I've Got Things to Say About the V.A.

     As an adult child of a parent who served in Korea and the relative of several other veterans alive and deceased, I certainly have things to say about the V.A. and the recent investigation. Yes I do. [Paragraph eight for those who want to skip the antipasto].

     I do not like the President. I refer to him as Obummer because he certainly has been a bummer. The government should be involved in as little as possible in my opinion. I think the government should get out of the marriage business, health care insurance, and the interwebz. And quit picking on responsible and sane and law-abiding citizens who like guns.

     I believe that folks who get married by any clergy should be referred to as married. Those who get married by a justice of the peace, that would be a secular ceremony and thus "partnered" with the same rights and responsibilities as those couples who opted for a religious sort of ceremony. This is a long-time opinion that I hold. Clergy and places of worship are already protected by law in that they are not required to solemnize any sort of coupling that they cannot agree with by reasons of faith or other. Civil rights for all civils [*civilians]. Thus two adults of the same gender can get hitched at city hall or by any clergy that will have them. End of problem. 

     I am furious about the Obummer Care fiasco. I am livid about forcing seniors and disabled into this "donut hole" where people are then required to beg for charity in order to pay for meds. [N.B. Any disabled person is not eligible for their state's pharmacy discount program unless they are age 62. And if they worked long enough not to be eligible for Medicaid, well, it's shit out of luck time for them]. To be fair, the whole donut hole crap was started during Bush 43. Obummer did not help matters. In a few years, there will be a new tax for anyone who has signed up for expensive "better than the usual" health insurance. It's in there. I read the manuscript. Fasten your seatbelts folks. This healthcare crapola is scheduled to get worse and worse.

     Obummer and the N.S.A. versus the Interwebz: G.T.F.O., period. Leave the internet alone for crying out loud. Parents bear the responsibility for what their kids view on the web and on television and every other thing. If I wanted a set of rug rats, I would have had them. We don't want any stinking national I.D. card with our very own government generated "password" on it in order to access the Interwebz. Hey, alternative satellite web to be started by the people for the people and screw the N.S.A. and national internet i.d. cards, I'm down with that. Screw you N.S.A. for doing what you are doing and screw the politicians too.

     And hey, don't like guns? Don't get one. I'd rather have my loaded gun when a serial killer or a rapist barges into my space than do what has been suggested by Paul Rosenthal, democrat politician. Women who are about to get raped should "pee their panties?" Or maybe upchuck on the bad guy. Uh, no. Blow the rapist away and apologize later. Hey. Those who have ever been suicidal ought to hook up with a crossbow or something else instead of a gun. Arrows are harder to aim at oneself than bullets are. Just saying. Anyway, guns or other weapons for safety for all civils [*civilians] who want them and don't have a mental hell history and stuff like that. A national registry-- hell no Jack. 

     Less government, more fun.


     Unfortunately, I have been exposed to the ways and means of the local Veteran's Administration as the relative of a veteran. First off, the wait for appointments. Yep, someone got that right. I swear, the system is hoping that veterans [and old people and the disabled] will die rather than render aid in a timely manner. When the appointments to see the V.A. "primary care doc" must all get previewed by a nurse in that office first and said nurse never calls back, even after being called repeatedly, there might be a problem. My solution was simple. Take Dad to our family doc for all care and concerns. Visit the V.A. primary care doc when forced to-- which is currently once or twice a year.

     Getting Dad to the V.A. emergency room during a severe illness is impossible. The local ambulance will not deliver any vet to the V.A. hospital without a hefty charge of over a thousand bucks. So Dad goes to the local hospital's E.R. No matter how incompetent the medical staff there might be, he does not have any other choice. The local ambulance service will only deliver to one hospital. You know why??? Because Medicare balks at paying ambulance services for deliver to anywhere but the local hospital. Thanks for nothing, inefficient Medicare system. The V.A. medical staff all want the families to get their loved one to the V.A. E.R. during a crisis. Hey, not possible.

     Appointments at the V.A. next. These would be the specialty clinics-- eye appointments, neurology, urology and all the other ologies that are at the V.A. and not at the local V.A. "primary care physician's" office. Count on spending most of the day there for one appointment. Taking a demented and incontinent and very tired vet to a crowded waiting room for several hours at a clip just does not work out well for anyone except the V.A.'s way of doing things. Which is to say, inefficient way of doing things.

     If Dad had bloods or tests done at the local hospital E.R. or via the family doc, that doesn't matter. The V.A. wants their own tests. Go ahead, give the old man yet another swallowing eval or head scan or bloods or urine tests. It's only money. It's wasteful. And stressful for the already stressed out patient.

     I pause here to say yes, there are many dedicated staff people at the V.A. [the V.A. primary care doc and nurse excluded]. Even so, the system is stifling.

     Do I think Obummer should screw around with the V.A. system?, having said all of that. Hell no. Obummer should not be engaging in healthcare policies. The V.A. system is inefficient yes. We don't need the president to step in. Step out Obummer and go away. Privatization does not benefit the patient. We can create change without the latest dictator in D.C. And we can do it faster and better than Obummer can. 

radical sapphoq says: The above is a rant and includes my opinions. My opinions aren't necessarily fact but neither are they necessarily fiction. I said it once and I'm about to say it again. Less government, more fun. I'm out. 

Open Letter to Ed Snowden: sticking it to the N.S.A.

Dear Ed Snowden,

     I was at the gym today and one of the news stations trotted out some news from last July. I remember when it first came out. Eric Holder "offering" you a guarantee of no death penalty if you will only come back and "plead guilty." Screw that. I hope that you don't come back here to the United States. Things have not gotten any better here. In my opinion, many of the politicians and the people talking about the N.S.A. are all bat-shit crazy. I don't think you can trust them. I certainly don't.

     The expectation of some minimal privacy here has pretty much gone down the toilet. The N.S.A. apparently has some land in Utah where the agency is planning to dump meta-data from all of our phone calls. Some court or other today said the N.S.A. surveillance program is illegal. I don't think that really matters. The N.S.A. will continue to do as it will, regardless of what any court or politician or president says. Don't come back here.

     I think they want you back here just so the publication of the leaks will [possibly] slow down or stop. I think the corporation referred to as the United States figures if you are imprisoned, then "we" will save face and not be embarrassed. Screw that. Those arguments do not impress me. They should not impress you either.
Even if you do come back and are given a lengthy prison sentence, I don't think you will get out of it alive.

     It has been said that some folks from the C.I.A. [or maybe other agencies, who really knows?] have gone to Mexico or South America and illegally kidnapped a king drug pin so he could stand trial in the U.S.A. and is now in prison somewhere. Maybe a super-max. And it has been said that some folks from the C.I.A. [ or...?] have gone down to Mexico or South America and killed off at least one problematic person. I think your idea about asking for personal protection from the Russian police force [or even if you have to pay for private bodyguards] is a wise one. Only I suspect the real danger is that some representatives from the C.I.A. [ or...?] will visit you in Russia and make you disappear or kidnap you. Our government has become the terrorist. Please be careful.

     I've never met you. I don't know you. But what you did has touched my life for sure and the lives of many other Americans. We are not the enemy here. I think the N.S.A. is pissed off because of all of the publicity. If you hadn't distributed the information, the N.S.A. would have been able to keep doing exactly what they want to do without the bother of publicity, transparency, or responsibility to the PEOPLE. Now they have to scramble a bit in order to cover their tracks. You did a noble and honorable thing. I want you to have a long and healthy and happy life. I beg you please don't come back here, regardless of any "assurances" from spokespeople who work for our government.

                    Sail Strong, Sail Safe,

                     radical sapphoq

Read This and Save That: In Support of Ed Snowden

     I bear no love for Big Government.  Big Government allows for the existence of the N.S.A. with neither meaningful oversight nor accountability to the American people.  In my opinion, the United States should not get to bully other nations with threats of trade sanctions because someone spoke up.  Seeking asylum is an honorable act.  If the American government had its' way, Ed Snowden would be arrested and brought back here to face charges of espionage.  If the American government had its' way, another Bradley Manning would be born.  Bradley Manning has existed in solitary confinement and is now facing the judgement of a kangaroo court.  Both men saw something and said something.  I don't know whether or not Bradley Manning can be saved from the injustices perpetrated upon him.  I am hopeful that Ed Snowden will be able to flee to freedom.  Whether or not he succeeds in darting past those that would kill him or torture him in the name of justice, Ed Snowden will go down in the tomes of learned historians as a hero.  He is certainly my hero.

radical sapphoq

Ed Snowden said the quotes which were collected at: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/27-edward-snowden-quotes-about-u-s-government-spying-that-should-send-a-chill-up-your-spine.  Talented other person made the original Ed Snowden hero poster which is posted here http://i.imgur.com/ouUHvyC.png in tiny form and here by Anti-Federalist http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?417348-Get-your-Ed-Snowden-quot-HERO-quot-avatar-here/page2 under #37 in larger form.  I altered colors and added the quotes.  Right-click to save to your computer if you want any of them.

Open Letter to Ed Snowden

Dear Ed Snowden,

     Although I'm pretty sure that you will never know the existence of this letter to you, I thought I would write it anyway.  There are some things in my heart of hearts that require communicating, even if only to the emptiness of the Internet.

     I am quite frankly appalled at the actions taken by our government since you came forward as the man who leaked information about the N.S.A. spying on all of us world-wide.  My country has proven to be a bully.  Quite a few of the politicians have publicly proven themselves [in my view] to be idiots with no spine.  It is obvious to me that the N.S.A. will continue to do what it is doing for as long as it can.  This is the danger in providing no meaningful oversight to any agency.  I watched what happened with the T.S.A. and I am now watching it again with the N.S.A.  That the F.I.S.A. court rubber-stamps anything that the N.S.A. wants to do is a mere formality-- a hideous kangaroo court-- and of little comfort to those of us who believe in "liberty and justice for all." 

     I was heartened to read that you do not have regrets about standing up for what is right.  You are the true patriot in this.  Not Obama or his ilk who want you brought back to the motherland as a condemned spy even before trial.  You are an hero.  You are my hero, Ed.  I think that if we had ever met, we would have been friends.

     I hope that you are able to leave Russia for a safer place soon.  Although Russia will not extradite [so far], the actions of their police regarding the throwing of dissidents and suspected dissidents into prisons which are basic torture chambers makes me wary of you living there for very long.  So even if you do wind up at the airport or a refugee camp or in an apartment somewhere for awhile out of necessity, I wish you safe passage to a country which will not kowtow to the wishes of the bossy United States.  And once you get there, I wish you both safety and happiness.

     President Obama, like many others who are not techies, confuses the words "safety" and "privacy."  It appears to me that he seems to believe that the more safety one has, the less privacy one is entitled to by necessity.  He doesn't know that safety which is not self-generated is a mere illusion.  He thinks-- I guess-- that destroying all anonymity and privacy will protect the American people from ourselves.  But we don't need surveillance.  Big Government is odious.  I don't want that.  Like you, I don't want to live in a country that polices every e-mail and communication for a list of suspect words.  But I am still here and you are not.  I watch what has happened to and what is happening to Bradley Manning and I know that Daniel Ellsberg has the right of it.  In order for you to have any chance at a life, you have had to sacrifice pretty much everything.  Thank you for not selling out, Ed.  The easier action would have been to shut up, stand down, say nothing.  You chose the rights of the people who inhabit this world over the directives of the government.  For that, I thank you.

     Although countries are caving left and right, I have to believe that there is a place for you and that you will get there.  Whether it is one of the three in South America or some other country, you deserve to be awarded asylum and hopefully citizenship someplace else.  Please know that there are bunches of us here in the United States who are rooting for you.  Be well, Ed.  

                                      Sail Strong!


                                       radical sapphoq       

Happy Independence Day I Guess

Ed Snowden is an Hero.

Happy Independence Day to our country, to all the folks who have served and will serve in the cause of freedom, to everyone who fights injustice wherever it may be found.

There will be fireworks in some places I am sure.  Fireworks, barbecues, and happy times today.  But today, there is something that hangs over me, obscuring the brightness of the light shows in the skies and the singing of patriotic songs.

That something is knowing that the N.S.A. has been spying on everyone world-wide-- enemy countries and friend countries and terrorists and perceived terrorists and ordinary people and just about everyone.  I am small potatoes.  I am fairly certain that none of the special rigs or equipment, drones or recording devices, honeypots or traps have been set just for me.

At this point in time, to me my guess is that the N.S.A. is throwing a wide net with the hopes of ensnaring anyone who is guilty.  There is so much data that a huge facility is being built in Utah to house it all.  

I don't have anything to hide.  Still, there is something sinister about a governmental agency that seems to be all-powerful without any meaningful oversight.  The employees of the N.S.A., just like the folks who work as T.S.A. agents in the airports, run the risk of becoming obnoxious bullies.  It happens.  

This ought to be a time of high anxiety for every American as well as for the other citizens of the world.  I've watched as Big Hollywood has worked hard to legislate some highly unfair copyright monopoly laws onto the international community.  I view Big Data as having similar aims:  Let's insist on transparency for anyone who does anything on the internet but exhibit no transparency ourselves.  

We are caught marching to the beat of a series of drums which we did not create and which we are not ourselves pounding on.  A few of us will be goaded into places where we never intended to go by the virtue of being outspoken and not polite.  Some of us will be informed that we must inform on our friends and social media contacts.  If one hunts long enough for the tragic flaw, one will find it.  Objectionable actions can come in many forms.  Will a few of us wind up in a Gitmo style residence, away from the masses and without due process merely because we have opinions and we dare to express them?

We Americans are focused on what is or is not happening with Ed Snowden.  The rest of the world is focused on how much they hate our government.  This cannot end well.

Or, maybe nothing much will happen at all.  Everything will be pretty much business as usual-- even though there is a new emphasis on giving up our wallet names and cell phone numbers in order to establish an e-mail account or join up with some bloggers or artists out here in Interwebz Land.  Maybe one of those countries that is copping a huge resentment won't drop some bombs on our country, triggering a war.  Maybe even the folks who use encryption will stop doing so because that is suspicious behavior.  Maybe it will soon be illegal to use a V.P.N. or proxy or chain proxies together.  We can get used to anything I guess.

Or can we?

radical sapphoq   

What If Ed Snowden Isn't Who He Says He Is: An Opinion

     The following post is composed of my opinions.  My opinions may be right, wrong, or somewhere in-between, but they are my opinions.  F.Y.I., I am not a dem lib and I have not been for quite some time now. 


     I think Ed Snowden is who he says he is.  I do not believe that he is an operative working for the C.I.A.  I do believe that he exists.  Yes, people can and do change their viewpoints on a variety of issues and sometimes a bit dramatically throughout the years.  That Ed Snowden was against leaking stuff a couple of years ago [according to information given to Ars Technica by folks who saved their typed conversations with Ed Snowden] really doesn't bother me in the least.  Furthermore, there is a real danger in labeling someone as having narcissistic-like tendencies sight unseen, especially when this label is based on media reports and opinions of various people who did not professionally evaluate Ed Snowden.  In short, I do not believe that there is evidence for that particular claim.  I don't think he exposed the leaks because he wanted to be in the spotlight.  I think Ed Snowden's motives lie within the realm of realizing that what is happening within the N.S.A. is incorrect.  

     I believe there is some amount of misinformation being fed to us-- intentionally or otherwise-- by the media.  One example is the reports I read at first did not admit that Ed Snowden could stay in the transit area of the Russian airport without a three day visa.  The initial reports admitted that he did not have a three day visa but not that he would only need such a document in order to leave the transit area of the airport.  Another example is the idea that both China and Russia have harvested [interviewed] Ed Snowden in hopes of gaining information from him or offering him work as their spy or something like that.  I don't believe that has happened.

I cannot understand:
1.  why the N.S.A. cannot locate Ed Snowden.
2.  why Congress isn't asking the N.S.A. some very pointed questions about exactly how it is that Ed Snowden was able to download some heavy duty stuff onto a thumb-drive.  All in a day's work, is it?
3.  why Obama and other politicos think that China; and now Russia, should just willingly deport Ed Snowden just because the American government and its' various shadow organizations want them to.
4.  why people assume that Ed Snowden must be at a Russian airport in the transit zone just because we are told that is where he is.   
5.  why some country doesn't just jump up and say "Come over here, Ed.  Stay with us."  Considering the circumstances, Ed Snowden needs immediate protection and immediate citizenship someplace else.
6.  why the conversation has centered around that bad boy hacker Ed Snowden instead of what the N.S.A. is doing.
7.  why the conversation has centered around that bad boy hacker Ed Snowden instead of why the N.S.A. appears to be able to dictate its' own doings without any real oversight from any other organization or from Congress or frigging anybody.
8.  why people are at all surprised by the recent revelations of exactly how deeply the N.S.A. is into monitoring all of us here and everyone in the whole world.
9.  why there is not more in the news about Boundless Informant.

 
Furthermore, the definition of a "terrorist" needs to be refined a bit.  I may be wrong but at least to me, it appears that:
1.  people who support or are in Anonymous are considered to be friends of terrorists or terrorists.  
2.  people who use encryption are considered to be suspect.
3.  people who use V.P.N.s or TOR are considered to have some kind of inherent criminal intent.


Problem #1:  I thought things were a bit odd last year and earlier this year when I realized that FedBook wanted our wallet names and wallet info [picture that!], when Google and Twitter and Yahoo and AOL wanted our cell phone numbers in order to open an e-mail account, when Google suddenly changed their TOS to be all inclusive when using any Google service, when the push was on to link various accounts together.  I distinctly remember the days before Google transformed into a Big Brother sort of outfit. 

Partial solution:  Don't use Fedbook.  No new e-mail accounts.  Search for an email account with a company that does not have dot com or dot net or dot biz after their name.  Use e-mail minimally and certainly not for communication purposes.
Drastic solution:  Get off of the internet entirely.  [For now, I will take my chances]. 
 
Problem #2:  I first suspected something was wrong this year when suddenly Google appeared to be vomiting on my searches when my computer was shielded under a proxy.

Solution:  Use another search engine.

Problem #3:  I first noticed something was wrong this year when suddenly Yahoo would not show up in a search engine when behind a proxy.

Solution:  Use another search engine. 

Problem #4: Obummer has offered "reassurance" that no one is listening in on our phone calls.

Solution:  Figure that A.I. bots which have been scripted to recognize certain code words are listening in on phone calls. 

Problem #5:  It is hard to know who is telling the truth and who is spinning a yarn.

Solution:  Carefully evaluate the evidence from a variety of source material.  Take nothing at face value.  

radical sapphoq says:  We the People have a right to know what is going on when a powerful shadowly agency is performing broadly based Big Data collections.  So much info has been collected and is being collected that a facility in Utah is being built to house it in.  Utah is an ideal location for such a facility to be built because a large number of National Guard recruits originate in Utah.
 
When an agency or organization [like the N.S.A.] is given carte blanche to do as it will with little to no meaningful oversight, a distinct possibility of abuse of power exists.  Meta-data is not innocuous.  If it were, the N.S.A. would not be interested in organizing meta-data through Boundless Informant. 

I like my privacy-- even though I in fact "have nothing to hide."  I am aware that if someone or some agency is hunting for something to report, the information will be found or manufactured or spun to suit the purposes of said person or agency.  Drama begets drama.  If the job order says "Find something," then something will be found.  I've learned that from investigations work.   

I prefer some transparency in my government to lies.  Certainly I prefer a smaller non-interfering (in my personal life or other peoples' personal lives) government to this stuff that is going on right now.  What the N.S.A. is doing under the guise of offering us security is unacceptable to me.  Security is not the opposite of privacy.




 
       

PRISM is not just rainbows anymore

Anonymous header which appeared on Twitter.

On June 6, 2013, Americans found out officially that the N.S.A. has been spying on bunches of people.  I say "officially" because this is something that has been suspected.  This happened through some documents that were found and leaked.  There are tons of articles all over the net detailing the story.  We are still waiting to find out what will happen to whistle-blower Ed Snowden who allowed his identity to come out via the media on June 9, 2013.  Great Britian has officially denied Snowden entry.  There has been some speculation that Snowden could apply for political asylum in a South American country or in Iceland.  Iceland is currently being ruled by conservatives so that may not actually happen.  One article suggested that Snowden could go to New Zealand where he could hang out with Kim Dot Com as both battle extradition to the United States.  June 11, 2013 was the day when Edward Snowden appeared to have vanished from his Hong Kong hotel room.  As far as I can make out right now, his whereabouts are currently unknown.

Obama has indicated that this spying is a-okay with him.  Clapper testified that this shit wasn't happening but of course it was. Americans are butt-hurt because who we are calling and how long each call lasts has been collected.  We've been informed that the e-mail snooping is limited to non-citizens living in other places and that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to them.  The F.I.S.A. court has been rubber-stamping anything that the government wants to do.  No warrants are necessary.  Internet companies denied that the government has access to their servers.  Maybe yes through a backdoor or maybe no.  At any rate, Google has admitted to giving the N.S.A. info on thumb drives.  How high tech of them.  Obama says, "American citizens, no one is listening in on your phone calls."  Well okay.  Maybe there are bots trained in voice recognition with a vocabulary list.  Folks from other countries are looking at the uproar and saying, "Hey the U.S.A. has been spying on us for years.  Where was your outrage about that?"  Some Anonymous folks have trolled the N.S.A. with communication utilizing the naughty word list that was published several years ago on the Internet.

PRISM is part of a larger program called Echelon. The word list circulating the Net came from Echelon.  Apparently, knowing geography or talking about the weather can get you under surveillance for using those words on-line.  The logo for PRISM seems to have been influenced in part by a certain Pink Floyd album cover.  At least one person on the net was blocked from selling t-shirts on the internet with the PRISM logo or something like it.  Now we have federal copyright trolls.  

radical sapphoq says:  I hope that Iceland or Ecuador or some other place gives Ed Snowden political asylum.  If not, I don't see this as ending too well for him.  A few of the articles I've read have maintained that there was at least one other whistle-blower in times past regarding spying on foreigners and that every big government spies on its' enemies.  If you read any articles about N.S.A. and PRISM, be sure to read the comments.  Often the comments are more informative than the articles.  An example is reproduced below:

 
[Comment from Scarlett in one of the comment sections of an article about PRISM:]

Don't ask your government for your Privacy, take it back:

• Browser Privacy: HTTPS Everywhere, AdBlock Plus + EasyList, Ghostery, NoScript (FireFox), NotScript(Chrome)
• VPNs: BTGuard (Canada), ItsHidden (Africa), Ipredator (Sweden), Faceless.me (Cyprus / Netherlands)
• Internet Anonymization: Tor, Tor Browser Bundle, I2P
• Disk Encryption: TrueCrypt (Windows / OSX / Linux), File Vault (Mac).
• File/Email Encryption: GPGTools + GPGMail (Mac), Enigmail (Windows / OSX / Linux)
• IM Encryption: Pidgin + Pidgin OTR
• IM/Voice Encryption: Mumble, Jitsi
• Phone/SMS Encryption: WhisperSystems, Ostel, Spore, Silent Circle ($$$)
• Google Alternative: DuckDuckGo
• Digital P2P Currency: BitCoin
• Live Anonymous/Secure Linux: TAILS Linux

If you have any problems installing or using the above software, please contact the projects. They would love to get feedback and help you use their software.
Have no clue what Cryptography is or why you should care? Checkout the Crypto Party Handbook or theEFF's Surveillance Self-Defense Project.
Just want some simple tips? Checkout EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy.
If you liked this comment, feel free to copy/paste it.


A few references:  

http://www.tscm.com/NSAsecmanual1.html

http://rense.com/political/weapons/nsa.html

http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-v-nsa-challenge-illegal-spying

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/

https://epic.org/privacy/nsa/epic_v_nsa.html
 
http://www.nsawatch.org/

http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/ECHELON/echelon.html
 
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Security_Agency

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_nsa.htm

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/13377-nsa-we-will-illegally-spy-on-citizens-only-when-absol

http://www.pcworld.com/article/188581/The_GoogleNSA_Alliance_Questions_and_Answers.html

http://www.fastcompany.com/3000879/nsa-wants-hackers-and-it-wants-them-its-side

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/03/04/nsa-utah-data-center-visit/

http://nsa.gov1.info/utah-data-center/ 

http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/dead_drop/nsa/
 
http://www.naturalnews.com/NSA.html

http://www.examiner.com/topic/nsa

https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=nsa

http://mashable.com/category/nsa/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/nsa

http://www.ndtv.com/topic/nsa

https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying

6/6/2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/prism-collection-documents/
6/7/2013
http://www.nsa.gov/    *last modified 6/7/2013
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/nsa-memo-4th-amendment-92416.html
6/8/2013

6/9/2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/09/usa-security-identity-boozallen-urgent-c-idUSL2N0EL0A120130609
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-09/nsa-whistleblower-reveals-himself
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance 
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/10/1214996/-Ed-Snowden-Broke-The-Law
http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/government/homeland_security_patriot_act_fema/news.php?q=1370873093
6/10/2013
http://abcnews.go.com/US/secret-history-nsa-contractors/story?id=19366914#.Ub03ci_hdTE
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/06/hong-kong-edward-snowdens-mistake/66054/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-usa-security-iceland-idUSBRE9590OK20130610
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/06/snowden-us-china-hacking/66242/ 
http://americablog.com/2013/06/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance.html
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130609/22400623385/nsa-whistleblower-ed-snowden-my-desk-i-could-wiretap-anyone-you-federal-judge-president-us.shtml
6/11/2013
http://mg.co.za/article/2013-06-11-nsa-offers-intelligence-to-uk-counterparts-to-skirt-uk-law
http://world.time.com/2013/06/11/last-seen-in-hong-kong-edward-snowden-slips-away/
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/06/what-extradition-proceedings-against-ed-snowden-would-look-like----and-how-the-us-might-get-around-t.php
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/11/report-nsa-contract-worker-is-surveillance-source/ 
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-06-11/news/bs-te-lindsay-mills-edward-snowden-20130611_1_nsa-laurel-girlfriend 
6/12/2013 
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/06/12/tester-actually-snowdens-leak-didnt-damage-national-security/
http://pundit.co.nz/content/ed-snowden-could-come-to-nz
6/13/2013
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/13/congress-interrogates-intelligence-officials-on-da/
http://news.yahoo.com/ed-snowden-got-secrets-185839357.html
6/14/2013
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/14/nsa-leaker-ed-snowden-used-banned-thumb-drive-exce/
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130613/17490723465/leaked-nsas-talking-points-defending-nsa-surveillance.shtml
http://mg.co.za/article/2013-06-13-ed-snowden-the-geek-who-blew-prism-to-pieces
6/15/2013
http://news.yahoo.com/companies-disclose-surveillance-deal-u-010442116.html;_ylt=Ah4lxcswrq.qP0oFzDdi4tus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTRhaHU0Z3Y5BG1pdANTZWN0aW9uTGlzdCBGUCBUZWNobm9sb2d5BHBrZwMzM2Q1N2IwMS1hMjUzLTNhZDktYWJiNC01MWNjMjMxYjhhNDYEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhU2VjdGlvbkxpc3QEdmVyA2RhMDkzOGEyLWQ1N2EtMTFlMi04ZWVmLTYzMDAwYzc0YTI0MA--;_ylg=X3oDMTFkcW51ZGliBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA--;_ylv=3
http://news.yahoo.com/officials-nsa-programs-broke-plots-20-nations-233703820.html
6/16/2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/16/us-usa-security-idUSBRE95F00B20130616?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

 

Twitter Rolls Over Beethoven Mini Surf Up

Well, well.  Larry the Twitter bird was forced to tweet the I.P. addys of Guido Fawkes, @p0isAn0n, @OccupyBoston and all of the folks who #BostonPD during a short week in December.  One wonders how many folks retweeted anything identified as #BostonPD.  Kudos to the ACLU for speaking out though.

On top of that, a twit who stated that he wanted to have S&M sex with a woman named Michele [why oh why?] will have his identity turned over to a grand jury.  If he had merely stated his intense infatuation with her and that he wanted to marry her, would his 140 word claim to fame had been adjudged a possible threat?

Lamar Smith's "Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act" is up, just biding its' wait time until the House of Rep can get to it.  And yes, it is just another way for the Government et. al. to spy on Joe Average or Not-So-Average Citizen.  Much as demanding the e-mails of the #BostonPD hash tag users who were either actively participating or retweeting a conversation under the guise of looking for possible criminals, this Act is just another witch hunt without any specific suspects being targeted.

In the interest of convenience to mili police departments everywhere and perhaps also to giant advertising corporations, Facebook's timeline will be mandatory by this time next week.  No opting out of that one.  Six days remain to purge anything that you don't want included on your timeline.  I sneer at Facebook.

Two Louisiana State University students weigh in on Anonymous-- one pro and one con-- for their school e-pub Isureveille.  Both students can be followed on Twitter of course. [ @TDR_dscheu and @TDR_ccrockett ]. 
     I don't think Anonymous deserves the National Security Agency designation of "terrorist organization."  Furthermore, the fact that a script kiddie can help bring down a website via a tool that he or she can download from the internet (without knowing a bit of code) is total FAIL on the parts of the folks who are in charge of making sure their company websites are not prone to attacks.  The problem is security vs. privacy.  Even large brand name companies have been found to be lacking in following common sense ideas.  Paypal's usage of plain text to store their customers' passwords springs easily to mind.  And I am supposed to trust that my ISP, Google +, and other sites are good at keeping my wallet info secure?  Uh, no.  That is ridiculous.   
     Comparing the hacking of websites to burning down a building is a bit of a stretch.  I find that to be a piss poor analogy.  Not too many revolutions are accomplished without bloodshed and destruction.  Many people have died for freedom.  And many more will.  I am willing to die for freedom.  Freedom is under attack these days.  The freedom that is under attack is much bigger than the sharing of information being circumscribed.  We need information in order to create change.  The status quo is against the free flow of information because the status quo wants to remain the status quo.  Business as usual is not okay.  Legislating morality: shoving the morality of corporations such as the Roman Catholic Church down the throats of their secular employees is not okay.  Corporate "personhood" should never trump an individual's conscience.  We the people need to know what the higher ups are doing.  Business as usual allows government figures to wiretap offices for their own purposes.  Business as usual does not want us to know about it.
     Over protests by business as usual, the Pentagon papers were published in book form designed for consumption by the general public.  Wikileaks gives anyone with access to a computer the ability to read what some governments and agencies would rather us not see.  Anonymous is a meme that points out the flaws in a system that very often divides people up on the bases of who they are and who they know and how much of the local currency they have been able to amass.

Against this backdrop of fouled tweets and bad legislation hiding under the coats of "oh but we must save the children" and the sharing of the poisoned NSA sacrificial well water, there arises songs for freedom as beautiful as those composed by Beethoven and his pet starling.  My own atheist non-soul was immediately won over by The Church of Reality website.  How refreshing it was for me to find this bastion of wisdom in the midst of other internet clutter!  The bird of freedom flown by the Church of Reality does not bear the first name of Larry.

This morning I also found the EFF's https add-on for Firefox and a list from 2007 of hosting sites that will stand by freedom of speech.  Although the list is old, I do plan to go through it with the idea toward finding a place to mirror my blogs and to move my blogs should that ever become necessary.

radical sapphoq says: radical sapphoq already said it today.  Scroll up.

Today is March 2, 2012.  Don't forget to participate in Black March:

Don't buy any books, cds, movies during the month of March.  Send a clear message to Big Hollywood that we resist any attempts to control where we go and what we do here on the Internet. 

Kudos to my s.o. who has decided to join the boycott in spite of not knowing what I am talking about most of the time.  Love ya, sweetie.

http://blog.sfgate.com/crime/2012/02/29/tweeter-cant-stay-anonymous-judge-rules/?gta=commentlistpos#commentlistpos

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20220302twitter_surrenders_data_in_hack_probe/

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9224668/Advocacy_group_takes_aim_at_anti_porn_bill_requiring_ISP_data_retention?taxonomyId=144

http://www.lsureveille.com/news/facebook-timeline-to-become-mandatory-1.2693873

http://www.lsureveille.com/opinion/head-to-head-civil-disobedience-is-not-an-act-of-terrorism-1.2709146

http://www.lsureveille.com/opinion/head-to-head-anonymous-is-evil-and-threatens-freedom-1.2709190

http://www.churchofreality.org/wisdom/welcome_home/

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

http://whdb.com/2007/free-speech-hosting-11-web-hosts-that-wont-dump-you-at-the-first-sign-of-controversy/