Tom’s Comments

• May 7th, 2015 @ 9:20am

  Encouraging news, but the fight is by no means over

  on Huge Win: Appeals Court Says NSA's Bulk Phone Records Collection Not Actually Authorized By PATRIOT Act
  This was a really needed pick-me-up and injection of hope for humanity just when things looked their bleakest. Long live the fighters.
  
  Personally, I won't sleep soundly until I see the NSA's data centers bulldozed on the evening news. There's no reason to believe they won't simply continue collecting everything even when it's deemed illegal.
• Apr 10th, 2014 @ 5:08am

  I bet they already know...

  on USTR Warns That EU-Only Cloud To Avoid NSA Surveillance May Violate Trade Agreements
  ... that this trade deal will fall apart (thanks to the NSA spying on everyone taking part in the deal, of course.) They're trying to manage the reason *why* it fell apart - trying to blame it on the reaction to the NSA spy scandal, rather than the scandal itself.
  
  Sorry Americans, you thieving, spying scum - the Balkanization of the internet will continue apace, and the faster you're routed around like a malicious network node, the better. Bye bye! Maybe we'll welcome you back online when you stop craving "information dominance" so madly.
• Apr 8th, 2014 @ 2:02pm

  For some reason...

  on Snowden Says NSA Is Lying When It Claims He Didn't Raise Concerns Through The Proper Channels
  ... It's a lot easier to believe Snowden, than the NSA.
  
  Maybe he just has a trustworthy face.
  
  Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that he hasn't lied yet, while the NSA and USGov can't seem to stop.
• Apr 8th, 2014 @ 10:20am

  One has to wonder...

  on Former NSA/CIA Boss' Anger Issues: Claims Senate Staffers Are 'Sissies' And Wyden Isn't 'Acting Like A Man'
  Is Hayden's behavior a sign of early dementia, or is there some method behind the madness? Maybe there's an NSA think-tank somewhere, carefully coordinating the figureheads' public behavior to be as macho and authoritarian as possible, sending a tacit message to other such creatures in law and government that the system has their backs...
  
  Am I paranoid for suspecting the NSA has a playbook for everything? ;)
• Apr 7th, 2014 @ 12:04pm

  Yeees, China... be more transparent...

  on US, Apparently With No Sense Of Irony, Preaching 'Openness' And 'Transparency' To Chinese
  ... so we can see in more clearly.
• Apr 7th, 2014 @ 11:07am

  Re:

  on Mike Rogers Still Pushing His 'Snowden Is A Russian Spy' Delusion, Citing Every Single 'Counterintelligence Official' In Support
  Say, who else lived by that mantra?
  
  "But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success."
  
  Oh yeah, that was Hitler in Mein Kampf.
• Apr 7th, 2014 @ 9:26am

  Re: Greenwald's

  on 'Bay Of Tweets Invasion' Legitimizes Nearly Every Crackpot Anti-US Claim From Dictators Around The Globe
  Pando and "proof" are two words rarely seen together in sentences that aren't humorous.
• Apr 7th, 2014 @ 7:33am

  I'll just leave this here.

  on Former CIA, NSA Boss Says Senator Feinstein Is Too Emotional To Judge CIA Torture Fairly
  http://www.salon.com/2009/06/30/accountability_7/
  
  I think an emotional response is apropos when finding out one's nation tortured over a hundred people to death. Perhaps the correct question to ask is, why didn't Hayden have one?
• Mar 27th, 2014 @ 2:52pm

  Hey senator?

  on Senator McCain Says Snowden Is Working For Putin Based On 'Timing' Of News Reports Snowden Has Nothing To Do With
  You don't have to be working for the Russians just because you're working against America. Working against America has recently become a fun and ethical hobby for pretty much the whole planet. This is because you're the bad guys.
• Mar 22nd, 2014 @ 4:35am

  It's sad...

  on Exile: Sarah Harrison On Paying The Price For Helping Edward Snowden
  ... to realize that our own governments are our biggest enemies and threats.