Watching The Watchers Watching You, Continued. 21
A reader writes:"After a SF Weekly column on DARPA's TIA, attention has turned to the Poindexter Family house. Using legal/public means groups are finding and publishing Alan's phone numbers, address, etc."Those with access to DMV and criminal records databases, credit card records, telephone bills, tax records, birth and death and marriage records, medical records, and similar personally identifiable databases could combine their information publicly to assist in the demonstration." Some seem to trust in TIA's benevolence, but I believe otherwise. Perhaps it is already too late? At least I can rest assured HumanID isn't operational. Yet. "
I like this quote... (Score:3, Funny)
...from the Howard J. Poindexter website [hpoindexter.com]
Alan? (Score:3, Informative)
I'm reading this, and wondering, who the hell's Alan?. Is this some ambitious malapropism for "Admiral John" (Poindexter)?
The SF Weekly column (toward the bottom, as part of a series of reader contributions) reveals Alan is Poindexter's son.
< insert obligatory rant about
PS: The first link into the "Poindexter Family" website contains highly annoying embedded midi music. So try to get your pointy-headed boss to click on it.
T.I.A. = Totally Ignorant Acceptance (Score:5, Insightful)
Quote from the U.S. Defense advanced Research Projects Agency [darpa.mil]:
"The goal of the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program is to revolutionize the ability of the United States to detect, classify and identify foreign terrorists -- and decipher their plans -- and thereby enable the U.S. to take timely action to successfully preempt and defeat terrorist acts."
They want to, quote: "identify foreign terrorists" - what rubbish. They KNOW you are American citizen, not even a suspect foreigner - yet want to know what you buy, where you travel - everything. They want to profile you, like a criminal. I find it hard to believe that U.S. politicians are that dumb - to go along with this violation of the American Peoples Rights. Looks like TIA initials stand for Totally Ignorant Acceptance (of propaganda).
I have said this many times - and have yet to hear reasoned argument against it:->
Ask Security Services in the US, UK, Indonesia (Bali) or anywhere for that matter, to deny this:
Internet surveillance, using Echelon, Carnivore or back doors in encryption, will not stop terrorists communicating by other means - most especially face to face or personal courier.
Terrorists will have to do that, or they will be caught!
Perhaps using mobile when absolutely essential, saying - Meet you in the pub Monday (meaning, human bomb to target A), or Tuesday (target B) or Sunday (abort).
The Internet has become a tool for government to snoop on their people - 24/7.
The terrorism argument is a dummy - total bull*.
INTERNET SURVEILLANCE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STOP TERRORISTS - THAT IS SPIN AND PROPAGANDA
This propaganda is for several reasons, including: a) making you feel safer b) to say the government are doing something and c) the more malicious motive of privacy invasion.
Government say about surveillance - you've nothing to fear - if you are not breaking the law
This argument is made to pressure people into acquiescence - else appear guilty of hiding something illegal.
It does not address the real reason why they want this information (which they will deny) - they want a surveillance society.
They wish to invade your basic human right to privacy. This is like having somebody watching everything you do - all your personal thoughts, hopes and fears will be open to them.
This is everything - including phone calls and interactive TV. Quote from ZDNET [zdnet.com]: Whether you're just accessing a Web site, placing a phone call, watching TV or developing a Web service, sometime in the not to distant future, virtually all such transactions will converge around Internet Protocols.
"Why should I worry? I do not care if they know what I do in my own home", you may foolishly say. Or, just as dumbly, "They will not be interested in anything I do".
This information will be held about you until the authorities need it for anything at all. Like, for example, here in UK when government looked for dirt on individuals of Paddington crash survivors group. It was led by badly injured Pam Warren. She had over 20 operations after the 1999 rail crash (which killed 31 and injured many).
This group had fought for better and safer railways - all by legal means. By all accounts a group of fine outstanding people - with good intent.
So what was their crime, to deserve this investigation?
It was just for showing up members of government to be the incompetents they were.
As usual, government tried to put a different spin on the story when they were found out. Even so, their intent was obvious - they wanted to use this information as propaganda - to smear the character of these good People.
Our honourable government would rather defile the character of its citizens - rather than address their reasonable concerns.
The government arrogantly presume this group of citizens would not worry about having their privacy invaded.
They can also check your outgoings match your income and that you are paying enough tax. What do you think all this privacy invasion is for? The War on Terrorism? You poor dupe.
All your finances for them to scrutinize; heaven help you if you cannot account for every cent.
The authorities try make everything they say sound perfectly reasonable.
e.g. Officials from US Defence Department agency have said that they want, the same level of accountability in cyberspace that we now have in the physical world.
Do government currently keep records of everything that you touch in the physical world to analyse?
No they do not. So then, is that the same level of accountability?
They wish to keep an electronic tag on you, like some kind of animal. Actually it is even worse than this - like some pervert sex offender - a child molester that they have to keep track of. Would any person of intelligence call that accountability?
Do not believe the lies of Government - even more of your money spent on these measures will not protect us from terrorists. Every argument they use is subterfuge - pure spin.
Here in UK, the RIP Act is unjust - dim-witted ill-informed MPs believed governments 'experts'. Remember - they will get everything about you, your phone calls, emails, TV viewing - everything. It would be like having a spy living in your house.
Americans - the Total Information Awareness plan, USA Patriot act and Homeland Defence - you are more technologically aware, are you really that easily misled?
Garry Anderson [skilful.com]
P.S. Did you know the the United States Department of Commerce and United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization LIED, when they said there was no solution to trademark conflict with domain names?
They are dishonourable cowards. The UN Organization, who deal with these conflicts, use WIPO.org - I use VERY similar URL [wipo.org.uk] - please visit.
Re:T.I.A. = Totally Ignorant Acceptance (Score:2)
- The government has never lied about its use of information on citizens in the past.
- John Poindexter in particular has never lied about his activities in the past.
- Citizens who are abiding by the laws of the land here in the US have not been singled out for harassment because of behavior that embarasses or upsets those in power.
Honestly, so what that they aren't keeping their own dossiers on us, and instead are correlating other "private" databases? Anyone with half a brain about database usage in any large organization realizes that it's ridiculous to gather redundant information when you can simply tie together what your organization already has access to. If that organization is the US Government and the sources are everyone who you do business with, that's supposed to not be a threat just because the Government isn't making its own copy??? Ludicrous.Re:T.I.A. = Totally Ignorant Acceptance (Score:2)
So, this is a bad thing? That is, do you think only foreigners should be profiled for possible links to terrorism?
Before you answer that -- a "no" pretty much implies that you believe US citizens ought to get a free pass to commit terrorist acts, simply by virtue of their citizenship.
> They can also check your outgoings match your income and that you are paying enough tax. What do you think all this privacy invasion is for? The War on Terrorism? You poor dupe.
Oh, I see. US citizens ought to be able to commit tax evasion without fear of getting caught too. Gr00vy!
(Hey, I'm for anything that reduces the amount of tax I pay -- but if you work for a salary, your opportunities for tax evasion are pretty limited. How about pulling for tax cuts instead of tax evasion, so everyone can benefit? Hey, that's what the government might even be trying to do with tomorrow's stimulus package :-)
So you think it underhand LIES also? (Score:2)
T> So, this is a bad thing? That is, do you think only foreigners should be profiled for possible links to terrorism?
Mister T, they SAY that TIA is for the "United States to detect, classify and identify foreign terrorists"
That is the declared GOAL - true or false?
G> They can also check your outgoings match your income and that you are paying enough tax. What do you think all this privacy invasion is for? The War on Terrorism? You poor dupe.
T> Oh, I see. US citizens ought to be able to commit tax evasion without fear of getting caught too. Gr00vy!
What is the declared GOAL again?
You obviously agree with me - it is all underhand LIES to monitor the American public.
Re:T.I.A. = Totally Ignorant Acceptance (Score:3, Insightful)
The Intelligence services are not permitted to spy on us citizens. This is why the FBI (a police organization) was tasked with counter-intelligence duties in the US. If you think intelligence services should have a free hand to spy on citizens, you have a screw loose.
US citizens have a right to due process by virtue of their citizenship.
"Oh, I see. US citizens ought to be able to commit tax evasion without fear of getting caught too. Gr00vy!"
This is why TIA is bad. Its use will expand beyond terrorism, and idiots such as yourself will thump your chest and say "Awesome!" when you see evil tax-evaders and stamp counterfeiters get arrested on the Discovery channel.
Here's my contribution to TIA: (Score:3, Interesting)
Here's my contribution to TIA:
President of the U.S. George W. Bush Arrest record #1 [hevanet.com].
President of the U.S. George W. Bush Arrest record #2 [hevanet.com].
Vice President of the U.S. Dick Cheney Arrest record #1 [hevanet.com].
Vice President of the U.S. Dick Cheney Arrest record #2 [hevanet.com].
Total Information Awareness is not that, it is Total Information Control. When we have true awareness, everyone will know these facts:
Re:Here's my contribution to TIA: (Score:2)
Arresting officer mistake? (Score:2)
I would guess that the arresting officer mistakenly copied his DOB as the date of arrest. The record is one that was widely circulated at the time of the campaign (but not among most voters). Only at the very end of the campaign was there any information that was widely circulated.
Sorry, Bush's DOB: 07/6/46. (Score:2)
Re:Here's my contribution to TIA: (Score:1)
"When we have true awareness, everyone will know these facts"
Unfortunately, facts have this pesky habit of being proovable. I don't see any real evidence, only some personal opinions of yours, common hearsay, and one vague reference to a third-hand account. To be honest, I've seen a better job done by Apollo Hoax theorists.
"There is no evidence that he has ever thought deeply about anything in his life."
Is there evidence that you have ever thought deeply in your life? Evidence that would show up if someone were to only look at your public record?
"Who do you know who has been arrested 3 times who wasn't taking part in protest demonstrations?"
Several, actually. It's quite possible to be quite smart (and even rich) and still have a screwed up life.
"According to an acquaintance of mine who was once in the same social circle as Cheney"
My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Dick Cheney pass out at 31 Flavors last night.
"he has a history of womanizing and drinking."
Neither of which I really have a problem with, as long as neither impair his ability to do his job. It's not like he's lying about it in his sexual harassment trial or anything...
"Dick Cheney is a very sick man; he has had a quadruple heart bypass; he should be letting his mind work on the malfunctions of his body, and avoiding other efforts."
First off, I'm sure he has other people in Bethesda to worry about those things.
Secondly, there's no sign that his age or heart problems affect his ability to think. (And I think some people would be rather insulted that you'd make that generalization).
"Many Republicans are not members of a political party, they are members of a corruption organization."
Ah yes, gotta love the whole "guilt by association" routine. Isn't this what you're supposedly protesting against in your post?
"The U.S. government already operates the biggest surveillance system the world has ever known."
Stalin who?
"The U.S. government's NSA, FBI, and CIA departments spy on anyone"
Including each other. Especially when it's budget time again.
"and arrange the death of anyone they want, secretly."
Their warrants are obtained from secret intelligence courts and their funding from secret Congressional meetings. But let's blame it all on the executive branch anyway, hm?
"They U.S. government has invaded 14 countries and killed more than 3,000,000 million people in the last 33 years."
Out of curiousity, what are those countries? The only references I see on Google to such a list is a k5 post of yours (imagine that). I look for just "14 countries" and I get a lot of info about Japan in WWII. So, if you don't mind, can you list them off for me? And of those 14 countries, how many of them weren't in the middle of invading/being invaded or slaughtering ethnic/racial minorities at the time (if not both)? And out of those 14, how many of them are still considered US territory (if ever)?
"In an article, What should be the Response to Violence? [hevanet.com], I collected some links and explanation about this."
How convenient for you!
Oh no my plans are foiled. (Score:1)
Re:Oh no my plans are foiled. (Score:2)
Straight from the Jargon Dictionary... [houghi.org]
NSA line eater n.
The National Security Agency trawling program sometimes assumed to be reading the net for the U.S. Government's spooks. Most hackers used to think it was mythical but believed in acting as though existed just in case. since the mid-1990s it has gradually become known that the NSA actually does this, quite illegally, through its Echelon program.
The standard countermeasure is to put loaded phrases like `KGB', `Uzi', `nuclear materials', `Palestine', `cocaine', and `assassination' in their sig blocks in a (probably futile) attempt to confuse and overload the creature. The GNU version of EMACS actually has a command that randomly inserts a bunch of insidious anarcho-verbiage into your edited text.
As far back as the 1970s there was a mainstream variant of this myth involving a `Trunk Line Monitor', which supposedly used speech recognition to extract words from telephone trunks. This is much harder than noticing keywords in email, and most of the people who originally propagated it had no idea of then-current technology or the storage, signal-processing, or speech recognition needs of such a project. On the basis of mass-storage costs alone it would have been cheaper to hire 50 high-school students and just let them listen in.
Twenty years and several orders of technological magnitude later, however, there are clear indications that the NSA has actually deployed such filtering (again, very much against U.S. law). In 2000, the FBI wants to get unto this act with its `Carnivore' surveillance system.
Re:Oh no my plans are foiled. (Score:1)
About Time (Score:3, Interesting)
That people became aware of just how much information there is out there on them.
In the past I've decried how much of my life was getting profiled for the sake of direct marketers via credit card transactions, magazine subscriptions and frequent buyer cards.
Nobody cared. In fact, they still don't care for the most part.
It's only now, that the recipient of the information is the government instead of various corporations that people are starting to get slightly concerned.
But it's just the same old thing.
I hope that if martial law is declared as part of some perceived emergency and elections are "temporarily suspended" that people have properly feathered their profiles to look innocuous so they don't get visited by an anti-terrorism task force investigator.