CNN: US preparing military contingencies for Syria

Officials tell the cable news outlet the US remains committed to diplomatic and economic measures on Damascus.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

The United States has begun an internal review of its military capabilities vis-a-vis Syria despite remaining committed to diplomatic and economic pressure on Damascus, CNN's "Security Clearance" blog reported on Tuesday.

The report did not specify whether the White House had ordered the review or if it was initiated in the Pentagon. One senior US official told CNN that the US military "would not be doing its job if it did not put some ideas on the table," adding that "absolutely no decisions have been made on military support for Syria."

Senior officials reiterated to the cable news channel that the US's position remains focused on diplomatic and sanctions-based actions but said the preliminary military planning was being done for the eventuality that US President Barack Obama asked for a military option.

Last week, Obama said Syrian President Bashar Assad "must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately." In an interview with NBC aired Sunday, the US president put importance on resolving the situation in Syria "without recourse to outside military intervention."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday said Washington would work with other nations to try to tighten “regional and national” sanctions “to dry up the sources of funding and the arms shipments that are keeping the regime’s war machine going.

“We will work to expose those who are still funding the regime and sending it weapons that are used against defenseless Syrians, including women and children,” she said. “We will work with the friends of a democratic Syria around the world to support the opposition’s peaceful political plans for change.”

Clinton did not give further details on which nations might band together, or precisely what they might do, but it appeared that the United States might seek to organize a “Friends of Syria” group to act together given the inability to make progress at the United Nations because of Russia and China.

Greek debt not sustainable with 70 percent haircut - S&P

(Reuters) - Greece will likely not achieve sustainable debt levels with a 70 percent reduction in the value of bonds held by its private creditors, Standard & Poor's warned on Wednesday, putting pressure on the official sector also to take losses.

Private-sector bond holders currently account for only a small part of Greece's creditors since most of the country's debt has migrated to the hands of the European Central Bank and other official institutions, S&P analyst Frank Gill said in a webcast with clients.

"In our original estimate, which was made two years ago, at that time debt-to-GDP would have been restored to a far more sustainable level," Gill said.

"But because only a small subcomponent of investors are actually taking the haircut and the official sector is not, or only partially, then the reduction... is probably not sufficient debt relief to make debt sustainable given the outlook for GDP itself."

S&P, which currently rates Greece at CC with a negative outlook, said it intends to downgrade the country to "selective default," but just temporarily, while the government concludes its debt swap.
Shortly after that, Greece's ratings should be upgraded to a "still low level," which will depend on whether the country's public debt is reduced to a sustainable position, Gill said.

Two euro zone monetary policy sources said on Wednesday that ECB policymakers are still divided on what contribution the bank could make to a restructuring of Greece's sovereign debt.

ITALY, FRANCE DETERIORATING

S&P also warned that credit conditions continue to deteriorate in Italy and France after it downgraded both countries last month, despite extraordinary steps by the ECB to boost liquidity in the market.

"We still see credit conditions deteriorating in places like Italy, places like France, and that is going to weaken domestic demand," Gill said. "That makes it very difficult to project what the fiscal outcome is going to be this year in those countries."

Electric pulses in the brain can boost memory, say scientists... now you just have to remember where you put that head-zapper

By Rob Waugh

The secret to a good memory is simple - zap an electric current into the right part of your brain.
Scientists found passing an electric current through a part of the brain known as the 'gateway' to memory caused people's memory to improve instantly.

The researchers worked with seven epileptic patients who had already had electrodes implanted into their brains.

They stimulated nerve fibres one part of their brain while they played a videogame where they had to remember and plan routes as a taxi driver.

The volunteers played the role of cab drivers who picked up passengers and traveled across town to deliver them to one of six requested shops.

'When we stimulated the nerve fibers in the patients' brains during learning, they later recognized landmarks and navigated the routes more quickly,'said Fried.

'They even learned to take shortcuts.'

The finding could lead to a new method for boosting memory in patients with early Alzheimer's disease.

The UCLA team focused on a brain site called the entorhinal cortex.

Considered the doorway to the hippocampus, which helps form and store memories, the entorhinal cortex plays a crucial role in transforming daily experience into lasting memories.

'The entorhinal cortex is the golden gate to the brain's memory mainframe,' explained senior author Dr. Itzhak Fried, professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

'Every visual and sensory experience that we eventually commit to memory funnels through that doorway to the hippocampus. Our brain cells must send signals through this hub in order to form memories that we can later consciously recall.'

Fried and his colleagues followed seven epilepsy patients who already had electrodes implanted in their brains to pinpoint the origin of their seizures.

The researchers monitored the electrodes to record neuron activity as memories were being formed.
'Critically, it was the stimulation at the gateway into the hippocampus – and not the hippocampus itself – that proved effective,' he added.

The use of stimulation only during the learning phase suggests that patients need not undergo continuous stimulation to boost their memory, but only when they are trying to learn important information, Fried noted. T

his may lead the way to neuro-prosthetic devices that can switch on during specific stages of information processing or daily tasks.

'Our preliminary results provide evidence supporting a possible mechanism for enhancing memory, particularly as people age or suffer from early dementia,' says Fried 'At the same time, we studied a small sample of patients, so our results should be interpreted with caution

Air Force Removes ‘God’ From Logo

A Virginia lawmaker is calling on the Air Force to reverse a decision to remove a Latin reference to “God” from a logo after an atheist group complained.
 
Rep. Randy Forbes, (R-VA), said the Air Force removed the logo several weeks ago from the Rapid Capabilities Office. The patch included a line written in Latin that read, “Doing God’s Work with Other People’s Money.”

But after the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers complained, Forbes said the line was rewritten in Latin to read, “Doing Miracles with Other People’s Money.”
 
Forbes, along with a bi-partisan group of 35 lawmakers, sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz expressing concern over the decision to remove a non-religious reference to God.

“It is most egregious,” Forbes told Fox News. “The Air Force is taking the tone that you can’t even use the word ‘God.’”

Forbes said his office contacted the Air Force and officials there confirmed that the logo had been changed after the atheist group complained.

A spokesman for the Air Force told Fox News they had received the letter and would investigate the claims.

Forbes said the removal of “God” is a “bridge too far in terms of the rights of men and women who serve in our services and their ability to express their faith.”

“But the significance of this is what the Air Force is saying with this move – that the word ‘God’ – whether it has any reference to faith or not, can’t be used in the Air Force,” Forbes said.

He said the incident is one of several in recent months that have caused him to wonder if the military is cleansing itself of religious references.

“It’s a very dangerous course to take,” he said.

“I am concerned that the RCO capitulated to pressure from an outside group that consistently seeks to remove references to God and faith in our military,” he said. ‘The RCO’s action to modify the logo sets a dangerous precedent that all references to God, regardless of context, must be removed from the military.”

Google Glasses with built-in Terminator-style computer displays 'could be on sale soon', says insider

* Fighter-plane-style heads-up display in front of one eye
* Mouse pointer moved by tilting the head
* Built-in camera and Android operating system
* Prototype device 'could be on sale soon'

By Rob Waugh

Google is to unveil a pair of hi-tech glasses with a built-in screen - and the Android device could be on sale soon, says a company insider.

Hi-tech 'heads up display' glasses have been rumoured to be under development at Google's secret 'Google X' lab for months.

Now sources close to site 9to5Google claim to have seen a prototype, which looks like Oakley's Thump MP3 player headset.

The glasses will be armed with cameras, an Android operating system, and could be on sale soon, the source said.

Google specialist Seth Weintraub says, 'Our tipster has now seen a prototype and said it looks something like Oakley Thumps. These glasses, we heard, have a front-facing camera used to gather information and could aid in augmented reality apps.'

'The heads up display (HUD) is only for one eye and on the side. I

The navigation system currently used is a head tilting-to scroll and click. We are told it is very quick to learn.'

'Perhaps most interesting is that Google is currently deciding on how it wants to release these glasses, even though the product is still a very long way from being finished.'

'It is currently a secret with only a few geeky types knowing about it, and Google is apparently unsure if it will have mass-market appeal.'

Last month, Weintraub reported that Google had recently employed MIT wearable computing specialist Richard DuVal, whose PhD was entitled The Memory Glasses.

Various prototype wearable screens have been demonstrated by companies such as Motorola, so the idea is not as out-there as it sounds.

The glasses will run a version of Google's Android - which ties in with reports in the New York Times about the company's ambition to export its popular phone operating system to wearable computers.

In glasses, though, Google's Android search box - which already uses GPS to find nearby 'answers' to searches - could be even more powerful.

Instead of having to look in the mapping application to 'see' where things are, the information could simply be layered on top.

With Google working on a voice-control system similar to Apple's Siri, such devices could do away with the need for a touchscreen at all.

The device is reportedly being developed with Google's 'Google X' laboratory.

Google has already admitted to the existence of the secret laboratory - described as 'Google X' - where scientists work on wild, out-there ideas.

Most Google employees are not even aware the lab exists.

'Google has always invested in speculative R&D projects - it's part of our DNA,' said a spokesperson.
'While the possibilities are incredibly exciting, the sums involved are very small by comparison to the investments we make in our core businesses. In terms of details, we don't comment on speculation.'

The lab is reportedly located in Google's Mountain View, California headquarters - known as 'the Googleplex'.

Engineers are free to work on projects such as connected fridges that order groceries when they run low - or even tableware that can connect to social networks.

Other Google engineers have reportedly researched ideas as far-out as elevators to space.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is reportedly deeply involved in the lab. It's known, for example, that his business card is simply a piece of silvery metal decorated with the letter X.

Brin, a robot enthusiast, once attended a conference via a robot with a screen showing his face.
It's not unusual for tech companies to have 'ideas labs' hidden away from their ordinary workers - at Apple, for instance, Jonathan Ive's design lab where devices such as iPads are perfected, is guarded as if it was a weapons facility.

Google X, though, is far less conservative than Ive's design lab.

The lab is reportedly investigating the idea of people 'working from home' via robots with screens for 'faces' - an idea also being tested by legendary game developer Richard Garriott.

It's not alien to the company - which also has a fleet of self-driving cars that have clocked up more than 100,000 miles on Californian roads so far.

Google is now rumoured to be readying the 'self drive' vehicles for sale

Famously, Google always allowed engineers '20 per cent time' - a portion of their working hours devoted to more experimental projects.

While Google 'culled' 10 of its less successful experimental projects earlier this year, and also got rid of its 'Labs' section, where ordinary users could test experimental products, some thought that the company was focusing on its 'core' business, and eliminating its more zany ideas.

But it seems '20 per cent time' is alive and well - and living in the Google X lab.