The idea here from a public relations viewpoint is to reveal a small crime to conceal a large one. Individuals will be described to have violated the NSA's strict internal rules and snooped on their cheating spouse or whatever. One, two, three incidents. Look, we've come clean! Not mentioned will be the wholesale storage of every communication of every American, which the NSA does not deem to be surveillance until th…
NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
31–40 of 43 posts
Re: NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
#32The idea here from a public relations viewpoint is to reveal a small crime to conceal a large one. Individuals will be described to have violated the NSA's strict internal rules and snooped on their cheating spouse or whatever. One, two, three incidents. Look, we've come clean! Not mentioned will be the wholesale storage of every communication of every American, which the NSA does not deem to be surveillance until th…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_hangout
Indeed, the brilliant part of immoral espionage is that they are the best people on the planet at not getting caught. As John Le Carre would say: the only rule of espionage is that it works. They often don't have to deal with the complex moralities of the public world.
Re: NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
#33"The heavily-redacted reports include examples of data on Americans being e-mailed to unauthorized recipients, stored in unsecured computers and retained after it was supposed to be destroyed, according to the documents." Therein lies one of the major problems with these mass surveillance programs. Not only are they collecting information on millions of innocent Americans, but now it appears that they are not properl…
> Not only are they collecting information on millions of innocent Americans, but now it appears that they are not properly securing that data. I cannot tell whether you're being paid for by these folk, or just plain politically naive, or suffer from induced helplessness. Your argument of "outrage" has levels built into it. L1: collect information L2: of innocent L3: americans L4: properly securing data L1+L2+L3+L4 =…
I, for one, think it's awfully naive to think that all collection of information by the intelligence community is an outrage. Authorities collecting information has been going on for about as long as our species has had language.
Re: NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
#34What about the spying on Europeans or are they not considered people?
I'm sure the EU governments each have a hand in the cookie jar as well. This isn't about state secrets as much as having an emotional and mental thermometer into the subjects of the elite. The machine must continue evolving and becoming more efficient in their conglomerate of corporations and their employees. Like many countries using microsoft software, I imagine they're all using Surveillance 1.0 SaaS from your very own US Government[0].
[0]: http://usa-the-republic.com/revenue/true_history/Chap8.html
Re: NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
#35> In a 2012 case, for example, an NSA analyst “searched her spouse’s personal telephone directory without his knowledge to obtain names and telephone numbers for targeting,” according to one report. The analyst “has been advised to cease her activities,” it said. How is this not a crime? It they can come over you from downloading off JSTOR using legitimate access, why is this person still employed at the NSA rather t…
It boggles the mind sometimes.
Obviously at any big organization, you will get misbehaving employees. But the way you prevent misuse and handle incidents defines whether it's a major issue or just a minor annoyance.
What possible use could this person serve after they've proven they had no qualms willfully and grossly misusing their position of power? How could they keep such a person employed?
Re: NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
#36" The NSA’s inspector general last year detailed 12 cases of “intentional misuse” of intelligence authorities from 2003 to 2013... "
... if you don't count the millions of Americans' phone records that were logged
Re: NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Windfall, as a word, is a fossilized metaphor. A windfall is that which falls from a tree as the result of wind. It can be fruit, small branches, or the whole tree. It can be good, or it can be bad: think of a tree falling on your car or house.
The common usage has a good connotation. From Websters: Synonyms: benediction, benefit, boon, felicity, godsend, good, manna, blessing Antonyms: affliction, bane, curse, evil, plague, scourge
And has for a long time. The 1818 version of Johnson's "A Dictionary of the English Language" has "an unexpected legacy; any unexpected advantage", with no negative connotations. https://books.google.com/books?id=zsI_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PT1100&dq=...
The original 1755 version only had "Fruit blown down from the tree" - http://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/?page_id=7070&i=2282 . Etymonline says 'Figurative sense of "unexpected acquisition" is recorded from 1540s' - http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=windfall&allowed_in_fra... .
It's also used in the 1800s as the tornado track. See https://books.google.com/books?id=1GQJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA324&dq=w... .
Re: NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
#38"The heavily-redacted reports include examples of data on Americans being e-mailed to unauthorized recipients, stored in unsecured computers and retained after it was supposed to be destroyed, according to the documents." Therein lies one of the major problems with these mass surveillance programs. Not only are they collecting information on millions of innocent Americans, but now it appears that they are not properl…
> Not only are they collecting information on millions of innocent Americans, but now it appears that they are not properly securing that data. I cannot tell whether you're being paid for by these folk, or just plain politically naive, or suffer from induced helplessness. Your argument of "outrage" has levels built into it. L1: collect information L2: of innocent L3: americans L4: properly securing data L1+L2+L3+L4 =…
Innocence doesn't appear to be a factor, at least according to former Vice President Dick Cheney. In his interview on Meet The Press, he didn't appear to be concerned we tortured innocent people.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/15/1351990/-Dick-Chene...
Re: NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not only are they collecting information on millions of innocent Americans, but now it appears that they are not properly securing that data. I cannot tell whether you're being paid for by these folk, or just plain politically naive, or suffer from induced helplessness. Your argument of "outrage" has levels built into it. L1: collect information L2: of innocent L3: americans L4: properly securing data L1+L2+L3+L4 =…
I, for one, think it's awfully naive to think that all collection of information by the intelligence community is an outrage. Authorities collecting information has been going on for about as long as our species has had language.
I, for one, think it's awfully unconstitutional on the face of it.
Re: NSA Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not only are they collecting information on millions of innocent Americans, but now it appears that they are not properly securing that data. I cannot tell whether you're being paid for by these folk, or just plain politically naive, or suffer from induced helplessness. Your argument of "outrage" has levels built into it. L1: collect information L2: of innocent L3: americans L4: properly securing data L1+L2+L3+L4 =…
I, for one, think it's awfully naive to think that all collection of information by the intelligence community is an outrage. Authorities collecting information has been going on for about as long as our species has had language.
Collecting, yes. Storing, indexing, warehousing all meaningful communication, movement, and transactions of all humanity indefinitely - that is the new and condemnable part. I call that absolute power.