Government snooping, backdoors and #necessaryhashtags

[Brian-E]

I would think most reasonable people would feel that the technical difference between assassinations and targetted killings is pretty fatuous as an argument for defending the practice of either, and that was surely Kieren's point?

[LaurV]

Originally Posted by LaurV

I would say that assassination is killing someone in your team.
Killing somebody in another team is heroism. targeted killing.

I missed first time: killing someone which is not part of either team is called "collateral damage"...

[kladner]

Originally Posted by Brian-E

I would think most reasonable people would feel that the technical difference between assassinations and targetted killings is pretty fatuous as an argument for defending the practice of either, and that was surely Kieren's point?

Yes. I was slathering on the sarcasm.

@ LaurV- An evil point, but well made. CD is another one of those weasel expressions. Hard to even call it "negligent homicide" since killing intent was present.

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by kladner

CD is another one of those weasel expressions. Hard to even call it "negligent homicide" since killing intent was present.

"Inaccurate homicide"?

[kladner]

Originally Posted by cheesehead

"Inaccurate homicide"?

Using **nukes** to swat flies. (**Insert your indiscriminate heavy ordinance of choice here.)

[xilman]

Originally Posted by kladner

Using **nukes** to swat flies. (**Insert your indiscriminate heavy ordinance of choice here.)

OTOH, you can never have too much overkill.

[kladner]

Originally Posted by xilman

OTOH, you can never have too much overkill.

Especially not if anyone killed is a combatant/insurgent/evil person by definition. I. E.: " 'e's dead, Jim. 'e must 'ave been a Bad Guy. Our Precision Munitions^TM only kill Bad Guys." This is an inverse corollary of
" 'e must be the king. 'e don't got shit on him."
or
"She drowned. Must not 'ave been a witch."

[ewmayer]

NSA chief’s admission of misleading numbers adds to Obama administration blunders

Pressed by the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing, Gen. Keith B. Alexander admitted that the number of terrorist plots foiled by the NSA’s huge database of every phone call made in or to America was only one or perhaps two — far smaller than the 54 originally claimed by the administration.

Note: At most one or two ... meaning quite possibly zero.

[ewmayer]

o Snowden Receives Sam Adams Award

Snowden accepted the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence Award, from an organization of former national security officials, earlier this week. He met with four whistle-blowing advocates, including former NSA executive Thomas Drake and former ethics adviser to the United States Department of Justice and current National Security and Human Rights director of the Government Accountability Project Jesselyn Radack.

He was also nominated for the Andrei Sakharov Prize, which honors those who stand up to oppressive powers, by members of the European parliament in September, but the award was given to Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai on Thursday

o Patriot Act Author Calls For Clapper's Prosecution And Rein In NSA Abuses

The faux headline "Farmer calls for extra-strong padlock for barn door after horses bolt!" comes to mind - not sure why...

[ewmayer]

U.S. spy agency collects millions of email address lists: report: (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency collects hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal email and instant messaging accounts around the world, including many from Americans, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

The collection program intercepts email address books and "buddy lists" from instant messaging services as they move across global data links, the newspaper said in an article posted on its website, citing senior intelligence officials and documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The Post said analyzing that data lets the NSA search for connections and map relationships among foreign intelligence targets.

The data collection takes place outside the United States, but sweeps in the contacts of many Americans, the report said, citing two senior U.S. intelligence officials.

A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the NSA, said the agency is focused on discovering and developing intelligence about foreign intelligence targets. "We are not interested in personal information about ordinary Americans," he told the Post.

"...our previous innumerable lies about the extent of our surveillance efforts notwithstanding," the spokesman added. /sarc

[CRGreathouse]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

o Patriot Act Author Calls For Clapper's Prosecution And Rein In NSA Abuses

The faux headline "Farmer calls for extra-strong padlock for barn door after horses bolt!" comes to mind - not sure why...

It's hard to admit that you were wrong, and harder still to do something about it. Would it have been better had he not led us down this path? No doubt, but having done so it is better for him to attempt to rectify past wrongs than to allow them to continue.