Peace.

Haaretz Thursday...
Assad: We'll give up chemical weapons once U.S. stops arming rebels

Syria will fulfill an initiative to hand over its chemical weapons only when the United States stops threatening to strike Syria, the Russian RIA news agency quoted President Bashar Assad as saying in a television interview.
[...snip...]
"When we see the United States really wants stability in our region and stops threatening, striving to attack, and also ceases arms deliveries to terrorists, then we will believe that the necessary processes can be finalized," he was quoted as saying in an interview with Russian state television.

If a recently leaked document is any indication, the US National Security Agency -- or its UK counterpart -- appears to have put on a Google suit to gather intelligence.
[...snip...]
Brazilian site Fantastico obtained and published a document leaked by Edward Snowden, which diagrams how a "man in the middle attack" involving Google was apparently carried out.

A technique commonly used by hackers, a MITM attack involves using a fake security certificate to pose as a legitimate Web service, bypass browser security settings, and then intercept data that an unsuspecting person is sending to that service. Hackers could, for example, pose as a banking Web site and steal passwords.

The technique is particularly sly because the hackers then use the password to log in to the real banking site and then serve as a "man in the middle," receiving requests from the banking customer, passing them on to the bank site, and then returning requested info to the customer -- all the while collecting data for themselves, with neither the customer nor the bank realizing what's happening. Such attacks can be used against e-mail providers too.

It's not clear if the supposed attack in the Fantastico document was handled by the NSA or by its UK counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). The article by the Brazilian news agency says, "In this case, data is rerouted to the NSA central, and then relayed to its destination, without either end noticing."
[...snip...]
CNET got a "no comment" from the NSA in response to our request for more information.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-shield-law-20130913,0,4553946.story

If President Obama continues with his plan to close the Small Business Administration (SBA) he could see his approval ratings drop to a record low and devastate the Democratic Party's success in the upcoming elections.
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Based on the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, America's 28 million small businesses are responsible for over 90 percent of the net new jobs, over 50 percent of the private sector work force, over 50 percent of the GDP and over 90 percent of U.S. exporters are small businesses.

The one and only agency in Washington to assist the 28 million American small businesses is the SBA. The agency is charged with managing the single largest economic stimulus program in U.S. history to assist small businesses. That program, established under the original Small Business Act, stipulates that a minimum of 23 percent of the total value of all federal contracts and subcontracts shall be awarded to small businesses.
[...snip...]
President Obama has refused to back legislation such as H.R. 1622, "The Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act" that would completely end the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses and redirect up to $100 billion a year in existing federal infrastructure spending to middle class small businesses.

To add insult to injury, President Obama has announced plans to essentially close the SBA. Closing the SBA would mean the end of all federal programs to assist disabled veteran-owned firms, minority-owned firms, woman-owned firms and all other small business programs.

-- Obama's Plan to Close the SBA Will Sink the Economy and His Approval Rating

Gotta leave his legacy stamped on the forehead of everyone, I guess. Right between the eyes.