Speculation Rises About Google's Hush-Hush Barge Structures

The mystery barge
(Image: news.cnet.com)

What do the coast of Maine and San Francisco Bay have in common? Barges that may or may not belong to Google.

The story has unfolded over many months. As it happens, the boats have a corporate identity more in tune with intelligence operations than freight transportation. The listed owners are an outfit called By and Large, LLC. Who are the LLC's corporate officers? That's confidential.

The barges house four-story structures that have provoked some speculation regarding their purpose. Records suggest, without factually demonstrating, that Google has some involvement with the barges and By and Large, LLC.  A recent edition of siliconvalley.com reported this story, originally noted in CNET, and some of the guesswork about Google's intentions.

One hypothesis contends that the barges support server farms. I have no idea how close this assertion is an accurate one. However, Google would be very interested in establishing server farms in international waters. Those locations would form a considerable push back against NSA pressure to conform with surveillance "requests." I wonder if they could also become, literally speaking, "tax islands" free from any government entity's revenue demands.

Tucson School Board Removes Ban On Latino Studies Books

One could make the argument that Arizona is Ground Zero in the American immigration saga. An ugly episode in this drama is reactionary attempts to muffle the Grand Canyon State's Latinos' political and social voices. To that end, the Tucson Unified School District had banned a number of books offered in "ethnic studies" programs. The resulting uproar principally served to tarnish the district's reputation.

Recently, the district voted to rescind the censorship decision. According to Los Angeles Times article, seven titles were reinstated. Meanwhile, the district has claimed the books were never really banned. They were available in school libraries or "stored in district warehouses." How storage equalled access was not discussed.

Chicago University's $1 Million Investment in Chancellor's House: A Cautionary Tale

A dreadful trend of the new millenium is how few middle-class American families' kids can afford to attend college. University tuition and fees march ever upward, well in defiance of inflation. Academia typically sings the blues over funding, and notes how its charges for services are necessary and even prudent.

Fewer people are accepting the U's well-rehearsed, arrogant financial song-and-dance. Stories such as one the Chicago Tribune reported today are among the reasons why.

University of Illinois-Chicago chancellor Paula Allen-Meares
(Image: University of Illinois-Chicago)

The article notes how the University of Illinois-Chicago spent over one million dollars to refurbish a house for its chancellor. The deal was that the school's boss, Paula Allen-Meares, would hold frequent receptions and other activities at her home. Her scorecard for the past four years shows a grand sum of eleven events.

When the Trib journalists raised pointed questions about this curious arrangement, the university tried its best to deflect the issue, misrepresent activities associated with the house, and wish the whole episode away. Chancellor Allen-Meares did not deign to answer any reporters' inquiries, even though she works for a public institution.

Universities generally don't like this sort of spotlight. They're uncomfortable explaining why their chosen few enjoy privileged lives while students and their families get financially squeezed. Chancellor Allen-Meares earns over $400,000 annually. That's over and above the free housing UIC maintains for her, while the school pays annual maintenance charges of approximately $100,000 on it. Allen-Meares is on the last legs of her five-year contract. If the university's board gives her a clean bill of employment health, she stands to earn a $375,000 bonus. The UIC chancellor does not get a cash housing allowance. However, the chancellors of the other two University of Illinois campuses do. Those yearly stipends range from $24,000 to around $30,000. Considering these are very highly compensated employees, the allowance is akin to throwing money at the chancellors. Why do they need a housing allowance at all?

Ah, but in the corrupt world of senior academic administration, these payoffs are part of the game. The next time someone tells you about the financial struggles of Alma Mater, tell them what the U really needs is financial transparency, responsible executives, and a commitment to end corruption. Then ask them how quickly the U will act on those initiatives. And, yes, "never" is an answer.

SONY Sues United Airlines Over Inflight Music, Video

Image: cntraveler.com

Media giant SONY is making an unfriendly play into the friendly skies of United Airlines. According to a story in the Chicago Tribune, the Japanese-owned firm has launched a lawsuit against United for violating copyright of selected content. The litigation specifically alleges that United has failed to compensate SONY for inflight playing of music and video for which the media company is the rights holder.

It's hard to believe SONY could have been unaware of United's activities. Surely SONY employees have booked United flights, during which they listened to or watched their company's products. The lawsuit seems like a legal rendition of Captain Reynaud discovering gambling at Rick's Cafe Americain.

Shocking -- just shocking -- wouldn't you say?

NASA "Misunderstood" Congressional Ban on Visiting Chinese Scientists

Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA)
(Image: radio.foxnews.com)

NASA recently found itself in the middle of a mindless congressional diktat involving Chinese scientists. According to a story in the BBC, the issue was not the scholars as much as a regulation initiated by a zealous, right-wing Virginia representative who controls NASA's budget. The GOP lawmaker, Frank Wolf, crafted legislation that forbids Chinese nationals from visiting any NASA facility. Supposedly, NASA "misunderstood" the intent of Rep. Wolf's directive; he asserted it did not include scientific gatherings, such as an upcoming conference on the Kepler Space Telescope at NASA's Ames Research Center.

Bullshit. Wolf provided his "interpretation" only after the Chinese raised official hell over the incident and prestigious American scientists prepared to boycott the high-profile event in protest over its evident discrimination. Meanwhile, Wolf still calls the People's Republic of China a communist country. He's not entirely wrong on that score, in fairness. However, there are other ways to maintain American security besides embarrassing political stunts that principally serve to diminish our legitimate national pride in our political values.

Wall Street Firms Concoct Bond Backed By Home Rental Income

Like a moth to a flame, Wall Street has returned to creating dodgy real estate securities. In this case, Blackstone and Deutsche Bank are about to market a bond backed by home rental income. However, as the Financial Times reported, the two firms are not packaging Manhattan residential building income. Rather, they are using rental income from foreclosed homes Blackstone and others purchased for pennies on the dollar and transformed into "affordable" housing, often marketed to those who lost homes via the rancid, corrupt foreclosure process.

Blackstone has been a major player in the foreclosure/rental market. The general sense was that Blackstone would rent the homes and sell them for enormous profit when real estate "recovered." In the meantime, Blackstone and Deutsche Bank can leverage their property ownership into funky securities. One catch in the process is the need for a credit agency to provide appropriate blessing to the bonds. Apparently, and unsurprisingly, one such firm has been found.

Let's see if federal regulatory agencies, which have essentially played matador to Wall Street's bulls, ask questions about this new scheme.

Report: Sleep Cleans the Brain

An article which will appear in the journal Science cites recent research findings that suggest sleep enables the brain to clear toxins from its neural connections. A synopsis and third-party commentary on the story appeared in today's online editions of the BBC.

I would write more about this, but I'll wait until my brain's plumbing clears up. In other words, I'm going to sleep: tomorrow is another day.

FISA Court's Chief Judge: I'm Not a Rubber Stamp

The United States' FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) institution is an American judicial anomaly. Its principal role is to evaluate and rule on federal government requests to snoop on "suspected" terrorists and other clear and present dangers to this country.  The case, the evidence, and the rulings are secret. Only Department of Justice attorneys may present a case; no other attorney or representative is permitted. Judging from recent revelations about the American surveillance state, it seemed FISA played the matador to the Justice Department's bull.

Not so, claimed FISA's presiding judge Reggie B. Walton, as The Washington Post reported in today's online edition. In a letter Walton sent to Senate Judiciary Committee members Patrick Leahy (D) and Charles Grassley (R), he asserted FISA sent nearly one in four requests back to the Justice Department for "substantive changes." (For more on Walton's judicial background, you should explore his official biography, posted on the US District Court for the District of Columbia's website.)

FISA judge Reggie B. Walton

That left three of four either requiring a lower degree of modification or no change at all. That means the DOJ legal team is batting .750 on its requests to spy on alleged political bad actors. Included in that .750 average is a FISA ruling approving the sweeping collection of Americans' phone records. That was the haystack, as the NSA characterized the massive data grab, security teams needed to create in order to find a terrorist needle. If that notion seemed like a good idea to a FISA judge, one wonders about the content or intent of the rejected DOJ motions.

Meanwhile, a declassified 2009 ruling sheds some light on the surveillance state's assault on privacy. As the Post story noted:

...Walton scolded the government for repeated violations of court orders and falsely assuring the court it was following required steps to protect Americans' privacy.

General Keith Alexander

Privacy procedures "have been so frequently and systematically violated that it can be fairly said that this critical element of the overall [phone records] regime has never fully functioned effectively," Walton wrote. He added that the explanation of the misunderstanding of the court's order by Gen. Keith Alexander, NSA's director, "strains credulity."

Report: It's Raining Diamonds on Saturn

(Image: news.nationalgeographic.com)

The diamond occupies a central place in the diadem of gemological history. The recognition of the stones' value began in India over 3,000 years ago. Today, these precious jewels continue to maintain a sort of hypnotic spell for possessors as well as for those who covet their neighbors' goods.

Part of diamonds' allure is its scarcity. That's not the case elsewhere in the solar system. According to an unpublished paper recently presented by a University of Wisconsin (UW) scientist, it's literally raining diamonds on Saturn and Jupiter. UW scientist Dr. Kevin Baines co-wrote the paper with private sector expert Mona Delitsky; the BBC carried the story of their findings.

A diamond rainstorm sounds implausible, and some scientists are skeptical about the paper's assertions. Baines and Delitsky counter by noting Saturn's and Jupiter's atmospheric conditions and likely chemical composition offers ideal conditions for diamond formation. However, the stones don't survive; they eventually plunge into the planets' unimaginably hot inner layers, possibly forming a pool of liquid carbon.

I suppose that's a fitting end to a diamond rainstorm: attractive to imagine, but impossible to possess.

NSA Chief Rips Media's Coverage of Surveillance Flaps

General Keith Alexander
(Image: abcnews.go.com)

NSA boss General Keith Alexander didn't get the memo about the federal government's shutdown. He's still on duty; I salute him for that action (no pun intended). America's Chief Surveillance Officer (CSO) did find time today to deliver a public speech to the Telecommunications Industry Association about the media's coverage of recent revelations about the NSA's surveillance efforts. The story appeared in today's online editions of The Washington Post.

His address to the collected telecom insiders repeated the NSA mantra about "damage" to the nation's security and how the media mismanaged reporting the spy agency's virtuous labors on behalf of freedom everywhere. Alexander, who also runs the military's Cyber Command, said somehow the nation would manage despite Edward Snowden's information about the extent of NSA snooping on ordinary American citizens. He noted l'affaire Snowden caused an erosion of trust, notably in the very industries the NSA has assiduously courted and, at times, strong armed. That's a fair point.

NYPD Surveillance Camera

However, Alexander did not allude to the increasing mistrust some Americans have toward allegedly "benign" surveillance. Then again, America's CSO doesn't have a profound desire for informed citizens to ponder what the NSA has wrought. He must have the insiders to buy into the "needs" of the surveillance state. He certainly does not want the extent of America's military-technology complex openly considered by a thoughtful electorate. Those industrial-governmental relationships were the heart of Snowden's revelations. I doubt General Alexander will be making any speeches on that topic in the near future.

NY Attorney General Probes Sale of Rights to "World Trade Center" Name for Ten Dollars

Image: crainsnewyork.com

For those of you who don't live in the metropolitan New York area, let me provide some brief backstory on a curious bi-state governmental creature known as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA). Just about everyone in the region calls the entity the "Port Authority." It runs the airports, bus terminals,  Hudson River crossings, PATH train system, and docks in New York, Newark, and Elizabeth. The PA makes more money than God; its bond ratings are characteristically the highest available in the business.

The Port Authority is also a profoundly political entity, with a board typically consisting of regional, deep pocketed power brokers. There are few policy accidents among these well-connected board members, the PA's well-paid, entrenched bureaucracy, and the political parties that thrive on Port Authority business.

Guy Tozzoli
(Image: businesswire.com)

According to an Associated Press story picked up by Fox News, the PA had something of a fire sale in 1986 on the right to the name "World Trade Center." (The original article on this subject appeared some months ago in the northern New Jersey newspaper The Record.) The Port Authority sold the name for ten American dollars. (The story did not state whether the transaction was all cash, check, or billed to the buyer on 30-day payment terms.)

The buyer, though, wasn't just anyone off the street. That would, to understate the case, not be the Port Authority way. The purchaser was a nonprofit called "The World Trade Centers Organization (WCTA)."  The nonprofit's capo was one Guy Tozzoli, who happened to be a Port Authority executive who was leaving the PA. Of course, the deal was a license to print money. Just how much is now the subject of a nationwide investigation by New York State's attorney general.

One intriguing aspect of l'affaire Tozzoli is its timing. Mr. Tozzoli died in February, 2013.

New US $100 Bill to Hit the Streets

New US $100 Bill
(Image: money.cnn.com)

The Federal Reserve must have a mordant sense of humor. In the midst of a partial shutdown of the US government bureaucracy, Ben Bernanke's team has released the new American one hundred dollar bill. There are many changes to thwart counterfeiters, according to today's BBC report on the $100 rollout, including an unsightly blue ribbon woven into the legal tender.

However, one item has not changed: the C-note is still worth one hundred US dollars. What has changed is the unit's purchasing power. Let's just say a hundred bucks ain't worth what it used to be.

Italian Court Convicts Seismologists for Inaccurate Earthquake Prediction

Enzo Boschi
(Image: laquila.blog.rainews24.it)

Four years ago, an earthquake scrambled L'Aquila, an Italian mountain city possessing some historic pedigree. Over 300 people died as a result of the quake. Subsequent events included Italian prosecutors bringing manslaughter charges against a half-dozen seismologists and a government official. Amazingly, a year ago a court found the Earthquake Seven guilty.

The complicated, slow-moving creature known as the Italian judicial system has given the convicted scientists time to rouse international awareness of their plight. A recent Los Angeles Times story noted how one of the seismologists, Enzo Boschi, wrote a Science piece stating his case. One quote from the article articulates the scientist's position:

I have been sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment for failing to give adequate advance warning to the population of L'Aquila, a city in the Abruzzo region of Italy, about the risk of the 6 April 2009 earthquake that lead to 309 deaths. I have been found guilty despite the illogical charges and accusations that set dangerous precedents for the future of the scientific process.

Apparently, prosecutors did not grasp that seismologists cannot predict earthquakes. Can they suggest where earthquakes are more likely to occur than other areas? Yes. That's a far cry from an "X marks the spot" prediction expectation. Yet, the Italian, Inquisition-style prosecution seems far more in tune with rulings from religiously oriented kangaroo courts than enlightened jurists. Does this Italian court decision sound like a glorious moment in the "rule of law"?