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Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans

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Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans

#61
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is your suggestion for "doing something?" I can't help that most Americans are wrongly educated about thinks like civil rights.

The absolute easiest thing? Outrage + phone calls / letters. It would take a mere 1% of the US population to give a shit, and it would light D.C. up like a Christmas tree. Bury their phones and inboxes in just a few hundred thousand calls and emails per day and every member of Congress would instantly stand to attention and respond positive. It's such a trivial % of the overall population as to be disgusting that it…

Indeed. Nothing is going to change until there is a collapse. Even then I fear what fills the power void will be worse than what you have now. The reason no one cares is because most Americans are in a comatose state. I've traveled to most US cities and some places in between and it continues to shock me just how stupid the average american is. They're drugged out on corn syrup, anti-depressants, street drugs and seemingly not educated at all about the rest of the world.

I know that sounds like I'm talking trash and being racist but this is a real problem. This should be talked about. America need to get its population healthy again, so they can think straight, be productive and create a better future. Long term it is in no ones interest to have a population of people this stupid.

Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans

#62
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans won't so much as lift their head away from Candycrush to bat an eyelash about it. If there were enough give-a-shit left in America, I don't think things would have gotten so bad to begin with. It's a broken, battered, unemployed, bankrupt, bitter nation being drown by a behemoth $6.3 trillion government system that nothing could possibly contain or restrain. The NSA has a budget the size of the economy of h…

What is your suggestion for "doing something?" I can't help that most Americans are wrongly educated about thinks like civil rights.

Get away from the USD that American government is using to keep it's power. Get away from the banking system. Buy physical silver, gold (not ETF) or bitcoins.

The earlier everybody starts doing it the sooner the inevitable USD crash will happen.

Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans

#65
post #19
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this particular leaked document only applies to Verizon Business Network Services. they will request the same data from other providers in other FISA court applications. there is nothing in the request that makes it specific to Verizon Business. The legal justification used applies to all providers .

The document that Greenwald presented, which is the only document of its kind so far, makes it clear that when it says "Verizon" it means "Verizon Business Network Services". Sure: by whatever insane reasoning the government came up with to issue this order, they could probably issue orders for any other subsidiary of any other telecom, and I would not be surprised at all if they've done so many many times for many d…

You have to wonder what caused this specific order to be leaked though. That suggests it is unusual and worrying to the one who leaked it.

It may be that it is the first, and there is real fear of many more to come. I don't think it is in any reason to think that it is not absolutely certain that "if this order exists, there must be similar orders whether now or in the future (assuming no change to the system in the mean time) because if the government has the internal secret legal justification to do something for one company it would for all and will use that however it finds helpful."

Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans

#66
post #18
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course. You should also be fighting it with every fiber in your body. Generations behind you gave their lives for rights like these, and the current generation seems to be giving them away because they are too busy chatting with friends on Facebook to care about it. And if you don't fight it now peacefully, you'll be fighting it in the streets in a bloody revolution, in a decade or two.

I don't see any way to fight it now. What are your suggestions? If we were to have a revolution here, even in a decade or two, we'd probably end up with something much worse than what we have now.

I don't see any way to fight it now. What are your suggestions?

If you're a Verizon customer, you have standing to sue the government in a class action and challenge the constitutionality of its actions.

Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans

#67

I suggest every software developer take a course or two on cryptography and make privacy integral in the products you develop.

Cryptography doesn't help at all when your government will require you by law to provide them with a decrypted dump. That's what they did with Verizon. Verizon could not provide you with privacy no matter how much they wanted.

That is why you should put your servers in iceland or similar places. With asymetric encription there is no need; Only the user knows and not the service provider.

Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans

#68
post #22
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And he was politically assassinated... All my friends' parents and my own often talk about Jimmy Carter as a man who just didn't have what it takes to be a President. Bang up job they did on him.

Well, he actually was a horrible president. He was politically assassinated by himself.

That is the dominant narrative, yes.

Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans

#70
post #37
post #11

I give this maybe 2-3 months before the whistleblower behind this is being prosecuted by the Obama administration for "harming national security and putting people's lives in danger, and/or espionage".

To notch up the paranoia a bit, the original court order document looks like it may contain some digital fingerprinting around the edges (either made by a certain class of printer or placed there prior to dissemination) that could lead authorities to the person(s) they originally distributed this specific copy of the court order to. Of course, I hope that is not the case here but people should be aware these things e…

I'd be really surprised if journalists who published leaks weren't well aware of digital fingerprinting, since protecting sources is integral to their profession.
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