21–30 of 39 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Well... As the guy that did all of that let me tell you: it's futile Wait what? you're Snowden?
> "... I could perhaps have tried to find out about things." I meant that . > Wait what? you're Snwoden? Not that .
The world is a better place because Edward Snowden helped create an enabling environment for transparency, accountability, and civil society monitoring of programs that make the world less safe and less free. Perhaps even more importantly, I hope this public ruling will make it more difficult for any of us to tell our grandchildren that we didn't know [0] about serious things going seriously wrong. 0. e.g. "And, at t…
Well... As the guy that did all of that let me tell you: it's futile. I knew back when Bill Binney came forward. It was all documented or otherwise obvious. From this I've learned something. People are HEAVILY biased towards the version of the "truth" that lets them do what they want. Like whatever they were doing before you started talking about this shit. lol. The WANT comes first for them. Then when you complain a…
I agree. I've mostly (99.999%) given up on participating in American politics for the betterment of society.
> People are HEAVILY biased towards the version of the "truth" that lets them do what they want.
I just have to point out that by taking the stance that you and I are taking, we're doing the same. I'm biased towards the version of truth that lets me live as we want. In other words, I could massively disrupt my life as Snowden did, and that actually might make a difference. However, I convince myself that it wouldn't, so I can just work, make money, and pursue my usual definition of happiness.
The world is a better place because Edward Snowden helped create an enabling environment for transparency, accountability, and civil society monitoring of programs that make the world less safe and less free. Perhaps even more importantly, I hope this public ruling will make it more difficult for any of us to tell our grandchildren that we didn't know [0] about serious things going seriously wrong. 0. e.g. "And, at t…
Well... As the guy that did all of that let me tell you: it's futile. I knew back when Bill Binney came forward. It was all documented or otherwise obvious. From this I've learned something. People are HEAVILY biased towards the version of the "truth" that lets them do what they want. Like whatever they were doing before you started talking about this shit. lol. The WANT comes first for them. Then when you complain a…
That's hardly futile - it's just the norm, the starting point for any social change. Our society gave civil rights to a small black minority (~12% of the population now; I don't know about then) after centuries of discrimination, gave equal rights to women after millenia of descrimination, grew an environmental movement, and much more. In all those situations, the people advocating change faced far greater obstacles than what you describe, yet they changed almost every person's perception, society's norms, and almost every industry's and business' practices.
I agree it seems daunting, but then I grasp the courage of people like MLK, Rachel Carson, and others even more. Think of what they felt as they looked at the culture of their day.
(And yes, all those movements still have much more to do.)
Due to the nature of such surveillance - there is little oversight over what is actually being done. Which means there is no promise anything is being done. As a citizen, is there any way for me to know for certain or must I have faith my government is working how it claims to work? I'll explain... [Begin conspiracy theory]If a judge marks it unconstitutional or not or forbids them from doing it doesn't necessarily m…
James Clapper's congressional perjury will probably make the history books as an example of modern corruption. For a crime committed against the very core of American democracy, the press gave him a pass and the president gave him a promotion. Maybe he blackmailed everyone using NSA data... http://www.hasjamesclapperbeenindictedyet.com/
Even if he didn't, it's only a question of time until the NSA starts blackmailing everyone with NSA data.
The move of this phone metadata from NSA to private telcos doesn't make these records less accessible, it makes them more so. It puts them in the same category as our other online metadata records held in private hands.
I don't get how people are all freaked out about NSA having these records but don't seem to worry that law enforcement will now have even better access.
Until they change the legal definition of "search and seizure" to include metadata held by third parties, I don't see any reason to celebrate.
That's such a small, and arguably not the most important part, of NSA's wrongdoings -- collecting contacts, metadata, movement, all unencrypted Internet activity is much more potentially dangerous and damaging imho. Still, it's nice to see even a small step to the right direction.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well... As the guy that did all of that let me tell you: it's futile. I knew back when Bill Binney came forward. It was all documented or otherwise obvious. From this I've learned something. People are HEAVILY biased towards the version of the "truth" that lets them do what they want. Like whatever they were doing before you started talking about this shit. lol. The WANT comes first for them. Then when you complain a…
> it's futile I agree. I've mostly (99.999%) given up on participating in American politics for the betterment of society. > People are HEAVILY biased towards the version of the "truth" that lets them do what they want. I just have to point out that by taking the stance that you and I are taking, we're doing the same. I'm biased towards the version of truth that lets me live as we want. In other words, I could massiv…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
James Clapper's congressional perjury will probably make the history books as an example of modern corruption. For a crime committed against the very core of American democracy, the press gave him a pass and the president gave him a promotion. Maybe he blackmailed everyone using NSA data... http://www.hasjamesclapperbeenindictedyet.com/
> Maybe he blackmailed everyone using NSA data Even if he didn't, it's only a question of time until the NSA starts blackmailing everyone with NSA data.
If so, either he was persuaded by evidence of its effectiveness in preventing terrorist attacks on the US, or maybe he was persuaded by evidence of its effectiveness after being shown his last 10 years of internet searches, presented on a CD, lying next to the duplicate sitting in an envelope marked "To the Editor, New York Times".