text:
Site and Subjective Writing (SSW)
27.02.2012 13 - 15 : SSW2 Session 06: Auto-ethnography part 2
Exercise: Culture-gram reflection
3-4 People at random will share their writing based on last week's exercise to reflect on the culture-gram (Chang, 2006) they wrote about themselves.
Where does Auto-ethnography emerge from?
"I rarely come across people who set out to do autoethnography but I do rather meet many people who resort to it as a means of getting across intangible and complex feelings and experiences that somehow can't be told in conventional ways, or because the literature they are reading is not telling their story.
In this journey of discovery some feel they make a breakthrough in conveying 'lived experience' when they discover Phenomenology; but even this attempt to portray meaningful life experiences they feel compelled to 'bracket' their own experience" [in keeping with Husserl's (1970) advice]
Take a leap: "there is no distinction between doing research and living a life".. "the autoethnographer is both the researcher and the researched"…
"None of us live in a disconnected world. We are surrounded by people, live at a particular point in history, have jobs and hobbies that unite us and dreams and experiences that seperate us. In all these influences on our lives none are perhaps more important than individuals – individuals who have inspired us, given birth to us, made us angry or even changed the course of our lives; among all these influences are the makings of our stories."
(Muncey, 2010: 3)
Muncey notes the gap between experience of living a normal life and public narratives being offered to give sense to that life.
"Public narratives include the success and necessity of the family, when most people know of the difficulties and misery that family life entails.. The public narratives about teenage pregnancy focus on moral decline, inadequate knowledge about contraception and sexual relationships, failing to mention the possible links with child abuse (Muncey, 1998c).
These public narratives are often contained within research adn the missing stories trapped in the 'empty space' are deemed too subjective or too self-indulgent to report."
Introduction summary:
"We are observers and participants of our own experiences: you cannot separate who you are from what you do.
Understanding individuals is more than just a consideration of deviant cases, it can shed light on the silant majority of people whose individual voices are unheard
Subjectivity doesn't infect your work, it enhances it. Making links between your own experience and your work is healthy.
Official stories can be at odds with individual stories, whereas core beliefs or experiences can permeate every aspect of our lives.
Experiences are not frozen in time but grow and develop and therefore need creative devices for capturing growth.
Authoethnographies are characterised by artistically constructed pieces of 'text' that evoke the imagination and increase the reader's understanding."
(Muncey, 2010: 8)
What makes personal worlds?
Personal world: "subjective awareness of oneself as a persona and the overall pattern of personal life experiences. These experiences need to be considered in relation to aspects of self, world, experience of self and world, and the ways in which we organise experience and actions."
(Muncey, 2010: 12)
"To most of us, our self image is a combination of whom we see in the mirror and the interaction of our physical, social, psychological and emotional sense of well-being in respect of that image..
Romanyshyn (1982, p.10) said that 'stories about oneself are episodic, tiny fragments taken from the continous flow, overlaid with emotion and half buried in stages of consciousness making reality an indefinable concept'..
The figure in our story can be construed as the culmination of, and glimpse into, all the fleeting traces of our experience, mirrored in our consciousness..
In order to understand individuals, it seems important to think about how they see themselves, what impression these particular reflections leave.
Our particular sense of self comes from a combination of our biological flow, our social context, our bodily awareness and our specific consciousness. We are aware that an important part of the self is a private, inner wold of thoughts, feelings and fantasies which we only share if we choose to.
We recognise a continuity from our younger selves but there is also a sense that we aare continually renewed. Because of our capacity for reflexivity [turning back], we recognise the self of our experience and the self as others see us."
(Muncey, 2010: 11)
"The variety of situations and people we encounter can lead us to feel that we inhabit multiple worlds. The self may appear to be a unifying feature but, depending on the context, we can exhibit and/or experience a different form of our personal world"
(Ibid.: 13)
"Specific consciousness and multiple worlds: the self is a collection of everchanging experiences tied together by such relationships as a physical body and a memory.
Time and space: all narrative will represent a flow of experiences, actions and events, a distillation of life so far couple with an anticipation of the future
Embodiment: our sense cannot function independently of our bodies.
Emotions: emotions exist in the body both as informational chemicals and also in another realm where we experience feeling and inspiration beyond the physical.
Physical environment: sensory qualities form an intrinsic part of the personal experience.
Social context: other people play influential roles in our narrative and some come to be associated with a dominant value system.
Sense of self and agency: the western view of self is not homogeneous and varies among other things with gender and ethnicity; but the idealised self is consistantly portrayed as autonomous and unrelated, with self-fulfilment and authenticity as key values.
Values and search for meaning: coherence and meaning are found in reflection.
Reflexiveness: multiple identities and reflexivity give us the capacity for empathy and entry into another's world of meaning.
Self is a process not a structure, The process of becoming is always in motion. Any evocation of an experience is always incomplete and in transition, and at best can only be described as a snapshot.
The self, the individual, is a highly reflexive, historically positioned entity, who attempts to engage in meaningful relationships with their culture, their society and other individuals. Like an iceberg, only a fraction of them is visible and authoethnography attempts to increase the visibility to provide a wider range of stories for individuals to connect with.
Authoethnographies need to be organised around certain features: portrayal of the self, one's positioning in the world, the interaction of the experience of self in a particular world, the interaction of the experience of self in a particular world and the ways in which we come to organise experience and our actions.
If consciousness is not a direct copy of the world then metaphor is an excellent vehicle for unfolding experience."
(Muncey, 2010: 13)
What is Autoethnography: Making Sense of Individual Experiences
Muncey was suggested to think of herself as a "Contextually-sensitive researcher.. The one thing that unites.. eclectic range of research approaches is that the research question should direct the method by which the study is carried out. No single method fits all"
(Muncey, 2010: 49)
"Social science researchers think they know something about society worth telling to others.
All research that involves people is messy.
Positioning oneself in the genre should include a consideration of the thinking in the field.
Definitions of authoethnography question among many other things the idea of multiple layers of consciousness, the vulnerable self, the coherent self, critiquing the self in social-contexts, subversion of dominant discourses and evocative potential.
Bakhin can provide a satisfactory philosophy for uniting art and science in a human science,
Auto-ethnographers are broadly divided between two poles: those of analytical or evocative autoethnography.
Auto-ethnography distances itself from the misery memoir."
(Muncey, 2010: 49-50)
Other Post-colonial perspectives on Auto-ethnography
Mary Pratt in her book 'Imperial Eyes: travel writing and transculturation' presented a historical investigation into travel writing, and her choice of case-studies were shaped by a number of questions:
"With what codes has travel and exploration writing produced "the rest of the world" for European readerships at particular points in Europe's expansionist process?
How has it produced Europe's evolving conceptions of itself in relation to something it became possible to call "the rest of the world"?
How do the signifying practices of travel writing encode and legitimate the aspirations of economic expansion and empire?
At what points do they undermine those aspirations?
What did writers on the recieving end of European intervention do with those European codifications of their reality?
How did they claim, revise, reject and transcend them?
How have Europe's subordinated others shaped Europeans' constructions of them and the places they inhabit?
Or European's understandings of itself?"
(Pratt, 2008: 4)
"Contact Zones.. that is social spaces where disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in highly asymmetrical relations of domination and subordination - such as colonialism and slavery, or their aftermaths as they are lived out across the globe today.
People on the receiving end of European imperialism did their own knowing and interpretation.. using the European's own tools.
This is why the term transculturation appears in my title..
Ethnographers have used this term to describe how subordinated or marginal groups select and invent from materials transmitted to them by a dominant or metropolitan culture. While subjugated peoples cannot readily control waht the dominant culture visits upon them, they do determine to varying extents what they absorb into their own, how they use it, and what they make it mean. Transculturation is a phenomenon of the contact zones..
What do people on the receiving end of empire do with metropolitan modes of representation? How do they appropriate them? How do they talk back? What materials can one study to answer those questions?"
(Pratt, 2008: 7)
She considers the terms 'autoethnography' or 'autoethnographic expression'.
"in either form refers to instances in which colonized subjects undertake to represent themselves in ways that engage with the colonizers terms. If ethnographic texts are a means by which Europeans represent to themselves their (usually subjugated) other, autoethnographic texts are texts that others construct in response to or in dialogue with those metropolitan representations..
Autoethnographic texts differ from what are thought of as 'authentic' or autochthonous forms of self-representation.. [It] involves partly collaborating with and appropriating the idioms of the conqueror - e.g. alphabetic writing, Spanish language, the chronicle form, the line drawing.." transculturating them.
In case of Guaman Poma de Ayala, Andean writer in early 17th Century,
"autoethnography appropriates the idioms of travel and exploration writing, merging or infiltrating them to varying degress with indigeneous modes.
Often like Guaman Poma's manuscript example,
"it is bilingual and dialogic.
Autoethnographic texts are typically heterogeneous on the reception end as well.
That is, they are usually addressed both to metropolitan readers and to literate sectors of the speaker's own social group. They are bound to be received very differently by these different readerships. Often such texts constitute a group's point of entry into metropolitan lettered culture."
(Pratt, 2008: 9)
Shahram Khosravi, in his book 'Illegal' Traveller: An auto-ethnography of borders', makes references similar to Muncey, in that he recognises and quotes references that auto-ethnography..
"places the self within a social context" (Reed-Danahay 1997:9), "displays multiple layers of consciousness, connecting the personal to the cultural" (Ellis and Bochner 2000: 739), and asks its "readers to feel the truth of their stories and to become coparticipants engaging the storyline morally, emotionally, aesthetically, and intellectually" (Ellis and Bochner 2000: 745)
But his book
"is not an autobiography, but an ethnography of borders. Based on my own journey and my informants' border narratives, I will tell of the nature of borders, border politics, and the rituals and performances of border crossing.
Auto-ethnography lets migrants contextualize their accounts of the experience of migrant illegality. It helps us explore abstract concepts of policy and law and translate them into cultural terms grounded in everyday life..
Border stories reveal the interaction between agency and structure in migratory experiences. They offer a human portrait of 'illegal' travellers."
Khosravi writes that his book is
"the outgrowth of my own 'embodied experience of borders', of ethnographic fieldwork among undocumented migrants between 2004-2008, and of teaching courses on irregular migration and anthropology of borders. It also emerges from my activities outside of academia: freelance journalism, helping arrange events such as film festivals about border crossing, and volunteer work for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) helping failed asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in Sweden."
And that
"In my years as an anthropologist, I have been astonished at how my informants' experiences overlapped, confirmed, completed, and recalled my own experiences of borders. One interesting aspect of the auto-ethnographic text is that the distinction between ethnographer and 'others' is unclear. Similarities between informants' subjective experiences and my own blur the distinction between anthropologist and informants.
This challenges imposed identities and boundaries and offers forms of meaning alternative to the dominant discourse (Pratt 1992/2008).
Auto-ethnography links the world of the author with the world of others. It bridges the gap between the anthropologist's reality and the reality of others."
(Khosravi, 2011: 5)
"Studies of migrant illegality are often written by people who have never experienced it; my [Khosravi's] aim has been to offer an alternative, partly first-hand, account of unauthorized border crossing that attempts to read the world through 'illegal' eyes. I tell the story of those whose history has been crushed underfoot. Like [Walter] Benjamin, in his work on The Arcade Project, I am a 'ragpicker'. I pick up the refuse of history, gather all that is disregarded. Following Benjamin, I believe that 'waste materials are to enter into significant connections and fragmnets are used to gain a new perspective of history' (Benjamin 2007: 252-253). I collect stories of 'illegals': stateless people, failed asylum seekers, undocumented and unregistered people, those who are hidden and clandestine.
Like the testimonios in Latin America, a tradition that confers authority on subaltern voices (Warren 1997), this auto-ethnography gains its narrative power from the concept of witnessing. The significance of the voice of the witness is that the witness has been there, has seen what happened. Witnesses themselves lived the disaster, and might themselves be victims. They can retell the story and unfold the event with first-hand authority. This does not mean that witnesses, just because they are insiders, possess the only authentic approach. The witness's narrative is only one of many, albeit one less heard."
(Khosravi, 2011: 6)
Planning an auto-ethnographic account
Creative writing strategies..
Muncey writes:
"Richardson (2001, p.35) states that 'writing is a method of discovery, a way of finding out about yourself and your world'.
It is intensely personal, takes lots of practice and continually evolves. If it is to be used to convey something of oneself to a stranger, then writing tactics are required to evoke the researcher's vurnerable self.
This involves techniques for releasing creativity and stimulating the imagination."
(Muncey, 2010: 55)
that capture episodes of life like stills in a frame, as a memory teaser.
"Visual imagery can be a useful adjunct to autoethnographies but the selection of snapshots is not without its problems. To what extent do images portray a 'truth' beyond the written text and do you agree with Kompf (1999) that:
'Life is not how it is or how it was, but rather how it is interpreted, reinterpreted, told and retold. It is the story of our lives that we narrate to ourselves in episodic, sometimes semi-conscious, virtually uninterupted monologue. A photo does not represent a vaccation, a story about me doesnt not represent me… they are memory teasers' (Kompf, 1999: 12)"
(Muncey, 2010: 57)
"You are surrounded by artefacts that have degrees of significance in your life..
all these artefacts can help to stimulate the imagination for writing about experience."
(Ibid.: 58)
can generate new ways of thinking.
'Found poetry', a form of poetry that is co-constructed from words or phrases found in particular contexts..
Can work in the same way that artefacts surrounding oneself could help as stimulus.
(Ibid.: 59)
"their usefulness is that they can be extended and changed to provide a different way of viewing the world. If arguments are a dance, then we can learn new steps or learn a new dance or change partners. If arguments are a war, the winning is important, going for the kill and counter-attacking, from which is
very difficult to back down."
(Ibid.: 61)
'The Journey'
Common metaphor in research, to describe a period of discovery or a process of learning.
"I think a great deal of research is like the commuter's journey: a predictable shuffle between expected destinations, with safety and comfort that desired outcome but with no hint of adventure.
Auto-ethnography could be likened to an adventure; setting off with a map and compass and some understanding of the territory but not hidebound by expectations or predictability."
(Muncey, 2010: 63).
'The Body'
'The Garden'
'The Place'
'Cut up/Random sort technique'
'Windowsill of life'
EXERCISE: Self- Site-specific Memories / 'The Place'
What are the goals:
- To gain some experience in creative writing prompt exercises
- To involve many senses and perspectives in place-based memories
Social matrix:
- eg. Individual work
30 mins
- None needed except paper/notebook & writing/typing tool
Introduction (5 mins)
- This will be a step by step creative writing exercise exploring a place and your memories attached. It was experienced by Andrew Paterson in a creative workshop led by Scottish poet & novelist Jackie Kay in Middlesborough in 01.2004.
Activity (20 mins)
- Think about a/the place where you made your last project (same one as 'my last project & me exercise)
- Describe what you see at this place
- Look up, describe what you can see
- Look down, maybe you have zoom
- Imagine yourself doing something, an action there
- What does this action look like/how you might describe what you are doing
- Imagine your body in this place, what it might be like, feels like
- Is there any noise, or sound in this place
- Are there any smells in this place
- How about sense of touch, is there something you touch
- Are there any surprises encountered
- Then you are leaving, how is this happening, how do you leave
Discussion (15 mins)
What new insights do you have about the context of your project?
Making Sense of Auto-ethnographic texts
"Producing text for an audience will always invite critical review
Methodological issues to be dealt with include the legitimacy of this approach and the sub-headings of truth, memory, self-indulgence.
Personal issues to be dealt with include self-preservation, hurtful reviews and retorts of lying.
Resonance is an appropriate criterion for evaluation and this can only be acheived by connecting with the audience through reading, performance or critical review…
Reviewers can become part of the text, just as supervisors write themselves into every thesis, albeit often quite silently.
Imaginative ability can be the route to other's world of meaning.
The self as containment is a myth that pervades science.
Common sense is an illusion with reality, as much a quality of mind as it is of matter; self-indulgence or something more.
Authoethnography requires strategies that use descriptive and evocative detail.
Coherence, verisimilitude and interest are literary devices for judging the quality of a piece of writing.
In consideration of the legitimatation of knowledge it is not what is true or not true, but how decisions are made and who makes them.
The analysis and interpretation of autoethnographic texts require the reader to utilise a broader range of analytical skills than those used for other research methods, such as linguistic, semantic, and aesthetic analysis and literary criticism.
Memory is not complete, static and accurate record of the past. It is dynamic and shaped by expectancies, needs and beliefs, imbued with emotion, and enriched by the inherently human capacity for narrative creation.
Memory is not all in the mind. Embodiment refers to the absorbtion of traces of experience throughout the body.
Ethics is a continually negotiable set of responsibilities between the author and the story and the author and the reader."
(Muncey, 2010: 107-108)
References shared in this session
Benjamin, Walter (2007). Walter Benjamin's Archive, New York: Verso.
Ellis, Carolyn and Bochner, Arthur P. (2000) Autoethnography, Personal Narrative, Reflexivity: Researcher as Subject, In Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (eds) The Handbook of Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks: Sage, 733-768.
Husserl, E. (1970) The Idea of Phenomenology. The Hague: Martinus Nijoff.
Khosravi, Shahram (2011). 'Illegal Traveller': An auto-ethnography of borders. Van Den Anker, C. (ed) Global Ethics Series. Bakingstoke: Palgrave-MacMillen
Muncey, Tessa. (2010). Creating Autoethnographies. London: Sage Publications.
Pratt, Mary Louise (2008). Imperial Eyes: travel writing and transculturation. 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge
Reed-Danahay, Deborah (1997). Auto/Enthography: Rewriting the self and the social. Oxford: Berg
Richardson, Laurel. (2001). 'Getting Personal: Writing-stories'. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 14(1), 33-8.
Warren, Kay B. (1997), Narrating Cultural Resurgence: Gender and self-representation for pan-Mayan writers. in Reed-Danahay, Deborah (ed.) Auto/Enthography: Rewriting the self and the social. Oxford: Berg
Wolcott, H. F. (2001). Writing up Qualitative Research (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.


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A SysAdmin's Perspective
An excellent analysis of whether the CRU zipfile was "hacked" or "leaked" here, arguing for a combination of a dossier prepared by the university in relation to potential FOI responsibilities (though not necessarily FOI requests in hand) and discovery of the dossier by someone at the university who released it to the outside world – very much along the lines hypothesized by Charles the Moderator of WUWT, but substantially fleshed out.
This is a detailed analysis, unlike IPCC allegations of attacks by the Russian secret service (their version of "A miracle occurred").
bender permalinkDecember 7, 2009 3:06 pm
The inability to track recent comments is *severely* limiting the usefulness and impact of this blog.
Steve: Drives me crazy too. The new CA is being prepared as we speak. Say nice things to MrPete, John A and Anthony.
Follow the Money permalinkDecember 7, 2009 3:10 pm
"unlike IPCC allegations of attacks by the Russian secret service"
Which will only increase when Putin or his #2 makes a demonstrative NYET at Copenhagen. Which they already suspect will happen, explaining the allegations in the first instance.
Someone took a long time filtering out personal emails, and there is a substantial lack of uninteresting, mundane business emails also. Arranged with care.
Denbo permalinkDecember 7, 2009 3:21 pm
I read this over on WUWT and was surprised he missed the epoch times as file names. It isn't a show stopper based on the final conclusion but I don't completely agree with it.
He claimed the 'simplest' answer was "that someone at UEA found it and released it to the wild and the release of FOIA2009.zip wasn't because of some hacker, but because of a leak from UEA by a person with scruples."
Er… no. While I agree it appears it was from the inside nothing in the analysis can make a claim as to their motivation.
It could have been someone was rather 'careless' or that someone was 'paid' to do so. Or maybe, the person(s) happened to be a programmer who was tired of Phil Jones's and others and their excessively large EGO's.
We all wanted 'Deep Throat' to be a person of good conscious too but in the end he was just po'ed that he was passed over for promotion twice to he big chair.
My 2 cents
December 7, 2009 3:24 pm
Take comfort from the fact that anyone with any degree of technical knowledge will find it ludicrous to equate "uploaded to a server physically located in Russia" with "hacked by Russian spies".
This is a distinction that's easy to make convincingly to the man in the street and when it's pointed out, the original contention will appear justifiably risible; it will be another own-goal for anyone to try to make capital on this point.
PaulH permalinkDecember 7, 2009 3:43 pm
Denbo: The author updated his analysis making note of the epoch timestamps issue you raised. The updated article with corrections here http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/FOIA_Leaked/
December 7, 2009 3:59 pm
OK, I may have found something interesting – or may not. So I decided to bring it to the attention of you experts.
Hopefully this is of some value to the cause.
Mark Barratt permalinkDecember 7, 2009 4:08 pm
I find it intriguing, given the importance of the harry_read_me.txt file, that nobody seems to know much about the author (apparently one Ian "Harry" Harris). From his comments in that file, he appears to be a prime suspect for the leak, but I haven't heard that the paparazzi are camping on his doorstep. Personally, I'd like to sit him down over a few beers and get him to give me his opinion on the "science" conducted at CRU over the last few years.
Perhaps he's been locked up in a basement somewhere?
John MacQueen permalinkDecember 7, 2009 4:28 pm
As someone who has administered unix systems this explanation is what I have thought was most likely from the start.
My first assumption was that it was likely a system administrator who leaked the file, or it was placed where someone inside had access to it and decided to release it.
I seriously doubt they were hacked from the outside, though it is quite possible.
Bernie permalinkDecember 7, 2009 4:30 pm
Are you going to analyze the data that was part of the CRU file download or are you going to wait until the data is officially released by UEA CRU?
Bob Koss permalinkDecember 7, 2009 4:33 pm
I suspect there is a lot of distrust and paranoia to be found within the EAU.
Quondam permalinkDecember 7, 2009 4:37 pm
As has been noted, the email filenames are UNIX timestamps, e.g.
From: "Thorne, Peter (Climate Research)"
To: "Phil Jones"
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:17:44 -0000
1258053464 -> 12/11/2009 19:17:44
From: Michael Mann
To: Kevin Trenberth
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:25:25 -0400
1255530325 -> 14/10/2009 14:25:25
From: "Tatiana M. Dedkova"
To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 96 09:41:07 +0500
0826209667 -> 7/03/1996 14:41:07
They agree to the second with the Date field set by the sender but the inconsistent hour values may have some bearing on whether all names were generated by the same software at the same time.
December 7, 2009 4:39 pm
Looking at the dates provides some extra info. The FOIA.zip file contains emails dated up to the afternoon of Nov. 12, 2009. The next day, CRU rejected Steve McIntyre's freedom of information request (which they reference as FOI_99-44). On Nov.12, the FOIA.zip file appeared on a .ru server.
More importantly, Paul Hudson at the BBC claims he got the "same" files on Oct. 12, 2009. Obviously it could not have been the SAME version of FOIA.zip, which contains files dated into November. But he got something very similar.
Therefore–whoever provided FOIA.zip in November probably also had access to the essentially the same information in October. I suppose it COULD have been a hacker–but it sure looks like somebody who had access to the files on an ongoing basis, and who made the decision to "go rogue" after FOI_09-44 was denied.
Steve: please do not use the Paul Hudson thing in your reasoning. It's almost certainly not the same thing.
SineCos permalinkDecember 7, 2009 5:10 pm
Quondam – the hours are different due to time zone differences. Mann is 4 timezones from Greenwich in mid-October due to Daylight Savings Time.
Duke C. permalinkDecember 7, 2009 6:27 pm
As far as Unix timestamps go-
It should be pointed out that Unix Epoch Time is an expression of Greenwich Mean Time. It doesn't recognize time zones. The local time settings on the machine where the mail client application resides uses the timestamp to determine what to print in the email date/time header.
All 1,073 .txt file names have the same 4 or 5 hour offset (depending on daylight/standard time adjustments) relative to the date/time contained in the email, regardless the time zone of the sender/recipient.
We've discussed this anamoly here previously. It's Interesting, but not germaine to Levsen's very good analysis.
pat permalinkDecember 7, 2009 6:51 pm
true, paul hudson's chain of emails is not the same thing – cos emails from later than 12 oct are in the uea cache, BUT bbc is vulnerable to pressure because of public funding and they need to release ALL the stuff hudson received, so the public can decide whether or not bbc sat on info critical to what we now call climategate. best wishes
harold permalinkDecember 7, 2009 7:00 pm
I agree with Mark Barratt, this Harry guy has to deal a mess he has not created. Why would he (on his first day on the job!) use strong language to comment on his own incompetence and the mess he finds? And why does he try to solve these problems on his own?
December 7, 2009 7:11 pm
I think the route into the CRU server – and directly to Jones's emails is found in the file: 1248862973 – dated July 29 2009.
Here Mann writes to Jones:
"Santer et al paper still didn't come through in your followup message. Can you post in on ftp where it can be downloaded?"
Jones replies to Mann:
"See below for instructions […]
file is at http://ftp.cru.uea.ac.uk
login anonymously with emails as pw
then go to people/philjones
and you should find santeretal2001.pdf"
(my emphasis)
This email is CCed to
Kevin Trenberth
Jim Salinger
Gavin Schmidt
James Annan
Grant Foster
Foster's address being a 'tamino' Hotmail account. Now 'Tamino' isn't the most appealing character on the block for "loathesome" AGW sceptics – and much of what made him so depended upon his hiding behind a pseudonym that many people would have liked to officially 'out' him from. Apparently, Hotmail email accounts are fairly easy to crack – with instructions on how to do so openly available via a quick search on the internet. Anyone succeeding in such a crack would have found Jones' ftp instructions in 'Tamino's' in box.
If Jones did indeed have a folder named "emails" on http://ftp.cru.uea.ac.uk (as his password suggests), and if that folder was intended to be a password-protected repository for the "loads of emails" Jones claimed to have deleted "2 months ago" (on December 3rd 2008) in response to FOI requests (1228330629), then anyone cracking into Tamino's Hotmail email account would have come up trumps.
December 7, 2009 7:22 pm
Ok, us sceptics keep getting accused of being conspiracy theorists, so here's one ( Tabloids and visitors from realclimate please note – this is NOT a serious suggestion, although it is as credible as some of the stuff we keep getting thrown at us)
This file was obviously prepared in response to an FOI request, which they finally couldn't refuse. But, rather than honouring the request and accepting inevitable fallout over the contents (especially from poor Harry's work) they made a strategic decision to create a "leak" where they could detract from the contents by shouting about the "illegal hack" – hell, if it backfired they could always blame the Russians or something! They then, obviously, timed the leak so that it would run for a bit then be overshadowed by Copenhagen.
Can I have a scripting job on the next Bruce Willis film now?*
* or as a spokesman for the IPCC 😛
bender permalinkDecember 7, 2009 7:28 pm
Praise be! Recent comments! 🙂
TJA permalinkDecember 7, 2009 7:35 pm
At least the Russian secret service would plausibly have the resources to collate the information in the file. So they are getting better at their cover stories. It is so obviously a leak it is funny that we even discuss any other possibility. Who ever did it has a pretty good idea of the difference between a climate arse and a climate elbow.
December 7, 2009 7:42 pm
Over and above the questions marks over the basis of AGW, I'm not a huge conspiracy theory fan.
But given Steve's "Augean Stable" comment previously, whether a deliberate and subtle tactic or not, releasing such a huge volume of information could act like electronic chaff.
The thing that struck me was that Steve Mc. precipitated this sequence of events by relentlessly plugging away at the data, rather than being subject to the distractions of witless name-calling and deconstructing motive.
You can't snap at every minnow in the shoal.
December 7, 2009 7:42 pm
It would be interesting to organize the people and organizations along the lines of:
Nick Moon permalinkDecember 7, 2009 7:46 pm
Interesting but I think he's wrong in his analysis.
The most recent email, is To: Phil Jones. And at the bottom it says the attachment has been converted and is stored in c:\eudora\attach\….
This means that as recently as 12th November Phil Jones was still using eudora as his mail client. And the leaked emails are copies from what had been downloaded to his desktop PC. These emails are emails after they have been downloaded and processed by an email client – in this case Eudora. All the headers have been thrown away except the ones that get displayed. And attachments have been converted from base64 encoding. Also, I think, Eudora has some facility for spotting URLs in a message and turning them into references, and these are marked in the txt files.
Now I think eudora stores emails in large mailbox files. But these have basically the same format as mailboxes on a unix server. And as they are just great big text files, there is no real problem writing some small script to work through the mailbox file and spit out separate .txt files for each message.
A lot of the emails are either To: From or CC: to Phil Jones. and presumably come from the mailboxes on his desktop PC. However, some are not. So this would imply that the emails have been culled from more than one person's mailboxes on more than one desktop PC.
One obvious scenario, is that someone was sent to go round each PC and look for data that related to a FOI request. However, it is also quite possible that copies of every person's desktop PC end up back on a university server. It might be that there is a backup service, so that stuff on laptops or desktop PCs gets uploaded to a server and then backed up to tape. Or, it's possible that the university runs a thin client setup. In which case, the data doesn't really reside in the workstations but agan on some central server.
What I think is clear, is that a great deal of very intelligent selection has taken place. There are no office gossip emails, no spam, and presumably sometimes these guys send each other emails which are just about science and not about news management. There seems to be a lot of signal and very little noise. which thinking about it, implies the work was not done by a climate scientist.
Whoever did the selection must really know the ins-and-outs of the climate debate. If this were really done by a hacker, I'd say thay would have to be fluent in english, and they must have followed the debate on a place like Climate Audit – for several years. And if they ripped off entire mailboxes and then sorted through them for the nuggets – they must have been at it for months or there must be a fairly large team of them.
On the other hand, if an insider was tasked with putting this information together I'm slightly unsure as to why some things were chosen. The emails seem about right. I can understand that all of these emails are ones that might be relevant. You might want to put these through the electronic equivalent of the shredder. But the mix of documents is slightly strange. There are various funding applications/grant applications. There is the delightful Harry readme. The nastiest (speaking as a british taxpayer) is the government financed document explaining to government agencies how they should go about changing people's perceptions of climate change. Basically how to manage a propaganda campaign. But I fail to see how these would be part of an FOI request. The communicating_cc.pdf is labelled as Crown Copyright don't see that a university would have any requirement to release it.
Personally, I think the hacker argument is unlikely. I think this is a combination of leak possibly after some internal process to gather stuff for a possible FOI request. And I'm quite happy that whoever did it should remain anonymous. They've performed a public service but I doubt if they would benefit from being outed. It would probably blight their chances of ever getting another job.
December 7, 2009 7:47 pm
Can my previous comment pass moderation? Or do I have to repost it without active links???
December 7, 2009 7:55 pm
@Third Party
There's a graphical analysis of email exchanges arranged as a network of nodes connected by lines of various thickness depending on volume and frequency.
Not exactly the same as the link you provided (and I can't put my finger on it at the moment) but similar. I'll grep my history fir the link.
December 7, 2009 8:00 pm
I think the route into the CRU server – and directly to Jones's emails is found in the file: 1248862973 – dated July 29 2009.
Here Mann writes to Jones:
"Santer et al paper still didn't come through in your followup message. Can you post in on ftp where it can be downloaded?"
Jones replies to Mann:
"See below for instructions […]
file is at ftp . cru . uea . xx . xx
login anonymously with emails as pw
then go to people/philjones
and you should find santeretal2001.pdf"
(my emphasis)
This email is CCed to
Kevin Trenberth
Jim Salinger
Gavin Schmidt
James Annan
Grant Foster
Foster's address being a 'tamino' Hotmail account. Now 'Tamino' isn't the most appealing character on the block for "loathesome" AGW sceptics – and much of what made him so depended upon his hiding behind a pseudonym that many people would have liked to officially 'out' him from. Apparently, Hotmail email accounts are fairly easy to crack – with instructions on how to do so openly available via a quick search on the internet. Anyone succeeding in such a crack would have found Jones' ftp instructions in 'Tamino's' in box.
If Jones did indeed have a folder named "emails" on ftp . cru . uea . xx . xx (as his password suggests), and if that folder was intended to be a password-protected repository for the "loads of emails" Jones claimed to have deleted "2 months ago" (on December 3rd 2008) in response to FOI requests (1228330629), then anyone cracking into Tamino's Hotmail email account would have come up trumps.
December 7, 2009 8:04 pm
I like my explanation for the mysterious CRU e-mail mystery….. It's the fault of the Large Hadron Collider.
OK. OK. I know you're saying "What?" but bear with me.
Many predicted that if CERN tried to restart the Large Hadron Collider, either the world was either going to be swallowed up by micro black holes (hasn't happened so far), or because of the quantum nature of the higgs-boson particle, that it can travel through time, it doesn't want to be discovered. It is often called the "God Particle" after all. Thus the very act of trying to discover the particle would stop the LHC from ever firing – note how the actions of one bird caused a severe delay the reboot process. That was one-heck-of-a-strategically-placed bread crumb! But there is a third possibility. Maybe the effects of the higgs boson do travel through time, but they don't prevent its discovery…. but, however, they do strange things to the world in a quantum way. Obviously, the LHC has succeeded sometime in the near future of creating the "God Particle", and since the effects of such are quantum and not anchored in time, well, the effects are being felt now! And one of the effect is… drum roll please…. to cause the CRU e-mails and code to go all quantum on us and shift from a secured server at the University of East Anglia to one in Vlad's house that is quite open to the web! It's so easy to see…. And it's quantum to boot!
Who can argue with that!
Duke C. permalinkDecember 7, 2009 8:08 pm
Nick Moon wrote:
"A lot of the emails are either To: From or CC: to Phil Jones. and presumably come from the mailboxes on his desktop PC. However, some are not. So this would imply that the emails have been culled from more than one person's mailboxes on more than one desktop PC."
Every email has one thing in common. *(@) uea.ac.uk appears in the From:, To: or Cc: field(s).
This would support Levsen's theory that they all resided on the same mail server. It would be an easy task to copy them if one had root directory access to that server.
Jane Coles permalinkDecember 7, 2009 8:11 pm
Three puzzles:
1. How much email does a senior academic send and receive per day? Let's guess that they send 10 and receive 40 on Monday to Friday (as a former academic, I reckon that's a very low estimate). That's 250/week/academic. This email corpus concerns about 10 core academics over a 10 year period. That's a total of around 1.3M email messages — let's say 1.0M to allow for duplicates. The leaker provided us just over a thousand. Most, perhaps all, are highly pertinent to understanding what has been going on at CRU. That's one hell of an editorial task.
2. We can infer from the absence of forgery claims from the participants that none of the emails had material added to them. But what about redactions? Academic email is often copied to research students, secretaries, admin assistants, and system support staff if a message contains something that is relevant to them (e.g., so a secretary can set up a meeting). Were the names of such innocent bystanders redacted from the emails? An ethical leaker would probably have worried about blasting their email addresses all over the known universe. If he or she was a junior member of the unit then many of these bystanders would have been the leaker's friends and coffee room companions.
Did the leaker redact other content — e.g., personal matters such as an enquiry after a child's health — that might have been appended to some messages?
3. FOIA requests are very specific. Faced with a set of FOIA requests, why would one dump all the relevant material into a single bundle? The rational thing to do would be to create a set of directories, one for each FOIA request, and sort the relevant material into the relevant directory. There's no trace of such a structure in FOIA.zip.
Digger permalinkDecember 7, 2009 8:15 pm
With regard to public access to data, which would obviate the need for hackers or leakers, there is an interesting post on UK government policy at
In particular, around halfway down the article, this:
"Opening Met Office Public Weather Service data to include: releasing significant underlying data for weather forecasts for free download and reuse by April 2010, and working to further expand the release of weather data, while recognising all public safety considerations; releasing a free iPhone application to access weather data by April 2010; releasing a widget that enables other websites to deploy Met Office supplied weather information by April 2010; and making available more information on Met Office scientists, their work and scientific papers, free of charge"
brnn8r permalinkDecember 7, 2009 8:17 pm
A problem I have with his analysis is his claim:
"The hacker would have to crack an Administrative file server to get to the emails and crack numerous workstations, desktops, and servers to get the documents"
This is not entirely true if you're using an LDAP or directory based authentication infrastructure.
It's possible UEA are using OpenLdap or the like.
December 7, 2009 8:29 pm
Social engineering is easier with prepackaged requests for sure, a luxury that did not seem to have enjoyed those who allegedly tried to break into the University of Victoria recently: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2300282
December 7, 2009 9:00 pm
I like SonicFrog's theory.
I rather like this cartoon from our oh so caring and green NZ Herald too…
Denny permalinkDecember 7, 2009 9:21 pm
"bender permalink
The inability to track recent comments is *severely* limiting the usefulness and impact of this blog.
Steve: Drives me crazy too. The new CA is being prepared as we speak. Say nice things to MrPete, John A and Anthony."
Steve, are you in need of another upgrade?? Let us know if need be…I agree, I liked the "old" site better….Keep it goin!!!
Fai Mao permalinkDecember 7, 2009 10:02 pm
I am a librarian, not a climate scientist or computer programer. Thus, my reading of these documents is with an archivist eye rather than that of a scientist.
It appears to me that whoever put these together was working from a set of parameters. Almost like generating a subject list in a library catalog. However, I don't really have a clue as to the vocabulary or indexing system. If we knew that then datamining the documents would easier because we'd know exactly what the author/editor/provider wanted us to find rather than having to work through the paers. It is obvious that they are carefully selected, by someone who knew the EAU-CRU computer system and file structure. There is almost no way a hacker did this. Maybe a mole but not a hacker. Whoever did this knew how to access the system. I'd like to have their indexing notes.
They do not appear redacted. If they were then the materials would not read as smoothly as it does unless there was extensive editing. If there was editing then I think the principles involved would have used that editing as a defense.
December 7, 2009 10:10 pm
Thanks for the notification that there was a node analysis out there.
Here's the one I found: http://seadragon.com/view/h0i
Quite a few more points of contact than I'd have guessed.
December 7, 2009 10:28 pm
From: http://computationallegalstudies.com/2009/11/27/visualizing-the-east-anglia-climate-research-unit-leaked-email-network/
"Hubs and Authorities:
In addition to the visual, we provide hub and authority scores for the nodes in the network. We provide names for these nodes but do not provide their email address.
1. Phil Jones: 1.0
2. Keith Briffa: 0.86
3. Tim Osborn: 0.80
4. Jonathan Overpeck: 0.57
5. Tom Wigley: 0.54
6. Gavin Schmidt: 0.54
7. Raymond Bradley: 0.52
8. Kevin Trenberth: 0.49
9. Benjamin Santer: 0.49
10. Michael Mann: 0.46
Hubs returns nearly identical ranks with slightly perturbed orders with the notable exception that the UK Met Office IPCC Working Group has the highest hub score.
Thus, so far as these emails are a reasonable "proxy" for the true structure of this communication network, these are some of the most important individuals in the network."
debreuil permalinkDecember 7, 2009 10:52 pm
I'm not familiar with all the FOI requests they had, but I wonder if it would be possible to narrow it down to which one it was based on the content? If there were an 'all emails relating to x, y, and z' type list it should be possible to get close to a match with just pattern matching.
Also if all the FOI requests required say mail that spoke about say Steve McIntyre, and Steve has email he sent and received from one of them that isn't in the list of emails, one might get closer to knowing if this was content not to include, rather than content required to include. Given what some of it says, that might be less surprising (although that would be even worse than FOI evasion imo — speculation of course).
turkeylurkey permalinkDecember 8, 2009 12:34 am
Hey Jeff,
how did you get that onto youtube?
I would like to try to do the same thing with the Wegman segment on CNN.
The link seems to just be some kind of java thing.
debreuil permalinkDecember 8, 2009 1:27 am
Wow, I think Peter S may be on to something (S for Sherlock I assume : )… That really does seem to be plausible. Imagine someone hacked someone's email account a while back, and was just snooping. That email also does seem to suggest there were files missing, and the files was in a zip file, and placed on a server. The 'emails' pw is a double clue – it suggests emails (with some files as well as that is what is being sought), and it is a password which is potentially how the break in happened.
That could explain the weird Paul Hudson chain of emails too. That sounded more like he was sent a single thread of one email chain, and it did sound like it was from someone 'outside'. I suspect he was sent the FOIA\mail\1255558867.txt series (ok, that seems sure).
Paul says:
"I was forwarded the chain of e-mails on the 12th October, which are comments from some of the worlds leading climate scientists written as a direct result of my article 'whatever happened to global warming'. The e-mails released on the internet as a result of CRU being hacked into are identical to the ones I was forwarded and read at the time and so, as far as l can see, they are authentic."
So potentially this hacker guy was evesdropping, found this and thought it was a clear smoking gun — looking again at Tom Wigley's mail in there, you can see why:
> > Mike,
> >
> > The Figure you sent is very deceptive. As an example, historical
> > runs with PCM look as though they match observations — but the
> > match is a fluke. PCM has no indirect aerosol forcing and a low
> > climate sensitivity — compensating errors. In my (perhaps too
> > harsh)
> > view, there have been a number of dishonest presentations of model
> > results by individual authors and by IPCC. This is why I still use
> > results from MAGICC to compare with observed temperatures. At least
> > here I can assess how sensitive matches are to sensitivity and
> > forcing assumptions/uncertainties.
> >
> > Tom.
That goes to thePaul Hudson at the bbc, and nothing.
Why not make it public then? Maybe the hacker feels that if that is forwarded elsewhere, everyone involved knows they are compromised, and changes passwords etc, so the guy waits. Then he gets the stuff Peter S mentions (foia2009.zip I assume) and uploads it to servers and blogs.
If (yes big if ; ) that is so, then the only four emails that are common to both chains are:
Kevin Trenberth
Gavin Schmidt
You would think that would have to mean Jones, as he is the only one at UEA, however all the email we see is from the zip file. One way to test this would be to see the email chain that Paul Hudson received. If that is from the 'perspective' of one of those four, then that is probably who was compromised.
If he means identical as in server stamps, then it would indicate Phil Jones. Given he's taken the fall, maybe that is the case.
Sorry if this is too much wild speculation of a post, I understand the comment policy here tries to keep it on topic and on facts, I understand if this is over the line, feel free to snip…
December 8, 2009 1:46 am
It's no proof but it indeed sounds convincing. The file (and/or directories) could have been prepared or set too free access rights and a grad student or whoever had an account on the same machine could have posted it. A minimum amount of miracles is needed.
December 8, 2009 1:52 am
Not everyone is allowed to read that SysAdmin's Perspective. When trying to enter the address indicated in Steve's post, http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/FOIA_Leaked/, I read:
Opera/9.63 (Windows NT 5.1; U; ru) Presto/2.1.1
If you've reached this page, it's probably due to one of the following conditions:
a) Your isp is blocked because it originates from a country that welcomes spammers. (.ru, .br).
b) Your isp is blocked due to abusive behavior by someone else, and you've been caught in the net. Sorry about that – email me at kate [at] katewerk [dot] com and I'll see what I can do for you.
c) You're poking around where you're not supposed to. Stop it.
d) Your isp is blocked due to your abusive behavior. If you think that's unfair, then email me privately to discuss it.
e) You're trying to circumvent the block using an anonymizing proxy. See d). Nice try, luser.
Well, I am indeed from Russia.
jallen permalinkDecember 8, 2009 6:09 am
Different take: The emails were not aggregated for an FOIA response, the were being deleted / purged in order to provide and incomplete response. Consider:
They are the residual emails of a batch which had already been *sanitized* from the CRU systems, in order to illegally prepare an incomplete response for a future FOIA request. The emails in question were *not* going to be provided under a FOIA request.
These are deleted emails from a sanitized batch which were foolishly or purposely archived and/or discovered by an insider or whistleblower (perhaps the sanitizer himself). The insider then had pangs of conscience or an axe to grind and released them surreptitiously.
Also: The leaker may enjoy protection under the UK's Public Interest Disclosure Act of 1998, which was enacted to protect whistleblowers
Kee permalinkDecember 8, 2009 9:28 am
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Regarding the 'emails' as password part in that one email is just normal way to log on to a public ftp server…
"login anonymously with emails as pw" as the instruction stated means that you should use 'anonymous" as username, and any email address as password, eg. email@example.com (there is no validation other than possibly checking for @ sign).
Sean permalinkDecember 8, 2009 10:19 am
Is there any consistent searchable word in all the emails? I work at a large bank and whenever we get any sort of legal inquiry on a particular topic, an email goes around asking all of us to forward any possibly responsive emails/documents to compliance.
I use X1 to search all my emails for anything that may be responsive then someone comes to my desk and collects the presumably-relevant emails. I suppose they filter out housekeeping emails that may mention the search word but not be responsive.
Could the CRU emails have been collected in this manner? Is there any reader here who worked at UEA when they were served with a supoena or FOI request so you could compare collection methodology?
icman permalinkDecember 8, 2009 11:53 am
As Steve requested.
To John A, Mr. Pete, and Anthony.
"Nice Things"
Harry Eagar permalinkDecember 8, 2009 2:13 pm
Joe, I like it!
And just because you made it up out of nothing doesn't mean you cannot use it. You, too, can have a lucrative future in climate science, with good pay, relaxing trips to warm places, and free e-mail accounts!
December 8, 2009 2:20 pm
Bob Koss — many thanks.
JohnP permalinkDecember 8, 2009 3:32 pm
It is sad that you accept at face value that "analysis".
It is not a technical analysis, just a description full of technical jargon so that most visitors will take at face value.
The "analysis" does not manage to show that the e-mails were leaked.
There is a big credibility issue with this website and the author.
Calvin Ball permalinkDecember 8, 2009 4:37 pm
Maybe I missed it, but is there a reason to believe that all the data files were kept on local drives and not on a central server? It seems to me that it's well within possibility that data was kept on a central server somewhere, in which an external hack would be feasible. What did I miss?
Dave Dardinger permalinkDecember 8, 2009 5:40 pm
John P
"The "analysis" does not manage to show that the e-mails were leaked.
"There is a big credibility issue with this website and the author."
You need to watch your writing. What do you mean by "show"? Prove? Of course nobody can prove something without access to the actual computers. But he/she does show a good set of reasons to suspect strongly that the e-mails were leaked rather than hacked.
And what are you referring to by "this website"? Small Dead Animals or Climate Audit? And what is the credibility issue?
To me your screed just seems to be a drive-by.
December 8, 2009 5:42 pm
I think it is a pretty good argument for why the files were collected internally. As far as how that internally collected zip was released is up in the air though, I agree if that is what you mean.
If there is any technical part in there you doubt or would like to hear in plainer terms I'd be happy to go over those parts with you… (not implying you aren't right or aren't comfortable with the tech (are you?), I may have missed something you caught, or there may be alternate explanations for some things I don't see..
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text:
Slave-Like Conditions Of Sacadas In Hacienda Luisita Alarming – DAR
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is continuing to assist migratory sugar workers or sacadas escaping Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac. Early this month, 19 sacadas who were recruited by a contracting agency hired by the Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT) from as far as Sultan Kudarat, Davao City and South Cotabato provinces has approached DAR and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) national offices to seek assistance for their plight at Hacienda Luisita.
"This alarming situation of sacadas in vast sugar plantations in Hacienda Luisita and other Luzon provinces needs to be decisively addressed. While the DAR is vigorously correcting the social injustices endured by Luisita farmers and farmworkers brought about by decades of landlessness, the Cojuangco-Aquinos continue to recruit sacadas and impose upon them unfair labor practices and unacceptable working conditions. Worse, labor contractor Greehand Labor Cooperative, affiliated with the Cojuangco-Aquinos are recruiting poor farmers and national minorities from Mindanao to work in sugarcane fields in Tarlac and Pampanga, making them even more vulnerable to abuses," said DAR Secretary Rafael 'Ka Paeng' Mariano.
The illegal recruitment and grim plight of sacadas in Hacienda Luisita was brought to national attention early this year when more than 40 sacadas, from Bukidnon recruited by Greenhand Labor Contractor, managed to escape Hacienda Luisita due to inhumane labor conditions. Since January, sacadas who escape Hacienda Luisita proceeded to DAR to seek temporary shelter while availing of the balik-probinsya assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Pastor Bernie Caha said the 'Tarlac employment package' on which the sacadas were recruited was proven deceitful. They were promised a daily wage of P450 with benefits, including free meals and provisions on board and lodging, and travel to and from Hacienda Luisita. Their families also received cash advance payments. The exact opposite happened as soon as the sacadas set foot on Hacienda Luisita."
The sacadas personally narrated to Mariano the plight they endured in Hacienda Luisita. They said they were paid much less than what was promised to them by Greenhand Labor Cooperative and Agrikulto Inc. They were housed in cramped barracks and were not provided with food and water. They worked for long hours cutting and hauling sugarcane. It took them three days to finish cutting and hauling a truckload of sugarcane. It's appalling. The labor conditions that the sacadas endured, we only knew existed in slave camps during wartime. But the sacadas are working in Hacienda Luisita and nearby plantations, at present day," the DAR secretary said.
The sacadas who escaped Hacienda Luisita said GreenHand Labor Cooperative recruited almost a thousand sacadas from Mindanao, many of whom are unable to read or write. Many were paid even less than P9.50 per day as official payslips obtained state that some received only P43.75 each week or a mere P6.25 a day. The lowest recorded pay for an 11-man team was P38.26 per week or P5.47 per day.
"Those recruited and lured to work in Hacienda Luisita are landless farmworkers. This condition amplifies the need for a genuine agrarian reform to address the landlessness problem perpetuated by the previous Aquino administration," the DAR secretary said.
Mariano supports the resolution filed in Congress to conduct probe on the sacada issue.
#DAR4Farmers #Land4Farmers #PartnerForChange


text:
Voltage and batteries, Alessandro Volta
Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was born to a noble family in Como, a town in northern Italy, on February 18, 1745. In 1774, he became a professor of physics at the Royal School. A year later, he improved and popularized the electrophorus, a device that produced static electricity. He discovered methane in November 1776 at Lake Maggiore, and by (more)


text:
Bookmark: Delete Browsers Autocomplete Entries
Link: How to Banish Embarrassing or Annoying Autocomplete Suggestions from Your Browser
- Type the initial letters that allows you to see the unwanted autocomplete entry on the dropdown combobox.
- Make sure it's highlighted.
- Press SHIFT+DELETE (On Mac: SHIFT+FUNCTION+DELETE).
- Voila, the entry is gone! This works for Firefox and Chrome.
Have you ever find yourself mistyping URL in the address bar, or your username on the login form, and now Firefox always suggest it? That happens a lot to me as a web developer while I'm testing my site frequently. For years, I thought this has no solution, until it finally got my nerves and I started to look about that. After a few times discarding unrelated search result that's teaching how to obliterating the whole autocomplete entries, I found this result. Now, no more mis-select autocomplete entry after mis-typing entry!
Bookmarks: Internet Explorer's ieframe.dll Error or Crash After Open Error
Link: Internet Explorer 8 crashes, hangs or restarts while opening or closing tabs
Okay, I've opened so many websites that I've lost track of what website finally give me this solution. But if you have any problem with ieframe.dll error (you have to experience it first for you to understand what I mean, it's a weird error like illustration picture above that I found many people in the world actually experienced it too), or worse, you can't even open Internet Explorer, don't fret, because Internet Explorer have this "reset" feature that actually works! This will reset your Internet Explorer and erase all the wrong settings that prevent your Internet Explorer from launching and working properly. It will make your Internet Explorer like brand new. Sure, your add-ons, and preferences will be gone, but hey, what's good of preferences if you can't open your browser, right?
To reset Internet Explorer:
- Open Control Panel and double click on Internet Options. If you can't do it somehow, open Start > Run on Windows XP, or just open Start menu on Windows 7, and type inetcpl.cpl. I assume that you can't open Internet Explorer, so we will use 'backdoor' access to Internet Explorer options through Control Panel.
- Go to the 'Advanced' tab.
- On the bottom, see the 'Reset' button? Yes, click it.
- It will ask another additional confirmation, and whether you want to delete your personal data with it. That means all your saved passwords and browsing history are gone. As far as I'm concerned, nothing harm can be done by erasing this. Who knows that it's the settings that actually prevent Internet Explorer from opened up in the first place, right?
- Click 'reset'.
- After a few steps, it will be done. Just in case, if your Internet Explorer is on, restart it to apply the reset effect.
From what I know, this solution can fix almost every problem on Internet Explorer, including ieframe.dll error, which I have searched on the entire internet with no result. Or, if your Internet Explorer has been infested with malicious toolbars and don't know how to get rid of them, this should be a quick solution. This works particularly well on Internet Explorer 8, as reinstalling Internet Explorer 8 is an impossible feat to do in Windows 7. I believe it will works too for higher version of Internet Explorer.
Bookmarks: How to Create a Secure Login Script in PHP and MySQL
Link: How to Create a Secure Login Script in PHP and MySQL
This site is so thorough in explaining how to create a secure login script and takes care of the mumbo jumbo that needs to be done to make sure your site is at least up to speed in the terms of security. Internet attacks are increasing day by day, the hackers are smarter, and we all know that PHP was not designed to be THAT secure in the first place. So this should add you some layer of protection when you're going to develop a site using PHP and MySQL.
This solution tries to address five most common website attack:
Bookmarks: How to Create Subdomain in the Localhost
Link: Make XAMPP/Apache serve file outside of htdocs
This elegant solution will enable you to create a configuration for subdomain in the localhost (e.g. http://mail.localhost) that can be carried on to production.
Bookmarks: How to Fix Apache and Skype Port Conflict Problem
Link: Fix Apache's httpd.pid Conflict with Skype
I admit I am a little late into web page development, and I stumble into what almost all newbie face: you can't load XAMPP after you load Skype, because they both use the same port 80 (http) and 443 (https) to listen to incoming connection. After a quick search in the internet, I found out that the solution was already up and around since 2009.
In short, the solution is: In Skype go to Tools > Options and click on the Advanced tab, sub-tabs open up, click on Connection. Skype's default port is a random value with 4 or 5 digits and also relies on ports 80 & 443 as alternatives. Just unchecked the "use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connection". This will be useful if you're working behind a tight firewall. But you aren't, chance are Skype will be working just fine. But if you really have some problem, then I'd suggest you to use port 443 for incoming connection, rather than the random 4 or 5 digits. But then, you won't be able to use port 443 for testing. But oh why bother if you aren't going to use it in development anyways, because XAMPP usually used for development environment, not production environment. In the production server, you usually won't install Skype there.
Bookmarks: How to Solve Garbage Character Chinese Application
Link: FAQ: Chinese Characters Will Not Display in Some Applications or Web Pages on an English Language Windows System
I accidentally found this website while re-searching for Chinese Language Pack 32 bit. I've encountered this issue before, but I don't know how to fix it because I don't know what to search on Google, like "how to read alien language" ? But this website clearly explain step by step and all the issue that goes with it, like whether you really need a hard fix or not. Way to go, Pinyin Joe!
Bookmark: Windows 7 Legal Download
Link: Shayatik.com: Download Windows 7 SP1 Official ISO from Digital River
Quick Links:
- Ultimate English 32 bit
- Ultimate English 64 bit
- Professional Chinese Traditional 32 bit
- Professional Chinese Traditional 64 bit
As usual, as it's my duty to keep all the computer safe in my workplace, I will eventually stumble upon the ultimate solution of all: reinstall windows. As they usually have the serial number, but they don't have the original Windows installation DVD, I need to burn the Windows installation DVD for them, and I have to look for the matching edition with the license. In the link above, you will find many version of Windows 7 installer ISO, from Ultimate, Professional, and Home Premium. And all of this is a legal download. It's a content from digitalriver.com after all, which is a partner of Microsoft that provide the digital media for the clients who buy Windows online. But of course you have to activate it within 30 days with a legal serial number (aka buy it from Microsoft) to keep it working.


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Herrera and Januzaj back for United
Spaniard Herrera has been out of action since mid December through injury but is closing in on a return, while Januzaj is also back in action after illness.
"Herrera trained today [Tuesday] for the first time with us but, yes, they don't have match rhythm," boss Louis van Gaal told a media conference.
"Januzaj has also trained two training sessions with us, but he was ill and you have to recover from your illness, not from your tiredness.
"Maybe it's worse to recover from illness."
The duo's return is a boost for United, who have been hit by absences in key positions in recent weeks.
However, when asked if he would have more players available for the Stoke clash on New Year's Day than he did for the 0-0 draw with Tottenham on Sunday, the United manager replied: "No".
"You have seen that [Chris] Smalling, [Luke] Shaw and Rafael Da Silva are coming back [after featuring as second-half substitutes against Spurs]," he added.
"These are the first signs that we already predicted two weeks ago, that the players shall come back but they are not back with 100 per cent match rhythm, and now we have to play.
"It's a problem for me to come through this two weeks around Christmas and New Year, all these matches. That is difficult now."
Meanwhile, Van Gaal has heaped praise on United's fans as he continues to push the club up the Premier League table.
The Dutchman moved to Old Trafford in the close-season following the disappointing campaign under David Moyes in 2013-14.
After a shaky start to his tenure, which included an embarrassing 4-0 League Cup defeat to third-tier MK Dons, Van Gaal and United have started to turn things around.
The 13-time Premier League champions have hit their stride in recent weeks, with a run of seven wins and two draws from their last nine outings seeing them climb to third.
And ahead of the trip to Stoke, Van Gaal has thanked United's fans for their unwavering support.
"I think the fans [have been] fantastic because we were in a moment with 11 matches and 13 points - that is not good, I think more weak than good," he said.
"In spite of that, the fans have supported us always and in the right way. I want to thank the fans for that.
"I think the main reason they have supported us is because of the fighting spirit of my team.
"We were not always ahead in matches but they have fought to the end and a lot of times with good success, so I think we can be satisfied about the points now - 36 points."


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L. Neil Smith's
Number 296, November 7, 2004
"Please, sir, may I have another?"
Reflections on an Election
Exclusive to TLE
Well, the election is over, and George W. Bush has been re-elected. As far as the election itself, I am not surprised that Kerry didn't do better. Late in the campaign, he alienated several very large voting blocks, and never was able to sufficiently recover from these blunders. Nor am I really surprised that Michael Badnarik didn't do better. I am saddened that our national media refused to cover an honest and admirable man, who would have made an incredible president. In fact, I lay much of the blame for the relatively lackluster showing of Mr. Badnarik directly at the feet of the media, considering the de facto news blackout that was imposed on this charismatic man. Had he gotten equal time with Bush and Kerry, I have no doubt that it would have changed the election, and the political landscape for decades to come.
Now it is time to drag out my dusty crystal ball and try and see what the next four years will bring to America.
The War in Iraq:
If events continue on their present course, Iraq will become even more of a quagmire than it already is. As I have said several times in our weekly on-line freedom conferences, our military (or any conventional military force) cannot win a guerrilla war. Fighting insurgents with conventional forces is a recipe for disaster, as we should have learned in Vietnam. In addition, conventional troops fighting in urban areas do nothing but create additional martyrs, provide insurgents with propaganda material, and provide additional impetus for recruits to join the insurgents.
A campaign against insurgents is precisely what our special operations forces were designed for. The answer is not huge numbers of conventional troops. The answer is small hunter killer teams, snipers, each with a specific target. Since a surgically precise operation, by definition, affects only the target and his/her immediate surroundings and associates, there is far less chance of collateral damage, with its attendant hardship, grief, and fianancial and emotional loss. Even if the team calls in airstrikes, with laser designators held precisely on target, again, there is less chance of collateral damage. We have the men, the equipment, and the knowledge to do this, which is vastly to be preferred to indiscriminate artillery strikes or main gun attacks from M-1 Abrams tanks, or even the often less than accurate fire of infantry troops under attack from an unseen enemy.
The War on Terror:
According to many in the higher echelons of government, we are now safer than ever from terrorist attacks. This despite the continual antagonization of one of the world's largest and fastest growing religions, the often suspiciously timed 'terror alerts,' and the constant warnings from Washington that we are still being targeted by al-Quaida, al-Zawari, or the terrorist or terrorist group of the week. The actions taken by this administration are totally ineffective in combatting terrorism, as is quite frequently proved by various successful media attempts to subvert airport security. In addition, various government watchdog agencies which test various security measures have frequently rated airport security as inadequate, in many cases. And this is despite so-called security measures which would be quite at home in Stalinist Russia, frequent and blatant violations of civil liberties, and the total and complete eradication of the Bill of Rights in airports. In addition, we often see proposals to extend the same kind of 'security' to trains, buses, and cruise ships. It doesn't work now, and they want to expand the same failing system? Isn't that the definition of insanity, to keep doing the exact same thing, in the exact same way, and expect different results?
No, the plans and proposals for 'security', as our glorified ninnies and nannies would expound, will do nothing to increase security, and will do everything to hasten the day when a de facto police state becomes a de jure one. In addition, we will still be at risk of terrorist actions, and possibly even higher risk, since the government will have alienated many of those who could possibly have helped, and will have discouraged those who might even tip off authorities to impending attacks, since they will quite rightly fear being painted as terrorists themselves, with all the indignities that come with being 'interrogated' by our government agencies, which now have the right to use torture, according to certain high-ranking officials.
No, there is a very cost-effective way to fight terrorism, much cheaper than what is currently happening, and one that will not only be effective, but also promote civil liberties. If you are interested, please read the article in TLE #264. However, as I said then, it will never be implemented, for the simple fact that our congresscrooks can not stand giving up power that they have abrogated to themselves.
Unless a miracle happens, the war on terror will lead to a total suspension of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the loss of all that ever made this country unique among the nations of the world.
I am going to close this article now, even though there are many more points I could make, and will make, in future articles. Even though this article is an opinion piece, I am going to ask all of you, again, check the facts, do the research. Look up the articles of the Bill of Rights, check out Article 1, Section 8, of the US Constitution. Then read the Patriot Act, and reflect on the fact that the US Supreme Court is so cowardly that they did not do their plain duty and declare the Patriot Act unconstitutional.
Again and again and again, do the research, think for yourselves! Never, ever take my unsupported word, or the word of anybody from government or media for anything, unless and until you check the facts for yourself. When the fit hits the shan, you and only you are responsible for your own safety and freedom!
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Decor Vitrine Noel
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Name: Jenny Poussin
Birthday: July 19, 1985
Height: 155 cm (5' 1")
Weight: 45 kg (99 lbs)
Bust: 81 cm (32")
Waist: 60 cm (23,5")
Hips: 82 cm (32")
Playboy's Playmate of the Month Titles
Playboy Estonia November 2011
Playmate: Jenny Poussin (photography by Sergio Rico)
Pictorials & Separate Photos featured by Jenny Poussin
Playboy Croatia January 2012
Pictorials & Separate Photos: Małgorzata Glaser (by Marzena Bukowska-Filuk); Karen Price (by Ken Marcus); Zimra Geurts (by René de Haan, Patrick Kaas); Playboy Planet: Amanda Krabbé, Jenny Poussin, Eleutheria Mitropoulou, Victoria Yakubovskaya, Anastasia Kumeyko, Dasha Astafieva, María Paz Delgado (by Carli Hermès, Sergio Rico, Pál Nánási, Elena Gromakova, Vitaly Rudenko, Tomás Ben); 'Sex in Cinema 2011'
Information on Unofficial Playboy Statistics Pages is for viewing and personal information only. This site is not affiliated with Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
You may report errors and omissions on this page to G1's Administrator. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update.


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15 September 2009 • 7:00 am
An important element of the strategic planning process is the management of the organization's projects and initiatives in the context of strategic and operational objectives. Collectively, these discretionary activities account for only a small portion of labor expended in the organization, compared with that expended in the execution of normal business processes. But the discretionary allocation of labor and time is the necessary domain of management, yet management all too often doesn't know what the workforce is actually doing.
A crucial step in driving alignment with strategy after the strategy itself has been established is to capture the activities (projects, initiatives, call them what you will) that are already underway. A matrix of the strategic initiatives against the strategic objectives almost always reveals opportunities to improve alignment; initiatives that don't map well to objectives, objectives with no initiatives, and in some cases, objectives with too many initiatives.
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1918, Autriches, communications, Finland, Finnish Civil War, food, France, Germany, Kirov Railway, Lord Rhondda, monarchy, Moulin-sous-Touvent, Murman Railway, Ottoman Empire, prisoners of war, railway, Sultan Mehmed V, Sultan of Turkey, Turkey
French advance between Autriches and Moulin-sous-Touvent, taking over 1,000 prisoners. Germans in Finland preparing to advance on the Murman Railway. Death of Lord Rhondda and of the Sultan of Turkey.


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[permaculture] Lyx Ish 1956-2004 - Lyx biography
Big Bridge #10 - story by Maria Damon about the Lyx memorial and dinner.
Dreamtime Village - this is Dreamtime Village's site, a magical place that was started by mIEKAL aND & Lyx Ish, aka Elizabeth Was.
http://www.unlikelystories.org/ Interesting site by and for writers, artists and others. Has an article by mIEKAL aND & Lyx Ish.
Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat - words to the song. At the bottom of the page is a link to the unfinished sequel, The Children of the Owl and Pussycat. Check out the home page for more information about Edward Lear, especially his artwork. Quite fun.
001 - Auricle, Electrozine of Aural Culture. Really cool online mag. Deeply informed by independent artistry, acoustic ecology, aesthetic philosophy, and new technology, Auricle is a catalyst for fresh ideas put forth at a moment that is crying out for a new definition of what music can be.


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Solstice Drum/Potluck a huge success!
Thanks to everyone who came out on June 20th to the Royston Community Hall for my annual Solstice Drum and Potluck event. There were 35+ folks there and not only was the food delicious (and you all know I love a potluck!) and the rhythm-making joyful and energizing, but we raised $225+ for this year's chosen charity: Girls Go Global, and local girls group, facilitated by my friend and awesome lady Jane Morris, who support global education for the underprivileged. I have not yet presented them with the cheque, so if anyone still wishes to make a donation, you may do so at class this coming Monday. And just FYI: looks like classes will be happening at this hall in the fall - the space is bigger, and the sound is better! Stay tuned...
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Melbourne: Defending champion Novak Djokovic foiled a stirring fightback from Roger Federer to defeat the Swiss 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3 at the Australian Open on Thursday and charge into a fifth successive grand slam final.
Storming to a two-set lead within an hour, Djokovic appeared destined to complete a stinging humiliation but the net-rushing Federer responded brilliantly in the third as a partisan crowd roared him on at a flood-lit Rod Laver Arena.
In a fourth set rivened by tension, Djokovic broke Federer in the eighth game and served out the match to love in two hours and 19 minutes.
The world number one will bid for a record sixth title at Melbourne Park in the professional era, and will meet the winner of second seed Andy Murray and 13th seed Milos Raonic who play in the second semi-final on Friday.
This is how Twitter reacted to Djokovic's stunning show of tennis on Thursday.
Becker is like "I don't remember coaching this and all"...
— Spaceman Spiff (@atlasdanced) January 28, 2016
Have seen a lot of quality performances in my time but this takes it to a whole new level...@AustralianOpen #djokovsfed
— Mahesh Bhupathi (@Maheshbhupathi) January 28, 2016
This is absolutely clinical what Djoker Is doing right now to Fedfan ,this maybe the best I have ever seen someone hit the ball
— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) January 28, 2016
Somebody reduce the difficulty level of #Djokovic so we can have more of a contest, please. #AusOpen #djokovicfederer
— Manoj Bhagavatula (@ManojB90) January 28, 2016
I feel like I'm witnessing something historic. Djokovic is in legendary form.
— Isaac Farmer (@Isaac_Farmer) January 28, 2016
Djokovic is blowing out Federer, up 61 62. Rog doesnt know where to go. Novak is ruling FH, BH, return, serve...everything
— Matt Cronin (@TennisReporters) January 28, 2016
In a world of his own... Djokovic teases another error out of Federer to go 6-1 6-2 ahead #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/pn7ap4SNXU
— Australian Open (@AustralianOpen) January 28, 2016
So Federer is 34 and the next generation has taken over. But nobody will be as beautiful on a tennis court #AusOpen2016
— Gabrielle Jackson (@gabriellecj) January 28, 2016
If Roger Federer at his prime was poetry then #Djokovic in his prime is a single man heavy metal rock band. Boom Bang. #AusOpen
— Rashi Kakkar (@rashi_kakkar) January 28, 2016
Even Federer's hair is a mess.
— Caroline Cameron (@SNCaroline) January 28, 2016
You'd be finding this painful to watch even if you were Federer's worst enemy. Federer lost .6-1, 6-2 straight two set. #federerdjokovic
— Vivek (@Vivekevince) January 28, 2016
"Get out of my face, please." -Roger Federer to cameraman on changeover just now. He mad. But polite. #ausopen
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 28, 2016
I'm sorry, but if you say Djoker is a human being, I won't agree. He is a machine, a mean bloody machine! #AusOpen
— Srini Mama (@SriniMama16) January 28, 2016
Federer has just won two service games in a row. From the applause, you'd think he has won the match
— Sambit Bal (@sambitbal) January 28, 2016
Everyone saying Federer is past it but let's not forget that there are still about 7 billion other people he can beat. #AusOpen
— Adam Liaw (@adamliaw) January 28, 2016
Inputs from Reuters
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.
Updated Date: Jan 29, 2016 07:42:03 IST


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Choosing a Hotel
Picking a Hotel
When going out of town no one wants to stay at a roach motel if they can help it, but sometimes the cheaper hotels are the nastier ones... Right?
You can do the searching beforehand, and you can find the better hotels in your price range that you don't have to be scared to sleep or take a shower at.
I'm not necessarily a hotel snob, but I do want to stay at nice hotels when I go out of town. But, I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for just a night or two.
When searching for hotels, I like to think of myself as a smart shopper. I look for reviews and find the best prices.
It is rather simple, and it is something that you can do, too.
Choosing a Hotel
When choosing a hotel, I tend to check out Hotels.com first. I get a list of possibilities and go from there. Generally, I search the location in order to find a hotel nearest to where I'll be spending the bulk of my time, and then narrow down the search by price.
In some cases, I'll take the list to priceline and see if I can get better prices or call the hotels direct. In other cases, I can't help but to just buy immediately.
Recently, I found a 3 bedroom suite in Myrtle Beach on Hotels.com. I called the hotel, to see if they had any better prices, which they didn't. I then went to the hotel's official website to see what was available there... Well, I found even better deals for the suite. For two days, the suite ended up being around $450, which is a lot for the time frame, but rather cheap for the size and quality of the room.
When picking out a nice hotel, no one really wants to spend a fortune to get a nice hotel, which is why it's important to research first. I always like to read the reviews on Hotels.com, as generally the reviews help narrow down my list drastically.
- Had weird odor
- Shower was dirty
- Bed smelt funny
These are basic complaints, that if repeated throughout the different reviews help cross off cheap hotels from my list.
It is always a good idea to see what features and amenities the hotel provides. Free WiFi, continental breakfast, safe usage, indoor/outdoor pool, spa, gym, pets not/allowed, etc.
It never hurts to ask friends and family places that they may have stayed in the area where you are going. Recommendations never hurt. But, if all else fails, try to research before jumping on the cheapest price tag that you come across.
- Hotels.com
My favorite site to find deals on hotels.
- Fare Buzz
- Orbitz
- Travelocity
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Creative & Private Parties
Birthday • Bachelorette • Corporate / Organization Outings • Girl Scouts • Boy Scouts
Looking for a unique and exciting alternative to the usual party/outing? We love hosting creative/art parties in our shop/studio for Adults, Kids or Teens!
Whether you're a pro or have no experience, we have a project that you'll enjoy! Explore and create your unique pieces in our colorful setting surrounded by original art and handmade goods. You'll receive lots of instruction and guidance from our wonderful staff, too.
Project Ideas:
Design Your Own pillow, fabric or decals
Create and Color digital drawings
Easily Make & Sew pillows, bags, wine totes and more
Make Collages and Mixed Media Artwork
Work on Seasonal or Themed projects
Create Image Transfers
...a great way to spend a Girl's Night Out, create a memorable birthday party or shower, plan a stress-release event for staff and colleagues or earn a Scout badge!
Groups of 4-15 people are welcome! We can also accommodate parties up to 20 people (please contact us to arrange). And we will help you choose the best project for your group.
Schedule & design your next event with us!
Stop by the shop at 485 Main St, Glen Ellyn (inside Banyan Tree Mall) • Call 630-474-9359 • Email firstname.lastname@example.com


text: Fate of Chiuri in Nepal Posted on May 5, 2017May 17, 2017 by admin Chiuri is very interesting tree of Nepal. It has gained fame in recent years. Mainly because of the socio economic contribution it can make in livelihood of stakeholders. The Chiuri tree is member of ... Read More