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FBI uses drones on US soil: Senators want assurances on privacy protections - CSMonitor.com:

"Even as President Obama was calling for prudence in the use of drones Wednesday to an audience in Berlin, over on Capitol Hill came new revelations that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been using drones to conduct secret surveillance on US citizens."

Bricks

Bricks, a photo by Ted Compton on Flickr.

Can we come out from under our beds now?

The Quarter-Baked Plot to Bomb the New York Stock Exchange

"More than a bit of a stretch. Wired reports that "even the government's own sentencing memorandum shows that the defendants called off a proposed plot on their own, without involvement from federal authorities."" 

The great thing about having the courts, the Congress, and the executive branch all involved in this snooping thing is that they can all come together to cover each other's asses when things go wrong.

So if you're an employer...

Report: 70 percent of Americans “emotionally disconnected” at work - Salon.com

 "Employees with a college degree are not as likely as those with less education to report having a positive, engaging workplace experience."

...this would be an argument against hiring college graduates, wouldn't it?

Oh, and by the way - yes, I know the ellipsis and the dash are characters in typography but I've been working with a somewhat limited keyboard recently and seem to have lost both. Perhaps I will find them again. Meanwhile, please refer to blog rules 2 and 3 as applicable.

How many national conversations make a din?

Obama's Unplanned NSA Discussion : It's All Politics : NPR:

"...he seeks a "national conversation" about data-gathering by the government and other entities."

Obama (and other entities) also declares or calls for national conversations (discussion/debates) on mental health, small business, gun control, abortion, religious liberty, tribal names for sports teams, hair loss, and school grading scales in Elgin, Illinois. And lots of stuff.

You get the idea, right? And by the way, what other freakin' entities?

Is he trying to equate what the NSA is doing with what Google's doing, there? I think perhaps he is. But it ain't.

Digging for Jimmy

A Field Guide To Jimmy Hoffa Searches : The Two-Way : NPR:

"The mystery of Jimmy Hoffa's final resting place was opened yet again Monday, when the FBI began digging up a field near Detroit in the hopes of finding the former Teamsters president, who was last seen on July 30, 1975."

(Those cupcakes sure sound good.)

Just keeps raining

Just keeps raining, a photo by Ted Compton on Flickr.

FBI investigates court: Maybe we can work a deal

FBI Looks for Leaks at Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court - The Daily Beast:

"The FBI is investigating whether the highly protected and segregated computer systems that store the secret court warrants authorizing electronic surveillance inside the United States have been breached, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials."

Why not broccoli?

Undernews: America's war on asparagus farmers:

What we have here is a failure to communicate

Obama: Secret Court System for NSA Spying Is "Transparent":

"The FISA court system, the proceedings of which are closed to the public and the records of which are classified, is "transparent," President Obama told Charlie Rose in an interview broadcast on PBS last night"

In the celebrated age of Big Data, a creepy new metric

NSA chief: agency programs prevented over 50 potential terrorist acts | Reuters:

""In recent years these programs, together with other intelligence, have protected the U.S. and our allies from terrorist threats across the globe to include helping prevent ... potential terrorist events over 50 times since 9/11," he said in testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee"

Makes Minority Report look like tomorrow's newspaper.

(Also "together with other intelligence"? Really?)

Which makes me feel 12.3 percent good

"The NSA combs through the data using keywords but says it will only investigate targets it is 51 percent certain are non-citizens."

The New Republic

A little rainy

littlerainy, a photo by Ted Compton on Flickr.

Ouch

Congress is wildly unpopular. Should anyone actually care?:

Colonoscopies are more popular than Congress, survey says.

In order to remain silent you have to speak

The Supreme Court Decided Your Silence Can Be Used Against You - Alexander Abad-Santos - The Atlantic Wire:

"Basically, if you're ever in any trouble with police...you will need to announce that you're invoking your Fifth Amendment right instead of, you know, just keeping your mouth shut."

Is "golf fashion statement" the greatest oxymoron ever?

Octopus pants: Not the worst golf fashion statement (+video) - CSMonitor.com:

"Octopus pants: Billy Horschel caused a stir when he wore "Octopus pants" in the final round of the US Open golf tournament on Sunday. "

Also, how can they be octopus pants, really, with only two legs?

Maybe we just need better thumbs

The Other Side of the Story - NYTimes.com:

"Last year, the feds made 1,856 requests to FISA judges and got 1,856 thumbs-up."

Oh well, honesty isn't everything

Column: When lying is acceptable, public loses:

"One [2012 survey] from the Public Affairs Council found that 57 percent of Americans felt that public officials in Washington had below-average honesty and ethical standards. Another from the Pew Research Center found 54 percent of Americans felt the federal government in Washington was mostly corrupt, while 31 percent rated it mostly honest."

Don't worry, we'll think of something

Details on NSA-thwarted plots coming, lawmaker says - CNN.com:

"National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander is expected to release details of cases where the programs have stopped a terrorist attack, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said. The information may be available as soon as Monday."

Syriously?

Undernews: Meanwhile. . .

"Infrequently asked questions:  How do we tell when we're meant to surrender our Constitution to fight Al Queda and when we're meant to give them more arms?"

And in news from an alternate universe...

Obama does not feel Americans' privacy violated: chief of staff | Reuters: "

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama does not believe the recently disclosed top-secret National Security Agency surveillance of phone records and Internet data has violated Americans' privacy rights, his chief of staff said on Sunday."

I feel jollier already

Texas gov. signs ‘Merry Christmas’ law; says religious freedom is not freedom from religion - The Washington Post:

"Surrounded by sleigh bell-ringing Santa Claus impersonators, Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday signed a law protecting Christmas and other holiday celebrations in Texas public schools from legal challenges... 

"[Republican Rep. Dwayne Bohac of Houston] said Perry “is not a governor that shirks away from the tough issues. "

Obama: "Nobody is listening to your telephone calls" (Jun. 7)

NSA admits listening to U.S. phone calls without warrants | Politics and Law - CNET News (Jun. 16)

Nothing is forever.

Is this the transformative thought of a generation?

Apple e-book trial: How the case has unfolded so far | Apple - CNET News:

"If there's one thing CNET has learned from this trial, it's never put anything sensitive in writing."

If it is it changes everything. Not that it's not possible to live in a non-written world; great ventures have been pursued successfully without written contracts. But the norm in recent times has been otherwise, and so the common assumption that if it's not written down somewhere it's probably not true.

And isn't fear of a government that does not keep records of what it's done part of the problem here, not a solution?

Well. I'm just saying. Wondering, more to the point. Not that it matters much. Sensitive 'r' not us.

Roses
 

iPhone photo: Phil Compton

Which pretty much says it all

Philadelphia Closes 23 Schools, Lays Off Thousands, Builds Huge Prison

In case you were wondering how it all might play out

Apple e-book trial: How the case has unfolded so far | Apple - CNET News:

"One government chart, casually referred to in court as the "spider web," shows the number of calls between book publisher CEOs in December and January, the time they were negotiating with Apple about its iBookstore. The DOJ has used the chart as evidence that the publishers were talking and working together to collectively change e-book pricing. The DOJ also made a similar chart to show calls between publishers and Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of software and services."

And what could possibly go wrong?

After Profits, Defense Contractor Faces the Pitfalls of Cybersecurity - NYTimes.com:

"WASHINGTON — When the United Arab Emirates wanted to create its own version of the National Security Agency, it turned to Booz Allen Hamilton to replicate the world’s largest and most powerful spy agency in the sands of Abu Dhabi."

LOL! Are these Russians for real?

Russia Faults Proof of Use of Chemicals in Syrian War - NYTimes.com:

"Russia has reacted furiously to the announcement [of intervention in Syria] by the United States, saying the allegations are not reliable and accusing American officials of creating a pretense for military intervention...

Like they really think the U.S. government would joke around about something that serious? Really?

...based on intelligence assessments similar to the later-disproven reports of unconventional weapons in Iraq that preceded the invasion there."

Oh.

Past future wars

We've been reading H.G. Wells' The War in the Air, a book published (serialized)
in 1908 that foresees both WWI and the emergence of 20th-Century style industrial warfare and its potential consequences, sci-fi at its best. It is a book for, as Wells himself might have said, "a book for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games and books." But it does, alas, get a little tedious in the telling, and so we, always conscious of our readers' refined sensibilities, will refrain from adding it too the official book list. It is available, however, free, from Project Gutenberg.

Soon to appear on the book list, however, are a collection of short stories by Nelson Algren and Carl Hiaasen's newest novel. So keep the faith.

Or maybe it's just a comic book

Superman Man of Steel disguise: Prosopagnosia explains why no one recognizes Clark Kent. - Slate Magazine:

"With his power of super-neuropsychology, Superman has cleverly secluded himself within a rare epidemiological cluster of prosopagnosics. At the Daily Planet, where close observation is part of a reporter’s or photographer’s job description, the hero’s disguise gives nothing away. Nobody recognizes the Man of Steel’s face because they simply can’t perceive it. "

Who knew golf was this much fun?

Croquet putting: Golf’s unconscionable ban on putting between your legs. - Slate Magazine:

"There’s nothing more traditional in the grand old game, in fact, than banning goofy putting practices. Consider the case of the croquet-style stroke, which the sport’s protectors banned 45 years ago because, as the then executive director of the USGA put it, “the game of golf was becoming bizarre.” Heaven forfend!"

We always knew it had talent

Dems also had an epic picture, who actually looks like he's doing big league pitching http://t.co/S1SH9CfAZz via @TPM
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 14, 2013

So whole wheat then?

Yesterday I set out to make black bean soup but it just kept getting better and better and wound up as chili instead. Also it was chilly, yesterday, so that worked out fine. Today there's just a little bit left over and I don't want to go to the trouble of heating it up for lunch so I'm thinking just squish it between a couple of breads and make a chili sandwich. What could possibly go wrong with that?

Too late now, but maybe next year

24 hours: More fun stuff for Milwaukee's weekend to-do list:

"Milwaukee Indyfest really gets rolling Friday at the Milwaukee Mile at Wisconsin State Fair Park. Music, carnival rides, IndyCar runs and, yes, rickshaw racing. "

What's with "this"?

Killer Colo. wildfire standing still, for now - CBS News:

"Firefighters have at least temporarily battled to a "draw" with a fast-moving fire..."

Why we're glad we're not small fish

Prozac Made Fish More Aggressive, Some Killed Mates - ABC News:

"Fish swimming in water with a trace of the anti-depressant Prozac did not adopt a cheery disposition. Instead, they became edgy, aggressive and some even killed their mates."

(Or big ones, now that you mention it.)

It's going to rain forever or at least until Saturday

And then again more next week. I have cabin fever and it's the middle of June. I got so desperate this afternoon that I sloshed over to the local convenience store for comfort food; bought cheese, forgot crackers. What kind of person does that?

Lion for Hawks (good picture)

News from @AP: Lions among Blackhawks fans in Stanley Cup finals: http://apne.ws/11HOk6w

"But we have faith"

News from @AP: Coverage may be unaffordable for low-wage workers: http://apne.ws/150wzgt

Notes from a long, long time ago

Why Superman Sucks - The Problem with Superman - Esquire:

"In 1938, only a few months after the release of issue number one of Superman, a professor named Halford Luccock bemoaned the advent of "disguised fascism" in The New York Times: "When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled 'made in Germany'; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course 'Americanism.'""

Throw the rascals out

Lawmakers surprised to learn about government surveillance, but many declined to attend briefings - Nation - The Boston Globe:

"Numerous lawmakers chose not to attend briefings offered by the House and Senate intelligence committees, even as they were repeatedly approving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Patriot Act, which granted the National Security Agency the authority to mine information from private citizens."

The last word

XKCD

When men were men and bikers wore coats and collars

Edwardian stunt bikers – in pictures | Environment | guardian.co.uk:

"In 1901, Fancy Cycling, an extraordinary book by Isabel Marks, was published, showing straight-faced paragons of Edwardian society pulling off some pretty daring (and peculiar) stunts.... "