DC Tom Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 I've been a fan of Zappa's work since I was in 9th grade (200 Motels was my introduction), and was lucky enough to see him live 3 times. That said, despite my deep admiration for the man and his music, I can't for the life of me imagine what the country would have been like under President Zappa. For starters, the country would have been much more stoned. And thus that mewling eunuch Tom Petty would be much, much wealthier.
OCinBuffalo Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 (edited) After Claiming USA Freedom Act would be a boon to ISIS, Ex-NSA now mocks how weak reform is: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150618/06521231384/after-claiming-usa-freedom-would-be-boon-to-isis-ex-nsa-director-now-mocks-how-weak-usa-freedom-is.shtml So um, how is this not what you want? The guy is clearly talking about his expectation that heads would roll, not that things would really change. The least of their concerns is/was going to the court. Their biggest concern was about going to Federal prison(perhaps not "pound me in the ass", but still). And, as I, and now this guy have said: The companies STILL have your data (and your metadata, and your pics, posts, etc. ) I don't remember you responding to my question: Option 1: Google invades your privacy for their own purposes, and then sells your data to the Feds for tax $, so that they can then invade your privacy, Is this better than, Option 2: NSA recording the data themselves, getting it and keeping it, for free/no tax $, so that they can then invade your privacy? That's what we are really talking about here. The court is involved either way. The only real difference is the NSA can't just do this by themselves with no checks and balances at all, which is what happened. But, ultimately, now, we are left with those 2 options. Which is "better"? Or, why do we want a wingnut leftist organization being in charge of anything, least of all being part of who gets spied on by the Feds? Why should the public pay them for data we can get on our own? How is that not corporate welfare? Why are we handing any of these companies this extraordinary power, and not holding them accountable via the same court system as the NSA? What is stopping Google from selling our data to China? Edited June 19, 2015 by OCinBuffalo
Azalin Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 For starters, the country would have been much more stoned. And thus that mewling eunuch Tom Petty would be much, much wealthier. I'm not so sure about that. Zappa didn't do drugs. He didn't even drink alcohol. He used to fire band members for doing drugs. Plus, I can't even imagine how many drugs someone would have to take in order for Tom Petty to sound good.
Deranged Rhino Posted June 19, 2015 Author Posted June 19, 2015 I'm not so sure about that. Zappa didn't do drugs. He didn't even drink alcohol. He used to fire band members for doing drugs. Plus, I can't even imagine how many drugs someone would have to take in order for Tom Petty to sound good. For Tom:
/dev/null Posted June 21, 2015 Posted June 21, 2015 http://reason.com/blog/2015/06/19/government-stifles-speech
B-Man Posted June 24, 2015 Posted June 24, 2015 So the Obama administration pulled a Clinton and redefined things in order to avoid disclosure. It's like they're all corrupt or something. The hacking of the computer system at the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management compromised the records of millions of civilian employees along with information related to security clearances for members of the military and intelligence community. There is now a report that the Most Transparent Administration in History took steps to lessen the negative PR impact of the hacking: Up to 18 Million Social Security Numbers Possibly Taken in U.S. Hack OPM definition of hack allowed initial denial security records stolen WASHINGTON—Obama administration officials defined the hack of Office of Personnel Management employee documents as two distinct breaches, a decision that allowed officials to initially deny millions of the government’s most sensitive employee security records had been stolen, according to officials familiar with the matter. http://www.wsj.com/articles/hack-defined-as-two-distinct-breaches-1435158334
DC Tom Posted June 24, 2015 Posted June 24, 2015 So the Obama administration pulled a Clinton and redefined things in order to avoid disclosure. It's like they're all corrupt or something. The hacking of the computer system at the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management compromised the records of millions of civilian employees along with information related to security clearances for members of the military and intelligence community. There is now a report that the Most Transparent Administration in History took steps to lessen the negative PR impact of the hacking: Up to 18 Million Social Security Numbers Possibly Taken in U.S. Hack OPM definition of hack allowed initial denial security records stolen WASHINGTON—Obama administration officials defined the hack of Office of Personnel Management employee documents as two distinct breaches, a decision that allowed officials to initially deny millions of the government’s most sensitive employee security records had been stolen, according to officials familiar with the matter. http://www.wsj.com/articles/hack-defined-as-two-distinct-breaches-1435158334 I'm familiar with the matter, and that's complete bull ****. There were two distinct systems compromised at OPM. No one's playing with the definition of "hack." The reason people think they are is because the Congressmen in the hearings are complete dolts asking ****ty questions. They can't keep straight how many hacks there were, how many systems were breached, or what was affected. They can't even distinguish between "people," "records," and "SSNs." (One person might have more than one record in a system, which might have more than one SSN in it.) Admittedly, the OPM Director and CIO (both of which I know) are dolts themselves, which isn't helping matters. Watching these hearings, where they can't even agree on the definition of words, is like watching gatorman argue with himself.
Deranged Rhino Posted June 28, 2015 Author Posted June 28, 2015 Spy Agency's Secret Plans to Foster Online "Conformity" and "Obedience" exposed: Documents published today by The Intercept demonstrate how the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG), a unit of the signals intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), is involved in efforts against political groups it considers “extremist,” Islamist activity in schools, the drug trade, online fraud and financial scams. Though its existence was secret until last year, JTRIG quickly developed a distinctive profile in the public understanding, after documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the unit had engaged in “dirty tricks” like deploying sexual “honey traps” designed to discredit targets, launching denial-of-service attacks to shut down Internet chat rooms, pushing veiled propaganda onto social networks and generally warping discourse online. (SNIP) The JTRIG unit of GCHQ is so notable because of its extensive use of propaganda methods and other online tactics of deceit and manipulation. The 2011 report on the organization’s operations, published today, summarizes just some of those tactics: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/06/22/controversial-gchq-unit-domestic-law-enforcement-propaganda/ http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/06/22/spy-agencys-secret-plans-foster-online-conformity-and-obedience-exposed
Deranged Rhino Posted July 9, 2015 Author Posted July 9, 2015 Things keep getting interesting. Hacking Team was... hacked, and a document dump was performed. Some of the revelations are quite startling. Details contained within the leaked cache suggest that Hacking Team provided its software to a number of countries that could cause controversy. Despite previously claiming it hadn’t provided tools to Sudan — in response to a 2014 Citizen Lab report that claimed it had, a maintenance list obtained by the hackers suggests that it does, in fact, work with Sudan. However, alongside Russia, Sudan is tagged as “Not officially supported.” http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/06/hacking-team-the-company-that-sells-snooping-software-to-governments-gets-hacked/ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/08/hacking-team-emails-exposed-death-squad-uk-spying/ Then today, not only was there a hiccup on the NY stock exchange forcing a halt in trading, the Wall Street Journal's site went down, United Airlines was forced to ground flights after its systems crashed, and of course the OPM hack a few weeks ago. None of these events are connected of course... But you throw in China's markets disintegrating, the situation in Greece, and increased geopolitical tensions across the globe and it sure does feel like there's something big brewing behind the scenes while everyone is so focused on flags and Donald Trump.
DC Tom Posted July 9, 2015 Posted July 9, 2015 Then today, not only was there a hiccup on the NY stock exchange forcing a halt in trading, the Wall Street Journal's site went down, United Airlines was forced to ground flights after its systems crashed, and of course the OPM hack a few weeks ago. None of these events are connected of course... NYSE "went down" because the exchange took it down, because of a bug in their software update that was dropping trade confirmations and notifications sent out to traders. United's crash was because Continental's old ticketing software shat the bed. And the entire WSJ didn't go down. Just their home page. Because the entire world was trying to check it after NYSE took their servers off-line. So yeah, that was sorta related. Kind of. Nothing nefarious about any of it, unless you're a raving pinhead like JTSP.
meazza Posted July 9, 2015 Posted July 9, 2015 NYSE "went down" because the exchange took it down, because of a bug in their software update that was dropping trade confirmations and notifications sent out to traders. United's crash was because Continental's old ticketing software shat the bed. And the entire WSJ didn't go down. Just their home page. Because the entire world was trying to check it after NYSE took their servers off-line. So yeah, that was sorta related. Kind of. Nothing nefarious about any of it, unless you're a raving pinhead like JTSP.
Deranged Rhino Posted July 9, 2015 Author Posted July 9, 2015 FBI & Homeland Security now 0-41 in predicting imminent terrorist attacks on the US: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150706/23473631567/fbi-homeland-security-now-0-41-predicting-imminent-terrorist-attacks-us.shtml
B-Man Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 (edited) Hey Greg.............................more CNN antics....................lol CNN’s spin on disgraced OPM director Katherine Archuleta will leave you dizzy — and disgusted Today, disgraced OPM Director Katherine Archuleta tendered her resignation: “I write to you this afternoon to share that earlier today, I offered and the President accepted my resignation as the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management,” she wrote. “Leading this agency and serving with all of you has been the highlight of my career.” A career that, evidently, is Republicans’ fault: Here is (Honest to God ) part of CNN's announcement........... CNN Politics ✔ @CNNPolitics Republicans acknowledge to @evanperez they didn't properly vet Archuleta's qualifications http://cnn.it/1gss8Zj 2:03 PM - 10 Jul 2015 18 18 Retweets 3 3 favorites How about, you know, the guy who appointed her? As long as there’s a Republican out there somewhere, he’s responsible for everything that goes wrong, everywhere, forever and ever. This … is CNN. Actually.....I have reconsidered.............Yes it was bad of the GOP to think Obama wouldn't nominate an unqualified hack. . Edited July 10, 2015 by B-Man
IDBillzFan Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 Hey Greg.............................more CNN antics....................lol CNN’s spin on disgraced OPM director Katherine Archuleta will leave you dizzy — and disgusted. I saw earlier today someone resurrect one of her tweets during the 2012 election proclaiming that Mitt Romney...who called China our #1 geopolitical foe... was seriously out of touch with the 21st century. That would be the same China she allowed to hack personal data and SS#s of over 20 million federal employees. But hey...the flag is down. So we've got that going for us. Which is nice.
DC Tom Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 Except Archuleta wasn't appointed to fix OPM's security and IT issues. That is a small part of the Director of OPM's job. She did, however, hire Donna Seymour, who's responsibility it is. And Seymour is barely competent, at best. And Archuleta deserved to lose her job over the blistering incompetence of her Congressional testimony alone.
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 I saw earlier today someone resurrect one of her tweets during the 2012 election proclaiming that Mitt Romney...who called China our #1 geopolitical foe... was seriously out of touch with the 21st century. That would be the same China she allowed to hack personal data and SS#s of over 20 million federal employees. But hey...the flag is down. So we've got that going for us. Which is nice. People of color everywhere, rejoice.
IDBillzFan Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 Except Archuleta wasn't appointed to fix OPM's security and IT issues. That is a small part of the Director of OPM's job. She did, however, hire Donna Seymour, who's responsibility it is. And Seymour is barely competent, at best. And Archuleta deserved to lose her job over the blistering incompetence of her Congressional testimony alone. Were you one of the names that got hacked?
DC Tom Posted July 10, 2015 Posted July 10, 2015 Were you one of the names that got hacked? Anyone who worked for the federal government, was a contractor, or was family or a friend of either got hacked. The system that was breached stores the background investigation forms. I was also one of the people working on the system upgrade, until they cancelled it. I'm intimately familiar with these systems. I've actually worked with the OPM CIO - I have meeting notes from meetings with her, which in retrospect are downright hilarious in a tragi-comic sort of way.
Deranged Rhino Posted July 11, 2015 Author Posted July 11, 2015 The agency collected and stored intimate chats, photos, and emails belonging to innocent Americans—and secured them so poorly that reporters can now browse them at will. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/a-devastating-leak-for-edward-snowdens-critics/373991/?single_page=true
Chef Jim Posted July 11, 2015 Posted July 11, 2015 Anyone who worked for the federal government, was a contractor, or was family or a friend of either got hacked. The system that was breached stores the background investigation forms. I was also one of the people working on the system upgrade, until they cancelled it. I'm intimately familiar with these systems. I've actually worked with the OPM CIO - I have meeting notes from meetings with her, which in retrospect are downright hilarious in a tragi-comic sort of way. So it's your fault for not saying anything.
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