Israel acknowledges 'Prisoner X' existence

After over two years of a complete media embargo, the comprehensive gag order placed on the case of "Prisoner X," now known as Ben Zygier/Alon has been partially lifted.

The Justice Ministry's official statement in the matter makes no mention of Zygier's name, but it does admit ? for the first time ? that a man held in a maximum security prison died while in Israel's custody and that the death was ruled a suicide.

The official statement cleared for publication only a few details: "For security reasons, the prisoner was held under a pseudonym, but his family was notified of the arrest immediately."
"The prisoner was held by proxy of an arrest warrant issued by the court. The proceedings were overseen by senior officials in the Justice Ministry and he was duly represented in all the proceedings against him by attorneys Roi Belcher, Moshe Mazor and Boaz Ben-Zur.
"The prisoner's legal rights were observes at all times, according to the law," the statement said.

The State further said that "The prisoner in question was found dead in his cell two years ago. Judge Daphna Blatman Kedrai, serving as president of the Rishon LeZion Magistrate's Court, ordered an inquiry into his death, in accordance with the Inquest of Death Law (1958).

"During this proceeding, a writ ordering it be held behind closed doors was issued. The order still stands."

The Justice Ministry's statement said that six weeks ago, the investigation had ruled the prisoner's death a suicide, however, the judge recommended that the State pursue a negligence investigation in the matter.

"National security prevents the release of any other details in this case," the statement said. "These aspect of national security have been reviewed by the Central District Court, which decided to impose a comprehensive gag order on the case.

"The order was given at the request of the defense establishment, and was approved by the Justice Ministry."

Record sealed

According to information obtained by Ynet, the State deemed the case so sensitive that astringent legal measures were applied to it, to the points were all possible measures were taken to seal its records off.

"Prisoner X" was officially indicted on March 4, 2010, in the Central District Court. Deemed a "highly classified security case," the hearing was held behind closed doors and any minutes taken were immediately deposited in the court's vault ? if they were taken at all.

The details of the indictment remain classified, as do any details regarding the hearings in the case, which was officially adjudicated on March 10.

No information is available on whether the court ruled on the matter or closed the case over a technicality.

Moreover, Zygier's defense attorneys ? as well as his family ? were required to sign confidentially and nondisclosure agreements vis-?-vis the State; which now prevents them from confirming or denying any of the details.

The inquest into Zygier's death was also deemed classified and was sealed.

'Details don't compromise security'

Top Israeli civil and human rights lawyer Avigdor Feldman told Ynet Wednesday that "I'm the last lawyer who saw him alive. They asked me to see him and a day after that he was gone.

"When I saw him, I saw no signs that he was going to kill himself. He sounded rational and he asked pertinent legal questions, that I can't expand on."

It was also disclosed that an appeal filed over the gag order by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel was later rescinded by the ACRI at the Supreme Court's recommendation.

ACRI Chief Legal Counsel Attorney Dan Yakir told Ynet that the group filed a motion to lift the gag order in 2011, following rumors of "Prisoner X" death.

"Our motion with the Central District Court was denied and we appealed to the Supreme Court. It heard us, as well as several security officials. Following classified information produced in court, we were advised to strike the appeal. Following this advice, and in order to avoid a detrimental legal ruling, we agreed."

Yakir added that "It was during the hearing that we learned that an inquest was in progress. It was a lengthy process that eventually ruled the death a suicide, but no other details were given to us.

"As for the question of negligence ? how can it be that a prisoner held in a prison's most secure commits suicide?"

Commenting on the Justice Ministry' statement in the case, which some critics have already said was semi-forces due to the international attention the case has garnered, Yakir said that, "This is exactly what we argued two years ago ? that these details are important and that they pose no risk to national security.

"Unfortunately, we were denied but today's statement proves that we were right, regardless of whatever the security concerns in the case were." ? ? ?

Source: http://privateinvesigations.blogspot.com/2013/02/israel-acknowledges-prisoner-x-existence.html

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Give your knowledge away and sell your expertise | Business ...

When I created a community of business owners online in 1998 my motive was to create a place for sharing of knowledge and a place where people could openly share their issues and needs for knowledge.

This was a subtle shift in the world of business, a nudge, as some might say, to encourage business people to be friends and to care about one another- online. I knew that if we could create such a great place, a community then we would see business people become thought-leaders. Learning to share knowledge is a mindset shift. We have always been taught to be closed with our knowledge, we believe that in a Knowledge Economy ?the key to income is selling our knowledge, however this mindset and habit is being disrupted.

The Social Internet has created a different business landscape, to get attention and to gain trust requires us to be more open, accept the random information flow and to be supportive in our intentions, a far cry from the Closed, Selective and Controlling world of the 80?s and 90?s. (you can find out if you are Open, Random and Supportive, or Closed Selective and Controlling here www.leadors.co )

I heard a brilliant saying ?give your knowledge away and sell your expertise?. I think this sums up the values and behaviour of BNI members. Any BNI meeting I have attended reflects this, in fact the term ?Givers Gain? is all about this.

In my business life I spend a huge amount of my time helping businesses to gain a ?Digital Mindset?, to learn how to share. I have a Coaching Business, a Mastermind Group, and a Youth Academy that gives young people Commercial Digital Skills and places them into Apprenticeship to do the companies Internet Marketing. My life for the last 15 years has been dedicated to the Digital Skills Agenda.

The anchor point for me, the vision, the drivers are to create a world where business people are comfortable with the idea of passing on knowledge and contacts. Creating the culture of an ecosystem, where we are all in their world together and the more we share and support, the more we are trusted, liked. Now that we have the amazing channels of Twitter, FaceBook, Blogging, YouTube etc, we can create our personal business brand and be trusted and followed on an unprecedented level.

One of my roles is to support the Government in their goals to create a country that seeks support in the form of Mentoring. Recently they came to one of the Mastermind Groups I run for The MasterMind Agency. I am thrilled that this video has been placed on the Home page of the Government Portal http://www.mentorsme.co.uk/useful-resources/mentee-articles/getting-started-mentee

http://youtu.be/U57AjPeMTA4 -

The deeply engrained values held by BNI are so perfect for the online world, I see many BNI Members supporting one another with RT-ing of tweets, conversations in LinkedIN Groups, chats on FaceBook and now the use of Google Plus. It is fabulous. BNI remains my recommended Network for Start-Ups and Growth companies, I love the values and the mindset you all share.

My final point this month is this ? If you are not reflecting your BNI teachings ?within your online marketing and being a friend, just like you are in your groups, perhaps give that a try, BNI teaches such great networking skills, applied in your Groups and online with one another this could be magical for your business growth.

Penny Power

Penny Power is the Founder of Ecademy and Digital Youth Academy, two communities that assist in the growth of Social Capital and deliver the promise of the Internet through their community values and peer to peer knowledge exchange. Penny is now focusing on the skills gap that exists within the business community toward leveraging the social digital world and you can follow her on Twitter @pennypower or sign up for her newsletter on www.pennypower.co.uk

Tagged as: bni members, business life, business owner, conversations, digital mindset, Internet marketing, mastermind group, mindset, online marketing, subtle shift, tweet, youth academy

Source: http://business-networking.co.uk/give-your-knowledge-away-and-sell-your-expertise/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=give-your-knowledge-away-and-sell-your-expertise

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Dem, GOP senators clash at latest hearing on guns

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The plague of gun violence makes it plain that current firearms restrictions are insufficient and new federal limits are needed, a top Democrat said Tuesday at a Senate hearing on gun control. Parrying that, a Republican said gun rights must be protected, even amid horrors like the mass shooting of school children in Connecticut.

"There are too many families who now face an empty seat at the dinner table" because of gun violence, said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee. He said that while opponents of stricter gun limits claim that existing laws simply need to be better enforced, "that's not enough. There are so many gaps in those laws."

Durbin said restrictions such as requiring background checks for all gun purchases could be written that would still protect the Constitution's Second Amendment right to bear arms. Currently, such checks are required only for sales by licensed federal dealers.

At one point in the packed hearing, Durbin asked that people with relatives or friends who were victims of gun violence to stand, and several dozen rose from their seats.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, top Republican on the panel, expressed sympathy for those directly affected by gun violence. But he added that constitutional rights must be protected "not just when they're popular, but especially when passions are seeking to restrict and limit those rights."

Cruz said he believed that "stripping the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens does nothing to stop criminals" from committing violent acts.

There has been a renewed focus on guns on Capitol Hill in the wake of the December slayings of 20 first-graders and six adult staffers at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Some family members of those shot there were in the hearing room Tuesday, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

President Barack Obama wants Congress to enact new curbs, including bans on assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines and a requirement that all gun buyers be subject to background checks, not just sales by federally licensed dealers. Obama is expected to push anew for his plans in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Democrats have been more receptive to Obama's proposals than Republicans, most of whom ? along with the National Rifle Association ? have opposed them.

The universal background check has the broadest support and is expected to be a centerpiece of legislation that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy hopes to write in the next few weeks. The assault weapons ban is given little chance of enactment, and passage of a ban on large-capacity magazines also seems doubtful.

Timothy J. Heaphy, the Obama-appointed U.S. attorney for the western district of Virginia, said in his written statement that the federal background check system has kept more than 1.5 million guns from criminals and others prohibited from having them since 1998, when the system began. Even so, he told the subcommittee that the background check requirement needs to be expanded and he called for federal laws prohibiting illegal gun trafficking.

"Without more meaningful penalties for those who traffic in firearms, we will continue to find it difficult to dismantle the criminal networks that exploit these statutory gaps," he said.

In prepared testimony, Suzanna Gratia Hupp described being in Luby's restaurant in Killeen, Texas, when a gunman crashed his truck through the front window and fatally shot 23 people, including her parents, and wounded many others. Hupp says she left her gun in her car because Texas law barred her from bringing it into the restaurant.

"I can't begin to get across to you how incredibly frustrating it is to sit there, like a fish in a barrel, and wait for it to be your turn, with no hope of defending yourself," said Hupp, now a Republican Texas state official and gun rights advocate.

She added, "The only thing the gun laws did that day was prevent good people from protecting themselves."

Taking a different view was Sandra J. Wortham, whose brother, Thomas E. Wortham IV, was shot dead outside their parents' home by robbers, though he and his father, a retired police sergeant, fired back.

"The fact that my brother and father were armed that night did not prevent my brother from being killed," Wortham said in prepared testimony. "We need to do more to keep guns out of the wrong hands in the first place. I don't think that makes us anti-gun. I think it makes us pro-decent, law-abiding people."

Laurence H. Tribe, a liberal Harvard Law School professor, said in his prepared testimony that nothing Obama has proposed "even comes close to violating the Second Amendment" right to bear arms.

Tribe said more sweeping proposals to take guns away from citizens "have been decisively taken off the table" by Supreme Court rulings in 2008 and 2010 that overturned handgun bans by the District of Columbia and other state and local governments.

Differing from Tribe was attorney Charles J. Cooper, who has long defended gun rights.

Representing the NRA, Cooper said that those same Supreme Court rulings "establish that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms." He said Obama's proposed assault weapon and high-capacity magazine bans were unconstitutional because gun rights "cannot be circumscribed by appeal to countervailing government interests."

Also testifying was Daniel W. Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, which favors tighter gun control laws. Webster said in his prepared statement that 2004 data on prisoners who had committed gun-related crimes showed that nearly 8 in 10 had obtained their firearms from unlicensed private sellers, whose transactions do not require background checks.

"Laws such as background check requirements for all gun sales will help law enforcement combat illegal gun trafficking and keep guns from prohibited individuals," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dem-gop-senators-clash-latest-hearing-guns-154644866--politics.html

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A system that improves the precision of GPS in cities by 90 percent ...

A combination of sensors

The basic elements that make up this system are a GPS and a low cost Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The latter device integrates three accelerometers and three gyroscopes to measure changes in velocity and maneuvers performed by the vehicle. Then, everything is connected to a computer that has an application that merges the data and corrects the errors in the geographic coordinates. Enrique Mart?, of UC3M's GIAA explains, "This software is based on an architecture that uses context information and a powerful algorithm (called Unscented Kalman Filter) that eliminates the instantaneous deviations caused by the degradation of the signals received by the GPS receiver or the total or partial loss of the satellites."

Currently the researchers have a prototype that they can install in any type of vehicle. In fact, it is already working on board the IVVI (Intelligent Vehicle based on Visual Information), a real car that has become a platform for research and experimentation for professors and students at the University. The objective of the researchers from LSI and UC3M who are working on this "intelligent car" is to be able to capture and interpret all of the information that is available on the road, and that we use when we are driving. To do this, they are using optical cameras, infrareds and laser to detect whether we are crossing the lines on the road, or whether there are pedestrians in the vehicle's path, as well as to adapt our speed to the traffic signals and even to analyze the driver's level of sleepiness in real time.

The next step these researchers intend to take is to analyze the possibility of developing a system that makes use of the sensors that are built into smartphones, since intelligent telephones are equipped with more than ten sensors, such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, GPS and cameras, in addition to WiFi, Bluetooth or GSM communications, for example. "We are now starting to work on the integration of this data fusion system into a mobile telephone," reveals Enrique Mart?, "so that it can integrate all of the measurements that come from its sensors in order to obtain the same result that we have now, but at an even much lower cost, since it is something that almost everyone can carry around in his pocket."

Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have developed a new system which improves the ability of a GPS to determine a vehicle?s position as compared to that of conventional GPS devices by up to 90 percent, and which can be installed in any vehicle at a very low cost.

(Photo Credit: UC3M)

Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have developed a new system which improves the ability of a GPS to determine a vehicle?s position as compared to that of conventional GPS devices by up to 90 percent, and which can be installed in any vehicle at a very low cost.

(Photo Credit: UC3M)

Source: http://www.sciencecodex.com/a_system_that_improves_the_precision_of_gps_in_cities_by_90_percent-106712

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EDUC 807 - SFU Blogs - Simon Fraser University

?Encounters with the arts enable us to unlock some of the great stored wisdom
of the ages. In other words, the arts are part of what make people well educated. Take them away, and people will be less well educated. There is no
replacement.? p. 42

?The Necessity for the Arts
The arts are necessary in our lives and in our schools because they? :: Teach us divergent, rather than convergent, thinking :: Develop craftsmanship, the ability to apply aesthetics :: Introduce us to perceptions and understandings we could not acquire in any other way :: Enlighten our understanding, making it deeper and more comprehensive
:: Facilitate human communication within and across cultures
:: Help us define who we are and articulate our own very special sense of being
:: Characterize their age, distinguishing our relationship to time by showing us as we were yesterday and as we are today
:: Replenish our spirit and, by nurturing it, consoling it, and inspiring it, affirm our humanity? p.? 55

Author: Charles Fowler

Date Published: 1996

Brief Summary of Article:

Part Two (Justification, p. 35-74) discusses the importance of artistic intelligence with respect to Howard Gardner?s Theory of Multiple Intelligences underlining the challenge of overcoming the social perception of intelligence as being linked to verbal and mathematical skills which is perpetuated by standardized testing (SAT). With reference to Maxine Greene, Fowler explains that art education ?crystallize[s] experiences? (Fowler, 40) and provides individualized learning. Further, Fowler validates the importance of arts integration into the curriculum as a vehicle for encouraging empathy and ?improving the way people think? (Fowler, 41). The second chapter (Strong Arts, Strong Schools) of Part Two culminates with a comprehensive list which concisely summarizes the necessity for the arts. Fowler concludes this part of his book with a call to action in order to promote a vital change in social perception in hopes to foster the infinite potential of the arts in education.

How is this article relevant to your work and your colleagues.

I am currently researching the implications of arts integration in the social studies curriculum and am looking for research to advocate for the importance and implications of art in schools. Although this research is founded primarily in American school systems, and that it is dated (published in 1996), there are pertinent arguments/ scientific findings in defense of arts education as well as suggested ideas as to why the arts have been systematically dismissed as nonacademic. Charles Fowler explains the historical context of the removal of arts education and funding from curricula across American schools and provides statistical research as to its implications on students (including students with special needs and juvenile delinquents). These articles are accessible, researched and provide clear summaries and possible solutions to the challenges we face as educators.
Where can this book be found? (ISBN ? optional)

ISBN: 9780198026129 ISBN: 9780195100891

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2012 at 7:34 pm and is filed under Awaiting Category. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://blogs.sfu.ca/courses/educ807/?p=131

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Luxury Phone Brand Vertu Launches Its First Android-Powered Handset ? For Those With $10,000+ To Spend

Vertu, the formerly-owned-by-Nokia maker of eye-wateringly expensive, leather-clad, gem-encrusted, handmade-in-the-U.K. 'luxury' smartphones, has launched its first Android-powered device: the Vertu Ti. After leaving the Nokia fold, back in October, it was rumoured that Vertu planned to do what many a Nokia fan still wishes that company would do: ditch Symbian and adopt Android.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Y0Bg4CrjhJM/

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'Identity Thief' grabs $34.6M to debut at No. 1

This undated publicity image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, right, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)

This undated publicity image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, right, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy's "Identity Thief" has made off with the weekend box-office title with a $34.6 million debut.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Identity Thief," Universal, $34,551,025, 3,141 locations, $11,000 average, $34,551,025, one week.

2. "Warm Bodies," Lionsgate, $11,356,090, 3,009 locations, $3,774 average, $36,481,172, two weeks.

3. "Side Effects," Open Road Films, $9,303,145, 2,605 locations, $3,571 average, $9,303,145, one week.

4. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $6,425,271, 2,809 locations, $2,287 average, $89,519,510, 13 weeks.

5. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," Paramount, $5,753,165, 3,285 locations, $1,751 average, $43,836,018, three weeks.

6. "Mama," Universal, $4,229,665, 2,677 locations, $1,580 average, $63,951,810, four weeks.

7. "Zero Dark Thirty," Sony, $4,006,860, 2,562 locations, $1,564 average, $83,567,450, eight weeks.

8. "Argo," Warner Bros., $2,375,344, 1,405 locations, $1,691 average, $123,608,957, 18 weeks.

9. "Django Unchained," Weinstein Co., $2,303,495, 1,502 locations, $1,534 average, $154,516,627, seven weeks.

10. "Bullet to the Head," Warner Bros., $2,078,192, 2,404 locations, $864 average, $8,269,214, two weeks.

11. "Top Gun" in 3-D, Paramount, $1,965,737, 300 locations, $6,552 average, $1,965,737, one week.

12. "Lincoln," Disney, $1,873,537, 1,517 locations, $1,235 average, $173,621,006, 14 weeks.

13. "Parker," FilmDistrict, $1,867,411, 2,004 locations, $932 average, $15,848,064, three weeks.

14. "Life of Pi," Fox, $1,745,744, 924 locations, $1,889 average, $108,530,249, 12 weeks.

15. "Les Miserables," Universal, $1,555,550, 1,447 locations, $1,075 average, $143,983,705, seven weeks.

16. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," Warner Bros., $1,468,374, 1,001 locations, $1,467 average, $298,333,426, nine weeks.

17. "Parental Guidance," Fox, $1,071,766, 1,219 locations, $879 average, $74,344,256, seven weeks.

18. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $1,065,817, 757 locations, $1,408 average, $184,414,532, 15 weeks.

19. "The Impossible," Summit, $957,594, 739 locations, $1,296 average, $16,668,338, eight weeks.

20. "Quartet," Weinstein Co., $940,930, 244 locations, $3,856 average, $5,000,417, five weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-11-Box%20Office/id-b9b68fee041444b9bd50675cd90f5902

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