The NSA Actually Intercepted Packages to put Backdoors in Electronics

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SPIEGEL published two pieces this morning about the NSA’s Tailored Access Operations (TAO) division, aka premier hacking ninja squad. According to Snowden documents, TAO has a catalog of all the commercial equipment that carries NSA backdoors. And it’s a who’s who of a list. Storage products from Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor and Samsung have backdoors in their firmware, firewalls from Juniper Networks have been compromised, plus networking equipment from Cisco and Huawei, and even unspecified products from Dell. TAO actually intercepts online orders of these and other electronics to bug them.

Unarmed Man Is Charged With Wounding Bystanders Shot by Police Near Times Square

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The Manhattan district attorney’s office says the man was responsible for the wounds two women suffered when the police shot at him.
Even as a little kid, my mom taught me that the only person responsible for my actions is me.  Apparently the police in this case never learned that lesson.

CISPA Internet Blackout

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Witchy Woman will be going dark on Monday April 22, 2013 for CISPA Internet Blackout.

Inmate Abuse in Portland, ME

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Over the weekend the Portland Press Herald reported on and released a video of Capt. Shawn Welch at the Maine Correction Center pepper-spraying a restrained inmate in the face and leaving him in distress for more than twenty minutes while he repeatedly pleaded that he could not breath. The inmate was reportedly recovering from a self-inflicted wound and on several medications for bipolar disorder and depression at the time when officers in protective gear placed him in a restraining chair for medical personnel to examine his wounds.
After he was physically restrained in the chair, he struggled as guards pinned his head under an arm, at which point Welch used a pepper spray canister intended for multiple subjects at a 18 to 20 feet range to spray the inmate in the face at close range. Welch was initially fired by the institution’s supervisor, but reinstated with a 30-day suspension by Maine Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte.
ThinkProgress
It gets worse.  The concern of officials is more on how the video got out, than of the treatment of a wounded, mentally ill inmate.
"Your possession of that indicates a breach of security on our part and we absolutely do need to look into that," said Associate Commissioner Jody Breton. "We certainly will be tightening up security -- where (information) is stored, who has access."
According to them, their concern isn't because it shows the callous treatment, but rather because it reveals sensitive information about the inmate.  Ok, I get that the inmate deserves privacy, but since the inquiry did not resolve nor punish those responsible, I think that the citizens deserve to know and to act upon this knowledge. 

They Rule

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A few companies control much of the economy and oligopolies exert control in nearly every sector of the economy. The people who head up these companies swap on and off the boards from one company to another, and in and out of government committees and positions. These people run the most powerful institutions on the planet, and we have almost no say in who they are. This is not a conspiracy, they are proud to rule, yet these connections of power are not always visible to the public eye.

As one friend put it, "It's like Wikipedia had a baby with the 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon Game."  It's no exaggeration when they say "it's not what you know, it's who you know."

Do not trust your corn.

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"In a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences, analyzing the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto's GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats.
According to the study, which was summarized by Adam Shake at Twilight Earth, "Three varieties of Monsanto's GM corn - Mon 863, insecticide-producing Mon 810, and Roundup® herbicide-absorbing NK 603 - were approved for consumption by US, European and several other national food safety authorities."
Monsanto gathered its own crude statistical data after conducting a 90-day study, even though chronic problems can rarely be found after 90 days, and concluded that the corn was safe for consumption. The stamp of approval may have been premature, however."
That's right. Corn that is genetically modified damages kidneys and livers in rats. The conclusion of the study is:
"However, in the three GM maize varieties that formed the basis of this investigation, new side effects linked to the consumption of these cereals were revealed, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly concentrated in kidney and liver function, the two major diet detoxification organs, but in detail differed with each GM type. In addition, some effects on heart, adrenal, spleen and blood cells were also frequently noted...
We therefore conclude that our data strongly suggests that these GM maize varieties induce a state of hepatorenal toxicity. This can be due to the new pesticides (herbicide or insecticide) present specifically in each type of GM maize, although unintended metabolic effects due to the mutagenic properties of the GM transformation process cannot be excluded [42]. All three GM maize varieties contain a distinctly different pesticide residue associated with their particular GM event (glyphosate and AMPA in NK 603, modified Cry1Ab in MON 810, modified Cry3Bb1 in MON 863). These substances have never before been an integral part of the human or animal diet and therefore their health consequences for those who consume them, especially over long time periods are currently unknown."
They are not entirely certain whether it's all because of the insecticides and herbicides used, the mutations of the corn itself, or some combination of both. Oh joy. And by the way, Monsanto's corn is used in Dorito's, among many others.
At least the company's response was somewhat entertaining:
"the research is "based on faulty analytical methods and reasoning and do not call into question the safety findings for these products.""
In other words, "We don't like what you found, so we question your Science!" Not to mention that they responded immediately with denial, rather than, "Oh no, can this be? We shall research this right away." Kinda makes you wonder what they already knew to try and make this go away so quickly?
But theirs was quite classy, as well as essentially being a bitchslap.

Organics For Dummies

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In accordance with my own New Year's resolutions, I donated all of the conventional food in my kitchen. Now I hate shopping. Especially for shoes. Going to the supermarket has been known to give me nightmares. I know, I know... A woman who doesn't like to shop? What's the world coming to?

Bearing in mind my tendency to assume the expression of a deer right before 35 tons of steel plow through its cranium while trying to calculate how many ounces are in a pound to determine which spaghetti noodles are the cheapest (not to mention the Regular vs. Whole Wheat debate), I asked a friend to accompany my partner and I.

Now our friend, Christopher, has been organic for about four years now due to multiple chemical sensitivity. Before you go and Google that, yes, some believe it to be "all in your head." Let's just say that in just a few weeks, I have found that the difference is I used to spend a chunk of a typical evening in the bathroom with a good book. Organics mean that I do not have to ensure that the nearest restroom is within 50 feet. "All in your head" my butt. So we figured that it was best to learn from his mistakes rather than making our own.

That is how I found myself reading store codes (initial digit of "9" indicates organic) in the produce section and pawing wistfully at the ice cream freezers. I remember when the only organic products you could find were of a granola variety and tasted like bark and twigs. Imagine the happy dance when I discovered that there are organic oreos, no more high fructose corn syrup! There is even organic ice cream, whereas before you were lucky if you got pureed fruit on a stick. Not only are there more and more varieties of food being offered, but there are even options between a handful of companies for most products. (Personally, I don't need fifty choices of brands for canned corn).

We only got one very strange look, but I suppose a woman asking the opinion of two men concerning hair care products warranted that. While I am not fairly loquacious in public, I do tend to be the odd one who never learned not to talk to strangers. I told her about my New Year's resolution and joked that, "There is no Organics for Dummies book."

Here are some main points that I learned, so hopefully you won't have to learn the hard way:
  1. Read the label backwards. A product is required to be at least 95% organic for certification, and if you remember from home-ec the ingredients are listed in descending order of overall percentage. If the final ingredient is "organic spice extract" you are good to go.
  2. Just because it says organic does not mean that it actually is. Chips, for example, may have been made with organic corn, but the oil might not be. While this has not yet *knocks on wood* been a problem for me, your mileage may vary. When doubt look for the little green and white symbol, it will become your friend.
  3. If it contains anything you cannot reasonably pronounce, don't eat it.
The down side was when I hit the register. Yes, each item was a little more expensive, and it adds up. The way I figure it is this: it's cheaper than cancer, easier this way to support local businesses, and, quite frankly, I save on toilet paper.

Do not trust your beef.

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"Restaurant chains and beef processors defended their products' safety Thursday after a report that an ammonia treatment thought to kill harmful germs in meat isn't as effective as the industry and regulators believed.

The New York Times reported Thursday, citing government and industry records, that E. coli and salmonella were found dozens of times in testing for the federal school lunch program on ammonia-treated beef from Beef Products Inc. The meat was not served."

The ammonia disturbs me just as much as the e. coli and salmonella does. E. coli and salmonella have been around as long as bacteria has, and up until recently, we humans have dealt with it just fine. It's once we started screwing around with antibiotics and other fun stuff that we are getting the kind that are resistant to drugs and strains that can actually survive in the dirt itself.

Do not trust your water.

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"California scientists hope studying 180 black mussels pried from algae-covered rocks in San Francisco Bay will provide clues into how many drugs and chemicals are polluting waters across the nation."
Note "how many," not "if." How many? They're not just talking about oil spills and other standard pollutants, they mean like birth control and hand sanitizers. And it's not just California, it's every coast in America. These chemicals are so pervasive that they have even been found in breast milk, for crying out loud. Unfortunately, I am on city water. I do use a filter, but am not deluded that it does anything other than remove the most common chemicals.

Do not trust your food.

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I firmly hold that it is deplorable that the government has to certify our food as organic because we cannot trust the companies that grow our food to be honest with us. Case in point, went to a local, somewhat questionable meat market and the following conversation took place.

"Hi, I'm looking for organic meat, what do you have?"
"Oh, you mean free range?"
"Um, no. Organic."
Shrugs dismissively. "There's no difference, it's all a marketing ploy. Where've you been buying yours?"
"Insert name of another local, reputable meat market that only carries local, organic meats."
"Yeah, we're really the same thing."

*Facepalm* First of all, the clerk obviously had no idea of what he was talking about, or was hoping to make a sale by outright lying. Then tries to convince a potential customer that they carry the same products as a completely different store, despite being ignorant of organics. Yes, organic meat usually does equal free range. But free range does not equal organic. (Someone must have been sick that day in math class).

Guess where I am never shopping again?
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