Monday, February 08th, 2010

Busted for Impersonating a Government Official

Posted: Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Ooops. I mean, "busted for wire fraud and invasion of privacy". Same thing.

Albert Gonzalez (no, not THAT one, it's another one--the WRONG one) was busted for hacking into secure networks and pilfering private financial data (and for assisting others to accomplish this same objective). He is described as the perpetrator of the "largest credit card theft in US history."

Assistant US Atorney General Lanny Breuer almost kept a straight face while issuing the following statement, "The Department of Justice will not allow computer hackers to rob consumers of their privacy and erode the public's confidence in the security of the marketplace."

"Because no one gets to do that except us!" he did not say. He then went on to not say, "Impersonating the NSA, the CIA, and the Department of Defense is a serious crime. Only these organizations are allowed to strip you of your privacy, listen in on all your communications and use that information to further their own ends. The average citizen will get in a lot of trouble for doing that..."

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Leave it to Shneier to Make it Clear

Posted: Thursday, December 10, 2009

In our ever-increasing security environment, we often lose track of what we must give up in the name of security. I don't know how many people I've talked to that voiced the very sentiment that Bruce Schneier is addressing in the article linked below. The sentiment is as follows:

"Why should I worry about government surveillance? I've got nothing to hide."

The ignorance and/or sheer stupidity of this statement is so obvious that I cannot believe people can actually say the words with a straight face.

Schneier's response is much more polite and politically-correct answer than what I tend to give when faced with such a statement (is a solid left hook to the head politically-correct?).

Follow the link below to read Schneier's response.

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The Real Reason Governments Torture

Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009

There have been a lot of articles lately detailing America's use of "interrogation techniques" (*cough* *cough* TORTURE *cough*). If you've read any of my previous posts regarding the subject, you know how I feel about it (it is never justified, period).

There is, however, a large percentage of Americans who feel torture is justified ("America's Regression" by Glenn Greenwald). I believe this is because most people fail to realize the true goal of torture.

The goal of torture is never to get information. Any information specialist will tell you that. Information obtained via torture is sketchy at best. People will say whatever they think you want to hear when they are being tortured. So, really, the information side of it is moot.

So why do governments torture? To send a message to any other would be criminals--"Break the law and this is what happens." But that is only the first layer. How many folks at Guantanamo were "harshly interrogated" not because they were guilty (or even suspected of some crime) but were instead merely known associates of someone suspected of a crime?

So what message does that send? Not only shouldn't you break the law, but you also shouldn't hang around with anyone who is breaking the law. What if you don't know if your friend is breaking the law? Tough, you better find out or quit hanging around with them.

Now you are starting to see the real goal of torture. Torture isn't used to break criminals, but rather it is used to intimidate and scare the general populous. The message now is, "mind your own business or you'll get black-bagged off to Syria/Jordan/Egypt/Liberia/Lithuania/Poland/etc. to be "interrogated".

But that only applies to bad people, you know, terrorists.

That is what our government would like to have you believe. The truth, however, is that this application of law now applies to citizens as well. Anyone suspected of consorting with someone suspected of terrorist ties can be designated as an enemy combatant, have their rights to habeas corpus suspended, and be held, without access to legal council, family or friends, for as long as the government sees fit.

In fact, in such a case, the government is not even required to verify to ANYONE that you have been apprehended (let alone where you may be held or what interrogators may be doing to you).

Let that sink in a bit. Now tell me again what it was that America, the last great Democracy, was supposed to represent? What rights are we supposed to protect?

We criticize China, Russia, North Korea, and a host of other dictators and despots for imprisoning and torturing political activists, revolutionaries, health care workers, and people in general.

We, however, not only do this, but we also kidnap (in utter secrecy) and torture those same victims, all while giving them no recourse to any legal defense whatsoever--no way to allow them to prove their innocence. Even worse, in many cases, we don't even tell them why they were apprehended.

What kind of hell is it where a government can torture, abuse, confine and kill an individual (a human being) without that person ever knowing why it is happening? What horrific dictator can you name that has ever done such a thing? Idi Amin? Saddam Hussein? China? Russia?

Most of these leaders/countries are all too happy to tell their prisoners why they are being incarcerated. And they are also all to happy to tell the families of said individuals why their loved one has been imprisoned (usually they do this so that it will dissuade others from stepping out of line).

Only America (that I know of) has gone to the psychological extreme of imprisoning and torturing (and possibly killing--face it, if they don't have to admit they have you, they can kill you without penalty) individuals all while denying them the basic right of knowing for what they are being punished. To be tortured and not know why is by far the greatest torture of all. The sense of helplessness such a situation would cause is almost unimaginable.

And yet we continue.

Why? Do we really think it will deter people who come from countries where they have been subjected to such hideous and illogical systems of "justice" for their entire lives (indeed their entire cultural history)? Does getting your kneecaps power-drilled by a Jordanian interrogator inspire any more fear than getting your kneecaps drilled by an Iraqi interrogator?

No, we do not torture to scare the criminals. We torture to scare the citizens. Obey the law or else.

Why would anyone want to scare the common citizen in such a way?

Well, as a government gains power and begins to strip away the rights of its citizens, it needs to do something to prevent that citizenry from rising up in protest and anger.

Fear works.

Why do you think social/political organizations are constantly being put on terrorist watch lists? Because, should any one group or individual get too powerful, the government can "disappear" them.

"But not Americans!" you may try and claim... but if the government doesn't have to say who it has apprehended, where they are being held, or what is being done to them, how can you say they haven't done this to Americans? You have no way of knowing anything about who is in this system of torture except what you are told by the government.

And they don't have to tell you anything.

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I Think I am Going to be Sick...

Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009

Glenn Greenwald's latest post on Salon (linked below) is one of the most disheartening things I've read in quite some time.

A small excerpt:

Torture is one of the most universal taboos in the civilized world. The treaty championed by Ronald Reagan declares that "no exceptional circumstances" can justify it, and requires that every state criminalize it and prosecute those who authorize or engage in it. But only 25% of Americans agree with Ronald Reagan and this Western consensus that torture is never justifiable. Worse, 54% of Americans believe torture is "often" or "sometimes" justified. When it comes to torture, the vast bulk of the country is now to the "right" (for lack of a better term) of Ronald Reagan, who at least in words (if not in deeds) insisted upon an absolute prohibition on the practice and mandatory prosecution for those responsible.

With these new numbers, it's virtually impossible to find a country with as high a percentage of torture supporters as the U.S. has. In Iran, for instance, only 36% believe that torture can be justified in some cases, while 43% believe all torture must be strictly prohibited. Similarly, 66% of Palestinians, 54% of Egyptians, and over 80% of Western Europeans believe torture is always wrong. The U.S. has a far lower percentage than all of those nations of individuals who believe that torture should always be prohibited. At least on the level of the citizenry (as opposed to government), we're basically the leading torture advocacy state in the world.

Who the fuck are these people that condone torture? 54% say "torture can be justified". Do I know these people? Do I socialize with them? Are you one? If so, I only have one thing to say to you.

Fuck you.

We are better than that, and you should be ashamed.

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