Something interesting hit me the other day when I was watching some FBI agent being grilled by a congressman or senator. It was inspired by their constant refrain of not discussing any aspect of an ongoing investigation. I realized that the FBI selectively leaks what they want and clams up when there is an "ongoing investigation". Since they are essentially investigating everyone on the planet for suspected terrorism it gives them the flexibility to decide in every instance whether they will or won't talk about. The percentage where "the people" get to see what is going on is very small which means, for the most part, nobody on the outside really has a clue how our law enforcement and judiciary are working. That is very dangerous and we are seeing it play out around the world. The power these agencies have over our lives is extraordinary and, as has been pointed out many times, if they want to find some reason to arrest and detain you, you are sunk.
A lot seems to get hidden from Congress (and the public) via those assertions of ongoing investigations or "it's classified" when it seems most anything turns out to be classified, particularly stuff that might be an embarrassment.
This is J.Edgar on steroids. Everyone my age used to use FOIA to get their heavily redacted FBI files from various anti-war and free speech protests. It all seemed such a relic of the past. We failed pretty badly on the eternal vigilance price of liberty front. But huge numbers of people cannot unsee what they've now seen! Thank you Dr. Nass
As far back as the 1970's it was widely mentioned among those working for the federal government that mail was regularly checked, scanned, lists of correspondents maintained. Because at the time there were still 'party lines' for telephones, etc. it was assumed and openly talked about "don't talk about anything, the walls and phones have ears". Snowden's revealing allowed all citizen's access to the open information and that which had remained undercover. How many citizens actually 'bother' to read, listen, think and understand what is and has been happening in the world they live in? Those reading your comments do, but how many otherwise?
Imagine the day when you either have an in-the-body device to monitor you or some spooky drone following you all day and night. These control freaks are extremely afraid of not being able to control every last human on the planet.
They hate themselves for failing to do so and therefore hate all of humanity and thus the need for endless spying and control. You must get out of the digital prison that hardly existed 30 years ago. How is so much technology any better than none at all? It's not and never will be.
Another example of overreach in our government. Far too many people in positions of power start to think, the constitution's rules don't apply to them.
yeah, I nearly forgot about 2008's charming Section 702 FISA amendment: All us foreigners potential terrorists, unlimited surveilance, spying on us, then sharing the data around to all these global Dr.Nos, nice
Perhaps we should make the anniversary of Edward Snowden's revelations on Wikileaks a federal holiday to make sure that they are never forgotten.
Thanks for posting this.
Something interesting hit me the other day when I was watching some FBI agent being grilled by a congressman or senator. It was inspired by their constant refrain of not discussing any aspect of an ongoing investigation. I realized that the FBI selectively leaks what they want and clams up when there is an "ongoing investigation". Since they are essentially investigating everyone on the planet for suspected terrorism it gives them the flexibility to decide in every instance whether they will or won't talk about. The percentage where "the people" get to see what is going on is very small which means, for the most part, nobody on the outside really has a clue how our law enforcement and judiciary are working. That is very dangerous and we are seeing it play out around the world. The power these agencies have over our lives is extraordinary and, as has been pointed out many times, if they want to find some reason to arrest and detain you, you are sunk.
A lot seems to get hidden from Congress (and the public) via those assertions of ongoing investigations or "it's classified" when it seems most anything turns out to be classified, particularly stuff that might be an embarrassment.
Glenn Greenwald did an excellent podcast on this two days ago.
https://rumble.com/v2tzulw-system-update-98.html.
Legalize freedom and free speech
Disgraceful, but commentator, Vonu, has a good point (a federal holiday to commemorate their collective skullduggery).
This is J.Edgar on steroids. Everyone my age used to use FOIA to get their heavily redacted FBI files from various anti-war and free speech protests. It all seemed such a relic of the past. We failed pretty badly on the eternal vigilance price of liberty front. But huge numbers of people cannot unsee what they've now seen! Thank you Dr. Nass
As far back as the 1970's it was widely mentioned among those working for the federal government that mail was regularly checked, scanned, lists of correspondents maintained. Because at the time there were still 'party lines' for telephones, etc. it was assumed and openly talked about "don't talk about anything, the walls and phones have ears". Snowden's revealing allowed all citizen's access to the open information and that which had remained undercover. How many citizens actually 'bother' to read, listen, think and understand what is and has been happening in the world they live in? Those reading your comments do, but how many otherwise?
From ***2013*** article on NSA sharing all raw american data with Israel (The Guardian). Note there are other links embedded within this article:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/sep/11/nsa-israel-intelligence-memorandum-understanding-document
Imagine the day when you either have an in-the-body device to monitor you or some spooky drone following you all day and night. These control freaks are extremely afraid of not being able to control every last human on the planet.
They hate themselves for failing to do so and therefore hate all of humanity and thus the need for endless spying and control. You must get out of the digital prison that hardly existed 30 years ago. How is so much technology any better than none at all? It's not and never will be.
Another example of overreach in our government. Far too many people in positions of power start to think, the constitution's rules don't apply to them.
Thank you Dr. Nass.
yeah, I nearly forgot about 2008's charming Section 702 FISA amendment: All us foreigners potential terrorists, unlimited surveilance, spying on us, then sharing the data around to all these global Dr.Nos, nice