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Category Archives: News
Boundless Informant
The NSA has had a really bad week. First, their super-secret domestic wiretapping program PRISM was outed by The Washington Post and The Guardian. Bricks were shat.
Now, The Guardian has blown the lid on another dubious NSA program; a global surveillance data tracking tool called Boundless Informant. It’s a tool for recording and analyzing where all of the NSA’s intelligence comes from – something the NSA told Congress it couldn’t do.
This is thirty-one flavors of fucked up. The conspiracy theorists were right.
PRISM
Last night, the Washington Post and The Guardian both blew the lid on a nasty NSA program called PRISM. It’s a collaboration between the NSA, FBI, and almost every tech company we use daily. PRISM has given these agencies access to our information for six years.
Gizmodo has a full breakdown on the incredibly invasive program.
TSA Drops Plan to Allow Small Knives On Airplanes
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has dropped its plan to let passengers carry small knives and other potential weapons on airplanes because of intense criticism and pressure from Congress. Yes, that’s right: Congress did something intelligent for once.
I really don’t understand why anyone at the TSA thought this would be a good idea.
Florida Police Use Taser to Subdue Escaped Llama
Police in Tallahassee, Florida used a Taser to bring down a six-foot llama named Scooter after he escaped his enclosure and ran around a local neighborhood for several hours.
Scooter, 7, is now back at home. Authorities are investigating why he was Tasered.
Man Has Pencil Removed From Head After 15 Years
A 24 year old Afghan man underwent successful surgery to remove a pencil from his skull – that had been embedded there for the last 15 years. The pencil became lodged in the back of the man’s throat following a childhood accident. It caused damage to his eye socket.
The man told doctors he suffered from impaired vision in his right eye, intense headaches, and a strange discharge from his right nostril. The pencil showed up on a CT scan.
FBI Under Fire For Operating Child Porn Forum
The FBI is catching a lot of heat over a story in the San Francisco Chronicle that claims the agency seized – and then continued to operate - a child porn forum for a full two weeks in a bid to identify (and hopefully capture) as many as 5,000 pedophiles across the globe.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out, to say the very least.
I-5 Bridge Collapses In Washington State
Two sections of a bridge across the Skagit River in northern Washington State fell into the river – taking two cars with them – after a trucker’s carriage bumped into a steel girder.
No one was killed but a.) this shuts down I-5 north just outside of Mt. Vernon and b.) this was right in our back yard. (Blue and I both live in Washington.)
Bill Gates Reclaims Title of World’s Richest Person
Microsoft founder Bill Gates beat out investment tycoon Carlos Slim by just $550 million to make him the world’s richest person for the first time in four years.
Gates, 57, is believed to have roughly $72.7 billion. That’s up 16% from last year.
Armless Man Vows to Fight Ticket For Not Wearing Seat Belt
A 55 year old double amputee in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan told local media that he plans to fight a $175 ticket he received for not wearing his seat belt.
The interesting thing about this story is that Steven Simonar, who lost both of his arms after a freak boating accident 28 years ago, wasn’t a passenger. He was the driver.
You really have to read the report by The Leader-Post. I can’t do it justice.
Federal Reserve Introduces New $100 Bill
The United States Federal Reserve unveiled the design for the new $100 bill this week and launched a website to show the public how sophisticated the new security features are.
