The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
Al Qaeda, the NSA, and The Mob
On a Friday the Thirteenth Edition of DayPage, performed live in Los Angeles…
I’m Rex Latchford in Los Angeles today… with another Day Page. CNN reports (and the NY Times makes no mention of it) [non-verbatim]:
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on his followers in an audio message posted on the Internet on Thursday to “land a large strike on the US, even if it takes years of patience.”he claimed victory against the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. He encouraged his followers to provoke the United States into spending more money on security, in order to “bleed America dry economically.”
To me, this would seem to show that Zwaheri is getting the memo that the US government links fear with spending money to be “safe from terrorism”. The question now is how he gets his cut of the action.
Speaking of getting a cut, domestically the Seaside boardwalk fire on the Jersey shore … that was just rebuilt with Federal funds was ravaged by fire on Thursday, as a blaze that began at an iconic ice cream shop quickly engulfed 50 businesses. Pop quiz: who controls construction in that area? If you answered “the mob” you’re correct. If you’re wondering, as I am, why the fire now, I’m guessing more Federal and State funding will go to more constrution which means… more money from the Mob? Is that why Joisey Gov. Chris Christie felt sick to his stomach? Because the gang will make more money off the scam, or because he has to come up with the funds… or else…
On the NSA Front… The Guardian is reporting that Obama was, well, how can we say this in a politically correct way… “less than truthful” when he promised reforms to NSA’s Total Information Awareness information collection program. Why am I not surprised. The Guardian said [rewrite for voice]:
“A review panel created by President Obama to guide reforms to US government surveillance did not discuss any changes to the National Security Agency’s controversial activities at its first meeting, according to two participants.
The panel, which met for the first time this week, was touted by Obama as a way for the government to consider readjusting its surveillance practices after hearing outsiders’ concerns.
But two attendees Monday’s meeting said the discussion was dominated by the interests of major technology firms, and the session did not address making any substantive changes to the controversial mass collection of Americans’ phone data and foreigners’ internet communications, which can include conversations with Americans.”
Socially challenged Facebook leader Marc Zuckerberg is quoted as saying the government has done a “bad job” of balancing people’s privacy and its duty to protect. “Frankly I think the government blew it,” he said.
He said after the news broke in the Guardian and the Washington Post about Prism, the NSA spy program that forecably extracts Internet data from major internet companies: “The government response was, ‘Oh don’t worry, we’re not spying on any Americans.’ Oh, wonderful [Zuckerberg exclaimed]: that’s really helpful to companies trying to serve people around the world, and that’s really going to inspire confidence in American internet companies.”
From NSA to NASA:
Voyager 1, launched back in 1977, has become the first man-made object to pass into the unknown vastness of interstellar space.
The NY Times Reports:
By today’s standards, the spacecraft’s technology is laughable: it carries an 8-track tape recorder and computers with one-240,000th the memory of a low-end iPhone. When it left Earth 36 years ago, it was designed as a four-year mission to Saturn, and everything after that was gravy.
But Voyager 1 has become — thrillingly — the Little Spacecraft That Could. On Thursday, scientists declared that it had become the first probe to exit the solar system, a breathtaking achievement that NASA could only fantasize about back when Voyager was launched in 1977, the same year the movie “Star Wars” was released.
Denver Drowned:
Areas North of Denver, Colorado are experiencing dangerous flooding from 15″ of rain in three days. While this is tragic, we suspect car manufacturers are excited by the number of cars that will need to be replaced. And we’re also awaiting some idiot who will say this is God’s retribution for legalizing Marijuana.
Just to complete the picture, there are rumors that drones are being used to survey the damage from the flooding.
And that’s Day Page. Collect all the pages at DayPage.net a production of Radio InfoWeb. The exeutive producer is Peter Patriot, the Producer is Mincka. See you next time for another… Day Page.