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Today, President Barack Obama is formally unveiling a spate of initiatives to improve hiring at and bolster lending to small businesses, pushing again for a priority first announced last winter.

The centerpiece is the new $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund, which will offer funding to small community banks. (It will be separate from a similar one housed in the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.) Other initiatives include nixing capital-gains taxes for small-business investment and increasing the cap on certain Small Business Administration-backed loans.

Details after the jump:

Obama will discuss the plan and urge congressional action today at an 11:30am event honoring small-business owners at the White House. Thus far, the administration’s efforts to ease the gloomy economic picture for small businesses have sputtered, with an oversight panel dryly noting, “it is not clear that [TARP has] had any significant impact on small business lending” at all. Small businesses — which tend to be much more risky to lend to, but have created around two-thirds of new jobs in the past decade, remain hobbled by frozen credit markets.

The initiatives, held in the Small Business Lending Fund Act, passed out of the House Financial Services Committee last week. (View the committee’s markup here.) And with the bill low-cost and supporting the country’s small businesses one of the most unassailable congressional priorities, it should pass the House soon.

“This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. This shouldn’t be an issue of big government versus small government,” Obama plans to say. “This is an issue of putting our government on the side of the small business owners who create most of the jobs in this country.”

Still, the best thing for small businesses would be an improved economic picture overall. Until demand ticks back up, businesses hire more people and Americans start spending, there is only so much the White House can do.

A few years ago, the story broke about how TJX, the corporate parent of a series of retail stores, including TJ Maxx and Marshalls, had suffered a huge data breach, after some hackers had accessed its computer network via an insecure wireless connection at one of the stores. A year and a half later, we wrote about the arrests of some of those involved. The following year, we wrote about another hack, at Heartland Payment Systems, that had the potential to surpass the TJX hack as “the largest ever” in terms of the number of records accessed. It later came to light that both hacks were actually done by the same guys, supposedly led by Albert Gonzalez, a hacker who was actually on the government payroll at the time (after turning informant upon being caught a few years earlier standing in front of an ATM with a handful of fake ATM cards).

Back in March, Gonzalez received a twenty year sentence for the crime — the longest sentence for “hacking”-related crime in the US. Others involved in the deal have been sentenced to shorter terms recently as well. Now, Danielle Alvarez, from the Miami New Times, points us to an article written by the paper that details the story behind the hacking, and the folks involved — including the news (which I hadn’t seen elsewhere in following this story) that one suspect end up killing himself after hearing of Gonzalez’s arrest. It’s a long story, but reads like something that will get turned into a movie at some point. Of course, the study plays down the security flaws at the companies, like TJX, which sent unencrypted credit card data over its network (a point Gonzalez’s legal team tried to make in properly calculating how much “damage” he did). Still, it’s a fascinating story about a group of young hackers, who wanted to “get rich or die trying,” and how at least one of them succeeded at the latter.

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A new WWF report has come out further emphasizing the great need for the US to do more to seize its fair share of the growing multi-trillion dollar clean energy export market. This repost by Lynn Englum from WWF’s blog gives an overview.

Numerous news articles/op-ed pieces (see here, here & here) along with warnings from high-ranking governmental officials (see here & here) and Congressmen from both sides of the political spectrum have warned that the U.S. is losing the clean energy race to Europe, Japan and China.  These countries are ramping up their national renewable energy portfolios and gaining export market share, positively positioning themselves for the largest future export markets in clean technology deployment—the developing world. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), approximately $27 trillion will need to be invested in clean technologies in developing countries over the next four decades.

Why will these future markets be so large? In coming years, emissions will grow most sharply in developing countries, making clean technology deployment vitally important. The U.S. has enormous potential to lead in these markets, but without U.S. legislation that puts a price on carbon and includes public finance to help unlock developing country markets for clean energy, America will continue to fall behind top competitors and miss important opportunities.

A new WWF report, Getting Back in the Game, reveals the potential for U.S. market share in clean technology deployment in the developing world. WWF estimates that the $27 trillion investment needed in developing countries translates into a $150-450 billion annual export market. The report finds that if the U.S. is able to capture a 14% market share of this potential clean tech export market—on par with our current market share in environmental goods and services in developing countries—280,000-850,000 new, long-term American jobs would result.

A crucial component for harnessing the clean technology export market is public financing. Although private capital will provide the substantial majority of the finance for clean energy development, public financing to undertake key policy and institutional reforms and reduce investment risks in developing countries is needed to prime the pump. Well-targeted public investments can leverage much larger amounts of private capital and benefit American businesses by opening new markets for U.S. clean energy industries, spurring innovation and lowering costs for clean technologies.

Including public finance in a climate and energy bill is vital for generating a dedicated stream of revenue, avoiding the volatility of yearly congressional budget approval. Previous versions of the climate bill (House-passed Waxman-Markey bill & Senate’s Kerry-Boxer bill) set aside 1% of revenues from allowances to develop markets and overcome barriers to clean technology uptake in developing countries and help facilitate U.S. exports to these new markets.

To unlock new opportunities, this set-aside (which is not currently in the American Power Act) must be preserved and a climate and energy bill must be passed. Without legislative passage and public finance components, the U.S. will continue to hemorrhage clean energy market share to overseas competitors and fall behind in the energy race.

See press release, Investing in Clean Energy Projects Abroad is Key to Creating Jobs, Growing Energy Tech Economy in U.S.

************************************************************

Key findings of the report:

• The US is falling behind top competitors, both in clean technology investments domestically, but also in exports of clean technologies abroad.
• Developing countries offer the largest future export markets— The International Energy Agency estimates $27 trillion will need to be invested in the developing world in coming decades.
• Getting back in the game requires that the US pass legislation that both puts a price on carbon domestically and includes public finance to help unlock developing country markets and accelerate demand for clean technologies.
• US companies are positioned to take advantage of those new markets. Capturing a 14% market share in this new market could result in 280,000-850,000 new, long-term American jobs. However, being positioned to capture that market share depends on whether domestic industries are supported by passing comprehensive climate and energy legislation that puts a declining limit on carbon pollution

Related Post:

• The only way to win the clean energy race is to pass the clean energy bill

Dell announced on Tuesday its launch plans for its Dell Streak, a 5-inch Google Android-based Tablet.

Early this June the Dell Streak will be available across the UK and in the US later this summer. The company did not provide specific launch dates for either country’s launch.

The Android-based Dell Streak Tablet is designed to provide people “on-the-go” entertainment, social connection, and navigation experience. It will be running Android 1.6 but Dell also confirms that the device will get an upgrade to the Flash-capable Android 2.2 later this year.

The features of the Dell Streak are: 5-inch WVGA touchscreen, Qualcomm’s 1-GHz Snapdragon Processor, 2 GB internal storage, maximum 32GB of external SD storage, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, and a front-facing camera for video chat. The Streak will also have 3G, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity.

The price of the Dell Streak or the U.S. carrier details were not yet announced.

Related posts:

1. iPad’s Contender Google Android Tablet
2. Archos Tablet to Compete with iPad?
3. Verizon, Google developing a new tablet PC

Siemens Energy increases stake in solar thermal specialist Archimede Solar Energy

Siemens Energy has increased its stake in solar thermal specialist Archimede Solar Energy S.R.L. from 28 percent to 45 percent, as the energy arm of the German conglomerate attempts to accelerate production at a facility in central Italy.

Archimede is a joint venture between Angelantoni Industries and Siemens that produces solar receivers for concentrating solar power plants. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Providing insights on the decision, Rene Umlauft, chief of Siemens’ renewable energy division, said Archimede’s technology is an ideal addition to their portfolio.

“Siemens already has the most comprehensive portfolio in the promise of concentrated solar power business. We can provide about 70 percent of the components of solar thermal power plants from a single source,” said Mr. Umlauft.

Starting in early 2011, the Massa Martana plant in central Italy’s Umbria region will have an annual production capacity of approximately 75,000 solar receivers. In its second stage, the plant’s capacity will be increased to 140,000 per year.

The solar receivers sit at the heart of parabolic troughs to absorb solar energy which is converted into heat and then into energy. Archimede’s use of molten salts allow for the production of energy without the use of toxic or dangerous materials.

The solar receivers of Archimede use molten salt as the heat transfer medium. They can reach an absorbance higher than or equal to 95 percent and a design emissivity lower than 10 percent at 400°C and 14 percent at 580°Celsius.

Archimede is currently constructing its first commercial plant featuring its products in Sicily. The Priolo Gargallo project, to be operational by as early as June, will use 1,500 molten salt solar receivers.

Components and solutions for thermal power plants are part of Siemens’ environmental portfolio, out of which Siemens reported 23 billion euros ($23 billion) in revenues last year.

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“With the increase of our shares in Archimede we are further strengthening our cooperation with Angelantoni Industries,” said Mr. Umlauft.

Loose-lipped Michael Lohan — aka “Every Fallen Child Star’s Worst Nightmare” — is pleased with a court order which will see his scandal-bitten daughter confined to California and forced to wear an alcohol-detecting bracelet – insisting the ruling will help his daughter overcome her problems.

The Mean Girls actress left a Beverly Hills courthouse in a huff on Monday, wearing the accessory strapped to her ankle after facing Judge Marsha Revel. With a bang of her gavel, Revel ordered Lohan not to leave the state and not to drink alcohol or take drugs for the foreseeable future. The hearing came five days after Lohan missed a mandatory court appearance because she was strande at the Cannes Film Festival without a passport.

On The Early Show Tuesday, CBS anchor Maggie Rodriguez spoke with Legal Analyst Lisa Bloom and Lindsay’s estranged father about the actress’ legal troubles and recent order to wear a SCRAM alcohol-monitoring device.

Lindsay’s due back in court on July 6.

From Green Right Now Reports

Whatever the state of the political debate about climate change, the issue increasingly looks settled in the board room. Despite challenging economic conditions and regulatory uncertainty, global executives believe that the climate change agenda will significantly impact business performance and strategy over the next few years according to a new survey by Ernst & Young.

The survey, “Action amid uncertainty: the business response to climate change,” found that corporate executives expect to make significant investments to deliver both cost savings and revenue generation opportunities relating to climate change. Seventy percent plan to increase spending on climate change initiatives between 2010 and 2012. Nearly half plan to spend between 0.5 percent to more than 5 percent of their revenue on climate change initiatives. For a U.S. $1 billion company, this represents an anticipated spend of $5 million to $50 million annually.

Three hundred global corporate executives from 16 countries with at least $1 billion in annual revenue participated in the survey conducted during spring 2010.

“Corporate leaders are not letting the lack of global standards and regulations slow their climate change investments,” Steve Starbuck, Americas Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader at Ernst & Young LLP, said in a statement. “Other market drivers, such as equity analysts’ growing interest in climate change performance, are prompting a further need to act and be more transparent,”

Consumers and equity analysts are two of the factors driving this investment trend, Ernst & Young says. Corporate climate change activities are being driven by evolving customer demands according to 89 percent of survey respondents. Some sectors, including automotive, consumer products, and technology, unanimously agree that changing customer preferences have created significant drivers for action and innovation. Meanwhile, equity analysts are increasingly linking the business response to climate change and company valuations. Over 40 percent of the senior executives surveyed believe that equity analysts currently include climate change-related factors in company valuations.

Energy efficiency is at the top of the list as 82 percent of respondents plan to invest in this space over the next 12 months. About half of the respondents confirm new ventures, such as spin-offs or start-up businesses, as an area for focus. Additionally, 65 percent of executives intend to focus investments on new products and services.

Ninety four percent of respondents see national policies as important or very important in shaping their climate change strategies, although 81 percent recognize the importance of global or international policies.

“Keeping abreast of national climate change legislation and business incentives across jurisdictions will prove challenging, but necessary for many businesses, even those that do not traditionally regard themselves as multi-national due to the connectivity of supply chains and markets,” Dr. Lorraine Stephenson, Ernst & Young Partner and Oceania Climate Change Leader, said in a statement. “Businesses will need to prioritize investments to capture opportunities and mitigate risks in response to the growing number of climate change policies, in developing and developed countries, since the December Copenhagen meeting.”

Other key findings from the survey include:

• In the developing economies of China and India, executives rank product development as the top challenge to achieving their goals, 97 percent and 72percent respectively. Respondents in Australia, Canada, U.S., Japan, Germany and France indicate that regulatory and compliance issues present primary challenges in the next two years.
• Approximately 66 percent of respondents are discussing climate change programs with their suppliers and 36 percent of respondents are already working directly with these stakeholders to decrease the carbon in their supply chains.
• Transparent reporting is gaining momentum, as 64 percent of respondents report greenhouse gas data in an annual corporate social responsibility or sustainability report. Of the organizations that say they report, 62 percent verify their data through an independent, third-party.

The Ernst & Young study was performed by Verdantix, an independent analyst research organization focused on sustainable business. Respondents were drawn from across 16 countries and 18 industry sectors.

Choppers are eye-catching, there’s no denying the fact. They sure make a whole lot of heads spin around and drop open quite a few jaws ever time a leather-clad, bearded, tattooed and muscled dude rides one around town. Well, now the environmentalists will marvel at choppers too, and not just because they look awesome and sound lovely, it’s because one of them has embraced eco-friendliness.

This unique “stilletto” chopper by Giant is a five speed bike with a brushless hub motor conversion. It power up using solar energy and runs on a 36 volt battery pack. The bike uses a solar panel array of 36+ volts and 10 watts. The bike hits 18 to 20mph quickly, enough for your cruising pleasure. The battery can also be ripped off the bike easily, and charged at home, just incase the sun decides to rest on particular days. And if that’s not enough, it has pedals too, incase you decide not to use any power but your own. A great design, the bike is sure to grab a lot of attention.

[Motorbicycling]

It seems that all it takes is a class-action lawsuit to get some companies to start treating their customers right.

As a settlement of said lawsuit, today it was announced that AT&T will provide customers with a free unlock code for their device after only 90 days of service. Now, now, don’t get too excited yet: it’s not quite as clear-cut as it may seem.

The “90 days” doesn’t apply to “handsets for which AT&T has an exclusive sales arrangement with a manufacturer of less than 10 months”. If you have one of those handsets, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a much-less-reasonable 10 months before you can get your mitts on an unlock code.

“But what about those devices that have an exclusivity period of more than 10 months, like my iPhone?” I hear you ask. First of all: you’re a sharp little button, aren’t you? Second of all: stiff. AT&T aren’t obliged to offer you an unlock code at all. Ever.

Now that I’ve got the bad news out of the way, here are the actual terms stating who is eligible, as stipulated by AT&T:

(1) Customers with postpaid accounts who have completed a minimum of 90 days of active service and are in good standing and current in their payments.

(2) Customers with prepaid accounts who have provided a detailed receipt or other proof of purchase of the handset.

(3) Customers who own handsets for which AT&T has an exclusive sales arrangement with a manufacturer of less than 10 months will have to wait until the 10-month period expires before they can receive an unlocking code.

If you want to opt out of the settlement or object to it, you have until June 4, 2010 to post mark your filing. The final approval hearing will be held July 2, 2010. For more information, visit www.attlockinglawsuits.com.

Customers will also be limited to 5 unlock codes a year, so don’t think this is your ticket to an ebay-funded retirement just yet.

[via Boy Genius Report]

The “Sex and the City 2″ Premiere was held tonight at the New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. The four main actresses were all stunning during the night.

Dressed in their designer gowns, Kim Catrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristen Davis, and Sarah Jessica Parker walked the light blue carpet with hundreds of adoring fans taking photos. They all wowed the fans by with their jaw-dropping gowns and elegant look.

Kim Cattrall very gorgeous in her gold embellished Naeem Khan floor-length gown. The dress hugged her curves and showed off her fabulous figure perfectly, even at 50 years old.

Cynthia Nixon wore a form-fitting Carolina Herrera black gown with some gorgeous gold beading along the top of the bodice. She paired it with a jeweled clutch and stunning earrings.

Kristin Davis was very pretty in pink in her Jean Desses for Decades chiffon gown. The strapless and straight to the floor style of the dress is perfect for her personality

Sarah Jessica Parker caught everyone’s attention in a one-shouldered neon yellow Valentino gown, which she borrowed from the Valentino Collection. Her long, blonde, wavy hair and muted makeup perfectly complimented the bright gown.

Related posts:

1. Sex and the City 2 – the second trailer
2. Annette Edwards: Clone of Jessica Rabbit?
3. First Arab-American To Claim Miss USA Title – Rima Fakih Miss USA 2010

Apparently bored with abducting yokels and being shot at by Will Smith, some erudite extraterrestrial has deposited a crop circle in England that puts our left brains to the test. What you’re looking at, Earthlings, is a complex mathematical theorem. More »










Paranormal – Crop circle – Researchers – Circlemakers – England

No matter how hard they try, data centers just can help being power hungry! And that’s what everyone realized from the Uptime Symposium 2010 recently held in New York. Virtualization and power management techniques have been thought of and used before. Even manure has been used to make up for HP’s hungry data centers, but all this never seems to satisfy their hunger, for power.

In early 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy predicted that data center energy consumption would double by 2011 to more than 120 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), which isn’t really surprising, taken that the electricity usage from 2005 to 2008 by data centers has been increasing at an astounding 11% annually. And after all the efforts put into making them a bit more eco-friendly, the power stations haven’t seized on gobbling up power, instead increasing the consumption. New technology and a whole lot more cooperation by users around the globe might just help decrease power consumption by data centers before they meet their doom.

[Computerworld]

Times are changing, swiftly, and the way we keep time is too. The U.S. military will soon have greener devices on their wrist, with Hewlett-Packards current development. These wrist-watches by HP will boast flexible display screens that will show up a load of information besides the time, including maps and strategic information to aide soldiers in combat. The watch, known as the Dick Tracy will use a plastic screen. Soaking in the sun will help power up the watch and have it ticking. The prototype of the watch will be up and functioning in a year by HP.

For starters, the U.S. military will use the Dick Tracy (named after the comic-strip detective with his awesome wristwatch) on a small group of soldiers first, who are bound to enjoy the technology, before spreading out to the entire force. The flexible plastic display, unlike the usual glass ones is also unbreakable, and can withstand the shocks of a battle field. Dick Tracy is yet another green addition for the U.S. military, this time in the form of wrist-watches.

[CNN]

Australia has long been criticized for proposed plans to implement wide Internet censorship, as well as other moves that don’t really have their place in a supposedly democratic country. Stephen Conroy, the country’s communications minister and the man largely responsible for the Internet-filtering proposals, is fighting back agains… (read more)

This was originally posted on the Huffington Post.

Opponents of climate legislation often claim that now is the wrong time to put a price on carbon, with the economy just emerging from a recession. But a must-read study released by the well-respected, nonpartisan Peterson Institute for International Economics shows that the reverse is actually true: passing climate legislation would provide the economy with a much-needed shot in the arm.

Trevor Houser and his co-authors use a widely respected economic model to analyze the impact on the U.S. economy of the American Power Act, the energy and climate legislation introduced last week by Senators Kerry and Lieberman. The study estimates that the legislation would more than double investment in the electric power sector, adding 203,000 jobs per year to the economy during the next decade relative to a “business as usual” scenario without policy. The reason is that when labor and capital are underemployed, as they are now, a policy that spurs new investment in the private sector will create jobs rather than simply taking them from other sectors. This lends quantitative support to the argument I’ve been making for over a year, which is that the fragile state of the U.S. economy strengthens the case for a cap on carbon rather than weakening it.

To understand why this is such an important study, it helps to step back and think about what we know about the link between climate legislation and employment. The usual debates about the job impacts of climate legislation tend to follow parallel tracks that never intersect, with opponents focusing on jobs that might be lost, and proponents focusing on jobs that would be gained — but little analysis of what the net impact would be. So what would that net impact be?

There are a couple of ways to think about this issue, depending on what time frame you are looking at. In the long run, the American economy is likely to gain from taking the lead in the clean energy revolution, just as our economy has always benefited from technological leadership. The world is heading onto a low-carbon path, and huge markets await for the firms that are able to develop and produce new technologies that generate renewable energy and promote energy efficiency. That provides a strong economic argument for a market-based cap on carbon, while will give American firms a powerful incentive to figure out new and better ways of cutting emissions.

What about the short run? In general, the U.S. economy — like any market economy — tends to hover at some natural level of “full employment” that is determined by fundamentals like productivity, technological change, and the size of the labor force. This suggests that the main effect of a price on carbon will not be to change the overall level of employment, but to shift labor (and other resources like capital) away from carbon-intensive sectors and into cleaner sectors. Some sectors win, some sectors lose, but the overall level of employment stays the same.

The key problem with this logic is that we are clearly not in a period of “full employment.” Even though the economy seems to be slowly emerging from the recession, unemployment is still very high. And there is capital sitting on the sidelines as well, held back not only by the recent crisis but also by uncertainty over the strength of the recovery and over the regulatory environment.

When the economy is not in full employment, the picture changes fundamentally. Instead of reallocating resources from one sector to another, a price on carbon could have a positive impact by spurring demand for investment — leading to net job creation, even in the short run.

This is precisely what the Peterson Institute’s study forecasts would happen under the American Power Act introduced last week by Senators Kerry and Lieberman. A cap on carbon would create powerful demand for new investment in clean energy, especially in the electricity sector. The Peterson Institute study projects that annual investment in the sector would more than double as a result of the legislation, increasing by nearly $23 billion a year. Precisely because our economy is operating below full employment, the result would be a net job increase of 203,000 jobs per year over the next decade, relative to the no-policy “business as usual” scenario — even taking into account the effect of higher prices on fossil fuels.

This isn’t just theoretical. In a column in the New York Times last month, David Brooks reported that if climate legislation passed, the major electric power company FPL Group would likely invest roughly $3 billion more per year in wind and solar power. Similarly, NRG Energy would triple its new clean generation capacity. That’s the kind of investment that can produce real jobs in the short run.

I'll have more to say about other conclusions of the Peterson Institute study in coming blog posts. In the meantime, Dave Roberts at Grist has a great take on it along with a summary of the key findings.

Siliconera went digging again down at the USPTO, and they found a new trademark filed by Activision for what sounds like a new Guitar Hero game.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

They’re back! Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the controversial couple who continue to deny that they crashed The Obamas’ White House State Dinner last November, dropped by The TODAY Show Tuesday — where they apologized to The First Family for any and all “misunderstandings” following the debacle.

Puh-leeze!

Of course, the Washington socialites were sure to play up their future business ventures; which reportedly includes a line of action figures, a 500-page book, and a stint on the upcoming Bravo docu-soap The Real Housewives of Washington, DC.

Catching up with the ‘Lost Finale’ and its ending, users were really sad to see how it all ended. 6 years has been a long time, a show which has been able to maintain or I may refer to growing user database day by day. After the show ended, everyone was either heard on phone calls to discussing it at the very next day at the office. People were sharing views while most of them being sad while some being angry of the ending. Some even shared a few hot words over the Director as viewers awaited the last episode as they would be glued to their television sets as some final match.

Sunday night’s ‘Lost’ episode audience count was jumpy. 13 Million viewers, who watched the last episode which is not the same size of audience which was earlier recorded at 23 million when the first two episodes were aired at the second season, were found to be disappointed.

Some 10 million opted out and instead watched the reality show, ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ and later were happy to hear from others that they didn’t watch the drama end. The reality show also witnessed the biggest crowd or viewer count since March 2008. Maybe one reason what I might think of the reality show gaining viewers as the drama hosted some 45 minutes of commercials. More than 70% People trend to switch between channels when ads are aired.

For our regular readers, we even bring you the Lost Ending: Lost Finale Explained by one of our co-writers.

Related posts:

1. Critics, Fans Lost As ‘Lost’ Finale Gets Aired – Confused Ending
2. Lost Ending: Lost Finale Explained!
3. Law & Order Series Finale

Mark Mazzetti has a blockbuster piece in today’s New York Times about a secret order issued by Gen. David Petraeus last fall, with the aid of Adm. Eric Olson, that authorizes Special Operations Forces in the Middle East and South Asia to “fill intelligence gaps about terror organizations and other threats in the Middle East and beyond.” In practice — and a Petraeus spokesman declined comment here — that reportedly means engaging in covert action to fill those gaps. That means taking measures that the government would deny any knowledge of occurring (something the CIA is legally authorized to perform) rather than clandestine operations, in which the government merely denies involvement. Special operators can do clandestine stuff, but (typically) not covert stuff.

What might this mean in practice? Mazzetti:

General Petraeus’s September order is focused on intelligence gathering — by American troops, foreign businesspeople, academics or others — to identify militants and provide “persistent situational awareness,” while forging ties to local indigenous groups.

Petraeus’ spokesman declined comment. But if that’s faithfully reported, it sounds a lot like uniformed personnel could assume civilian cover for intelligence purposes. And that carries the non-trivial risk of unaffiliated businesspeople or academics or journalists or tourists in the Middle East or South Asia being presumed to be spies — and, hence, targets — by local security forces or extremists. Foreign allied governments in the region might also not like the U.S. sponsoring “local indigenous groups” that might destabilize their countries or threaten their rule.

By DANIELA ALTIMARI
Courant Staff Writer

Republican Rob Simmons, the one-time frontrunner for U.S. Senate, announced this morning that he is ending his campaign after losing his party’s nomination to multimillionaire Linda McMahon.

“This is not an easy decision,” Simmons said this morning at a press conference. “This is not a happy decision. But I believe it’s the right decision.”