They're Coming For You Barbara!

Draw Your Own Conclusions:

NSA Breaks into Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Hotmail - pretty much all your base are belong to us.

Google's Secret Floating Data Centers? - I'm still baffled I didn't land a job with a company that specializes in GIS, search, and secret floating fortresses of doom. I mean that's my resume in a nutshell.

Although I have to say, I'm glad I have a relatively stress-free, applied environmental sciences career. I keep thinking there's something we got that all those big shots and fancy pants will never have: enough.

What does it matter if they log everything we do? "And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." And it's the signal grounding problem, ad infintum. These NSA guys obviously didn't study Nietzsche...

Everyone should have known this was happening. The unbridled extent of it is somewhat appalling but the basic concept of the infiltration is not surprising given the history of other programs such as the FBI's legendary CARNIVORE project. No, the Snowden leaks are only interesting for the effect they caused but not for their content. Turn back to what old chappy Donald Rumsfield said,

"There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don't know.'"

The Snowden leaks and the fact that megacorporations like Verizon, Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft are conspiring with world governments are "known unknowns". What we should be worried about are the "unknown unknowns". THAT'S what keeps me up at night....

Buenos Tardes Amigo

Buenas tardes amigo
Hola, my good friend
Cinco de Mayo's on Tuesday
And I hoped we'd see each other again

You killed my brother last winter
You shot him three times in the back
In the night I still hear mama weeping
Oh mama, still dresses in black

I looked at every fiesta
For you I wanted to greet
Maybe I'd sell you a chicken
With poison interlaced with the meat

You... you look like my brother
Mama loved him the best
He was head honcho with the ladies
Mama always said he was blessed

The village all gathered around him
They couldn't believe what they saw
I said it was you that had killed him
And that I'd find you and upstand the law

The people of the village believed me
Mama... she wanted revenge
I told her I'd see that she was honored
I'd find you and put you to death

So now... now that I've found you
On this such a joyous day
I tell you it was me who killed him
But the truth I'll nevver have to say

Buenas tardes amigo
Hola, my good friend
Cinco de Mayo's on Tuesday
And I hoped we'd see each other again

Bush lied, thousands died

Bush shoe incident

“This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!”

The situation for this story is now turning from farcical to deadly jihad. I do not condone our agitation to the "free world" by making an example of this journalist for doing something as silly and jokingly as throwing shoes at the worst US President of all time. I am astonished that Bush has that kind of reflexes and this makes for one of the most humorous news items of all time. But they have to let that journalist go immediately with a fine or whatever. If they try to make some kind of example of him then they are inviting idiotic sentiments and shall learn to regret it as billions of people will be "at arms" against such maniacal tyranny.

Quest for the Magical Leaf