• NEW! LOWEST RATES EVER -- SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE VERY BEST PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! Welcome to The Paracast+, eight years young! For a low subscription fee, you can download the ad-free version of The Paracast and the exclusive, member-only, After The Paracast bonus podcast, featuring color commentary, exclusive interviews, the continuation of interviews that began on the main episode of The Paracast. We also offer lifetime memberships! Flash! Take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! You can sign up right here!

    Subscribe to The Paracast Newsletter!

Surveillance & Human Rights

Forums New posts
truthseeker said:
What are your thoughts on this whole situation?

Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations | World news | The Guardian
Click to expand...

Ever heard of Project Echelon? The US government has been monitoring every form of electronic communication for at least 20 years, so this really comes as no shock to me.
I am surprised that someone in this guys position is willing to give it all up in a self-sacrificial attempt to warn the world.
I can't figure out if it's stupidity, bravery, naivete' or heroic.
 
The only news to me in the entire situation is that it's garnered mainstream media attention. Otherwise my entire reaction has been "no sh*t Sherlock" in relation to the government being able to read anyone's stuff that they so desire.

I feel similar about weather modification. They were doing it in Vietnam decades ago, making it rain on their enemies to make them miserable before striking. Don't tell me that they haven't gotten better at it since then, or have given up doing so since then.
 
TalkingMeatSuit said:
The only news to me in the entire situation is that it's garnered mainstream media attention. Otherwise my entire reaction has been "no sh*t Sherlock" in relation to the government being able to read anyone's stuff that they so desire.

I feel similar about weather modification. They were doing it in Vietnam decades ago, making it rain on their enemies to make them miserable before striking. Don't tell me that they haven't gotten better at it since then, or have given up doing so since then.
Click to expand...
We have one that can see...:cool:
 
I agree this is nothing new. The current NSA vacuum cleaner operation on phone metadata has been going on for 7 years. And the FISA court goes back to the 1970s, at the end of the Nixon era.
 
I've also been saying this for years. Remember TIA? John Poindexter? That was all window dressing. They've had the technology to create and maintain a 24/7 digital dossier on every American for decades. Now, they are able to store video surveillance and all forms of communications. They no longer have to ask, "Where were you on the night of ... " Not only do they know, but they can dial you up anytime, anywhere effortlessly. remember the film "Enemy of the State (1998)" and how everyone was so blown away buy the tech that was shown? That level of tech was from the 1970s. Imagine the strides they've made since then!


tia_logo_large.jpg
 
I can't understand why this guy was willing to sacrifice himself like that either. Gotta admire him for it, whatever his reason was. Makes you think what else the government has up its sleeve.
 
It seems real but for all I know he's some actor doing a movie audition. There's also nothing new in what he's saying. You can find all that out in Wikipedia ( ECHELON ), and writers like Christopher O'Brien and others have been saying the same thing for years. Is there any official NSA response? Has Snowden been found dead in some weird auto-erotic bondage accident? More importantly, so what if they monitor the judges and the politicians? They can be just as corrupt as the rest, if not more so. Somebody needs to keep an eye on them and Snowden seems like just the kind of guy we need in there to do it.

As for his concerns about the possible smear campaigns against regular folks. Seriously? Don't they have better things to do? If anything what this demonstrates is that the NSA has people with a sense of discretion who know the difference between who they should be targeting and who they shouldn't be targeting. I'm comfortable with a guy like Snowden in there doing his job and reading my Internet posts because he's not going to suddenly call in a drone strike on my house. What makes me nervous is if they get rid of guys like Snowden by making the system automatic and it suddenly starts relaying instructions to the robot drones.
 
truthseeker said:
What are your thoughts on this whole situation?

Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations | World news | The Guardian
Click to expand...

Was just about to post this ... :)

Anyway as has been said so far "old news" but that is not the point. The point is when you add this to things like the NDAA etc and the fact that a very large Data storage and interception facility for the NSA is being built alarm bells start going off.

Utah Data Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Why? well not because a government is collection information (hell they all do that), but because I think to myself what is the down stream effect? Heck you Americans have seen some of the most radical changes to your civil liberties in a few short years when you think about it......... so who is to say that information wont be used against you?

For sure they say it is to be used to monitor terrorists, dissidents, or those considered to be engaged in belligerent activity, and in here lays the problem what exactly is belligerent activity? Is it the Students protesting against a tuition fee rise? People protesting against corporations like Monsanto? or protesting against the Governments change to civil liberties? The simple act of protest is a dissident act in definition when you think about it.

And while I am talking about it when did we ever need a "free speech zone", well we have them now. You know what I mean places where free speech is allowed... hell that should be every where not some out of the way place set aside for it...So if you think this is unrelated think again and very hard about what is going on.

I guess in a nutshell what I am saying to you is that the problem is not that the information is being collected but what can it potentially be used for and in who's name and for who's gain? Where is the oversight? ... but the biggest problem is how and for what purpose could it be used in five or ten years time?

Anyway just some thoughts and me playing devils advocate.


truthseeker said:
I can't understand why this guy was willing to sacrifice himself like that either. Gotta admire him for it, whatever his reason was. Makes you think what else the government has up its sleeve.
Click to expand...

Just what I have been thinking.
.
 
ufology said:
It seems real but for all I know he's some actor doing a movie audition. There's also nothing new in what he's saying. You can find all that out in Wikipedia ( ECHELON ), and writers like Christopher O'Brien and others have been saying the same thing for years. Is there any official NSA response? Has Snowden been found dead in some weird auto-erotic bondage accident? More importantly, so what if they monitor the judges and the politicians? They can be just as corrupt as the rest, if not more so. Somebody needs to keep an eye on them and Snowden seems like just the kind of guy we need in there to do it.

As for his concerns about the possible smear campaigns against regular folks. Seriously? Don't they have better things to do? If anything what this demonstrates is that the NSA has people with a sense of discretion who know the difference between who they should be targeting and who they shouldn't be targeting. I'm comfortable with a guy like Snowden in there doing his job and reading my Internet posts because he's not going to suddenly call in a drone strike on my house. What makes me nervous is if they get rid of guys like Snowden by making the system automatic and it suddenly starts relaying instructions to the robot drones.
Click to expand...

This is the other side of the coin.. good post Ufology.
 
stonehart said:
best to say nothing as its being recorded :p
Click to expand...

Hey you NSA guys, here's the plan. Order yourself a couple of large Hawaiian pizzas with matching hula dancers. If your boss says anything just blame it on me. Say something like I told you there would be a secret message taped to the inside of the pizza box that would prove I know all about the worldwide UFO cover up. If they get mad, offer them a slice of pizza and tell them to relax and watch the girls dance. If your boss is a female tell her she's hot and to join them. I think this could be a major intelligence breakthrough.
 
Back
Top