July 21, 2013

Chris Hedges 2003 Speech at Rockford College that led him to being forced out of the New York Times

Part 1

Part 2




Part 3

July 20, 2013

Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America by Rich Benjamin

I have read this author previously on salon.com - but it was this discussion thread that brought his work to my attention:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023300439

July 15, 2013

Do you believe the Democratic Party should take the lead in curtailing the surveillance state?

Definition of CURTAIL


: to make less by or as if by cutting off or away some part <curtail the power of the executive branch> <curtail inflation>

— cur·tail·er noun


Examples of CURTAIL

The new laws are an effort to curtail illegal drug use.
School activities are being curtailed due to a lack of funds.


Origin of CURTAIL

by folk etymology from earlier curtal to dock an animal's tail, from curtal, noun, animal with a docked tail, from Middle French courtault — more at curtal
First Known Use: 1580


Related to CURTAIL

Synonyms: abbreviate, abridge, shorten, cut back, dock, elide, syncopate, truncate

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curtail?show=0&t=1373928312

July 14, 2013

The Most Interesting Man in the World Compilation (Dos Equis Commercials)

July 12, 2013

Do you agree with the statement, "I would rather vote for something I do believe in and not get it

than vote for something I don't believe in and get it."

July 12, 2013

The Guardian -- Revealed: how Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages

Revealed: how Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages

• Secret files show scale of Silicon Valley co-operation on Prism
• Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch
• Skype worked to enable Prism collection of video calls
• Company says it is legally compelled to comply


Skype worked with intelligence agencies last year to allow Prism to collect video and audio conversations. Photograph: Patrick Sinkel/AP

Microsoft has collaborated closely with US intelligence services to allow users' communications to be intercepted, including helping the National Security Agency to circumvent the company's own encryption, according to top-secret documents obtained by the Guardian.

The documents show that:

• Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal;

• The agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com, including Hotmail;

• The company worked with the FBI this year to allow the NSA easier access via Prism to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which now has more than 250 million users worldwide;

• Microsoft also worked with the FBI's Data Intercept Unit to "understand" potential issues with a feature in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases;

• In July last year, nine months after Microsoft bought Skype, the NSA boasted that a new capability had tripled the amount of Skype video calls being collected through Prism;

link to full article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data

July 11, 2013

What is your attitude toward American type Libertarianism?

Much as been said lately about Libertarianism and even the suggestion that some posters here are perhaps even closet Libertarians. Now to clarify - I mean of course American type Libertarianism - not some form of Socialist-Libertarianism such as advocated by some left-wing Anarchist philosophers such as Noam Chomsky.

July 9, 2013

Please do keep in mind that somewhere around 40% of Americans think Obama is a radical leftist

I am highly critical of the NSA surveillance program. I am highly critical of many things about the Obama Administration. I don't think he meets the definition of a progressive or even a liberal. But that would be true of almost every major contender for the Democratic Party nomination for President in the last few decades.

But those of us on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party should keep in mind that in spite of all of this where the political culture of America is these days. We are not like a European country where you have the pro-business conservatives on the right - the pro-labor socialist on the left and the liberals in the middle. I sure wish we did. But that is simply not the reality of American political culture and I don't think it ever really was - except perhaps perhaps for a few brief moments in all of our history. We live in a country where the left in any real sense barely exist outside of academic or counterculture elite circles. So let us continue trying to push the country in the progressive direction.

So let's also keep in mind the reality of American politic and what the real alternative is to today's Democratic Party. Speak out as much as is necessary - but let's not forget how close to half of America's politically engaged population thinks.

I saw this on the Facebook Page for my hometown in Western PA. I wish I could say this is just a few right-wing nuts -- but in fact thinking like this dominates close to half of America these days....


Pennsylvania, one of the first 13 colonies, should take care of traditions and not be intimidated by Commies!

July 8, 2013

How serious is the NSA problem and what do you think should be done about it?

July 7, 2013

Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson on the NSA/Domestic Spying controversy

The NSA's metastasised intelligence-industrial complex is ripe for abuse

Where oversight and accountability have failed, Snowden's leaks have opened up a vital public debate on our rights and privacy

by Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 23 June 2013 13.00 BST


Let's be absolutely clear about the news that the NSA collects massive amounts of information on US citizens – from emails, to telephone calls, to videos, under the Prism program and other Fisa court orders: this story has nothing to do with Edward Snowden. As interesting as his flight to Hong Kong might be, the pole-dancing girlfriend, and interviews from undisclosed locations, his fate is just a sideshow to the essential issues of national security versus constitutional guarantees of privacy, which his disclosures have surfaced in sharp relief.

Snowden will be hunted relentlessly and, when finally found, with glee, brought back to the US in handcuffs and severely punished. (If Private Bradley Manning's obscene conditions while incarcerated are any indication, it won't be pleasant for Snowden either, even while awaiting trial.) Snowden has already been the object of scorn and derision from the Washington establishment and mainstream media, but, once again, the focus is misplaced on the transiently shiny object. The relevant issue should be: what exactly is the US government doing in the people's name to "keep us safe" from terrorists?

We are now dealing with a vast intelligence-industrial complex that is largely unaccountable to its citizens. This alarming, unchecked growth of the intelligence sector and the increasingly heavy reliance on subcontractors to carry out core intelligence tasks – now estimated to account for approximately 60% of the intelligence budget – have intensified since the 9/11 attacks and what was, arguably, our regrettable over-reaction to them.

Today, the intelligence sector is so immense that no one person can manage, or even comprehend, its reach. When an operation in the field goes south, who would we prefer to try and correct the damage: a government employee whose loyalty belongs to his country (despite a modest salary), or the subcontractor who wants to ensure that his much fatter paycheck keeps coming? - Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/23/nsa-intelligence-industrial-complex-abuse