firehose

Bradley Manning received a 35-year prison sentence on Wednesday, punishment for leaking troves of classified intelligence to the website WikiLeaks in 2010. The former Army private first class faced a maximum of 90 years in prison, and the prosecution was pushing aggressively for at least 60 years, meaning the final outcome was less harsh than it could have been.

But supporters of Manning -- who has maintained that his actions were driven by his desire to expose brutality and wrongdoing being carried out by America's military and diplomatic corps -- argued that he deserves to be pardoned for his part in the revelations. Anti-war activists and civil libertarians have also commended Manning for his part in the leaks, saying that he helped accelerate the drawing down of U.S. military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan and provided important fodder for the Arab revolutions in 2010 and 2011.

Was the judge's sentence overly harsh? Does Manning deserve to be jailed at all? Below, take a look at how his 35-year sentence stacks up to those handed out to other criminals, many of whose crimes were arguably more severe than Manning's.

William Colton Millay, 16 years for attempting to sell secrets to a Russian spy

(AP file photo)

Millay pleaded guilty earlier this year to attempted espionage and other counts, after selling secrets to an FBI undercover agent whom he believed was a Russian spy. The U.S. Army policeman had faced a maximum sentence of confinement for up to life without the possibility of parole.

David Henry Barnett, 18 years for selling classified documents to Soviet officials

Over a period of years during the 1970s, Barnett, a former CIA agent, revealed the identities of some 30 CIA officers and other classified information to the KGB in exchange for money. As part of his partnership with the Soviets, Barnett tried, but failed, to get a position on Capitol Hill. He would later be rehired by the CIA, before finally being outed as a spy. Barnett pleaded guilty to espionage charges in 1980, and served 10 years before being paroled in 1990.

Harold James Nicholson, 23 years for providing highly classified information to Russia

(Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

The highest ranking CIA official ever convicted of spying for a foreign power, Nicholson was apprehended in 1996 at a Washington-area airport with rolls of film bearing images of Top Secret documents. He was subsequently charged with espionage and accused of having taken up a two-and-a-half year operation to hack into agency computers and provide the Russians with every secret he could steal. He was ultimately convicted of espionage, and later sentenced to additional years in prison after pleading guilty to betraying his country a second time.

Ana Belen Montes, 25 years for passing classified information to Cuba's government

(Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

For 17 years, Montes, an analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, carried out a dynamic spy operation for Cuba. She was caught in 2001, and later plead guilty to espionage.

Earl Edwin Pitts, 27 years for giving classified information to Russian intelligence services

(Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

During the late '80s and early '90s, Pitts, then an FBI special agent, spied for Russia, providing agents with Top Secret documents and information about key bureau assets. Pitts was alleged to have received $224,000 in payments for the information he gave between 1987 and 1992. He was caught in 1996, and pleaded guilty to two counts of espionage in 1997.

Michael Peri, 30 years for passing defense secrets to communist East Germany

As the Cold War was winding down in 1989, Peri, then a U.S. Army specialist, disappeared from his Germany-based regiment with a portable computer thought be filled with sensitive information. He was believed to have defected, but returned less than two weeks later and was arrested. He would eventually plead guilty to espionage.

Clayton Lonetree, 30 years for delivering classified information from American embassies to Soviet agents

(AP file photo)

Lonetree confessed in 1987 to selling U.S. embassy blueprints and the names and identities of undercover intelligence agents to the Soviet Union. Lonetree's initial 30-year sentence was eventually reduced, and he was finally released in 1996 after serving nine years.

Albert Sombolay, 34 years for giving a Jordanian intelligence agent key information about the U.S. military buildup ahead of the first Gulf War

Sombolay, a specialist 4th class with the Army artillery, ultimately pleaded guilty to charges of espionage and contacting the enemy. He was reportedly paid "about $1,300 for his activities," and had attempted to get in touch with Iraqi intelligence officials as well. Somobolay ultimately served 12 years of his sentence.

Original Source

Has China overinvested in high speed rail? Anecdotal stories of empty train stations (paywall) in far-off provinces have led some to conclude that high-speed rail is just another Chinese white elephant—an investment without a cause. But the recent experience with high-speed rail belies this narrative, and a closer look at the data reveals that high-speed rail has been, and is set to be, a vital part of China’s growth strategy.

Passenger rail has grown very quickly over the past decade. As seen above, from 2001 to 2011, national passenger turnover doubled. Yet this rise in demand has not been accompanied by a comparable increase in the length of railroad track. As a result, each kilometer of rail is now supporting more passengers. In other words, rail utilization has become more intense. In 2001, the average kilometer of rail supported 680 km (422 miles) of passenger travel. By 2011, this rose to 1,030 km, a 50% increase. This phenomenon has been going on across the country—particularly in the inland provinces. During the same time period, rail intensity in the frontier province of Qinhai increased by a factor of 2.5. In no other period of Chinese history has passenger rail demand been this strong.

In this context, high-speed rail has become important by enabling a more intense utilization of existing railways. When too many trains take too much time traveling the same length of track, they can get in one another’s way. But high-speed rail gets around this issue by reducing the amount of time any single trip takes. For example, the July 1, 2012 opening of the Yichang-Wuhan high-speed rail line cut travel time between the two cities from around four hours to only two. The recent Guangdong-Beijing line has also cut travel between the two cities from 20 hours to just eight.

This has occurred across the country, and as a result, high-speed rail has allowed more trains to be placed on the same length of tracks without overcrowding.

High-speed rail isn’t short of passengers either. Back in 2011, Tsinghua University professor Patrick Chovanec penned an editorial arguing that high-speed rail would be too expensive for most Chinese citizens to use, and therefore, would not have enough riders to sustain itself. But just one year later, average daily ridership on the high-speed rail network has hit 1.33 million daily passengers—more than one-fourth of the total number of passengers on the rail system.

The customer reaction to the previously discussed Yichang-Wuhan rail line has been especially positive. The July 1 opening was first announced on a government website on June 25 at 10 p.m. That night, the train station received calls asking about tickets from more than 50,000 people. The news about the opening also led a blogger in Yichang to exclaim: “Two hours from Yichang to Wuhan! A trip that I never dared to imagine has now become reality—truly a blessing for the masses.” Subsequently, during this year’s three-day summer boat festival, the Yichang train station saw a staggering 72,000 passengers pass through, up 71% from a year earlier.

Given that inland Hubei, a relatively poor farming province, has benefited from such an enthused ridership base, this bodes well for expansion in other parts of the country.

The above data and anecdotes show that high-speed rail is a justified investment, if only based on current conditions. But it still ignores a much bigger issue: the importance of high-speed rail to China’s future development strategy.

First, for China to continue growing, it must work on raising the income levels of the inland provinces.

So as more Chinese manufacturing moves inland, efficient freight transport will become even more necessary. Otherwise, the factories will be cut off from the coastal markets, and therefore will miss the opportunity to become as competitive as Guangdong and other coastal provinces were 10 years prior. As discussed above, high-speed rail reduces the time passenger trains spend on the railways, and therefore open up more room for freight trains. This is good timing, as freight demand is likely to only increase as more goods need to be shipped from inland China to be sold and more coal needs to be shipped across the country to satisfy rising energy demand. Thus, by strengthening the freight transport system, high-speed rail raises growth in rich and poor provinces alike.

Second, by making travel between large cities more economical, high-speed rail builds a foundation for service industries. Since high-speed rail dramatically cuts down travel times, many trips that used to be overnight now can be done in a day. While this may not be as important for the average tourist, this can be indispensable for client meetings in the business world. Without this, many high value added service industries, such as consulting or finance, would not be as strong.

Third, by making travel and tourism cheaper for middle class Chinese families, high-speed rail can actually help China rebalance towards consumption. According to estimates from the World Travel and Tourism Council, the tourism industry makes up 10% of employment in China, and its direct and indirect effects add up to around 14% of China’s GDP (pdf). Since tourism depends on cheap travel, high-speed rail could play a pivotal role in fostering this industry.

And indeed it has. During this year’s spring festival, the opening of the Beijing-Guangdong line caused an explosion in long distance travel packages for Beijing, with a major tourism company reporting a 50% year-over-year growth in this category. It is further forecast that the opening of this new line will result in an over 20% increase in Beijing tourism by the year’s end.

By making travel much cheaper, high-speed rail can encourage more tourism and consumption growth.

Fourth, if China is to avoid an environmental catastrophe, it needs to start developing energy-efficient forms of transport right now, and high-speed rail certainly fits the bill. As a recent Economist has documented, China is experiencing never-before-seen levels of air pollution. And given that China has a population of 1.34 billion people, it cannot afford to have intercity transportation be based on automobiles. There is not enough space—both physically and environmentally—for China to expand on that path. High-speed rail also competes with Chinese airlines. As CNN has documented, high-speed rail has become a very attractive option against a backdrop of worsening airport congestion. Because air travel is one of the most carbon intensive forms of transport, any substitution away from air to rail reduces the Chinese carbon footprint. Therefore, besides being a prudent investment in economic growth, high-speed rail is also a necessary investment in preserving China’s environment.

This is not to say there is nothing to criticize about China’s high-speed rail development. The procurement procedures for Chinese rail cars are notoriously corrupt. Caixin has found stories of “sink tops that cost 26,000 yuan each, [and] 11,280 yuan for a water valve.” But the Chinese government is slowly improving on this matter of financing. While not directly related to high speed rail, the recent invitation for foreign bids to improve Chinese infrastructure represents a step in the direction of more efficient infrastructure construction. By declaring an intention to put private firms on the same level as state-owned firms in the bidding process, this is a sign that the Chinese government is slowly improving on its state driven model. Unlike the past decade of “the state advancing, the private sector retreats” (guo jin min tui), future Chinese rail development can advance alongside the private sector, thereby reducing risks of corruption.

But even if difficulties should arise, they should be put in the proper context. Any complex system will occasionally fail. As a Chinese blogger writes, the proper response in this situation is to “discover problems, face the problems, and then solve the problems.” This is normal and one does not need to condemn the entire system at the first sign of trouble, nor let the first sign of pessimism derail an entire growth story. Even if there are risks, the rewards are far greater. To channel the words of the late US president John F. Kennedy, China must invest in high-speed rail not because it is easy, but because it is hard—and because it represents a critical next step in China’s march toward development.

Follow Yichuan on Twitter at @yichuanw. His blog is Synthenomics. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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LICEcap:

LICEcap can capture an area of your desktop and save it directly to .GIF (for viewing in web browsers, etc) or .LCF…

Thanks, nem!

The bird’s calls are hoarse and guttural. They sound like “WHAAAH-whuh-whuh-whuh!”

Link

avatarkorra1311:

lovelylittlebear:

High-Speed photographs of ink dropped into water.

holy fuck

Pug’s Guide to Dating, an upcoming illustrated book by cartoonist and writer Gemma Correll, is packed full of fun comics about “the pitfalls facing young pugs in their quest for love.” The hardcover book is currently available to pre-order at Amazon.com (ships on September 12, 2013) and available to purchase from Amazon UK. Previously, we wrote about Gemma’s book A Pug’s Guide to Etiquette.

Who knew that sniffing someone’s backside in a park could be so alluring? For every pug, the road to romance is filled with dramatic highs and crashing lows. For every successful lick there’s an aborted leg hump, for each whiff of a pretty posterior there is a howl lamenting unrequited adoration. In A Pug’s Guide to Dating, pug lover and illustrator of the moment Gemma Correll has put together a collection of 50 charming cartoons, observing from a pug’s point of view.

images via Gemma Correll and Amazon

Roving Trigger Discipline Classes For Cosplayers – Now in Session | Myke Cole

1. Sarah Lawrence College ($61,236); 2. New York University ($59,337); 3. Harvey Mudd College ($58,913); 4. Columbia University ($58,742); 5. Wesleyan University ($58,502); 6. Claremont McKenna College ($58,065); 7. Dartmouth College ($57,996); 8. New School Parsons School of Design ($57,910); 9. Johns Hopkins University ($57,820); 10. The University of Chicago ($57,711)

A new investigative report says that the National Rifle Association collects and maintains an expansive database of information on gun owners. BuzzFeed contributor Steve Friess reports that the NRA keeps the stockpile of information at its national headquarters in Virginia and that it goes well beyond the group’s estimated 3 million members. “That database has been built through years of acquiring gun permit registration lists from state and county offices, gathering names of new owners from the thousands of gun-safety classes taught by NRA-certified instructors and by buying lists of attendees of gun shows, subscribers to gun magazines, and more,” Friess writes. Defenders of the policy note that the NRA is a private organization and therefore its efforts to collect information on gun owners is not a contradiction to its opposition to a government mandated gun ownership registry. “It’s probably partially true that people don’t know the information is being collected,” former NRA lobbyist Richard Feldman told BuzzFeed. “But even if they don’t know it, they probably won’t care because the NRA is not part of the government.”

New research shows the American Dream — the ability to improve your prospects through hard work, personal initiative and grit — is more vibrant in Canada than its native land. In a paper published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, Miles Corak of the University of Ottawa compared the way people get ahead in the United States with trends in Canada and several other nations. While nations such as Denmark and Sweden tend to have the highest levels of “economic mobility,” or movement between income groups, Canada turned out to be a good basis for comparison because the U.S. and Canada are culturally and economically similar. And in both countries, the share of income flowing to the top 1% of earners has soared since 1980 — though it has risen by more in the United States than in Canada. Despite those similarities, the Canadian economy offers more opportunity to middle and lower earners than the U.S. economy does. Corak found, for instance, that boys born into low-income families were much more likely to end up in a higher income category in Canada than in the United States. And boys born into high-income families were more likely to slip down the economic food chain in Canada than in America, which means those born into wealth in Canada have to work harder to maintain it. In America, by contrast, those born into poverty increasingly stay there. And some analysts worry that a kind of hereditary dynasty is forming among the top 1%, since along with concentrated riches, the wealthy tend to gain political power that allows them to perpetuate low tax rates and other policies favorable to them. Corak's research suggests three differences that may help explain the lower mobility in the US: Less US emphasis on early education, fewer national-level social-support programs in the US, and Canadians' greater trust in their government allowing for more flexible socioeconomic policy decisions.

The windswept island about 6 miles off the coast was a haven for a hugely diverse bird population until fishermen decimated the birds' ranks. Puffins have been successfully reintroduced to Eastern Egg Rock, but warming ocean waters may be threatening their ability to survive.

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A new film festival is in town, and along with an all-star lineup of speakers for workshops and panels, the first Portland Film Festival will feature three nights of films in The Fields Park -- with free admission, a beer garden, and food carts. The festival will run from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1, with a party to launch the event Aug. 27. Tickets to screenings at Bagdad Theater in Southeast Portland and Living Room Theaters, Cinema 21 and Mission Theater in Northwest Portland cost between $10 and $12. Tickets for individual screenings and festival-long passes are available at PortlandFilmFestival.com.

Unnamed sources have confirmed that Bradley Cooper is in talks to play Rocket Raccoon for "Guardians of the Galaxy," while Elizabeth Olsen is in negotiations to play the Scarlet Witch in "Age of Ultron."

A baby Mali Uromastyx lizard rolls over for belly rubs and flails her front legs while her owner rubs her tummy in this cute video.

video via smplymaxx

via reddit, Daily Picks and Flicks

The Spider-Man Costume Hoodie from ThinkGeek will allow you to look like you are wearing Spider Man’s actual crime fighting uniform, from the waist up. The hoodie, which comes equipped with a pull-over mask, is available to purchase online. Previously, we wrote about ThinkGeek’s Nyan Cat and Captain America hoodies.

Peter Parker’s early days were fraught with confusion and turmoil, not over his powers, no that was pure fun, it was all over his costume. As a man of science, he knew nothing of knitting fabrics, tensile strength of tight cotton over a polyester blend, but he had to start somewhere. Walk the path of Spider-Man with the Spider-Man Costume Hoodie, the very same style adopted by the newly dubbed super-hero before he was a master with his sewing machine.

images via ThinkGeek

The New York Public Library has installed photo booths at the Mid-Manhattan Library and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building so patrons can take photos of themselves, share what they’re doing at the library, and show where they’re from. Users can label their photos with the reason for their visit using presets like “borrowing, exploring, learning, reading, researching, studying, visiting, [and] writing” and whether they live in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, or outside the New York City region. The New York Public Library shares the best photobooth photos on its Flickr account.

images via NYPL Photo Booth

via Gothamist

Up next from the "could be cool but will inevitably get real creepy, real fast" research team at Microsoft comes the news that Project Spark will be able to use Kinect to bring your likeness and even your voice into the game.

Speaking at Gamescom, Team Dakota demonstrated how Kinect can accomplish facial motion capture and have it applied to an in-game character, how full-body captures could create new animations, and how audio could be recorded and modulated in a number of ways. You can just go on ahead and start counting the minutes until this is used for a particularly nerdy marriage proposal and/or breakup. (Though, breaking up by animated cutscene? Almost worth it.)

Team Dakota also revealed that invitations will by flying out to Project Spark's registered beta participants at the end of October for Windows 8 devices and in January for Xbox One owners. You can register for the beta here.

Revealed at E3, Project Spark is a user-creation driven game that Microsoft has described as an "open-world digital canvas that allows you to create your own games, stories, worlds, and share them with everyone." You can check out 40 minutes of Spark in action here.

Continue reading Project Spark, Kinect create mini mocap studio in your living room

Project Spark, Kinect create mini mocap studio in your living room originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 22 Aug 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A bunch of rich guys can’t imagine what the world would be like without them.

TPM

Texas Lt. Gov. Calls Police To Get Relative Out Of Jail (AUDIO) TPM Police in Allen, Texas released audio to Dallas television station KXAS Wednesday of a call made by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) to ask for the release of a relative from jail. Ellen Beavers, who Dewhurst described at difference points in the recording as a ... Lt. Gov. Dewhurst call to police draws criticismYNN, Your News Now Lt. Gov. Dewhurst Calls Police After Relative's ArrestTexas Tribune Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst calls Allen police to get relative out of jailDallas Morning News KUT News -Fort Worth Star Telegram -Austin American-Statesman all 45 news articles »

There are few filmmakers, great ones included, capable of overcoming the banality of the biopic, a genre in which drama is dubiously generated by playing connect the dots with the events of a real person’s life. Wong Kar Wai, the Hong Kong director of Chungking Express and In The Mood For Love, isn't immune to the limitations of this cinematic approach; one of the medium’s most expressive visionaries is done in by the burden of fidelity, a duty to stick to the trajectory of his subject’s story. Said subject is Ip Man, the martial-arts legend best known—in the West, anyway—for training Bruce Lee. His life has been explored by several recent films, including a pair of Hong Kong smashes starring Donnie Yen. The Grandmaster, which casts Wong regular Tony Leung as Ip Man, is a moodier take on the material, with a greater emphasis ...

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