We all know what this is for!!!!

[Spray-n-pray]

Oh my gosh, Burt! I just read your sig line. Kim Kardashian is having a baby?!?

Well why didn't you say so in the first place?

 

[Burt Gummer]

For you Facebook and Twitter cheerleaders:

This passed the House - Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Big surprise in the Land of the Free.

In a nutshell: The U.S government and its law enforcement would be able to receive mountains of information from companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, and also your cell phone carrier simply by requesting it, no subpoena required. They would be able to use the information they gather for whatever purpose was deemed necessary, with NO LEGAL consequence.

Also important is that the scope of this bill is NOT confined to US residents. The US government would be able to get information about anyone in the world that has a Facebook, Google or Twitter account.

 

[drew]

For you Facebook and Twitter cheerleaders:

This passed - Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Big surprise in the Land of the Free.

In a nutshell: The U.S government and its law enforcement would be able to receive mountains of information from companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, and also your cell phone carrier simply by requesting it, no subpoena required. They would be able to use the information they gather for whatever purpose was deemed necessary, with NO LEGAL consequence.

Also important is that the scope of this bill is NOT confined to US residents. The US government would be able to get information about anyone in the world that has a Facebook, Google or Twitter account.

There was actually a protest today over this. http://www.zdnet.com/how-to-join-todays-april-22-cispa-protest-7000014320/

Hopefully it dies in the Senate again. I tend to look at the EFF site a fair amount as they keep up with most things having to do with digital rights. https://www.eff.org/

The impact goes well beyond Facebook, Twitter, and social networks.

 

[Brutus57]

Maybe they should call this FaceBoot, Or FaceJackBoot. I just hope Orygun has enough rounds when the Leftist Liberation Division comes marching north from Cali to de-arm us. I am still trying to get my first modern sporter built and then one for the wife.

Brutus out

 

[knuckle Head]

Kind of like the homeland, ever notice that, that they always refer to Gestapo / KGB extended authority through patriotism.

Hitler called it the Fatherland, Stalin called it the Motherland, we call it homeland

just somthing to ponder here folks

 

[Brutus57]

I like the USA, America, The United States of America. Homeland is socialist crap. You tell me why we need another army in this country? Is it because Guardsmen might not follow an immoral order???

That's my concern.

 

[revjen45]

Bertgummer - I just got a query if I took a dump today from the Dalai Lama, and all this time I didn't think he cared.

Brutus57: Yup, DHS is the exact equivalent to the SS. Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein fuehrer. Heil Obama!

 

[AMProducts]

The thing I love most about technology is how utterly disruptive it can be. Personally, I'm not fond of the idea of being in some government database somewhere, but the reality is there's very little I can do about it. At the same time, if a private individual wanted to create their own database and start putting the government into it, there's not much they could do about that either, and the smaller organization is at great advantage because they understand the technology (because they built it) and can be much better about allocating resources.

At a fundamental level, no matter how serious the government is about going through and organizing data because of the size of the organization they will have to spend more money, time and computing power to derive information from it than a private company. You or I don't need to submit forms in triplicate, or have department meetings to decide how the tables will be laid out, or what form the queries have to be put into. Even then, good luck finding field agents who can even put together a wildcard SQL query, if there is one, he will probably soon find employment in the private sector because he's tired of dealing with all the droolers who can't. Bureaucracies are not known for creating strong work ethics or original thinking, because neither is rewarded.

The biggest issue I have with this is that it's a waste of taxpayer dollars that will make zero impact on current crime. At the same time, while the federal government is tight on money it will take resources away from actually busting criminals so they can sit around doing lengthy analysis of people who are not criminals.

Case in point, would this database have tracked the unabomber? He's a guy who lives in a cabin in BFE, when he chooses to strike, he gets on his bike, buys a bus ticket, and mails a bomb.. What caught him? his typewriter. What about the 9/11 hijackers? DB Cooper? The symbionese liberation army?

 

[308]

Facebook Prineville. Two buildings PRN1 and PRN2...massive. Each building has 4-data halls. Each data hall is served by an airhandling system that moves 1.5 million CFM (cubic feet per minute) of conditioned air over a myriad of server racks. The storage capacity in mind blowing, and this site is one of many.

Amazon is doing the same thing in Boardman and Umatilla.

Google in the Dalles....Apple in Prineville as well.

 

[Provincial]

The thing I love most about technology is how utterly disruptive it can be. Personally, I'm not fond of the idea of being in some government database somewhere, but the reality is there's very little I can do about it. At the same time, if a private individual wanted to create their own database and start putting the government into it, there's not much they could do about that either, and the smaller organization is at great advantage because they understand the technology (because they built it) and can be much better about allocating resources.

At a fundamental level, no matter how serious the government is about going through and organizing data because of the size of the organization they will have to spend more money, time and computing power to derive information from it than a private company. You or I don't need to submit forms in triplicate, or have department meetings to decide how the tables will be laid out, or what form the queries have to be put into. Even then, good luck finding field agents who can even put together a wildcard SQL query, if there is one, he will probably soon find employment in the private sector because he's tired of dealing with all the droolers who can't. Bureaucracies are not known for creating strong work ethics or original thinking, because neither is rewarded.

The biggest issue I have with this is that it's a waste of taxpayer dollars that will make zero impact on current crime. At the same time, while the federal government is tight on money it will take resources away from actually busting criminals so they can sit around doing lengthy analysis of people who are not criminals.

Case in point, would this database have tracked the unabomber? He's a guy who lives in a cabin in BFE, when he chooses to strike, he gets on his bike, buys a bus ticket, and mails a bomb.. What caught him? his typewriter. What about the 9/11 hijackers? DB Cooper? The symbionese liberation army?

The Unibomber was located when his family got suspicious and contacted the authorities. The typewriter linked the bombings, but the FBI couldn't locate it. Now if it had been registered ......

 

[warren57]

Well, we didn't pay attention to all the state government legislators being elected across the country and we now have a country full of menopausal old women making the laws and calling the shots. I would like to think voters would make a change in coming years, but all the voters that can recognize the problems and issues are the same voters that stay home and don't vote. Time to wake up people, if it isn't to late already...

Nothing good can come from this. People should have a reasonable expectation of privacy. The potential for misuse far outweighs the benefits of an omniscient, totalitarian government.

I think government organizations, and private companies that do contract work for them, need to be accountable to the people. I don't trust black budgets, and don't believe an honest justification for them can be made.

It looks like programs like this need to be defunded, but we know that won't happen. I trust individuals with firearms because they continually show sound judgement in their ownership and use. I cannot say that the federal government has shown responsible behavior with its use of troops and weapons.

States do a good job, largely, regarding use of force and exercising restraint. I've never been a big states rights fan, but I really worry about federal powers going out of control. They will hurt people. Surveillance twists people up in ways that aren't good. And power will be misused for ridiculous, petty, personal reasons by those who wield it.

At this point, there is nothing we can do to change the political scene. We have no legitimate representation. Get to know your neighbors, help people out whenever you can, stockpile food and tools, work on your garden. As the government transforms further into a nightmare state, quality of life will become increasingly tied up in local affairs, how well you get on with the people around you, and how valuable you are to them.

We already have something like 2 million people in prison right now. New ATF plans won't exactly reduce this number. I think our material standard of living is so high that it is difficult to see how hard life is for those on the bottom. There seem to be a lot more people on the bottom these days. Keeping records of them won't help anything.

 

[AMProducts]

The Unibomber was located when his family got suspicious and contacted the authorities. The typewriter linked the bombings, but the FBI couldn't locate it. Now if it had been registered ......

His family got suspicious after reading the manifesto and dimed him in, ergo his typewriter is what caught him.

However, the mere act of publishing a manifesto is hubris, were it not for that he might still be on the loose.

Computers are great for aggregating large amounts of data and spitting out all kinds of statistics and mathematics, the problem is, they are largely incapable of deciding if a few choice facts are important in a river of information. This is the reason why large data warehouse computer systems are a disservice to the taxpayers, they have no proven use when it comes to solving crimes, there is little to no proof they will have more utility in the future, and until then all they are is a huge threat to the privacy and security of the same taxpayers who are paying for it.

One pattern I notice over and over is that once a database is created, it is only a matter of time before it's hacked and all the information is leaked into the public domain. Now I don't worry about my neighbor knowing I have guns, but what I do worry about is potential identity thieves being given all the information they need to damage my credit and rip me off just because some bureaucrat wanted a bigger toy.

There is another more important pattern that goes through all of human history, once a thing is invented or implemented, it cannot be undone. This applies to nuclear, biological and chemical weapons the same way it does to internet and cellphone network kill switches, to massive databases. Once these things are created, it is likely that others will also create them, and that still others will try to use them.

Whether it's letters full of ricin, sarin in aleppo, or the ever present fear of a cyber or nuclear 9/11. We can control the mail, we can control our nuclear arsenal, and we can dismantle the chemical and biological weapons we have. The problem is the technology and skill to make chemical and biological weapons exist in most high school and university teaching labs. The ability to produce nuclear weapons is hamstrung only by the availability of nuclear material (if you ask north korea and iran, that's a minor stumbling block). Unlike chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, a delivery system is still needed, however computer based threats, someone with a $200 computer from walmart can be a global threat, no delivery system, no radioactive material, no handling nasty chemicals or dangerous germs.