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Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

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IainB:
At first, I wasn't sure whether to put this under "Snowdengate" or "silly humour", then I figured it actually wasn't very funny.
NSA DELETES “HONESTY” AND “OPENNESS” FROM CORE VALUES
<https://theintercept.com/2018/01/24/nsa-core-values-honesty-deleted/>
Jean Marc Manach
January 25 2018, 1:29

THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY maintains a page on its website that outlines its mission statement. But earlier this month, the agency made a discreet change: It removed “honesty” as its top priority.

Since at least May 2016, the surveillance agency had featured honesty as the first of four “core values” listed on NSA.gov, alongside “respect for the law,” “integrity,” and “transparency.” The agency vowed on the site to “be truthful with each other.”

On January 12, however, the NSA removed the mission statement page – which can still be viewed through the Internet Archive – and replaced it with a new version. Now, the parts about honesty and the pledge to be truthful have been deleted. The agency’s new top value is “commitment to service,” which it says means “excellence in the pursuit of our critical mission.”

Those are not the only striking alterations. In its old core values, the NSA explained that it would strive to be deserving of the “great trust” placed in it by national leaders and American citizens. It said that it would “honor the public’s need for openness.” But those phrases are now gone; all references to “trust,” “honor,” and “openness” have disappeared.

The agency previously stated on its website that it embraced transparency and claimed that all of its activities were aimed at “ensuring the safety, security, and liberty of our fellow citizens.” That has also been discarded. The agency still says it is committed to transparency on the updated website, but the transparency is now described as being for the benefit of “those who authorize and oversee NSA’s work on behalf of the American people.” The definition of “integrity” has been edited, too. The agency formerly said its commitment to integrity meant it would “behave honorably and apply good judgment.” The phrase “behave honorably” has now been dropped in favor of “communicating honestly and directly, acting ethically and fairly and carrying out our mission efficiently and effectively.”

The new list of values includes the additions “respect for people” and “accountability.” But the section on respecting people is a reference to diversity within the NSA workforce, not a general commitment to members of the public. Accountability is defined as taking “responsibility for our decisions.” The one core value that remains essentially unchanged is “respect for the law,” which the agency says means it is “grounded in our adherence to the U.S. Constitution and compliance with the U.S. laws, regulations and policies that govern our activities.”

In response to questions from The Intercept on Tuesday, the NSA played down the alterations. Thomas Groves, a spokesperson for the agency, said: “It’s nothing more than a website update, that’s all it is.”

Copied from: NSA Deletes “Honesty” and “Openness” From Core Values - <https://theintercept.com/2018/01/24/nsa-core-values-honesty-deleted/>

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Some people (not me, you understand) might say that "The USA would seem to be unequivocally "stuffed", but I couldn't possibly comment.

Stoic Joker:
Some people (not me, you understand) might say that "The USA would seem to be unequivocally "stuffed", but I couldn't possibly comment.
-IainB (January 25, 2018, 04:30 AM)
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The NSA really is turning into quite the mad dog off its leash - Christ we are so screwed.

Then again we could at least try to appreciate they're finally being honest enough to admit their complete lack of honesty..  :-\ :D

IainB:
...Then again we could at least try to appreciate they're finally being honest enough to admit their complete lack of honesty..  :-\ :D
-Stoic Joker (January 25, 2018, 07:11 AM)
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Well, yes, that would seem to be true, yet, though that is an amusing comment, the implications could be quite frightening: It would seem that the gloves are off and the intrusive spying is brazenly admitted to. It's an in-your-face middle digit sort of "How do you like them apples, buddy!?" to the American people at large (never mind the rest of the world).
This would effectively seem to be the State giving the finger to the American people, and others. No longer any attempt at concealment or diversion, it's an almost brazen insult - a fait accompli. - #SuckItUp.

Stoic Joker:
...Then again we could at least try to appreciate they're finally being honest enough to admit their complete lack of honesty..   -Stoic Joker (January 25, 2018, 08:11 AM)Well, yes, that would seem to be true, yet, though that is an amusing comment, the implications could be quite frightening: It would seem that the gloves are off and the intrusive spying is brazenly admitted to. It's an in-your-face middle digit sort of "How do you like them apples, buddy!?" to the American people at large (never mind the rest of the world).
-IainB (January 26, 2018, 09:10 AM)
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Yepper... That's exactly what I was driving at with the (dark humor) wise crack. Hence the setup line above it. ;)

IainB:
@Stoic Joker: OIC. Yes, I saw the point as in "...the mad dog off its leash...we are so screwed", but perceived the "...they're finally being honest enough to admit their complete lack of honesty..." as simply bleak humour in a true statement.

This thing they have done - the changes to their website - I could be wrong, of course, but, whatever one calls it, it would seem to be a clear, deliberate and calculated move - seemingly a fundamental shift in formalized policy - motivated by what American citizens can only guess at, since the adjustment to the website has apparently deliberately been neither publicised nor explained, but merely slipped in whilst people were sleeping, with an offhand, dismissive - almost insulting - response, when the change was queried.
These would not seem to be the actions of a pukka civil servant per se, but rather the actions of the master, so secure in its position that it can overtly demonstrate a boorish/arrogant indifference to any public opinion/objection.

Maybe it's a first step in a process of desensitization of citizens towards a creeping erosion of rights and/or civil liberties - in the hope that, eventually, protest fatigue may set in and apathy take over.
Or maybe it's jumping the gun a bit? Speaking of which, at least in the US, the citizens still have the ability to ultimately protect themselves from the State in a worst case scenario, via the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution (i.e., the right to keep and bear arms), despite the seemingly ceaseless assault by the State, on those rights, at every opportunity.
Other Western democracies don't seem to have anything like that.

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