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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Where are the Snowdens when we Need them?

Someone… somewhere… has the 300 page document detailing the Regulations draw up for the Government to control the Internet.

If there were ever a conspiracy, this would be one.

When has the Government EVER run anything efficiently?
When has the Government EVER delivered on their promises… as promised?
When has the Government EVER restrained itself from overreach and political influence?

Why, given this Democratic controlled Executive Branch is the “Most Transparent in History”, is the regulation of the Internet not open to public scrutiny?

The internet is the biggest revolutionary change in communication since the Guttenberg Press, and has been wildly successful exactly because of the absence of the Benevolent Hand of Government.

Or is that the problem?

There is an old adage; Like your uncle on a hunting trip, the government shoots at everything that flies, then takes credit for everything that falls.

The internet does not need Government help.

All of the issues the Left is proposing exist, exist. Such issues will always exist in various forms.

However, because of such issues, brilliant people find or create new technologies to circumvent such problems and allow us to employ…

The Principle of Substitution!

Making the Federal Government (AKA politicians) the ultimate arbiter of all things Internet, which is exactly what is being proposed, simply removes that basic principle.

You’ll get what they say you’ll get and you’ll like it.  You want something different… well, get out your checkbook and start contributing your hard-earned money to your local politician.  Then you can add to your anger over there being ‘too much money in politics’… stop bathing… grab your mac book… buy a Starbucks… misspell a sign… and occupy a park.

Of course… as is consistently being demonstrated with everything from Health Care, Jobs, Hope and Change, etc, the very Young Enlightened Liberals who champion this will be AMAZED when it doesn;t work out the way they thought it would. And they will conveniently forget that WE were out here trying to get the to reconsider their actions before they did it to us… and themselves.

What Does a Police State look like?

So What does an Oppressive Police State look like?

History is replete with examples… the problem is they were all sold to the public as integral to security, and their initial behavior dismissed as necessary, until well after the fact and by then it was too late.

Keep in Mind,

You still go to work… you still send your kids to school… you still have a place to live… you still make dinner…

But, in the back of your mind you know everything is different.  Everything.  And the only thought you might have is “How did it get this way?”  “What Happened?”  “I Don’t Understand.”  Followed by, “It happened so slowly.”  Finally ending with “Why did we let this happen?”

If you need “hard evidence” of what I’m talking about I’ll stay within my area and recommend tracing the origins of Soviet Security Services From the Cheka, Smersh and KGB to the “newer” incarnations of the SVR and FSB. Feel free to whip out your Googler now… I’ll wait.

If you’re not in the mood for a history lesson dealing with Anglo’s oppressing and killing each other, then check out the Tonton Macoute… they’re fun.

But keep in mind, these “needed policemen” were not sold to the population as an important part of keeping the country safe by interrogating, intimidating and killing you efficiently.

All of them started somewhere.

And that somewhere was right in front of the very people they went on to oppress.  With the majority of their support.  (This is always left out of the brief historical blurbs… read a little deeper and you’ll see remarkable parallel’s we seemed doomed to relive.)

Here’s what we Know:

We know we are being watched by our government.  We know our journalists are being spied on in real-time.  The 100 journalists at AP whose phones were tapped (let alone what else was done to them that has yet come to light) should be enough to seriously freak all of us out.  We know the Government is experimenting with getting us to accept all kinds of new methods of Force.  Do you think they will stop at forcing you to buy health insurance once you accept it is within their power to do so?  When has restraint ever been exercised by any Government anywhere on Earth let alone ours?  Once you give them the power of force there will always be human beings looking for new ways to wield it.  It’s our nature… it is undeniable… it is historically demonstrable.  It cannot be dismissed by anyone who is not one of those wishing for it.

But we seem to be OK with the direction we’re headed… is that the appropriate reaction?

Now the World is rising up against our spying on Them.

But what should concern us more?  Should we be concerned about our Government listening in on cell phone traffic coming out of Estonia or cell phone traffic coming from You, an American Citizen, whose done nothing wrong?

I would offer that the latter is far more serious.  Think about it this way, the Estonian… Chinese… Ethiopian police forces cannot show up at your door and do bad things to you.

While you’re still holding out that “The Black Helicopter Crowd”, and historians like me, are crazy,

this little story comes to light…

Fed’s Confiscate Investigative Journalist’s Files using an unrelated Warrant for a Crime that had not been committed.

Remember, just because you’re Paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to Get You.

Most of us do not have the background to recognize how very bad things find their beginning.  However, A few of us do.  Find those folks and listen to them.

While I would never suggest you trust me… Allow me to share with you the knowledge that you really, really, really Do Not want to live in a Place where this type of oppression is accepted.  By the time you no longer want to accept it, it’s too late.

I know you’re probably reading this thinking “I have nothing to worry about because I’ve done nothing wrong.”.  Let me also share with you the fact that none of the above mentioned, well-intentioned, “security services” ever let your “not doing anything wrong” get in their way.  The Journalist in the above article was just doing her job.

Once enough of us completely disregard the Constitution on the United States which was written explicitly to protect the Individual from Government and the Mob rule of the Majority… once we accept and allow them the power of force to do what they are now doing… once what is happening now is accepted as necessary and “for our own security and well-being”… we are only steps away from becoming another foot note in the history references I’m sending you to research in the above paragraphs.

Come on kids… you are not stupid, contrary to what they may think.

Don’t Worry…

Any time I violate your rights, I let myself know.

(Except when I don’t because it doesn’t really matter anyway.)

Before you read any further… Put on your “Surprised” Face.

The NSA violates your rights routinely. 8-9 times a day… every day… and they plan to do it forever.

Everybody feel better now?

Have you ever wondered who exactly you should fear in life? Have you spent even a moment considering the possibility that the very people you support might be involved in exactly the behaviors you loath and define as tyrannical? Odd’s are you have.

If you feel a sense of betrayal, you’re not alone.

My life is small… but it was mine.  Now that’s not even true.

The only good that is coming out of these revelations regarding the breadth and depth of our countries Domestic Spying programs are the names and faces of those who condone it.

We are seeing Politicians as well as Business Leaders showing their true colors.

Because you are small… your life is not yours to keep private.

I was having a conversation a couple of days ago with a student from Sweden. He is here pursuing further education and we struck up a dialogue about Von Mises. This lead us , in a round about way, to the collection of data by the NSA.

This young man was understandably upset about the collection of data… when it came to our collecting it on Swedes.

I smiled in understanding.

I explained, however, that really was not the problem. Of course he was dismayed, but I explained that he should worry more about his own government collecting data on Swedes should concern him more. I then went on to explain my belief that the Chinese are most likely collecting data on U.S. Citizens and while American’s should not be happy about such an endeavor, and do everything they can to stop it, I fear it less than my own government doing it to me.

I explained how tyranny and oppression come from within, not from external sources.

In other words, the Chinese will not be kicking in my door because I made some bureaucrat mad down at the Department of Motor Vehicles, or slept with an intelligence officer’s wife, be a member of the “wrong” political party and failed to comprehend then file the correct tax forms, etc. I then went on to cite history’s myriad examples of institutionalized tyranny which was enabled solely on a Governments ability to monitor the speech and actions of its citizenry and administer “punishment” which my not have been condoned but was approved by silence and or intimidation of the population.

Almost to his satisfaction, I finally agreed that our collecting information on the Swede’s should not be looked upon kindly by him and would not expect him to do so.  I feel his pain…

This conversation turned into a discussion about how the United States was founded and why “we” are great.

I made it clear, and he agreed as I knew he would, that “we” are not great because of the individuals making up the United States but rather because of the structure of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

It was how we were set up… not some cosmic accident of our birth.

And that it is this structure that is being destroyed.

(This, of course, will come as surprise to many of our folks here at home just as it did to him hearing an American state it.  It is exactly this surprise that should scare all of us back to our senses.  It is this surprise that seems to be keeping us out of the streets in protest.  It is this surprise that the very leaders a majority of us supported are the very people perpetuating the loss of the only thing we really own… our lives… our privacy… and the knowledge they shall not be infringed upon in any way.)

Well, our Rights ARE being infringed upon.  It’s happening right now… right in front of us…

And, we’re being asked to rest soundly in the knowledge that if there is any “infringing” going on the ones doing the infringing will be sure to let themselves know… maybe… sometimes… occasionally…

And then, boy, they’ll do something about it… maybe… sometimes… occasionally…

But it has to remain secret, of course.

We don’t want the Terrorists to win…

(I suppose it could depend on how you define “win” as I could consider having all of my privacy ripped away at least “place” or “show”.)

Unfortunately, after decades of government education, for too many defense offered by NSA Domestic Spying supporters passes for logic.

The Communist Chinese must be smiling.

It seems we have more in common than we thought.

Delightfully Chinese

The first step of Recovery is admitting you have a problem.

But you have to admit it AS a problem… when do we as a country decide it IS a problem?

“Federal employees and contractors are asked to pay particular attention to the lifestyles, attitudes and behaviors – like financial troubles, odd working hours or unexplained travel – of co-workers as a way to predict whether they might do “harm to the United States.””- McClatchy Washington Bureau

The Full article is here.

But what strikes me from this article is the push to create greater penalties for those who fail to report certain behaviors exhibited by their government co-workers.  Behavior monitoring is not the job of your typical Government Bureaucrat… but it will be now.

So why is that a problem?

It has long been the practice of Communist Countries, like China, to employ watchers who watch the watchers… spy on spy so to speak.  It is needed there because Socialist forms of Government are built, and sustained, on the theory that oppression is needed and force is required.  It is not designed to be an environment where the individual feels secure, so that Ultimate Minority of the Individual must always be watched…  and the watcher must be watched, etc. etc.  Oppression is the only thing Communists do well.  And consistently.

It has also been the perceived practice of the United States that we do not need to do this because the benefits of being Free were self-evident and our security didn’t require multilayered paranoia built into the system.  This approach has been extremely successful for us by any measure.  At least in the sense of maintaining Individual Liberty.

All I can say is this must have recently changed.

“That is why the awareness effort of the program is to teach people not only what types of activity to report, but how to report it and why it is so important to report it.”- McClatchy Washington Bureau

The next step is political officers in your unit and block and precinct captains in your neighborhood.  Just so you know who to go to if you become “confused” about what you can do without “asking”.

Is this what we want?  Well… you’re getting it.

Could the real problem be more obvious?

“The U.S. government is one of the world’s largest employers, overseeing an ever-expanding ocean of information.” – McClatchy Washington Bureau

 

The NSA does, in fact, listen to and read your stuff.

The NSA has now admitted what we all already knew.

They can, and do, listen to your phone calls and read your e-mail and texts.

After those of us who knew this, were positioned as idiots…

After those of you who didn’t know it, didn’t want to believe it…

After those who didn’t want to get caught doing it, have been…

The only consistent message from our Government is “The Truth will Change Tomorrow.”

Today’s latest is a further attempt to destroy the guy who brought light upon this scheme.

The marketing line is;

“You’re a Traitor if you think the Spook Traitor Leaking secrets did the right thing.”

They are almost finished with the “He’s a child who’s unqualified for the position and has a past that makes him a terrible person for the job, kinda…” approach.  And frankly, who is this an indictment of?  If this is true, doesn’t that bolster our argument that this type of power can and would, if not currently, be abused by individuals like the one described above for purposes less than Constitutional?

If you still trust these people… Clapper, Holder, Obama, Mueller, Napolitano, Clinton, Cheney, Fleischer, McCain, Nadler, King, Feinstein, Rubio et al. then you deserve what you get.

As a matter of respect, the NSA could at least correct my spelling from time to time on these posts…  Since they’re tuning in to read them anyway.

Or maybe just a bottle of bourbon dropped at my front door now and then.

Apparently I’m a Traitor…

Because I do not subscribe to the idea that the NSA, FBI, IRS or anyone else should be watching my every move and archiving all my actions.

This is the new approach for week three of the discovery that they are Spying on the American Population.

It is the old “Guilt by Association” technique.

Here’s how it goes… send out members of both parties in addition to “respected” advisors to express in no uncertain terms that Edward Snowden is a Traitor. Sorry… IS A TRAITOR!

The practical effect of this is anyone who thinks he did the right thing, as I do, must also be a traitor. Dang… sorry again… A TRAITOR!

OK. Where do I start?

Let’s start with Snowden.

I’ve made it clear that I am ambivalent regarding Snowden save his doing what should have been done by hundreds of others associated with the process of Domestic Spying. I doubt very seriously should Snowden and I find ourselves sitting across from each other having tea that we would have much in common. I also suspect that our greatest commonality, should there be one, is how much we do not agree on.

Now let’s talk about the idea that having all of your e-mail read, phone calls listened to, purchases tracked and movements recorded is a “good thing”.

I don’t think so.

Call me old fashioned… but I’ve watched the Lifetime Channel and have learned that Stalking is Bad.

I don’t like knowing private companies do it to me.

I REALLY don’t like the idea that a Government has been doing it to me. It is why I have not, nor will ever, elect to move to China… or Russia… or any other Honestly Socialist Country.

I am truly blessed to have been born here.  I would like to be able to pass that blessing on to all who seek it… forever.

So the idea that we should accept this “balance” between our freedom and security, to me at least, is ridiculous. The very premise is inane… to me. (I keep having to reiterate “to me” because apparently it is a wonderful idea to those in charge of things, as well as a bevy of useful idiots. One can only guess why those in charge of things would be so excited to possess such a library of information with the protection of law to use it anyway they wish.  Hmmm…)

It is, and has always been, my assertion that your Freedom And Liberty is directly correlated to your ability to live your life anonymously.

And, the only way to assure you remain Free… is to make sure the only power we give those who we’ve given the ability to apply Force, the Government, never establish such a Library. (Let alone legitimize it’s use of such information in a way which targets innocent citizens of our once great country. I say “once great” because it is an indictment of where we are that we are even having this discussion.)

When everybody agrees on something… such as the Patriot Act… you should be very afraid.

They’re out agreeing now on Snowden.

I might recommend following a more appropriate course by staying quiet.

But clearly there are powers behind the scene who are very concerned by the direction the American Mind is headed in terms of not warming up to the concept that 18-year old’s at the IRS can know everything about you with a few key strokes. They are worried that we don’t quite like the idea that our spy’s are spending time spying on us… not just the bad guys.

According to the latest crop of “authorities” jumping in front of camera’s, we must get our minds right.

Unless we ARE the bad guys?

Well, this is what they are implying… and if they expect my support, ever again, they better cut this crap out.

Every day I look with greater anticipation at the Primaries.