Obama Encourages Federal Employees to Spy on One Another
In an initiative aimed at rooting out future leakers and other security violators, President Barack Obama has ordered federal employees to report suspicious actions of their colleagues based on behavioral profiling techniques that are not scientifically proven to work, according to experts and government documents.
. . . .
Under the program, which is being implemented with little public attention, security investigations can be launched when government employees showing “indicators of insider threat behavior” are reported by co-workers, according to previously undisclosed administration documents obtained by McClatchy. Investigations also can be triggered when “suspicious user behavior” is detected by computer network monitoring and reported to “insider threat personnel.”
Federal employees and contractors are asked to pay particular attention to the lifestyles, attitudes and behaviors – like financial troubles, odd working hours or unexplained travel – of co-workers as a way to predict whether they might do “harm to the United States.” Managers of special insider threat offices will have “regular, timely, and, if possible, electronic, access” to employees’ personnel, payroll, disciplinary and “personal contact” files, as well as records of their use of classified and unclassified computer networks, polygraph results, travel reports and financial disclosure forms.
Increasingly, government employment is about not sticking out. They want a smooth ball of mediocrity, and anyone who sticks out gets whacked.
Obama is the king of this mentality. The fact that he ordered this is not surprising at all.
He always wanted to be Walter Ulbricht.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:17 amI’m sure that DHS is setting up “The Stasi Files” as we type.
And this is a bad thing how? I’ll start. It’s a good thing because it helps safeguard against corruption, illegality, and just plain abuse of bureaucratic discretion. You should not give power to a bureaucracy without policing it.
nk (875f57) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:17 am*to a bureaucrat* if you prefer
nk (875f57) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:18 amStasi 2.0
If you see something, say something. If you don’t, it will go poorly for you when someone else does.
redc1c4 (403dff) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:20 amNk – do you really believe that?
JD (b63a52) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:26 am“Zum Befel, mein Obiefuhrer!”
mojo (8096f2) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:27 amIf your mommy is a commie then you’ve got to turn her in!!
Jack (46c3a1) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:29 amThis is the sort of thing that was noticeabkle about Soviet spy Aldrich Ames (but people just accepted his explanations that the money came form his wife’s family, I think that’s what he said)
This sounds like it’s mostly looking to see whether somebody
‘
1) needs money
2) got money
3) did the sort of thing somebody spying might do, like off hours (which the anthrax killer also did) or use of computer networks. Travel could either be evidence of unexplained income, or spy activity.
The disciplinary reports might also contain clues that might have been missed the first time.
All this is looking for outside indications possible spying.
Sammy Finkelman (a4dbab) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:35 am2- And that power rightly resides with the House and Senate under the Constitution (or have we dispensed with it completely?).
askeptic (b8ab92) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:40 amYes, I am serious, JD. The only ones that should be unhappy are the AFSCME. But I’ll take it further. I think this policy would make it harder to fob off bureaucratic abuse on 88 low-level employees in Cincinatti. Maybe not stop it (as the article suggests), but at least putting somebody’s up the line keister on the line. For one example.
nk (875f57) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:41 amSo, can we say now that even if it is claimed that George Zimmerman somehow “profiled” Trayvon Martin, he was engaging in activity approved by the guy who said if he had a son, he’d look like Mr Martin?
The Dana making the connection (3e4784) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:45 amSorry, but I have trouble believing that the same administration culture that ignored Nidal Hasan and targeted conservative groups won’t do the same thing with this program. Spies and pro-jihad extremists will be ignored and political rivals will be the ones on “watch-lists” given special scrutiny.
No thanks.
Stashiu3 (e7ebd8) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:45 amCongress has instituted the inspectors general and they themselves have been shown to be coopted.
I’ll tell you, though, why this won’t work either. It won’t be because policy-level bosses want some abuse to be committed a la Lois Lerner. It will be because the low-level employees will enforce a “blue wall” “no snitch” ethic and retaliate against co-workers who blow the whistle.
nk (875f57) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:46 amThen again, isn’t this exactly what we protested that the oh-so-politically-correct Army did not do when it came to Major Nidal Hasan?
The Dana making another connection (3e4784) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:49 amDang! Stashiu3 beat me to the punch! 😆
The frustrated Dana (3e4784) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:50 amExactly right adjective-Dana,
And since the same administration continues to call that “workplace violence” instead of terrorism, why would anyone believe this time would be different?
I would have more confidence in the program if I had more confidence it would be implemented as described. I don’t.
Also, those guides were part of every OPSEC briefing I ever attended. It is the administration culture, as I said, that makes them ineffective and a political tool as opposed to a security tool.
Stashiu3 (e7ebd8) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:57 amAs previously indicated, if Obama and co. wanted increased self-scrutiny of inefficiency, laziness, partisan activity, corruption, stupidity, self-aggrandizement, pomposity, and a few other things, I would be for it,
but I have a hard time believing it is anything but circle the wagons to hide what they don’t want others to see, including what others should see.
The reality is, I believe, as John Adams said, our government only works with a citizenry that is virtuous;
and in a society not virtuous, the closest thing to a government that “works” in bringing order I think is a tyranny.
So I think this is the a choice:
– a virtuous free people
– a chaotic despotism
– an orderly tyranny
though largely I think we get a society that is some amalgamation in transition from something to something
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 7/10/2013 @ 9:14 amDisclaimer: This was not thought through deeply, I will not defend it as my PhD dissertation.
Has the President even met any federal employee? Most of us resemble his remarks. Plus, he needs to report over half of his staff. You know, the ones who owe millions in back taxes.
Trent (dd1bdb) — 7/10/2013 @ 9:22 amShow of hands–Who here seriously thinks we can right this ship at the ballot box without hostilities with arms.
Please provide empirical criteria, if any, undergirding your hope for change.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 7/10/2013 @ 9:27 amThanks to the US Pravda.
Stashiu, I think there’s a waiver in there somewhere for Islamic terrorists. 🙂
Patricia (be0117) — 7/10/2013 @ 9:28 amA few weeks ago on another thread several of us were briefly discussing two powerful first- person books written by survivors of the Cultural Revolution–a main feature of which as you recall was “reporting on” on co-workers, neighbors, even family members to gain favor or advantage with the officials of “party” in power. Whether the accusations were true or not was pretty much irrelevant to the process.
Those book titles again are:
Wild Swans
elissa (e219d7) — 7/10/2013 @ 10:07 amLife and Death in Shanghai
Bad idea altogether. If a person is spying what better way to deflect discovery than by “reporting” their co-workers.
vor2 (24d7d9) — 7/10/2013 @ 10:23 amAs far as a blue line I don’t agree. More likely that people trying to move up the bureaucratic ladder will use it to damage their competition. That’s on the fed side – contractors who worry greatly about contract renogiations and bids are not going to be inclined to hurt their company if it might impact their own job.
Rules on security clearances are already in place regarding lifestyle. Some require polygraph tests every few years, most do a periodic reinvestigation every 5-7 years.
Believing one has been abducted by aliens or during a reinvestigation has admitted to being a serial adulterer is not by itself cause enough to suspend a clearance. But a bankruptcy can be cause enough to have the clearance suspended.
elissa wrote:
Perhaps if they were just called Comités de Defensa de la Revolución
The historian Dana (3e4784) — 7/10/2013 @ 10:55 amGood post.
Leviticus (2c236c) — 7/10/2013 @ 11:02 amComment by vor2 (24d7d9) — 7/10/2013 @ 10:23 am
All that polygraphing didn’t seem to do much good with either Walker or Ames.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 7/10/2013 @ 11:15 amvor2 wrote:
Actually, it at least used to be.
If you had screwed around on your wife, and she didn’t know about it already, you were blackmailable; if she knew, there could be other problems, but you couldn’t be blackmailed for that. The same problems arose for closeted homosexuals and other people who just plain had something to hide; that was why don’t ask, don’t tell made absolutely no sense from a security standpoint.
The security officer Dana (3e4784) — 7/10/2013 @ 11:24 amDana,
vor2 (37e26e) — 7/10/2013 @ 11:33 amI was in an intell unit and stand by the statement. You didn’t have to admit to your spouse – only to the Security Officer in your clearance paperwork. They would determine if further action was required. Since many of the adulterers were senior officers it was not pursued.
They want a smooth ball of mediocrity, and anyone who sticks out gets whacked.
Obama is the king of this mentality. The fact that he ordered this is not surprising at all.
Obama doesn’t even rise to the level of mediocrity.
Bill M (e0a4e5) — 7/10/2013 @ 12:03 pmWhat happens if someone reports something suspicious about a member of a protected class? will the US government investigate that, or will they investigate the reporter as a racist, sexist, etc.?
rochf (f3fbb0) — 7/10/2013 @ 12:25 pmI’ve worked both active duty military and in civil service for 40 years now, and for people who have a security clearance, this has always been the case, so if you think this is unusual now, you are mistaken. It’s ALWAYS been like this.
Owain (5fab10) — 7/10/2013 @ 12:26 pmMy father said one of the most interesting things that happens to people when transitioning to totalitarianism is the increasing lack of trust and paranoia one average citizen has of another b/c they know benefits accrue to the one making accusations of the other. Falsely or not.
And the Lawyers will sit around and tell you it is legal and blah blah by the way. So don’t look around for Lawyers to defend freedom. In fact they are the last people EVER to defend freedom in these situations.
Rodney King's Spirit (ae12ec) — 7/10/2013 @ 12:35 pmWhat the Bamster needs is a few good show trials. Moscow 1937, here we are.
Comanche Voter (f4c7d5) — 7/10/2013 @ 12:41 pmAs an example of what I mentioned previously, of the several notable spies, to include Aldrich Ames, Jonathon Pollard, Harold Nicholson, Clayton Lonetree, John Anthony Walker, and probably several others I’ve forgotten over the years, following their arrests, people in the military and Federal employees and contractors were reminded to be on the lookout for the exact same behavior described in the original post. Changes in lifestyles, attitudes, and behaviors, financial troubles, odd working hours or unexplained travel. This is also part of annual security training required of anyone who holds a security clearance, and has been for as long as I can remember.
There are a lot of important stories floating around right now. This isn’t one of them.
Owain (a3af2a) — 7/10/2013 @ 12:52 pmWhy only books dealing with the Cultural revolution and not on how Mao Tse Tung and the Communists gained control over China?
It’s like talking about Stalin, but not Lenin.
A good book is Escape from red China, available on Amazom.com
The description mistakenly says it was published in 1923 instead of 1963.
There is also a Reader’s Digest Condensed Books version of the book (Volume 2: 1963)
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 7/10/2013 @ 12:53 pmI’m sorry you do not approve of my book recommendations Sammy. The world is full of many interesting books we all should probably consider reading in order to gain perspective and to try to prevent bad history from repeating itself. The 2 books I listed above seem quite appropriate to this particular thread I thought.
elissa (e219d7) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:07 pmI didn’t say they were bad books. I said they missed the most important thing: the beginning. (.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:23 pmI want to report that Barack Obama is acting suspiciously.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:41 pmI’m not sure how far back you think we need to go, to go “back to the beginning”, Sammy. China’s a pretty old civilization. If you read the synopsis of Wild Swans you’ll see it covers three generations of the author’s family through 2oth century China’s cultural, sociological, and political transitions.
elissa (e219d7) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:42 pmYes. Could you lean over just a little closer to this potted plant and be more specific, E.S.?
elissa (e219d7) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:49 pm#37 That would get you prison time back in the day.
Rodney King's Spirit (ae12ec) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:53 pmThe beginning of the system.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:56 pmelissa, I’ll meet you on level 3 in the underground parking garage at 10:45 tonite to tell you what I’ve observed about this Obama guy. It mostly has to do with his expensive vacations, odd work hours, and the fact that he’s been photographed bowing to foreign dictators. I’ve also heard he has close associations with people who wish to do harm to America. Then again, he may just fit the typical profile of a liberal.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:57 pmJust add this to the list of unbelievable idiocy – this and the DOJ funding what amounts to “lynch Zimmerman” rabble-rousing – and one realizes this is an outlaw administration.
Colonel Haiku (1a103d) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:58 pmWild Swans is 3 generations – but bad things start to happen only with the Cultural Revolution!
Her parents were members of the Communist elite.
One Amazon.xom Review (Would that It Were More HonestbBy Xujun Eberlein on January 24, 2004)
says in part:
In reality, it was simply impossible for a Party cadre like the author’s parents not to be an active participant in the movements, until they themselves become victimized….Another thing that bothers me is that the author chose to translate “xuan-chuan-bu” (“the Department of Propaganda”) as “the Department of Public Affair”. She noted this was “in order to describe their functions accurately”. But the former translation is far more accurate, literally and in terms of function. Perhaps this change was made because the author’s father was a co-director of such a department in the Communist Party.
Of course people with this kind of background are more in a position to write such a book, but before the mid-1960s there were some books that told the true of the seizure of power and how control was accomplished (to the point where millions of people died ina famine, remember)
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 7/10/2013 @ 2:10 pmTo whom it may concern :
Please take a look at the following people, as they are up to no good.
Barack Hussein Obama
Valerie Jarrett
Eric Holder
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
SanFranNan
Hairy Reed
DICK Durbin
Katherine Sebelius
Janet Napolitano
Hillary Clinton
Ezra Klein
Rachel MadCow
Toure
Susan Rice
Etal
Sincerely,
JD (ccc8ab) — 7/10/2013 @ 2:19 pmAmerica
category error seems rampant here;
http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/07/on-monday-in-egypt-who-shot-first/
narciso (3fec35) — 7/10/2013 @ 2:36 pmTotally concur.
Raise any of these concerns about Hillary! confidante Huma Abedin and see how long you last.
This is typically Obama reaction. It’s like his stupid gun control push after Sandy Hook in which everyone was forced to admit that none of what he wanted would have prevented Sandy Hook.
This is identical. They’re embarrassed by Snowden, and what’s their reaction? Introduce a policy that couldn’t prevent an Eddie Snowden.
There’s no indication he had financial problems. How are his co-workers of two months supposed to notice a change in his behaviors, attitudes, and lifestyle? And there was certainly no unexplained travel. He bragged about that in his interactions with the press. He asked for a leave of absence for medical reasons and flew to Hong Kong because he didn’t need a visa, because that would have been a red flag.
But the bottom line is that MAJ Nidal Hasan’s co-workers noticed a change in his behavior and attitudes; any one of whom was warned off if they attempted to bring those observations to the attention of the chain of command.
This is utterly ridiculous.
Steve57 (7c82fc) — 7/10/2013 @ 2:41 pmI would like to report that Senator Ted Cruz is behaving suspiciously.
He continually cites the United States Constitution…in polite company. I have even witnessed him citing the Constitution on the floor of the United States Senate.
For God’s sake, someone stop this man.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 7/10/2013 @ 2:42 pmComment by Rodney King’s Spirit (ae12ec) — 7/10/2013 @ 1:53 pm
Attack Watch!
askeptic (b8ab92) — 7/10/2013 @ 2:59 pmComment by Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 7/10/2013 @ 2:42 pm
Attack Watch!
askeptic (b8ab92) — 7/10/2013 @ 3:02 pmHello, my name is (redacted) and I am an analyst for the Department of the Interior. I must report that my cubicle mate, (name redacted) has been behaving in a most suspicious manner. For instance, during his assigned coffee break, he often will open his desk drawer, and take out offensive materials such as The Weekly Standard and National Review. He will read them in full view of myself, as well as our mutual secretary, (name redacted).
When his break is over, he then hides the offending magazines back in his desk drawer beneath a nondescript magazine such as Architectural Digest or Playboy—just as if nothing ever happened !
Additionally, this person has a St. Christopher medal attached to his key ring, and he has a University of Notre Dame diploma displayed on his wall. I feel it is a naked attempt by (name redacted) to bully me into subservience to the patriarchal homophobic Roman Catholic church.
And then one day, he informed me that his daughter (name redacted) is a member of the Girl Scouts, and that she is selling cookies. He had the nerve to solicit me to purchase some of that contraband, as if I would ever give my money to support such an archaic, matriarchal devil’s brigade of future little Stepford Wives.
I am at my wit’s end at having to endure this bullying at the hands of (name redacted). In between surfing the net for porn, and trying to win some money in my online poker games, I cannot ever get any work done.
Elephant Stone (6a6f37) — 7/10/2013 @ 3:18 pmI was an SSO and we didn’t focus on just who could be blackmailed. The fact of the matter is that the communist bloc focused on people who would be willing to spy for them without resorting to blackmail.
Two of the most potentially damaging spies in history may well be Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden. And no one had to blackmail them. When no one approached them, as has been so often the case in the past, they approached others who would help them do what they already wanted to do.
Others I can think of who volunteered to spy include Aldrich Ames and Johnathon Walker. Walker is probably a poster boy for why the military hasn’t accepted people in lieu of jail for decades. He went into the Navy because that’s the choice the judge offered him.
None of these people had to be blackmailed to spy. I realize there’s nothing I can do about the fact that the mythology states gays couldn’t join the military because they had to be closeted and that exposed them to blackmail. But that isn’t why communist bloc intelligence services targeted them at all.
I suppose the closest current example is how radical feminists (and gay advocacy groups) align themselves with the Islamists. They’ll show solidarity with Hamas while accusing the GOP of being the Taliban. It’s amazing what some people will ignore in order to equate their own country with the embodiment of pure evil.
That’s why the communist bloc targeted gays, but to be fair other identifiable groups as well. It was common knowledge that the KGB got a chuckle out of the fact they could recruit homosexuals based upon their perception they were persecuted in the west. Even though the west didn’t treat homosexuals nearly as harshly as they’d have been treated in the USSR.
What you really need to guard yourself against aren’t those who can be blackmailed (although it’s Ok to guard against that, too) but the personality types who feel justified in spying on the US.
Steve57 (7c82fc) — 7/10/2013 @ 3:21 pmSammy–why don’t you just tell us how you feel ’bout the president’s initiative which is the subject of this thread? You know– put down your own thoughts in a paragraph or two. (Not post some lengthy googled quote from a newspaper with respect to what someone else has said, or not post a contrarian book review from some unknown person on Amazon.) Just articulate your own gut reaction. For example: How does the program sound to you? Would you be willing to inform on someone or even enjoy participating in this program if you were a federal employee? Would you feel OK about your fellow employees and colleagues watching you and making assumptions about you? Do you see any negative repercussions or potential abuses in this program regardless of its intent? I think these are the questions and focus points Patterico was aiming for discussion here.
To the extent that I (unintentionally) facilitated getting Sammy off track I apologize to all.
elissa (e219d7) — 7/10/2013 @ 3:28 pmellisa (21): I’ve been reading Life and Death in Shanghai on my Kindle following your recommendation, and it is riveting and highly relevant to our present crisis. I have a hunch that Mao’s little red book was one of the few books that Hte One bothered to read in high school, and his actions seem to be predicated on having both a cult-like following that knows no laws or constitutional restraints, and a weak and ineffectual opposition, such as that mustered by McCain, et al. Consider the new pledge extracted from West Point’s Cadets for example.
The more lawless Hte One becomes, the more Mao-like our country becomes. The excessive use of force by our “police” is one very significant aspect of this transformation. Consider both the Henderson, Nevada incident, where local brown-shirts invaded a house with no warrant or even a suspicion of a crime, and yesterday’s raid by the U. S. Park Police involvng two helicopters, 20 masked thugs, and an armored vehicle, in order to serve a warrant on a slightly kooky Marine vet, Adam Kokesh, who made a political statement on Facebook that involved a shotgun in Washington D.C. He’s an advocate of marijuana use and gun rights. The raid turned up some mushrooms, as well as a shotgun and probably some computer files, so now he’s facing any number of years of imprisonment. The thugs smashed his front door, set of flashbang grenades, and broke into his safe, while isolating his house with numerous road blocks and handcuffing and brutalizing five housemates for five hours as the goons tore up the place. I’m sure Kokesh is quite pleased with this disproportionate response. It will surely get a lot more attention than the video that prompted all this.
But this is dreadful for our country. Just as it is wonderful for Hte One and Mr. Kokesh. Policemen deployed against activists who make political statements adverse to the present regime, “policemen” outfitted with armored vehichles, helicopters, and massive force, aren’t part of my America. But they fit rather nicely with a Marxist class-dominated dictatorship. Homeland Security’s 2717 armored vehichles, complemented by at least 50,000 “policemen”, could exert a rather strong influence on political dissent within the country.
bobathome (c0c2b5) — 7/10/2013 @ 3:30 pmES, that Mackerel-Snapper should be hog-tied and horse-whipped.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 7/10/2013 @ 3:47 pmThe lengths some people will go to….
Thanks for the validation, bobathome. I’m so glad you are finding that book worthwhile.
elissa (e219d7) — 7/10/2013 @ 3:55 pmbob, someone said on the net, in response to the 3-A violation in Henderson, that if a cop carries the same gun as a soldier (in this case, an M-4), then he’s a soldier, and that Henderson should be considered a 3-A violation.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 7/10/2013 @ 4:00 pm#54 And the Lawyers are the one’s pulling the strings using “the law” to justify tyrannical behavior. Folks always miss that part, the on with Laywer’s as useful idiots for the leadership of the regime..
Rodney King's Spirit (ae12ec) — 7/10/2013 @ 4:00 pmaskeptic (#57), although the homeowner’s lawyer brought up the 3rd, I’d say the 4th Amendment is more to the point:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized
There is also the issue of assault and battery, since the thugs in Henderson shot both the home owner and his dog multiple times with some sort of “pepperball” round.
And in regards to the description of the “things to be seized” as mentioned in the 4th-A, I wonder if “magic mushrooms” were on the list of items in the warrant for the search of Kokesh’s house. If Kokesh has a brain, given that he and his “team” were expecting the raid, the “mushrooms” are nothing but plastic. If that is the case, and if we are still worthy of devine intervention, this won’t be determined until the prosecution has presented its case.
But more broadly, and perhaps in agreement with your feelings, I’d say that the distinction between “police” and “military” is certainly blurring. I wonder what the response today would be to the sort of mini-riots our troops would hold upon return from Europe or the Pacific in WWII. Instead of a couple of cops, or the shore patrol, stepping into the bar and taking a few knocks, my guess is that a SWAT team would be called, and partying vets who didn’t immediately lay down would be machine gunned. Just a thought …
bobathome (c0c2b5) — 7/10/2013 @ 6:12 pmYES!!! I won a free cremation… WOO HOO!!!!!
Colonel Haiku (198f23) — 7/10/2013 @ 6:13 pmYES!!! I won a free cremation… WOO HOO!!!!!
Comment by Colonel Haiku (198f23) — 7/10/2013 @ 6:13 pm
You’re not planning on using it anytime soon are you?
peedoffamerican (ee1de0) — 7/10/2013 @ 7:12 pmIf you think you are going to be allowed to drop that little tidbit without further explanation you have another think coming Mr. Col. Haiku.
elissa (e219d7) — 7/10/2013 @ 7:32 pmWon’t be using it soon if I have anything to say about it!
Colonel Haiku (fa70e5) — 7/10/2013 @ 7:35 pm#12, 14, 16
Exactly my thinking gentlemen.
#19
I’ll hold my hand up and point to my cohorts Stachiu3 and the perceptive Dana as well as Steve 57 – just for starters.
felipe (6100bc) — 7/10/2013 @ 7:36 pmI think I have to pay for the wood chips is all…
Colonel Haiku (fa70e5) — 7/10/2013 @ 7:36 pmThis does not involve a smoke shed behind some barbecue place, does it?
elissa (e219d7) — 7/10/2013 @ 7:43 pm#53 Elissa
Thank you for that comment. This has crossed my mind as well. I forget who characterized his postings as a “Samalanche” but I could not put my finger on just why I agreed with it.
felipe (6100bc) — 7/10/2013 @ 7:50 pmCongratulations, Colonel! I once won some aluminum siding for my home – after 25 years they are still after me about scheduling an installation date.
felipe (6100bc) — 7/10/2013 @ 7:53 pmit’s as dull as it is tawdry, this America thing
it’s like our whole pitiful little country has been reduced to something on the level of a chicago or a detroit
what a bunch of effing losers.
happyfeet (8ce051) — 7/10/2013 @ 7:56 pmand another thing
these “astronaut” bozos
piggy piggy pension whores the lot of them
i got your one small step right here, jackoff
happyfeet (8ce051) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:00 pmYou can add Christopher Boyce, Phillip Agee, who Snowden resembles in part, then there were Mitchell and the other guy, who leaked signals intelligence,
narciso (3fec35) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:04 pmHarold Nicolson who did it just for the money,
I forget who characterized his postings as a “Samalanche”
You are welcome
JD (b63a52) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:16 pmMICE
Money
luagha (1de9ec) — 7/10/2013 @ 8:24 pmIdeology
Compromise (blackmail)
Ego
33. “following their arrests, people in the military and Federal employees and contractors were reminded to be on the lookout for the exact same behavior”
Nice try with apples for oranges. Back in the day the info swapped for profit was the identity of informants and covert operatives.
Nowadays, its the government that leaks that info, like Bite Me and Seal Team Six, like Gen. Cartwright and Stuxnet, like Dog himself offering up his Ambassador in exchange for the Blind Sheikh.
No, the whole scheme here is to protect the saboteurs, assassins and thugs.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 7/10/2013 @ 9:55 pmI want to report that Barack Obama is acting suspiciously.
LOL.
And not just suspiciously, but idiotically too. After all, he’s the type of insider (and there are plenty who share his ideology throughout the public sector) who’ll either suspect someone of nefarious behavior without an ounce of proof (eg, the cop in Cambridge, Massachusetts who had a skirmish in 2009 with black leftist Henry Louis Gates Jr), or assume someone is innocent without an ounce of proof (eg, Obama’s son if he had a son).
Simply put, the lunacy out of Obama’s mouth truly is loony in this age of a Nidal-Hasan-ized America.
Mark (897d7b) — 7/10/2013 @ 10:31 pm64. IMHO, you are the best sort of citizen here at Rico’s, but your grounds for hope are just a we bit thin.
“A time, times and half a time” are in the first inning.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 7/11/2013 @ 7:00 am“Creepy”
So is having the government spy on all of its own people.
Amazed_476 (5cdaca) — 7/11/2013 @ 8:52 amhere is something that has struck me that no one will connect the dots with:
While Stasi-like societies – which the US is increasingly and rather rapidly morphing into* – with fully uninformed, partially informed, or fully informed consent of its populace and elites – merit a discussion, I wanted to remark that all these “beware of your neighbor” measures could be useful in detecting profiles related to sexual abuse or harassment. In fact, what else can we do in terms of prevention? Unless you work to detect, you will be neglecting all red flags that imperil children and adults that will be or are being targeted for exploitation, harassment, and abuse. You cannot do prevention without detection.
And yet, large swaths of the public will argue for the very opposite, for society to tune out to signs of potential sexually perverted and harmful profiles, by adopting the mantra that “sexuality is nobody’s business.” Everyone must be accepted with any sexual perversion because everyone is “born the way they are.” Everyone is “normal” and every sexual perversity is OK. So say our sexually perverted elites (and the large part of the populace who is the same). And they will hypocritically add that every sexual perversion is OK “as long as its consensual” – pretending that every time that consent fails it is not already too late for prevention – and pretending that it’s not the same people who they were empowering as being sexually perverted “as long as it was consensual” that usually violate consent down the road. But society supported the perverted mind of the individual all the way until the abuse or harassment happened.
Society waits until abuse happens to then exclaim that abuse is bad – but where is the detection that will allow its prevention? Then all we see in society are cowards.
Furthermore, while sexuality bourgeoisies go on proclaiming that being sexually perverted is OK “if it is consensual,” they are fully indifferent to the fact that most of what is not consensual is never brought to justice anyways, a fact that obviously do not bother them and for which there is no “civil rights” movement, even a farcical one like deformed homosexuals pretend to have, we must note.
The US, like many modern societies, uses a great deal of their security apparatus and related knowledge to cover up crimes, instead of detecting and investigating them, failing to provide both safety and justice for millions of people.
From our series “I live in a barbarian society that calls itself modern.”
* One could argue that American society has always been Stasi-like, the NSA et al is just its latest incarnation…
Alessandra (205de0) — 7/11/2013 @ 9:17 am78. When government no longer has the resources to pay off it’s protectors, let alone provide services to the governed, it is collapsing into a singularity.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323368704578596140112431854.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
The event horizon has been crossed, there is no path of return to normality.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 7/11/2013 @ 11:06 amComment by bobathome (c0c2b5) — 7/10/2013 @ 6:12 pm
bob, IIRC, the homeowner also alleges 4-A violations, among others, in his complaint.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 7/11/2013 @ 11:13 amRe: The Balkanization of Amerikkka
http://rare.us/story/10-colorado-counties-want-to-secede/
Note to agents of the US government: You must simultaneously protect your families and property.
gary gulrud (dd7d4e) — 7/11/2013 @ 11:20 amMaybe I’m really cynical this evening, but it explains the trifecta of scandals all at once: it’s a crisis that enables heavy-handed regulation that otherwise would not exist.
bridget (ead35e) — 7/11/2013 @ 4:40 pmYes, this will fix the problem;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10173645/Kremlin-returns-to-typewriters-to-avoid-computer-leaks.html
narciso (3fec35) — 7/12/2013 @ 4:17 amnarciso, it can’t hurt.
It’s not just leaks, but it seems that every non-street-crime criminal prosecution these days involves telephones and e-mails. Every corporate executive, even if he is scrupulously honest, should have a no e-mail, no instant message, shred every memo after reading policy.
The coldly realistic Dana (3e4784) — 7/12/2013 @ 4:25 amThe program started n Oct. 2011. It didn’t catch Snowden, of course. They’re really going all out on that one. President Obama even talked to Putin today.
Sammy Finkelman (a4dbab) — 7/12/2013 @ 4:03 pmLast.
Yoda (ee1de0) — 7/12/2013 @ 5:48 pm