Hi Todd,
Do you know, I have been on this forum for a few months now...and you
are the first one to ask yourself the question, and pose it to others,
"What can be done?" And that, my friend is the first step.
There is a lot can be done, first of all by you, as an individual. It
doesn't take much, it means setting yourself goals, what you want to
achieve, what you want out of life, what contribution you can make, what
skills you have and how you can develop and use them. What new skills
you would like to acquire...how long you would like it to take ti
completion and so on. Remember too, that, as Voltaire said, "As far as
we know...There is only one life, so why not enjoy it" Though whether I
should be quoting you Voltaire...is another matter.
You may not be successful in everything you do, but at least you know
that you will have tried...And if your best, at the time, isn't good
enough, then learn from it and proceed to the next fuck up...:-). There
is a mnemonic I have put together over the years, it is called the 5
P.s. and it means... Perseverance+Perspicacity+Patience+Practice=Perfection.
I am a project minded sort of person, some of my life goals have
turned into life time projects...others have been achieved within time,
others still, have been drastic failures and fallen into that oblivion
where they are better not talked about, or only resurrected in dire
circumstances...which is very rare. It isn't only the CIA, GCHQ,
Presidents, Queens, Prime Ministers, Government Ministers, Cabinet
Members, politicians and Civil Servants who like to bury the
misdemeanours and mistakes of the past...we all do.
By asking yourself the question, it means that you can start looking for
answers, start working on answers...which will of course, open up your
mind to other questions. In other words...you need to do research in
the fields in which you are most interested...and most concern you. In
that way you move on to a path which is more constructive, narrower and
more disciplined, whilst at the same time, freeing up your imagination
to allow you to think and work better. No promised land here, by the
way, no Utopia, no certainty either, life isn't like that. You will
learn, by teaching yourself, how to gain, if not mastery in subjects,
certainly an in depth learning and deep awareness of the issues.
One of the best ways I have found, when I take on a new project, is to
discuss it with my family and friends. For me, that is not the easiest
of tasks, the family and my friends and close associates can be hard
taskmasters, or only interested in doing other things, or their own things.
If you think on it, Todd, we all have our own little hobby horses,
quirks, eccentricities, priorities in life and so on. Although we are
all human and have a human nature, every human is unique and
different...but there is one thing we all have...and that is patterns of
behaviour.
I wonder how long it will take for the demonstrators in Hong Kong to get
bored, run out of money, feel the pressures of work, study and home
calling. Living on the streets is OK when it is voluntary, but when it
is forced and long term, it gets pretty boring, dirty and one runs out
of things to talk about...and idle minds...get up to new tricks. I've
been there. I wonder too, if the Chinese and Hong Kong establishment
circles had long discussions at the weekend, in their civil service
schools and think tanks and military and police acadamies, and what
conclusions they have drawn and advice given to the powers that be.
I am away on holiday now, part of my life long project of walking and
exploring the Cotswolds, here in England. The weather isn't too good,
but there are lots of country piles to visit, and the architecture and
stone work are something to be seen.
ATB
Dougie.
Post by Todd JudgeThanks all,
Thank you all very much for the info and this very good discussion. I
couldn't agree more with your insights.
I just see the constant cloud over all of this as the complacent
general public, who won't bother to read up on it, won't bother to
understand any of it, nor the vast implications of the intrusions, and
sit any actions out because they "can't do anything about it anyway".
Pedestrians will always just accept it. It is only because mass
society's complacency regarding these basic human infringements on
personal privacy has been around so many decades (centuries??) that we
find this is the state of our governments' "security" endeavors today.
What can be done?
How does one implicate an effective global wake-up call? I am
admittedly "complacent" in my inability to conjure up any tangible
answers where I could participate. It makes me feel hypocritical even
pondering that question when I know my own personal answer is "I
haven't the slightest idea".
Thanks again,
Todd
Glad you found it absorbing Dougie. Looks like the proverbial could
hit the fan both sides of the Atlantic once people start putting the
pieces of the puzzle together.
This just demonstrates what the Church commission where warning about
years ago and they where rightly concerned at the overreach of the NSA
and its cohorts.
Their sheer arrogance will get the better of them in time. that's for sure.
ATB
Shaun
Post by dougHi Shaun,
One learns something new every day... :-). Tx for the information...
Now, that was a very interesting article. I particularly liked the
bit where the NSA went and classified documents which were already in
the public domain and were never secret. How can one do this
retroactively, and what do they expect to achieve? It is like
punishing someone for an action in the past which wasn't criminal, or
trying to push a baby back into the womb. They certainly don't like
criticism and have become very arrogant, using such threatening
tactics to try and scare someone into not carrying out their legal
and public duty.
*2014-1391.pdf <http://cryptome.org/2014/10/nsa-coffey-friedman.pdf> *
and why they took his unclassified documents away and then
classified them, nice to have that one answered too.
Also, the Patriot Act which is allowing the NSA and Homeland Security
to operate this mass surveillance of US citizens which has a sunshine
clause which ends next year, is forcing them to rethink the Freedom
of Information Act is a real belter.
Pity about the mass surveillance on non US citizens though. I
suppose other nation states will just have to change their own laws
and keep the US out, If they can't get proper accountability and
control, business will lose confidence in secure systems in the USA,
develop their own and shift elsewhere. This interference in people's
private affairs, particularly when they use criminal methods, such as
compromising computers with malware and viruses and without getting a
search warrant (a criminal offence for everyone else) and no one
knows how it is being used is going to bring about some major changes
in the future.
Interesting too, that GCHQ which has always said that it operates
under English Law, and therefore has NEVER exchanged information via
the backdoor yet here we have exposure of "Project Minaret", which
did that very thing.
see url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MINARET
Both countries exchanging information and data on their own citizens
via the back door, so that they can't be accused of being criminals.
It is the way that these national intelligence and security changes
exchange information about their own citizens, quite willy nilly,
without proper consultation or jurisdiction, and then deny that they
are doing it that gets me. What do we pay taxes for, so that they
protect us, and our security, not so that they can give away our
private data, our financial details via SWIFT etc, without our
knowledge or permission. If they are doing it, and they are doing
it legally, why not say so and point ones' nose to the appropriate
legal authority.
The history of denial of criminal activities, only to be found out at
a later date has become so noticable, that it is no wonder that more
and more of Joe Public is not prepared to trust the words that they,
and the politicians utter from their mouths.
ATB
Dougie.
Post by Shaun O'ConnorHello fellow crytomites
here are a few links that might be worth looking at
the first looks at the very secretive S12333 which the NSA are using
in order to subcert civil privacy in the US and s215 of the Patriot
act which , if this item is correct could expire june next year.
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http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/04/nsa-surveillance-reform-politicians-2015
Next up, A nice little article by James Bamford which includes a
downloadable copy of an original prosicutorial document heavily
implicating the NSA in illegal activities from way back in the 1970's
At the time the document was originally drawn up only 2 copies
apparently existed, the justice department had one and Bamford had
the other.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/10/02/the-nsa-and-me/
Happy reading.
ATB
Shaun
*_PRIVACY IS A BASIC RIGHT - NOT A CONCESSION
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*_PRIVACY IS A BASIC RIGHT - NOT A CONCESSION _*