I couldn't resist...
You don't need much coffee after this statement: "He [Edward Snowden] should be hanged by his neck until dead!" While that may sound more like a sentencing judge in a Clint Eastwood movie, those are in fact the words of former CIA director James Woolsey, on FOX News. Now before I get into this I just want to make two quick observations. First, Anytime Diane Feinstein and Republican leaders in both the Senate and House are on television agreeing, you can be sure we are getting screwed. Secondly, had Snowden blew the lid off of a "scandal" within Baine Capital or other private firm the president would be enjoying another beer summit with him right now. The man would have been royalty for time and all eternity within this same crowd and by the same CIC that now chastises him.
So... what do I think? Snowden is a complicated case to discuss with people, even with those informed on the subject, because they are often talking past each other about what he did. What did he do? Essentially he leaked three key elements of the our national security's signal intelligence operations. They are as follows:
1.) Domestic spying. The "meta-data" collection of every cell call and email on every man, woman and child within the United States. What they claim is they only record the phone numbers (both to and from), the duration of the call, and time/date. They have repeatedly claimed they do not store the content. Email is a little different. Their "code" allows them to store all the pedigree information as with the phone intercepts and the content, but only as unintelligible code. It doesn't get translated, let alone read, into the real words of the communication unless a technician proactively goes and retrieves it. This is blatantly unconstitutional. In fact it is reminiscent of the British "General Warrants." As the Rebel cause grew in sentiment the Red Coats would get a warrant issued for say, all of South Boston, and just go on a scavenger hunt for anything incriminating. I am diametrically opposed to this collection, and National Intelligence Director James Clapper committed perjury when he testified before congress that this was in fact not happening. Had this whole scenario played out under Bush, the Left would be apoplectic.
2.) Eavesdropping on foreign leaders. The Angela Merkel incident(s) are the most dramatic of these. This is the least controversial aspect of the Snowden leaks among the American public (at least so far as I can read my fellow Americans). I think we all kind of assume that everybody is snooping on everyone else (in terms of world leaders). I mean there's a reason that when PM Cameron comes to New York that MI6 sweeps his quarters and car, diligently. And that's one of our two closest allies (although Israel may not "count" to this president).
3.) Foreign Intelligence gathering. The documents he gave the Washington Post and UK's The Guardian (and they were his first and primary dump source) didn't just include domestic operations. They included information on email interception, mobile calls, and radio transmissions of Taliban fighters in Pakistan's Northwest territories. Other documents revealed programs meant to test the loyalties of CIA operatives, in Pakistan; and a program meant to intercept emails in and out of Iran. And what's worse, he almost certainly had access to after action reports on Chinese, Russian, and Iranian attempts to nefariously collect signal intelligence on the US, in particular our foreign assets, yet he hasn't brought anything to light except those documents and programs that cast the US and her allies (most notably the British Intel collaboration) as villains. Then on top of that he seeks refuge first with China, then Russia. When Daniel Ellisberg (whom compared Snowden to himself in a favorable light) released the Pentagon papers, he didn't then flee to our "frenemies." In a Snowden address to presumably cyber security specialists in Moscow (the audience wasn't exactly wearing name tags) that made its' way on to the web just last week, Snowden said quote, "These nations, including Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador, have my gratitude and respect for being the first to stand against human rights violations carried out by the powerful." I wonder Titus, in light of this, are you still willing to award him the greatest hero since 1913 award? I'm not. I mean, is he more patriotic and heroic than Sgt York? Audie Murphy? Dick Winters? Chris Kyle? Marcus Latrell? No chance. However, Times Man of the Year (I'll never call it "Person" of the year) is certainly appropriate. But based solely on "impact" in 2013, not virtuous merit.
So what it comes down to is which Snowden are you exalting? Which one are you condemning? The guy who woke America up to clear Constitutional violations, or the guy who revealed sources and methods (or at least methods) to our enemies and praised such bastions of human rights as Venezuela? The NY Times editorial board issued a case for clemency in this week's paper. There have been a slew of dueling editorials for and against this. Very few include all three of what I have described above. They are all talking about their version of Snowden, based on what is most important to them
My solution is simple. For domestic surveillance abuses (and they are wide and vast) issue him official whistle blower status, and thank him. And after the ceremony the FBI can take him into custody for my number three above. I think he did us a great favor in alerting us to the gross overreach of our own government. He could have stopped there. And had he, I would defend him as a brave civil liberties warrior, worthy of praise. But he didn't. He went further. And at that moment he became guilty of treason, in my eyes.
By the way, this may all be a moot point soon anyway. The deputy director of the NSA, and the man charged with containing the Snowden leak, said on 60 Minutes that he is willing to offer clemency (after first qualifying it with the fact that this isn't up to him) in exchange for Snowden not leaking another word and handing over all of his documentation. I think that's Obama's easiest out. He can pacify the civil liberty advocates within his own party (and the Tea Party to a certain extent), and can still maintain National Security street cred with the GOP leadership. Whom, to quickly address your last post, I have one word for if they don't immediately shape up - Whigs. The original Republican Party went from six congressman to owning the White House (in Abe Lincoln) in a quick eight years... so just watch it Boehner, we've had about enough of this joke of a budget deal and not-so-grand compromise tact, both of which amount to little more than "socialism light."
Friday, January 10, 2014
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Furthermore...
So, I recently read that a prominent member of Senator and Chairperson of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence (the Legislative Branch's highest and most secretive committee) Diane Feinstein's staff stated that the ban on extended magazines for assault-style weapons is "do-able" because once the old, pre-ban magazines are used up, they won't be able to be replaced and will be thrown away. I can't cite the article, and I can't name the staffer, but if this is true, then Sen. Feinstein is surrounding herself with even dumber people than I would have imagined.
Now, this is the woman that has stood up and said that the NSA's illegal spying on ALL US citizens is just and needed to combat the threat of future terrorist violence against America. This is the woman that fought tooth-and-nail to keep past weapons bans in place during the Bush administrations. More distressing, this is the woman (and the sort of people that will replace her when she is gone) that we are trusting our future to, our personal and private information with now, and whom we voted for to protect our rights and freedoms in the past.
As I said earlier, I'm rapidly becoming convinced that the propaganda that is pouring forth from D.C. is so replete with lies and falsehoods that nothing we have been told over the last twenty-odd years can be trusted at all.
Every fact, figure and tiniest bit of evidence that has been delivered up to convince us that the actions of the government are justified are now 100% in doubt... even by their own admissions. Take this list for example...
From the National Safety Council:
– You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack
– You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack
– You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane
– You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack
–You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack
– You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack
– You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack
–You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack
–You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack
–You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist
–You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack
– You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack
Now, this is the woman that has stood up and said that the NSA's illegal spying on ALL US citizens is just and needed to combat the threat of future terrorist violence against America. This is the woman that fought tooth-and-nail to keep past weapons bans in place during the Bush administrations. More distressing, this is the woman (and the sort of people that will replace her when she is gone) that we are trusting our future to, our personal and private information with now, and whom we voted for to protect our rights and freedoms in the past.
As I said earlier, I'm rapidly becoming convinced that the propaganda that is pouring forth from D.C. is so replete with lies and falsehoods that nothing we have been told over the last twenty-odd years can be trusted at all.
Every fact, figure and tiniest bit of evidence that has been delivered up to convince us that the actions of the government are justified are now 100% in doubt... even by their own admissions. Take this list for example...
From the National Safety Council:
– You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack
– You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack
– You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane
– You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack
–You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack
– You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack
– You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack
–You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack
–You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack
–You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist
–You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack
– You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack
Does this bring it home, or what? I've been thinking about this list for the better part of a year... and I am still amazed that it hasn't made a bigger splash than it has. We all know that flying is the safest means of travel there is... which is 11,000 times more dangerous to me than a terrorist attack... yet my personal freedoms and privacy are thrown away more and more every day to protect me from a terrorist attack? Even my ability to travel in a timely and convenient manner have been sacrificed to "security" at the airport, the bus depot and the train station. Even the very police that are employed to protect me are a greater threat to me than a terrorist! Eight times greater!!! How can this be, and the country is still silent to the lies that we are still being told on a daily basis?
What is it going to take to fix this? I am struggling to see a way out of this mess... and I see nothing but more of the same.
A comment, long over due...
Since the President gave his speech stating that the War on Terror can never be won, and in which he defended his foreign policy to date, I have struggled with how best to articulate my disappointment in my government.
On that day in May (the day before my birthday, in fact), the President made perfectly clear that our current system of government no longer works at all.
Obama won the election based on arguments that previous administrations had failed to follow just, ethical or moral choices in determining the course of US foreign policy since 1999, but in that speech at the National Defense University he defended very nearly all that had been done prior to his coming to office in an attempt to defend what he had done in office since 2008. To put it very plainly... what was good for the goose is just fine for this gander.
Since the Snowden leaks have come to light, the depth of the government's disregard for the sovereignty of the citizens of this nation has never been more clear. I am more and more convinced... every day, in fact... that Edward Snowden may very well be the greatest individual hero this country has had in the last 100 years. As much as I love Pope Francis... nothing Pope Francis has done to date comes even close to the impact Snowden has had on the question of individual rights and freedoms for 350 million people across this country, and because of this I think he should have been Time's Person of the Year 2013.
Snowden's gift to America was the debate that he spawned. Obama ran on the promise of transparency in government... but nothing (and I mean NOTHING) any President has done since Johnson has shown just how invasive our government has become, and how callous it is towards our most fundamental freedoms and rights as Snowden did with those leaks. Watergate is peanuts in comparison.
I'm curious about what F Ryan thinks on this. The leaks were particularly damning (in my opinion) to both the last GOP Presidents, and showed (or started) some serious questions about St. Ron Reagan's choices in the realm of domestic surveillance. We now have two Federal judges that have weighed in on this: one saying he was a hero and the government has acted (and is acting) illegally, while another defends the government's actions as legal and necessary.
What say you, my friend?
On that day in May (the day before my birthday, in fact), the President made perfectly clear that our current system of government no longer works at all.
Obama won the election based on arguments that previous administrations had failed to follow just, ethical or moral choices in determining the course of US foreign policy since 1999, but in that speech at the National Defense University he defended very nearly all that had been done prior to his coming to office in an attempt to defend what he had done in office since 2008. To put it very plainly... what was good for the goose is just fine for this gander.
Since the Snowden leaks have come to light, the depth of the government's disregard for the sovereignty of the citizens of this nation has never been more clear. I am more and more convinced... every day, in fact... that Edward Snowden may very well be the greatest individual hero this country has had in the last 100 years. As much as I love Pope Francis... nothing Pope Francis has done to date comes even close to the impact Snowden has had on the question of individual rights and freedoms for 350 million people across this country, and because of this I think he should have been Time's Person of the Year 2013.
Snowden's gift to America was the debate that he spawned. Obama ran on the promise of transparency in government... but nothing (and I mean NOTHING) any President has done since Johnson has shown just how invasive our government has become, and how callous it is towards our most fundamental freedoms and rights as Snowden did with those leaks. Watergate is peanuts in comparison.
I'm curious about what F Ryan thinks on this. The leaks were particularly damning (in my opinion) to both the last GOP Presidents, and showed (or started) some serious questions about St. Ron Reagan's choices in the realm of domestic surveillance. We now have two Federal judges that have weighed in on this: one saying he was a hero and the government has acted (and is acting) illegally, while another defends the government's actions as legal and necessary.
What say you, my friend?
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Al Gore lied...
10 inches of snow, wind chills down to -20 degrees... until Monday!?!?! Seriously?
They are naming winter storms now... and this one seems aptly named: Hercules.
Or is it "Jerk-ules"? Hehe
Somebody call IXII!
They are naming winter storms now... and this one seems aptly named: Hercules.
Or is it "Jerk-ules"? Hehe
Somebody call IXII!
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
On this Holy Night...
I want to wish any and all that may see this the Merriest of Christmas Days, but especially to my family and friends.
Sitting here in my warm and cozy home, listening to the wind blow and the snow fall outside, getting ready to finish the preparations for the Big Morning with all three of my beautiful children home happy and safe... I'm still missing all of you that aren't here. My parents, my baby sister, my brother, all their kids, my in-laws and all their kids, my cousins and all their kids, my very best friends and all their kids... as much fun as we are looking forward to tonight and tomorrow, it's just a little bit less fun without you all here with us.
I pray that God blesses you all with as much love and joy as He has given us, and that you think of us while you enjoy your family and friends on this happy day, because we will be thinking of all of you!
Merry Christmas!
Sitting here in my warm and cozy home, listening to the wind blow and the snow fall outside, getting ready to finish the preparations for the Big Morning with all three of my beautiful children home happy and safe... I'm still missing all of you that aren't here. My parents, my baby sister, my brother, all their kids, my in-laws and all their kids, my cousins and all their kids, my very best friends and all their kids... as much fun as we are looking forward to tonight and tomorrow, it's just a little bit less fun without you all here with us.
I pray that God blesses you all with as much love and joy as He has given us, and that you think of us while you enjoy your family and friends on this happy day, because we will be thinking of all of you!
Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Want evidence of inflation? How's this...
I live in a pretty small town. Three gas stations, two small markets and a Walmart, two bars and two doughnut shops.
My son was having such a good week this week, and since the morning was going exceptionally well, I decided to treat him to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. That doesn't happen very often. So I go in and order a dozen frosting-covered baked delights, and the bill comes to $7.79. I'm shocked! I'm thinking to myself that it would have been less than six bucks, but here it is almost eight instead. However, I pay the girl behind the counter and load up my treats into the car.
As I'm unloading the goodies, I notice a receipt on the floor of the car that has the logo of the same doughnut shop on it, and stoop to pick it up. It is dated 2-21-13, and is for one dozen doughnuts... total price?
$5.74!
In only ten months, the local price for a dozen raised frosted doughnuts has increased by 34%, or $1.95... with no appreciable improvement in size, quantity or quality of product.
This tells me that the dollars I'm earning at work are rapidly becoming less and less valuable by the week. That, my friends, is inflation.
It also tells me that I need to clean the car far more often than I do.
My son was having such a good week this week, and since the morning was going exceptionally well, I decided to treat him to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. That doesn't happen very often. So I go in and order a dozen frosting-covered baked delights, and the bill comes to $7.79. I'm shocked! I'm thinking to myself that it would have been less than six bucks, but here it is almost eight instead. However, I pay the girl behind the counter and load up my treats into the car.
As I'm unloading the goodies, I notice a receipt on the floor of the car that has the logo of the same doughnut shop on it, and stoop to pick it up. It is dated 2-21-13, and is for one dozen doughnuts... total price?
$5.74!
In only ten months, the local price for a dozen raised frosted doughnuts has increased by 34%, or $1.95... with no appreciable improvement in size, quantity or quality of product.
This tells me that the dollars I'm earning at work are rapidly becoming less and less valuable by the week. That, my friends, is inflation.
It also tells me that I need to clean the car far more often than I do.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
This may be the most disturbing article I've read in years...
I'm almost beyond words... to think that a commissioned officer in the United States military would post THIS is repulsive to me.
I've said in the past, and I'll say it again: the tragedies that bring about these sorts of sentiments are indeed tragedies. Every bit as tragic as the thousands of people that die every year in automobile accidents, or due to on-the-job injuries, or from food-related illness that is easily prevented by moderation in living habits... yet no one is calling for the elimination of cars, power tools, or fast food.
I'm in a bit of a time crunch right now... but this is worth the discussion. I don't car who reads the blog, it is worth putting out there that this Lt. Col. is 100% WRONG... and not deserving of the rank he holds.
I've said in the past, and I'll say it again: the tragedies that bring about these sorts of sentiments are indeed tragedies. Every bit as tragic as the thousands of people that die every year in automobile accidents, or due to on-the-job injuries, or from food-related illness that is easily prevented by moderation in living habits... yet no one is calling for the elimination of cars, power tools, or fast food.
I'm in a bit of a time crunch right now... but this is worth the discussion. I don't car who reads the blog, it is worth putting out there that this Lt. Col. is 100% WRONG... and not deserving of the rank he holds.
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