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"WikiLeaks just released internal documentation of the CIA’s massive arsenal of hacking tools and techniques. These 8,761 documents — called “Vault 7” — show how their operatives can remotely monitor and control devices, such as phones, TVs, and cars.And what’s worse, this archive of techniques seems to be out in the open, where all manner of hackers can use it to attack us.“The CIA lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal including malware, viruses, trojans, weaponized “zero day” exploits, malware remote control systems and associated documentation. This extraordinary collection, which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code, gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA.” — WikiLeaksWikiLeaks has chosen not to publish the malicious code itself “until a consensus emerges on… how such ‘weapons’ should be analyzed, disarmed and published.”But this has laid bare just how many people are aware of these devastating hacking techniques.“This archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive.” — WikiLeaksDisturbingly, these hacks were bought or stolen from other countries’ intelligence agencies, and instead of closing these vulnerabilities, the government put everyone at risk by intentionally keeping them open.“[These policy decisions] urgently need to be debated in public, including whether the CIA’s hacking capabilities exceed its mandated powers and the problem of public oversight of the agency.” — the operative who leaked the dataFirst, I’m going to break down three takeaways from today’s Vault 7 release that every American citizen should be aware of. Then I’ll give you actionable advice for how you can protect yourself from this illegal overreach by the US government — and from the malicious hackers the government has empowered through its own recklessness."
- Quincy Larsen, The CIA just lost control of its hacking arsenal. Here’s what you need to know, Free Code Camp
"The latest trendy theory among progressives is that emotions, not facts, are most effective in convincing conservative Americans to change their minds for the good of the country.In a Slate piece called “It’s Time to Give Up on Facts,” journalist Jess Zimmerman says emotional appeal is the only real way to persuade members of the right to seriously consider progressive’s ways of seeing things—that the left should keep facts safe in their arsenal, but they’re not weapons that will win the war. In the Atlantic, Olga Khazan explains how conservatives are more likely to support ideas that are “morally reframed” to fit their perspective, rather than change their own values based on factually-based arguments—and progressives should keep this in mind so as not to “make the conflict worse.” And in his seminal book Moral Politics, UC Berkeley cognitive linguist George Lakoff says that progressives don’t often explicitly declare their moral values in the same manner as conservatives, thinking the facts will speak for themselves. But history shows that how you frame the debate is what reels them in.Okay, yeah: Progressives could afford to improve their skills as political party pick-up artists. But word-sorcery isn’t going to be what ultimately bewitches Trump supporters, says Dr. Lawrence Rosenthal, executive director of the UC Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies.They’ll be persuaded not by rational argument, he says, but by the harsh light of reality."
- Krissy Elliot, This Is What Will Change Your Political Opponent’s Mind, California magazine
Full article: HERE
"At 2 degrees, mountain glaciers in the Rockies, the Alps, and the Andes will be gone ... melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica will contribute to accelerated sea-level rise, perhaps as much as a foot by the end of this century. But at 4 degrees ... “you are getting dangerously close to a situation where all these big ice shelves around the mainland of Anarctica would be warm enough during summers that they would disintegrate.” At that point, even Himalayan glaciers would disappear ..., and sea level could “easily” rise by 10 to 20 meters. ...To hold warming to 2 degrees, ... we need to improve energy efficiency by 2 percent a year. Every year, in other words, the amount of energy we would need to achieve a given task—cooling a house, driving to the grocery store, washing our clothes—needs to drop by 2 percent. The world currently averages an energy improvement rate of about 1 percent a year... that’s not enough, clearly. But California improved energy efficiency at a rate of 4 percent a year for an entire decade ... and China achieved a rate of 5 percent over a similar time frame. It’s doable—if governments are determined to lead. But it would help—a lot—if markets were structured to encourage the trend."
- Andrew Leonard, Matter of Degrees: How Hot It Gets Still Depends on Us, California magazine
Full article: HERE
"After the election in America I asked the Grandmothers, “Now that it’s over, what can we learn?” “First,” they replied, “let us explain some things. You have elected, not a man, but a “moy” to lead you . He is a boy in an old man’s body. Moys are a combination of man and boy, but mostly boy. They are large and have loud voices so people mistake them for men, but they are not men. A man thinks of the common good while a moy has not learned to think of anyone but himself. He has not fully developed and is still a child.
“The time you are living in is called the age of destruction,” they said, “the Kali Yuga. It is the lowest point. At this time evil comes
to the surface to be destroyed. This dark-age takes place just before the arrival of the in-coming Golden Age, so today you are watching out-of-balance Yang energy creating destruction all over your planet. This IS the Kali Yuga. You have heard and read about it and now it comes.
“Your country has just elected a moy to be its next president. Russia as well as Syria are already run by moys, while Africa is overrun by them, each moy creating havoc in his area of that continent. The Philippines is run by a moy and so are several other countries. Is it any wonder that the world is lurching from crisis to crisis?
“This is what is happening on earth now and because it is, you must learn to cope with this energy. You cannot reason with it because it is entirely destructive. Instead you must hold steady within yourself and observe its wild behavior from a position of power. If you do this, it will not be able . , . feed on you. Your steadiness will help contain its rapacious energy and it will not be able to do as much damage as it would otherwise.
Call on us, call on the Net of Light and hold Sacred Space. Be mindful of who you are! You are a great being, here on earth to occupy a steady helping hand to the helpless. Within yourself you carry the great holding power of Yin. Call on it now. Live with it. Be as you were born to be.
“We ask one more thing of you. At this time reach out to one another in service. Many are suffering now. Feed the hungry, visit people in hospitals and prisons, provide shoes to those who need them, help the animals. If each of you plunge into one activity of service, together you will do great good, turning many hearts to light. Find a service project for yourself. We ask this of you because we know who you are. You are our hands and hearts on earth. You are greatness itself.”
- November 12, 2016, The Great Council of the Grandmothers
"Mr. Berlusconi was able to govern Italy for as long as he did mostly thanks to the incompetence of his opposition. It was so rabidly obsessed with his personality that any substantive political debate disappeared; it focused only on personal attacks, the effect of which was to increase Mr. Berlusconi’s popularity. His secret was an ability to set off a Pavlovian reaction among his leftist opponents, which engendered instantaneous sympathy in most moderate voters. Mr. Trump is no different. "C’mon. It’s been almost a week. It’s time to unfurl out of the fetal position, stop moaning to your Facebook friends, and go do something positive if you’re seething or freaked out or scared by the prospect of President-elect Donald Trump.
- Luigi Zingales, The Right Way to Resist Trump, NY Times
Full Article: HERE
"It’s got to be more than street protests and candlelight vigils outside a BART station. Those feel cathartic while the pain is still raw, but longtime organizers say it is time to move beyond the grief and anger stage. Besides, as a bold political statement, the rest of the world looks at a street protest in San Francisco the same way it does rain in Seattle: Doesn’t that happen every day there?"
- Joe Garafoli, Tips for Improving Political Future After Crushing Defeat, San Francisco Chronicle
Full article: HERE
Art / Dan Hubig © 2016