Quote from: criptix on March 15, 2015, 12:24:39 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Higgins

Quote

Life and work

Eliot Higgins was born in 1979.[1] In 2012, when Higgins began blogging the Syrian civil war, he was an unemployed finance and admin worker who spent his days taking care of his child at home.[1] He is married to a Turkish woman with one child.[3][4] Higgins took the pseudonym Brown Moses from the Frank Zappa song "Brown Moses" on the album Thing-Fish.[1]

Higgins' analyses of Syrian weapons, which began as a hobby out of his home in his spare time, are now frequently cited by the press and human rights groups and have led to questions in parliament.[1] His blog, Brown Moses Blog, began in March 2012 by covering the Syrian conflict. Higgins operates by monitoring over 450 YouTube channels daily looking for images of weapons and tracking when new types appear in the war, where, and with whom.[1] According to Guardian reporter Matthew Weaver, Higgins has been "hailed as something of a pioneer" for his work.[1] Because of the large number of videos uploaded by participants in the war, a great deal of data and information can be gleaned for those with the time and knowledge to sort through it. Higgins has no background or training in weapons and is entirely self-taught, saying that "Before the Arab spring I knew no more about weapons than the average Xbox owner. I had no knowledge beyond what I'd learned from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rambo."[1] He has never been to Syria and has no friends or family there, and cannot speak or read Arabic.[4][5][6][7]

Higgins is credited with being among the first to report on the widespread use of improvised barrel bombs by the Syrian government, a phenomenon which has spread to other troubled nations such as Iraq to combat insurgencies and opposition forces.[8][9] Higgins' exposure of the use of barrel bombs is noted particularly because of the destruction caused by the improvised devises, which have been condemned by many for their potential to cause indiscriminate civilian casualties.[10]

Other aspects of the Syrian conflict uncovered and documented by Higgins include the use of cluster bombs in 2012, which the Syrian government previously denied using; the proliferation of shoulder-launched heat-seeking missiles known as MANPADS; and the proliferation of Croatian-made weapons, a story later picked up by the New York Times which was reportedly connected to the United States.[1] He has investigated the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons.[11][12]

Higgins published an estimate of the location where the James Foley execution video was made outside Raqqa, an Islamic State stronghold in north-central Syria, based on visual markers of stills from the video and his interpretation of satellite images of the terrain around Raqqa.[13]

He reportedly 'embarrassed Putin's regime with photographs [that] have allegedly tracked the movements through Ukraine of a Russian missile launcher linked to the downing of Malaysian airliner MH17.' The revelations by Higgins' are being considered by Dutch police investigating the crash.[11]

i only heard of eliot higgings today through a radio show and i must say i am really impressed.

he is a prime example that every single one of us has the power to help and change the world to the better, even if you are unemployed and only have a computer and internet access.

thank you for what you are doing mr eliot higgings

Happy people don't change the world. Because they are too busy trying to keep themselves happy. See the real people whonchange the world are people with fucked up lives. But every now and then, we all affect the world a bit everyway.