prices, the real power to determine U.S. interest rates may be in the hands of China, according to Lombard Street Research. Facing an overvalued currency that is hurting corporate profits and slowing growth, China appears ready to dump its $1.3 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds to drive U.S. interest rates up and strengthen the dollar... (snip) China tried to slow the fall of the dollar by increasing its holdings in...

To strengthen the anti-submarine capability of the People's Liberation Army Navy, Z-18F helicopters will likely serve on the Liaoning, the nation's first aircraft carrier and the Type 071 Yuzhao-class amphibious transport docks according to a report by Hangzhou-based Qianjiang Evening News published Aug. 12. The paper cited a Chinese military website which stated that the Z-18F is likely a modified version of the Z-8F helicopter designed based on the French-built SA 321 Super Frelon. By looking at photos posted online, Li Xiaojian, a Chinese military expert told the paper that the Z-18F is probably equipped with four eight-tube sonobuoy launchers,...

The World Trade Organization has upheld a ruling that China violated trade rules with restrictions on the export of “rare earths,” the minerals used in mobile phones, hybrid cars and other high-tech products. […] China has about one-third of global deposits of rare earths but accounts for more than 90 percent of production. In 2009, it alarmed foreign companies by limiting rare earth exports in an attempt to boost its domestic manufacturing base. …

American bluff and bombast toward Moscow has stoked Russian nationalism, convinced Putin we're weak, and fostered a dangerous realignment. PRESIDENT BARACK Obama likes to say that America and the world have progressed beyond the unpleasantness of the nineteenth century and, for that matter, much of the rest of human history. He could not be more wrong. And as a result, he is well on the way to repeating some of history’s most dangerous mistakes. Few would think to compare Obama to Russia’s last czar, Nicholas II. Nevertheless, Emperor Nicholas II, like President Obama, thought of himself as a man of...

Aviadarts is Moscow’s Top Gun Chinese and Russian fighter pilots have been testing their skills in an unprecedented series of maneuvers in southeast Russia. Some observers have billed the Aviadarts exercise as a Russian Top Gun—a reference to the U.S. Navy’s fighter tactics schoolhouse, which the sailing branch established after losing a shocking number of pilots during the Vietnam War. The reality is not as straightforward, but it’s significant that Moscow is inviting foreign fighter jocks—the Chinese, namely—to test their mettle against the best Russia has to offer. Russian air force units long have pursued advanced tactics and combat training,...

TOKYO -- Nearly three months after lifting its long-standing arms embargo, Japan recently approved plans to supply missile parts to the U.S. and conduct joint military research with a British company. Behind the scenes, however, there was a deal that fell through. Under new guidelines governing the transfer of defense equipment and technology, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 17 convened the National Security Council to look into two applications submitted by private companies. One was Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' request for permission to export seeker gyros used in Patriot surface-to-air missiles to the U.S. The other involved Mitsubishi Electric, which...

While this is definitely a "what could go wrong" story what with an atheist government creating a theology fit for its population, there's definitely a sign of hope here. Atheist China, worried about the rapidly growing number of Christians, is constructing a "theology" in order to attempt to control this whole Christian thing. Funny, I think the Romans tried to control Christianity as well. How'd that work out? The South China Morning Post: China will construct a "Chinese Christian theology" suitable for the country, state media reported on Thursday, as both the number of believers and tensions with the authorities...