In God We Trust, all others we monitor

The title of this post is the inside joke and unofficial motto of National Security Agency spooks. It’s not quite “all others,” though; spooks monitor whomever they’re tasked to monitor. But who is considered “God” by today’s spooks? Whomever they’re told, I suppose, and that depends on which way the wind blows.

I’m still flummoxed how President Obama can state that he will no longer monitor world leaders yet seems okay with recording Grandma’s calls. With all due respect, Mr. President, world leaders are fair game! That’s why we built this colossal monitoring institution: to find out what the world is doing. The operative word here is “world.” American taxpayers aren’t handing over their money so they themselves can be monitored, they’re expecting you to go after the bad guys who dwell outside of America’s borders.

When our President is skittish about monitoring foreign leaders yet doesn’t bat an eye at monitoring ordinary Americans there are priorities somewhere that are seriously out of whack.

Obama May Ban Spying on Heads of Allied States

How nice that President Obama is contemplating the end of spying on friendly foreign leaders. I’m glad that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will soon enjoy freedom from NSA spying. Now, what does it take for millions of law-abiding American citizens to get the same deal?

WASHINGTON — President Obama is poised to order the National Security Agency to stop eavesdropping on the leaders of American allies, administration and congressional officials said Monday, responding to a deepening diplomatic crisis over reports that the agency had for years targeted the cellphone of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

via Obama May Ban Spying on Heads of Allied States – NYTimes.com.

ISS sails over Raleigh

ISS_Flyby_2013-10-27
Tonight was another spectacular viewing night for the International Space Station. It flew to an apogee of 83 degrees – almost directly overhead! It made it across about 60% of the sky before traveling into the Earth’s shadow. It was enough time to get some good photos.

Report: US May Have Bugged Merkel Phone for More than a Decade

According to Der Spiegel, the NSA may have tapped German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone for more than 10 years. I’m not surprised by this nor am I particularly upset. This is what intelligence agencies do and, contrary to their public protests, foreign intelligence services do the exact same thing to other world leaders.

The U.S. National Security Agency may have bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone for more than 10 years, according to a news report Saturday by the German weekly Der Spiegel.

Der Spiegel also cited a source in Ms. Merkel’s office saying U.S. President Barack Obama apologized to the German leader when she called him this past Wednesday to seek clarification on the issue.

I found this quote particularly misleading:

Former CIA deputy director Michael Morrell said in a television interview to be broadcast Sunday that Snowden’s leaks are “the most serious compromise of classified information in the history of the U.S. intelligence community.”

Bullshit. Morrell thinks Edward Snowden has done more damage than the John Walker spy ring? Than CIA traitor Aldrich Ames? Than Robert Hanssen? For decades, Walker gave crypto codes to the Soviets, exposing every one of our nuclear ballistic submarines and much, much more. Ames sold out all of our highest Soviet intelligence agents, who were subsequently executed. Hanssen’s betrayal led to multiple double-agents to be executed as well as protecting Soviet spies in the CIA and FBI. So far Snowden’s leak has produced no deaths but only a great deal of embarrassment for the U.S. Government. In effect, Snowden’s revelations merely confirmed what most everyone already suspected.

Morrell needs to cut the hyperbole. It’s an insult to the fine men and women of the intelligence community who paid the ultimate price from the treason of Walker, Ames, Hanssen, and other actual traitors to compare what they did to what Snowden did. Not even close.

via Report: US May Have Bugged Merkel Phone for More than a Decade.

RALEIGH: Gun rights group threatens to sue Raleigh over outdated park signs

A gun nut group threatens to sue Raleigh over its signs saying guns are prohibited in its parks. While the signs might no longer be accurate, as far as I know they are still legal. I’m not sure what jurisdiction Mr. Valone thinks he has over the city’s signage.

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s most vocal gun rights group is threatening to sue Raleigh if it doesn’t update signs in city parks that tell visitors firearms aren’t allowed.

Grass Roots North Carolina sent a letter to the Raleigh City Council this week, requesting an update to the signs now that state law allows concealed-carry permit holders to bring guns to playgrounds, greenways and college campuses.

via RALEIGH: Gun rights group threatens to sue Raleigh over outdated park signs | Local Politics | NewsObserver.com.

Police Protective Fund still suckering people

A friend posted a list compiled by Tampa Bay Times of America’s worst charities today so, knowing there’s a special place in Hell for scumbags who rip people off in the name of charity, I decided to check it out.

Lo and behold, spot number twenty was held by one of my favorite charities, the Police Protective Fund (PPF). You may recall I profiled the Police Protective Fund back in 2008 after I got a call from a solicitor seemingly trying his best to sound like a police officer.

According to tax records, PPF raised about $50 million from 2001 to 2010. Of that, roughly $15 million went to pay its solicitors. Oh, and as for the first responders PPF claims to assist, those brave men and women received $260,000 over that timeframe. That’s about $29,000 a year.

What most people don’t know is that the Police Protective Fund is a North Carolina corporation with its registered office at a corporation service on Hillsborough Street. I wonder if our fine attorney general would like to check these folks out. After all, they want to help cops, right? Why not help our state’s top cop investigate them for possible fraud?

70.3 million French phone records, 30 days: US envoy summoned after new NSA report draws ire

Here’s a story on the outrage expressed by our allies regarding NSA spying. What the article doesn’t mention is that these countries also engage in exactly the same kind of spying, against the US and other countries. In light of this, their protests ring a bit hollow.

The U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French telephone records in a 30-day period, according to a newspaper report Monday that offered new details of the massive scope of a surveillance operation that has angered some of the country’s closest allies.

via 70.3 million French phone records, 30 days: US envoy summoned after new NSA report draws ire – The Washington Post.

The ocean is broken | Newcastle Herald

This is a depressingly sad report from a sailor who reports that our ocean appears to be very, very sick.

Exactly 10 years before, when Newcastle yachtsman Ivan Macfadyen had sailed exactly the same course from Melbourne to Osaka, all he’d had to do to catch a fish from the ocean between Brisbane and Japan was throw out a baited line.

“There was not one of the 28 days on that portion of the trip when we didn’t catch a good-sized fish to cook up and eat with some rice,” Macfadyen recalled. But this time, on that whole long leg of sea journey, the total catch was two.

No fish. No birds. Hardly a sign of life at all.

“In years gone by I’d gotten used to all the birds and their noises,” he said.

“They’d be following the boat, sometimes resting on the mast before taking off again. You’d see flocks of them wheeling over the surface of the sea in the distance, feeding on pilchards.”

But in March and April this year, only silence and desolation surrounded his boat, Funnel Web, as it sped across the surface of a haunted ocean.

via The ocean is broken | Newcastle Herald.

Halloween zombies

Turner Zombies, 2013

Turner Zombies, 2013


The Turner family did another turn as zombies for the Haunted Mordecai Trolley last night. The weather was much more agreeable than last year, though Hallie was feeling a bit too much like a zombie, having had a sleepover the night before.

Blue Cross letters scare some customers, but the outcome isn’t always bad

At a party recently, I was chatting with a firefighter who told some unbelievable stories. People have called 911 in the early morning, claiming to have an emergency, only when the fire truck rolls up they are fully dressed with their bags packed. When our first responders arrive and ask the perfectly fine-looking person what the emergency is, they respond that they just needed a ride to the hospital and knew it wouldn’t be busy at that time of day. Shaking his head, the firefighter said “and people wonder why their taxes are so high.”

There’s an in-depth look at the Affordable Care Act in the paper today by the N&O’s John Murawski, examining the cost differences of health care between various counties in the state. In many of these counties, the cost of health care is driven up by similar cases as the one I mentioned: people going to the emergency room for something minor like a headache. Give it a read.

Ann and Rodger Lenhardt were in for a jolt when they received their notice from Blue Cross Blue Shield recently. It said their monthly health insurance cost would triple – to $859.42 a month – next year.

Under closer inspection, however, the Lenhardts discovered a different story: By switching policies and taking advantage of federal subsidies, they will be able to offset most of their monthly premium costs, giving the farming couple highly discounted insurance.

via Blue Cross letters scare some customers, but the outcome isn't always bad | Economy | NewsObserver.com.