Where’s the DHS?

…or, Suspiciously Absent.

So here’s an interesting question;  Where is the Department of Homeland Security in this NSA Domestic Spying debacle?

The FBI is gleaning information from Innocent Citizens records courtesy of the NSA.  It goes without saying that the NSA is enjoying information from Innocent Americans records, it’s their program.

But where is DHS on this?

You must believe the agency supposedly tasked with the internal safety and security (formerly a FBI responsibility…) might be mildly interested in the type of data mined from your credit card purchases and phone records, not to mention your e-mail.

Yet, no word about their involvement.

Are they not involved?  Or, would that be the last straw as it would be extremely difficult to spin a tale the internal (read domestic) security service has legal, and constitutional, legitimacy to know everything about you… all the time… forever?

I have no information to say they are involved. None.

But it is the eerie silence… a complete absence of mention.  At the very least I would expect someone from DHS to slip out a quiet press release saying they have nothing to do with the bounty being harvested over at the NSA, unless…

We’ll see.

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We Did it to Protect You.

This has been the marketing line for every Security Apparatus every created.

It is the claim of Tyrants, and the refuge for Criminals.

There has never been a Government who built a Security Apparatus which it marketed to its population with the tag line of “We are Doing it to Oppress you.”

Evil is never so overt… unless you write scripts in Hollywood.

The idea that we can suddenly trust the words of those who are angry they are being forced with stating them openly, is inane.

What should be remembered is that those who did the lying were comfortable doing the lying. It is a Culture.  They do what they want, then openly deny it… comfortable that nothing ill will happen to them for doing so.

This is the point.

The United States Government answers to the Citizenry. It is a “bottom up” model.  Because of this, we are Unique in the World.

When those we elect, and those we appoint, suffer no genuine consequence for their malfeasance regardless of their supposed intentions, We have wandered far away from the above.

When people like me express concern regarding where this country is headed… and where we are now… we mean it.

No Black Helicopters here. Simply distress based on plenty of history and observation.

Quantum Cryptography

…or you’ve been Left Behind.

The Superpowers have a new way of communicating.

And it’s perfectly secure…

Quantum Entanglement is the next step in the Communication Revolution.

And, only the Superpowers will have it.

That means the rest of us… everybody… will be using communication methods which can, and are, being intercepted and archived for later reference.

I’m going to take a moment for you to digest what you have just read, and linked to, from the above statement.

Now… Grab your Cloak and Dagger then Rub your hands together and practice your Villainous Laugh.  “BoohaHaHaaaaahaahaaha…”

What advantage might be enjoyed by having a completely secure, unlimited, method of communication while the rest of the world does not?

Combine that with the ability to intercept and store every bit of that information the rest of the world uses, transmits or receives in order to communicate, what might be the advantage now?

Throw on top of this super computing capability to sift through all of it, and methods to break every code ever devised…

No need to imagine… it’s here.  No Conspiracy Theory Needed.

For the moment I’ll leave you here to makeaneffort.  Fire up your Binger… or Googler… or Whatever you user…

The Most Brilliant Counter-Intel Op Ever?

No Matter how this exposure of the NSA’s ability to Spy turns out, could it be considered the most brilliant Counter-Terror Operation ever devised?

Where do we stand now?  The entire world is aware that everything they do will be archived by the National Security Agency (No Such Agency) and used to determine their threat to the United States.

In other words, it’s not that their cell phone is compromised…. it’s that EVERYTHING they own, and do, is compromised.

Talk about disrupting the enemies communications, and forcing them to modify their behavior!  Modify it to what, bump passes and one-time pads?

Brilliant!

If there was ever a way to strike fear into the hearts and minds of those who wish you harm, this would be it.  The only way to fertilize that fear would be to tell them we’ve been doing it for a decade… And, we have done that too.

There must be a shortage of Depends in certain Asian Countries right now.

Objectively, there is very little down-side to this Spying except the scouring away of any idea American Citizens might have that they live in a Country which preserves and protects their freedoms.  Just a small detail…

So what’s going on with Clapper et al. coming out of the dark corners to defend it?  As a friend of mine out it; “The NSA does not have a process for Press Releases.”

The real reason the Progressive Elitists among us are out defending the Domestic Spying on the American Public is the fear that the entire operation could fall victim to our outrage.  And, they’re right.

But, public complacency typically wins in the end.  Our track record on caring about the erosion of our rights is dismal.  It is my prediction the NSA will be allowed to continue doing whatever they want.  We might get an “I’m Sorry.”, if we’re lucky.  And, you’ll decide you’re OK with it.

You will keep volunteering your private information for all to see.  It is how you elevate yourself above your friends.  It is how you demonstrate your life is better, or you care more about everything, or you “feel” everything more than anybody who has ever lived.  Your Ego will not allow you to preserve your privacy.  So you will tolerate the Government keeping an electronic file on you, and your friends, and your family… just in case they decide you did something wrong, sometime down the road, or whatever.  (But remember that you are responsible for what you disclose to the world.  You have no right to be upset when you post every detail of your life so 12-year old Chinese Doctoral students can do the same thing we are doing to ourselves, only 12,000 miles away.  But you can’t help yourselves… you think everybody should know who you are.  So don’t be surprised when they do.)

The Onion once had a bit on Facebook being the greatest CIA operation ever devised… were they being funny?  Apparently not.

While public information is… well, public.  It is the stuff that we do not disclose to the public which is being gathered by those who desire our trust.

Let me ask you, how would you feel if you found out your spouse was tapping your phone?  Your parents?  Your neighbor?  How would you feel if your boss was reading your e-mail on your home account?  How would you feel if your kids were auditing your credit card transactions?

So why should we accept that it is OK for the Government to do it?  Are the people behind the computers not our friends, parents, children, neighbors, etc?  The “logic” we are being asked to accept is bizarre in its construction.  The idea there must be “a balance between our security and our rights” is directly out of the Tyrannical Government Handbook.  Our rights come before our security… and we are secure because of those rights.

The only issue here… we should not, can not, must not, allow our own Government to Spy on us.  It is unconstitutional.  The fact that we are doing it to ourselves undermines everything this country was founded on, and thus everything we believe to be true in terms of civil liberties.  If we condone this, we officially have no rights.

In other words, if we do not stand up and demand this Domestic Spying be stopped… immediately, then all bets are off.

And, it may not be tomorrow, next week or next month but there WILL be a time that this country’s security apparatus is used to oppress the population.  This is not up for debate by intelligent individuals with a modicum of historical knowledge.  When you have a specific Ideology which demands Centralized Government and the ability to enforce it, oppression is not as far away as one would like to think.

Examples abound… and contrary to what the average, over-inflated-self-esteem drunk, citizen might think, we are not so different from all the other humans occupying this planet.

But like I started, taken at face value… this “Whistle-Blowing” could actually be the greatest Counter-Terror Operation ever executed.

I’ve always said, “If you’re going to be a Socialist then be the best Socialist you can be.”

Here’s to those doing a great job!  Cheers!  (Ever wonder why the Soviets are all drunks?)

Hero or Traitor?

Not Really, and Not Really.

Boehner will be added to my list of Republicans to vote against in a future Primary… as his assessment of Snowden as a Traitor is flawed, but indicative of his mindset.

Snowden only revealed that the Government is Spying Domestically.  Not How they are Spying Domestically.

And Frankly, compared to the Fact, that which is known, that our Government is killing U.S. Citizen with Missiles from Above, it pales in comparison.  But the public views it differently because it directly affects them and the way they lead their lives.  It is an admission that Privacy is Dead in America.

I believe Mr. Snowden did the right thing.  As far as being a Hero, that is left to be determined.

For those that fear he has damaged the NSA’s ability to Spy Domestically and have labeled him a Traitor, there is no evidence of that.

Is this another case of Idealistic Obama supporters “coming home to roost”?

Most definitely.

Someone should remind the Smartest Man to ever occupy the White House that when you run, and win, on Platitudes, your supporters hear what they want… just like you want.  Surprise should be suspended when they believe what you wanted them to believe, and then are disappointed when you fail to deliver.  And, Mr. President, your list of not delivering on your promises is very long indeed.

Mr. Snowden is just a harbinger of things to come.  And I say “good”.

Many of us on both sides of the aisle have screamed for greater transparency for decades.  If this is how we must get it, then so be it.

In regard to living in fear of terrorism, get used to it.

Even with this program operating for almost a decade, “Terrorism” never went away or ceased to exist.  And that’s the point.

It is better to live free with Terror being present than to live under the scrutiny of Government Force with Terror still being present.

It is how we were founded.  And, Terrorists are not “New”.

It is going to be an interesting future.

Dangerously Close to Connecting the Dots.

The American Public is getting Dangerously Close to Connecting the Dots.

The American Press is doing their best to prevent this from happening… but the confluence of scandals is making it difficult.

The Latest argument being floated to defend the NSA’s Domestic Spying Scandal is basically “Trust the Government”. The defenders are out claiming they must have all of your personal records and digital communications in order to fight “terrorists”. They are almost to the point of yelling “the government would never use that information against you” unless they decide you are a terrorist.

Here’s the problem…

The Government up-armed Mexican Drug Cartels in order to attack the 2nd Amendment and open sale of firearms to citizen in the United States.

The Government fabricated a profoundly ridiculous story about a video to cover-up the truth about Al Qaeda Assassinating our Diplomat in Libya.

The Government used the power of the IRS to intimidate and destroy its political opposition.

The Government seized 100 AP reporters phone and e-mail records… intimidating their sources as well as the reporters directly through the knowledge they gained.

The Government seized 110 million Verizon customers phone records… and that’s just what we know so far.

The Government has a program with the ability to store every bit of information from every human being living in the United States… forever.

The Government has a program that utilizes Super-Computers to scan every e-mail, every phone call, every thing it can… and detects “patterns” that might indicate whatever they consider to be terroristic or subversive.

In totality… this is frightening.

And, this is just what we know to be true.

Until very recently, anyone who believed any one of these things was dismissed as a crazy conspiracy theorist donning an aluminum chapeau.

If the Press isn’t careful, the public might learn something and they’ll lose control.

If the Government isn’t careful, the public might unify in its opposition to it and these behaviors.

If the Socialists in both parties aren’t careful, the public might subscribe to the ideology this country was founded on.