DayPage: Obamacare Starts Tomorrow – Snowden “Harm” Minimal
Due to logistical problems, the transcript can’t be added at this time. We expect to be able to post it within 24 hours.
Due to logistical problems, the transcript can’t be added at this time. We expect to be able to post it within 24 hours.
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
DayPage, a weekend extra edition. Here’s Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! with a summary of NSA officials testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.
[Voice of Amy Goodman]
Top U.S. intelligence officials appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday to defend the National Security Agency’s sweeping collection of domestic phone logs. The NSA’s director, General Keith Alexander, dodged questions from Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon about whether the NSA had used cell phone signals to collect data on the location of U.S. citizens. General Alexander also faced questions from Democratic Senator Mark Udall of Colorado.
Sen. Mark Udall: “Is it the goal of the NSA to collect the phone records of all Americans? You talk about building a haystack, you want the haystack to be the ultimate size?”
General Keith Alexander: “I believe it is in the nation’s best interest to put all the phone records into a lockbox that we can search when the nation needs to do it, yes. And the way we do it, and the way we comply would ensure better security for this nation.”
Senators Udall and Wyden are backing a bill that would ban the NSA’s massive collection of phone records. Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia are drafting a rival bill that would preserve the NSA program.
[Voice of Rex Latchford]
That’s DayPage, listen weekdays for a new turn of the Page every day, and find ALL the DayPages at DayPage.net, a production of Radio InfoWeb. See ya!
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
Rex Latchford here in New York City with a Thank-GOD-it’s-Friday edition of DayPage…
Yesterday, of course, was Thursday, and for the last month or so, that’s meant more revelations in TheGuardian about the monkey business the NSA, or National Security Agency, has been up to with their out-of-control spying on citizens.
Here’s a summary of yesterday’s sad. sad news:
In what’s being called the “NSA Drone Document”, the NSA says people who oppose drones are “threats” and “adversaries” – reason enough for abusive detention. So much for free speech.
Black people were seen as a threat to National Security back in the 1960’s – apparently NSA staff were racists then, and – just possibly – now. With Operation Minaret, set up in the 1960’s to monitor critics of the Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King. The NSA maintains it’s own Four Volume document outlining it’s spying activity during the cold war era. This included tapping into the phone calls and cable communications of senators, journalists, cartoonists, and television personalities. Of course there were no text messages or Internet to tap into in those days which must have frustrated the NSA immeasurably.
Other documents outline how the NSA accessed computers at the Indian embassy in Washington and the mission to the UN in New York. The documents reveal the extent and aggressive nature of NSA targeting of India. In March of 2013, for example, the NSA said it collected 6.3 million pieces of information from Internet networks in India and 6.2 billion from the country’s telephone networks.
In related news, DropBox has joined tech giants suing the government to allow it to publish information about just how many requests it gets to let the government look inside people’s drop boxes. Earlier this year, the NSA announced its desire to include DropBox and Google Voice in the PRISM program so it could collect the content of ALL dropboxes, google voice calls, and texts, without having to make specific requests.
Four Senators introduced legislation on Wednesday to roll back the powers of the NSA. ALthough they said the legislation is “not cosmetic”, it remains to be seen if it will have any effect, since NSA documents make it clear it makes little attempt to obey the law, regulators, and overseers, making it a government unto-itself. No wonder President Obama seems a fearful servant of the NSA more than anything else.
Bigwigs at the NSA begged Congress on Thursday to not make any changes that would impede the NSA’s relentless collection of data. They admitted that the Snowden disclosures would change the way they operate, but strongly urged that the program that mass collects telephone data and telephone recordings be continued. At the same time, the snoop honchos refused to answer most of the questions they were asked, citing the need for secrecy, classification of information, and threats to national security. The NSA was criticized by Senators: “Time and time again the American people were told one thing in a public forum, while intelligence agencies did something else in private”.
That’s all we’ve got time for on this DayPage.
By the way, you can see the actual NSA documents at TheGuardian.com – don’t take journalists’ words for it if you have any doubt this stuff is real or very very serious.
DayPage’s senior producer is Peter Patriot, and produced by Mincka Bito here at InfoWeb Broadcast Center in New York. Join me again this weekend, or on Monday, for another DayPage. Until then… you’re being snooped!
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
Rex Latchford with another DayPage…
Today’s news didn’t look that unusual on the surface…
* More details on the shopping mall siege in Nairobe
* Iran’s Hassan Rouhani’s UN speech: a religious crazy denying the Holocaust ever happened.
* The Quake in Pakistan’s aftermath
Just MORE of the stories you’ve come to know and love in the past few days, and not a whole lot of “breaking news”. But when we looked closer…
The New York Times headlined a story “U.S. Sees Direct Threat in Attack at Kenya Mall”. We decided to look closer, because we live in a time when the U.S. sees a threat in Everything. And why would they want to do that? One possible explanation is that by keeping the people in a state of continuous fear, they’re less likely to stand up for their rights, and go along with the continual erosion of rights and freedoms that have led us into a police state, and a total surveillance state.
So, we ask… do we really need to have FBI teams scouring a mall in Nairobe, Kenya, to look for clues to an event that is the business of Kenyans, and not Americans?
The Times reports that “less than a day after the bloody standoff [at the mall] ended, more than 20 FBI agents wearking flak jackets and helmets were combing through the wreckage strewn across the steps of the Mall… [let’s point out once again that this is in Nairobe, Kenya! Now somewhere in the US – and the last time we checked the jurisdiction of the FBI is the US, not the world] Dozens more agents will be headed to Nairobe, American Officials say. [the article continues] Some of them are members of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force squad that investigates extremist groups operating in the Horn of Africa, a law enforcement official said.
So, let’s get this straight. A New York task force, whose jurisdiction in New York and not the world, is not only investigating the conversations of citizens on the street (as we reported a couple of days ago, named Operation Crewcut), they are investigating “extremist groups operating in the Horn of Africa”?
This is a little over-the-top, wouldn’t you say? This goes beyond the U.S. being the world’s cop in the military sense, it’s being the world’s cop in the police sense. And let’s remember, as American Citizens, you and I are paying for this. Not just in cash, mind you, but in the worldwide reputation of our country. Could it be that the law enforcement people are watching just a little too much TV, getting a little bit too high, letting it go to their heads?
We’re breaking it down for you, and we think that, looking back on it, analyzing a story like this and putting it together with the Snowden disclosures, we, collectively, are waking up from a nice comfy nap into a very ugly reality of our government, police, military, NSA, and who knows what else (before it’s all over) running amok and destroying our way of life, our values, our freedom, and our future.
Tune in again tomorrow for another DayPage (before it’s too late!) – and check the damage that’s already occured at DayPage.net – a production of Radio InfoWeb – see you tomorrow!
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
Rex Latchford here with yet another DayPage. Great news! Since the world didn’t end overnight, it’s time for more DayPagish stuff. And, the Ted Cruze filibuster in Congress continues. That’s what you’re hearing in the background, although the voice is that of Rand Paul who is helping out at the moment. Cruz, Paul, and most other Republicans are dead-set against the Affortable Healthcare Act also known as “Aha!” or, Obamacare. More on that in a moment. First these points:
Obamacare is, without a doubt, a mixed bag. It offers some key features, like continued support of children who take ever longer to leave the nest, and coverage of pre-existing conditions – something that will end much suffering and financial disaster. Obamacare is also intrusive, linking your healthcare information with the IRS and your income tax return. Not to mention the NSA.
Still, Republican’s assertion that it’s the most unpopular law in history is not supported by the facts. Depending on the poll you read, public support of the law has shifted around the 50-50 mark.
The filibuster continues, but DayPage will outlast it. We’ll be back tomorrow with another DayPage. Past pages are at DayPage.net. A production of Radio InfoWeb. See you tomorrow!
Time for another DayPage, I’m Rex Latchford…
Time for a roundup of Snowden news. It’s overwhelming and surreal, I know. But for those of us paying attention, it’s shattered the world view of many. Innocense gone, and all that…
The government, U.S. and most others, have totally blown our trust by systematically spying on us to a degree that bespeaks mental illness. We have been betrayed. Not surprisingly, given the previous point, because governments are horrible at keeping secrets, and now they have them all. It makes Facebook look small-time as far as spreading secrets goes…
The following stories from the last few days were all published in The Guardian, and you can read about the details at their website “theguardian.com”.
Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of The Guardian writes:
[now here, he attempts to write in a level tone, as politely as being British allows…]
“Orwell could never have imagined anything as complete as this, this concept of scooping up everything all the time.
“This is something potentially astonishing about how life could be lived and the limitations on human freedom,” he said.
Rusbridger said the NSA stories were “clearly” not a story about totalitarianism, but that an infrastructure had been created that could be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.
“Obama is a nice guy. David Cameron is a nice social Democrat. About three hours from London in Greece there are some very nasty political parties. What there is is the infrastructure for total surveillance. In history, all the precedents are unhappy,” said Rusbridger, speaking at the Advertising Week conference.
He said that whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked the documents, had been saying: “Look, wake up. You are building something that is potentially quite alarming.”
Rusbridger said that people bring their own perspectives to the NSA revelations. People who have read Kafka or Orwell found the level of surveillance scary, he said, and that those who had lived or worked in the communist eastern bloc were also concerned.
“If you are Mark Zuckerberg and you are trying to build an international business, this is dismaying to you,” Rusbridger said.
“Orwell could never have imagined anything as complete as this, this concept of scooping up everything all the time.
“This is something potentially astonishing about how life could be lived and the limitations on human freedom,” he said.
Rusbridger said the NSA stories were “clearly” not a story about totalitarianism, but that an infrastructure had been created that could be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.
“Obama is a nice guy. David Cameron is a nice social Democrat. About three hours from London in Greece there are some very nasty political parties. What there is is the infrastructure for total surveillance. In history, all the precedents are unhappy,” said Rusbridger, speaking at the Advertising Week conference.
He said that whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked the documents, had been saying: “Look, wake up. You are building something that is potentially quite alarming.”
Rusbridger said that people bring their own perspectives to the NSA revelations. People who have read Kafka or Orwell found the level of surveillance scary, he said, and that those who had lived or worked in the communist eastern bloc were also concerned.
“If you are Mark Zuckerberg and you are trying to build an international business, this is dismaying to you,” Rusbridger said.
He said that as the NSA revelations had gone on, the “integrity of the internet” had been questioned. “These are big, big issues about balancing various rights in society. About how business is done. And about how safe individuals are, living their digital lives.”
Looks like all we have time for now is some headlines:
That’s all we’ve got time for… but join me again tomorrow, for another turn of the DayPage. You can find all the ripped and torn pages of the past at DayPage.net – a production of Radio InfoWeb – see ya!
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
Rex Latchford with another DayPage… to start out your week. The beleaguerd Westgate mall in Nairobi is still suffering a state of seige. Just a few minutes ago as we broadcast this DayPage – more gunshits and explosions even as Kenyan authorities claimed “most” of the mall to be under the control of the military.
Despite kvetching by Rublicans in Washington – the lobby of the rich – most Americans want The Affordable Healthcare Act – known popularly as Obamacare. The reason being the impossible soaring of medical costs. Without Obamacare, or, we wish, something better… this would become a nation of “have and have nots”… medical care that is. The NY Times is reporting consumers should be prepared for “much tighter, narrower networks” of doctors and hospitals. Sigh, our government just can’t seem to get anything right these days…
Breaking Bad, the television series, won an Emmy last night. UK Supermarket Tesco launches an inexpensive tablet computer. Lamborghini is bullish on the US and India as a crackdown hits China sales of the luxury car. A jailed member of Russia’s Pussy Riot goes on a hunger strike to protest conditions in her jail.
When the going gets tough, DayPage… well… reads the comics…
[ Rex describes an alien comic strip detailing events in a parallel universe…]
That’s another DayPage, on the web at DayPage.net – it’s a production of Radio InfoWeb and I’ll see you for another turn of the DayPage… tomorrow!
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
I’m Rex Latchford with another DayPage — a daily look at the daily news. Now, our producer Mincka has a stricken look on her face that says “I know Rex is going to go off the reservation today”… and of course, she’s right.
And so, at the top of the news today, The Old Grey Lady, the NY Times, reports a study that shows people with cluttered desks are more creative. Unfortunately, since this is radio, you can’t see my desk, heh heh. This news will come as a relief to Millions of Americans though, I’m sure…
Folks who are fans of iPhones, take note: The NSA is laughing at you. Der Spiegel’s reporting on the lode of information disclosed by Snowden shows an NSA powerpoint slide making fun of Apple users for voluntarily participating in their own surveillance with the “Find my iPhone App”.
The heavy lode of news continues… let’s start with the politicians in Washington stepping up their efforts to trash the place. The U.S. that is, if not the entire world. The Republicans have stepped up to try to bring the Government to its knees by not cooperating with the budget. The Democrats are not innocent in this either. Both parties have no interest in the best interest of you and I. Just don’t vote for any of them again, PLEASE.
There’s a renewed focus on mental illness on Capitol Hill, which is better than trying to pass laws that the lawless couldn’t care less about. One of the hangups is “the difficulty of predicting violent acts”. Perhaps the legislators should watch “Minority Report” again to refresh their degenerating minds.
Here in NewYork City, the police are building a local information empire to compete with the NSA. Operation “Crew Cut” using social media to track conflicts and punish agitators. The New York City police are infiltrating conversations on the street to compile information on what people are saying that amounts to dissent. Looks like Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly is bucking for leadership of the NSA. Who supports this program? The commissioner proudly says “I can tell you that there is a lot of positive feedback from cops.” And Facebook, officers like to say now, is the most reliable informer.
That will be DayPage for this Day. Note to NSA: You can collect ALL the DayPages at DayPage.net. A production of Radio InfoWeb.
Everybody loves Apple. Well, many people do. I admit to using some Apple devices. But regardless the NY Times today pronounced the new iPhones as “meh”. However, they rave about iOS 7, calling THAT the big news.
They review “it’s a huge, radical redesign by hardware architect Jonathan Ive, who now has been put in charge of Apple’s software universe”. The look is sparse, white, almost plain in spots. All blue Helvetica against white. It’s good because it’s utilitarian, bad because it can be boring. It’s weird to be reading a review like this in the Old Grey Lady (that’s the nickname for the Times for you Newbs).
In other news, the Old Grey Lady reports that Ex-Obama officials that had a hand in crafting the Obamacare law have moved into the private sector where they are finding lucrative work. The only thing more certain than death and taxes is corruption in Washington, that great money vacuum that doubles as a bridge to nowhere.
In Joisey, the Garbage State, Gov. Christie is vacuuming up funds by finding ways around the pay-to-play donation limits. It’s all about your money, honey.
Democrats are bolting the President on issues from Surveillance and a Fed Reserve choice, to Syria. Meanwhile, the President, who seems increasingly isolated and ineffectual is plannin to jack up the pressure on Republicans who are threatening fiscal default through inaction. The Republicans have waged a scortched earth policy for many years, dating, at least in THIS go-round, back to the Bush years, and it seems they won’t be satisfied unless they reduce the United States to ashes. You OK with that, hometown?
Sometimes, the glacial pace of diplomacy can have its advantages. Although it doesn’t look like anything substantive will happen with the chemical weapons issue in Syria for at least a year as things plod along, at least an expensive war or intervention seems to have been halted. But now, we’ll be subjected to the drip-drip-drip of sabre rattling at the expense of real news, such as the latest moves by the government to spy on us, or remove more money from our wallets.
Speaking of which, the FISA court released a previously classified opinion in which it said the NSA’s call log snooping program was constitutional. How wonderful! It makes me feel great to know there are officials who are either criminal or deranged legal experts in the Federal Government. Only thing is, how is that news?
This just in… this morning Government lapdog NPR is running a report on how Brazil’s President… has snubbed the Obama administration over the NSA leaks showing the extent to which the Brazilian government was snooped on. Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who first published the leaks is a Brazilian resident, and is currently receiving protection from the government there.
NPR is also reporting on an internal crackdown at the NSA. It seems Snowden simply plucked many of the documents off an internal website. In a typical government response to things not going their way, the NSA is cracking down on its staff with draconian measures meant to limit future leaks. This is sure to further bureauocratize the organization. Parents of young children may recognize the patterns of behavior in government when it doesn’t get what it wants. For example: tantrums and vindictive behavior.
That’s DayPage for this Wonderful Wednesday. More coffee (insert salute to coffee here), and I’ll retreat to the music. Join me again tomorrow for another turn of the DayPage… collect a calendar full of previous DayPages at DayPage.net, a production of Radio InfoWeb.