1984 was a Warning not a Blueprint – Page 35

NSA and GCHQ Have You Webcam Pics. Yes, Even That One.

The well of National Security Agency (NSA) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) scandals has yet to run dry. Now it has come to light that the GCHQ, with assistance from the NSA, has been collecting webcam footage from Yahoo! users:

Britain’s surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal.

GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases, regardless of whether individual users were an intelligence target or not.

In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery – including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications – from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally.

I’m sure the agency’s database is chock-full of penis and boob pics. In fact I’m guessing that that was the primary purpose of Optic Nerve. Agents from both agencies are probably searching the database right now hoping to find some pictures to wank off to.

You Can’t Own Property, Man

Private property is often held up as one of the founding principles of the United States. But private property doesn’t exist, the state owns all property. This is why armed thugs with badges can order you to evacuate your home and then occupy and ransack it:

Franz said it all started shortly after overhearing a fight at her neighbor’s house across the street Sunday. A short time later, the SWAT team swarmed her neighborhood.

“The cop goes ‘You all need to leave, you can’t be in your house,'” said Franz.

That happened around 1 p.m. About six hours later, deputies cleared the scene and she went back home. But something was off when she walked through the door.

“I stopped, I froze because I realized somebody had messed with my TV,” said Franz.

Franz said her blinds were opened, her Xbox and TV were disconnected, and a drape over her bedroom window was thrown on the floor.

At first she thought it was a burglar but then realized nothing was missing.

[…]

Franz said she called the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to complain.

“He did call me back and he said ‘Yeah Ms. Franz my men did come in your house,'” said Franz.

What else could Franz have done? Had she refused to leave the SWAT officers would likely have kidnapped her or executed her on the spot. Legally speaking there probably isn’t much she can do since, as the story points out, there are exceptions to the warrant requirement for officers entering a home. Those exceptions aren’t clear cut and the police typically get off without punishment even when they do something illegal.

This story further reinforces the lesson that the state owns all property and we’re simply allowed to rent some of it. The second we fail to pay our rent, err, property tax or a costume-clad thug with a badge wants it we must either leave or face the state’s violence.

Dropping Bombs on Cellular Signals

There should be a new motto for the ongoing War of Terror: it gets worse. Every day new reports regarding the War of Terror manage to reveal facts that are worse than the facts revealed in previous reports. The fact we have regarding the United State’s use of drones is already pretty damning.

We know that the United States regularly practices double-tapping, the act of dropping a second bomb on a target minutes after the first, which often catches first responders in the blast. Two years ago the United States redefined the term militant to include all military-aged males inside a strike zone, which has done wonders for reducing the number of “civilian” causalities. With the term militant redefined the fact that drone bombings kill more civilians than terrorists is an irrelevant fact. Even with the term militant redefined the number of civilian causalities in the form of children is alarming. Even after all of this the United States still loosened restrictions in regards to who it can and cannot legally bomb.

As hard as it is to imagine it still gets worse. Yesterday it was revealed by Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald that the United States is now using geolocation data from cellular phones as sole criteria for determining where to drop bombs:

The National Security Agency is using complex analysis of electronic surveillance, rather than human intelligence, as the primary method to locate targets for lethal drone strikes – an unreliable tactic that results in the deaths of innocent or unidentified people.

According to a former drone operator for the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) who also worked with the NSA, the agency often identifies targets based on controversial metadata analysis and cell-phone tracking technologies. Rather than confirming a target’s identity with operatives or informants on the ground, the CIA or the U.S. military then orders a strike based on the activity and location of the mobile phone a person is believed to be using.

[…]

In one tactic, the NSA “geolocates” the SIM card or handset of a suspected terrorist’s mobile phone, enabling the CIA and U.S. military to conduct night raids and drone strikes to kill or capture the individual in possession of the device.

[…]

As a result, even when the agency correctly identifies and targets a SIM card belonging to a terror suspect, the phone may actually be carried by someone else, who is then killed in a strike. According to the former drone operator, the geolocation cells at the NSA that run the tracking program – known as Geo Cell –sometimes facilitate strikes without knowing whether the individual in possession of a tracked cell phone or SIM card is in fact the intended target of the strike.

This tactic is asinine. As the article points out, the location of a cellular phone doesn’t indicate the location of its owner. Cellular phones can be loaned to friends and family members, left in taxicabs, stolen, or otherwise relocated in a manner that doesn’t indicate the location of its owner. In addition to simply removing the phone from the target’s location there is also the issue of cloning. While cellular phone companies can often identify clones cellular identify information I have my doubts that the United States government takes such precautions when using geolocation information to determine where to drop bombs.

We’ve been told that the utmost care is taken when selecting targets for drone assassination. These claims have been invalidated by information leaked from the military and intelligence agencies. Perhaps the United States once took care when targeting individuals although I have my doubts. But it’s obvious at this point that little care is being taken when determining who to bomb. If things continue in this direction it won’t be long until a random populated location generator is used to determine where to drop bombs.

This war, like all wars, has gotten out of hand. The only purpose left in waging the War of Terror is to fulfill the blood lust of psychopaths and to line the pockets of defense contractors.

Introducing This Week’s Fear Propaganda

You have to hand it to the United States propaganda machine, it never takes a day off. Every week it seems like we’re treated to a new story that is supposed to strike fear, doubt, and uncertainty in our minds. For the last two weeks we’ve been treated to horror stories involving the conditions as the Sochi Olympic games. This week we’re being told that Iran is sending war ships close to the United State’s maritime border:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian warships dispatched to the Atlantic Ocean will travel close to U.S. maritime borders for the first time, a senior Iranian naval commander said Saturday.

The commander of Iran’s Northern Navy Fleet, Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad, said the vessels have already entered the Atlantic Ocean via waters near South Africa, the official IRNA news agency reported.

In of itself a handful of Iranian warships isn’t scary. What you’re supposed to be scared of is the reason that Iran is sending warships our way:

The voyage comes amid an ongoing push by Iran to demonstrate its ability to project power across the Middle East and beyond.

Look at those evil Iranians trying to project their power. As we all know projecting power is only a few steps away from an actual attack (unless, of course, the United States is projecting power because then it’s just bringing freedom and democracy). What’s funny are some of the comments I’ve read online. Most people are laughing this story because it is rather absurd. But a few people, the gullible suckers who believe anything the state crams down their throats, have been drumming up the Iran hatred again.

Iran seems to the Ministry of Propaganda’s fallback. Whenever it runs out of world events that could actually be deemed scary for American citizens it resorts to drumming up fear of Iran. It’s sad really. The Soviet Union was an enemy that Americans could legitimately fear. Between it’s large landmass, gigantic military, and arsenal of nuclear weapons the Soviet Union actually had a chance of giving the United States a run for its money in a real war. Now that that threat is gone the Ministry of Propaganda seems lost. It can try and try as it might to turn Iran into an enemy worth fearing but the capability to hurt the United States is entirely missing making the adventure all for naught.

The Propaganda Machine is Getting Slow

Edward Snowden has been disseminating information about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance apparatus since June 5^th of last year. In all of that time the state’s propaganda machine has been making feeble attempts to combat these leaks. These attempts have ranged from trying to label Snowden a traitor to claiming the state’s surveillance apparatus is necessary to keep American’s safe. Over seven months after Snowden began his heroic efforts the state’s propaganda machine is finally putting some real effort into attempting to discredit him:

Washington – Edward Snowden, who leaked classified National Security Agency documents, might have been working for Russian spy services before he left his job as an NSA contractor last year, the heads of the House and Senate intelligence committees said Sunday.

“I don’t think it was a gee-whiz luck event that he ended up in Moscow under the handling” of Russia’s state security service, said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House panel.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, was asked whether she agreed with Rogers that Snowden may have had help from the Russians. “He may well have. We don’t know at this stage,” she said.

Neither Rogers nor Feinstein offered evidence that Snowden had been working with Moscow. Both lawmakers said their committees would continue to pursue the suspicions.

It’s a little late to start playing this game. Attempts to discredit somebody need to occur very soon after he or she beings whatever deed warrants discrediting. After a short time frame any attempts to discredit the person appear shady. Such delays make it appear as though you had to invest time into fabricating stories and evidence instead of relying on readily available facts.

The damage Snowden has done to the NSA’s credibility is done. There is nothing the state can do to repair its reputation. Any attempts, other than completely dismantling the NSA, reek of desperation and inability to take responsibility. I’m sure we will be presented with evidence that Snowden was secretly working for the Russians soon but we know that any such evidence will be a pathetic fabrication meant to discredit a great man.

Increasing the Flow Through the School-Prison Pipeline

The 13_th Amendment of the United States Constitution didn’t abolish slavery regardless of what many believe. What it did was change the rules. Criteria for who can and cannot be used as a slave is no longer based entirely on skin color, although it often plays out that way. Instead the primary criteria is whether or not an individual has been given the arbitrary label of criminal. With the slave labor pool dropping something has to be done to keep Federal Prison Industries and Corrections Corporation of America stocked with workers.

Schools in Minnesota, and most likely their slave labor employing partner MINNCOR, are looking at an innovative new way to get those numbers back up. The experiment involves drug testing children in schools:

School administrators in Duluth are talking about testing students randomly for drugs.

Educators say parent and student input would be gathered if the idea moves forward.

Parent Deb Johnson tells KSTP’s sister station WDIO-TV she’s in favor of the tests because it would likely curb the drug problem in the high schools. Johnson is president of the Duluth East Parent-Teacher-Student Association. She expects some resistance to the idea.

Since every activity an adult can possible consider doing is effectively illegal in this country the only way to increase the flow of laborers into the prison system is to either increase enforcement or criminalize children. Increasing enforcement costs money and requires more badged thugs. Criminalizing children is much easier because the population is mostly captive. This is probably why more states have been trying to open the school-prison pipeline wider. Testing adults for drugs is slightly more difficult than testing children for drugs because adults have the right to refuse. Children, on the other hand, are given no legal opportunity to refuse any order given by a school administrator.

I’m sure many people, like Deb Johnson, will approve of drug testing children. They will approve of this because they perceive that a drug problem exists and believe drug testing will fix that problem. In reality this is a case where the “fix” is worse than the “problem”. In all likelihood any kid who tests positive for drug use will find him or herself brought up on charges. What may have been a youthful indiscretion would turn into a lifelong punishment.

Finding a job is extremely difficult when you have anything on your criminal record. It’s one of the reasons I believe the recidivism rate is so high in the United States. After getting out of prison an individual has a difficult time getting a job so they return to crime in order to survive. By charging children with a drug offense they are effectively guaranteed a lifetime of hardship in regards to finding a job. While many people may claim that this is a good reason for kids not to do drugs we need to be honest and admit that children suck at long term planning. That’s part of the reason we don’t trust them with real responsibility. So hitting them with a lifelong punishment is nothing short of absurd. But that’s most likely what will come of these drug tests.

I find it sick that the schools are even thinking about doing this and I find it even sicker that many people will actually approve of this.

Even Your Automobile is Snitching on You

I enjoy the fact that we’re seeing some innovation in the long stagnant automobile market. But said innovation comes at a price. Every new feature that is capable of collecting data about your driving habits is a potential set of loose lips that can get you into trouble. The Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Ford let the cat out of the bag when he publicly announced that his company knows when you’re doing something illegal with your automobile:

Farley was trying to describe how much data Ford has on its customers, and illustrate the fact that the company uses very little of it in order to avoid raising privacy concerns: “We know everyone who breaks the law, we know when you’re doing it. We have GPS in your car, so we know what you’re doing. By the way, we don’t supply that data to anyone,” he told attendees.

His claim that that data isn’t given to anybody is a lie. If somebody holds data the government can issue a subpoena to take it or use the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance apparatus to secretly take it. Furthermore, if Ford ever declares bankruptcy the data that it has collected on its customers will be sold at its asset auction.

The obvious solutions to this problem are to either forgo a new automobile or disable any new vehicle’s tracking and reporting capabilities. If the data is being collected it can be acquired by unauthorized parties. This fact is especially worrisome as the state continues its slow death spiral and beings desperately grasping at any opportunity to expropriate wealth from the people.

We’re All Criminals Now

This post is for all of those people who believe this country needs to be tough on crime. While severely punishing criminals sounds like an effective idea the problem with such an attitude is that we’re all criminals. There are over two centuries of laws on the books at a federal level. Hawaii, the newest state in the United States, has over half a century of laws on the books while every other state has even more. It’s not just the laws that make us criminals but previous court decisions also create more criminals. In fact nearly 50 percent of black males and 40 percent of white males are arrested before they reach 23 years of age:

A large number of American men have already been arrested by the time they’re in their early 20s, according to a new report.

The study, published on Monday in the journal Crime & Delinquency, found that nearly half (49 percent) of African-American men and 40 percent of white men have been arrested by the age of 23, “which can hurt their ability to find work, go to school and participate fully in their communities,” according to a press release.

When everybody is a criminal the label criminal loses its meaning. That’s the point we’re at in our society. The average American unknowingly commits three felonies a day. If we became tough on crime or enforced the laws already on the books every single one of us would be in a cage.

This is something you should consider the next time one of your friends or a politician blabbers on about the need to be tougher on crime.

Rand Paul Once Again Demonstrates His Love of Authoritarianism

It’s time again for me to take a swing at my favorite political punching bag, Rand Paul. This time it is in regards to a statement he made about Edward Snowden, the man who gave up his cushy job with a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor to enlighten us all on the widespread surveillance state we live under:

During an interview with Eric Bolling on Fox News last week, Sen. Paul was asked to respond to the video of director Clapper lying about the collection of data in March 2013 – before Snowden’s leaks. Paul told Bolling it’s ironic that the same legislators and pundits calling for Snowden’s imprisonment are turning a blind eye to Clapper’s committed felony in Congress. Disagreeing with the illustration Paul created, the Senator said he wants the law applied equally: both to Snowden for leaking and to Clapper for lying.

[…]

Along with Stephanopoulos’s question of clemency, the ABC pundit wanted Senator Paul to touch on his comments to Fox News’s Bolling, regarding a prison cell for Snowden. Paul told ABC’s “This Week” that the reasoning behind his statement was to convey a point of equality under the law, pointing out that Snowden and Clapper broke laws and that neither the pro-NSA or anti-NSA sides should throw a blind eye to broken laws.

Emphasis mine. This really irritates me for a couple of reasons. First, a precedence of jailing somebody who revealed criminal activity would decrease the likelihood of another person coming forward in the future. When agencies or corporations are engaging in criminal activity that information should be made public. Unless that information is made public it is too easy to cover up the evidence and sweep the story underneath the rug. This is especially true when oligarchs, such as government officials, are on the take. Based on the stories that have come to light about the activities of the NSA; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI); Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Department of Justice (DoJ) I don’t believe it is unreasonable to think anybody who used “proper channels” in an attempt to reveal criminal activity would find themselves in a cage or ditch.

Second, what Edward Snowden did was the right thing. Punishing Snowden for leaking those documents would be no different than punishing an armed person who stopped a school shooting. Yes, entering a school with a firearm is illegal but if it is done to stop somebody who is attempting to murder students and faculty then the violation of “gun-free” zone laws should be ignored. Likewise, any laws Snowden violated by leaking those documents should be ignored. More often than not the law stands between a good person and the right thing. When this happens the obstructing laws shouldn’t be enforced.

Rand Paul attracts support from both the neoconservative and libertarian sides of the aisle. The neoconservatives, rightly so, see a politician who is willing to talk the talk without walking the walk. Libertarian supporters of Rand Paul believe a rather absurd conspiracy theory. They believe that, upon being elected to the presidency, Rand Paul will turn away from his neoconservative nature and reign freedom and liberty upon this country. If somebody can show me a single instance of such a change occurring in a politician while he was in office I make consider that conspiracy theory a bit more than a theory. But as far as I’m aware such a change of heart has never occurred.

What You Mean to Your Government

Monday’s are usually fairly slow news days and this week is no exception. Due to the lack of any more news I find interesting enough to post about I’ve decided to leave this story here. My reasoning is that this story covers nine government conspiracies that actually happened. They are:

The U.S. Department of the Treasury poisoned alcohol during Prohibition — and people died.
The U.S. Public Health Service lied about treating black men with syphilis for more than 40 years.
More than 100 million Americans received a polio vaccine contaminated with a potentially cancer-causing virus.
Parts of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, which led to U.S. intervention in Vietnam, never happened.
Military leaders reportedly planned terrorist attacks in the U.S. to drum up support for a war against Cuba.
The government tested the effects of LSD on unwitting U.S. and Canadian citizens.
In 1974, the CIA secretly resurfaced a sunken Soviet submarine with three nuclear-armed ballistic missiles.
The U.S. government sold weapons to Iran, violating an embargo, and used the money to support Nicaraguan militants.
A public relations firm organized congressional testimony that propelled U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf War.

The article is an interesting read because these stories really show what the United States government thinks of its own people and people abroad. Life has little meaning to it. If people have to be poisoned to enforce a prohibition against drinking alcohol then the government has no moral issue with doing it. If the people aren’t supporting a war effort the government has no issue hiring a public relations firm to build support. This is what government does and it is why I don’t feel it should exist.