Author Archives: e0ebri1z

Want an Abortion This Year? Get Ready to Wait

by e0ebri1z Posted on May 1, 2015

Mother Jones

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For women seeking an abortion, 2015 is shaping up to be the year of the long wait.

Since the beginning of the year, six states have proposed or passed laws that would require a woman to wait days before she has an abortion—laws that critics say place an especially harsh burden on poor and rural women.

Conservative lawmakers in Arkansas and Tennessee have passed bills forcing women seeking abortions to attend an initial appointment and then wait 48 hours before the actual procedure. The Florida Legislature has passed a measure, which GOP Gov. Rick Scott promises to sign, creating a 24-hour waiting period between two appointments. A bill that died in Kentucky, which already requires women to receive counseling 24 hours before an abortion, would have forced women to receive that counseling in person.

And Oklahoma and North Carolina are poised to pass bills that would institute the longest waiting periods in the county: 72 hours between mandatory counseling and an abortion. The North Carolina proposal passed the Republican-dominated House on Thursday, and Oklahoma’s measure is awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Mary Fallin. If the states approve the measures, Oklahoma and North Carolina will join Missouri, South Dakota, and Utah as the only other states with three-day waiting periods.

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Want an Abortion This Year? Get Ready to Wait

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Top 5 Pledges to Make for Earth Day

by e0ebri1z Posted on April 21, 2015

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Top 5 Pledges to Make for Earth Day

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Why Obamacare Means Life and Death…for Both Political Parties

by e0ebri1z Posted on December 3, 2013

Mother Jones

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In politics, hyperbole is routine. It’s common for campaign ads to praise a candidate as a savior or denigrate a contender as the destroyer of worlds. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers regularly claim that a particular piece of legislation will yield everlasting rainbows—or bring about complete devastation. President Barack Obama has been hailed by fans as a champion of hope and change and declaimed by foes as a secret, foreign-born, America-hating Muslim socialist bearing a covert plot to weaken the nation he leads. But every once in the rare while, hyperbole is warranted. And as the fierce mud-wrestling over Obamacare continues, it’s not going too far to say that this clash is darn close to a life-and-death battle between the Democrats and Republicans. Which explains why the conflict is not ending, even as the White House patches up the glitchy Healthcare.gov website. Tea party leader Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is still tweeting out daily his demand for a full repeal of Obamacare, and Obama, as he demonstrated at a White House event on Tuesday afternoon, is revving up the White House sales campaign for the Affordable Care Act.

With the website somewhat functioning, the fundamental debate over Obamacare resumes, and this debate pits the basic philosophy of each party against the other. Ever since becoming tea partyized, the Republican Party has essentially stood for one notion: government is the problem. After the economic crash of 2008, Republicans tended to blame Washington’s federal budget woes—not the actions of Wall Street dealers and schemers—for the financial calamity that sent the economy into the most severe recession since the Great Depression. They saw little need for government action to re-regulate the financial shenanigans that led to millions of Americans losing their jobs and homes. And they fiercely opposed the idea that government should stimulate the collapsing economy. The tea party victory of 2010 pushed the GOP further in this direction, with new Republican legislators obsessively peddling a single-minded agenda: big government must be crushed. Obamacare, naturally, was the main target of this ideological wrath. So much so that this year, House Speaker John Boehner was outmaneuvered by Cruz-inspired tea party back-benchers determined to shut down the government to thwart health care reform law.

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Why Obamacare Means Life and Death…for Both Political Parties

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Huge North Dakota oil spill went unreported by furloughed feds

by e0ebri1z Posted on October 11, 2013

Huge North Dakota oil spill went unreported by furloughed feds

By

SnoShuu

This is what a wheat field looks like when it isn’t covered with thousands of barrels of leaked oil.

A farmer discovered a huge oil spill — several times bigger than the recent Mayflower, Ark., spill – nearly two weeks ago in North Dakota. But because of federal government furloughs, we’re only just learning about it.

More than 20,000 barrels of fracked oil seeped from a ruptured pipeline over 7 acres of remote North Dakota wheat fields, oozing 10 feet into the clay soil and killing crops. Farmer Steven Jensen found the mess on his land on Sept. 29.

The National Response Center, which reports oil and chemical spills, posted an alert about the spill on its website this week. Reuters reports that the agency normally posts such reports within a day, but that its work has been stymied by the government shutdown.

But there’s really nothing to worry about, says Tesoro Logistics, the company responsible for the spill:

There have been no injuries or known impacts to water, wildlife or the surrounding environment as a result of this incident.

Jeez, it’s as if the pipeline spewed oxygen and candy.

Try telling that to Jensen, whose nose led him to a pool of oil while he was out harvesting on his 1,800-acre farm. “It was pretty ugly,” he told Reuters. The nearby crop had “disintegrated, you wouldn’t have known it was a wheat plant.” More from Reuters:

At an estimated 20,600 barrels, it ranks among the biggest U.S. spills in recent years. It is the biggest oil leak on U.S. land since March, when the rupture of an Exxon Mobil pipeline in Mayflower, Arkansas spilled 5,000 to 7,000 barrels of heavy Canadian crude. …

This is the biggest oil spill in North Dakota since 1 million barrels of salt water brine, a by-product of oil production, leaked from a well site in 2006, according to the state Department of Health.

Emergency crews initially lit fire to the oil spill, burning an estimated 750 barrels in an effort to reach the leaking pipeline – despite homes being located a half mile away.

Tesoro says the burst pipeline has been shut down and it’s conducting an internal investigation to try to determine the cause of the accident. A state official’s description of a hole in the pipeline made it sound as though the spill was caused by corrosion. About 1,200 barrels of oil had been recovered by Thursday, meaning at least another 18,000 barrels are still out there in Jensen’s fields.

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

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Huge North Dakota oil spill went unreported by furloughed feds

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California governor signs bill legalizing hemp farming in the state

by e0ebri1z Posted on September 30, 2013

green4us

Izzy & Lenore – Jon Katz

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jon Katz’s Going Home . In his previous books, New York Times bestselling author Jon Katz introduced us to the delightful menagerie at Bedlam Farm, including Izzy, the unforgettable border collie rescue. Now, in Izzy & Lenore, Katz delves deeper into his connection with the beautiful, once-abandoned […]

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Warhammer: Dark Elves – Games Workshop

From the desolate wastes of Naggaroth the Dark Elves march forth to enslave the world. Ruled over by the heartless Witch King, they are a race of infinite cruelty and evil. Ancient sorceresses wield hateful dark magics and bathe in the blood of their victims to keep themselves young, while pitiless knights ride cold blooded steeds into battle. Warhammer: Dar […]

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What the Dog Knows – Cat Warren

Cat Warren is a university professor and former journalist with an admittedly odd hobby: She and her German shepherd have spent the last seven years searching for the dead. Solo is a cadaver dog. What started as a way to harness Solo’s unruly energy and enthusiasm soon became a calling that introduced Warren to the hidden and fascinating universe of working […]

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Pukka’s Promise – Ted Kerasote

From the best-selling author who offers “the most utterly compelling translation of dog to human I have ever seen” (Jeffrey Masson), a joyful chronicle of a dog that is also a groundbreaking answer to the question: How can we give our dogs the happiest, healthiest lives? When Ted Kerasote was ready for a new dog after losing his beloved Merle — who died too […]

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Cat Sense – John Bradshaw

Cats have been popular household pets for thousands of years, and their numbers only continue to rise. Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, even to their most adoring owners. In Cat Sense , renowned anthrozoologist John Bradshaw takes us further into the mind of the domestic cat than ever before, using […]

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Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 2 – J.D. Lenzen

Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 2 (PFT-V2) is the second installment in the paracord fusion ties book series and another stunning achievement by author J.D. Lenzen. Like Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 1, PFT-V2 reveals innovative and stylish ways of storing paracord for later use. So once again you’ll find crisp, clear, full-color photographs (over 1,000 i […]

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Codex: Space Marines (Enhanced Edition) – Games Workshop

The Space Marines are the chosen warriors of the Emperor, and the greatest fighting force of the Imperium. Each Space Marine is a genetically enhanced super soldier, easily a match for a dozen lesser men, armed with some of the deadliest weapons in the galaxy and encased in formidable power armour. This codex explores the formations and Chapters of the Space […]

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Warhammer 40,000: The Rules – Games Workshop

There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only WAR. In the nightmare future of the 41st Millennium, Mankind teeters upon the brink of destruction. The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man is beset on all sides by ravening aliens and threatened from within by Warp-spawned entities and heretical plots. Only the strength of the immortal […]

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Warlords of the Dark Millennium: Typhus – Games Workshop

Typhus is the vile herald of Nurgle and rotting champion of the Dark Gods. Clad in rusted, tarnished terminator armour, Typhus bears the festing destroyer hive upon his back, a nest for plague ridden insects and noxious contagions. He also carries the Daemon weapon manreaper, a lethal instrument of death fashioned into the shape of a massive scythe. Ab […]

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Munitorum: Power Fists – Games Workshop

A power fist is a formidable close combat weapon capable of pulverising armour, flesh and bone with horrific ease. The real killing might of a power fist comes not from its piston-enhanced grip, though this alone could crush a man’s helmet and the skull within, but rather the disruption field that surrounds it. Anything that remains for more than a moment wi […]

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California governor signs bill legalizing hemp farming in the state

Posted in alo, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, Monterey, ONA, oven, PUR, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on California governor signs bill legalizing hemp farming in the state

“The Jester” Hacks Top Venezuelan Newspaper Over Snowden

by e0ebri1z Posted on July 9, 2013

Mother Jones

On Tuesday afternoon, the Edward Snowden-loathing hacker who calls himself “The Jester” hacked the website of one of Venezuela’s top newspapers, El Nacional, in order to express his displeasure that the country’s government has offered asylum to the former NSA contractor. In a letter posted on the paper’s website, he asked Venezuela to “reconsider your stance on this small but volatile matter, before weird things start happening.”

The self-described “patriot” hacker, who has one of his computers on display in the International Spy Museum, is famous for launching cyberattacks against WikiLeaks and Al Qaeda-linked web sites. He identifies himself as a former soldier, and he denies working for a US government agency. In recent weeks, he has been busy targeting Snowden’s allies. He has launched successful denial-of-service attacks on the website’s of Bolivian vice president Álvaro García Linera and Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. The hacker has vowed to target any country that offers asylum to Snowden, whom he calls “a traitor” who “has jeopardized all our lives.”

On Tuesday, a Russian lawmaker tweeted that Snowden had accepted asylum in Venezuela, but WikiLeaks, which has been assisting the leaker, later denied that he had formally done so. The Jester tweeted out a link to his El Nacional hack at about 4:45 p.m. Eastern time. The Jester did not respond to requests for comment from Mother Jones. It’s not clear why the Jester targeted El Nacional, which in the past has openly opposed former President Hugo Chavez, who hand-picked Nicolás Maduro.

Here’s a screenshot of the Jester’s hack, which appears to be a URL-injection hack, not viewable from the main website without the correct link:

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“The Jester” Hacks Top Venezuelan Newspaper Over Snowden

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How Much Email Metadata Does NSA Collect?

by e0ebri1z Posted on June 16, 2013

Mother Jones

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In Barton Gellman’s big NSA surveillance piece, he says it wasn’t bulk collection of telephone metadata that caused the dramatic showdown in John Ashcroft’s hospital room in 2004. (Metadata consists of records about phone calls—time, location, and participants—not the contents of the calls themselves.) Everyone was fine with that. It was collection of internet metadata for email, chat, Skype, and so forth that caused the showdown. In the end, the program was shut down, but then a few months later it was started back up under the oversight of the FISA court.

So it’s still cruising along, right? I’d guess so, but then there’s this at the tail end of Gellman’s article:

As for bulk collection of Internet metadata, the question that triggered the crisis of 2004, another official said the NSA is no longer doing it. When pressed on that question, he said he was speaking only of collections under authority of the surveillance court.

“I’m not going to say we’re not collecting any Internet metadata,” he added. “We’re not using this program and these kinds of accesses to collect Internet metadata in bulk.”

That’s clear as mud, isn’t it? Gellman also describes NSA’s initial contention after 9/11 that it could collect bulk internet metadata because, legally, it didn’t “acquire” the information merely by putting it in a database. It only “acquired” it when an analyst actually retrieved it for some reason. So as long as analysts only retrieved records they were legally entitled to, everything was kosher:

Goldsmith and Comey did not buy that argument, and a high-ranking U.S. intelligence official said the NSA does not rely on it today. As soon as surveillance data “touches us, we’ve got it, whatever verbs you choose to use,” the official said in an interview. “We’re not saying there’s a magic formula that lets us have it without having it.”

Taken together, these two officials are suggesting that NSA no longer collects internet metadata in bulk. It collects only data it’s legally allowed to have in the first place, presumably based on a Section 702 warrant. But that’s still a helluva lot. One of the documents released by Edward Snowden suggests that it amounts to over 1 trillion records per year.

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How Much Email Metadata Does NSA Collect?

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Here’s Why the Government Went Ballistic Over the AP Leak

by e0ebri1z Posted on May 17, 2013

Mother Jones

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The subpoena of AP phone records over what seems like a fairly routine leak has puzzled me from the start. Why did the administration go so ballistic over this? Today, the LA Times helps me understand what was going on. Apparently the leak compromised the efforts of an al-Qaeda mole who had been recruited by British intelligence and was one of our prized assets:

His access led to the U.S. drone strike that killed a senior Al Qaeda leader, Fahd Mohammed Ahmed Quso, on May 6, 2012. U.S. officials say Quso helped direct the terrorist attack that killed 17 sailors aboard the U.S. guided-missile destroyer Cole in a Yemeni harbor in October 2000.

The informant also convinced members of the Yemeni group that he wanted to blow up a U.S. passenger jet on the first anniversary of the U.S. attack that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. They outfitted him with the latest version of an underwear bomb designed to pass metal detectors and other airport safeguards, officials say.

The informant left Yemen and delivered the device to his handlers, and it ultimately went to the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Va. Intelligence officials hoped to send him back to Yemen to help track more bomb makers and planners, but the leak made that impossible, and sent Al Qaeda scrambling to cover its tracks, officials said.

Jack Shafer speculates a bit further:

The AP states in the article that it published only after being told by “officials” that the original “concerns were allayed.”….That may be the case, but the government was still incensed by the leak. In fact, it appears that officials were livid. As my Reuters colleagues Mark Hosenball and Tabassum Zakaria reported last night, the government found the leak so threatening that it opened a leak investigation before the AP ran its story.

Now, what would make the Obama administration so furious? My guess is it wasn’t the substance of the AP story that has exasperated the government but that the AP found a source or sources that spilled information about an ongoing intelligence operation and that even grander leaks might surge into the press corps’ rain barrels.

And that’s the key. The AP story itself didn’t mention anything about a double agent. But apparently, the fact that AP had found itself a leaker got officials scared that the existence of the mole might become public. And as Shafer documents at length, that’s exactly what happened:

What not for the U.S. government to like here?

To begin with, the perpetrators of a successful double-agent operation against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula would not want to brag about their coup for years. Presumably, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula will now use the press reports to walk the dog back to determine whose misplaced trust allowed the agent to penetrate it. That will make the next operation more difficult. Other intelligence operations — and we can assume they are up and running — may also become compromised as the press reports give al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula new clues.

Likewise, the next time the CIA or foreign intelligence agency tries to recruit a double agent, the candidate will judge his handlers wretched secret keepers, regard the assignment a death mission and seek employment elsewhere.

Last, the leaks of information — including those from the lips of Brennan, Clarke and King — signal to potential allies that America can’t be trusted with secrets. “Leaks related to national security can put people at risk,” as Obama put it today in a news conference.

The ultimate audience for the leaks investigation may not be domestic but foreign. Obviously, the government wants to root out the secretspillers. But a country can’t expect foreign intelligence agencies to cooperate if it blows cover of such an operation. I’d wager that the investigations have only begun.

You can decide for yourself whether the government’s reaction to all this was reasonable and proper. But for the first time I feel like I understand what might have motivated them, and I thought I’d pass that along.

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Here’s Why the Government Went Ballistic Over the AP Leak

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