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bananas's Journal
bananas's Journal
March 27, 2015
New House Bill Would Gut Patriot Act, Protect Whistleblowers
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/New-House-Bill-Would-Gut-Patriot-Act-Protect-Whistleblowers-133100
New House Bill Would Gut Patriot Act, Protect Whistleblowers
by Karl Bode 12:56PM Wednesday Mar 25 2015 Tipped by tschmidt
Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) this week unveiled the Surveillance State Repeal Act (pdf), which would dramatically reform the nation's growing intelligence surveillance apparatus. Among other things, the proposal takes specific aim at the long-controversial Patriot Act, which allowed for the mass collection of domestic data in order to fight terrorism. Pocan and Massie's proposal would also prevent the government from forcing companies to include backdoors in tech products.
The proposal would also repeal the 2008 FISA Amendments Act, which has historically aided the government when it comes to wide-ranging collection of user data over the Internet.
In addition the Act would provide significant new protections for whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, NSA employee William Binney, or former AT&T employee Mark Klein, who disclosed how the telcos were allowing wholesale government access to every shred of data that touches their networks.
"Revelations about the NSA's programs reveal the extraordinary extent to which the program has invaded Americans' privacy," Pocan said in a prepared statement. "I reject the notion that we must sacrifice liberty for security -- we can live in a secure nation which also upholds a strong commitment to civil liberties. This legislation ends the NSA's dragnet surveillance practices, while putting provisions in place to protect the privacy of American citizens through real and lasting change."
New House Bill Would Gut Patriot Act, Protect Whistleblowers
by Karl Bode 12:56PM Wednesday Mar 25 2015 Tipped by tschmidt
Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) this week unveiled the Surveillance State Repeal Act (pdf), which would dramatically reform the nation's growing intelligence surveillance apparatus. Among other things, the proposal takes specific aim at the long-controversial Patriot Act, which allowed for the mass collection of domestic data in order to fight terrorism. Pocan and Massie's proposal would also prevent the government from forcing companies to include backdoors in tech products.
The proposal would also repeal the 2008 FISA Amendments Act, which has historically aided the government when it comes to wide-ranging collection of user data over the Internet.
In addition the Act would provide significant new protections for whistleblowers like Edward Snowden, NSA employee William Binney, or former AT&T employee Mark Klein, who disclosed how the telcos were allowing wholesale government access to every shred of data that touches their networks.
"Revelations about the NSA's programs reveal the extraordinary extent to which the program has invaded Americans' privacy," Pocan said in a prepared statement. "I reject the notion that we must sacrifice liberty for security -- we can live in a secure nation which also upholds a strong commitment to civil liberties. This legislation ends the NSA's dragnet surveillance practices, while putting provisions in place to protect the privacy of American citizens through real and lasting change."
March 27, 2015
U.S. losing 'information war' to Russia, other rivals; EU gears up for propaganda war with Russia
Get ready for an inundation of anti-Russia propaganda...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/25/us-usa-broadcasting-idUSKBN0ML1MN20150325
U.S. losing 'information war' to Russia, other rivals: study
By Warren Strobel
WASHINGTON Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:23am EDT
(Reuters) - The United States is losing an information war to Russia, Islamic State and other rivals, says a new report that calls for a strengthening in U.S. counter-propaganda efforts and an overhaul of the government's international broadcasting arm.
<snip>
U.S. losing 'information war' to Russia, other rivals: study
By Warren Strobel
WASHINGTON Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:23am EDT
(Reuters) - The United States is losing an information war to Russia, Islamic State and other rivals, says a new report that calls for a strengthening in U.S. counter-propaganda efforts and an overhaul of the government's international broadcasting arm.
<snip>
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/19/us-ukraine-crisis-eu-propaganda-idUSKBN0MF26A20150319
EU gears up for propaganda war with Russia
By Francesco Guarascio
BRUSSELS Thu Mar 19, 2015 7:24pm EDT
(Reuters) - The European Union is set to launch a first operation in a new propaganda war with Russia within days of EU leaders giving formal approval to the campaign at a summit on Thursday.
Officials told Reuters that a dozen public relations and communications experts would start work by the end of March in Brussels with a brief to counter what the EU says is deliberate misinformation coordinated by the Kremlin over Moscow's role and aims in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe.
It is the first stage of a plan that leaders want EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to finalize by June, which may include efforts to produce and share Russian-language broadcast programming, notably for ethnic Russians in ex-Soviet states.
<snip>
EU gears up for propaganda war with Russia
By Francesco Guarascio
BRUSSELS Thu Mar 19, 2015 7:24pm EDT
(Reuters) - The European Union is set to launch a first operation in a new propaganda war with Russia within days of EU leaders giving formal approval to the campaign at a summit on Thursday.
Officials told Reuters that a dozen public relations and communications experts would start work by the end of March in Brussels with a brief to counter what the EU says is deliberate misinformation coordinated by the Kremlin over Moscow's role and aims in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe.
It is the first stage of a plan that leaders want EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to finalize by June, which may include efforts to produce and share Russian-language broadcast programming, notably for ethnic Russians in ex-Soviet states.
<snip>
March 25, 2015
If the article is paywalled, try the links on their official twitter feed:
Queensland researchers prove Albert Einstein wrong
Source: The Australian
Scientists have achieved the rare distinction of proving Albert Einstein wrong, in a demonstration of the now widely accepted theory of quantum mechanics.
Researchers from Queensland and Japan have resolved a longstanding hurdle to the 91-year-old theory — Einstein’s 1927 thought experiment that disparaged quantum mechanics as “spooky action at a distance”.
The new study, published overnight in the journal Nature Communications, could also help researchers develop ultra-secure means of communicating.
<snip>
Five years ago, the Griffith team conceived a way to “rigorously test” Einstein’s objection — splitting a single photon between two laboratories, and experimentally testing whether measurement in one laboratory caused a change in the photon’s quantum state in the other laboratory.
<snip>
Read more: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/queensland-researchers-prove-albert-einstein-wrong/story-e6frg8y6-1227276909773
If the article is paywalled, try the links on their official twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/australian/status/580363754140995584
The AustralianVerified account ?@australian
Queensland researchers prove Albert Einstein wrong http://bit.ly/1Hw9Dub
View on web http://t.co/wmjnHlTac9
The AustralianVerified account ?@australian
Queensland researchers prove Albert Einstein wrong http://bit.ly/1Hw9Dub
View on web http://t.co/wmjnHlTac9
March 24, 2015
I love Amy's food!
Amy's recalls organic meals because of listeria concerns
Source: USA Today
A manufacturer of natural and organic frozen foods is voluntarily recalling some of its meals because of the possible presence of listeria.
Amy's Kitchen of Petaluma, Calif., said a source for its spinach may have received contaminated produce. Although no one has complained of illness, the private company that makes all-vegetarian products without eggs or peanuts is recalling nearly 74,000 cases of lasagnas, pizzas, enchiladas, wraps and scrambles.
Amy's Kitchen was founded in 1987 by Rachel and Andy Berliner and named after their then-toddler daughter, according to information on the company's website. It has 1,900 employees and makes more than 250 products in plants in Santa Rosa, Calif.; Medford, Ore.; and Pocatello, Idaho.
Contaminated food is the biggest source of listeria in people's homes, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Unlike most bacteria, listeria bacteria can grow in the refrigerator and spread from one surface to another potentially contaminating other foods.
<snip>
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/03/24/amys-kitchen-recall-listeria/70372534/
I love Amy's food!
March 23, 2015
Russia delivers nuclear warning to Denmark
Source: Financial Times
Russia has threatened Denmark with a nuclear strike if it takes part in Nato’s missile shield, in some of the most incendiary comments yet directed at a member of the military alliance.
Russia’s ambassador to Denmark wrote in a newspaper opinion piece that the Nordic country had not fully understood the consequences of signing up to the Nato missile defence programme.
“If it happens, then Danish warships will be targets for Russia’s nuclear weapons. Denmark will be part of the threat to Russia,” Mikhail Vanin wrote in Jyllands-Posten.
The dramatic threat cranks up further Russian pressure on countries in the Baltic region. Russian aircraft have violated the airspace of Estonia, Finland and Sweden and were involved in two near misses last year with passenger aircraft taking off from Copenhagen.
<snip>
Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/646064c8-d07a-11e4-a840-00144feab7de.html
March 22, 2015
Spineless attacks on nuclear power plants could increase
http://thebulletin.org/spineless-attacks-nuclear-power-plants-could-increase8001
Spineless attacks on nuclear power plants could increase
Natalie Kopytko 02/19/2015
Nuclear power plants increasingly face a new enemy: the humble jellyfish.
<snip>
The problem is not entirely a new one in the energy industry; the first known jellyfish “attack” on a (coal-fired) power plant happened in 1937, in Australia. But while biological fouling has long been an issue, the number of such events has been on the increase in the past five years or so, and could increase further because of environmental change. The sheer number and size of the animals seems to be increasing as well; in some incidents, there have been more jellyfish than water, jellyfish biologist and senior marine scientist Monty Graham of southern Alabama’s Dauphin Island Sea Lab has reported. Sometimes, the jellyfish concentrations can be quite dramatic, with as many as 50 to 100 of the animals per cubic meter of water. News photos show jellyfish taken from power plant intakes filling containers the size of the bed of a pickup truck. Occasionally, schools of jellyfish are so large and thick that they can be seen from the air, as shown in this video footage from LiveScience.
<snip>
Such supposedly freak events may become even more common in the future, because of degraded environmental conditions that favor jellyfish. The Asian press has reported near-annual swarms of the massive species known as Nomura’s jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai)—a six-foot diameter, 440-pound species that used to arrive on Japan’s coasts only about once every 40 years. Japan’s Shinichi Ue, a professor of marine science at Hiroshima University, warned in November 2014 that the world will be “in big trouble” if its leaders “fail to get serious about countermeasures against jellyfish.”
<snip>
Algae, too. And jellyfish are not the only problem. Many forms of aquatic life can cause problems with the cooling water intake system at nuclear power plants. Recently, Cladophora—a taxonomic grouping that includes many similar species of green algae—have been of particular concern, causing problems at nuclear reactors along the Great Lakes multiple times.
<snip>
Jellyfish economics. Biological fouling in nuclear power plants has long required monitoring, evaluation, and action. But International Atomic Energy Agency reports warn that monitoring and processes that address biological fouling will need to change, because nuisance species seem to benefit from the warmer waters caused by climate change.
<snip>
Spineless attacks on nuclear power plants could increase
Natalie Kopytko 02/19/2015
Nuclear power plants increasingly face a new enemy: the humble jellyfish.
<snip>
The problem is not entirely a new one in the energy industry; the first known jellyfish “attack” on a (coal-fired) power plant happened in 1937, in Australia. But while biological fouling has long been an issue, the number of such events has been on the increase in the past five years or so, and could increase further because of environmental change. The sheer number and size of the animals seems to be increasing as well; in some incidents, there have been more jellyfish than water, jellyfish biologist and senior marine scientist Monty Graham of southern Alabama’s Dauphin Island Sea Lab has reported. Sometimes, the jellyfish concentrations can be quite dramatic, with as many as 50 to 100 of the animals per cubic meter of water. News photos show jellyfish taken from power plant intakes filling containers the size of the bed of a pickup truck. Occasionally, schools of jellyfish are so large and thick that they can be seen from the air, as shown in this video footage from LiveScience.
<snip>
Such supposedly freak events may become even more common in the future, because of degraded environmental conditions that favor jellyfish. The Asian press has reported near-annual swarms of the massive species known as Nomura’s jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai)—a six-foot diameter, 440-pound species that used to arrive on Japan’s coasts only about once every 40 years. Japan’s Shinichi Ue, a professor of marine science at Hiroshima University, warned in November 2014 that the world will be “in big trouble” if its leaders “fail to get serious about countermeasures against jellyfish.”
<snip>
Algae, too. And jellyfish are not the only problem. Many forms of aquatic life can cause problems with the cooling water intake system at nuclear power plants. Recently, Cladophora—a taxonomic grouping that includes many similar species of green algae—have been of particular concern, causing problems at nuclear reactors along the Great Lakes multiple times.
<snip>
Jellyfish economics. Biological fouling in nuclear power plants has long required monitoring, evaluation, and action. But International Atomic Energy Agency reports warn that monitoring and processes that address biological fouling will need to change, because nuisance species seem to benefit from the warmer waters caused by climate change.
<snip>
March 22, 2015
Deterrence, without nuclear winter
http://thebulletin.org/deterrence-without-nuclear-winter8083
Deterrence, without nuclear winter
Seth Baum
03/09/2015
The biggest danger posed by today’s large nuclear arsenals is nuclear winter. One or two nuclear strikes could wreak devastating destruction on a few regions, but would not destroy human civilization as a whole. The roughly 16,300 nuclear weapons that currently exist, though, are more than enough to cause nuclear winter, which, through extreme cold conditions, ultraviolet radiation, and crop failures, could threaten the whole of humanity. If we fail to avoid nuclear winter, we could all die, or we could see civilization collapse, never to return.
That makes avoiding nuclear winter paramount. But the world’s major powers, in particular the United States and Russia, have long argued that their large nuclear arsenals are required for deterrence. Deterrence means threatening another party with some sort of harm in order to persuade it not to do something. In this case, it means threatening massive nuclear retaliation to dissuade another country from launching an attack itself. If two countries were to follow through on their threats of nuclear retaliation, mutual destruction would be assured. That deters both sides from starting a war. But nuclear deterrence can fail, as demonstrated during events like the Cuban missile crisis, when there have been escalations towards nuclear war. (Martin Hellman, Ward Wilson, and others have documented such events.)
<snip>
How significantly do arsenals need to be cut to avoid nuclear winter? They don’t need to be reduced to zero, but the short answer is that nobody knows. Humanity’s ability to survive massive nuclear attacks is not well-studied. One recent study found that two billion people—nearly a third of humanity—could be at risk of starvation from a nuclear war involving just 100 weapons. The actual death toll could be even larger, because this study only looked at starvation. Secondary effects such as pandemics and violence could kill even more.
<snip>
Deterrence doesn’t have to rely on large arsenals of nuclear weapons, or even on nuclear weapons at all. A range of candidate weapons could conceivably achieve the same goal without risking global catastrophe.
<snip>
Deterrence, without nuclear winter
Seth Baum
03/09/2015
The biggest danger posed by today’s large nuclear arsenals is nuclear winter. One or two nuclear strikes could wreak devastating destruction on a few regions, but would not destroy human civilization as a whole. The roughly 16,300 nuclear weapons that currently exist, though, are more than enough to cause nuclear winter, which, through extreme cold conditions, ultraviolet radiation, and crop failures, could threaten the whole of humanity. If we fail to avoid nuclear winter, we could all die, or we could see civilization collapse, never to return.
That makes avoiding nuclear winter paramount. But the world’s major powers, in particular the United States and Russia, have long argued that their large nuclear arsenals are required for deterrence. Deterrence means threatening another party with some sort of harm in order to persuade it not to do something. In this case, it means threatening massive nuclear retaliation to dissuade another country from launching an attack itself. If two countries were to follow through on their threats of nuclear retaliation, mutual destruction would be assured. That deters both sides from starting a war. But nuclear deterrence can fail, as demonstrated during events like the Cuban missile crisis, when there have been escalations towards nuclear war. (Martin Hellman, Ward Wilson, and others have documented such events.)
<snip>
How significantly do arsenals need to be cut to avoid nuclear winter? They don’t need to be reduced to zero, but the short answer is that nobody knows. Humanity’s ability to survive massive nuclear attacks is not well-studied. One recent study found that two billion people—nearly a third of humanity—could be at risk of starvation from a nuclear war involving just 100 weapons. The actual death toll could be even larger, because this study only looked at starvation. Secondary effects such as pandemics and violence could kill even more.
<snip>
Deterrence doesn’t have to rely on large arsenals of nuclear weapons, or even on nuclear weapons at all. A range of candidate weapons could conceivably achieve the same goal without risking global catastrophe.
<snip>
March 22, 2015
"All the Americans have to do is follow a treaty they helped write back in the Beatles era."
http://thebulletin.org/immodest-iranian-proposal8085
An immodest Iranian proposal
Hugh Gusterson
03/12/2015 - 06:55
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND—In a worldwide news exclusive, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists can report that Iranian nuclear negotiators have shocked their American counterparts by announcing—after months of haggling over the minutiae of uranium enrichment—a 180-degree change in their negotiating position.
Looking tired after a negotiating session that stretched late into the night and apparently caught off-guard by a reporter’s question, a top Iranian negotiator, Arad Iqhal, offered the Bulletin a startling inside look at his country's new position: Iran has agreed to dismantle every bit of its nascent nuclear weapons capability, he said, if the United States complies with the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"The Iranian people can no longer withstand the sanctions," Mr. Iqhal said. "We have thrown in the towel. All the Americans have to do is follow a treaty they helped write back in the Beatles era. It should be simple."
<snip>
This column is satire. Some of the events described are not factual.
An immodest Iranian proposal
Hugh Gusterson
03/12/2015 - 06:55
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND—In a worldwide news exclusive, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists can report that Iranian nuclear negotiators have shocked their American counterparts by announcing—after months of haggling over the minutiae of uranium enrichment—a 180-degree change in their negotiating position.
Looking tired after a negotiating session that stretched late into the night and apparently caught off-guard by a reporter’s question, a top Iranian negotiator, Arad Iqhal, offered the Bulletin a startling inside look at his country's new position: Iran has agreed to dismantle every bit of its nascent nuclear weapons capability, he said, if the United States complies with the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"The Iranian people can no longer withstand the sanctions," Mr. Iqhal said. "We have thrown in the towel. All the Americans have to do is follow a treaty they helped write back in the Beatles era. It should be simple."
<snip>
This column is satire. Some of the events described are not factual.
March 22, 2015
Iran deal could start nuclear fuel race - Saudi Arabia
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31901961
Iran deal could start nuclear fuel race - Saudi Arabia
By Barbara Plett Usher
BBC News, Riyadh
16 March 2015
A senior member of the Saudi royal family has warned that a deal on Iran's nuclear programme could prompt other regional states to develop atomic fuel.
Prince Turki al-Faisal told the BBC that Saudi Arabia would then seek the same right, as would other nations.
Six world powers are negotiating an agreement aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear activity but not ending it.
Critics have argued this would trigger a nuclear arms race in the region spurred on by Saudi-Iran rivalry.
<snip>
Iran deal could start nuclear fuel race - Saudi Arabia
By Barbara Plett Usher
BBC News, Riyadh
16 March 2015
A senior member of the Saudi royal family has warned that a deal on Iran's nuclear programme could prompt other regional states to develop atomic fuel.
Prince Turki al-Faisal told the BBC that Saudi Arabia would then seek the same right, as would other nations.
Six world powers are negotiating an agreement aimed at limiting Iran's nuclear activity but not ending it.
Critics have argued this would trigger a nuclear arms race in the region spurred on by Saudi-Iran rivalry.
<snip>
March 22, 2015
France Takes Toughest Line at Iran Nuclear Talks
http://www.wsj.com/articles/european-leaders-discuss-iran-nuclear-talks-1426845251
France Takes Toughest Line at Iran Nuclear Talks
Negotiations move closer to March 31 cutoff without a breakthrough
By JAY SOLOMON and LAURENCE NORMAN
Updated March 20, 2015 5:40 p.m. ET
LAUSANNE, Switzerland—France is again adopting the toughest line against Iran in negotiations aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, potentially placing Paris at odds with the Obama administration as a diplomatic deadline to forge an agreement approaches at month-end.
President Barack Obama called French President François Hollande on Friday to discuss the Iran diplomacy and try to unify their positions. The presidents “reaffirmed their commitment” to a deal “while noting that Iran must take steps to resolve several remaining issues,” the White House said.
French diplomats have been publicly pressing the U.S. and other world powers not to give ground on key elements—particularly the speed of lifting U.N. sanctions and the pledge to constrain Iran’s nuclear research work—ahead of the March 31 target.
Paris also appears to be operating on a different diplomatic clock than Washington, arguing that the date is an “artificial” deadline and that global powers should be willing to wait Tehran out for a better deal if necessary.
<snip>
France Takes Toughest Line at Iran Nuclear Talks
Negotiations move closer to March 31 cutoff without a breakthrough
By JAY SOLOMON and LAURENCE NORMAN
Updated March 20, 2015 5:40 p.m. ET
LAUSANNE, Switzerland—France is again adopting the toughest line against Iran in negotiations aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, potentially placing Paris at odds with the Obama administration as a diplomatic deadline to forge an agreement approaches at month-end.
President Barack Obama called French President François Hollande on Friday to discuss the Iran diplomacy and try to unify their positions. The presidents “reaffirmed their commitment” to a deal “while noting that Iran must take steps to resolve several remaining issues,” the White House said.
French diplomats have been publicly pressing the U.S. and other world powers not to give ground on key elements—particularly the speed of lifting U.N. sanctions and the pledge to constrain Iran’s nuclear research work—ahead of the March 31 target.
Paris also appears to be operating on a different diplomatic clock than Washington, arguing that the date is an “artificial” deadline and that global powers should be willing to wait Tehran out for a better deal if necessary.
<snip>
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