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11392. robertjayb - 12/30/2013 3:54:37 AM Is Merkel still pissed off?
LONDON (AP) — A German magazine lifted the lid on the operations of the National Security Agency's hacking unit Sunday, reporting that American spies intercept computer deliveries, exploit hardware vulnerabilities, and even hijack Microsoft's internal reporting system to spy on their targets.
Der Spiegel's revelations relate to a division of the NSA known as Tailored Access Operations, or TAO, which is painted as an elite team of hackers specializing in stealing data from the toughest of targets. 11393. robertjayb - 1/2/2014 8:16:27 PM Yesss! And a Medal of Freedom!
LONDON (AP) — The New York Times and Guardian newspapers have called for clemency for Edward Snowden, saying that the espionage worker-turned-privacy advocate should be praised rather than punished for his disclosures.
Snowden's revelations about the United States' world-spanning espionage activities have ignited a global debate over civil liberties and surveillance. But his mass disclosure of top-secret data has earned him spying charges in the U.S., and he has settled in Russia following an abortive attempt to flee to Latin America.
(AP) 11394. robertjayb - 1/2/2014 9:11:55 PM http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/opinion/edward-snowden-whistle-blower.html?ref=opinion&_r=1& 11395. robertjayb - 1/2/2014 9:17:37 PM http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/01/snowden-affair-case-for-pardon-editorial 11396. alistairconnor - 1/8/2014 11:03:03 AM I'm sure Robt will love this story... I'm not so sure about Judith or Wombat.
Burglars Who Took On F.B.I. Abandon Shadows - NYTimes.com PHILADELPHIA — The perfect crime is far easier to pull off when nobody is watching. Mark Makela for The New York Times John and Bonnie Raines, two of the burglars, at home in Philadelphia with their grandchildren. So on a night nearly 43 years ago, while Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier bludgeoned each other over 15 rounds in a televised title bout viewed by millions around the world, burglars took a lock pick and a crowbar and broke into a Federal Bureau of Investigation office in a suburb of Philadelphia, making off with nearly every document inside. They were never caught, and the stolen documents that they mailed anonymously to newspaper reporters were the first trickle of what would become a flood of revelations about extensive spying and dirty-tricks operations by the F.B.I. against dissident groups. The burglary in Media, Pa., on March 8, 1971, is a historical echo today, as disclosures by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden have cast another unflattering light on government spying and opened a national debate about the proper limits of government surveillance. The burglars had, until now, maintained a vow of silence about their roles in the operation. They were content in knowing that their actions had dealt the first significant blow to an institution that had amassed enormous power and prestige during J. Edgar Hoover’s lengthy tenure as director.
11397. judithathome - 1/8/2014 8:42:59 PM They are guilty of B&E and should be charged with that....that's known as breaking and entering and they are also thieves. I'm sure the statute of limitations has run out, however.
How would you feel if someone broke into the computer systems at the Centers for Disease Control or your local equivalent and sent off files with the names of every person with AIDS to the newspapers? Because that would be for the greater good of society since people would know not to have unprotected sex with those on the list. So whomever exposed that private info would be doing the country a great service....
On another note, how about posting the names of women scheduled for abortions? So people could come on the day they are scheduled and shame them...oh wait...too late. Most of the abortion clinics are closed. Scratch that example. 11398. alistairconnor - 1/9/2014 12:34:04 PM Whistleblowing is not, in itself, a virtue, nor is it a sin. It is a tactic, and should be judged (by moral people) in function of the intention AND of the effect. The examples you posit may be interesting in themselves, but have no bearing on the FBI break-in I linked.
Here's a classic example : the FBI Hoover created was completely unaccountable and out of control. This burglary, and the subsequent leaks, helped clean it up. Whether the whistleblowers' acts were good or bad is a question of moral judgement.
But if your position is that these people broke the law, therefore they should have been punished, then you are abstaining from moral judgement : it's a purely authoritarian position, of obeissance to the constituted authority, however iniquitous its actions. 11399. wabbit - 1/12/2014 4:34:22 PM RIP Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon, a monumental figure in Israel’s modern history who epitomized the country’s warrior past even as he sought to become the architect of a peaceful future, died Jan. 11 of organ failure eight years after a massive stroke left him in a vegetative state at the height of his political power.
His death, at 85, was confirmed by a senior official in the Israeli prime minister’s office and Dr. Shlomo Noy of the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer near Tel Aviv, where Mr. Sharon had spent his last years. 11400. judithathome - 1/12/2014 6:02:43 PM I guess the "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" jokes will soon start about Sharon. 11401. alistairconnor - 1/12/2014 7:03:02 PM Well, judging by current events in Spain, Franco is no longer dead... Legislation to make abortion illegal, to make demonstrations impossible, all sorts of neo-fascist police state stuff. 11402. wabbit - 1/31/2014 1:29:19 AM In spite of the crazy DNA, Amanda Knox is found guilty again and gets 28 years in absentia. 11403. judithathome - 1/31/2014 7:55:22 PM Alistair, they are taking a page from the USA Playbook! 11404. judithathome - 1/31/2014 7:55:56 PM Knox has no worries...she will never be extradited. 11405. iiibbb - 1/31/2014 10:10:50 PM She might. I've been reading thing that say the actual fairness of her trial might not be in play in an extradition hearing.
I think she's not guilty.
I think the fact it's the same prosecutor who tried and imprisoned 4 different men for the same Monster of Florence crimes says volumes.
I think Italy's justice system is a joke.
They imprisoned seismologists for manslaughter after an Earthquake. WTF?! We should start imprisoning meteorologists when they get a hurricane prediction wrong?
Stupid.
I went to Italy for my honeymoon. Great food. But if you can go to jail for circumstances I can't say I'm planning to revisit there. 11406. judithathome - 2/2/2014 9:04:49 PM Breaking News: Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman dead of drug overdose 11407. Ms. No - 2/3/2014 3:35:13 AM What a sad and terrible waste. Truly a gifted actor -- one of the best. 11408. iiibbb - 2/5/2014 7:35:23 PM The new MSNBC/NBCNEWS website absolutely sucks. I can't stand it. 11409. judithathome - 2/6/2014 1:21:52 AM I agree...I don't know what they paid to end up with that outcome but they got "took". 11410. alistairconnor - 2/6/2014 11:37:13 PM iii : I have a great deal of respect for the Italian justice system. In spite of the Mafia and its siamese twin the Italian political class, they never give up. They started prosecuting Berlusconi decades ago, and he just kept passing new laws to legalize or exonerate his crimes. But they nailed him in the end. 11411. iiibbb - 2/12/2014 11:34:52 PM For the record I have switched to Google News as my news site. It is an aggregation site that you can choose which websites it will draw information from (and you can weight them based on your preference on a scale of 1 to 4). You can also target specific keywords/topics.
It presents it in a relatively quick set of headlines... could be more compact, but because of the customization I'm happy with it.
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