Earlier quoted context omitted.
How many weeks of protest are in Paris now? It hasn't appeared to change anything.
Be assured that it has changed a lot of things...
OK, I've been duly "assured." Now what?
Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
281–290 of 315 posts
Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are (rare) cases in which armed resistance does not result in convictions, and/or in which prosecution of government agents is at least initiated, and civil redress made. The Ruby Ridge incident comes to mind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Ridge As does the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Malheur_Nati...
The only way a protest with guns is different from a normal protest is if you're willing to use those guns. And using them usually doesn't end well for protesters more than anyone.
S/he just gave you two examples that ended very well for the protesters in one instance, and for the surviving people on the protesters' side in the other.
Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
Be assured that it has changed a lot of things...
OK, I've been duly "assured." Now what?
"Although President Macron had been insisting that the fuel tax increases would go through as planned, on 4 December 2018 the government announced that the tax rises would be put on hold, with Prime Minister Édouard Philippe saying that "no tax deserves to endanger the unity of the nation"."
(...) "On 10 December, Macron condemned the violence but acknowledged the protesters' anger as "deep, and in many ways legitimate". He subsequently promised a minimum wage increase of €100 per month from 2019, cancelled a planned tax increase for low-income pensioners, and made overtime payments as well as end-of-year bonuses tax free."
So much for nothing having changed.
Not to mention tons of France-wide and regional implications, the political impact on several levels, and the pause and hesitation it would bring to politicians considering to unilaterally pass unpopular laws in the future.
Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
The fact that people haven't commented "this is bad" doesn't mean lots of people don't think it's bad. But such comments don't change anything, and the site guidelines specifically discourage them because they just add noise. Insulting people, however, tends to derail any useful discussion.
The site guidelines and moderation policies are intended to steer the comments towards as prissy, non-critical, de-politicized conversations as possible. Anger is a perfectly reasonable part of political discourse, and political discourse and thought is an important part of being a person in the world w/ agency. I think most would agree that there's a "beating a dead horse" point in comment sections, but the amount o…
Yep. Hacker News is a product not a community. The headlines are interesting but the comment section is offputting.
I am largely unable to communicate using only Hacker News approved tone and words; I don't speak beige.
Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
>All that said a smart military commander would never use local troops in their own backyard anyway. Is why the local regiments were confined to barracks, the last time the UK felt the need to put tanks on the streets of Glasgow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_George_Square
Funnily enough that was what I was thinking about when I wrote my post.
Don't you just love it when that happens. We may have to get better at it though. It may be the only way around the surveillance balloons.
Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
We need a new deal here. If everyone with power is allowed to just follow their incentives, we end up with an awful place for everyone. What is the contract between people, government and corporations that we can make that allows for the freedom in society that we value? It seems like both the corps and gov are teaming up against team people here.
In France we have a contract: if people are unhappy they rise against. If there's no risk of revolting, the fox is fearless in the chicken hen.
And what would it end like, bringing back the guillotines?!
Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Devil’s advocate here. Who’s to say they won’t use it strictly to deter drug trafficking and terrorism? Anyone paying reasonable attention to either current events or history?
I’m afraid I haven’t been, could you help me out and provide examples?
Town halls resort to spy tactics - https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-15012/town-halls-resort-to-s...
Civil servants attacked for using anti-terror laws to spy on public - https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/feb/28/surveillance-gove...
Terror law used for Iceland deposits - https://www.ft.com/content/abf583de-9546-11dd-aedd-000077b07...
The Further Democratization of Stingray - https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/04/the_further_d...
WikiLeaks docs show NSA's 10-year economic espionage campaign against France - https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/29/wikileaks_docs_show...
Airbus wants answers from Germany over U.S. spying claims - https://money.cnn.com/2015/04/30/news/airbus-germany-nsa-spy...
Green Party: The police’s secret surveillance of elected politicians with no criminal record is scandalous - https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/06/16/police%E2%80%9...
Police continued spying on Labour activists after their election as MPs - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/25/police-spied...
Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
#288I saw a BBC short video while in Europe last summer. It was surreal. The video was basically showing how awesome these aerial surveillance platforms were. At one point the reporter walked out of the control center and started dancing outside. It looked like he was having a lot of fun watching himself from a few thousand feet up. If anyone manages to find it please post it. There was no talk about the privacy implicat…
Hey the good news for us is the ones in the US don't have self-guided missiles attached, right?
Fu-Go [1] were armed balloons sent over the jet stream during wwII.
Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is why many Americans won’t give their guns away. Imagine (not saying it would be a good outcome), but what Hong Kong would be like right now if all citizens hard arms? Well maybe the whole thing wouldn’t have even started. But wow, it would be a very different scene. Instead it’s more a case of if the military wants to walk in and shutdown the place, it’s going to be a lot easier. Not entirely a gun rights advo…
> but what Hong Kong would be like right now if all citizens hard arms? The chinese are slowly removing democratic institutions away from the people. The people are rising up to protect them without guns. Democratic norms are slowly being eroded from the US as well. Extreme gerrymandering, electoral college / popular vote, overt foreign interference, requested foreign interference, voting irregularities, voter purges…
Sorry, I wasn’t trying to convince you or anyone else they having guns = protection for democracy.
It was just more of a thought experiment. I totally understand your point and I’m fully aware that there are a lot of issues and other problems with an armed population that totally suck.
Re: Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US
#290Are things flying at that altitude required to have a ADS-B transponder or something like that to prevent collisions with other aircraft? I wonder if you could track the balloons tracking you.
At 65,000 ft (the altitude mentioned in the article), no ADS-B will not be required because it would be above Class A airspace.
Law enforcement and intelligence flights are not required to have ADS-B turned on anyway.
(f) Each person operating an aircraft equipped with ADS-B Out must operate this equipment in the transmit mode at all times unless—
(1) Otherwise authorized by the FAA when the aircraft is performing a sensitive government mission for national defense, homeland security, intelligence or law enforcement purposes and transmitting would compromise the operations security of the mission or pose a safety risk to the aircraft, crew, or people and property in the air or on the ground; or
§91.225 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b7f6514979a4014c17...