|
11345. judithathome - 12/24/2013 5:46:20 AM I'll just say I find it humorous that people in this country are so up in arms over being "spied upon" when 9/10ths of them are posting things about themselves almost every minute of the day and seem to have no problems whatsoever with revealing their innermost thoughts and feelings AND their actions almost 24/7 but seem soooo upset that the government might be tracking what phone numbers they call. 11346. robertjayb - 12/24/2013 7:02:07 AM Snowden speaks:
WASHINGTON (AP) — National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden said his "mission's already accomplished" after leaking NSA secrets that have caused a reassessment of U.S. surveillance policies
Snowden told The Washington Post in an interview published online Monday night that he was satisfied because journalists have been able to tell the story of the government's collection of bulk Internet and phone records, an activity that has grown dramatically in the decade since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished," he said. "I already won."
(via houston chronicle)
Snowden's "mission accomplished" is a hell of a lot more valid than Shrub Bush's. 11347. robertjayb - 12/24/2013 7:24:25 AM http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/12/22/212456/a-spy-world-reshaped-by-edward.html 11348. Wombat - 12/24/2013 4:40:55 PM No disagreement there. Whether or not it leaves the country better off is still open to question. 11349. Wombat - 12/24/2013 4:54:04 PM No disagreement there. Whether or not it leaves the country better off is still open to question. 11350. alistairconnor - 12/24/2013 5:51:43 PM Wombat : Just a correction : programs that are very much in the US (and and/or its allies') interests.
There is a hell of a lot of stuff about how the US systematically spies on its (alleged) allies. I can understand how Americans may feel that revealing this stuff makes America worse off -- and it's probably even true in the short term (IT export numbers?) -- but I don't think it's a healthy way to behave, in the long term.
As for blown programs which were in its allies interest, I'd like examples (since it's in the public domain anyway). 11351. alistairconnor - 12/24/2013 5:54:09 PM Another point : Snowden is no longer in possession of the raw info. He handed it off to Poitras and Greenwald before he went to Russia. How much control he has over the selection and release of information is open to question : as far as I can see, Poitras and Greenwald are driving that, and doing a good job of what they choose to reveal, in my opinion. But I'm open to other points of view. 11352. arkymalarky - 12/24/2013 7:20:45 PM Fwiw IMHO:
The US created this monster by trying to scoop up tech wizzes without holding them to the same standards as other employees, IMO partly to try to keep up andbpartly to keep them from going elsewhere. Snowden had no business with that kind of access in the first place.
Privacy is important in the database everything age. So is security of info. I don't know that those two things are possible.
To me, too much emphasis is on Snowden and not enough on the NSA. It could have been much worse and it is time for a thorough revamp of the NSA code of operation and reassessment of its purpose and scope.
Just because people can put what they want out there doesn't mean any govt has the right to scoop it all and just because they or any other govt can scoop it up and crunch it in a multitude of ways doesn't mean it should; but it does mean it will. It's the nature of the beast. We live in a different age and, as always, our ethical understanding of how to use our tech is far behind the tech itself.
11353. judithathome - 12/24/2013 7:39:31 PM I guess being the only country in the world spying on their allies does put us in a awkward position.S
(That "S", by the way, stands for sarcasm.) 11354. judithathome - 12/24/2013 7:41:14 PM Another point: Snowden is no longer in possession of the raw info. He handed it off to Poitras and Greenwald before he went to Russia.
Well...that is true if you believe him. His track-record for "honesty" isn't exactly stellar. 11355. robertjayb - 12/24/2013 9:00:03 PM The US created this monster by trying to scoop up tech wizzes...
Snowden had no business with that kind of access in the first place...not sure I agree, he seems a smart guy doing a pretty good job, so far, of evading the suits that want to lock him up forever and always...But that is certainly true on Bradley (or whatever) Manning. That poor dweeb was way, way out of place and the people who put him there should be locked up alongside him...well, maybe not alongside.
The fact that Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush, Wolfowitz, et al, are walking around free taking bows chaps my behind. These "patriots" did far more damage to the country, my country, than Snowden, Manning, and Assange could ever have managed even if they intended harm. 11356. robertjayb - 12/24/2013 9:04:09 PM His track-record for "honesty" isn't exactly stellar.
Is that a "some-say" item or do you have examples? 11357. arkymalarky - 12/24/2013 9:20:49 PM Robert, he was a dropout without the scrutiny, background or training. He was a whiz kid contract worker. That's great, but not reason enough to give him so much access. Our system of gvt contracting is out of control and set to biteusin a HUGE way. 11358. arkymalarky - 12/24/2013 9:21:50 PM I agree with you otherwise. 11359. arkymalarky - 12/24/2013 9:28:44 PM I want to write a book about the corporatization/privatization of the US gvt since 1980, which I had originally centered on public education, though it's much deeper and broader than that, of course; but I'm too busy and lazy. One of you needs to do it. 11360. Wombat - 12/24/2013 10:35:46 PM Snowden had triggered some alarm bells while on contract to the CIA, by trying to access information that he was not cleared for. Somehow--as so often happens--this information did not make it over to the NSA.
Snowden first got his clearance by being in the military, which gives "secret" clearances routinely to its members. 11361. arkymalarky - 12/24/2013 11:49:49 PM If they don't fix those kinds of systemic problems something way worse than Snowden could happen. 11362. judithathome - 12/25/2013 2:38:22 AM Is that a "some-say" item or do you have examples?
Are you shitting me? The guy stole from his employer...to say nothing of his stealing from his government. He stole information and decamped to China...then to Russia...he is a bona fide THIEF. It has nothing to do with "some say"....HE is quite open about the fact.
If I worked for a credit card company and accessed 100 to 1,000 credit card numbers w/security codes and private information about the card holders and took them to another country and threatened to expose or sell them... and then did so with the help of a reporter...would you be asking for "examples"?
11363. judithathome - 12/25/2013 2:53:29 AM Anyhow...Merry Christmas to all...we're going to the movies tomorrow to see American Hustle...apropos, I think. ;-) 11364. arkymalarky - 12/25/2013 3:21:44 AM Mom and Dad loved it.
|
