PRISM What is going on?

[jerrys_kids]

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Seems more like a measure to maintain control...

[close]

Control of? the population so we dont rise up and rebel?

Exactly this, Its only a matter of time until a second revolution happens, but how hard would it be to organize masses without phones or computers?

[TheRealDeal]

Most Americans Support Being Spied on by NSA
?Good German? syndrome runs rampant as government becomes tyrannical

Paul Joseph Watson
June 11, 2013

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has sacrificed his freedom, his future, his family, his home and his model girlfriend in order to warn Americans that they are the targets of a monolithic spy agency which is working feverishly to ensure that privacy is demolished ? and most Americans simply don?t care.

Revelations that the National Security Agency was collecting records of millions of US customers of Verizon under a secret court order issued in April, followed by news that the NSA was also pulling private data ?directly from the servers? of major US service providers such as Google and Facebook, stoked international condemnation, but not from American citizens, most of whom actually support the idea.

?A majority of Americans ? 56% ? say the National Security Agency?s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of Americans is an acceptable way for the government to investigate terrorism,? reports Pew Research Center.

A comparison with a previous poll from January 2006 highlights the fact that more Americans are now likely to support NSA surveillance despite the huge scandal it caused for the Bush administration. Under Bush, 47% found NSA wiretapping of Americans unacceptable whereas just 41% find it unacceptable under Obama.

The poll also finds that whereas 61% of Democrats found blanket NSA surveillance unacceptable under Bush, only 34% oppose it under Obama ? underscoring once again how partisanship is used to dismantle American freedoms no matter who is in office.

The survey also reveals that just one on four Americans are following the NSA story ?very closely,? whereas the other 73% are presumably more interested in the release of the new XBox and season 17 of Dancing With the Stars.

?Sorry Edward Snowden: you just threw your life away for nothing. The sheep have been properly and thoroughly conditioned and brainwashed, which is why they continue to get precisely the government they so rightfully deserve,? writes Zero Hedge.

While the NSA sites the necessity to stop ?terrorism? as its justification for eviscerating the 4th Amendment, the Obama administration is simultaneously supporting Al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria, many of whom have promised to attack the United States once they have finished with Bashar Al-Assad.

The irony of Snowden having to run to Communist China to escape from ?the land of the free? is a chilling subtext to the story. Other authoritarian regimes throughout history have also cited security threats as a reason to put the entire population under surveillance.

As Robert Gellately of Florida State University has highlighted, Germans under Hitler spied on and denounced their neighbors and friends not because they genuinely believed them to be a security threat, but because they expected to selfishly benefit from doing so, both financially, socially and psychologically via a pavlovian need to be rewarded by their masters for their obedience.

That ?Good German? syndrome is very much alive and kicking amongst Americans today, most of whom seem to be completely at ease with the fact that their government is becoming tyrannical while willing to make any excuse imaginable to deny that the United States is beginning to resemble a high-tech plutocracy which treats its own citizens as the enemy.

*********************

[TheRealDeal]

27 Edward Snowden Quotes About U.S. Government Spying That Should Send A Chill Up Your Spine

Michael Snyder

June 11, 2013

Would you be willing to give up what Edward Snowden has given up? He has given up his high paying job, his home, his girlfriend, his family, his future and his freedom just to expose the monolithic spy machinery that the U.S. government has been secretly building to the world. He says that he does not want to live in a world where there isn?t any privacy. He says that he does not want to live in a world where everything that he says and does is recorded. Thanks to Snowden, we now know that the U.S. government has been spying on us to a degree that most people would have never even dared to imagine. Up until now, the general public has known very little about the U.S. government spy grid that knows almost everything about us.

But making this information public is going to cost Edward Snowden everything. Essentially, his previous life is now totally over. And if the U.S. government gets their hands on him, he will be very fortunate if he only has to spend the next several decades rotting in some horrible prison somewhere. There is a reason why government whistleblowers are so rare. And most Americans are so apathetic that they wouldn?t even give up watching their favorite television show for a single evening to do something good for society. Most Americans never even try to make a difference because they do not believe that it will benefit them personally. Meanwhile, our society continues to fall apart all around us. Hopefully the great sacrifice that Edward Snowden has made will not be in vain. Hopefully people will carefully consider what he has tried to share with the world. The following are 27 quotes from Edward Snowden about U.S. government spying that should send a chill up your spine?

#1 ?The majority of people in developed countries spend at least some time interacting with the Internet, and Governments are abusing that necessity in secret to extend their powers beyond what is necessary and appropriate.?

#2 ??I believe that at this point in history, the greatest danger to our freedom and way of life comes from the reasonable fear of omniscient State powers kept in check by nothing more than policy documents.?

#3 ?The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself have the latitude to go further than they are allowed to.?

#4 ??I can?t in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they?re secretly building.?

#5 ?The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything.?

#6 ?With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your e-mails or your wife?s phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your e-mails, passwords, phone records, credit cards.?

#7 ?Any analyst at any time can target anyone. Any selector, anywhere? I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge, to even the President??

#8 ?To do that, the NSA specifically targets the communications of everyone. It ingests them by default. It collects them in its system and it filters them and it analyzes them and it measures them and it stores them for periods of time simply because that?s the easiest, most efficient and most valuable way to achieve these ends. So while they may be intending to target someone associated with a foreign government, or someone that they suspect of terrorism, they are collecting YOUR communications to do so.?

#9 ?I believe that when [senator Ron] Wyden and [senator Mark] Udall asked about the scale of this, they [the NSA] said it did not have the tools to provide an answer. We do have the tools and I have maps showing where people have been scrutinized most. We collect more digital communications from America than we do from the Russians.?

#10 ??they are intent on making every conversation and every form of behavior in the world known to them.?

#11 ?Even if you?re not doing anything wrong, you?re being watched and recorded. ?it?s getting to the point where you don?t have to have done anything wrong, you simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody, even by a wrong call, and then they can use this system to go back in time and scrutinize every decision you?ve ever made, every friend you?ve ever discussed something with, and attack you on that basis, to sort of derive suspicion from an innocent life.?

#12 ?Allowing the U.S. government to intimidate its people with threats of retaliation for revealing wrongdoing is contrary to the public interest.?

#13 ?Everyone everywhere now understands how bad things have gotten ? and they?re talking about it. They have the power to decide for themselves whether they are willing to sacrifice their privacy to the surveillance state.?

#14 ?I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.?

#15 ?I don?t want to live in a world where there?s no privacy, and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity.?

#16 ?I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong.?

#17 ?I had been looking for leaders, but I realized that leadership is about being the first to act.?

#18 ?There are more important things than money. If I were motivated by money, I could have sold these documents to any number of countries and gotten very rich.?

#19 ?The great fear that I have regarding the outcome for America of these disclosures is that nothing will change. [People] won?t be willing to take the risks necessary to stand up and fight to change things? And in the months ahead, the years ahead, it?s only going to get worse. [The NSA will] say that? because of the crisis, the dangers that we face in the world, some new and unpredicted threat, we need more authority, we need more power, and there will be nothing the people can do at that point to oppose it. And it will be turnkey tyranny.?

#20 ?I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.?

#21 ?You can?t come up against the world?s most powerful intelligence agencies and not accept the risk.?

#22 ?I know the media likes to personalize political debates, and I know the government will demonize me.?

#23 ?We have got a CIA station just up the road ? the consulate here in Hong Kong ? and I am sure they are going to be busy for the next week. And that is a concern I will live with for the rest of my life, however long that happens to be.?

#24 ?I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions, and that the return of this information to the public marks my end.?

#25 ?There?s no saving me.?

#26 ?The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won?t be able to help any more. That?s what keeps me up at night.?

#27 ?I do not expect to see home again.?

Would you make the same choice that Edward Snowden made? Most Americans would not. One CNN reporter says that he really admires Snowden because he has tried to get insiders to come forward with details about government spying for years, but none of them were ever willing to?

As a digital technology writer, I have had more than one former student and colleague tell me about digital switchers they have serviced through which calls and data are diverted to government servers or the big data algorithms they?ve written to be used on our e-mails by intelligence agencies. I always begged them to write about it or to let me do so while protecting their identities. They refused to come forward and believed my efforts to shield them would be futile. ?I don?t want to lose my security clearance. Or my freedom,? one told me.

And if the U.S. government has anything to say about it, Snowden is most definitely going to pay for what he has done. In fact, according to the Daily Beast, a directorate known as ?the Q Group? is already hunting Snowden down?

The people who began chasing Snowden work for the Associate Directorate for Security and Counterintelligence, according to former U.S. intelligence officers who spoke on condition of anonymity. The directorate, sometimes known as ?the Q Group,? is continuing to track Snowden now that he?s outed himself as The Guardian?s source, according to the intelligence officers.

If Snowden is not already under the protection of some foreign government (such as China), it will just be a matter of time before U.S. government agents get him.

And how will they treat him once they find him? Well, one reporter overheard a group of U.S. intelligence officials talking about how Edward Snowden should be ?disappeared?. The following is from a Daily Mail article that was posted on Monday?

A group of intelligence officials were overheard yesterday discussing how the National Security Agency worker who leaked sensitive documents to a reporter last week should be ?disappeared.?

Foreign policy analyst and editor at large of The Atlantic, Steve Clemons, tweeted about the ?disturbing? conversation after listening in to four men who were sitting near him as he waited for a flight at Washington?s Dulles airport.

?In Dulles UAL lounge listening to 4 US intel officials saying loudly leaker & reporter on #NSA stuff should be disappeared recorded a bit,? he tweeted at 8:42 a.m. on Saturday.

According to Clemons, the men had been attending an event hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.

As an American, I am deeply disturbed that the U.S. government is embarrassing itself in front of the rest of the world like this.

The fact that we are collecting trillions of pieces of information on people all over the planet is a massive embarrassment and the fact that our politicians are defending this practice now that it has been exposed is a massive embarrassment.

If the U.S. government continues to act like a Big Brother police state, then the rest of the world will eventually conclude that is exactly what we are. At that point we become the ?bad guy? and we lose all credibility with the rest of the planet.

[Goblinshark]

this is in direct conflict with the fourth amendment.  the more i think about it the more infuriating it is.  the fact that people are shrugging it off, even more so.

hit it on the head

[chockfullofthat]

FUCK THAT INFOWARS BULLSHIT!

[TheRealDeal]

Chock,  Just keep sucking your thumb, griping your binky and jerking off to X-Art. 

The totalitarian tip-toe has been creeping up for decades and it's now at the front door.   MASS STOCKHOLM SYNDROME.

[Seamus_McShamebag]

I think the notion that information transmitted electronically, over the air or wire, has ever been private is a little naive.  Even if you shun the tinfoil hat, everyone should at least be aware of the fact that as soon as you transmit something, regardless of how secure you think the form of transmission was, someone can get their hands on it.  For this very reason, I have been sending people Polaroids of my genitals via carrier pigeon for as long as I can remember and, besides the occasional wind storm or magnetic burst resulting in some old man seeing my taint, all has gone well.

At this point most people are aware that electronic information is rarely secure but still take the apathetic side already alluded to that essentially dictates "I don't have anything to hide so who cares".  I catch myself in that one all the time.  The idea of full-on privacy in the U.S. is a bit of a joke anyways but at least the necessity of obtaining a search warrant gives us some semblance of personal rights as outlined by the 4th Amendment.  If the whole idea of some asshole snooping through your personal electronic information doesn't piss you off than just imagine if the same violation was made to your personal living space.  You come home in the middle of the day and a government employee is in your house, rifling through your shit for no reason other than that they wanted to see what you are up to.  Would you not be pissed even if they didn't find anything and you weren't doing anything wrong? That's some Gestapo-esque type bullshit behavior.  Electronic privacy shouldn't be treated any differently.

[TheRealDeal]

I think the notion that information transmitted electronically, over the air or wire, has ever been private is a little naive.  Even if you shun the tinfoil hat, everyone should at least be aware of the fact that as soon as you transmit something, regardless of how secure you think the form of transmission was, someone can get their hands on it.  For this very reason, I have been sending people Polaroids of my genitals via carrier pigeon for as long as I can remember and, besides the occasional wind storm or magnetic burst resulting in some old man seeing my taint, all has gone well.

At this point most people are aware that electronic information is rarely secure but still take the apathetic side already alluded to that essentially dictates "I don't have anything to hide so who cares".  I catch myself in that one all the time.  The idea of full-on privacy in the U.S. is a bit of a joke anyways but at least the necessity of obtaining a search warrant gives us some semblance of personal rights as outlined by the 4th Amendment.  If the whole idea of some asshole snooping through your personal electronic information doesn't piss you off than just imagine if the same violation was made to your personal living space.  You come home in the middle of the day and a government employee is in your house, rifling through your shit for no reason other than that they wanted to see what you are up to.  Would you not be pissed even if they didn't find anything and you weren't doing anything wrong? That's some Gestapo-esque type bullshit behavior.  Electronic privacy shouldn't be treated any differently.

Thanks for the first part! Gallows humor.

Regarding that second part:

 ?If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged.?

-Cardinal Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis

[jerrys_kids]

Does anybody else have more quality examples of what youre afraid the government will do with your data?

I think the issue for alot of people is not "what are they going to do with the data", they are concerned because where does it end? If this is deemed "ok" to do then what comes next? This is a direct violation of the 4th amendment, how many other amendments will they openly violate because they feel they can. The government has been using scare tactics on its own citizens for years, "this will help combat terrorism" or "if we don't do this then the economy will collapse" (Bank Bailouts), they do whatever they can to gain as much power as possible and make us feel all warm and fuzzy giving it to them.

[few123456789]

I think the notion that information transmitted electronically, over the air or wire, has ever been private is a little naive.  Even if you shun the tinfoil hat, everyone should at least be aware of the fact that as soon as you transmit something, regardless of how secure you think the form of transmission was, someone can get their hands on it.  For this very reason, I have been sending people Polaroids of my genitals via carrier pigeon for as long as I can remember and, besides the occasional wind storm or magnetic burst resulting in some old man seeing my taint, all has gone well.

At this point most people are aware that electronic information is rarely secure but still take the apathetic side already alluded to that essentially dictates "I don't have anything to hide so who cares".  I catch myself in that one all the time.  The idea of full-on privacy in the U.S. is a bit of a joke anyways but at least the necessity of obtaining a search warrant gives us some semblance of personal rights as outlined by the 4th Amendment.  If the whole idea of some asshole snooping through your personal electronic information doesn't piss you off than just imagine if the same violation was made to your personal living space.  You come home in the middle of the day and a government employee is in your house, rifling through your shit for no reason other than that they wanted to see what you are up to.  Would you not be pissed even if they didn't find anything and you weren't doing anything wrong? That's some Gestapo-esque type bullshit behavior.  Electronic privacy shouldn't be treated any differently.

Thanks so much man, those pictures are great!  LOL.  It is Gestapo shit.  And Gipper will hate this and probably the rest of SLAP, but what if they even suspect you own a gun that is not legal?  Are they OK to come into my home and look for my non-existent guns because a family member e-mailed me about his collection?  Great point -- there is no difference in going through your home or your e-mail on rumor alone.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

Chock,  Just keep sucking your thumb, griping your binky and jerking off to X-Art. 

The totalitarian tip-toe has been creeping up for decades and it's now at the front door.   MASS STOCKHOLM SYNDROME.

He actually has a point, you are on the right side on this issue, but your sources are fucking god awful. Full interviews with Snowden are available and the "27 quotes" guy clearly had access to it, but he did this weird and creepy cut-and-paste job that eliminates context. Instead of linking to the interviews, he decides what he wants you to hear, and in turn, makes it what HE is saying, not snowden. It has a seriously creepy brainwashing feel to it. The other one instantly jumps into name calling and claiming most Americans are stupid and awful and evil, which will do nothing to convince an outside or impartial observer that this is something to look into, but instead put them on the defensive about their current position.
Stop reading that brainwashing garbage, there are so many other good legitimate sources on this.
Again, right side of the issue, but

[Dontfearthereefer]

welcome to the terrordome

[360 frip]

Does anybody else have more quality examples of what youre afraid the government will do with your data?

Probably the most extreme answer, but such a question obviously needs an extreme example of the possible consequences.

[Hercules Rockefeller]

thanks obama.

[brycickle]

Dear government, 
Those disgusting internets searches I made?  I wuz just lonely.  Also, I was only kidding when I wrote that I was going to mail Luis Suarez anthrax.

It wouldn't matter if you did anyway. He would just swat it away with his hand, call you a nigger then bite you anyway.

[NickDagger]

[Albatross]

this story reminds me of when aol took metadata of all their customers searches over a certain period of time then attempted to secretly sell it to advertisers and other agencies, only to get it leaked... its still all out there somewhere.

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/weekend-web/aol-search-log.php?page=7 some of the funnier ones if you guys get time.

[ice nine]

^^ahh i remember when briden or someone posted those before, the one on the last page is so sad it ruined all the others for me

[BRIX SKWIKZ]

What is it that you think the us govt is gonna do with your personal information that you're so scared of?  some clear cut examples of what i should be afraid of would be nice.

http://reason.com/archives/2013/06/12/three-reasons-the-nothing-to-hide-crowd

[chockfullofthat]

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Dear government,? 
Those disgusting internets searches I made??  I wuz just lonely.?  Also, I was only kidding when I wrote that I was going to mail Luis Suarez anthrax.

[close]

It wouldn't matter if you did anyway. He would just swat it away with his hand, call you a nigger then bite you anyway.

Hahahaha. 

[steve]

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Does anybody else have more quality examples of what youre afraid the government will do with your data?

[close]

I think the issue for alot of people is not "what are they going to do with the data", they are concerned because where does it end? If this is deemed "ok" to do then what comes next? This is a direct violation of the 4th amendment, how many other amendments will they openly violate because they feel they can. The government has been using scare tactics on its own citizens for years, "this will help combat terrorism" or "if we don't do this then the economy will collapse" (Bank Bailouts), they do whatever they can to gain as much power as possible and make us feel all warm and fuzzy giving it to them.

Although, according to the rule of law, which as we can so openly see is subject to frequent change, one may be currently living in accordance to said rule, they will most likely change, deeming lawful actions of the past a crime. With the suspension of civil liberties statutes of time no longer exist, meaning that the Authorities may use past actions, ideas, thoughts, that have been conveniently stored away in a data mine, to either build a case or outright conviction in the future/present.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

thanks obama.

Started under W., but likely something neither really had power over. NSA is fucked up powerful

[matt.]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-14/thousands-firms-trade-confidential-data-us-government-exchange-classified-intelligen

[Hercules Rockefeller]

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thanks obama.

[close]

Started under W., but likely something neither really had power over. NSA is fucked up powerful

this means that its a conspiracy by who? it has to be a conspiracy. always.

[few123456789]

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thanks obama.

[close]

Started under W., but likely something neither really had power over. NSA is fucked up powerful

Imagine when Obama learned he had no ability to do it any differently...

[Beer Keg Peg Leg]

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thanks obama.

[close]

Started under W., but likely something neither really had power over. NSA is fucked up powerful

[close]

this means that its a conspiracy by who? it has to be a conspiracy. always.

[augustmoon]

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thanks obama.

[close]

Started under W., but likely something neither really had power over. NSA is fucked up powerful

[close]

Imagine when Obama learned he had no ability to do it any differently...

Obama is as complicit in this as Bush was.  No one is twisting his arm; he is giving up our rights willingly. 

[towerofcheeseandpotatoes]

What is it that you think the us govt is gonna do with your personal information that you're so scared of?  some clear cut examples of what i should be afraid of would be nice.

you could watch the video interviewd above for details but you can start with basic human rights being modified and confiscated.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

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thanks obama.

[close]

Started under W., but likely something neither really had power over. NSA is fucked up powerful

[close]

this means that its a conspiracy by who? it has to be a conspiracy. always.

No, it means that the NSA has and continues to have more power than the president. If you want a more transparent historical example, read up on the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover. He always had more power than the president in terms of implementing the programs he wanted to implement. I'm sure the NSA has a similar level of control when it comes to their programs. This isn't some wild underground conspiracy theory, its the way things work. In a lot of realms, the President is a short term figurehead who gets bitchslapped around by some department heads with 40 year long careers who tell them how it is and how its going to be, instead of the other way around.

[few123456789]

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thanks obama.

[close]

Started under W., but likely something neither really had power over. NSA is fucked up powerful

[close]

this means that its a conspiracy by who? it has to be a conspiracy. always.

[close]

No, it means that the NSA has and continues to have more power than the president. If you want a more transparent historical example, read up on the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover. He always had more power than the president in terms of implementing the programs he wanted to implement. I'm sure the NSA has a similar level of control when it comes to their programs. This isn't some wild underground conspiracy theory, its the way things work. In a lot of realms, the President is a short term figurehead who gets bitchslapped around by some department heads with 40 year long careers who tell them how it is and how its going to be, instead of the other way around.