When Police Enter the Home – Tea Parti Quebecoise
Rex is away and reporting from Los Angeles. A Transcript is not available at this time.
Author Archives: RexLatchford
Elections and Headlines
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
Elections and Headlines
Today is election day in Colorado, [blooper: as well as many other locations around the US] and for those along the more populous Front Range including the Denver metro area, the big items on the ballot are a measure for taxing marijuana, and a school tax. The school tax has been heavily promoted by the Gates Foundation and a few other organizations, however, taxes are not popular in Colorado, which is already heavily taxed: right up there with California and New York [Note: another item on the ballot would increase State Income tax to provide additional education funding, and in some counties there is a measure on the ballot to secede from the state of Colorado]. The Marijuana tax is more interesting. It’s not clear what will happen if the tax is voted down, as the state is obligated to go forward with retail sales regardless of the outcome. A special tax would fund enforcement and other bureaucratic oversight of the marijuana “industry” as it’s being called. If any tax money is left over after bureaucratic spending, it might make it to educational purposes as mandated by the marijuana law passed last year. The proposed taxes threaten to put the retail price of pot slightly higher than the street price, so economics may come into play in the outcome of the tax. Conspicuously absent are television ads either for or against the tax, so smokers will have to come down far enough to think about their vote on this one.
Here are some news headlines:
As New York City is likely to elect Democrat Bill de Blasio for Mayor, the media are speculating at how he’ll play in the New York market. He’s a noobie to running any kind of large organization, so he is expected to play up the symbolic role of the Mayor, and to promote a liberal agenda.
In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie’s plans are rumored to be at risk as Democrats and unions have spent more than $35 million to prevent shifts in the Legislature that would give the entrenched governor more power. And then there are his Presidential aspirations as he is viewed as a likely candied date for 2016.
Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi appeared in public for a trial at which he stood defiant, stating to the judge that he is the victim of a coup. However, Egypt’s ruling military seems unlikely to allow the Muslim Brotherhood the opportunity to rule that nation.
As a tepid debate over spying develops on Capitol hill, Surveillance Community Officials lobby for continued, and, in fact, increased bulk collection of data, insisting it is necessary to protect us from terrorism. The NSA’s military leader, General Kieth Alexander doesn’t seem to grasp the inherent conflict of interest he presents in running the organization which seems bent on shredding democracy in favor of a Total Surveillance State.
And that’s Day Page for today, November 5th, 2013. Check all the DayPages at DayPage.net; it’s a production of Radio InfoWeb. Join me next time for another… DayPage.
The Gray Lady Awakens to Snooping
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
The Gray Lady Awakens to Snooping
Rex Latchford with another DayPage.
The Grey Lady Wakes from her Nap
— When the NewYork Times, which is slow to criticise the Federal Government, leads off an issue with three stories about inappropriate and/or illegal spying, you know the story has gotten big. Again.
The story in first-place has nothing to do with Edward Snowden-leaked information. The headline reads “No US Action on Privacy Law, so States Lead the Way — Lawmakers in 10 states have passed more than two dozen privacy laws this year on phone tracking, the use of drones, and other topics, as support for limits on surveillance has grown.” It’s hardly the first time the States have moved to act when the misguided and bumbling federal government fails to act. Over two dozen privacy laws have passed in more than 10 states this year from states as different as Oklahome and California.
“For Internet companies, the patchwork of rules across the country means keeping a close eye on evolving laws to avoid overstepping. Many companies have an internal team to deal with state legislation. And the flurry of legislation has led some companies, particularly technology companies, to exert their lobbying muscles — with some success — when proposed measures stand to harm their bottom lines.” — that could hurt efforts to curb surveillance.
The Times #2 story is a backgrounder on how the NSA started tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkle’s phone back in 2002 when she was a comparitive nobody – and indication of the scope of phone tapping everywhere and on everyone.
The #3 story is about NSA’s tapping of Yahoo! and Google: tapping the fiber optic cables that connect the companies to the net. Google, for one, is fighting back by unleashing strong encryption on their connecting links. But, with what is now known about the extent to which the NSA has cracked codes, there is little confidence in any commonly used encryption systems. Despite the revelations over the past 5 months, the NSA still has the world by its balls. The question is: can they be stopped? And if not, how total will the destruction be?
NY Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote an op-ed today titled “The Spies Who Loved to Damage Our Reputation”. Kristol takes the NSA to task for just some of its’ transgressions.
The extent of this should be clear by now. We’ve just spend an entire DayPage and barely scratched the surface of what’s in today’s issue of the NY Times alone. Today’s Guardian, for example, has still more coverage of this issue.
Everyone should care about this because it’s not only sick, creepy, and illegal, but it has already begun to damage the key concepts and institutions that make up the world we, well, lived in. What lies ahead in the world envisioned by the NSA is dark indeed. That alone could fill many day pages.
So for now, that’s DayPage. Collect them all at DayPage.net — they’re free to download — we’re on Facebook and Twitter and Tumbler, and it’s a production of RadioInfoWeb. I’ll see you next time for another… DayPage…
News and WTF
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
News and WTF
DayPage for October 29th, 2013
They just don’t get it. Rex Latchford with another DayPage. On the pages of this morning’s New York Times, the Editorial Board writes “The Obama administration offers platitudes about security, and vague talk of inconclusive inquiries.” That and four bucks won’t even get you on the subway. Also in the Times, the headline “Obama May Ban Spying on Heads of Allied States” — finally a vague response to the wrath of Angela Merkel.
More snooping: this time School Gate. Schools are increasingly monitoring students, in some cases around the clock via social media and in-school surveillance. You might remember years ago the outcry over a school snooping through school supplied laptop cameras leading to leaks of images of naked or otherwise indisposed students, and the arrest of a student observed taking pills as observed through the computer camera — that turned out to be Good-and-Plenty’s.
Apparently now a mouthpiece for the NSA and Administration, NPR News continues to use the word “alleged” to describe the NSA’s own documents leaked by Snowden. Not even the NSA or Administration will disavow the obviously authentic documents, so where does that leave NPR news? Maybe they should re-brand as “NPR Propaganda”. More news-bites now…
- Kvetching over the National Healthcare Website continues unabated. Something apparently both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill can agree on. Sort of.
- In the economy, U.S. Consumer Spending is up, but Auto Sales are, unobservably, down.
- Microcredit, a popular financing mechanism in the Third World is no taking hold in the U.S. which doesn’t say much about the REAL state of the economy. The Times reports on a Microcredit store in Queens, New York.
- DejaVu all over again? Tech stocks may be getting overvalued again as the economy heats up and investors become eager. But who in tech businesses wouldn’t welcome a return to the roaring 90’s at this point?
- Also, why Apple wants to Bust Your iPhone. Apple is advanced in terms of obsoleting your prized devices, as I found out when I couldn’t update my 6 month old iPod Touch to iOS7.
- A security firm says a WiFi related vulnerability is present in hundreds of iOS apps tested, from stock management to news apps!
- Criminals are said to have planted chips in appliances from electric irons to tea kettles that launch spam attacks.
- William C. Lowe, who oversaw the Birth of the IBM PC, is dead at 72. I believe I met the fellow at an IBM function years ago.
- The Times has figured out that American’s dependence on cards results in lost hours that could otherwise be spent on exercising or socializing — and it’s — duh — taken a toll on our health.
- In an ongoing twist on the “Weapons of Mass Destruction” debacle in Iraq, the chemical sites in Syria that actually did contain chemical weapons have nearly all been reached by UN inspectors in unprecedented cooperation claimed by the U.S. and Russia.
And finally, we time for the WTF department!
- Six South Koreans claim they fled to North Korea for a better life.
- Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion who retired in 2005, will try to unseat the eccentric president of the World Chess Federation. Perhaps with a chess match?
- Vlad Putin promises to welcome gays to the Winter Olympics in Sochi
- Criminals are said to have planted chips in appliances from electric irons to tea kettles that launch spam attacks.
That’s more than we have time for! Collect all the DayPages at DayPage.net, it’s a production of Radio InfoWeb. Tune in tomorrow for another… DayPage.
Today’s NSA Scandal: NSA Hit Spain
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
Today’s NSA Scandal: NSA Hit Spain
Back in early June, DayPage suggested the Snowden story might “have legs”. It seems that was quite the understatement. I’m Rex Latchford with another DayPage.
American lamestream media has fallen into lock step with the US Government, With Edward Snowden increasingly being cast as the “traitor in Russia”. NPR has been caught red-handed referring to the NSA documents as “alleged”. That leaves only Europe and the rest of the world to be outraged at the US’s Total Surveillance State. France and Germany are hoping to get a contractual agreement from the US, and allies are edgy. No wonder, they are fearful that nothing can be done about what the US, Brits, Aussies, and New Zedlanders have done to turn the world into this Totalirarian Surveillance State.
This morning’s fresh revelation is that the NSA secretly monitored 60 million phone calls in Spain in one month. That’s according to Spanish media, who released the news based on Snowden documents. They SAY that the NSA collected the numbers and locations of callers and recipients, not the audio, but other NSA documents indicate that the audio from the calls was probably recorded as well. Also, the NSA has, according to the Spanish news “suggested” that they don’t record positional data of mobile phone calls. And yet, other NSA documents indicate they do that as well.
This all makes Spain yet another country planning to make the pilgrimage to Washington DC to ask Obama: “WTF”?
Obama’s response, as reported in lamestream media, is “I didn’t know about it”. Hopefully, this indicates Obama could be ready to turn on the NSA, but more likely, it is just an expression of lameness that means “it will continue”. Obama has been making a series of “I didn’t do it”s and “I couldn’t help it”s. But the terrifying thing is that there is no reporting of discontent by the American people, and that is making Americans look complicit in the spying activities, as one-by-one the European companies protest.
This just in: BBC news has been heard reporting that Japan was asked to collect fiber optic cable traffic in Asia for the NSA but declined. This is significant in that it is the first reported example of a country saying “no” to NSA requests. Our producer Mincka is looking for confirmation of this story, but has so far found none. Presumably, this story may arise during the day.
Mincka also is handing me a report that The Guardian is running a feature entitled “Fed up with COngress over the NSA or shutdown? 5 tips to get your voice heard”. We certainly hope people will speak up about both, so you may want to take a look at that in The Guardian.
There are plenty of other stories in this morning’s news, but it looks like another week dominated by the shameful behavior of the US government in its bid for a Totalitarian Global Surveillance State.
ObamaCarenado – Snowden Storm
http://daypage.net/ar/DayPage~2013-10-24~ObamaCarenado_-_Snowden_Storm.mp3
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
ObamaCarenado – Snowden Storm
Rex Latchford here, back in New York for another DayPage!
More focus on Healthcare, or lack of it, today. I’m cruzin’ the New York Times, now that I’m back in town, and the paper is leading off with:
Health Law Fails to keep Prices Low in Rural Areas – More than half of the counties in 34 states on the Federally run health exchange are served by just one or two insurers, and surprise, surprise, the premiums are high in areas with the least competition.
The G.O.P., desperate to put down the Affordable Healthcare Act (known as Obamacare), and Emboldened by criticism of the exchange, Republicans are refocusing their efforts from denying funds for the law to investigating it.
Although the Video dates back to July, maybe we should taste Obamacarenado!
[G.O.P. ObamaCarenado Spot Soundtrack]
That’s the Republican-produced Video – Obamacarenado.
Speaking of storms, a year after… storm victims in ‘Joisey say that Governor Chris Christie used the disaster to promote himself. Noooooooo kiddin……
Speaking of Nooooo [kidding] JP Morgan faces a possible penalty in the Madoff Case. Authorities suspect that JPMorgan Chase turned a blind eye to Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and they are said to be pursuing a type of prosecution deal that is nearly unheard-of for a large American bank. They’re going to say “you’re bad, now say you’re sorry”.
Moving right along…
Pyongyang (that’s the capital city of North Korea, so that’s what papers, which should know better, call the country. Did they forget the name “North Korea”? Remember their name! Anyway, they say they’ll finally release those 6 South Korean Detainees. Meanwhile, so called “activity” is seen (by snooper satellite) at North Korean Nuclear Test Site. The NSA isn’t saying but could it be those skinny lookin’ North Korean pom-pom girls working out?
Time Warner Cable finally agrees to distribute Al Jazeera America. Ahhh, the land of the fee and the home of the censored.
Just in time for Halloween, Web Sites about Grave Sites.
On the Snowden Storm… Germany simmered in its’ palpable anger at the United States, barely containing fury over reports that NSA and it’s pals tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone. As you may know, France, Brazil, and a number of other companies are Livid with the US – and the US’s response – “nada”. This attitude is expected to cost American business hundreds of billions of dollars. Great job, intelligence dudes. Or are you just dumb dudes? It’s time for the total surveillance state to be disbanded and for our formerly great country to get back to some kind of normal. The alternative is still more economic turmoil, unemployment, and all that other fun stuff we’ve been paying our taxes for.
That’s it. that’s all I can take. Join me tomorrow for another DayPage. You can find the rest at DayPage.net, a production of Radio InfoWeb. See ya!
October 21st Headlines
The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
October 21st Headlines
Rex is away, here are today’s headlines…
- JPMorgan Chase to Pay $13 Billion in Record DOJ Settlement over Mortgages
- U.S. Restarts Aid to Pakistan; Prime Minister Arrives in D.C. for Talks
- U.N. Officials Criticize U.S. Drone Wars in New Reports
- Diplomats Fuel Confusion over Syria Talks; Car Bomb Kills 37 Outside Hama
- Syria: Clerics Permit Eating of Dogs, Cats amid Starvation in Rebel-Held Areas
- Train Derailment Sparks Fireball, Evacuations in Alberta, Canada
- Commander Defends “Collateral Murder” Pilots: “These are Attack Pilots Wearing Gloves of Steel”
- Obama to Address Glitches Plaguing Healthcare Exchange
- France Summons U.S. Ambassador After Report on NSA Spying
- Report: NSA Hacked Mexican President’s Email in 2010
- Anti-Austerity Protests Sweep Portugal, Italy
- Daisy Coleman Speaks Out on Maryville Rape Case: “I Refuse to Be a Victim of Cruelty Any Longer”