It's Extraordinary, Extortionary Times Thing

Dear America,

In brief, let's get linked to a post @ The Heritage Foundation, from Andrew Kloster:, and skip to my Lew to the end:

"...the President has broad authority to manage government payments to avoid defaulting on federal obligations. He can choose which payments to make and in which order, and these choices will impact the effects on the average U.S. taxpayer and the economy."

Okeydokey? And thank you, Andrew, for breaking down the debt limit -- and the payment on the debt -- to an elementary level translation.  Don't be a low-information voter and ignore the easy read...


Oh, and according to Moody's, President Obama can stop threatening a credit rating doom and gloom scenario:

"At this time we don't see that (rating cut) as a consequence of these short-term events," said Steven Hess, Moody's lead U.S. sovereign credit analyst.

"The rating is based more on the long-term outlook for the debt, rather than what we think will be short-term events."

Indeed.  Matter of fact, I would be willing to bet Moody's would really like to see the United States gain some control over our debt, reform entitlements, stop allocating hard earned tax payer money to things we can no longer afford, and be smart with our money.  But I digress.


Now, moving on.

Currently, little old gthang is running a wee bit scared; sitting here, wondering, shaking in my jammies, what in the world is he going to do later on today (and quite possibly before I get to the end of this post)?

Speaking of the Speaker, of course --- who is set to meet up with the president, offering an interim pacifier on the 17 trillion dollar debt limit and the tantrum throwing 44th president of the United States, who's fiscal trajectory is set to double the National Debt over his two terms of "service" to the American people. [yeah, right, raising the debt ceiling won't raise the debt so much as a dime...oh okay]

Along came a spider...and I just want to crawl through the world wide web and shake him something fierce, screaming, don't do it, don't do it!

The National Debt should be under a national review and microscope of all 300 million of us, starting today.  Here's a flashback to 2011, CNS News offers an immediate reality check of then and now -- and all within a matter of a few years:

"As of Monday, Obama had been in office 986 days—or about 32 and a half months. During that time, the debt increased at an average pace of $4.27 billion per day. Were that rate to continue until Obama’s term ends on Jan. 20, 2013, the debt would then stand at about $16.86534 trillion—an increase of more than $6.2 trillion for Obama’s four years."

Remember now, this is the projection from October 5, 2011!

So read it again.

And where are we at...October 10, 2013...16.962066 and escalating.  Was CNS right on target, or what?    So, at 4.27 billion per day, continuing until the end of his second term, another 27 months later...we add another 3.2 trillion!...and arrive at 20 trillion dollars, or more,  in DEBT by the time he is done (and without even trying to calculate the bureaucratic nightmare that is Obamacare -- because it is incalculable!).

Speaking of which -- how much did we pay for this guaranteed IT motherlode of a contract to keep up and running -- first projected to be @ a cost of 93 million dollars?   Try a bite of this.  OR go to the digital trend re-do, here.  Either way you look at it, it's a lot of muckn' funny...
 
So, you know, health care is an industry that spans, affects, controls one-sixth of our national economy.   We should all be afraid.

[Oh holy crap -- he caved.]

BREAKING NEWS:  floating a six week debt limit extension with no strings attached.

Aw geeze louise, might as well commit myself to a rubber room right now.

"If Ands or Buts were candy and nuts, then every day would be Christmas" -- what?

So what do we call the kind of government that begins to control absolutely everything, and not very well, to boot?

Hold up.

What?

Oh, you need another example, besides our amassing of great debt with nothing good to show for it?

How about this news, coming to us via The Fiscal Times:  how about the humongous, privacy stealing, unconstitutional, earth shattering bureaucratic mess that is the NSA spy center being unable to operate without starting an electrical fire?


If only Lefties (and the righties falling into the same camp and trap as the Speaker of the House) would simply take off their rose colored glasses, surely with shades of grey showing just around the temples -- they might just see how upside down America is right about now.

• Mainstream media controlled by the boot to the neck of this administration.
• Monthly incomes of half the population, through federal entitlements... disability, welfare, food stamps, unemployment -- supported solely on the other half, the backs of the taxpayers.
• Executive Branch unilaterally making up law, changing law, and ignoring law according to it's need [see DOMA, DADT, Immigration Law, and the general usurping of Constitutional Authority].
• Executive Branch creating a police state, to inflict hurt and pain on the American people, controlling access to taxpayer funded properties, memorials, and benefits -- under the guise of a government shutdown [see current events]. 
• Executive Branch controlling our children's education, through Common Core [see new D of Education reforms].
• Executive Branch controlling the closure of our churches for military personnel [see this].
• Executive Branch controlling the use of the National Mall, when during a shutdown, it makes an exception for an amnesty march...[really?]  
• I refuse to continue.

Defining fascism, (Concise Encyclopedia)...

"Philosophy of government that stresses the primacy and glory of the state, unquestioning obedience to its leader, subordination of the individual will to the state's authority, and harsh suppression of dissent. Martial virtues are celebrated, while liberal and democratic values are disparaged. Fascism arose during the 1920s and '30s partly out of fear of the rising power of the working classes; it differed from contemporary communism (as practiced under Joseph Stalin) by its protection of business and landowning elites and its preservation of class systems. The leaders of the fascist governments of Italy (1922–43), Germany (1933–45), and Spain (1939–75)—Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Francisco Franco—were portrayed to their publics as embodiments of the strength and resolve necessary to rescue their nations from political and economic chaos. Japanese fascists (1936–45) fostered belief in the uniqueness of the Japanese spirit and taught subordination to the state and personal sacrifice. See also totalitarianism; neofascism"


Make no mistake,  what is happening in America is the will not of the people, but glory of the state.

Oh the irony when our president spoke a few days ago, saying, "we can't make extortion routine," directing his ire over the Republicans in the House, firmly planted on this nation's foundation advocating for smaller, limited government and insisting Obamacare be, at the very least, delayed, as a condition of increasing our nation's debt limit.

When all along, it has been the very conditions of this administration -- firmly planted in remaining steadfast, headstrong, and fully committed to designating the debt ceiling non-negotiable, that has brought America to her knees; and when further pressed -- resorts to cutting off services to Veterans, access to open air memorials, stopping the transfer of death benefits to military families, closing church doors, threatening non-payment of social security payments, threatening default on our debt when, in fact, the president is fully authorized to control who gets what and when!

extortion?

knock, knock,
who's there?
Extortion.
Extortion, who?
Extortion Dude-in-Chief, at your service -- specializing in extraordinary, extortionary means for extraordinary, extortionary ends [opening his cape and flashing his pearly whites, making all the stupid girls swoon]

[Yes, juvenile it is. Bite me.]

On that note -- there's enough here to gnaw on for awhile; not to mention, with the House being on fire as we speak, it's enough to spin me into a tizzy-fit.
And nobody needs to see that.

Make it a Good Day, G

Oh the extraordinary, extortionary, strateegury of creating new language on the fly...it's what I do.   thank you, thank you very much, be here all week, or at least until the end of the day.  come back again real soon, ya'll.

Oh what's this?  What's the first to go, according to Jack-o-lantern-Lew?  And love the boots, where'd you get 'em?

It's a Blog On the Run Thing

Dear America,

in all seriousness, summer needs to stop now...

What the world needs now,
besides love, sweet love, is a return to routine,
discipline,
order,
and maybe even posting a blog more often than once a week (speaking only for yours truly, that is).

Yes indeed, it's gonna be bliss...September; early to bed, early to rise, making this girl healthy, wealthy and wise, uh rah.

But make no mistake --  it will be a time for no more funny business, cross my heart and pinkie promise [that being said:  little old gthang here can only extend the promise for as long as the antics of the character-in-chief allows, see back of the blog for details].

It's gonna be all business, all the time, blahg, blahg, blahg.  'Cuz let's face it -- around here -- taking anything more than two or three days between blogs creates a situation.

What, with the mayor of the eighth largest city in America, Boob Filner, behaving badly and off for a two-week course correction/retreat/therapy session...surely to return to City Hall "all better"...yeah, okay...

We go from an America's Finest City absurdity to a full scale tragedy within hours of each other...

Beginning Sunday, and subsequently consuming the local news late into Monday night -- a statewide Amber Alert was issued after a miserable excuse of a human being has a mid-life crisis, abducting a family friend's 16 year old girl because he had a creepy crush  (and oh, having already killed her mom, and possibly her brother, and leaving them to burn in their home).  Over the last couple of days, the Amber Alert has been extended to multiple states...

While heartbreak reality double-check reminds me, this is just San Diego.

Multiply by fifty and things quickly spin out of control; there is just too much. 

I mean, how can a sharp, discriminating, beautiful mind make up her mind as to what truly remains the one most pertinent thing?  Naturally -- after merely a couple of days -- that one true thing that seems to define the day suddenly becomes this elusive, slippery sucker, one that proves to be of greater potential for becoming the one that got away, rather than the one.  

After all the hunting and gathering and searching and linking, everything simply becomes too overwhelming, depressing, debilitating even. 

But not for this president.

No -- when the days get rough, when the phony scandals get too out of hand, when leading by controversy, crisis, and conspiracy appears surprisingly easier than from behind, this president takes all seriousness off the table and visits The Tonight Show.

For a quick peek at the president yucking it up with Leno -- through the lens of Rush Limbaugh and then, almost immediately, translated and disseminated through the colorful media kaleidoscope we recognize as Breitbart -- go here.

The post more or less begins,

"Last night, to show you how the country is changing in a very serious way, last night was the first time since this massive upgraded terror warning was put into effect on Sunday, this was the first time the president of the United States spoke to the American people about this," Limbaugh reminded his audience. "The president of the United States went to a late-night comedy show for his first-ever statement about this increased terror threat.  A late-night comedy show."

Need we say more?

yes..

So about this "terror threat" -- a couple things:

When the president claims "the tide of war is receding" --
When he insists that al-Qaeda is "on the run"  --
do we need to wonder about that when he shuts down twenty one embassies and consulates for a month?

Guessing it works best like a best laid joke, right Jay?  Perhaps the timing should be taken into account.  After all --  after Snowden -- somehow validating the intrusive, privacy-robbing activity of the NSA might be the underlying motive and just the ticket to move public opionion into a more favorable perception.  While I can't think of any better place than The Tonight Show to discuss the day's terror threat turn of events, can you?

But just have to wonder some more,  given the whole entire world knows of America's wide net of surveillance:  just why would al-Qaeda hold a massive conference call outlining a credible attack when they know there is a pretty strong possibility suits with skinny ties and sunglasses are listening?

As the euronews piece points out, almost with glee:   "Some analysts have suggested that emphasizing the work of the National Security Agency in intercepting terrorist emails is a good way to deflect from the controversy over revelations about the US’s mass surveillance programme of citizens around the world." 

exactly.

But then, per the State Department, TUESDAY -- as in two days ago:   "Al Qaeda core has been weakened, decimated;"  while this is from the president, speaking in San Diego, at Camp Pendleton, just today, WEDNESDAY:  "The core of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on the way to defeat."

oh really?

so call me funny, but then why did we need to close our embassy doors?

And then there is this in the  not-so-funny category on the day -- something found on a recent page from American Thinker and pointed out to me from my papa just yesterday.  It's an analysis upon an analysis, actually.  And it begins innocently enough by shedding a little light on an opinion of Bill Krystal, of the Weekly Standard, who believes the position of the administration, closing 21 embassy/consulate doors for the month of August, is a sign of weakness.

Even as the article titled "World War III?", posted by Fay Voshell, might concur, it also squarely addresses the underpinnings of a more sinister evolution --  the deconstruction of a civil war or two with the generation of a third World War.  According to Voshell, it seems to all add up.

"But another chief player may already have signaled the U.S. that she is about to do a pre-emptive strike.  While the world is focused in the utterly useless Middle East "peace talks," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, knowing beforehand that the talks will be absolutely fruitless, could have already made the decision to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.  It may be that he has already sent word to President Obama, who, with the Benghazi fires still burning in the minds of the conservative media as well as in the hearts of some congressmen, is now committed to retreat.  The administration does not want a dozen Benghazi-type incidents to occur before the elections of 2014 and 2016.  It would be more politically expedient to close the embassies and warn Americans not to travel rather than to risk protecting either the diplomatic outposts or American citizens.

When embassies are closed, it is usually because war is imminent.

awesome.
[and you will just have to go back a few G steps to fully grasp that remark...]

Wondering, too, why just the month of August for these closures?   Wouldn't it make more sense to close all the way through the eleventh of September?  Just sayin'.   Haven't we been here before? 

If we are going to arbitrarily close up shop -- whether through weakness or strength -- what's another two weeks?   Given the track record, if Susan Rice is gonna make her first National Security debut, wouldn't she prefer to err on the side of caution as another 9/11 is just around the corner?   -- it's like,  we can all see it, we know it's there, why stop short as if obligated alongside the seasonal loss of the white shoes and flip flops?  

If you ask me -- me thinks the whole thing has been created out of thin skin. 

• The closures are to validate the decision making of a president best known for leading from behind; he's playing catch up. 
• The closures are overcompensating out of the abundance of Benghazi blunders --  mistakes that made this president and this administration look ridiculously vulnerable, remarkably unprepared, and totally misguided of the strength of al-Qaeda spinoff groups [the rumored gun smuggling ambitions need to be left for  another discussion] and tragically killed 4 Americans. 
• The closures bring credibility to the president's surveillance upon patriots and extremists alike  for the sake of "liberty and security" of course, ushering America into a new era and fully welcoming the police state to our gorgeous, sandy-beached shores...it's for our own good, you know, under the dome of deception and mass control.   [It's creepy.]
• The closures are more indicative of a little BO taking his toys and going home, either pouting or pissed.  It's just one more "phony", scandalous act of cowardice.

The tide of war is receding, eventually --

summer is retreating, most definitely --

either way, routine, discipline, order will rule the day and be restored.

Make it a Good Day, G

oh and by the way --  this isn't a blog "on the run;"  this girl is just getting warmed up all over again.
 

It's a Prelude to a Magnificent Mistake Thing

Dear America,

"unfettered access to our users' data are simply untrue"

and we can prove it, if this fine government of ours loosens the gag order on us.

...according to Google and facebook.

Quibbling over the definition of "direct access", the size and scope of the PRISM operation (of which we had no prior knowledge) --  in hopes of reconciling whatever trust remains in relationship with the public -- the companies are demanding from the Department of Justice an opportunity to explain.

Per Dominic Rushe, for The Guardian, just yesterday --

The letter and statement come days after Google and Facebook categorically denied knowingly participating in Prism. Internal NSA documents state that Prism involves "collection directly from the servers of these US service providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple".

In the wake of this breaking news, many have quickly rationalized the snooping and hoarding of all this data as just a new reality we have to live with in this new age of terrorism wreaking havoc around the planet.

It was yesterday -- when reviewing the current Pew Research available -- that the collection of information was amply supported by 2/3rds of the people sampled; but when it came to actually looking at our emails -- clear opposition rises to the majority position.

Something I heard this morning on one of San Diego's newest talk radio duo's -- Armstrong and Getty -- brought this comparison to the head of a pin, while making distinctions to the argument from Google and facebook at the same time.

As they put it -- in the irreverent fashion they are famous for -- what if, we had to document every phone call, every email, everywhere we went, who we talked to, what we purchased, every Skype, facebook post, blog post, text...every link, youtube video, search...in a generic log and were told to send it off to Washington every single waking day?

...Even if it were just for storage, for the record -- no content -- all for safe keeping...as nobody would really look at it;  it's just in case some time down the road we f&$^ up and become radicalized, acting out accordingly, as insurance -- just so that the records could be accessed under a "heightened standards" necessity should the time come.

Would you comply?  Would you be okay with this?

Perhaps we could save the billions of dollars that we really don't have just by turning over the records to whomever it concerns willingly, without going through all the FISA rigamarole.   Who needs a massive NSA data farm coming through our back door anyway, when we can simply walk out our front door and mail it the old-fashioned way to Pennsylvania Avenue?

John Stossel has a brilliant response to all of this, so let me take you there now -- Why worry about the NSA when Google already knows everything about me.


The truth is -- our privacy has been blown; in the real world, there is no balance between security and privacy, Mr. President.  It's non-existent.    How about telling it like it is -- by all appearances, we can take it.

Better yet -- where's the link to "unsubscribe?"  I know who I am; I am a Patriot, a Patriot with a capital P & G.  There is no need for alarm; where is my right to opt-out knowing full well where my loyalties lie as a proud, honorable, citizen of this great country?   My civil liberties are being directly violated; I should have every right to say, this isn't about me.

[now allow me call out Google and facebook in this very moment -- for you guys can't have it both ways; you can't claim you know nothing when you already know everything...while some of you guys (speaking of the Big Nine) even sell what you know; and about that "share everything" plan, you got that right, Verizon, but you may wanna think twice about advertising it...] 

In order for us to have that world back, we would have to forfeit the freedom and liberty of expression and incorporation and industry that is fully supported, augmented, enriched, and enlivened, by the tools of technology allowing us to have access to the whole entire world every single day.  Of course, it also opens us up to fraud, corruption, identity thieves, and the quick dissemination of sex, lies, and videotape, there is that.

If you really think about it -- what Snowden has actually given to us is a gift.

The opportunity is here and standing right in front of us to question everything, even if it's just for a moment, a nano-second given the full scope of time and place.

We have a chance to stop and question authority, the rule of law, who has authority, and who can use the rule of law to their benefit, not ours.

"But neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of the people whose manners are universally corrupt.  He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man."  Samuel Adams

We are losing control of our liberties, little by little.

Unexpectedly, and seemingly out of the blue -- thanks to Snowden -- we find ourselves in a heightened state of awareness to all the ways our liberty and freedom and responsible self-governing this nation has survived are being compromised -- individually, and collectively, violating our every move and virtue.  No longer in the dark of night, but in the light of day, the cornerstones of the greatest nation on earth are being usurped under the guise of accountable federal intervention, in keeping with a myriad of excuses and reasons to comply without question.   We are being invaded by the enemy, and it is within -- and what do we do, but turn the other cheek.

Whatever happens to America from this day forward, make no mistake -- it will be the people's fault.

Under the caption, "Prelude to Monarchy," from my favorite book, The 5000 Year Leap, by W. Cleon Skousen -- we gain further incite of America's future (and I've used this before, so forgive me):

"There is scarce a king in a hundred who would not, if he could, follow the example of Pharaoh -- get first all the people's money, then their lands, and then make them and their children servants forever.  It will be said that we do not propose to establish kings.  I know it.  But there is a natural inclination in mankind to kingly government.   It sometimes relieves them from aristocratic domination.  They had rather have one tyrant than 500.   It gives more the appearance of equality among citizens; and that they like.  I am apprehensive, therefore -- perhaps too apprehensive -- that the government of these states may in future times end in a monarchy.  But this catastrophe, I think, may be long delayed, if in our proposed system we do not sow the seeds of contention, faction, and tumult, by making our posts of honor places of profit.  If we do, I fear that, though we employ at first a number and not a single person, the number will in time be set aside; it will only nourish the fetus of a king (as the honorable gentleman from Virginia very aptly expressed it) and a king will the sooner be set over us."  Benjamin Franklin

It's like we have 500 kings and queens over us --  and we're okay with it.   The natural inclination to have someone watch over us is comfortable, secure, even if restraining and tempestuous -- even if in real life it looks an awful lot like one president, one Congress, and a band of judges in cahoots and taking full advantage of the kind of power it brings.

My flag is being whipped by the off-shore breeze; the skies are overcast with a little drizzle; but in this moment, me thinks it's a reflection of something deeper.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's This is Just Plain Wrong Thing

Dear America,

what is going on?

at almost two-to-one, the populace is siding with the intrusive, massive,  fishing expedition of the U.S. government surveillance program -- otherwise known as PRISM -- without cause?

[see PEW Research Center, here]

"Currently 62% say it is more important for the federal government to investigate possible terrorist threats, even if that intrudes on personal privacy. Just 34% say it is more important for the government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats."

That seems to be the answer that has the web getting all a-buzz, anyway.

Delving deeper into the nitty-gritty, the Pew tells us something different:


Question:  Should the government be able to monitor everyone's email to prevent possible terrorism?

Response:  45% say YES, 52% say NO, and 3% have no idea.

You know what I think?

I think that instead of making this grandiose announcement to the world declaring the U.S. government dirty rotten scoundrels when it comes to amassing deep background on every single one of us, Snowden should have just anonymously sent us all an email, boom. (You know, considering he said he had the full "authority" and ability to pull that off). 

yeah, yeah -- that might have got our attention right quick.  

pew ew....we would be like, who are you --  and what do mean all of my so-called secure information on the net is being currently, and severely, compromised?  What do mean every email, phone call, web link and troll, is being mined, collected, hoarded, by my own government, out in some remote, highly classified, secure location?  [yeah right...wanna see a picture of it?  Thank you, NPR.]

According to a post written by James Bamford @WIRED -- from over a year ago, by the way -- we get another view:

"Just off Beef Hollow Road, less than a mile from brethren headquarters, thousands of hard-hatted construction workers in sweat-soaked T-shirts are laying the groundwork for the newcomers’ own temple and archive, a massive complex so large that it necessitated expanding the town’s boundaries...

Rather than Bibles, prophets, and worshippers, this temple will be filled with servers, computer intelligence experts, and armed guards. And instead of listening for words flowing down from heaven, these newcomers will be secretly capturing, storing, and analyzing vast quantities of words and images hurtling through the world’s telecommunications networks. In the little town of Bluffdale, Big Love and Big Brother have become uneasy neighbors."

Indeed -  and five zettabytes and 1.5 million gallons of water needed a day, costing 20 million dollars a year just to maintain, costing taxpayers 1.2 BILLION dollars to build --  later...

I KNOW!   Has our head been in the sand, or what?
Snowden is really not giving us anything more than what all of us should have already figured out already! 

More from the WIRED post of March 2012:

But “this is more than just a data center,” says one senior intelligence official who until recently was involved with the program. The mammoth Bluffdale center will have another important and far more secret role that until now has gone unrevealed. It is also critical, he says, for breaking codes. And code-breaking is crucial, because much of the data that the center will handle—financial information, stock transactions, business deals, foreign military and diplomatic secrets, legal documents, confidential personal communications—will be heavily encrypted. According to another top official also involved with the program, the NSA made an enormous breakthrough several years ago in its ability to cryptanalyze, or break, unfathomably complex encryption systems employed by not only governments around the world but also many average computer users in the US. The upshot, according to this official: “Everybody’s a target; everybody with communication is a target.”

Oh, I get it --  it is more than just a data center. 

Everybody with communication is a target. 

While this so-called "senior intelligence official" continued to fort brag to enemies (foreign and domestic) "another important and far more secret role that UNTIL NOW has gone unrevealed...code-breaking...breakthrough...ability to break, unfathomably complex encryption systems employed by not only governments around the world but also many average computer users in the U.S" will be possible.

good to know.  can I get your name?


oh and  get this -- returning to the NPR article, it's still not enough!  The NSA headquarters at 9800 Savage Road, Fort George G. Meade, Md -- is expanding.  But not to worry, the upgrade will only amount to about two-thirds of the size of the facility in Utah.  well, that is a relief, isn't it.


What did Snowden actually do, but tell us something all of us -- including Congress -- including anyone who reads WIRED -- including anyone with their head up -- already knew?  What is making Snowden's circumstances of 'coming out'  any different? 

What is the problem with what he did?

If a majority of Americans -- as the Pew Research Center shows -- truly believes that government spying is no big deal, what is the issue?  IF upper level intelligence officers have already spilled the full capability and scope of this high-tech, super-duper, amassing of intelligence -- where anyone with communications is liable to be scooped up and stored, from within and abroad --  what's so secret?

Perhaps it was just the way he did it...Snowden...You know, embarrassing the President and all, carrying on so,  and making these stark, glaring contradictions of position from the President vs. Senator vs. campaigner-in-chief become so clear to all of us -- virtually overnight.   Nobody makes the president out to be a hypocrite, nobody.

I heard on the radio yesterday a great analogy:  Snowden is the modern day Paul Revere.  Is that just fabulous, or what?  Think about it.  What did Revere do, but warn the commonwealth that the British were comin', the British were comin'...And who were the British, but the current government!

But man, James Bamford -- you sir, deserve a Pulitzer or something.

What a magnificent piece detailing every living breathing detail of the NSA's prized golden calf, out there yonder, in the foothills of Bluffdale, just off Beef Hollow Road.  I am amazed, googly-eyed and awe struck of the amount of information, the way you presented it, the air of secrecy joined with nothing is sacred, let me tell you how it really is, intelligence briefing through and through...you covered it all...everything from the first kilowatt  to the last zettabyte.  Please people -- read it -- link into a second chance of life and limb before the government deems it too classified for your own good.  [warning: very detailed and very long and may take every ounce of human energy out of you]

Speaking of energy --  get this:

Electricity will come from the center’s own substation built by Rocky Mountain Power to satisfy the 65-megawatt power demand. Such a mammoth amount of energy comes with a mammoth price tag—about $40 million a year, according to one estimate.

And what about fueling the manpower? 
Oh that's been all figured out...even though something about the way it's being presented here gives me the creeps, but carry on:

"We were finding

that we had to make our own people

who understood data centers

from end to end

 that could manage it," 

according to Harvey Davis,

NSA director for installations and logistics.

 

He really said, "make our own people," Harvey did. yeah, I bet.  Does it have anything to do with cloning drones, or is that top secret, too?

 

More from the Salt Lake Tribune, May 30th:

 

"The NSA helped design the new program’s curriculum. Richard Brown, dean of the U. of U. College of Engineering, said undergraduate and master’s degree students studying computer science and electrical or mechanical engineering will take courses in the other two disciplines. That will ensure students know all facets of data-center management, from the computing to the importance of heating and cooling to the electrical requirements. The NSA needs "someone who is at least able to talk to people in all of these areas," Brown said.  [Just gushing with bureaucratic confidence, isn't he?    Can you hear me now -- Are you feeling more secure?  Are you feeling more secure?]

 

So, where are we now?

 

The NSA is creating behemoth Spy Centers, in  multiple NSA locations, indoctrinating our people to protect and to serve the NSA, costing the American taxpayers billions of dollars to build, maintain, and support the NSA, to keep us safe from terrorists -- foreign and domestic.

 

 

[I do believe China could see all of this from Google space without the help of Snowden; while WIRED efficiently, triumphantly,  highly accurately, seems to fill in any black holes remaining...just sayin']

 

Enter a new era following the enacting of The Patriot Act.

 

Wonder what will be their excuse when this doesn't change a thing?  Or worse, wonder what the response will be next?
 

Hard to fix "terrorism" when we can't even use the word, define it properly, call it what it really is.

 

Oh details, schmeetails -- right, Mr. President, who recently told a graduating class:

 

"Unfortunately, you've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems. Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that tyranny always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted."

 

 

Enter the full floor speech by the senator, Barack Obama -- transcript 2005,  transcript 2006 -- along with a current update from Breitbart, here:

 

"If someone wants to know why their own government has decided to go on a fishing expedition through every personal record or private document - through library books they've read and phone calls they've made - this legislation gives people no rights to appeal the need for such a search in a court of law. No judge will hear their plea, no jury will hear their case. This is just plain wrong."  Barack Obama, 2005

 

exactly.

but now let's build a mammoth spy center or two and make no apologies about it  --  let's go fishing everybody.

 

yeah, yeah, that sounds just peachy (for about half of us, anyway, according to Pew).

 

Make it a Good Day, G

 

It's a Turn Key Tyranny Thing

Dear America,

"As a precaution we have evacuated Toontown."

enter an excerpt from the Remarks by the President, May 23, 2013 @ the National Defense University:

The Justice Department’s investigation of national security leaks offers a recent example of the challenges involved in striking the right balance between our security and our open society.  As Commander-in-Chief, I believe we must keep information secret that protects our operations and our people in the field.  To do so, we must enforce consequences for those who break the law and breach their commitment to protect classified information.  But a free press is also essential for our democracy.  That’s who we are.  And I’m troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable.

Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs.  Our focus must be on those who break the law.  And that’s why I’ve called on Congress to pass a media shield law to guard against government overreach.  And I’ve raised these issues with the Attorney General, who shares my concerns.  So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and he’ll convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review.  And I’ve directed the Attorney General to report back to me by July 12th.

good to know, right?  (somebody mark the calendar)

Flash forward two weeks, taking us to a June 7th mad, mad world update from Reuters:

"President Barack Obama's administration is likely to open a criminal investigation into the leaking of highly classified documents that revealed the secret surveillance of Americans' telephone and email traffic, U.S. officials said on Friday."

enter another view --  something featured on Mother Jones of all places [normally a place little old G never wanders... at least not without my concealed weapon, my sense of humor] -- but surprisingly, what I discovered not only put my senses on high alert, but at ease, too; quickly putting my own bias' in check, if not to rest, my first inclination wanted to keep reading, dig in for the long haul, a cosmic trip to the moon and back.  A piece alerting us to some kind of alternative universe, a secret sweet spot set aside to protect civil servants in high places who "break the law" caught my eye. [Virgin Galactic's got nothing on this, but you wouldn't know that, now would you, Beiber...]

Following up with some deep background after a couple of Democratic Senators met up with some kind of secret garden wall, clearly unable to get a jump over on their own, David Corn writes,

For those who follow the secret and often complex world of high-tech government spying, this was an aha moment. The FISA court Wyden referred to oversees the surveillance programs run by the government, authorizing requests for various surveillance activities related to national security, and it does this behind a thick cloak of secrecy. Wyden's statements led to an obvious conclusion: He had seen a secret FISA court opinion that ruled that one surveillance program was unconstitutional and violated the spirit of the law. But, yet again, Wyden could not publicly identify this program.

Enter the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a public interest group focused on digital rights. It quickly filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Justice Department for any written opinion or order of the FISA court that held government surveillance was improper or unconstitutional. The Justice Department did not respond, and EFF was forced to file a lawsuit a month later...

On its website, EFF observes, "Granted, it's likely that some of the information contained within FISC opinions should be kept secret; but, when the government hides court opinions describing unconstitutional government action, America's national security is harmed: not by disclosure of our intelligence capabilities, but through the erosion of our commitment to the rule of law."

...There's no telling if the 86-page FISA court opinion EFF seeks is directly related to either of these two programs, but EFF's pursuit of this document shows just how difficult it is—perhaps impossible—for the public to pry from the government information about domestic surveillance gone wrong.

there's no telling...Corn duly notes.

and yet, so telling it is.

All of this just doesn't sit quite right with us, does it?

It's uncomfortable; it's like, what did they know, and when did they know it?  How much did they hear, what did they see, and at what point is domestic surveillance taking it a high speed link, a bridge, too far?

enter an excerpt from a recent hearing:

At a hearing of the Senate intelligence committee In March this year, Democratic senator Ron Wyden asked James Clapper, the director of national intelligence: "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?"

"No sir," replied Clapper

Liar, liar, pants on fire; how about you stand in front of your webcam so we all can see?

And again, from President  "Nobody is listening to your telephone calls" Obama:

But a free press is also essential for our democracy.  That’s who we are.  And I’m troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable. Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs.  Our focus must be on those who break the law.

[journalists, no --  well, some journalists anyway -- but whistleblowers, yes]

Our focus must be on those who break the law, he says.

And about that "government accountability" --

• it was precisely this government that let America down when this administration ignored concerns from the Ambassador of Libya, questioning their own security, needing support, for months leading up to the attack (the attack planned by Islamic Extremists for the anniversary of September 11th).   OR, was it simply the fluid and fully reckless situation on the ground -- having masterminded a trade of prisoners, or a gun deal gone bad, that turned Benghazi into the magnificent melee of bureaucrats up against jihadists in it's final hours?   The secret's safe with Ambassador Christopher Stevens, now in his final resting place.
• it was precisely this government that let America down when this administration ignored concerns by everyday Americans, having been prejudicially targeted by the IRS, as well as the EPA,  because of their beliefs, religion, the content of the prayers, conservative ideals, dating back the last four years.  The secret's safe in some government cubicle, somewhere high up and in a place where breaking the law meets excuses meets promotion for someone like Sarah Hall Ingram
• it was precisely this government that let America down when this administration ignored concerns -- deep throated Russian warnings, actually -- of the brothers Tsarnaev that led to the Boston Bombing....hello?  Can you hear me now?  Could it have been any more clear?   Record of Verizon text messages, phone calls to Chechnya, have got nothing on this; we were told in no uncertain terms,  "Этот парень беда"  (this guy is trouble)... [Oh and you can sue Bing translator if that is entirely wrong.]   The secret's safe with the secret agency first notified; the same agency to be monitored more closely from here to eternity from here on out, and you can file a motion on that.
• it was precisely this government that let Americans down when this administration ignored concerns, warning signs from here to Yemen, on the Army infiltrated Radicalized, Islamic terrorist/psychiatrist --  "Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people, told a judge on Tuesday that he believed he was defending the lives of the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan from American military personnel when he went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood here in November 2009."    The same freak who gets to serve on behalf of his own sorry defense now.  The secret's safe to say, this will be a courtroom circus -- justice will never be served for the American lives lost on the day domestic terrorism, cultivated within our very own Army, was allowed to go unchecked, unbalanced under the fallacy of policy favoring tolerance over common sense,  Political Correctness gone wrong.

Holding this government accountable will never happen as long as this administration leads it's own Department of Justice; make no mistake, this is America's Department of Justice, not Obama's.

But let's get back to mixed messages, leading from behind, and talking out of both sides of the mouth:

Today, Osama bin Laden is dead, and so are most of his top lieutenants.  There have been no large-scale attacks on the United States, and our homeland is more secure.  Fewer of our troops are in harm’s way, and over the next 19 months they will continue to come home.  Our alliances are strong, and so is our standing in the world.  In sum, we are safer because of our efforts.

This is what the president wants us to hear; but this is what the president wants us to fear, so much so, that it fully warrants the government to continue doing what it is doing -- for our own good, you know:

Now, make no mistake, our nation is still threatened by terrorists.  From Benghazi to Boston, we have been tragically reminded of that truth.  But we have to recognize that the threat has shifted and evolved from the one that came to our shores on 9/11.  With a decade of experience now to draw from, this is the moment to ask ourselves hard questions -- about the nature of today’s threats and how we should confront them...Today, a person can consume hateful propaganda, commit themselves to a violent agenda, and learn how to kill without leaving their home.  To address this threat, two years ago my administration did a comprehensive review and engaged with law enforcement....Thwarting homegrown plots presents particular challenges in part because of our proud commitment to civil liberties for all who call America home.  That’s why, in the years to come, we will have to keep working hard to strike the appropriate balance between our need for security and preserving those freedoms that make us who we are.  That means reviewing the authorities of law enforcement, so we can intercept new types of communication, but also build in privacy protections to prevent abuse.

"...but also build in privacy protections to prevent abuse?"  really?

oh okay.

enter news from the other side -- the 29 year old guy described as a mediocre student/computer geek turned whistleblower -- Edward Snowden:

A: "The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife's phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards.

"I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things … I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under." 

enter another random excerpt from the president's remarks @ the National Defense University just for kicks:

....And finally, we face a real threat from radicalized individuals here in the United States.  Whether it’s a shooter at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin, a plane flying into a building in Texas, or the extremists who killed 168 people at the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, America has confronted many forms of violent extremism in our history.  Deranged or alienated individuals -- often U.S. citizens or legal residents -- can do enormous damage, particularly when inspired by larger notions of violent jihad.  And that pull towards extremism appears to have led to the shooting at Fort Hood and the bombing of the Boston Marathon.

So our president starts off citing:

1) An ex-Army, white supremacist  from 2012  
2) followed by the white, Bush-Hater, neo-communist flying into a government IRS office, 2010
3) followed by the white supremacists blowing up children in Oklahoma, dating back to 1983.

Of the "many forms" this president chooses to highlight, notice how the white, neo-Nazi linked crazy dudes come first. "Deranged or alienated individuals -- often U.S. citizens or legal residents -- can do enormous damage, particularly when inspired by larger notions of violent jihad" and this is what it looks like.  Oh my -- might as well throw in your go-to derogatory mischaracterization of choice, "teabaggers," while you're at it....and maybe even Christian, too, right Mr. President?  

But there it is in black and white.  Fine examples laid out by the president.
Then, consciously choosing to soften his approach, the president is forced to include:

"And that pull towards extremism appears to have led to the shooting at Fort Hood and the bombing of the Boston Marathon." 

The prelude of an horrific act becomes "that pull" (as if by some kind of natural progression).  While he claims it to be "towards extremism"  but doesn't actually say so; while it "appears to have led to the shooting at Fort Hood and the bombing of the Boston Marathon," but we can't really be for certain.  

The intelligence just hasn't given us enough information to say for a fact --  or maybe it's just "workplace violence" gone seriously awry, or maybe it's simply the fault of the American  way of life altogether.  Oh you know how it is, the challenges are just far too great for the poor immigrant, and family, to overcome sometimes.   Oh what difference does it make, anyway --  he's decidedly tying up the uncomfortably loose ends as if in a bow and sending the package FedEx, if not also in code, back to the Arab world, with apologies.

The Remarks by the President are worthy of every American having a go at reading every single word.  It's like this great maze, or labyrinth, taking us to parts known and unknown.   As the administration grapples at keeping a fine balance between keeping the peace with the Muslim world, he sends America, under the guise of diplomacy, six feet under already. 

The president makes a game of it, meandering  through age-old topics of policy and expectations, like hopscotch, skipping across the words he needs to put in place to sound authentic, intelligent, and trustworthy, on one foot, but then allowing the other foot drop and settle upon a notion so obtuse it makes sense to  us, the masses, and we follow along mindlessly.

In sweeping tones of tolerance and appeasement, the president takes us into a new era -- one that audaciously, tyrannically, allows for Americans to be questioned, watched, tracked, with high-tech surveillance and all, totally unafraid of how it looks, or how it feels, for the true blue American citizen -- while real terrorism goes on everyday within our borders, through cover organizations yet to be unveiled to the American people, and even within his administration.  Or see here.  Or read here.  Or become totally aghast here.

All the while saying, oh, you can't see that, that's classified; it's on a need to know basis, and well, for you all,  you all don't need to know that (flashing that million dollar smile of his).  Oh, and you, over there, you can't do that,  or we will call you a co-conspirator (putting the boot to the neck).  Oh and nobody is listening to your phone calls (rolling his eyes back).  And the rule of law is the rule of law -- we'll be coming to get you Snowden (extending that presidential thumb from the podium).

enter somebody new and totally out of the blue --

According to Rep. Maxine Waters (CA) who told Roland Martin, as told by Rush Limbaugh -- way back in February she said this: 

"Well, you know, I don't know.  And I think some people are missing something here.  The president has put in place an organization that contains the kind of database that no one has ever seen before in life.  That's going to be very, very powerful.  That database will have information about everything on every individual in ways that it's never been done before."  Rushbo carries the transcript with full EIB Network, Excellence in Broadcasting, commentary, here.

Highly classified?  my sweet tush.  
To the full extent of PRISM's operation -- some might question; but needless to say, lots of people knew about this; lots of people -- even Maxine Waters -- knew the president was community organizing a database supplying "everything on every individual in ways that it's never been done before."

So, from my perspective --  even Waters leaked the massive government overreach (badump ba); and it was months ago.  But since nobody takes her very seriously, we let it slide right on by as if it was silly database dribble.

My latest goal -- to give those covering surveillance a field day every waking day;  what with imagining them watching every key stroke, and link, and comment, and opinion all through the day...it makes me just giddy.   oh we are gonna have some fun now, eh kids?


Make it a Good Day, G