Archive for Lucinda

Unpacking Wikileaks–A Few Observations

December 4, 2010 / / Comments Off on Unpacking Wikileaks–A Few Observations

When I saw that Wikileaks’ Julian Assange was scheduled to do a live chat via The Guardian a few days ago, I had this fantasy that this would be a bit like the scene in The Sound of Music where the Von Trapp family escapes while they are supposed to be receiving an award.*  And maybe it was–with reports that he has been in England and that British law enforcement know where he is–and yet funny thing, The Guardian site glitched out due to overload when the chat was supposed to happen and they then posted not so live answers to viewers questions  instead.  Assange never appeared live and as I write this, still no word of arrest.

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But the question of whether Assange should be arrested bears some examination.

The U.S. government is doing its best to paint him as an electronic terrorist. A large part of this latest release of documents has certainly been an embarrassing collection of diplomacy-speak accusations about various players on the international stage that has all the sophistication of third grade playground cooties banter.  Not flattering to be sure but if anything, it should  give us pause to consider the nature of what passes as ‘intelligence’.

Then however, there are those pesky cables documenting things like a scandal involving the private contracting firm DynCorp which paid for young “dancing boys” to entertain Afghan policemen that they were training in northern Afghanistan.  It really shouldn’t take us long to decide that the criminal in this case is Dyncorp, not Assange and like Abu Ghraib, this is a story that should be exposed.

Be that as it may, whether or not what Wikileaks is doing is a good thing or a bad thing, it is definitely not acceptable to be dismissive of the rape charges that have been brought against Assange.  Is it possible that they are trumped up?  Of course.  But as Reclusive Leftist points out, they should not be brushed aside by those who champion Assange merely because of the importance of his work.

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Perhaps one of the strangest parts of this story is that Wikileaks was being hosted on Amazon.  Who knew Amazon offered webhosting.  And how ironic it is that Amazon is perfectly willing to sell books by George Bush, Sarah Palin and Glen Beck, all of whom do not hesitate to play fast and loose with the truth, but when someone uses their services to tell the truth, that sends Amazon running for cover.  As Amy Davidson observes on The New Yorker website,

WikiLeaks may be a brilliant sort of classroom—full of books that, unfortunately, one can no longer find by way of Amazon.

Human Rights First is asking Amazon to explain why they removed Wikileaks from their servers.  In addition, PayPal has cut off Wikilieaks from receiving donations via their service and in a major weird, disturbing email,

Talking about WikiLeaks on Facebook or Twitter could endanger your job prospects, a State Department official warned students at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs this week.

An email from SIPA’s Office of Career Services went out Tuesday afternoon with a caution from the official, an alumnus of the school. Students who will be applying for jobs in the federal government could jeopardize their prospects by posting links to WikiLeaks online, or even by discussing the leaked documents on social networking sites, the official was quoted as saying.

“[The alumnus] recommends that you DO NOT post links to these documents nor make comments on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter,” the Office of Career Services advised students. “Engaging in these activities would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information, which is part of most positions with the federal government.”

As one observant student pointed out,

“They seem to be unable to make the distinction between having an opinion and having a contractual obligation to keep a secret,”

That the University sent out such a warning is deeply disturbing and sounds uncomfortably like, ‘nothing to see here, move along, move along’, go about your business, it’s dangerous to know or think about this.

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The Wikileaks documents should definitely give us pause to consider several issues.  First there is the question of what should and shouldn’t be state secrets.  When a nation or a company perpetrates crimes against humanity, such as the Dyncorp exploitation of children, it shouldn’t be a secret and those who keep those secrets are the ones who should be called to account.  As for the diplomatic backstabbing, who really cares and if, as my children were taught in grade school, people used there words appropriately, no one would have their feathers ruffled.

Another thing that is indeed quite worrisome is the denial of service by Amazon and PayPal.  With so many people using services such as Gmail or Yahoo, collecting funds via Pay Pal, getting our internet service from corporate giants like Comcast and the like, we need to consider that our access to these services can quickly be cut off, with little recourse.  We’ve known that for quite some time, and this is a grim reminder that freedom of information can be disappeared faster than you can say, “blue screen of death.”

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*The other metaphor that came to mind was the old television series about Carmen Sandiego.  Enjoy:

What We Should Really Be Scared Of

December 2, 2010 / / Comments Off on What We Should Really Be Scared Of

Donna Smith makes the excellent point that it isn’t WikiLeaks that is killing America, it is lack of healthcare:

Today, in cites and states across the United States, 123 people died because they lacked enough money to buy healthcare services.  That brings the annual death toll for 2010 to 41,082.

WikiLeaks had nothing to do with the deaths of the 123 people who died today or any of the 41,082 who died so far this year.

The 123 who died today did so with the full knowledge of all who allowed their deaths.  The 123 who died today might have lived if they had access to appropriate healthcare.  The 123 who died got no mention on any news program or website – liberal, conservative or otherwise.  So much for the value of 123 human lives.

And all that TSA groping and x-raying didn’t save them either.

We Are A Self-Terrorizing Nation

November 18, 2010 / / Comments Off on We Are A Self-Terrorizing Nation

During a week where our government has been trying to sell us on the idea that  being groped and radiated will make us safe, it occurs to me that we have become a self-sustaining terrorized state.  We don’t actually need terrorists to attack us, we just terrorize ourselves.

Not only that but our military is out to get us too.  A few weeks ago I pointed to the good folks down at Ft. Knox who ran exercises that caused fires that were so bad that a half hour down the road, the entire city of Louisville had an air pollution alert.  And now down in Tennessee, a plant that produces nuclear fuel and processes uranium for the Navy is polluting the bejeepers out of the Nolichucky River.

I have heard people say well that is just the way it is today.  But you know what, where is that written?  Why are these damaging absurdities acceptable?  We live in a country with shocking numbers of unemployed, homeless, hungry people without health care, we pollute our water and foul our air, send our children to fight in wars that are causing a lot more problems than they are solving, allow corporations to be people who disenfranchise real people and then just accept that getting groped at the airport will make us safe.  From whom?

We have met the enemy and he is us.

Don’t Get Cooked For Thanksgiving–Opting Out Of The New Airport Scanners

November 14, 2010 / / Comments Off on Don’t Get Cooked For Thanksgiving–Opting Out Of The New Airport Scanners

Unfortunately for those of us flying the formerly friendly skies to get to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving, the turkey may not be the only thing that is getting cooked this year thanks to the new body scanners now in place in many airports.

The TSA originally said that these machines would be used only for secondary screening, for those passengers that set off an alarm at the walk-through metal detector or Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) machine. They are now being used as primary screening at 45 airports, to take nude images of passengers who have done nothing more suspicious than present a boarding pass.

And while the privacy issue is a major concern, what ought to be scaring us a lot more is that these machines are x-raying us.  And there is absolutely no such thing as a safe dose of radiation, which is a long proven cause of cancer, because radioactive load in our bodies is cumulative and every dose, no matter how small adds to that and can lead to cancer,

Backscatter X-ray uses ionizing radation, a known cumulative health hazard, to produce images of passengers bodies. Children, prengant women, the elderly, and those with defective DNA repair mechanisms are considered to be especially susceptible to the type of DNA damage caused by ionizing radiation. Also at high risk are those who have had, or currently have, skin cancer. Ionizing radiation’s effects are cumulative, meaning that each time you are exposed you are adding to your risk of developing cancer. Since the dosage of radiation from the backscatter X-ray machines is absorbed almsot entirely by the skin and tissue directly under the skin, averaging the dose over the whole body gives an inaccurate picture of the actual harm…

…Another type of device uses millimeter wave technology, which if improperly calibrated can cause burns. Less is known about the potential health risks of the millimeter wave devices than those of backscatter X-ray, and as with the backscatter devices, no independent testing has been conducted.

While you can opt out, be aware that TSA is now using,

an “enhanced pat down” in many instances. These pat downs are much more rigorous and often include the TSA using their palms to touch your genitals in a manner that could feel like sexual assault.

But isn’t national safety more important?  Consider this: a group of scientists have raised significant concerns including that the additional risk of additional radiation is about the same as the risk of dying in a terrorist attack and that the amount of radiation that these machines give off may actually be much higher than is being reported.  In addition, the Allied Pilots Association is recommending that their pilots opt out and demand to be patted down instead.

And let’s  bear in mind that public safety is only trotted out when it is convenient in this country.  the EPA allows who knows how much pollution to be legally dumped in our air and water and on our land, the military regularly pollutes wherever they want with no real regard for public safety, we allowed BP to dump shocking amounts of dispersant in the Gulf of Mexico with no regard for our food chain, our roads are a dangerous disgrace, and on and on.

Also it helps to know who has been cheerleading these machines.  Does the name Michael Chertoff ring a bell? And funny thing, these babies are quite lucrative,

Today, 40 body scanners are in use at 19 U.S. airports. The number is expected to skyrocket at least in part because of the Christmas Day incident. The Transportation Security Administration this week said it will order 300 more machines.

In the summer, TSA purchased 150 machines from Rapiscan with $25 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

Mother Jones has a lot more background on who is hawking these machines here.

Which brings us to this–Wednesday November 24th is National Opt-Out Day.  If you are traveling on that day, if faced with these scanners, opt out and go through the pat-down.  We need to say no to these machines that are both dangerous and an assault on our privacy.  If enough people do it, it will lead to a massive slow down on the busiest travel day of the year and that will send a message that is hard to ignore.

Honestly, if I have to opt out of the scanners, and go through a pat-down, if anyone gropes my personal parts in that manner, I cannot swear that I will not haul out and punch them, and I suspect most people will feel grossly violated by this procedure. But these scanners are dangerous and not an appreciable contribution to public safety. Perhaps as an alternative, we could all just travel naked and they’d have to arrest us all for public nudity…

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If you’re not already outraged, watch this, you will be–since when are three year old kids who just had their teddy bears taken away considered terror risks?  And then read this.

All I Need Is The Air That I Breathe…

November 4, 2010 / / Comments Off on All I Need Is The Air That I Breathe…

It is been an extremely dry fall here where I live in Kentucky and as a result the fire danger is way up.  But that hasn’t stopped the military from conducting fire-causing exercises at nearby Fort Knox.

Training at Fort Knox this fall has caused the most fire on the post in nearly 25 years, including the burns that blanketed Louisville with smoke two weekends ago.

According to the Ft. Knox commander,

(M)ilitary exercises that involve everything from tanks to rifles can’t stop just because of drought that has produced tinder-dry conditions. Troops need to be trained, including 3,500 that will soon be deployed to the war in Afghanistan, he said.“You don’t want us to stop training,” he said.

Yeah actually we might want you to do that because,

The fires sent fine-particle levels soaring at some Louisville air monitors. The smoke caused the Air Quality Index to reach 183, the highest in at least eight years, said Matt Stull, spokesman for the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District.
At that level, the air is considered unhealthy for everyone — not just people who may have asthma or other lung ailments. Residents were advised to limit their outdoor activity.

So there you have it, the U.S. military is defending us by making it impossible for our own citizens to breathe. Makes sense to me.

Election Results We Worry About

November 2, 2010 / / Comments Off on Election Results We Worry About

In the it’s going to be a long night and I couldn’t make this up if I tried department, thought this screenshot should be preserved from the Louisville, KY mayoral race, note percentage of precincts reporting:

Egregious Is As Egregious Does–A Real Live Sharron Angle Flyer

November 1, 2010 / / Comments Off on Egregious Is As Egregious Does–A Real Live Sharron Angle Flyer

A real, live Sharron Angle flyer, via the Reid campaign.  Aside from the usual objections to the truly disturbing, inaccurate hysteria reflected herein, I wish she wouldn’t even try to use big words like ‘egregious’.

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Sign Sanity

October 30, 2010 / / Comments Off on Sign Sanity

Well I didn’t make it to the Rally for Sanity and/or Fear today but my son did and saw this wonderful sign.  I am reminded of another sign that we had in our front yard at the beginning of the Iraq war that said “Peace is Patriotic”.  It greatly incensed our neighbors, who took it down and then surrounded our front door with signs that said, “I stand with President Bush”. I guess we’ve evolved a tad:

Photo by Adam T. Cook

I posted my thoughts about the rally on the FPN site here.

Elect Or Genuflect? The Choices Going Forward

October 30, 2010 / / Comments Off on Elect Or Genuflect? The Choices Going Forward

There is a whole lot to dislike about the electoral process in the United States.  The low point for me is usually  the few days before the election when the pundits start telling us who will win.  Last night on Twitter, The Nation’s Greg Mitchell declared Feingold’s race in Wisconsin a loss.  Sort of like someone telling you how a movie ends before you’ve seen it, only in this case we are active players in the drama that has very real consequences, It would be nice if the pollsters and the media at least had the polites to let us vote before telling us who we voted for.

But that is probably a bit of old-fashioned genteelness on my part. There has been little discussion this election cycle on the veracity of electronic voting results even it has been proven over and over again that those results can easily be tampered with. Are we really voting when we vote on Tuesday?  Hard to say.  And courtesy of SCOTUS, with a lineup that is a result of said tamper friendly machines and the stolen election of 2000 allowing the former monkey in chief to name some very bad choices to the Court, our elections can now be easily bought and sold by corporations that spend unfathomable amounts of money that comes from who knows where on candidates that tell us our $20 contributions are important because they represent the people.

Back in 2007, I wrote a column for the Louisville Eccentric Observer called Voting Your Bliss that looked at the primary process that was in full swing in the runup to the 2008 election.  In it, I included a quote from the ever observant Wendell Berry,

This is a crisis of our democratic system—to give the people a vote but not a choice is a procedure common to modern dictatorships—but it is a crisis that has been officially unnoticed for a long time.

In this election it is very clear that we have a crisis. We are once again faced with some very bad choices, often between total nut cases and candidates who spend an enormous time trying to walk a center line tightrope and fit into the system rather than acting on their true beliefs or ours.  In Voting Your Bliss I wrote about the need for independent, thinking candidates and the need to reinsert real, meaningful dialog into our elections,

As voters we need to demand choices that meet our needs rather than accept candidates who have sold their souls to the highest bidder…The party faithful will smile indulgently and remind us not to throw away our votes on these fringe candidates.  But supporting these candidacies is not a question of throwing away our vote and it is precisely what we need to do because they give us something to vote “for” and  a chance to reclaim our democracy.

We need to insist that the pressing issues confronting this country be addressed and that our candidates not be beholden to those whose agenda is the destruction of the planet and its people.  It’s time to vote our bliss and not our angst.

During this election cycle, I have had several friends who have taken on one of the responsibilities of being citizens in this country and have run for office.  They have done so even though the likelihood of getting elected has been small.  I know these people and that they are  highly principled thinking folk  who we would do well to elect.  The result of that being that I’ve given more money to candidates this election cycle than I ever have before, and mostly to candidates who stand little chance of winning.  Why do that when I don’t expect that they can win?  For the simple reason that we need to reframe the body politic so that the right people can win, so that voices who say what needs to be said are heard, not thrown out of two-party debates or marginalized because they don’t have a corporate pac or media cronies behind them.

In a column written later in the 2008 election cycle, I added this thought,

Until we gain the political will to demand that our votes count and that all candidates are given a fair chance, our electoral process will continue to be a sham rather than the exercise of democracy by we the people that it was meant to be.

There is a substantial chance that the results of this election will wreak significant harm on our enfranchisement.  At this point, aside from making the best possible choices we can in a lousy horse race on Tuesday, it is time to quit accepting the system as the way it needs to be.  It isn’t working and with each election cycle, it is getting worse and worse. Going forward we  need to quit playing the game and drinking the koolaid and insist on an electoral process that finally represents the people.

Barack Obama told us that we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.  Perhaps we’d better quit waiting.

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Postscript:  Just after posting this I came across Saturday Night Live’s parody of The Rent Is Too Damn High Party, hilariously close to the truth, watch, enjoy, think.

Testament–Why I Am Testifying At The EPA Coal Ash Hearings

September 28, 2010 / / Comments Off on Testament–Why I Am Testifying At The EPA Coal Ash Hearings

Several weeks ago, I signed up to testify at an environmental hearing, something that I’ve never done before.  Why?  Not because of any special expertise, although I’ve been involved and concerned about environmental issues all of my life, and written about this issue multiple times on my blog and elsewhere.

Rather, it is because I am a citizen of this country who lives in an area that is deeply and detrimentally impacted by the poor regulation of the coal industry and the toxic impact it has on our environment. The Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of holding hearings throughout the country regarding proposed plans to regulate  coal ash ponds like the one that was breached in Tennessee in 2008, causing horrific damage. This week there will be a hearing in Louisville, KY where I live.

Currently, these ponds are virtually unregulated.  But despite being a news reading junkie, until the Tennessee disaster, I had no idea these things even existed, let alone that their owners were apparently on the honor system in regard to their safety.

This map, via the Sierra Club, gives a great graphic understanding of how many of these disposal sites there are in the U.S. (see here as well for an excellent list of resources to learn more about this horrific problem).

So call it an act of patriotism, or just a variation on the subject matter of my usual ranting and raving, but I decided to participate and to tell the Environmental Protection Agency that as a citizen, I expect them to do what their name implies.  Here is my testimony:

Testimony for the EPA Coal Ash Residuals Public Hearing
Louisville, KY Sept. 28, 2010

My name is Lucinda Marshall and I’ve lived in Louisville, KY for more than 20 years and I’m appalled that it wasn’t until after the Tennessee coal ash disaster that I became aware that we have toxic coal ash ponds right here in metropolitan Louisville.

According to the Sierra Club, in the state of Kentucky alone we have 44 ponds at 17 plants, 7 of which are rated as high hazards, and 5 as significant hazards.  This is unacceptable.

After the incredible damage caused by the Tennessee pond breach, I am particularly horrified that these things are located in the middle of a large population center such as Louisville.  If such a disaster happened here, the damage it would cause would be unimaginable and far worse than the Tennessee disaster.

Given that, I absolutely can’t understand how the EPA can consider anything but the most stringent guidelines for these facilities with the ultimate goal of making them illegal.  It is beyond belief that these wastes are still considered exempt from such regulation.

There has been report after report documenting the highly negative impact that coal has on our environment as well as on human health.  I am particularly concerned about the impact on pregnant women and children.

And all that talk about how coal is good for the economy?  That sure hasn’t worked out so well in Kentucky which remains one of the poorest, least educated and least healthy states in the nation and no amount of building golf courses where amputated mountaintops used to stand will change that.

The people of Kentucky, the southeast and the entire nation deserve the right to a clean environment that is not being poisoned because of corporate malfeasance and greed and it is incumbent on the Environmental Protection Agency to do what its name implies and stringently regulate coal ash disposal.

Thank you.

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(Note:  There is a three minute time limit on on testimony that is presented publicly, thus the brevity of my statement, much more can and should be said.)

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