Month: June 2013

  • The NSA also has direct access to computer systems

    The NSA also has direct access to computer systems

    The UK GUARDIAN is continuing its exclusive reporting tonight with this news that the NSA has direct access to computer companies and their networks..
    The GUARDIAN reports, in part:

    The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.

    The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says.

    The Guardian has verified the authenticity of the document, a 41-slide PowerPoint presentation – classified as top secret with no distribution to foreign allies – which was apparently used to train intelligence operatives on the capabilities of the program. The document claims “collection directly from the servers” of major US service providers.

  • Lots of reaction to the NSA/Verizon snooping issues

    Lots of reaction to the NSA/Verizon snooping issues

    The world of telecommunications was rocked today when the UK GUARDIAN reported that a FISA court ordered Verizon to provide records of calls of millions of Americans on an ongoing, daily basis. And now the  Obama Administration is defending the program as ‘critical’ for safety and the fight against terrorism..
    Another report on CNN attempts to break down  what exactly the Verizon/FISA/NSA/FBI/Patriot Act issue means for you.. the report concludes that the government cannot hear what you are saying.. At least we think that according to the document released today in the GUARDIAN. We don’t know what other documents exist that have not been leaked…
    Lots of people are angry. Some, including Senator Lindsay Graham, assert that they are fine with it because they didn’t do anything wrong…
    But the far-reaching program appears to presume someone is doing something wrong.. Constitutional questions are involved.. privacy questions are involved.. Lots of big issues are at stake. This is important, and another issue of government surveillance that hits directly into every home across the United States.
  • I guess they can hear us now..

    I guess they can hear us now..

    The UK GUARDIAN reported some earth-shattering news over the past 24 hours, developing throughout the last 8 hours within the late night hours in the United States..

    According to the paper, the US government went to a FISA court, and consequently, Verizon has been ordered to provide call records  of millions of Americans on a daily basis to the National Security Agency. 

    According to the report, the content of the phone call is not being reported..

    The consequences of the news breaking has now reinforced the long-held notion that the Obama Administration has been more forceful when it comes to secret eavesdropping programs within national security circles in the United States government.
    This news has been coupled, of course, when recent developments like the IRS potentially targeting groups, and the Justice Department seizing AP phone records and one Fox News reporter, including his parents..
    The GUARDIAN reported in its exclusive story that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance  Court granted the order to the FBI on April 25–and the order expires July 19. 
    While the order appears to be legal under the controversial Patriot Act, it reignites a debate over whether it should be legal at all. Additionally, the fact that the Verizon documents leaked does not necessarily mean that it is only that company. As a matter of fact, the chatter  of the talking heads in political circles this morning is vocalizing their questions as to whether other services, like AT&T, that we simply are not yet aware of..
    Both Verizon and the White House have not commented, but neither has denied the GUARDIAN story. 
    This morning on MSNBC’s MORNING JOE, Chuck Todd reported that he, and other NBC reporters, tried ‘all night’ to get some type of a response from someone in the White House to no avail, but again noted that there were no denials from any officials.
    While most of America has grown accustomed to the understanding that little of its communication is ‘private,’ including phone calls and emails, the vast amount of data being collected is enough to raise eyebrows. 
    Candidate Obama campaigned against this type of government surveillance. But President Obama seems to have a very different feeling about how far is too far..
    Washington D.C. is set to now react to this story–as is the rest of the United States, as it wakes up to morning news that all calls have been subject to this FISA order. 
    While people may assume that Rand Paul may speak out against it, he may already have a friend in the other party: This CNN  report quoted Al Gore, who said on Twitter: “In the digital era, privacy must be a priority. Is it just me, or is secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous?”
  • Reports of ‘mass abduction’ in New Jersey

    Reports of ‘mass abduction’ in New Jersey

    Some may say New Jersey is already a weird place even without tales of mass UFO abductions.. But tales of mass abduction is what we are reading..

    The The CANADIAN is reporting about a witness’s statement about supposed abductions happening in the garden state..

    In the old fashioned statement, we report, you decide, you can read the story for yourself and judge accordingly..

  • Rotten apple

    Rotten apple

    A new FTC ruling is quite big.. They say that Apple infringed on Samsung.. And as a result, several Apple products are now banned from being sold in the United States!

  • Latest AP dispatch on MERS

    Latest AP dispatch on MERS

    They report:

    Saudi Arabia has reported that three more people have died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 24.
    The Ministry of Health said Sunday the three deceased were among 38 infected in the kingdom with the respiratory virus called MERS.

  • Horror Report in the sands of time

    Horror Report in the sands of time

    Actually somewhere in the dirt of the ground…
    A reader from Tennessee set me this amazing photo, apparently he wrote Horror Report somewhere in dirt and decided to snap a photo of it. Thanks Tennessee Phil.

    Thank you, it is appreciated, and it makes me think of a summer mission: Readers out there, send me ‘Horror Report’ written in a strange place and your photo may make my website.. Just spell it right.
    I will accept nudity as long as it is done tastefully.
    If you get a tattoo of my website name I may even consider paying you for the free advertising!

  • Today is outrageously beautiful

    Today is outrageously beautiful


    It seriously couldn’t be more beautiful..

  • The biggest tornado ever recorded

    The biggest tornado ever recorded

    This just in from the National Weather Service: The tornado that struck Oklahoma Friday night (and killed 18 people) was the widest ever recorded or observed by the NWS.
    The twister that hit into El Reno, OK, was 2.6 miles wide–that is immense.  It rated an EF5 (the same as the EF5 that hit Moore Oklahoma only days before killing 24, and many children) . . 

    That means that the deadly Friday night tornado was the widest ever recorded..
    And this from the NWS to illustrate it: