It's much, much harder to demonize more than one leaker.
If it turns out there's more than one leaker, the NSA defenders might have to abandon the "egotistical loner" personal attacks on Snowden.
Then again, they'd probably declare it to be proof of a vast conspiracy of enemy agents among us and justification for more NSA spying on everyone. /pessimism
The price of abandoning cynicism (even for a moment) is allowing the possibility of bitter disappointment. And FSM knows we've been disappointed before.
I'll risk it.
I gave, and I'm going to allow myself to be happy that we reached $5 million. Good job, folks. Now on to the rest of the work.
and... upon further reflection, I've changed my mind (or at least would like to clarify) about my own point #1. If he's posting from a work computer and/or on work time, outing him might be OK iff he's a public official. If he were a private citizen working for a private employer, then misuse of his work computer or work time should be between him and the employer.
1. Was he posting from a work computer or during his expected working hours? If so, then I'm sort of OK with his being outed. (Say I, quasi-anonymously, from my work computer, during working hours... oops. But in my defense, I'm really bored. And I'm also not an elected official.)
2. Could the fact that someone in his position is making these statements make it a matter of public interest? Should this be viewed a leak of information concerning a public official that the public needs to know? I'm inclined to say yes.
The NY Times article and the accompanying documents are extraordinary. We need more of this kind of reporting.
It should come as no surprise that a Blackwater exec would believe he can get away with murder, given that Blackwater employees have gotten away with murder on numerous occasions. But the fact that said exec would come right out and directly threaten a State Department investigator (and in front of a witness) underscores how utterly unaccountable this company is to any law or external authority. Blackwater has become a corporate pseudo-state, whose security is guaranteed by its own very well-armed military and by the constant flow of dollars guaranteed by its cronies in the U.S. government.
Over 50 years ago, President Eisenhower warned:
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.
I fear we've gone beyond even his most dire predictions.
So, the government wants you to shop, because taxes fund operations that target people who tell citizens not to shop.
I'd argue that it's not about the taxes. The government wants us to shop, because corporate money from shoppers funds the re-election campaigns of the representatives who vote for the money to flow to the corporations who build the systems used in the operations that target the people who tell the citizens not to shop.
He'd be giving this pitch to local government agencies. Then they could apply for Homeland Security grants to pay his company to teach them how to protect themselves from cyberterrorists... And all of us could continue to pay his bills.
The Government believes that, even when privacy violations happen, it is not an "active intrusion" because the analyst reading or listening to an individual's communication will inevitably forget about it anyway.
*boggle* It takes a lot these days for a statement by a spying agency to surprise me. But this argument.... this is new, right?
By the same logic, nothing is an "active intrusion", because even an analyst with perfect memory will eventually die, right? And the earth is likely going to be absorbed by the sun in 7.5 billion years, so none of it matters anyway. Right?
Someone is just homophobic and needed an excuse to squash this thing.
It's possible, but given The Evergreen State College's reputation (as one of the most LGBT-friendly colleges), I'd say it's more likely fear of Disney's lawyers.
Humanity does not deserve anything for its massive group think and sheeple habits. This the reason Liberty must be a value advanced before all others and damn sure before equality.
Ah, so we're going for rage-filled misanthropy as the path to liberty. I can't recall too many examples of that working in the past, but maybe that's because I'm just one of the little people.
I'll go with +1 for humanity and +1 for Elon. (I think we have enough surplus +'s to use two for this.)
On the post: Want In-Depth Coverage Of Net Neutrality? Crowdfund Our Reporting - And Double Your Impact
Re:
On the post: Does The XKeyscore Source Code Leak Point To Another NSA Leaker?
Re:
If it turns out there's more than one leaker, the NSA defenders might have to abandon the "egotistical loner" personal attacks on Snowden.
Then again, they'd probably declare it to be proof of a vast conspiracy of enemy agents among us and justification for more NSA spying on everyone. /pessimism
On the post: NSA Insisted Snowden Didn't Have Access To Actual Surveillance Data: But He Did... And It Shows How Much Non-Terrorist Content NSA Collects
quick wording question
Should "attackers" be "defenders" in that sentence? (Or maybe "attack dogs"?)
On the post: Awesome Stuff: One Last Chance To Join With Thousands Of Others To Help Limit The Influence Of Money In Politics
Nothing ventured...
I'll risk it.
I gave, and I'm going to allow myself to be happy that we reached $5 million. Good job, folks. Now on to the rest of the work.
On the post: Local Blog Outs Local Politician's Crazy But Anonymous Comments. So...Is That Okay?
Re: Two questions
On the post: Local Blog Outs Local Politician's Crazy But Anonymous Comments. So...Is That Okay?
Two questions
1. Was he posting from a work computer or during his expected working hours? If so, then I'm sort of OK with his being outed. (Say I, quasi-anonymously, from my work computer, during working hours... oops. But in my defense, I'm really bored. And I'm also not an elected official.)
2. Could the fact that someone in his position is making these statements make it a matter of public interest? Should this be viewed a leak of information concerning a public official that the public needs to know? I'm inclined to say yes.
On the post: NSA's XKeyscore Source Code Leaked! Shows Tor Users Classified As 'Extremists'
At this point...
On the post: Author To Chobani: I Own The Word 'How'
...
but I'd better check first. It might be trademarked.
On the post: Privacy And Civil Liberties Board Mostly Unconcerned About PRISM Or Backbone Tapping By NSA
Interesting cover page
(On second thought, maybe they're just highlighting the attempts of the program to overwrite the Constitution.)
On the post: US Embassy Blamed State Dept Investigator For Upsetting Its Relationship With Blackwater After Investigator Complained About Death Threat
It should come as no surprise that a Blackwater exec would believe he can get away with murder, given that Blackwater employees have gotten away with murder on numerous occasions. But the fact that said exec would come right out and directly threaten a State Department investigator (and in front of a witness) underscores how utterly unaccountable this company is to any law or external authority. Blackwater has become a corporate pseudo-state, whose security is guaranteed by its own very well-armed military and by the constant flow of dollars guaranteed by its cronies in the U.S. government.
Over 50 years ago, President Eisenhower warned:
I fear we've gone beyond even his most dire predictions.
On the post: Massachusetts SWAT Teams Claim They're Private Corporations To Get Out Of Transparency Requests
Not to make this more depressing, but...
Hasn't this already taken root in the form of the private prison industry?
On the post: Hypocritical Authors Guild Photocopies Author's Book While Claiming That Scanning Works Is Infringement
Re: Just Computers
Would that make people with good recall repeat infringers?
On the post: Consume, Conform, Obey: What Homeland Security's Targeting Of Anti-Consumerist Activities Says About The Government's Desires
Or...
I'd argue that it's not about the taxes. The government wants us to shop, because corporate money from shoppers funds the re-election campaigns of the representatives who vote for the money to flow to the corporations who build the systems used in the operations that target the people who tell the citizens not to shop.
(I'm still paranoid, but differently so.)
On the post: Keith Alexander Wants $1 Million Per Month For 'Cybersecurity' Consulting
If Keith Alexander was really smart...
On the post: Secret UK Policy On Surveillance Of All 'External' Communications Revealed By Counter Terrorism Boss
*boggle* It takes a lot these days for a statement by a spying agency to surprise me. But this argument.... this is new, right?
By the same logic, nothing is an "active intrusion", because even an analyst with perfect memory will eventually die, right? And the earth is likely going to be absorbed by the sun in 7.5 billion years, so none of it matters anyway. Right?
On the post: College Pulls Support For Students' Parodic Musical Because It *Imagines* Disney Might Sue It
Re: I call bullshit
On the post: More Details Emerge Showing The US Government Has No Idea How To Solve A Problem Like Snowden
Re: Prevention is worth a pound of cure?
On the post: Elon Musk Destroys The Rationale For Patents, Opens Up All Of Tesla's
Re: Re:
Ah, so we're going for rage-filled misanthropy as the path to liberty. I can't recall too many examples of that working in the past, but maybe that's because I'm just one of the little people.
I'll go with +1 for humanity and +1 for Elon. (I think we have enough surplus +'s to use two for this.)
On the post: Copyright Troll Malibu Media Tells Court That Its Critics (And Opposing Lawyer) Are Part Of A Psychopathic Hate Group
It appears that Malibu Media's lawyers have lost their minds.
On the post: Ed Snowden Helps A Reporter Having A Seizure While Interviewing Him Remotely
Re: Cape
Next >>