Anonymous by Miss -

"We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. You'll see us."

This motto is the motto of a group called Anonymous. Anonymous is a group of hacktivists who have no leaders, no spokespersons, and no strategy other than demanding freedom of speech and freedom on the internet.

Anonymous want to attract public attention. Their first event was an operation against Scientology in 2003. They dressed in Guy Fawkes masks.

They are not traditional hackers because they are not only interested in feats of computer hacking, but more by media attention.

Many Anonymous members live in Brazil, the United State, and France.

The group decides via forums on how to launch an operation, and when they are sufficiently numerous, they target a country. Some operations can be initiated by one person. Some may be contradictory, since nothing is centralized.

Countries condemn these actions because it is impossible for the authorities to negotiate with Anonymous since they do not know who is behind the actions.

After a lot of attacks by Anonymous, Christophe Barbier criticized the group on iTele:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnf7Yc0KUdg

Anonymous reacted to this criticism by trying to show that they are not thieves, that they are not illegal, that they just have their way of seeing things...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRQGc91w8F0&feature=relmfu

Why was London chosen as host city of the XXXth Olympic Games? By Gael

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in London from 27th July to 12th August 2012. London will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.

London was elected host city by 54 votes whereas Paris received 50 votes. However, the city wasn't originally favorite to organize these Games. On 18th May 2004, the International Olympic Committee announced the cities accepted as candidates, with, as usual, a weighted-average score for each city. Paris was first with 8.5 points, then Madrid with 8.3 points. London only got 7.6 points and was the third city in terms of score.

But london has advantages over its contestants such as sufficient hotels to host athletes and tourists, an adequate transport system, and sophisticated sports facilities.

London's budget is nearly tree times bigger ($15,79 million) than the other contestants' (Paris budget: $6,21 million).

The 116 IOC members chose London in July 2005, convinced London was best able to organize the Olympic Games. Today, when we see how badly hit France is by the economic crisis, they probably made the right choice in the end...

Olympian cost... By Florent B

It's the third time that London has hosted the Olympics Games. This time, London has decided to make it BIG!

 

The logo, designed by the Wolff Olins agency, cost £400,000 (about 500,000€). 

 

The rock group Muse has composed the anthem... Cost? 

 

Artists like Coldplay and Led Zepplin will play during the opening ceremony... Cheap? 

 

The budget is £10 billion, and rising... 

 

Most installations are ready, but the budget will explode, with the cost of security being the principal cause;  the Army will post 7000 soldiers during the Games, security services will be about  £553 million, and £600 million will be spent on police... 

 

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson does not seem worried at the expense... 

 

With that kind of dosh being splashed out, let's hope the Olympics Games in London will be THE great event of 2012!

Sasquatch? By Gael

Have you heard of the Yeti, also called Bigfoot or Sasquatch? Maybe you have seen the famous film from the 1950s: The Abominable Snowman? Well, a team of scientists says that there is a 95% chance that Siberia's wintry tundra is home to the mythical Yeti!

More than a dozen scientists flew in from Canada, Estonia, Sweden and the US to take part in a day-long conference in the town of Tashtagol, some 2,000 miles east of Moscow in the Kemerovo region. Locals there have reported an increase in sightings of a creature in recent years.

They said they "collected irrefutable evidence" like twisted willow branches, hair, footprints, a presumed bed and other markers...

Whatever, the Kemerovo government proposed opening a university research centre in order to know a little more about this mystery.

 The Guardian article

If the war goes on... By Romain

"A year at war", an article from the New York Times, gives testimonies of American soldiers after a year in Afghanistan. Soldiers explain that they thought going home would be easy, but in fact, it isn't... Alan Bakula, a soldier, said : "Getting injured a few times definitely changes your perspective a little bit... It makes you feel a little less bulletproof." It seems that their stay in Afghanistan has hurt these soldiers a lot. Another soldier wondered if he could ever talk openly to friends again, having come so close to death so many times... He says that people think he is exaggerating when he speaks to them about the risks he took. We can guess that there are many unanswered questions in their heads. Going back to "normal life" would appear to be very difficult after a year of a dreadful experience.

NYT article

25th September 2011: Results of the senatorial elections in France. By Camille from Saint-Eugène

The Sénat is the upper house of the French Parliament. Its members are elected for a six-year mandate by Deputies of the "Assemblée Nationale" and certain other elected officials.
Gerard Larcher, the President of the Sénat since 2008, may deputize for the President of the Republic in the case of incapacity or death. Every three years, another politician takes the place of the last president. The powers of the Sénat are almost as extensive as those of the "Assemblée Nationale", although the latter is empowered to override the decisions of the Sénat in cases where the two houses disagree. There are 348 senators of different political parties like UMP (Right), SOC (Left), UC, CRG-SPG, RDSE, RASNAG. 

Dominated by the Right since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, the Left has won an absolute majority for the first time this September 25th 2011. For the first time since 1958, the Luxembourg Palace had become Socialist... This is a real revolution in French politics, and also of the Fifth Republic. Next Saturday, members of the House will vote their new President.

With just seven months to go before the general elections, France's unpopular President Nicolas Sarkozy has gotten another signal of just how difficult his effort to retain the Elysée will be!

Bright spark! By Florent from Saint-Eugène

BBC News video

'Litre of Light' is a development initiative to light the homes of the poorest in the world. The video talks about the Philippines in particular.

To light their homes, the inhabitants slide bottles filled with water in their roofs. This system is very practical because the sun light from the outside passes through the water in the bottle by refraction and brings the light inside the home or workshop for free!

It's practical, economical, ecologically irreproachable, and helps Third World countries develop.