January 10, 2022

Two bald eagle eggs have hatched in Florida, part of a huge success story.

(CNN) When two baby bald eagles hatched in Florida in front of a livestream camera in late December, thousands of people tuned in to see it happen. The tiny creatures weren't just magnificent to watch. They were a testament to one of the country's greatest conservation success stories, experts say -- because roughly six decades ago, America's national symbol was on the brink of extinction.

"We recovered the bald eagle in every state in the country," said Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity. "It's probably the most geographically widespread recovery effort of any endangered species."

snip

Last year, the Biden administration moved to undo a handful of Trump-era curbs that critics said rolled back ESA protections. That's a step in the right direction, Malcom said, but there's more the government could do, including to better fund the law to support its efforts, like habitat restoration initiatives.

There are also things Americans can do to help support conservation efforts, including volunteering with environmental groups as well as contacting legislators to express support for conservation initiatives, Horning said. "Elected officials are responsive to the voices they hear, so if you're silent on these matters, then they'll respond to the voices that are the loudest," Horning said. Showing support for local leaders and legislation that pushes for conservation can go a long way, experts said.

Link to Video/ Read More: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/us/bald-eagles-success-story-conservation-efforts-scn/index.html

January 7, 2022

These Supreme Court arguments are about far more than vaccine mandates

(CNN) Covid-19 vaccine mandates are up for consideration at the US Supreme Court once again, with arguments set for Friday -- but this time with a couple of twists. Two consolidated cases have made their way to the high court for emergency action, meaning the appellants are seeking to influence whether these mandates take effect now, while litigation proceeds, over whether they are legal and constitutional.

snip

But these two cases are a bit different. Because they involve actions by federal agencies -- the Department of Labor's Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services -- the key legal question raised here is not whether the actions are reasonable and necessary in light of the pandemic, but whether Congress provided the agencies with the authority to issue these directives under the relevant statutes. The states challenging the federal mandates have also argued that they impinge unconstitutionally on state sovereignty.

snip

The potential importance of the rulings here could be in foreshadowing the conservative majority's view of executive power: specifically, how much control the federal government has over rule-making, an issue which obviously applies to legal questions far beyond vaccine mandates.

Read More:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/opinions/biden-vaccine-mandates-supreme-court-arguments-rodgers/index.html

January 4, 2022

Russian businessman's Kremlin ties could prove intelligence 'gold mine' for US, former official says

(CNN) A Russian businessman who appeared in US court Monday on securities fraud charges could be a valuable asset in US efforts to gather more information on Russian interference in the 2016 election as well as other intelligence operations, former US officials tell CNN.

Former Justice Department and Homeland Security officials say that Vladislav Klyushin's Moscow-based cybersecurity firm's work with the Russian government and Klyushin's alleged relationship with an ex-Russian GRU military intelligence officer will likely be of keen interest to US law enforcement and intelligence officials.

snip

Klyushin's case is just the latest high-stakes US pursuit of a Russian national with potentially illuminating connections to Russian hacking activity targeting US interests.

Christopher Krebs, former head of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, called Klyushin's arrest and prosecution a potential "gold mine" for US intelligence because it could shed additional light on GRU operations against the US and its allies. "This is a big get for a few reasons: If he flips, he may be able to confirm the intelligence community's findings about Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election," Krebs told CNN.

(Read More) https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/03/politics/vladislav-klyushin-kremlin-ties-federal-court/index.html


*The Bloomberg article I posted yesterday seems to have more details than this CNN article, if you are interested in reading more.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-03/kremlin-insider-klyushin-is-said-to-have-2016-hack-details

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216209559

January 4, 2022

U.S. Catches Kremlin Insider Who May Have Secrets of 2016 Hack

* I can't imagine that Trumpy's old buddy Putin is very happy about this....

(Bloomberg) In the days before Christmas, U.S. officials in Boston unveiled insider trading charges against a Russian tech tycoon they had been pursuing for months. They accused Vladislav Klyushin, who’d been extradited from Switzerland on Dec. 18, of illegally making tens of millions of dollars trading on hacked corporate-earnings information.

Yet as authorities laid out their securities fraud case, a striking portrait of the detainee emerged: Klyushin was not only an accused insider trader, but a Kremlin insider. He ran an information technology company that works with the Russian government’s top echelons. Just 18 months earlier, Klyushin received a medal of honor from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. had, in its custody, the highest-level Kremlin insider handed to U.S. law enforcement in recent memory.

Klyushin’s cybersecurity work and Kremlin ties could make him a useful source of information for U.S. officials, according to several people familiar with Russian intelligence matters. Most critically, these people said, if he chooses to cooperate, he could provide Americans with their closest view yet of 2016 election manipulation.

(Read More) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-03/kremlin-insider-klyushin-is-said-to-have-2016-hack-details