My father refused to do any classified research work as a major physics researcher in the 1950's thru the 1980's, yet he was involved with the CIA in extracting scientists from the Soviet Union during that time. Because he had no security clearance, he was able to travel to the Soviet Union in the 1950's during the height of the cold war, making the contacts needed to do this work. Unfortunately, the Agency has lost its way, and in the 1960's and 70's tried to get me to perform some truly horrendous actions because of my personal Latin American contacts. When I refused, it took some serious pressure from some very highly placed people to keep me out of some very real cross-hairs...
So, anyone who has extracted themselves from involvement with the CIA and/or NSA has my highest regard!
Anyway, an excellent recap of the week Mr. Eisler.
Unfortunately, the NSA's attitude that the normal rules of secure systems engineering does not apply to them (they are "better" than that) is what has hoist them by their own petard.
Mother Nature has had a couple of billion years to get us to our current state of evolution. Now, after 50-60 years since Watson and Crick (and others) discovered the double-helix structure of DNA we think we can do one better? Talk about hubris!
This is what happens when those who draft and pass laws don't consider this factor - the law of unintended consequences. They only consider that "this law is good because...", and forget to consider why "this law is bad bacause...".
From the LA Times:
No evidence has emerged in the Snowden leaks indicating that the NSA is intentionally spying on Americans or meddling in domestic politics. The agency's defenders argue that the disclosures actually prove how hard the NSA works to protect Americans' privacy.
Joshua Foust, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, pointed out that the NSA performed about 240 million database searches per year. Noting that it reported 2,776 violations of privacy rules in a recent one-year period, it had an error rate of "about 0.001156666667%."
"What the Church Committee revealed was that the intelligence community, which was supposed to be focused on foreign threats, was actually directly meddling in domestic issues," Foust said in an interview. "What these [recent] disclosures show is that while the NSA does violate the rules, it also makes a good-faith effort to try to minimize both the number of violations and their scope."
Faust/Foust - wasn't he in league with the Devil? :-)
I don't believe for a second that the NSA, DEA, or any other three letter government agency is any less corrupt than the FBI as shown in this news article: http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/08/23/60563.htm
"Of course, Schneier sees some upside to this in the long run -- which is that such blatantly ridiculous activity seems to only embolden others to push back on this trampling of our rights. Hopefully, that pushback works, because the alternative is horrifying to those who believe in a free and open society."
Those pushing for these egregious violations of our rights don't want us to stand up against them, since if we REALLY knew what they were up to, we'd have them hanging from the highest tree. These are the bankers, politicians, and big business tycoons. Unfortunately, the "security" services are only their lap dogs... and bark/bite on command.
I think we won't see super/hyper sonic travel until we perfect the personal teleporter. Unfortunately, the Concorde (as far as I recall) did not have adequate range to cross the Pacific, so it was limited to US/Europe travel. If it had the chops to go from the US to Japan/Taiwan/Australia/China in one jump, it would still be here today, especially given it currently takes over 18 hours to get across the big pond, and for business people, time is definitely $$.
Contact the cable provider and insist on a refund for the day + rebroadcast of the show... Even if they say NO, you realize that the cost to handle the call will cost them more than you paid for the inability to view your favorite time-waster...
I've just been re-watching "The Bourne Ultimatum". The similarities to what we have been observing with regard to the Snowden disclosures lately is just uncanny! If it weren't so scary, it would almost be funny! :rolleyes:
Our "esteemed" Congress is supposed to provide oversight of these TLA's (Three Letter Agencies), but they keep harping upon their oath to "protect the American people". What boneheads! Their oath of office has always been to "protect, and defend the Constitution", NOT to "protect the American people". From the US Senate web site, the Senate Oath of Office:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
Nothing there about "protect the people"...
So, these asshats are all (with a few exceptions) violating their oaths, and are thus liable for impeachment and recall from office.
I'm still waiting for the news that these asshats are getting thrown into durance vile, and their licenses to practice law have been suspended or revoked (preferably permanently).
On the post: NSA Apologist Says The NSA's Actions Are Fine Because 'Privacy Is Dead'
According to the Borg
On the post: Barry Eisler's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
You just never know...
So, anyone who has extracted themselves from involvement with the CIA and/or NSA has my highest regard!
Anyway, an excellent recap of the week Mr. Eisler.
On the post: NSA's Latest Euphemism For Security Lapses That Allowed Snowden Leaks: The Leaks Were 'Masked By His Job Duties'
Re: Re: Duh
On the post: DailyDirt: Dangerous Death-Ray Buildings
Rafael Vinoly
On the post: DailyDirt: Children Are The Future, Engineer Them Well, & Let Them Lead The Way
What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
On the post: Prenda's Mark Lutz Doesn't Show Up In Two Key Cases, Has A Reason But Won't Share Because People Might Discuss It
Re: No fly list
On the post: NSA Defends Encryption Backdoors By Promising It's Only Used To Spy On All Of Us
To quote
On the post: Author Of UK's Terrorism Act Says It Was Never Meant For Situations Like David Miranda
The law of unintended consequences...
On the post: UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg Defends Hard Drive Destruction, But Not Miranda Detention
Guess he never heard this one...
On the post: NSA Admits: Okay, Okay, There Have Been A Bunch Of Intentional Abuses, Including Spying On Love Interests
The name says it all...
No evidence has emerged in the Snowden leaks indicating that the NSA is intentionally spying on Americans or meddling in domestic politics. The agency's defenders argue that the disclosures actually prove how hard the NSA works to protect Americans' privacy.
Joshua Foust, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, pointed out that the NSA performed about 240 million database searches per year. Noting that it reported 2,776 violations of privacy rules in a recent one-year period, it had an error rate of "about 0.001156666667%."
"What the Church Committee revealed was that the intelligence community, which was supposed to be focused on foreign threats, was actually directly meddling in domestic issues," Foust said in an interview. "What these [recent] disclosures show is that while the NSA does violate the rules, it also makes a good-faith effort to try to minimize both the number of violations and their scope."
Faust/Foust - wasn't he in league with the Devil? :-)
On the post: NSA Admits: Okay, Okay, There Have Been A Bunch Of Intentional Abuses, Including Spying On Love Interests
Abuse under color of authority
On the post: Awesome Stuff: Multi-Tool Time
Ti2 Para-Biner
On the post: Creating Chilling Effects On Speech Is A Feature, Not A Bug, Of The Surveillance State
Ends and means
Those pushing for these egregious violations of our rights don't want us to stand up against them, since if we REALLY knew what they were up to, we'd have them hanging from the highest tree. These are the bankers, politicians, and big business tycoons. Unfortunately, the "security" services are only their lap dogs... and bark/bite on command.
On the post: DailyDirt: Supersonic Flights
Teleportation
On the post: Declassified FISA Court Opinion Shows NSA Lied Repeatedly To The Court As Well
A case of the 3 monkeys
See No.
Say No.
...
On the post: Dear Everyone: Stop Calling 911 If Your Cable Is Out When Breaking Bad Is On
Or...
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
Truth stranger than fiction
On the post: NSA Agents Told To Withhold Target Information From Those In Charge Of Oversight
Oversight? Not happening!
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
Nothing there about "protect the people"...
So, these asshats are all (with a few exceptions) violating their oaths, and are thus liable for impeachment and recall from office.
On the post: Comcast Confirms That Steele-Hansmeier Controlled IP Address Used To Seed Content
Still waiting...
On the post: The Getty Gets It: 'Open Content, An Idea Whose Time Has Come'
Kudos to Getty
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