This Was Supposed to Be All About Phil Robertson But

     Something happened as I was attempting to write an open letter to Phil Robertson. I am a Duck Dynasty fan and I am an atheist. Those of you who find that to be contradictory-- tell someone who cares. Not all of us non-believers are liberal or progressive or democrats or some combination of the three. I digress.

     The thing is, I was reading through the ton of media and blog coverage on Phil Robertson's remarks to the Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast that took place on Friday morning, March 20th in Vero Beach, Florida. Yeah, I listened to the recordings and watched the videos too.

     Phil Robertson is entitled to freedom of expression, just like every civilian in the United States is. Within that protection, he is allowed to be rude and crude and shocking and controversial. Talking about castration during a breakfast might have made me lose a bit of my appetite had I been there. But I wasn't there. Didn't know about it. Could not have afforded to go if I had been invited. Wasn't invited. Might have preferred to hang on the beach or at a bookstore instead had I been in Florida that morning.

     The rest of us civilians are entitled to freedom of expression too. Some folks have supported Phil. Others have not. And some people have pretty much exercised their freedom to not give a damn. Because as my good buddy Jeremy Crow points out, freedom of speech is not equivalent to freedom to be heard. We cannot fight all the battles there are or attend all the celebratory parties either.

     At first, I thought I hope Phil isn't suffering from some sort of neurological condition or disorder that would make inhibiting his dis-inhibitions tougher. [Between the changes after my brain injury and watching dad getting swallowed up by Lewy Body Dementia, there remains no mystery as to why I would think that almost immediately]. Then I thought, Geez, Phil Robertson doesn't think that we atheists have morals or values. Finally I said to myself, "I don't really know what he thinks. He is a dude on the teevee on a show that I love."

     Where his comments outrageous? Sure. Shocking? Yup. Do I approve of his parable about the atheist family? Nope. Does that mean he ought not to have said that stuff? Nope. Could he have expressed his point better? That's an opinion question. Will I continue to watch Duck Dynasty? Yep.

     Detractors talked about Phil Robertson having some kind of sick fantasy life. Defenders talked about moral relativism. I wasn't sure about this moral relativism stuff so I had to look it up. Some percentage of Christians are opposed to moral relativism. So Phil Robertson is a Christian who is opposed to moral relativism. Okay. Fine. I get that. Cool. And then I discovered that I fit-- somewhere-- into that scale of morally relativistic, although I am not sure of exactly where. Because there are things that I recognize as being wrong. I wanted to be some kind of Ayn Rand when I grew up, or at least a Nathaniel Branden. Instead I discovered that I am a sort of libertarian anarchist with decided ideas about less government being more fun. Which perhaps borrows something from each of them but with a slightly different spin.

     Christians who believe in absolute morality e.g. "God said it's wrong so it is" have a hard time understanding that atheists too possess morality. Rejection of a personal belief in any gods does not mean an automatic rejection of any sort of moral standards. Wherever morality and conscience come from, believers say the deity of their choice delivered the laws to live by and gave us individual consciences. Non-believers may cite Hammurabi's Code and then go on to talk about the evolutionary process and perhaps cultures and stuff like that.

     Then I ran into this article about The Islamic State training kids in the fine art of beheading people. 
http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/54915/20150326/isis-recruits-over-400-children-as-cubs-of-the-caliphate-training-includes-beheading.htm  Uh. That there is wrong. The Islamic State or ISIS or those other initials that I can never remember indicate people following a version of Islam which is also caught up in the usurption of power and lives from a bunch of other nations and people.

     From there, my brain and my fingers jumped to some articles on the National Prayer Breakfast held on Feburary 5, 2015 in Washington D.C. at the Hilton. Not your average local diner or small restaurant. The guest list included the Dalai Lama dude in spite of protests by China over interference of other nations in the affairs of Tibet.

     Whether or not the current president is a "secret Muslim," he is doing a piss-poor job of convincing people otherwise. And then I made a judgement call. What President Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast was far, far worse than what Phil Robertson said at the Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast. Obummer's appeal to the religious to remember that no one's god wants them to go whupping ass at random did not have any good effect on me. His stunning revelation that Christians did the Crusade thing back in the Middle Ages left me coldly shrieking in rage. Yo, the Crusades were a response to the Muslims of that time doing invasions. And many more people have been slaughtered by the uh extremist jihadists who we aren't supposed to believe are true Muslims than by the Crusaders. Besides that, the Crusades ain't happening now. 

     We are living in a world where people get beheaded and stuff gets blown up. A world where some little kids strap on suicide vests and other little kids learn how to behead their perceived enemies. A world where Islam itself has not yet proven that it can take a seat at the prayer breakfast table. 

     There's gangs of young people roaming around London imposing Sharia law at will. And other places too are getting thrust into this sort of stuff. What gives them the right? Every time we try to play nice with the ruffians who are endeavoring to take over the sandbox, we give them that right. Our president-- America first and all of that, home of the brave and the free-- gives them that right when he preaches his gospel of denial.

     Mr. President, your denial is threatening our way of life. The Islamic State or ISIS or whatever you wish to call it is composed of people following some version of Islam. They are Muslims. Not all Muslims want to implement or live under sharia law. But and however, the ones making the most noise right now are. Your failure to address this current event-- the attempted takeover by those favoring Sharia law-- sucks. 

     Furthermore, I am still not over the notion that you visited Saudi Arabia recently in order to pay homage to both a dead king and a live king. Saudi Arabia, country of public beheadings. Don't you dare tell me that the folks in charge over there are not Muslims.

     And by the way Mr. President, some of us still fervently believe that human lives are far more important than big oil. Some of us acknowledge that we as a nation need to become independent of and and all oil that originates in other nations apart from this one, and that we need to develop technology for transportation that does not involve consumption of oil-- in that order, period. We need to make some tough decisions as a nation. If you are incapable of doing that, then you deserve to be voted out next time or not to run at all.

     You've encouraged (and that is putting it mildly) the N.S.A. and those other agencies to collect metadata on everyone everywhere to the point where sifting the threats and the possible threats from the non-threats is a daunting task (to put it mildly). Our fundamental right to some privacy has been eroded. You have cut the military defense budget. That is the height of stupidity given what is happening all over with the proponents of Sharia law. Then you tell the U.N. that ISIS is not Muslim and you tell a prayer breakfast stuff about distorted faith. 

     Maybe Phil Robertson can pound some sense into your head, Mr. President. At least he is clear about exactly what the Islamic State is composed of and exactly what their aim is. And he has a plan for ISIS too. Phil Robertson is not living in a fairy tale world Mr. President. You are.


References

This is wrong:

http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/54915/20150326/isis-recruits-over-400-children-as-cubs-of-the-caliphate-training-includes-beheading.htm


Sharia Law:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/frontpagemag-com/video-muslims-enforcing-sharia-law-on-the-streets-of-london/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcsG-u2GtZE

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/7428933/Muslim-gangs-imposing-sharia-law-in-British-prisons.html

http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/02/swedish-police-release-extensive-report-detailing-control-of-55-no-go-zones-by-muslim-criminal-gangs/

http://www.akdart.com/islam10.html



Obama and the Christian vs. ISIS thing: [National Prayer Breakfast 2/5/2015]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/05/remarks-president-national-prayer-breakfast

http://www.wsj.com/articles/obamas-crusades-1423256805

http://madworldnews.com/obama-jihad-crusades/

http://www.christianpost.com/news/franklin-graham-responds-to-obamas-isis-christian-prayer-breakfast-comparison-jesus-lived-for-peace-mohammed-killed-innocent-people-133714/

http://www.joelrieves.com/why-thats-just-crazy-talk/

http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/us/this-video-blows-up-obamas-argument-about-the-crusades-verses-islamic-extremists-today

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/02/06/mad-bill-donohue-demands-apology-from-obama-for-the-presidents-mention-of-the-crusades-and-the-inquisition/

http://www.religionnews.com/2015/02/05/obama-condemns-distorted-faith-national-prayer-breakfast/

http://www.tpnn.com/2015/03/08/jackie-mason-slams-obama-for-insulting-bibi-not-isis/

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/02/jim_crow_south_s_lynching_of_blacks_and_christianity_the_terror_inflicted.single.html


Phil Robertson at Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast 3/20/2015
mostly supportive reactions, or attempts to be neutral:
     
http://www.trunews.com/friday-march-20-2015-phil-robertson/
   ~ part of Phil Robertson talk as broadcasted on trunews radio ~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7yCksfdINE
   ~ Phil Robertson's acceptance speech at C.PAC

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/bristolpalin/2013/12/leave-phil-robertson-alone/

http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/54890/20150325/duck-dynasty-patriarch-phil-robertson-receives-criticism-for-comparing-violence-to-atheism.htm

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2015/03/25/debunked-medias-latest-ignorant-bigoted-attack-on-duck-dynastys-phil-robertson/

http://www.trunews.com/friday-march-20-2015-phil-robertson/

http://thehayride.com/2015/02/louisianas-own-phil-robertson-wins-the-breitbart-free-speech-award-at-cpac-calls-stds-revenge-of-the-hippies/

http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2015/03/phil-robertson-atheist-rant-slammed-by-critics-defended-by-suppo/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheHollywoodGossip+%28The+Hollywood+Gossip%29

http://ca.thetruth24.com/article/41330/phil-robertson-condemned-for-offensive-morality-tale-that-imagines-rape-and-murder-of-atheist-family

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2015/03/25/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-under-fire-for-graphic-anti-atheist-speech-at-prayer-breakfast/?intcmp=features



Moral Relativism:

http://www.moral-relativism.com/
     
http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_moral_relativism.html

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Moral_relativism

https://carm.org/moral-relativism

http://www.peterkreeft.com/audio/05_relativism/relativism_transcription.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_ethics



morals: where do they come from?

http://www.vice.com/read/sorry-religions-human-consciousness-is-just-a-consequence-of-evolution

http://www.livescience.com/47799-morality-religion-political-beliefs.html

https://thezephyrlounge.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/where-do-my-morals-come-from/



mostly against Phil Robertson's morality illustration:

http://blackchristiannews.com/2015/03/duck-dynastys-phil-robertson-under-fire-again-for-telling-graphic-atheist-story-at-prayer-breakfast/

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2015/03/mobile_atheists_react_to_duck.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/phil-robertson-atheist-rape_n_6936662.html

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/phil-robertson-hypothesizes-about-atheist-family-getting-raped-and-killed

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/brotherrichard/2015/3/duck-dynastys-phil-robertson-says-if-an-atheist-family-is-raped-and-killed-they-would-discover-right-and-wrong/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/3/25/when-phil-robertson-fantasized-about-the-rape-and-murder-of-an-atheist-family-what-part-did-he-leave-out/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/03/24/duck-dynasty-daddy-muses-about-atheist-family-getting-raped-shot-beheaded-castrated-to-show-how-god-is-good/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/excommunications/2015/3/phil-robertsons-shocking-bet-has-a-simple-answer/

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/07/19/new-study-shows-breakdown-of-people-who-believe-you-need-god-to-be-good/

http://radaronline.com/photos/bayou-logic-or-hate-speech-duck-dynasty-stars-28-most-shocking-quotes-of-all-time/photo/614117/



http://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/24/duck-dynasty-star-fantasizes-rape-murder-atheist-family-prayer-breakfast.html

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/03/duck-dynasty-star-fantasizes-about-atheist

http://www.ringoffireradio.com/2015/03/duck-dynasty-hick-uses-daughter-rape-castration-and-decapitation-to-preach-god/

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2015/03/duck-dynasty-beard-in-chief-fantasizes.html

http://www.nola.com/entertainment/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2015/03/phil_robertson_rape_murder_ath.html

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/26/phil-robertson-morality-tale-has-atheists-daughters-raped-and-shot-wife-beheaded-and-man-castrated/

http://www.inquisitr.com/1952056/duck-dynastys-phil-robertson-salivates-over-rape-and-castration-of-atheist-analogy-to-prove-point-about-the-goodness-of-god/

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/25/duck-dynasty-star-phil-robertson-under-fire-over-graphic-comments-about-atheists-rape-and-murder/

https://storify.com/cmgnationalnews/duck-dynasty-star-phil-robertson-under-fire-for-a?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=publisher&utm_campaign=embed-header

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/duck-dynasty-star-fantasizes-about-atheist-familys-brutal-rape-and-murder-to-make-point-about-gods-law/

http://www.salon.com/2015/03/24/decapitate_her_head_off_phil_robertsons_vile_message_to_atheists/

http://hurryupharry.org/2015/03/25/phil-robertsons-atheist-family-fantasy/

https://thezephyrlounge.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/commentary-on-abstract-morality-a-response-to-phil-robertsons-recent-atheism-commentary/

http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2015/03/duck-dynasty-dude-openly-fantasizes.html

    

Pay Attention: Medicare vs. ObamaCare and "Free Home Visits"

I took the photograph, tubed it, modified the background, and added the phrase. You can save it to somewhere on your computer and you can also re-upload it to any social media site. Link-back to this blog is not required.
If you are a copyright troll, I have no use for you so go away.

Obama is planning to take some Medicare funds slated to pay for Medicare medical insurance things and transfer that over to help pay for ObamaCare type stuff. I recently got a form letter from my medical insurance company [the insurance company from where I get my Medicare replacement insurance] telling me that they have "partnered with" a firm which is offering me the wonderful and thrilling privilege of having a nurse practitioner visit me in my home "for free." This nurse practitioner from the firm is able to take my blood and my pee sample, perform a "non-invasive" medical exam, and I can talk to him or her about any  medical concerns that I am hesitant to tell my physician about.

I researched the firm offering me this service. The firm is called Matrix Medical. What I found was that several of the larger medical insurance companies are targeting their Medicare old people, Medicare disabled people, and their Medicare old disabled people for visits by Matrix Medical [and comparable other firms].

During this "free" visit [I found the form also], the nurse practitioner will be asking stuff like:
     You got a health care proxy?
     You got a living will?
     Have you ever drank too much?
     Have you ever taken drugs not prescribed for you? Which ones?
     When was your last _______________ ? [medical tests and exams]

and he or she will "inspect your home" for anything that indicates a risk for falling. And so on.

But see, the thing is, Matrix Medical is not offering this service out of the goodness of its corporate heart. Oh no. This is being offered to "us" to pick up more codes on what is wrong with us a.k.a. our medical conditions because each diagnostic code is worth money. Money that would otherwise be transferred to help pay for ObamaCare. Money which the Medicare replacement insurance company could get once the nurse practitioner calls our primary care docs in order to have them include these extra codes on our patient charts. It is basically a scheme to keep any "extra?" monies within the Medicare replacement insurance company system rather than have it be line item transferred to the ObamaCare system. Head spinning yet?

Of course there is also the collection of health data, and the tracking of old/disabled/old and disabled people into disease management and/or case management.

We had one hang-up call. The number when reverse traced belongs to Matrix Medical. Apparently when I didn't answer the robot thingy that was calling me fast enough, the connection terminated. Reports on the scam phone call sites indicate that this number allegedly called some people more than once. Then someone wrote that Matrix Medical is legit. But the old people are getting called repeatedly and harassed to allow the home visit. Once an old/disabled/old and disabled person says no to the home visit, they may be offered an appointment at some facility instead or pressured to sign a form that does not have any filled in information on it and send it back to Matrix Medical.

The comments on the "what is it like to work for ___________ ?" sites indicate some employees are happy at Matrix Medical while others acknowledge that the telemarketing job in particular leads to nowhere and that the nurse practitioners are overworked unless they are among the management favorites. One or two of the telemarketers feel badly that they were hired to pressure the old people into accepting these appointments.

A few news articles and investigative journalism pieces indicate that the firms offering this home visit "service" fought when Congress wanted to ban this crap and so it is currently still allowed.

Another article admitted that people in ObamaCare may be subjected to this same sort of code-inflating hunt thing but not for two years. Because ObamaCare wants to be evaluated without inflating the codes first. Great, huh?

Meanwhile, the medical insurance companies have targeted the old/disabled/old and disabled folks on Medicare replacement medical insurance part of their businesses for now and several of the larger medical insurance companies  have "partnered with" these firms.

radical sapphoq says: No, these people will not be allowed into my home, to make an appointment with me, or to pressure me into signing any sort of paper for them. I've included links so you'll can look up this stuff too if you want to. If you do nothing else, you should read some of the articles about this over at The Center for Public Integrity website listed at the end of this post.

References

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-657-3998  Matrix Medical calls.

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8886573998  Matrix Medical calls.

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8886573998/2  Matrix Medical calls.

https://www.callercenter.com/727-260-5414.html  Matrix Medical calls.


       *Medicare Rights site*
http://www.medicarerights.org/about-us/



http://www.ibx.com/pdfs/providers/communications/update/supplementary/sample_health_risk.pdf Matrix Medical form to be filled out by nurse practitioner.


http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Matrix-Medical-Reviews-E399732.htm employees assessments of working conditions at Matrix Medical.

http://www.indeed.com/cmp/Matrix-Medical-Network/reviews employees assessments of working conditions at Matrix Medical.


https://www.logisticare.com/logisticare-news.php 2nd blurb down; another company to acquire Matrix Medical.

http://www.trademarkia.com/matrix-medical-network-76342013.html Trademark search for Matrix Medical Network.


http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0801/0801.coding.html  Why lax coding is bad.

http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/content/michael-quilty-ceo-matrix-medical-network?page=full Matrix Medical C.E.O. speaks.

http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Health-Plans/MedicareAdvtgSpecRateStats/Downloads/Advance2014.pdf dated Feb. 2013

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120725006658/en/Matrix-Medical-Network-Provide-Medicare-Advantage-Home announcement of one partnership with Humana.

http://www.agentpipeline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/In-Home-Health-Well-Being-Program-Assessment-FAQs-AP-503.pdf Humana's spin on Matrix Medical, for their medical consumers.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2014/01/06/more-cuts-in-store-for-medicare-plans-heres-the-options-that-will-shrink-most-for-seniors/  Humana derives 70% of its business from Medicare.




     *list of articles re: Medicare Advantage Money Grab from The Center for Public Integrity*

http://www.publicintegrity.org/health/medicare/medicare-advantage-money-grab

http://www.publicintegrity.org/health/medicare/medicare-advantage-money-grab?page=1

Why I Am Not a Fan of Obama Part One

I have not been happy with Barack Obama's performance in office for quite some time now. Two of his egregious offences concern the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and his recent visit to Saudi Arabia. In this post, I will deal with the T.P.P.

In truth, the T.P.P. has been in the pipeline for some time now. Its progenitor was known as Pacific Three Closer Economic Partnership according to Wikipedia and first reared its head as near as I can figure in 2002. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership]. Obama seems to be involved in the summits which have occurred since 2010 in some way that I cannot figure.

The thing is, the T.P.P. is comprehensive and lacks transparency unless you happen to be a Big Corporation. The rest of us, the public, have pretty much been left in the dark. This monster has proceeded and gained momentum without any input from those of us who are the public. Fortunately, Wikileaks has obtained a leaked document [https://wikileaks.org/tpp/#QQG] which was released in November 2013. Regardless of what you think about Julian Assange, if you care at all about intellectual property laws, the criminalization of D.R.M.-ripping devices in order to make copies for one's own use, the monitoring of your activities on-line by your I.S.P. and more, then go here [https://wikileaks.org/tpp/static/pdf/Wikileaks-secret-TPP-treaty-IP-chapter.pdf] right now and download your own copy of the thing. Then read it. At least read the parts pertaining to copyrights.

Copyrights are not the only thing at stake in the T.P.P. Concerns have also been expressed about benefits to Big Pharma at the detriment of specifically New Zealand. Doctors Without Borders [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership] and The Lancet [http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/opinion/66226074/Trans-Pacific-Partnership-may-raise-drug-prices] have raised concerns about what the T.P.P. will do to drug prices.

Also at stake are product safety rules [http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/16/trading-us-democracy-for-corporate-profits-with-tpp/] for agricultural products coming into the United States. They will not be as stringent as the current safety protections that we have are. There is concern about jobs [http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-urge-congress-to-reject-trans-pacific-partnership-20150216], and a lessening of "environmental and health safeguards" [https://www.citizen.org/tpp].

After the T.P.P., watch out for the T.T.I.P. [http://americanfreepress.net/?p=22700] Trans-Atlantic Trade Investment Partnership which will be more of the same geared at Europe.

radical sapphoq says: The T.P.P. is due to be fast-tracked in D.C. sooner rather than later. There will be zero amendments or alterations allowed. Quite frankly, I intend to vote out of office any rep in my geographical region that votes yes on this monstrocity.

References [in no particular order]:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/opinion/66226074/Trans-Pacific-Partnership-may-raise-drug-prices

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/editorials/66223914/Trans-Pacific-Partnership-Trade-deal-secrecy-par-for-the-course

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/16/trading-us-democracy-for-corporate-profits-with-tpp/

http://americanfreepress.net/?p=22700

http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-urge-congress-to-reject-trans-pacific-partnership-20150216

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership

https://www.citizen.org/tpp

http://tppinfo.org/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/09/1362851/-Why-isn-t-President-Obama-talking-about-the-Trans-Pacific-Partnership-deal

https://wikileaks.org/tpp/#QQG

https://wikileaks.org/tpp/static/pdf/Wikileaks-secret-TPP-treaty-IP-chapter.pdf

Obummer Nation

unDear President Obama, I mean Obummer,

     I hate what you are doing.  I hate big government looking over our shoulders snooping our e-mails with their bots and programs and lists of phobic words.  I hate drones and the N.S.A. and the mockery that you have made of your promise for "more transparency in government."  Yeah right.  Ain't gonna happen.

     I hate you calling the sanctuary that Russia offered to Ed Snowden a product of a throwback to the Cold War thinking.  You, Obummer, are the one engaging in shameful antics.  Russia is doing the right thing.  Sanctuary, or political asylum, used to be something that the United States insisted upon offering those who were being persecuted for their political statements.  If someone was in danger of persecution or electrocution, the United States was considered to be a defender of liberty.  It's in the pledge.  Those words "liberty and justice for all."  Do you still believe those words?

     I get it.  You are pissed off at whistle-blowers in general and at Ed Snowden-- the one who got away-- in particular.  Ed Snowden saw something and said something; as a current popular meme states.  He has guts.  He is an hero.  Nothing you say will change my view of that.  

     I suspect that Ed Snowden had been following what was happening to Bradley Manning in custody.  He followed closely enough to understand that your utterances about transparencies were convenient lies.  He gave up his cushy life so that way the American people [and many other peoples] would become informed about the shit over at the N.S.A.  Meanwhile, Manning is going down.  He will more than likely never walk as a free man again.

     Thankfully, Ed Snowden was able to get himself a top Russian lawyer who advised him that the process which the Wikileaks folks had him engaged in-- requesting asylum from numerous countries-- was FAIL.  Thankfully, as far as we know right now, Ed Snowden is safe from a fate similar to the one that befell Bradley Manning.  You have only your stupid mouth and the mouths of some other politicians to thank for that.  So you didn't exactly go gunning for a "hacker".  You convicted him with your own words before he even saw a court of law.  Some other politicians joined you on that one.  You have no one to blame but yourself and your comrades.

     I am angry, Obummer.  I am really angry.  I don't like what you are doing.  I don't like the direction that I view the country as heading.  I love my country.  Lately, the government has gone all cray cray.  You, Obummer are part of that wank.

          No Love,

          radical sapphoq who will not be part of Obummer Nation     

 

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