http://www.omogenia.us/forum/showforum.php?fid/29/Πολύ κοντά σε Εκκλησία, γήπεδα και πολιτικά γραφεία. Ούζο και τσίπουρο μετά την λειτουργία ΑΝΟΙΧΤΟΝ 24 ΩΡΕΣ το 24ωροnoneSat, 28 Jan 2012 15:14:53 GMTSat, 28 Jan 2012 15:14:53 GMThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssFusionBB 3.0 RC3 (www.fusionbb.com)http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58357http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58357Newly discovered color photos from inside Hitler’s private home
By Eric Pfeiffer | The Sideshow – 14 hrs ago

Several never-before-seen photographs have emerged from Adolf Hitler's personal photographer, giving a first time look at Hitler's Berlin apartment and Bavarian estate.



========================= ========================

nterior view of the massive offfice of German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler in the Reichskanzlei (Reichs Chancellery, Berlin, Germany, late 1930s or early 1940s. (Photograph by Hugo Jaeger/Time & Life Pictures)



========================= ====================

Interior view of the Great Room of the Berghof (formerly known as Haus Wachenfeld), Adolf Hitler's estate in Berchtesgaden, Upper Bavaria, Germany, late 1930s. (Photo by Hugo Jaeger/Timepix/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)



========================= ==================


Hitler at New Year's reception in the Chancellery. At right with back to camera, Vatican minister. (Photo by Hugo Jaeger/Timepix/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)



========================= =======

Exterior view of the terrace at the Berghof (formerly known as Haus Wachenfeld), Adolf Hitler's estate in Berchtesgaden, Upper Bavaria, Germany, late 1930s. (Photo by Hugo Jaeger/Timepix/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)



========================= ======================

In Hitler's private apartment; the Chancellery. (Photo by Hugo Jaeger/Timepix/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)



========================= =====================

The Mirror reports that photographer Hugo Jaeger was one of the few photographers working with color photography at the time and was granted access to Hitler's living and study quarters, showing artwork and furnishings estimated to be worth millions even in pre-adjusted dollars. The pictures were taken in the two years leading up to the beginning of World War II.

It is rumored that Jaeger took as many as 2,000 photographs of Hitler and his possessions. However, in 1945 Jaeger is thought to have hid the photographs in a leather suitcase. As Life magazine reported:

In 1945, when the Allies were making their final push toward Munich, Jaeger found himself face to face with six American soldiers in a small town west of the city. During a search of the house where Jaeger was staying, the Americans found a leather suitcase in which Jaeger had hidden thousands of color photo transparencies. He knew he would be arrested (or worse) if the Americans discovered his film and his close connection to Hitler. He could never have imagined what happened next.

Jaeger then allegedly buried some of the pictures in 12 twelve glass jars outside Munich, returning to retrieve them in 1955. ]]>Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:54:51 GMThttp://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58337http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58337China's city dwellers overtake rural population
AFP RelaxAFP Relax – Wed, Jan 18, 2012 1:08 AM PHT

Email
Print

China said Tuesday the number of people living in cities exceeded the rural population for the first time, a historic shift that experts said would put a strain on society and the environment.

The change marks a turning point for China, which for centuries was a mainly agrarian nation but has witnessed a huge population shift to cities over the past three decades as people seek to benefit from rapid economic growth.

Urban dwellers now represent 51.27 percent of China's entire population of nearly 1.35 billion -- or 690.8 million people -- the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

It added that China had an extra 21 million people living in cities by the end of 2011 compared to a year earlier -- more than the entire population of Sri Lanka -- while the number of rural dwellers dropped.

"Urbanisation is an irreversible process and in the next 20 years, China's urban population will reach 75 percent of the total population," said Li Jianmin, head of the Institute of Population and Development Research at Nankai University.

"This will have a huge impact on China's environment, and on social and economic development."

A significant portion of those moving to cities are migrant workers -- rural residents seeking work in urban areas -- who have helped fuel growth in the world's second-largest economy.

A national census published in April last year showed China counted more than 221 million migrants, and a government report released months later predicted that more than 100 million farmers would move to cities by 2020.

But migrants are often treated as second-class citizens in the towns or cities they live in, as they are still registered as rural residents and have little or no social security.

"We're already seeing some of the destabilising aspects of (urbanisation) because China's political and administrative system hasn't caught up with the economic and social reality," said Geoffrey Crothall, spokesman for the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin.

He said many people still classified as rural residents now formed major portions of the population in many cities around China.

As such, many migrant workers -- especially the younger, so-called second generation -- are increasingly frustrated with the treatment they receive, and the issue has in some cases sparked violent unrest.

In June last year, three days of riots broke out in the southern province of Guangdong after rumours spread that police had beaten a street hawker to death and manhandled his pregnant wife.

Li said land grabs -- an issue that has fuelled countless riots and violent protests around China -- were also part of the problem.

"A lot of farmers are actually forced to become urban dwellers when their land is expropriated, but they aren't able to find work in cities," he said.

"China is still not clear about the meaning of civil and property rights, and there are no appropriate measures to protect them, which will inevitably lead to corruption and social injustice," he said.

According to official figures, the rate of urbanisation in China has gathered pace over the past decades.

In 1982, only one in five people lived in cities. By 1990, urban dwellers represented 26 percent of the total population, a figure that rose to 36 percent in 2000 and jumped faster over the next decade to reach 51.27 percent.

Li said the rising number of urban dwellers would put a strain on resources as new or expanded cities would have to be built, with more transport, energy, water plants and other infrastructure needed to cater for more people.

He added that different cities had adopted different attitudes towards the issue.

"Big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have already clearly stated they want to contain the population increase," he said.

They "have implemented a number of measures that are necessary as it is a severe test for local resources and traffic."

But he said some small and medium-sized cities were still actively encouraging the rural population to become urbanites, which put a strain on resources and could pollute the local environment.

]]>Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:00:56 GMThttp://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58319http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58319Filipino mom still hopeful of finding 3 kids lost in flood after a month
Asia News NetworkBy Bobby Lagsa in Cagayan de Oro/Philippine Daily Inquirer | Asia News Network – 11 hours ago

Cagayan de Oro, south Philippines (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Lucina Waluhan 's only wish when she celebrated her 32nd birthday on Thursday was to see her three children again.

Nearly a month since up to 30 feet of rampaging water inundated the city on Dec. 17, Lucina said she had not lost hope of seeing them one day.

Mary, 6; Ian, 4; and Joshua, 2 years old, were among hundreds of people still missing from the devastating flood that had killed some 700 people.

When the flood struck, Lucina said her husband, Felix, had wrapped Mary Joy with a jacket and tied her on his back.

She said she took their two other children with her as they drifted down the river. "I lost them (Ian and Joshua) under the bridge," she recounted.

Lucina was later rescued in Camiguin Island while Felix was swept and rescued in Iligan City.

As tears rolled down her cheek, Lucina said it was important for her to see her children again, even if they died in the flood.

"I wanted to see them even if they are gone, that way at least, I know where they are," she said.

Felix refused to talk about his children anymore.

But Lucina said her husband did not tire looking for them every day.

She said Felix-armed with photos of their three children-would visit nearby areas, including mortuaries, in search of the children.

Lucina said they also provided the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) with their blood samples for DNA extraction.

The NBI 's disaster victim identification process would help identify those who perished in a calamity.

The bodies of those who perished in the Dec. 17 flood here were processed at the hangar of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

"It would take at least two months before the result could be released," Lucina said.

Lucina said she and her husband had not given up hope of finding the children, or at least one of them, one day.

The couple 's neighbors at the evacuation center here told the Inquirer there are nights when they could hear Lucina crying.

"Felix would stand outside the tent, staring into the night sky as if looking for answers for the questions he cannot fathom," one of them said.

"The hardest thing to do is to give up hope knowing that we have not seen any body and they had not appeared in our dreams, somehow, we know that they are in good hands, but we need to see them so we can rest too," Lucina said.

]]>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:18:18 GMThttp://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58288http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58288 Σε editorial αφιερωμένο στην Ελλάδα, οι συντάκτες του Bloomberg διατυπώνουν την άποψη ότι η εσωτερική υποτίμηση φαίνεται να είναι αυτή τη στιγμή «το μη χείρον βέλτιστον» για χώρες όπως η Ελλάδα, αφενός γιατί το άμεσο κόστος της εξόδου από την Ευρωζώνη θα ήταν τεράστιο, αφετέτου διότι ακόμη κι αν το κόστος αυτό καλυπτόταν, η «αναβίωση» των εθνικών νομισμάτων και η ανάκτηση του ελέγχου της νομισματικής πολιτικής θα δημιουργούσαν σοβαρά προβλήματα, αντίστοιχα με εκείνα που θα έλυναν. Περισσότερα εδώ.

Το σκεπτικό εκείνων που υποστηρίζουν το σενάριο της εξόδου από το ευρώ, αναφέρουν οι συντάκτες του Bloomberg, είναι ότι ακόμη και στην περίπτωση που η Ελλάδα καταφέρει με κάποιον τρόπο να λύσει το πρόβλημα με το χρέος της βραχυπρόθεσμα και να φέρει υπό έλεγχο τα δημοσιονομικά ελλείμματά της, θα εξακολουθήσει να έχει πρόβλημα ανταγωνιστικότητας, λόγω του κόστους εργασίας που τα τελευταία χρόνια στην Ελλάδα αυξανόταν με πολύ ταχύτερους ρυθμούς απ’ ό,τι στη Γερμανία και τις υπόλοιπες χώρες του «πυρήνα» της Ευρωζώνης, κάνοντας τις εξαγωγές της ακριβές και τις εισαγωγές φθηνές.

Αποτέλεσμα αυτού είναι η χώρα να έχει χρόνια εμπορικά ελλείμματα, τα οποία πρέπει να χρηματοδοτεί με συνεχή δανεισμό. Και προτείνουν την επιστροφή στη δραχμή, με παράλληλη υποτίμηση του νομίσματος, για να μειωθούν οι τιμές των εξαγώγιμων ελληνικών προϊόντων, χωρίς η χώρα να αναγκαστεί να καταφύγει σε πιο βάναυσες λύσεις, όπως οι μειώσεις μισθών και ημερομισθίων που με τη σειρά τους προϋποθέτουν τη διατήρηση της ανεργίας σε υψηλά επίπεδα ώστε να περιορίζεται η διαπραγματευτική δύναμη των εργαζομένων.

Η τρέχουσα ύφεση είναι ήδη αρκετά επώδυνη και η επ’ αόριστον παράτασή της, υποστηρίζουν, θα ήταν πολιτικά ανέφικτη και θα ισοδυναμούσε με οικονομική καταστροφή.
Το πρόβλημα, όμως, είναι, υποστηρίζουν οι συντάκτες του Bloomberg, πως η έξοδος από το ευρώ θα ισοδυναμούσε με μεγαλύτερη οικονομική καταστροφή. Θα προκαλούσε τεράστιο πρόβλημα στις τράπεζες, αφού οι καταθέτες θα έσπευδαν να βγάλουν τα χρήματά τους στο εξωτερικό πριν μετατραπούν σε δραχμές, ενώ οι Ελληνες δανειολήπτες θα συνέχιζαν να χρωστούν ευρώ στους ξένους. Η υποτίμηση της δραχμής, όμως, θα περιόριζε την ικανότητα εξυπηρέτησης των δανείων αυτών, προκαλώντας νέο κύμα πτωχεύσεων.


Αυτό σημαίνει ότι η αναδιάρθρωση του χρέους, σε συνδυασμό με μια «εσωτερική» υποτίμηση -όσο δύσκολο κι αν είναι κάτι τέτοιο- φαίνεται να αποτελεί μια καλύτερη εναλλακτική επιλογή. Η αύξηση του ΦΠΑ σε συνδυασμό με τη μείωση των φόρων μισθωτών υπηρεσιών θα λειτουργούσε σαν εσωτερική υποτίμηση, αυξάνοντας τις τιμές των εισαγωγών σε σχέση με τις τιμές των εξαγωγών και μειώνοντας το πραγματικό μισθολογικό κόστος.

Φυσικά, επισημαίνουν, η Ελλάδα θα χρειαστεί να διατηρήσει την ανταγωνιστικότητά της κρατώντας τα ημερομίσθια υπό αυστηρό έλεγχο. Σε αυτήν την προσπάθεια, μια κυμαινόμενη συναλλαγματική ισοτιμία μπορεί και να φαινόταν χρήσιμη, αλλά στην πράξη το αποτέλεσμα θα ήταν αμφίβολο, αφού η ελεγχόμενη υποτίμηση ενός νομίσματος δεν είναι κάτι εύκολο, όπως έχει αποδειχθεί.

Εντός του συστήματος, οι χώρες της περιφέρειας πήραν ένα σκληρό μάθημα: Ότι πρέπει να κρατούν τις αυξήσεις μισθών στο επίπεδο του πληθωρισμού της Ευρωζώνης, αυξάνοντας παράλληλα την παραγωγικότητα σε εθνικό επίπεδο. Σε χώρες όπως η Ελλάδα, αυτό απαιτεί μια νέα προσέγγιση στις διαπραγματεύσεις μεταξύ εργοδοτών και συνδικάτων. Ωστόσο, όπως λένε, αυτό δεν μπορεί να είναι, λογικά, πιο δύσκολο από τη διαχείριση μιας κυμαινόμενης συναλλαγματικής ισοτιμίας. Και το κέρδος θα είναι μεγαλύτερο: χαμηλός πληθωρισμός και, με κάποια τύχη, ταχύτερη οικονομική ανάπτυξη.

Πηγή: Ημερησία ]]>Sun, 08 Jan 2012 09:52:13 GMThttp://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58271http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58271
Single tuna fetches record $736k at Japan auction
AFPAFP – 4 hrs ago



Kiyoshi Kimura (R), the owner of restuarant chain Sushi-Zanmai, poses next to a 269-kilogramme bluefin tuna he purchased on the first trading day of the new year at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market on January 5. The bluefin tuna was traded at 56.5 million yen ($736,500) at the wholesale market auction


A deep-pocketed restaurateur shelled out nearly $750,000 for a tuna at Japan's Tsukiji fish market on Thursday, smashing the record price for a single bluefin.

The 269-kilogramme (592-pound) fish -- caught off the coast of Japan's northern Aomori prefecture -- stood at an eye-popping 56.49 million yen ($736,500) when the hammer came down in the first auction of the year.

The figure dwarfs the previous high of 32.49 million yen paid at last year's inaugural auction at Tsukiji, a huge working market that features on many Tokyo tourist itineraries.

Thursday's winning bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, president of the company that runs the popular Sushi-Zanmai chain.

At around 210,000 yen per kilogramme, a single slice of sushi could cost as much as 5,000 yen, but the firm plans to sell it at a more regular price of up to 418 yen, local media reported.

"The flesh is coloured in magnificent red and the quality of fat is very good," Kimura said. "It is very delicious. The taste is unbeatable."

A Hong Kong sushi restaurant owner bought the previous year's record tuna, and Kimura added: "I wanted to win the best tuna so that Japanese customers, not overseas, can enjoy it."

Bluefin is usually the most expensive fish available at Tsukiji.

Emiko Misumi, a 44-year-old woman who tasted a slice, said: "This tuna is so fatty and very delicious."

"It was sweet even without sugar or sake. It was a very delicate sweet taste," said another female customer Noriko Nakai, 63.

Decades of overfishing have seen global tuna stocks crash, leading some Western nations to call for a ban on catching endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Japan consumes three-quarters of the global catch of bluefin, a highly prized sushi ingredient known in Japan as "kuro maguro" (black tuna) and dubbed by sushi connoisseurs the "black diamond" because of its scarcity.

"You know, good things like this are appreciated in the whole world," said 22-year-old male customer Hirotaka Higurashi when asked about the overfishing issue. "There is nothing we can do about it."

]]>Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:43:11 GMThttp://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58255http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58255ΑΝΑΛΟΓΙΚΑ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΠΛΗΘΥΣΜΟ
Κύπρος: η πιο φανατική του Facebook παγκοσμίως

Το μεγαλύτερο ποσοστό συμμετοχής στο Facebook αναλογικά με τον πληθυσμό της, καταγράφει η Κύπρος με 553.900 χρήστες στη δημοφιλή ιστοσελίδα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης. Αυτό αναφέρεται στην ηλεκτρονική έκδοση της εφημερίδας «Φιλελεύθερος», η οποία δημοσιεύει στοιχεία από την ειδική ιστοσελίδα αναλύσεων κοινωνικών δικτύων «Ρingdom».



Σύμφωνα με τον σχετικό πίνακα, στην Κύπρο έχουν παρουσία στο Facebook 75% του πληθυσμού. Το ποσοστό ανεβαίνει στο 95% μεταξύ εκείνων, που είναι συνδεδεμένοι με το Ίντερνετ.

Μάλιστα, η άνοδος της Κύπρου στην πρώτη θέση χρηστών του Facebook σε αναλογία πληθυσμού παγκοσμίως οφείλεται στη ραγδαία εξέλιξη της χρήσης του κοινωνικού δικτύου στο νησί το τελευταίο εξάμηνο του 2011.

Ειδικότερα, το τελευταίο εξάμηνο έδωσαν το «παρών» στο διαδίκτυο 71.480 πρόσωπα (ιδιώτες και εταιρείες) στην Κύπρο, με βάση τα αριθμητικά και στατιστικά δεδομένα που διατηρεί η εταιρεία SocialΒaker, απ' όπου αντλήθηκαν οι αριθμοί για τον κατάλογο του «Ρingdom».

Επίσης, για την κατάταξη χρησιμοποιήθηκαν τα δεδομένα για τον πληθυσμό κάθε χώρας με βάση το Wikipedia, αλλά και ο αριθμός των συνδεδεμένων με το Ίντερνετ προσώπων σε κάθε χώρα με βάση τα δεδομένα της Διεθνούς Τράπεζας.

Ποσοστό 74% των συνδεδεμένων με το Facebook στην Κύπρο είναι από 18 έως 44 ετών. Ποσοστό 16% είναι από 13 έως 17 ετών, 6% από 45 έως 54 ετών και 2% από 55 έως 64. Άλλο 2% των όσων χρησιμοποιούν το Facebook στην Κύπρο, είναι συνταξιούχοι, δηλαδή πρόσωπα άνω των 64 ετών.

Η πλειοψηφία των χρηστών του Facebook στην Κύπρο είναι άντρες (56%). Το ποσοστό των γυναικών είναι 44%.

(ΕΕΕ κουμπαρoi, μεν μιλαte πολα εις το facebook. Ουλες σας ε πελαρες, τα μασκαραλικια και πεζεβενλικια που λαλειτε καταγραφοντε και θορουμεν τα ουλοι εμεις οι πουστοκαλαμαραδες.

Ευτυχησμενο 2012 σε ολους τους Κυπριους αδερφους μας. )
]]>Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:25:47 GMThttp://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58235http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58235]]>Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:03:42 GMThttp://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58205http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58205What’s your number?

According to a Durex survey, men across the globe have had an average of 13 sexual partners throughout their lifetime, while women have had seven. Guys and girls often shy away from honesty when it comes to discussing their number; too low and they fear embarrassment, too high and they face being judged. But there’s never going to be a happy medium, as a Cosmopolitan survey found. According to the survey just 66 per cent of people are content with their ‘number’, while 22 per cent wish they’d slept with less people and 12 per cent would have liked to have slept with more.

Pop your cherry

The average male loses his virginity at age 16.9, while apparently females hold off, on average, until the ripe age of 17.4. After the age of consent (which depends on your country) there is no right or wrong age to lose your virginity given you are protected from STIs and are not pressured into it. Popping your cherry, deflowering, or whatever you want to call it, having sex for the first time is a significant part of anyone’s life and isn’t something that should be rushed into. After all, it can create one of life’s little miracles!


Happy ending

Expectations of sex are often unrealistic due to farfetched portrayals of the act on the big screen and TV. However, the reality of couples’ performances in the bedroom are often not so supreme. The truth is in fact quite different, especially for the ladies, with research suggesting that only 29 per cent of women reach ‘the big O’ every time they have sex, compared to a lucky 75 per cent of men (how is this fair, ladies?). This may be because, according to Durex, around 75 per cent of all women never reach orgasm from intercourse alone and 10 to 15 per cent never climax under any circumstances. Some experimenting may be in order to find what works for you, so you can reach euphoria every time you slip under the sheets.


In the mood for love

A Onepoll study showed that for 56 per cent of women, men’s facial hair is a strong trigger for sexual arousal. Apparently, a man with three days’ worth of stubble is more sexually attractive than a clean shaven man (sorry, you smoothies out there!). It makes sense, really – just think of Johnny Depp and George Clooney! According to Cosmopolitan, though, it is in fact a long, steamy kiss that gets 35.4 per cent of men aroused and in the mood for love. So throw away your razors, guys! And girls, smack on some lipstick and pucker up! You know what you need to do…


Weekly quota

Busy lifestyles, manic workload, hectic social life; who has time for sex every day? On a more realistic note, a Durex survey showed that 67 per cent of adults have sex once a week and only eight per cent have it once a day or more. Not forgetting the nine per cent who said they only get hot and steamy with their partner less than every few months. So don’t set your sights too high and expect to be making love around the clock. The key is whatever works best for you –being honest with your lover will keep you both in check of each other’s sex schedules.


Fake it to make it

It’s not uncommon for guys or gals to forge an orgasm, either to prevent themselves or their partner from embarrassment or a feeling of inadequacy under the sheets. A Cosmopolitan survey showed that 30 per cent of women would fake it so as not to upset their partner, while 26 per cent said they would be frank if they couldn’t climax. Eight per cent of women even admitted to making it a regular habit! Fakers under the sheets may simply make all the right noises to get a poor sex sesh over with a.s.a.p., or some people use their ‘When Harry Met Sally’ impressions when they’re too tired for a love making session.


Sex secrets

Being honest and open about your sexual needs and desires will help improve your overall sexual satisfaction by teaching your partner how to press all the right buttons and keep you blissful in the bedroom. However, only 58 per cent of people are comfortable with telling their lover exactly what they want in bed, which is probably why only 38 per cent are fully satisfied with their sex lives. Honesty is a healthy trait to have in any relationship, and even more so when it comes to sex. Share your needs and your partner may do the same.


DIY

According to a Durex survey self-pleasure is widely practiced, with 83 per cent of people across the globe stating they have self-pleasured at some point in their lives. A third of people DIY once a week –that’s 43 per cent of men and 22 per cent of women – making it a really common sexual activity. Masturbation, although sometimes seen as taboo, is in fact a healthy and normal part of an adult sex life and nothing to be embarrassed of. Getting in touch with your own body in this way may even improve your confidence when it comes to sex with a partner.


How long and how often?

On average, sex sessions last between three and 13 minutes. But according to a survey by Cosmopolitan 50.4 per cent of men would want it to last for 30 minutes while 25.5 per cent would want sex for 15 minutes. A Durex survey also outlined that the average number of times people have sex is 103 times per year, 1.98 times per week and 0.28 times per day! Incorporating sex into your life does have its benefits, including stress relief and increased energy, but there is no right or wrong quota you need to hit – we’re not all bunny rabbits!


Better with age

According to a survey by Saga, 65 per cent of over 50s are sexually active, with 46 per cent claiming to have sex once a week. 85 per cent feel that sex at a more mature age is less pressurised than when they were teens or young adults, suggesting that sex can get better with age (like many things in life). This could be down to improved self-confidence and security of a long-term relationship, or perhaps because many postmenopausal women have quicker arousal due to reduced fear of pregnancy. So love-making doesn’t have to have an expiry date. Remember, you are only as old as you feel! ]]>Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:02:07 GMThttp://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58102http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58102 By KIMBERLY DOZIER - AP Intelligence Writer | AP – 1 hr 35 mins ago

McLEAN, Virginia (AP) — In an anonymous industrial park in Virginia, in an unassuming brick building, the CIA is following tweets — up to 5 million a day.

At the agency's Open Source Center, a team known affectionately as the "vengeful librarians" also pores over Facebook, newspapers, TV news channels, local radio stations, Internet chat rooms — anything overseas that anyone can access and contribute to openly.

From Arabic to Mandarin Chinese, from an angry tweet to a thoughtful blog, the analysts gather the information, often in native tongue. They cross-reference it with the local newspaper or a clandestinely intercepted phone conversation. From there, they build a picture sought by the highest levels at the White House, giving a real-time peek, for example, at the mood of a region after the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden or perhaps a prediction of which Mideast nation seems ripe for revolt.

Yes, they saw the uprising in Egypt coming; they just didn't know exactly when revolution might hit, said the center's director, Doug Naquin.

The center already had "predicted that social media in places like Egypt could be a game-changer and a threat to the regime," he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press at the center. CIA officials said it was the first such visit by a reporter the agency has ever granted.

The CIA facility was set up in response to a recommendation by the 9/11 Commission, with its first priority to focus on counterterrorism and counterproliferation. But its several hundred analysts — the actual number is classified — track a broad range, from Chinese Internet access to the mood on the street in Pakistan.

While most are based in Virginia, the analysts also are scattered throughout U.S. embassies worldwide to get a step closer to the pulse of their subjects.

The most successful analysts, Naquin said, are something like the heroine of the crime novel "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," a quirky, irreverent computer hacker who "knows how to find stuff other people don't know exists."

Those with a masters' degree in library science and multiple languages, especially those who grew up speaking another language, "make a powerful open source officer," Naquin said.

The center had started focusing on social media after watching the Twitter-sphere rock the Iranian regime during the Green Revolution of 2009, when thousands protested the results of the elections that put Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad back in power. "Farsi was the third largest presence in social media blogs at the time on the Web," Naquin said.

The center's analysis ends up in President Barack Obama's daily intelligence briefing in one form or another, almost every day.

After bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in May, the CIA followed Twitter to give the White House a snapshot of world public opinion.

Since tweets can't necessarily be pegged to a geographic location, the analysts broke down reaction by languages. The result: The majority of Urdu tweets, the language of Pakistan, and Chinese tweets, were negative. China is a close ally of Pakistan's. Pakistani officials protested the raid as an affront to their nation's sovereignty, a sore point that continues to complicate U.S.-Pakistani relations.

When the president gave his speech addressing Mideast issues a few weeks after the raid, the tweet response over the next 24 hours came in negative from Turkey, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, the Persian Gulf and Israel, too, with speakers of Arabic and Turkic tweets charging that Obama favored Israel, and Hebrew tweets denouncing the speech as pro-Arab.

In the next few days, major news media came to the same conclusion, as did analysis by the covert side of U.S. intelligence based on intercepts and human intelligence gathered in the region.

The center is also in the process of comparing its social media results with the track record of polling organizations, trying to see which produces more accurate results, Naquin said.

"We do what we can to caveat that we may be getting an overrepresentation of the urban elite," said Naquin, acknowledging that only a small slice of the population in many areas they are monitoring has access to computers and Internet. But he points out that access to social media sites via cellphones is growing in areas like Africa, meaning a "wider portion of the population than you might expect is sounding off and holding forth than it might appear if you count the Internet hookups in a given country."

Sites like Facebook and Twitter also have become a key resource for following a fast-moving crisis such as the riots that raged across Bangkok in April and May of last year, the center's deputy director said. The Associated Press agreed not to identify him because he sometimes still works undercover in foreign countries.

As director, Naquin is identified publicly by the agency although the location of the center is kept secret to deter attacks, whether physical or electronic.

The deputy director was one of a skeleton crew of 20 U.S. government employees who kept the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok running throughout the rioting as protesters surged through the streets, swarming the embassy neighborhood and trapping U.S. diplomats and Thais alike in their homes.

The army moved in, and traditional media reporting slowed to a trickle as local reporters were either trapped or cowed by government forces.

"But within an hour, it was all surging out on Twitter and Facebook," the deputy director said. The CIA homed in on 12 to 15 users who tweeted situation reports and cellphone photos of demonstrations. The CIA staff cross-referenced the tweeters with the limited news reports to figure out who among them was providing reliable information. Tweeters also policed themselves, pointing out when someone else had filed an inaccurate account.

"That helped us narrow down to those dozen we could count on," he said.

Ultimately, some two-thirds of the reports coming out of the embassy being sent back to all branches of government in Washington came from the CIA's open source analysis throughout the crisis.

]]>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:20:52 GMThttp://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58075http://www.omogenia.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/58075

SVATS

Petiximeno ]]>Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:04:29 GMT