Stalking "The Thing"

Satori

Regular Member
Messages
367
Reaction score
21
Points
0
STALKING "THE THING"

3/12/2004

It's back. "The Thing That Just Won't Die" has returned in mutated form to terrorize the good people of our country, gorging itself on gargantuan fistfuls of our First and Fourth Amendment rights.

"The Thing" was once known as TIA--Total Information Awareness--the Orwellian/Frankensteinian creation of John Poindexter, the disgraced, convicted, and totally loopy former operative from the Reagan White House. Brought in from the cold by George W, Poindexter set up shop in a wing of the Pentagon called DARPA--Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

At DARPA, the maniacal Poindexter put together his TIA, a supercomputerized program to gather every scrap of data there is on everybody--from our bank accounts to video rentals, our medical histories to photos of protests we've attended. All of this was to be sifted and sorted, ostensibly to detect suspicious behavior that would tag someone as a possible terrorist.

Noting that this would make millions of Americans suspected terrorists and amount to a wholesale invasion of our people's privacy, the public screamed, congress cut-off TIA's funding, and Poindexter ultimately was forced back to Disgraceland.

But, wait...TIA didn't die. It metamorphosed from DARPA to ARDA--Advanced Research and Development Activity. While publicly pretending to kill TIA, congressional leaders had quietly funneled money to ARDA to resurrect TIA as The Thing, which is now pursuing the exact same assault on our privacy as TIA was, even using some of Poindexter's old crew.

ARDA says that its Thing can wolf down a "petabyte or more" of data. How much is that? A petabyte will hold 40 pages of text on every man, woman, and child in the world, with room left to get information on your dog and parakeet.

To help us finally drive a stake through the heart of this Thing, call the Center for Democracy and Technology: 202-637-9800.

"Office was cut, but data-mining work continues." Austin American-Statesman. February 23, 2004.



Jim Hightower
Hightower & Associates
1802 W. 6th Street
Austin, TX 78703
512-477-5588
[email protected]



http://www.jimhightower.com/air/read.asp?id=11318
 
This is bad. How many of us have voted to allow our privacy to be taken away just to improve our sense of security, especially since its false?

F*ck the system.
 
I think that report is pretty exaggerrated, even propaganda-like. You have to find a balance between security and privacy, and the Thing provides it. Personally, I don't like George W. Bush, but then again, this, like many things, has to be a necessary evil in the land that is America.
 
this, like many things, has to be a necessary evil in the land that is America.

There is no "America" when things like this become "necessary" ...
 
Satori said:
There is no "America" when things like this become "necessary" ...

Well, to hardball it back, every nation and entity has necessary evils...all nations have what we call "elections," the Olympics have "doping rules," sports have "losers/losing teams," school and education can be viewed as a necessary evil...and when you take these necessary evils away, you have no countries, you have no Olympics, you have no sports, you don't have smart, educated human beings, etc. So there has to be a balance here, to make the world the way it is.
 
The thing is, Hachiko, there wasn't an "election" that placed Bush in office, so let's not forget that. America is built on freedoms--the right to privacy being just one of them--and once our freedoms go, so does America.
 
Satori said:
The thing is, Hachiko, there wasn't an "election" that placed Bush in office, so let's not forget that. America is built on freedoms--the right to privacy being just one of them--and once our freedoms go, so does America.

You're entitled to your own opinion, Satori. However, we're having new elections this year, and West Palm Beach has a new voting system. And that's why a lot of people are pulling for Kerry to defeat Bush, cause a majority are fed up with Bush's unnecessary antics (save those in the South and Bible Belt).
 
This is one southern girl who wants Dubya out! Of course, I'm hardly the 'typical' southerner.

And speaking of the FL vote(sent to me by Frank):
 
I can't believe you would advocate the loss of our right to privacy as "necessary," Hachiko. It's obvious that you and I don't agree, so let's just leave it at that. Maybe once you are my age, you will see things a little differently.
 
I only wish Ralph Nader could be voted in, but that will never happen.

Got to be a Skull & Bones guy, it seems.
 
Satori said:
I can't believe you would advocate the loss of our right to privacy as "necessary," Hachiko. It's obvious that you and I don't agree, so let's just leave it at that. Maybe once you are my age, you will see things a little differently.

So be it. :eek:
Again, you are entitled to your own opinion, and I personally feel it should be okay and fair for people to have different viewpoints on various issues such as this. :)

And as for me seeing things a little differently...I'm already there. But, you see, Satori, I look at these issues from both sides of the spectrum. Just because you think I see it as "necessary" doesn't mean I wholly support the consequence of the loss of privacy. I don't like this either, but unfortunately, this is going to happen, because of what our governemnt does.
 
Hachiko said:
So be it. :eek:
Again, you are entitled to your own opinion, and I personally feel it should be okay and fair for people to have different viewpoints on various issues such as this. :)

And as for me seeing things a little differently...I'm already there. But, you see, Satori, I look at these issues from both sides of the spectrum. Just because you think I see it as "necessary" doesn't mean I wholly support the consequence of the loss of privacy. I don't like this either, but unfortunately, this is going to happen, because of what our governemnt does.


You contradict yourself throughout your post, so let's just leave it at that.
 
This just in ...

Date: March 18, 2004

Not satisfied with the new snooping powers granted by the PATRIOT Act, the Department of Justice is now asking the Federal Communications Commission to allow law enforcement the power to regulate the design of Internet communications services to make them easy to wiretap.

If implemented, the new request by Attorney General John Ashcroft would dramatically increase the government's surveillance powers and set a precedent for opening the entire Internet to law enforcement. By forcing technology companies to build "backdoors" in their systems for wiretapping, the Ashcroft plan would also create weaknesses that hackers and thieves could use to invade your privacy and steal personal information like credit card numbers.

The government already has more than enough power to spy on individuals suspected of wrongdoing. This measure is the equivalent of requiring all new homes be built with a peephole for law enforcement agents to look through.
 
As A Former Minor League Player In The Spy Game...

Let me tell you, we spy on everyone & everything. We even have a branch to spy on our own military people. and a branch of spys who spy on the other spys! We listen in on the British, Canadians, Mexicans. you name em we evesdrop & record em! But there is a big plus to
all this!! We gather so much intel & info that it sits and rots before any of it gets used. Probably half the earths polution comes from burning old intel that is outdated and never was looked at.It's kinda like you have 500 channels on satalite TV and 500 VCRS running non-stop to record each chan. so you don't miss anything! Trouble is, you are so busy swapping tapes in & out and putting labels on them, you NEVER have time to watch any of them! And our field agents make Maxwell Smart look good!! My neighbor was EX-CIA(30 year man) & the dumbest cluck I ever met. He was over to my house every other day for me to help him out of some jam. If
it wasn't for pure luck & falling into good info our inteligence community would have been out of business long ago. The only agency watching me I fear is the Infernal Revinue Service!! If you make an error on a tax return, it takes them 3 years or more to find it , thats if they do!

Frank
 
Frank D. White said:
Let me tell you, we spy on everyone & everything. We even have a branch to spy on our own military people. and a branch of spys who spy on the other spys! We listen in on the British, Canadians, Mexicans. you name em we evesdrop & record em! But there is a big plus to
all this!! We gather so much intel & info that it sits and rots before any of it gets used. Probably half the earths polution comes from burning old intel that is outdated and never was looked at.It's kinda like you have 500 channels on satalite TV and 500 VCRS running non-stop to record each chan. so you don't miss anything! Trouble is, you are so busy swapping tapes in & out and putting labels on them, you NEVER have time to watch any of them! And our field agents make Maxwell Smart look good!! My neighbor was EX-CIA(30 year man) & the dumbest cluck I ever met. He was over to my house every other day for me to help him out of some jam. If
it wasn't for pure luck & falling into good info our inteligence community would have been out of business long ago. The only agency watching me I fear is the Infernal Revinue Service!! If you make an error on a tax return, it takes them 3 years or more to find it , thats if they do!

Frank

I love that response, Frank!! It's given me a good chuckle and a little bit of comfort, I must say.
:happy:
 
Frank, thats the best thing i have heard lately. :D Now the footstepping on american privacy was inevitable. Of course its not right. It seems like they are going.....wait i will finish this tomorrow. I gotta go. sorry guys. :relief:
 
EscaFlowne said:
Frank, thats the best thing i have heard lately. :D Now the footstepping on american privacy was inevitable. Of course its not right. It seems like they are going.....wait i will finish this tomorrow. I gotta go. sorry guys. :relief:

Talk about leaving me hanging, EscaFlowne!! I'll be waiting for the rest of your reply with baited breath!
:)
 
They Say It Isn't True, Don't Believe Em !!

In "Spy School" they told the story of how we had the intel about Pearl Harbor's approaching attack sitting on some desk; didn't come across it till about 3 weeks after.
When I think of what could be done with the billions spent on the UN-inteligence community, Oh such a waste!

Frank
:mad:
 
Satori said:
You contradict yourself throughout your post, so let's just leave it at that.

Everyone, and anyone, will contradict their opinions one way or another, sooner or later. You should know that already. And THAT, my friend, is the bottom line. Done.

Frnak D. White said:
Let me tell you, we spy on everyone & everything. We even have a branch to spy on our own military people. and a branch of spys who spy on the other spys! We listen in on the British, Canadians, Mexicans. you name em we evesdrop & record em! But there is a big plus to
all this!! We gather so much intel & info that it sits and rots before any of it gets used. Probably half the earths polution comes from burning old intel that is outdated and never was looked at.It's kinda like you have 500 channels on satalite TV and 500 VCRS running non-stop to record each chan. so you don't miss anything! Trouble is, you are so busy swapping tapes in & out and putting labels on them, you NEVER have time to watch any of them! And our field agents make Maxwell Smart look good!! My neighbor was EX-CIA(30 year man) & the dumbest cluck I ever met. He was over to my house every other day for me to help him out of some jam. If
it wasn't for pure luck & falling into good info our inteligence community would have been out of business long ago. The only agency watching me I fear is the Infernal Revinue Service!! If you make an error on a tax return, it takes them 3 years or more to find it , thats if they do!

Exactly. My point well taken, Frank.
 

This thread has been viewed 12462 times.

Back
Top