Author Archives: Diana A. Kincaid

Dot Earth Blog: Jackie Chan Presses Case for Rhino Conservation

by Diana A. Kincaid Posted on June 6, 2013

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The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t […]

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Codex: Eldar – Games Workshop

Codex: Eldar is your comprehensive guide to wielding the deadly warhosts of the Craftworld Eldar upon the battlefields of the 41 st Millennium. This volume details the craftworlds of the Eldar, and the different types of army they field. The Eldar embody excellence in the arts of war, from their psychic might to their deadly aircraft, and their ranks co […]

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Iyanden – A Codex: Eldar Supplement – Games Workshop

For thousands of years, the Eldar of Iyanden have sailed through the sea of stars, defending the galaxy’s eastern rim from the threat of Chaos. They have won great victories, but have known terrible tragedy also; what was once the most populous of craftworlds is now but a shadow of its former glory. This supplement to Codex: Eldar allows you to ta […]

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The Honest Life – Jessica Alba

As a new mom, Jessica Alba wanted to create the safest, healthiest environment for her family. But she was frustrated by the lack of trustworthy information on how to live healthier and cleaner—delivered in a way that a busy mom could act on without going to extremes. In 2012, with serial entrepreneur Brian Lee and environmental advocate Christopher Gavigan, […]

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Inside of a Dog – Alexandra Horowitz

The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think, now in paperback. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draw […]

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Warhammer 40,000 Altar of War: Eldar – Games Workshop

Altar of War missions provide all the information required to play games inspired by the battlefield tactics of the different Warhammer 40,000 armies. This book contains six brand-new missions which you can use instead of the Eternal War missions in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook if you or your opponent has an Eldar army. These battles sho […]

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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]

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Trident K9 Warriors – Michael Ritland & Gary Brozek

As Seen on “60 Minutes”! As a Navy SEAL during a combat deployment in Iraq, Mike Ritland saw a military working dog in action and instantly knew he’d found his true calling. Ritland started his own company training and supplying dogs for the SEAL teams, U.S. Government, and Department of Defense. He knew that fewer than 1 percent of […]

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How to Paint Citadel Miniatures: Eldar – Games Workshop

The deadly skimmers, skilled Aspect Warriors and valiant Guardians of the Eldar craftworlds fight a constant battle for the survival of their very species. In this Army Workshop, the talented Studio army painters demonstrate how to paint a varied selection of Eldar miniatures using the Citadel paint range. Example miniatures featured in this extensive painti […]

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Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 1 – J.D. Lenzen

J.D. Lenzen is the creator of the highly acclaimed YouTube channel “Tying It All Together”, and the producer of over 200 instructional videos. He’s been formally recognized by the International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT) for his contributions to knotting, and is the originator of fusion knotting-innovative knots created through the merging of […]

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Dot Earth Blog: Jackie Chan Presses Case for Rhino Conservation

Posted in Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LG, Monterey, ONA, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dot Earth Blog: Jackie Chan Presses Case for Rhino Conservation

Is the Government Spying on Reporters More Often Than We Think?

by Diana A. Kincaid Posted on May 17, 2013

Mother Jones

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The Justice Department’s seizure of call logs related to phone lines used by dozens of Associated Press reporters has provoked a flurry of bipartisan criticism, most of which has cast the decision as a disturbing departure from the norm. AP head Gary Pruitt condemned the decision, part of an investigation into leaks of classified information, as a “massive and unprecedented intrusion.” Yet there’s plenty of circumstantial evidence suggesting the seizure may not be unprecedented—just rarely disclosed.

The Justice Department is supposed to follow special rules when it seeks the phone records of reporters, in recognition that such snooping conflicts with First Amendment values. As Pruitt complained in an angry letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, those logs provided the government a “road map” of the stories his reporters were investigating, and there is evidence that such seizures deter anonymous sources from speaking to the press—whether they’re discussing classified programs or merely facts that embarrass the government.

Federal regulations require that the attorney general personally approve such a move, ensure the request is narrow and necessary, and notify the news organization about the request—in advance whenever possible. In this case, however, the Justice Department seems to have used an indiscriminate vacuum-cleaner approach—seeking information (from phone companies) about a wide range of phone numbers used by AP reporters—and it only notified AP after the fact.

It wouldn’t be surprising if there were more cases like this we’ve never heard about. Here’s why: The Justice Department’s rules only say the media must be informed about “subpoenas” for “telephone toll records.” The FBI’s operations guidelines interprets those rules quite literally, making clear the requirement “concerns only grand jury subpoenas.” That is, these rules don’t apply to National Security Letters, which are secret demands for information used by the FBI that don’t require judicial approval. The narrow FBI interpretation also doesn’t cover administrative subpoenas, which are issued by federal agencies without prior judicial review. Last year, the FBI issued NSLs for the communications and financial records of more than 6,000 Americans—and the number has been far higher in previous years. The procedures that do apply to those tools have been redacted from publicly available versions of the FBI guidelines. Thus, it’s no shocker the AP seizure would seem like an “unprecedented intrusion” if the government doesn’t think it has to tell us about the precedents. And there’s no telling if the Justice Department rules (and the FBI’s interpretation) allow the feds to seize without warning other types of electronic communications records that could reveal a journalist’s e-mail, chat, or Web browsing activity.

Is it paranoid to fear the Justice Department and the FBI are sidestepping the rules? Consider a case first reported in 2008, and discussed at length in a damning (but heavily redacted) 2010 report from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. In this instance, the FBI obtained nearly two years of phone records for lines belonging to Washington Post and New York Times bureaus and reporters—even though the FBI had initially requested records covering only seven months. In what the OIG called a “serious abuse of the FBI’s authority to obtain information,” agents seized these records under false pretenses, “without any legal process or Attorney General approval.” And these records remained in the FBI’s database for over three years before the OIG or the press found out.

It gets worse. The OIG report noted that the FBI had made “community of interest” requests to phone carriers; these requests sweep in not only the target’s call records, but those of people the target has spoken with—which can include reporters. Such requests can provide investigators an incredibly revealing portrait of entire social networks. Yet the OIG found that agents used boilerplate requests for information from the carriers; some claimed they submitted the requests without actually knowing exactly what “community of interest” meant, and even when they did it didn’t necessarily occur to them that they were likely to obtain reporter records through such requests. In other words, FBI agents often made these requests without fully understanding what they were requesting.

Only in January 2009 did the FBI think to ask the Justice Department’s in-house lawyers whether the press restrictions apply when reporter records are obtained through indirect means such as community of interest requests. Government lawyers said yes, but the FBI concluded it didn’t have to tell the press in the specific case it had inquired about, because agents had not “understood at the time the subpoenas were issued that the subpoenas called for reporters’ records.”

Lawmakers at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday grilled Holder about the AP investigation with little success: Holder had recused himself from this leak inquiry and was reluctant to discuss an “ongoing investigation.” But there’s plenty lawmakers can do beyond slamming Holder. Congress could demand an audit of previous government spying on reporters. Such a review would reveal whether the Justice Department believes it must disclose to its media targets when it has spied on reporters using methods other than subpoenas and whether its rules concerning obtaining reporters’ records cover internet material. This sort of audit would also cover how many journalists have been swept into government databases—directly, or indirectly under “community of interest” requests.

The real scandal may be just how much snooping on the media the current rules permit. To fully understand the AP seizures, the media and the public need a clearer picture of the rules governing all forms of spying on media—and how often such info-grabs have happened. Maybe the seizure of AP records is an extraordinary case. Or maybe the only extraordinary thing is that we’re hearing about it.

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Is the Government Spying on Reporters More Often Than We Think?

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Inside the Democracy Alliance, the Liberal Answer to the Koch Donor Network

by Diana A. Kincaid Posted on May 6, 2013

Mother Jones

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Once or twice a year, Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist and one-half of the “Koch brothers” duo, invites several hundred donors, big-name politicians, and conservative thinkers to a posh resort somewhere classy like Palm Springs or Aspen or Vail. The Kochs and their allies discuss how best to elect their favored politicians and spread their free-market ideas, and they hear pitches from conservative activists trying to carry out that strategy on the ground. Then the attendees make a pledge to fund the groups fighting for their causes. The Koch donor retreats are, by now, well known in political circles, and a magnet for reporters and protesters.

What’s often left unmentioned in coverage of the Kochs’ gatherings is that Democrats and progressives do the same thing. The Democracy Alliance is an exclusive group of about 100 funders, founded in 2005 by Democratic strategist Rob Stein. Members include billionaire financier George Soros and Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes, who owns the New Republic magazine. Matea Gold of the Los Angeles Times was recently given a rare glimpse inside the Alliance’s operations, and she came away with a useful, fascinating story.

Since 2005, the Alliance has directed roughly $500 million to left-leaning organizations, including the Center for American Progress think tank, the watchdog Media Matters for America, and the political data firm Catalist. The Democracy Alliance, as an organization, does not make donations; instead, leaders of left-leaning organizations pitch the group’s members, and the Alliance recommends which causes its wealthy members should support. Members must give at least $200,000 annually to Alliance-backed organizations, on top of a $30,000-a-year membership fee.

The Alliance recently met over five days at a hotel in Laguna Beach, Calif., not far from the Koch donor meeting at the Renaissance Esmeralda golf resort in Palm Springs. At the Laguna Beach retreat, Gold reports, Alliance members pledged $50 million to an array of organizations.

Two story lines emerged out of the latest Alliance event. One was an intense focus on immigration reform among Alliance members as Congress considers bipartisan legislation to overhaul the country’s immigration system. The other big news was the Alliance’s endorsement of Organizing for Action, the nonprofit devoted to enacting President Obama’s second-term agenda. OFA has said it wants to raise $50 million this year, but it raked in less than $5 million in the first three months of 2013. The Alliance’s decision to back OFA, then, couldn’t have come at a better time:

Among those on hand to pitch to the donors was Jon Carson, executive director of Organizing for Action, who stressed the ways in which his group is partnering with other liberal advocacy organizations.

“One thing we’ve made very clear to everyone is we’re going to work very collaboratively with everyone out there in the progressive infrastructure,” Carson said. “We’re going to focus on the pieces we bring to the table and not duplicate things.”

Alliance chairman (and former Mother Jones board member) Rob McKay said Carson assuaged worries that Organizing for Action, run by former Obama campaign officials, would compete with other groups. “The biggest concern would be if OFA was just going to try to re-create the wheel in a bunch of areas where we felt significant investments have been made,” he said.

The pro-Obama group, which had already received some donations from Democracy Alliance members, was recommended for funding for one year. It will be reconsidered next year but was not included in the three-year portfolio.

The hottest topic of the conference was immigration reform, as leaders of the Service Employees International Union and other advocates emphasized that comprehensive legislation could pass this year.

“The partners were really impressed with how close we are on this, and yet how tenuous it is, even at this stage,” McKay said. “We’ve got to get this done.”

The full story is one of the better detailed accounts I’ve seen of the Democracy Alliance, which will continue to play a crucial role on immigration, gun control, and other pressing issues on Congress’ to-do list.

Originally posted here:  

Inside the Democracy Alliance, the Liberal Answer to the Koch Donor Network

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What Is The Function Of Solar Cells and How To Setup One

by Diana A. Kincaid Posted on May 2, 2013

What Is The Function Of Solar Cells and How To Setup One

Photo voltaic energy panels are best used in the event the climatic conditions are clean along with the positioning is directly within the sunshine rays. These panels are comprised of solar ability (pv) cells. Solar panels are being set in at houses with regards to enjoyable people’s electrical electric power needs.

The installation of solar energy panels are not really which challenging to attain. For so long as there may be an attitude and also you can abide by very simple techniques it truly is probable to install the merchandise without issues. Set up expenditures will often be better than pertaining to suburban parts. Placing in photo voltaic panels having a new roof causes it to be much less complicated to uncover rafters, and can help steer clear of possible drinking water leaks. Composition shingle roofing is classified as the finest option for photo voltaic panels, though fragile tile roofing is definitely the most challenging.

What are photo voltaic electricity panels?

These kind of panels mounted with your homes mainly yields DC and that is transformed into AC via an inverter. Grid-tie process is surely a supplemental photo voltaic energy supplying technique which creates energy in properties as well as electrical energy can be utilized with regards to promoting needs furthermore. The photo voltaic panels in addition feature an inverter as they offer DC electricity which frequently needs to be grown to become AC electrical electric power in advance of it currently being employed in your house. If these types of Photovoltaic panels can provide you with the entire energy you prefer to in your residence, you probably prefer to know. The photo voltaic electricity panels rework this electrical power directly into DC that is next sent to inverter to get developed into AC. Silicon is easily the most regular semi conducting elements for this goal. Solar energy panels harness the drive with the solar to supply replenishes thoroughly clean electrical power. Solar electricity panels are utilized to get solar radiation to the sunshine.

Solar panels are being set in at houses with regards to enjoyable people’s electrical electric power needs. Solar energy panels harness the drive with the solar to supply replenishes thoroughly clean electrical power. Each and every solar panel involves many photo voltaic cells, every one of them conceived to take in the rays from the sunlight to be able that we can easily have used them efficiently as we supply on about our life. Solar electricity panels are utilized to get solar radiation to the sunshine. The photo voltaic power panels transform photo voltaic vitality straight into energy with the support of photovoltaic influence.

Want to find out more about solar system, then visit Diana A. Kincaid’s site on how to choose the best solar panels cost for your needs.

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CO2 in atmosphere poised to blow past 400 ppm mark

by Diana A. Kincaid Posted on April 30, 2013

CO2 in atmosphere poised to blow past 400 ppm mark

By John Upton

Shutterstock

Sometime soon, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is expected to hit a scary new milestone: 400 parts per million. That would be higher than at any time in human history — and it’s bad news for anyone who cares about a livable climate.

The latest daily average level recorded by Scripps Institution of Oceanography sensors at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, was 399.5 ppm, on Monday. The CO2 level fluctuates throughout the day, and hourly levels in excess of 400 ppm have already been recorded. The level also fluctuates throughout the year, with May being the month when CO2 reaches its highest concentrations.

The big thing to watch for is whether the average for the month of May will exceed 400 ppm.

Check out this graph showing data from the past week:

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Click to embiggen.

You can follow @Keeling_curve on Twitter to keep up with the latest figures.

From The Guardian:

“I wish it weren’t true but it looks like the world is going to blow through the 400ppm level without losing a beat. At this pace we’ll hit 450ppm within a few decades,” said Ralph Keeling, a geologist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography …

“Each year, the concentration of CO2 at Mauna Loa rises and falls in a sawtooth fashion, with the next year higher than the year before. The peak of the sawtooth typically comes in May. If CO2 levels don’t top 400ppm in May 2013, they almost certainly will next year,” Keeling said.

Here’s a graph showing that sawtoothed rise, also called the “Keeling Curve,” named for Ralph’s father, Charles Keeling, who began taking measurements at Mauna Loa in 1958:

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Click to embiggen.

From a statement published by Scripps last week:

Scientists estimate that the last time CO2 was as high as 400 ppm was probably the Pliocene epoch, between 3.2 million and 5 million years ago, when Earth’s climate was much warmer than today. CO2 was around 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution, when humans first began releasing large amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels. By the time [Charles] Keeling began measurements in 1958, CO2 had already risen from 280 to 316 ppm. The rate of rise of CO2 over the past century is unprecedented; there is no known period in geologic history when such high rates have been found. The continuous rise is a direct consequence of society’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels for energy.

From another Guardian article:

Climate scientists have long maintained that concentrations need to be kept below 350ppm if the world is to stand a reasonable chance of meeting international targets to keep average temperature increases below 2C, while concentrations of above 400ppm put the planet on track for levels of warming deemed ‘dangerous’ by the international community.

Hence that whole 350.org thing.

Carbon dioxide levels of 400 ppm in the atmosphere aren’t much more threatening than levels of 399 ppm. But the zeros focus the mind (and the media) on an extremely dangerous trend: Failure to act on climate change has pushed the world into yet another new danger zone.

John Upton is a science aficionado and green news junkie who

tweets

, posts articles to

Facebook

, and

blogs about ecology

. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants:

johnupton@gmail.com

.

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CO2 in atmosphere poised to blow past 400 ppm mark

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