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Last post Author Topic: Worth Reading: Trevor Pott's editorial on NSA PRISM and its real ramifications  (Read 144962 times)

IainB

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^^ Thanks for the explanation.
Sheesh. I don't know how the electorate cope with such "ambiguity" in an elected President's mandate.
The thing seems to have more twists than an Agatha Christie thriller.

wraith808

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^^ Thanks for the explanation.
Sheesh. I don't know how the electorate cope with such "ambiguity" in an elected President's mandate.
The thing seems to have more twists than an Agatha Christie thriller.

Historically, it's been with Hope.  A Hope for Change.  And the judicious spending of political capital has helped to make the strings less obvious with those that came before.

But with Hope and Change having been key tenets in this electoral cycle... it's pretty depressing.

Tinman57

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  Obama ran on the "We Want Change" theme.  Well, we got change alright....   :(

wraith808

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  Obama ran on the "We Want Change" theme.  Well, we got change alright....   :(

Actually, we didn't.  That was pretty much the point IMO.  He's pretty much the same as W in the ways that count, and has continued the programs of his predecessor.

Tinman57

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  Obama ran on the "We Want Change" theme.  Well, we got change alright....   :(

Actually, we didn't.  That was pretty much the point IMO.  He's pretty much the same as W in the ways that count, and has continued the programs of his predecessor.

Oh no, we got change alright.  More money spent than any president ever, national deficit doubled... blah blah blah.  But you still have to read in the sarcasm in that post....   :P

wraith808

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 Obama ran on the "We Want Change" theme.  Well, we got change alright....   :(

Actually, we didn't.  That was pretty much the point IMO.  He's pretty much the same as W in the ways that count, and has continued the programs of his predecessor.

Oh no, we got change alright.  More money spent than any president ever, national deficit doubled... blah blah blah.  But you still have to read in the sarcasm in that post....   :P

Yeah... those numbers are disputable.  Both sides are to blame... and definitely not just the president.  Or do you believe that Clinton left office with a surplus almost double what the deficit was when W was in office?  I don't believe the hyperbole either way... both are the same... we have the Republicrat party, and whoever is in power just gets the most money at the time.   :-\

“Senator Obama warned about Patriot Act abuses. President Obama proved him right.”
« Last Edit: August 03, 2013, 12:07 AM by wraith808 »

IainB

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    Two weevils crept from the crumbs. “You see those weevils, Stephen?” said Jack solemnly.

    “I do.”

    “Which would you choose?”

    “There is not a scrap of difference. Arcades ambo. They are the same species of curculio, and there is nothing to choose between them.”

    “But suppose you had to choose?”

    “Then I should choose the right-hand weevil; it has a perceptible advantage in both length and breadth.”

    “There I have you,” cried Jack. “You are bit — you are completely dished. Don’t you know that in the Navy you must always choose the lesser of two weevils? Oh ha, ha, ha, ha!”

- from The Fortune of War, by Jack Aubrey.

wraith808

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Stoic Joker

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Presented without further comment...

Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA

So, are we truly to believe that congressional claim that they too are victims of larger darker forces ... Or do we continue to assume, that they too, are simply lying to us. Neither option is at all good.

Lesser of evils indeed.

wraith808

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That's why no comment :(

TaoPhoenix

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Presented without further comment...

Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA

So, are we truly to believe that congressional claim that they too are victims of larger darker forces ... Or do we continue to assume, that they too, are simply lying to us. Neither option is at all good.

Lesser of evils indeed.

Well, there's sort of a way to solve that -
There's *lots* of congresspeople. To borrow a little from Rainman, "Lots and lots of them".
What I find less believable is whether *every single one of them* is that completely down Alice's Rabbit Hole.

So then you get any seven that you *really trust* out of some 530 to submit the requests and see the results. Either they will indeed be blocked, "confirming the nasty option", or they get magically allowed, "casting doubt on the first two".

All this *was* very far under the radar even a couple of years ago, so the fact that Spin Docs are trying this hard to hold it all together is a good thing, because it's causing cognitive dissonance tension that's harder to maintain.

It's giving a new political angle to any maverick congressperson who feels they don't have "much to lose" to be a semi-sacrificial offering, saying "who cares if I don't get re-elected, my time in the media can never be erased".


Tinman57

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  It's Congress the made the laws the way they are and allowed the NSA to get away with all their secrecy.  No one to blame but themselves, and no hiding from the facts either....

Renegade

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^^ I thought the point was for them to hide the facts from everyone? ;D
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Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

Renegade

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Some levity and fun on the topic:

7 Things Edward Snowden Should Do in Russia

http://world.time.co...-russia/?hpt=hp_bn18

Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker