What gets me (well, aside from the rather large aforementioned "holy shit" factor) is that these people felt perfectly comfortable sending emails where they basically conspired to buy state AGs, but still felt compelled to use a code name for Google.
Today, December 10, is Human Rights Day. It's the 66th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly's proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Today is also the 30th anniversary of the UN General Assembly's adoption of the final text of the Convention Against Torture.
Happy anniversary. What say we demand accountability for a change.
the architects of the torture program were not only wholly unqualified to design it...
I disagree. It's clear that James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen have all the necessary qualifications to design such a program, namely, a complete lack of morality and any respect for human life and dignity. The depravity of this is beyond words.
And yet, I bet they both think themselves to be good and decent men. Pillars of the community, even, who were just doing a tough job and defending their country.
...
I'm atheist, but if ever there was an argument for the existence of hell... But that too would be wrong.
I'll settle for prosecution. Of these two "doctors", and of everyone else who orchestrated and carried out these atrocities.
Is waterboarding torture? Is telling someone you will kill their mother torture? In the past it wasn't...
Read up on the history of waterboarding. Wikipedia has a short version, dating back to the 1500s, when it was referred to (among other names) as "water torture".
But I suppose, yes, maybe at some point in human history (prior to the 2000s, that is) waterboarding wasn't considered torture. So let's just throw all consideration of human rights and dignity out the window.
The headline reminds me of the defense of ubiquitous surveillance - it is only a problem if you are doing something wrong.
Yes, it's exactly like that. Except for the fact that one involves a government violation of fundamental human rights and the other sets limited conditions on companies that have been granted effective monopoly power over internet infrastructure.
If Roca Labs keeps on with this sort of behavior, they won't have to worry about negative product reviews topping their search results. Soon enough, the only results will be stories about their insane legal shenanigans.
The initial media frenzy caused by the Edward Snowden leaks has been replaced by recognition that the National Security Agency is among the most lawyered agencies in the government.
I don't think that's as reassuring as Mr. Crovitz means it to be.
Is there some sort of patent application standard for a representation of an active TV screen? Or do we just naturally default to people shooting people?
Bad enough that they'd ban articles about net neutrality and surveillance, but there would also be unintended consequences. For example, these days you'd have a hard time writing in depth about security without mentioning government surveillance/intrusion. So, they wouldn't be able to write about security either... on a tech blog. Then again, maybe that's not an unintended consequence.
The agency hired one former SS officer as a spy in the 1950s, for instance, even after concluding he was probably guilty of “minor war crimes.”
Um.... I kinda thought war crimes, by definition, were not minor. But perhaps it's my reliance on the actual legal definition -- rather than the CIA's creative interpretation -- that's confusing me.
On the post: Despite Racking Up Three Consecutive Unanimous Votes, FOIA Reform Bill Killed Off By Rep. John Boehner
Re:
Or maybe just a "well, shit" button. Although the weekly winners would then just be a compendium of bad news.
On the post: Leaked Emails Reveal MPAA Plans To Pay Elected Officials To Attack Google
Re:
On the post: Leaked Emails Reveal MPAA Plans To Pay Elected Officials To Attack Google
On the post: Dick Cheney Says CIA Torture Report Is 'Full Of Crap' -- Then Admits He Hasn't Read It
Re: Pot calling kettle black
On the post: Profiting Massively From Torture: Designers Of CIA Torture Program Raked In $81 Million (And Are Still Getting Money)
Re: Re: Re: Simple Question
Give ONE actual, documented (debunked lies from Michael Hayden and Co. don't count) real life example of the "ticking time bomb" scenario.
On the post: Profiting Massively From Torture: Designers Of CIA Torture Program Raked In $81 Million (And Are Still Getting Money)
December 10
Today, December 10, is Human Rights Day. It's the 66th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly's proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Today is also the 30th anniversary of the UN General Assembly's adoption of the final text of the Convention Against Torture.
Happy anniversary. What say we demand accountability for a change.
On the post: Profiting Massively From Torture: Designers Of CIA Torture Program Raked In $81 Million (And Are Still Getting Money)
I disagree. It's clear that James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen have all the necessary qualifications to design such a program, namely, a complete lack of morality and any respect for human life and dignity. The depravity of this is beyond words.
And yet, I bet they both think themselves to be good and decent men. Pillars of the community, even, who were just doing a tough job and defending their country.
...
I'm atheist, but if ever there was an argument for the existence of hell... But that too would be wrong.
I'll settle for prosecution. Of these two "doctors", and of everyone else who orchestrated and carried out these atrocities.
On the post: No, Tech Companies Can't Easily Create A 'ContentID' For Harassment, And It Would Be A Disaster If They Did
Re:
Just to be clear: Online is in fact a part of the real world.
On the post: CIA Program Tortured Dozens To Produce Nearly Nothing In The Way Of Useful Intelligence
Re:
Read up on the history of waterboarding. Wikipedia has a short version, dating back to the 1500s, when it was referred to (among other names) as "water torture".
But I suppose, yes, maybe at some point in human history (prior to the 2000s, that is) waterboarding wasn't considered torture. So let's just throw all consideration of human rights and dignity out the window.
On the post: Internet Provider Sonic's CEO: Title II Is Only A Regulatory Burden If You're Doing Something Bad
Re: Famous last words ...
Yes, it's exactly like that.
Except for the fact that one involves a government violation of fundamental human rights and the other sets limited conditions on companies that have been granted effective monopoly power over internet infrastructure.
On the post: Netflix CEO Puts An Expiration Date On Traditional Broadcast Television: 2030
So... how many more CSI spinoffs will that leave us?
On the post: That Huge Sony Hack May Have Been North Korea Retaliating Against James Franco And Seth Rogen
Thank you for that mental image... at once terrifying and deeply enlightening.
On the post: Roca Labs Sues Anonymous Commenters In Convoluted Plot To Get Negative Comments De-Indexed From Google
I suppose that's a strategy, of sorts.
On the post: If You Don't Mind A Little Perjury, You Can Convict Two People For The Same Crime
Re: Re:
Subornation of perjury, perhaps?
...
Would it be up to the prosecutor to determine whether to charge himself with a crime?
On the post: Ridiculously Misinformed Opinion Piece In WSJ Asks Apple And Google To Make Everyone Less Safe
I don't think that's as reassuring as Mr. Crovitz means it to be.
On the post: Ridiculously Misinformed Opinion Piece In WSJ Asks Apple And Google To Make Everyone Less Safe
WSJ standards.
On the post: Part Of CIA Torture Report May Finally Be Released Next Week, As More Details Leak
Executive Summary
█████████ because ███████████████ terrorism ███
███████████████████████justified ██████████████
█████████ 9/11 ███████████████ terrorism ██████
████████████████ bad guys █████████████████████
███ children!████████████████████████████and
██████████████████ OMG terrorism ██████████████
█████ John Yoo ████████████████████████████████
█a ctions██████████████ really bad guys ██████████
█████entirely███████████ █ ███████legal.
On the post: A Dystopian Future Of Ads That Won't Stop Until You Say 'McDonald's' Could Be Avoided With More Transparency
On the post: Verizon Launches Tech News Blog... That Bans Any Articles About Net Neutrality Or Government Surveillance
Interrelated
Then again, maybe that's not an unintended consequence.
On the post: During Cold War, CIA And FBI Hired Over 1,000 Nazis As Spies, Limited Investigations Of Those Nazis
"Minor war crimes"
Um.... I kinda thought war crimes, by definition, were not minor. But perhaps it's my reliance on the actual legal definition -- rather than the CIA's creative interpretation -- that's confusing me.
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