Googly, Googly… revisited… Facebooky… Facebooky…

How is anyone surprised by the “Big Reveal”, in every entendre imaginable, from Facebook that ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION WAS USED IN A WAY THAT YOU DON’T LIKE… AND THEY TOOK YOUR FRIENDS INFO TOO… BECAUSE YOU LET THEM.

How is the news?

We’ve been talking about this for over 5 YEARS!  It’s now 032118…

And, I’m always fashionably late to the party!

Where have you been?

(Update 091113: Yesterday, Google lost a similar decision to the one below.  It was on Appeal before the Ninth Circuit.  The Folks at EPIC are happy… but doesn’t the this story make more sense and a seem little less conspiratorial now that we know the NSA has been collecting all of our data and doing so with the aid of our allies?  Originally Posted 072712)

“In April, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission fined Google, saying the company “deliberately impeded and delayed” its investigation into Street View.

It’s unclear what, if any, penalties would be imposed on Google by Britain’s ICO or regulators in any of the 10 other jurisdictions in which the company had wrongly retained Street View data.

“We need to take a look at the data… There’s all sorts of questions we need to ask,” an ICO spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity because office rules prohibit him from being named in print.”

The above quote and where I decided to begin and end it may seem a little confusing, but there is a point…

Today we find out that Google has not destroyed/deleted all of the street view info it was caught collecting in Britain. Keep in mind, when I say “street view info” that includes wi-fi networks and names, e-mail addresses and various and sundry other items of information having nothing to do with a street, or the view from it.

Here’s the fun part however… Britain’s regulators, the IOC, are very “upset”. There has been aplenty “tough” language directed at Google for this blatant breach. Yes… they are terribly, terribly upset don’t you know.

While Google has apologized, it is clearly not enough for the IOC.  In all fairness it’s not enough for me either but here’s the punch line; the IOC is demanding to see the information for “forensic analysis”.  Seriously… You Brit’s are Brilliant!  “Yes, yes, I will need to see all the pornography you have so I can determine if it is actually pornography.  I will also need plenty of time to review it… alone…”

So why did I take the above quote from where I did?

Without question Google was harvesting the same information here in the U.S. that it was in Britain.  No doubt about it.  And the U.S. is watching closely what is going on across the pond… very closely.  But why?

If the IOC is successful in gaining access to the Google information for “forensic analysis” because Google has been very, very bad… then U.S. regulators will not be far behind the Google spanking bandwagon.  What red-blooded, privacy cherishing, citizen wouldn’t want Google to be punished for collecting a bunch of info it shouldn’t have?

Well… this one.  If punishing Google requires the government seeing all of the intel, I would prefer Google to get away with it and we can deal with them in the market place.   Think about this for a second, who would you rather have possessing your secrets, a private company answerable to the legal system or a government answerable to no-one?

The monster under my bed has always scared me the most by whispering “don’t worry…  I’m from the government and I’m here to help…”.  Now he’s muttering “googly… googly..” and my parents still don’t believe me.

Your freedom is directly correlated to your ability to live your life anonymously.  If you care.

Apparently, like the rest of the planet, I may just elect to drink myself to sleep.  Unlike the rest of the planet I will only do it late at night… straight from the bottle… in front of a full length mirror… crying…

NSA disguised itself as Google to spy, say reports  (link added 091213)

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The Value of Outrage

Not the Value of Freedom.

It has become clear this morning our Public Schools have abandoned the mission of educating our youth in areas of study such as History, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Instead, the curriculum rests entirely within the Power and subsequent Value of Outrage.

Sadly, as is the new normal, the Media is providing fuel to this negligence.

I’m actively watching Florida Students being used as useful tools for a Socialist Left who would prefer the rights of American Citizens to defend themselves against their ideas be removed from our nation’s Bill of Rights.

I have yet to see a single student asked by our ‘interested’ press to explain the First and Second Amendments followed by the other Eight they shelter.

Frankly, I’ve yet to hear anything other than emotion nourished by ignorance.

No one likes it when our friends and family are murdered… regardless of how it happens.  This is not new to the Human experience.  And it will never go away.  Not ever.

But given this latest demonstration of a profound failure to understand what the idea of The United States means to the World I can only think it is no wonder that American Exceptionalism is now considered a Slur given we have made such a concerted effort to create so very many Unexceptional Americans.

If the Children are our Future, we should Care More.

I may be wrong…

I will wait.

However, I am accustomed to disappointment.  World History has provided that discomfort.

I am not drinking today… this is a sober moment.

What Spies Do…

(She got away with it.  She is above the law.  She… was… expected to run the country.)

(Update: The Question is finally being asked…)

(Update 082015:  This post was from March…  Why does it take six months (Now 20 months) to address the Large Points?)

There is a large point being missed with regard to the latest revelation of a U.S. Secretary of State creating, and using exclusively, an outside conduit of communication to their reports, and associates, within the Department of State.

Transparency.

When committing Espionage a Spy must find a way to communicate information without appearing to do so. This is not difficult to understand.

Hollywood might have you believe Spies find interesting little pieces of information and covertly send that information to the interested party of choice. But that’s the movies.  And, small amounts of information have lesser value than Huge Amounts of Information.  Seems self-evident.

If you want to be “The Most Transparent Administration, and State Department, in History!”, one way to achieve that is to give full access to…

(Well, when We The People hear that phrase repeated ad nauseam, we think the Administration is speaking to Us. It’s entirely possible the Administration was speaking to someone completely different. If that is the case, it would clear up the confusion We The People have when it comes to the supposed ‘Transparency’ of this current Administration.  It also begs the question ‘Who Else may have created their own “home-made” ISP upon which to communicate?’)

… other countries.

What better way to do the above than to create an entirely separate network that can easily be tapped into?

In other words, Creating a Method of Communication outside of Federally Protected Channels may extend well beyond the desire to avoid the Damned Prying Eyes of the ‘Stupid’ American Public’s FIOA requests.

It would certainly make it convenient for a Foreign Power to access and monitor all communications within that channel… without the Damned Prying Eyes of those tasked with protecting the Secrets and Security of the United States.

While those who created such a network would obviously deny such intent…

That question must be explored.

When it Looks like Espionage, Walks like Espionage and Talks like Espionage… it might just be Espionage.

Maybe the NSA can take a break from Spying on Us and re-task some folks to find out Who else was attached to Eric Hoteham’s ISP.   Any thoughts Mr. Pagliano or are you sticking with taking the fifth?

(Originally Posted 030415)

The NSA and Kevin Bacon…

Since we’ve returned to caring about being Surveilled…

Let’s climb into our time machine and travel all the way back to 2013, when we told you so.

An unprecedented, at least to me, move by No Such Agency has brought the Director to an open briefing on Capital Hill.

So I’m listening.

But, there are two things which I would like to hear…

Mr. Alexander is very careful to remind everyone paying attention, which appears to be very few, that the NSA does not listen to the content of these calls collected under this program.

I’d like to focus on the “…under this program.” part of his repeated statement and reassurance.

There are many programs within all government operations, many of which overlap. This is practiced for various reasons. Some of them funding, some of them compartmentalization. Some, simply because of turf and time on scene.

So, I would like to hear someone ask; “Mr. Director, is anyone at NSA listening to the content of the calls collected, or reading the e-mail and text messaging?”

Another aspect I find interesting is the “connection to a known, or suspected terrorist” requirement Mr. Alexander has reassured us exists prior to looking at your information.

On this I bring up Kevin Bacon. Yes, the actor.

There exists a mathematical formula which connects us all.  It has been around for 80 years but has recently been popularized through something called the Kevin Bacon Game.

Six degrees of separation, a theory developed by Frigyes Karinthy in the year 1929, proposes that an individual is only six connections away from any person in the world.

Read the last five words in the above sentence again.  “…any person in the world.”

That would include Terrorist A-holes.  Yep… if you’re just catching up, YOU are separated by the most horrible person on earth by only 6 degrees.

The exploration of the degrees of separation between individuals communication, or connections, is called “spidering“.

So, my next question would be; “Mr. Director, how many degrees of separation from the suspect do you find acceptable to explore?  In other words, do you stop at say Two?  Four?  Six?”

Because stopping at “Six” means they have given themselves the authority to Spy on “…any person in the world.”  (Even “Five” should make most of us physically ill… “Three” only marginally better.)

There is also the issue of freely denying that anyone can listen to your phone calls.  I have seen this in practice first hand… when a suspect is apprehended, say a burglar, the police cannot legally go through his cell phone.  Yet… they do.  What “legally” means is whatever information found there is not admissible in court.  It does not mean that some amazing physics come into play preventing the very action of going through the person’s cell phone.  Remember folks, words mean things.  The world becomes much clearer when you listen carefully.

Finally, I am intrigued by what is considered “civilian” over-sight.  In this case, the “civilian” oversight is being performed by ex-military appointees.  One might ask, is this a difference without a distinction?  I understand the argument could be applied to the President on down, but those are elected positions.  I would like to hear someone explore how Civilian oversight has any impact after the person performing that service has retired from a Government entity.  In other words, once you’ve completed serving the Government Mission for many years you can take Retirement and then serve the Citizens interest by overseeing the very programs you may have been associated with the day before.

While I deeply respect those in the military as a rule, it does not change the fact that many of the most horrid Statists known to man have come directly from there.  Seems like the checks and balances are not served in a way that is as reassuring as possible… at least to me.

It will be interesting to view the transcripts of this hearing once complete.

My overall feeling here is They are intentionally missing the point… as They know Domestic Spying IS the point, not catching Foreign Terrorist A-holes.

The Red Herring is the reiteration that all the information being used is Public and available to Private Companies, so No Problem.  It is a blatant attempt to blur the definition of Public as it is meant.  In this case, Public means out in the open… not Government Property.  The fact the information is available to PRIVATE companies is irrelevant.  If this information is truly “out there for all to see” then the Government should not need to demand it from any Private entity.  But it is not… and the Government sees fit to use their power to compel certain Private entities to supply it to them.

All of our information is not available, nor should it be available, to GOVERNMENT without direct legal cause, free of Constitutional restriction.  That is a very, very important distinction here in the “Freest Country on Earth”.  (Damn that Constitution is SO restrictive…  it tells them what they CAN’T do to us, but not what they CAN do to us…)

It’s amazing how quickly one sobers up when listening to our Spooks…  Unless you’re an elected representative in the room with them, then it appears you fall asleep. (You’ll have to watch the hearing to see what I’m typing about here.  I want you to watch, so I won’t ruin it by showing you.)

(Also! For the record, I love our Spooks.  But much of what they do should stay, or be returned to being, illegal… just in case.  I know this Borrows their argument about why they want to store all of OUR info… we might need their actions to have been illegal down the road.  That’s a real check.  And, they answer to us not the other way around.)

(061813)

It’s Say Anything Week!

Good Morning Folks,
We are now officially into the last week before a Presidential Election. This period of time is what I like to refer to as “Say Anything Week”. It’s during this last week that the craziest, most ridiculous and foolish, accusations will be flung at whoever is opposing the Socialist Candidate because there’s just not enough time for anyone to refute them. And, considering the Press is Liberal, no one to laugh at them.

I always look forward to this week because you get to hear things similar to “George Bush is flying around on an SR-71 to get hostages released”, “My friend says Mitt Romney doesn’t pay his taxes” and old favorites like “When Did you stop beating your wife?”.

It’s a fun week.

Please garb a cold one and enjoy it with me!

What if it’s not the Russians? (Previously: Picking a Fight with the CIA…)

(Originally posted 121214.  What if it’s not the Russians offering up Thousands of Socialist E-mails? Just sayin’…)

One must ask why.

While the release of the ‘CIA Sucks Report’ was a foregone conclusion given Diane Feinstein’s drive to leave a parting gift to her Leftist base…

I remain convinced the timing of the report was designed to remove Jonathon Gruber from the headlines and allow the mainstream liberals something else to put on the evening news.  (I continue to believe Gruber, and his honesty about how Liberals see American’s, is profoundly damaging.)

That aside, the report begs the question “Why?”.

Why would you rehash what we already know?

Why would you emphasize enhanced terrorist interrogation techniques and our efforts to keep them alive while in captivity such as Rectal Feeding?  (I would remind you all that there are certain restaurants in Feinstein’s own San Francisco specializing in that very thing.)

Why would you give additional specific information allowing the remaining Terrorist A-holes to cross reference and pinpoint those involved?

I believe this fight started with Benghazi. It continued with the summary ‘execution’ of the Afghanistan Chief of Station’s career by officially outing his name.

And, the apparent conflict is being taken to a brand new level with the release of this report.

Is the CIA not being cooperative enough with the Socialists in our Government?

Might they have issues with how they are being tossed under the bus by an Administration that practises Drone Diplomacy?  Our deteriorating relationship with Israel?  Allowing North Korea and Iran to acquire Nuclear Weapons and the means to ‘deliver’ them?  Our inability to keep secrets?  Our ceding the Middle East to the Terrorists after shedding American Blood to keep it out of their hands?

Are our covert Agencies not being quiet enough when it comes to the murder of our Diplomat and security personnel in Benghazi?  Could it be they are not on board with the Administration, and the rest of the Leftists, who didn’t want to appear ‘aggressive’ to the rest of the world by providing adequate security?

Is this just another attempt to paint Bush as a Domestic Terrorist since we are ‘all citizens of the world’ according to our own home-grown Socialists?

I believe it’s all the above.

Feinstein thinks, because of her retirement, she is now beyond the reach of the American people, and this is a flying f-you to the very agency and agencies she over saw.  The very same Agencies whose techniques she previously, and repeatedly, approved of.

The Covert folks do not seem interested in being quiet about how this Administration is conducting itself. They are not interested in being hung out to die… so to speak.

They do not seem interested in continuing to do what they must while being used as political pawns in a game that is decidedly anti-capitalist.

There a was a time that many of us could fool ourselves into thinking that those who professed to be Socialists were doing so in order simply to get elected.

Now many of us, and I must conclude those in the intelligence services as well, are finding out those they thought to be donning a cloak of Progressive Populism are in fact… serious.  And the very folks that put their lives on the line for the rest of us everyday are suffering in the worst ways because of it.  Add to this that many of those we thought were Constitutional Loyalists are nothing of the sort.

We are watching the Republic crumble, and lives are being lost as a result.

Are we witnessing an awakening by those that keep the secrets?

Possibly… but I’m wrong more often than I’m right.

However, there is no doubt that a dark war has started in D.C.

Bits of it are finding sunlight.

It seems the Left wants it that way.  What do they stand to gain?

Is it an attempt at a purge?

Are the Progressives trying to consolidate power as they have been trying to do in the Military?

Suddenly the Leftist Liberals at Apple care what the Founders would think?!

The Irony here is almost profound…

Apparently the Apple Folks are ‘appalled’ by what the Fed’s (the very product of their elitist worldview, behavior and voting habits) are doing to them.

Rich!

Next thing you know they’ll be complaining about Obamacare… and Confiscatory Tax Rates… and Poor Public Education because of Unions…  Minimum Wage… Regulations… to go along with their brand new revulsion brought on by Government Overreach.

Funny how those who promote it get upset when it’s applied to them.

Hilarious.

What’s not so funny?

These are the people who don’t believe it could happen until it does happen… which only empowers those who wish to make it happen.

Fed Upple

What is the FBI actually up to when it comes to Apple?

To understand you have to get your mind around where we are today.
We are on the precipice of created secure communication that relies on identifiers such as voice recognition, retina identification, speech pattern and tone, facial recognition… anon. We will soon see phones and devices that only respond to the specific individual who ‘owns’ therm. We will be able to send messages, voice, text, etc. that only the intended recipient can access.

The Government sees this clearly…

Since Government views Private Communication as a Weapon.

They are simply attempting to make creation of such ‘encrypted’ communication illegal to distribute to The Public without an ability to defeat it being simultaneously created.

In other words, they are trying to get ahead of the technology by seeking a precedent through the courts which would require companies to cease creation of ever more secure communications (again, For the Public…) which they, the Government and the Company itself, cannot access through a back door. Every encryption program would require a key, built-in decoding or means of access for third a third-party.

The FBI would be fine (currently) with Apple being the only one with the ability to access your phone as long as the Government has legal precedent on their side to Force Apple, or whatever company owning the tech, to comply with their demand of information.  If the Company in question refuses to comply… in typical Socialist-Fascist behavior, the Government destroys the company.

Keep in mind, Deciphering messages is ‘easy’ (in the most complex meaning of the word) for our Government. (Reference Quantum Cryptography) But… if there is no message to ‘decrypt or decipher’, then they are impotent.

Here we are.

This is what the FBI-Apple battle is really about.

We are on the edge of genuine privacy within our electronic communications…

…and We like it.

…and our Government Hates it.

The aspect of this I find most interesting is ‘What about the rest of the World and their Governments?’

Do you think China is going to stop this technology in its tracks? What about Russia? Iran?

Of course not.  Those with the Power of Force will capitalize on these abilities and utilize it to control their respective populations.

All of this ‘court ordered access’ will only apply to None Government folks… us.

At some point you have to just Lay Back and enjoy it…

…well, I don’t think I’m quite ready to do that.

Donald Trump is a Fascist.

This is why he’s appealing to ignorant people from all parties. Notice I didn’t say Ideologies. And there’s the rub.

Donald Trump has no Ideology. He has no Principles. His Ethics are situational, meaning to say it depends on the situation and how it could benefit him.

This is serious stuff folks.

Either he needs to lose, or someone needs to get to him and ply him with the Founder’s Brilliance.  Stat.

Let me be clear…

Donald Trump is so bad that he has become a parody of all the ridiculous attributes the Leftist A-Holes have dreamed up to paint those of us who believe the Constitution is Correct as written.

Make no mistake, he is the demon product of the Republican Establishment. He is the spoiled milk on our cereal. He is the venereal disease of this election cycle.

The biggest problem Trump presents is his complete lack of any foundation when it comes to Governing Theory. I have more respect for Bernie Sanders as at least he admits to subscribing to Murderous, Genocidal, Dictatorial, Poisonous, Institutionally Nepotistic Socialism.

I get you’re pissed.

But put down the baseball bat and think for a moment.

Trump could very well find himself elected under the banner of ‘conservatism’ simply furthering the Left’s decades old campaign to keep the American Population confused as to what conservatism means. So successful would this be for the Progressive Liberal Elitists they would probably build monuments to his hair for the next thousand years… assuming they having starved everyone to death before then.  The Socialist sh*theads on both sides of the aisle are patient.  Get it?  If Trump wins… the Left wins… Big Government wins… and the Constitution loses… Forever.

I understand the hatred of the Established Republican Party. I feel it every waking moment of my exceptionally average life.  The RINO’s have had it their way for far too long. And because of that, and their cooperation behind closed doors with the Socialist Left of this country, and the confusion they have sown in the minds of us who genuinely care, we are where we are today.  I blame them.

But Trump is not an answer to anything save how to fill the 8p-9p time-slot when you’re out of people to vote off an island.

There is only one goal remaining for the country, and that is to return to the U.S. Constitution as written. That’s it. And Trump has openly admitted it’s not on his agenda.

If you’re voting for either Democratic Socialist… or the Fascist… you’re the problem.

And it is YOU who got us here.

If you’re not appalled that an Honest Socialist and a Dishonest Socialist can run for the Democrat Nomination to the highest elected office in the United States… let alone for Dog Catcher… you’re the problem.

If you can’t recognize that an Individual who lacks any semblance of a Moral Compass and has rearranged the letters from “Hope and Change” to read “We’ll Make America Great Again”… you’re the problem.

If you didn’t get the message from the last election cycle that WE ARE OUT OF TIME, because the U.S. Constitution had been abandoned, and by extension so have you… you’re the problem.

And if Trump wins, you better stock up on Astroglide.

I, for one, will not be laying back and enjoying it.  Instead, the only thing on my mind will be YOU… over and over and over.

It’s Fine to Spy on the Little People…

… just not the People in Power.

The Politicians are ANGRY!

How DARE the NSA Spy on THEM!

But… wait… what?

Are You Little People confused?

Of course you are… or at least, you should be.

Your confusion stems from our wandering so very far away from our Founders intent.

The reason for this confusion is we were founded in such a way where the Individual is always supreme over the Government.  And the Government is not only LIMITED in it’s power, it’s powers are intentionally Separated.  Limit and Conflict were BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM to PROTECT THE INDIVIDUAL.  It’s quite simple really.

Which brings us to the fact that The Newly Found Political Fury over Sweeping Mass Collection of data by Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies should be directed at the Intrusion upon, and Violation of, Individual Rights of ALL Citizens… Not Politicians specifically.

Frankly, I have less of an issue with Politicians spying on each other than I do Force (Government) spying on the Citizenry.

Let me make this as Clear as possible…

The U.S. Government can and should be Spying on other Countries.  It’s their Job.

Other Countries will be attempting to Spy on us, the U.S.  – It’s not a matter of being ‘OK’ with it, it’s their job… as it is ours to deny them that ability.

What is Not ‘OK’?

The U.S. Government Spying on Individual Citizens without a specifically crafted warrant to do so.  (The only argument worth having here; “Are Politicians considered Individual Citizens?”  It could also be useful to remind the NSA that their Love interests also fit into the ‘Citizen’ category… and some of the things they are doing is considered stalking at a minimum.)

Of course they are…

But the current framing of the ‘Offended’ is that they are ‘special’.  And while I might agree that they are special, I would offer that they are most often the kind of special that requires a helmet when walking outside.

In the end, the reason you should be more concerned about the U.S. Government Spying on you and not China, Korea, Israel or Google, is because none of the latter have yet found a way to show up at your door and throw you in jail.  (Although Google is probably working on it.)

The Politicians should be reminded of their place in society… which was always intended to be servants to those who are not in power.

This will be interesting to watch as most genuine Conservatives do not like being Spied upon, and most Democrats have spent huge amounts of time and money convincing their Useful Voters that they too believe in a Right to Privacy.

Can anyone spell Dissonance?