101–110 of 160 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We are currently paying the costs (both monetary and otherwise) for the apparatus you describe, but looking at the last decade, the benefits appear to be absent. Perhaps we need to consider the possibility that an organization like the NSA just isn't worth having?
In fact organizations like the CIA and NSA are more of a threat to the American people than the people they are supposedly protecting us from.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are lots of great reporters in the USA with integrity. I am sad to see this general sentiment that quality journalism is dead.
Seems lame to downvote and move on - you said yourself there are lots of great reporters I'm interested in any of them!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We are currently paying the costs (both monetary and otherwise) for the apparatus you describe, but looking at the last decade, the benefits appear to be absent. Perhaps we need to consider the possibility that an organization like the NSA just isn't worth having?
Your comment shows why some more open-ness would be great for everyone. Working in secret means nobody will know of the genuine successes, only the allegedly problematic aspects which leak out. It might not be simple, but I am sure that it would be possible to remove classified details from certain “wins” (whether counterterror, counterproliferation, or other) and let the public know what their tax dollars are going…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
transparent government is boring but highly desirable. you could dismiss sytem logs or open source kernels are boring but youre greatful for them when unexpected things start happening
Indeed! You're absolutely right. And documents on this whole boring process could almost certainly be FOIA'd by anyone with a desire to be bored to death. But a spokesperson isn't likely to know the details of a minor verbiage update.
I, as a taxpayer, pay the NSA to be effective in defending national interests, to act with integrity, and to submit themselves to the oversight of my representatives in Congress. I have no expectation that they will be honest or open with me. Being closed is integral to their work. However they damn well better submit to oversight and respect my constitutional rights as a citizen.
If history is any judge, as I recall from several recent reads on NSA post-Snowden / Stuxnet etc: Even the most outspoken critic of the NSA (I want to say it was a State attorney or something) was quick to reverse his critiques when he was granted control of an oversight investigation - he was actually shocked at the amount of integrity and openness that he found WITHIN the organization. Doesn't mean it is visible to…
I am very cynical. But then a long chain of recorded history rewards my point of view.
What an amazing story. A web page was updated and The Intercept is on it!
Far more troubling than some values changes, is the administration wants to have a spy slush fund of its own that is not at all subject to Congressional oversight. https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/shutdown/card/1516648991
A lot of complaints against three letter agencies, who have elected officials with oversight and only hire from American citizens. Few complaints against Microgoogfacebook to whom we give all our most private electronic correspondence, have no oversight, and hire many foreign nationals who have little stake in whether the companies abuse the info they've been given. This strikes me as a bit odd.
You choose to give your data to Microsoft/Google/Facebook/whatever other private company you're complaining about. There is no agreement to give things to the NSA.
I use a computer. I have to use Windows to access certain common or industry standard software packages.
I have friends. I have to use Facebook or miss out on events or similar. Alternatively, I have to put more effort into bridging the gap. Facebook also build a shadow profile on me whether I use their services or not.
I search the web with a non-google search engine, I have moved my email to a non-gmail service, my browser is not google, my phone is not Android. Yet Google will still collect data about me for advertising purposes.
The fact that they have no official oversight should be terrifying.
A lot of complaints against three letter agencies, who have elected officials with oversight and only hire from American citizens. Few complaints against Microgoogfacebook to whom we give all our most private electronic correspondence, have no oversight, and hire many foreign nationals who have little stake in whether the companies abuse the info they've been given. This strikes me as a bit odd.
If you go to a thread about abuses by Microgoogfacebook I'm sure you'll find lots of complaints about them and relatively few about the NSA (other than the extent to which they are harming people by co-operating with the NSA).