An American Ex-Pat in... America.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A group founded by American actor George Clooney said Tuesday it has teamed up with Google, a U.N. agency and anti-genocide organizations to launch satellite surveillance of the border between north and south Sudan to try to prevent a new civil war after the south votes in a secession referendum next month.

“We are the antigenocide paparazzi,” Clooney said.

                                                **********************
Clooney, wearing a photo-vest and three days’ worth of stubble, is in a village in southern Sudan. He stops before a Valentino Achak Deng Foundation school, named for one of Sudan’s “Lost Boys,” the child soldiers who fled the more than two decade-long conflict. It’s now home to 100 high school students, including girls.

“Those ‘Lost Boys’ going back into classrooms - it’s better than a red carpet moment,” Clooney said. “It’s tear-jerking.”

Sudan has been home to decades of civil war. The north-south conflict, separate to the Darfur conflict, has claimed more than 2 million lives.

The southern part of the country, which is largely Christian and black, is likely to break free of the Arab-ruled north in a January 2011 independence referendum.

But the North may not want to let it go: independence would mean the South gains control over 80 percent of Sudan’s oil reserves.

“If the civil war does reignite, it’ll be a blockbuster.” Clooney looks away, misty-eyed. “I shudder to think of the opening weekend alone.”

A Hollywood mega-star, Clooney has appeared in films including the “Ocean’s Eleven” series, “Syriana,” and “Michael Clayton.” This is his fourth trip to the region.

In November, Clooney came to southern Sudan accompanied by Ann Curry, from NBC News. Together with John Prendergast, the co-founder of the “Enough Project,” the group toured regions still scarred by fighting and met with people affected by the conflict.

“In human terms, this has the potential to be the highest grossing civil war in Africa,” Clooney said.

Clooney’s boots-to-suits activism has also led to his meeting with President Obama in October, to discuss the Sudan situation. The US has been spear-heading diplomatic efforts to prevent a renewed outbreak of the conflict.

Clooney came out of the meeting with praise for the president. “His leadership on this issue is Oscar-worthy.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mp-nunan/sudan-from-clooneys-eyes_b_802817.html

The “Naughty vs Nice” files maintained by Santa Claus ahead of his annual Christmas gift-giving flight around the globe are the latest documents released by self-proclaimed “whistleblower,” Wikileaks.

The file is divided into a “naughty list,” for children who misbehaved or treated people badly, who are therefore less deserving of presents; and a “nice list,” which includes an inventory of gifts for children whose actions fall under the rubric of “good.”

The confidentiality of the file is considered vital to a Christmas season filled with joy, surprises and holiday cheer. 

Santa Claus – known in some countries as Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or St. Nicholas– reacted with fury at the leak.

“That’s it. Assange is on the permanent ‘naughty’ list,” he fumed from his North Pole workshop.  “No more Swedish women for him!”

In one key entry, Santa is revealed to have written “very deserving,” next to a letter to “S. Clause,” written by a 7 year-old boy from Denver, who requested a sled for Christmas. In a special notation section, Claus is revealed to have written, “Worked very hard on spelling.”

In another, however, a 12 year-old girl’s request for an I-Touch will go unanswered.  “Mean to girls in the hallway at school,” says the special notation.

None of the children’s names were redacted by Wikileaks, leading to concerns the children will be singled out for mockery in schools already fearful of bullying, both in person and online.

The Huffington Post has chosen not to publish these names to protect the children’s privacy.

“It’s wrong to say that we ‘targeted’ Claus,” said Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, contacted while in hiding. “His organization, which is really more of a Christmas-cabal, has a virtual monopoly on flying reindeer and skilled-elves, and deploys what appears to be an entirely arbitrary system for categorizing the world’s children.”

“It’s that type of secrecy we think is important to unveil to the public eye,” Assange said.
 
Claus – the jolly, old fat man, typically seen wearing a red suit – works all year in preparation for the evening of December 24th, in which he brings gifts to children the world over.  His North Pole residence is also home to more than a dozen flying reindeer, and scores of elves – whose work ranges from crafting toys to helping maintain the “Naughty vs. Nice” list.
 
“We think the file was exploited when we updated from dusty, old ledger books to a Windows-based server system,” said Alabaster Snowball, the elf in charge of administering the system.

“But if we can’t do our work with absolute confidentiality, then why would children even wake up early on Christmas to find out what they received?”

Disappointment by children around the world has many elves fearful of a “milk and cookies backlash.” With lowered anticipation, elves are concerned that fewer kids will leave holiday treats for Claus.

“Those cookies represent the carb-and-sugar load he needs to get through the night,” Snowball said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mp-nunan/santa-claus-naughtynice-l_b_792506.html