I've heard/seen Cordesman speak but never made the connection. Looks like audiophiles come from all walks of life (and why not!).
I think he may be right as this all seems to turn around the issue of Snowden and not the fact that all of this is outsourced to unaccountable private players with lousy screening levels, which is what we should be talking about. Not too long ago 3 private contractors with access to this kind of info conspired with the Chamber of Commerce to spy on Americans who didn't like the way business is being conducted.
The cat's been out of the bag for some time now. What interesting times we live in.
All the best,
Nonoise |
There's an awful saying that Germans make great wars and great bear, only to lose wars and have beer bellies. As for their music, one only has to look at Quadro Nuevo to know that classically trained musicians make the best musicians.
All the best,
Nonoise |
Zenblaster,
Yes, absolutely. I just feel it shouldn't be any kind of a barrier when it comes to expressing oneself. The last time I looked this is a free country. Our beliefs extend to everyone on this planet, otherwise, we're just become the biggest gang around with a xenophobic chip on our shoulder.
As for Obama's fortune resting on deregulation, I see it as a parallel to what's going on and not a contributing factor.
All the best,
Nonoise |
Once again our eyes are off the ball. Snowden is a side story. He is one of several, recent whistleblowers that have come forward. As far back as the Viet Nam war, our RP-2E (a variant of the P-2 Neptune) scooped all electronic info, in country, in ONE pass. We also had an office in France that scooped all communications from Europe to America and this was over 50 years ago.
Despite our advances in cable, doesn't anyone here remember how implementation lagged behind the rest of the world because the NSA needed time to figure out how to spy on the network?
I have no qualms about what is done for our security. Look at what we allow of ourselves to be displayed on Facebook and other ridiculous sites. We are an open society that has yet to mature at the level that technology sets the pace.
Accountability is the issue here. Private, for profit companies don't have the inherent patriotism that government does and yet it's these private companies that have the highest clearances and lowest standards as the Snowden affair has demonstrated.
There is recourse when government messes up but next to none when private companies do. They'll simply reorganize and get another contract. Some of these companies have already been caught using our private info for non security purposes (marketing, selling of our info, etc.) and no one complains. In addition, they are soaking us (the taxpayers) by inflating the cost of their services compared to what the government charges.
Snowden admits to intentionally going to Booz Allen to get info he had no right to have access to, among other things. Structurally, we're screwed until better screening practices and standards of operations are put in place.
All the best,
Nonoise |
He's small potatoes. I can think of lots of people who've committed greater crimes and enjoy a celebrity status.
All the best,
Nonoise |
To have no stand on politics is political by its very nature. No one sits idly by and observes. We all participate in one way or another. There is no neutral party or affiliation.
There's an old adage that goes something like: The greatest trick the devil ever did was to convince folk that he doesn't exist.
Taking it one step further, we've all been admonished that politics should never be discussed. What a coup to those who actively conspire against and rob us!
Politics is behind everything. It's at the very heart of our nation. We all either participate or simply give in with our heads in the sand. The Greeks had a word to describe those who refused to participate when their turn came up:
IDIOTA.
All the best,
Nonoise |
Someday it will become apparent that all politics are a sideshow and that oligarchs rule. Go back as far as you want and you have oligarchs at the uppermost level calling the shots with politics used as a veneer, replete with flags and bunting.
Our great democratic experiment is barely surviving thanks to oligarchy. What our founding fathers started was the greatest attempt at a functioning democracy and for awhile, oligarchs were not really present. It didn't take them long to coalesce and solidify their hold (about a 100 years into this experiment).
Their reach is getting worse (stronger). One only has to look at the Tea Party anarchists and the extreme right wing religious anarchists to see just how efficient they are at disabling American democracy dead in its tracks. Germany, Spain, Italy, et al have all gone through this before and we are next on the chopping block. Balkanization has already taken hold and we are adrift in this sea of indecision. It's no wonder the "government" is looking out for itself as it's become a player unto itself, for most part and privatization is a natural outcome as it's just a means to grift off the last and most lucrative entity extant in our democracy.
If you take a step back and look at what's going on, we're kind of modeling this after the Soviet example: one big fire sale of what should remain in the commons.
That's my take on it and I only mention it after what's been penned prior. I'm not looking for an argument. It's only meant to be another way at looking at it. I still have hopes for turning this all around and the pendulum seems to be finally swinging back the way of a democracy or sorts since for all the time it's been on the right, things have really gone to pot. Academics have theorized that it's a generational phenomena of sorts with offspring of conservatives tending towards liberalism and then back again. Who knows?
All the best,
Nonoise |
He was obviously speaking in the first person. |
SunnyJim,
Great quote.
I read that book twice in a row.
All the best,
Nonoise |
Zen, Thanks for the heads up. I like Javier Bardem as an actor. |
Nick_sr,
Great post and if I may say, you never have to qualify your thoughts with a preface on your citizenry. Canada, America, whatever, we're all people and we're entitled to our beliefs. :-)
What you touched on, with the tragedy of the train laden with 50,000 gallons of oil, parallels what I mentioned earlier, namely the result of privatization. Since Reagan and Thatcher, we've been told to hate ourselves through our governments and that the private sector is the solution. Deregulation has led to banking crisis, industrial disasters (remember Texas?), food poisoning, increases in blue collar worker deaths (when they can find a job), outsourcing of jobs, mercenary armies, and intelligence gathering, and look how well it's all turned out.
How far do we have to lower the bar before we realize we've been hoodwinked? We have to opt out of the sharing of personal information but back in the '70s it was illegal to even consider it. A piece of paper denoting a company has more rights than the average citizen and none of the criminal liability. When was the last time you heard of a company getting the death sentence, do time in prison, or get a pap smear or colonoscopy? That train company will just get a fine and keep on keeping on.
The lions share of intelligence gathering that the CIA and NSA conduct is of the commercial variety, not the citizen variety. Yes, they can and do prevent terrorism and keep the bad guys in check, but they also share our personal info for commercial and marketing purposes and to interfere with our rights.
The people who work for the privateers who now do the watching are former NSA and CIA spooks who still have connections. Recently, Coca Cola was at odds with PETA and a former spook offered to go get the government folder on PETA for Coke to use. Great system, huh?
All the best,
Nonoise |
It's so hard not to respond to that. |
Good read on that NYTs article and nice to hear what a former Senator from normal times would say and think. 2/3 of Americans polled fell that Snowden is a whistleblower and only 1/4 feel he's a traitor. The government feels that any potential juror will see him as innocent and that he just did his civic duty. Snowden has already given everything he had when in Hong Kong and it's The Guardian that's releasing the stories. Stories that are vetted with the U.S. government before release. Granted, everything is classified in the "double secret probation" category so the Guardian is carefully screening all releases and so far all that's happened is that there's a lot of shamed and embarrassed people out there. Comey testified for the NSA and perjured himself (a felony) before congress and nothing is going to happen to him. Hmmm. If one looks back through history, since the advent of the phone, the Supreme Court has always sided with the government and allowed wiretapping for whatever reason they could come up with. This is nothing new. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/16/1214827/-Why-the-Fourth-Amendment-Sucks-And-Doesn-t-Prevent-Mass-Electronic-Surveillance-A-Factual-HistoryAll the best, Nonoise |
My apologies, in advance, for what may end up a double posting as it's being "moderator approved". How utterly contemporary. |
Yes, a great read. Just now, on the news, polls show that 2/3 of Americans see Snowden as a whistleblower and only 1/4 as a traitor. They even spoke of the difficulties the government said it would have with a jury who would see him as innocent and doing his civic duty.
When you have NSA head Comey perjure himself (a felony) before congress about the extent of surveillance, that is a bell that cannot be unrung. Nothing will happen to him and the public can see that for what it is. Add to that the fact that Snowden had released everything he had when back in Hong Kong and that it's the Guardian newspaper that is releasing the stories. Snowden has nothing more to add to the mix.
Every story the Guardian releases is vetted by the U.S government. Granted, they say all info is of the "double secret probation" variety so the Guardian carefully vets the stories before releasing them. No one has been harmed but there is a lot of shame and embarrassment to go around for everyone.
I'd like to believe that we, Americans, are mature enough to be told, informed, and advised of what is going on and can make up our own minds. I can handle it, can you?
One more thing as long as I'm here. I did a little research and it turns out that the Supreme Court has never held telephone conversations to the same standard as written correspondence, as written in our constitution. As far back as the early teens of last century, the courts have always held that our phone conversations are up for grabs when it concerns the government.
Electronic surveillance has always been given broad latitude and when looked at it with a historical context, they're not living up to the spirit of the law but they are legally skirting the boundaries of it.
All the best,
Nonoise |
