NSA Spying 3-27-14

NSA Spying

27, March 2014

Cyber wars and spying have intensified creating greater mistrust amongst our allies and corporate competitors.  Classified documents released by Edward Snowden show that the NSA is targeting the Chinese Huawei’s network in Shenzhen and monitored the company’s top executives.  The NSA is recording every single phone call made in an undisclosed foreign country. A surveillance system called MYSTIC stores the billions of phone conversations for up to 30 days. According to Ashkan Soltani, who co-wrote the Washington Post exposé on MYSTIC, revealed how the NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking and how the NSA secretly broke into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world. This is another example of U.S. government overreach. Instead of targeting its very powerful surveillance systems on terrorists and spies, they’re doing this bulk collection that sweeps up a lot of data of innocent people. Responding to mounting outrage of their citizens, foreign governments are shunning America’s cloud computer industry deemed to be unsafe to the prying eyes of the NSA. For example, Microsoft has lost customers, including the government of Brazil. IBM is spending more than a billion dollars to build data centers overseas to safeguard data of their foreign customers. Former President Jimmy Carter has revealed he limits his own email use out of fear he’s spied on by U.S. intelligence. In an interview with NBC News, Carter says he avoids emails when corresponding with foreign leaders — instead using old-fashioned "snail mail."

Uranium Mining 3-23-14

23, March 2014

Uranium Mining 

In a stark example of environmental racism, native Indians have become the target of toxic uranium mining. Energy Fuels Resources recently obtained federal approval to reopen a mine in close proximity to the Grand Canyon’s popular South Rim entrance. Environmental activists have joined forces with native Navajos to protest the decision siting serious health risks. Earlier uranium mining has scarred the landscape and left deposits of radioactive waste from 1,000 closed mines. The mining companies failed to adequately remove the radioactive wastes which have resulted in a dramatic increase in cancer and other serious ailments.  One native Indian activist, Klee Benally, remarked that “this is really a slow genocide of the people, not just indigenous people of this region, but it’s estimated that there are over 10 million people who are residing within 50 miles of abandoned uranium mines." The long term impact of contaminated water seepage into groundwater and its impact on wildlife have been ignored. The five-year cleanup plan initiated by the EPA has also been ignored. San Francisco Peaks, an area considered sacred by 13 Native tribes has been severely impacted; to compound  health concerns is the practice of using treated sewage water to make snow at the popular Snow bowl resort. The future of indigenous tribes has been railroaded over the interests of corporate greed and government watchdogs have fallen asleep at the wheel. 

California Drought 3-9-14

9, March 2014

California drought

The California drought has largely been exacerbated by misguided government policies that encouraged large scale agricultural farming. Agriculture consumes 80% of available water while contributing a minuscule 2% of the state economy. Farmers continue to grow alfalfa, rice and other thirsty crops. Their resource usage has been heavily subsidized by the government and according to The Economist they have paid a paltry 15% of the capital costs of the federal system that delivers much of the water to their fields. Thus, farmers have no incentive to efficiently irrigate their farmlands. The rainy season has less than five weeks to go before the onset of spring and summer which will bake much of California and exacerbate the likelihood of wild fires. The water table has decreased in many areas prompting farmers to drill deeper to reach groundwater further depleting aquifers. Last January Governor Brown issued a drought declaration and urged Californians to cut water usage by 20%. $187m of federal aid coupled with $687m of California aid should bring some relief. However what are sorely missing is details of how the funds will be spent. Much greater pressure needs to be directed at farmers where the payback would be far greater. If homeowners are encouraged to let their lawns die, perhaps golf enthusiasts could find some other leisure pursuits and let golf courses suffer the same fate.

Stanford Alum Speaks Out 3-1-14

1, March 2014

Stanford Alum Speaks Out

Stanford alum, Fadi Quran and fellow activist, Irene Nasser (co-producer of the film My Neighborhood, Winner of the 2012 Peabody Award), were visiting Stanford to highlight the deteriorating plight of the Palestinians. A large crowd of students listened with rapt attention as Fadi described his brutal treatment by Israeli soldiers responding to a peaceful demonstration in Hebron to open a main street that was closed to protect a couple of hundred illegal settlers. Fortunately, the brutal crackdown was captured on video and generated international outrage which led to Fadi’s early release. His activism - attempting to desegregate Israeli-only buses (“Freedom Ride” of 2011) in the West Bank won him world-wide acclaim and prompting Time Magazine to name him “the face of the new Middle East.” Under Israeli Military Law 101 a gathering of more than 10 Palestinians is illegal under the draconian military law punishable by years in prison and fines. Fadi’s current non-violent activism is modelled on that used by the African National Congress in South Africa and by the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. Fadi’s talk was followed by a video presentation by Irene Nasser who showed extremely disturbing images of Israeli soldiers arresting young children as young as 5 years as a strategy to silence critics of the oppressive occupation. This comes on the heel of a new report by Amnesty International which finds Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank are killing Palestinian civilians with complete impunity which constitutes serious war crimes.