Winter Storms on the Prowl

Staff Writer, DL Mullan

Winter Storm / Weather

___________________________

Winter storms are set to hit Arizona with a one two three punch. Snow for the high country and rain for the central and lower deserts will start today, then continue with another storm on Friday and a weaker system on Monday.

Forecast Discussion: The initial wave of showers has arrived, albeit light showers. Doppler radar is indicating scattered rain entering the Valley as of 8:00 AM. The scattered nature of rain prevails today. Watch for a general west to east progression of showers tracking over the area. An improvement of air quality values commences when precip and breezes reach our monitors. Around a quarter inch of rain for the day is foreseen. Air quality values shift deeper into the Good AQI range tomorrow with continued wet and breezy conditions. Accumulations in the region do rise more quickly Friday afternoon through early Saturday. The second storm is more dynamical of the two. We could add another half inch plus in the lower deserts. Another feature with the latest storm is wind. Winds are to be quite gusty (20-30+ mph) out of the southwest ahead of and adjacent to the impending cold front. Had it not been for a wet winter to date and measurable rain falling in southeastern California and south-central Arizona in the present, there would have been concern for blowing dust threatening air quality concentrations. Not the case this time. Bring that coat if you are planning on being outside the rest of the week. A third storm reinforces cool weather and rain chances late Sunday/Monday. Any given day, afternoon temps reach low 60s at best.

Source: AirNOW,

Government Overreach in the Name of Cybersecurity

Staff Writer, DL Mullan

Government/ News 
____________________________________

 It's back. The CISA was passed by the Senate this week. If  you want to read what the bill contains, here is the document from the Congressional Website.

 S.754 - Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015

This bill is being directed to help corporations and industries deal with cyberattacks, but isn't that the corporations problem, not a public policy one? Why aren't billion dollar profiting corporations able to fend off hackers without public monies or laws? 

Is this bill another form of corporate welfare? 

According to CNN's' article explaining the bill:

The idea behind CISA is to help U.S. companies react more quickly to cyberattacks on their computer systems. If a company gets hit with a specific type of hack, the federal government would receive an alert and immediately distribute warnings to other companies.

Every cyberattack is like a flu virus, and CISA is intended to be a lightning-fast distribution system for the flu vaccine. Opt in, and you get a government shot in minutes, not months.

Currently, industries maintain specialized, military-like "information sharing and analysis centers" to track cyberattacks and collectively develop defenses. Banking has its ISAC. The energy sector has its own too. But they don't team up.

And how is that a problem that Congress needs to spend taxpayer money to make someone's secretary call someone else's secretary to take a meeting on the subject?

 The article goes on to explain more about this CISA law:

CISA would create a single system that sends "cyber threat indicators" -- such as samples of malicious computer code -- to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS would then feed this data to the FBI, NSA and other government agencies. DHS would also share warnings to every participating American company.

Computer scientists and military experts agree that automatic, immediate sharing helps the nation raise its defenses.

 I have seen this movie. Haven't you? Skynet, anyone?

One centralized computer to do everything is a recipe for disaster. 

What we also should be questioning is:

A significant element of the bill is that CISA would eliminate liability for companies, making them immune to lawsuits for sharing too much. Banking, energy, health care, insurance -- almost every industry but tech supported the bill.

Several efforts to include additional privacy measures were shot down in the Senate.

So this bill is really about government overreach and making their accomplices immune from legal action all the while giving birth to an integrated technological system of corporate welfare and intrusion. 

Call your Congressional representatives today. This bill has no place in American policy or law. Americans do not have to give the government anything without a warrant and probable cause. 

The government going through corporations to steal private and sensitive information from Americans is not why or how our government was formed. Our government answers to the People. The People do NOT answer to the government. 

Let's make that clear because it appears our government officials do not comprehend the concept.

Source: Congress,  CNN,  

Movie Week: Four Horsemen

Staff Writer, DB Holmes

Government / Finance
_____________________________

 

Four Horsemen 

FOUR HORSEMEN is an award winning independent feature documentary which lifts the lid on how the world really works.

As we will never return to 'business as usual' 23 international thinkers, government advisors and Wall Street money-men break their silence and explain how to establish a moral and just society.

FOUR HORSEMEN is free from mainstream media propaganda -- the film doesn't bash bankers, criticise politicians or get involved in conspiracy theories. It ignites the debate about how to usher a new economic paradigm into the world which would dramatically improve the quality of life for billions.

"It's Inside Job with bells on, and a frequently compelling thesis thanks to Ashcroft's crack team of talking heads -- economists, whistleblowers and Noam Chomsky, all talking with candour and clarity." - Total Film

"Four Horsemen is a breathtakingly composed jeremiad against the folly of Neo-classical economics and the threats it represents to all we should hold dear."
- Harold Crooks, The Corporation (Co-Director) Surviving Progress (Co-Director/Co-Writer).

Source: Renegade Economist