Christmas Eve Gift From Big Brother

NSA Forced to Spell Out Violations After Suit

WASHINGTON—The National Security Agency, responding to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, has released heavily redacted reports detailing its employees’ violations of individual Americans’ privacy in the broad surveillance net cast after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The agency was required by executive order to file the reports with the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board. But the quarterly and annual reports covering NSA activities from 2001 to 2013 were publicly released Wednesday only after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/nsa-forced-to-spell-out-violations-after-suit-1419551756

Thank God our big brother is keeping us safe "at all costs".

Paquette wrote:

NSA Forced to Spell Out Violations After Suit

WASHINGTON—The National Security Agency, responding to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, has released heavily redacted reports detailing its employees’ violations of individual Americans’ privacy in the broad surveillance net cast after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The agency was required by executive order to file the reports with the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board. But the quarterly and annual reports covering NSA activities from 2001 to 2013 were publicly released Wednesday only after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/nsa-forced-to-spell-out-violations-after-suit-1419551756

Thank God our big brother is keeping us safe "at all costs".

The irony is thick...you pray and worship big government but when they infringe on your freedoms you are all butt hurt. Rather than wait for it...BUUUUSSSSHHHH!!!!!

If you believe this report is an anyway truthful then you are dumber than even I thought.

Darth Cheney wrote:

Paquette wrote:

NSA Forced to Spell Out Violations After Suit

WASHINGTON—The National Security Agency, responding to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, has released heavily redacted reports detailing its employees’ violations of individual Americans’ privacy in the broad surveillance net cast after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The agency was required by executive order to file the reports with the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board. But the quarterly and annual reports covering NSA activities from 2001 to 2013 were publicly released Wednesday only after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/nsa-forced-to-spell-out-violations-after-suit-1419551756

Thank God our big brother is keeping us safe "at all costs".

The irony is thick...you pray and worship big government but when they infringe on your freedoms you are all butt hurt.  Rather than wait for it...BUUUUSSSSHHHH!!!!!

If you believe this report is an anyway truthful then you are dumber than even I thought.

Thank you straw man slayer for your vigilant battle.

Yes, I blame Bush, Obama and all the democrats and republicans who have kept this program going to keep us safe "at all costs". I also strongly condemn all those who defended the Patriot Act that brought us this "safety" at the cost of our liberty. We sold our soul to save our ass.

Of course I'm not including you, I'm sure you stood up against the Patriot Act from it's inception, right? I'm sure you weren't brain dead enough not to realize that giving this much power to an administration that you approve of wouldn't be passed off to a less trustworthy administration in the future, were you? It would take a real dim witted dunderhead to support the program under one administration and then oppose it under the next.

So who really "worships big government?" Those who supported this kind of crap while their party was in office or those who oppose it regardless of which party is in control?

Darth Cheney wrote:

Paquette wrote:

NSA Forced to Spell Out Violations After Suit

WASHINGTON—The National Security Agency, responding to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, has released heavily redacted reports detailing its employees’ violations of individual Americans’ privacy in the broad surveillance net cast after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The agency was required by executive order to file the reports with the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board. But the quarterly and annual reports covering NSA activities from 2001 to 2013 were publicly released Wednesday only after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/nsa-forced-to-spell-out-violations-after-suit-1419551756

Thank God our big brother is keeping us safe "at all costs".

The irony is thick...you pray and worship big government but when they infringe on your freedoms you are all butt hurt.  Rather than wait for it...BUUUUSSSSHHHH!!!!!

If you believe this report is an anyway truthful then you are dumber than even I thought.

Speaking of irony.....I think it's interesting how some people are perfectly fine with invading a person's space and/or privacy in the way of enforcing laws based on racial profiling, but when your privacy is being compromised in the same type of blanket policy, well the hand seems to be on the other foot....

So, does anyone want to stand up and say they were part of the very small minority that opposed the Patriot Act from the start?

Can you support something like the Patriot Act and still claim to be opposed to "big government"?

Paquette wrote:So, does anyone want to stand up and say they were part of the very small minority that opposed the Patriot Act from the start?

Can you support something like the Patriot Act and still claim to be opposed to "big government"?

I think the type of surveillance that the NSA offers is crucial to our security, it just needs to be handled properly by people competent to do the job in a respectable manner.  My biggest problem is that I am not overly comfortable with the integrity of the people in charge.  I think the NSA should be run by our military and managed by people who are held to the highest of standards.  We have plenty of personnel wasting time playing with their toys in the sand in the middle east, we may as well put them to work on something constructive.

Let me get this correct; individual trangressions and abuse of position such as

In 2009, a U.S. Army sergeant used an NSA system “to target his wife,” also a soldier, leading to punishment including reduction in rank to specialist, one report stated.

OR

an analyst in late 2011 “reported that, during the past two or three years, she had searched her spouse’s personal telephone directory without his knowledge to obtain names and telephone numbers for targeting,” according to a report.

makes the Patriot Act worthless and/or bad and therefore needs to be scrapped?

Skeptical wrote:Let me get this correct; individual trangressions and abuse of position such as

In 2009, a U.S. Army sergeant used an NSA system “to target his wife,” also a soldier, leading to punishment including reduction in rank to specialist, one report stated.

OR

an analyst in late 2011 “reported that, during the past two or three years, she had searched her spouse’s personal telephone directory without his knowledge to obtain names and telephone numbers for targeting,” according to a report.

makes the Patriot Act worthless and/or bad and therefore needs to be scrapped?

Darth Cheney wrote:If you believe this report is an anyway truthful then you are dumber than even I thought.

Throwing a few low level employees under the bus and pretending that's the whole problem is a time honored CYA tradition.

Do you really believe that a couple of stalkers is the only problem with the NSA?

Paquette wrote:Throwing a few low level employees under the bus and pretending that's the whole problem is a time honored CYA tradition.

Do you really believe that a couple of stalkers is the only problem with the NSA?

As someone whose screen name starting with the letter "P" rebuked another poster on another thread'

You have a mighty creative style of reading comprehension if you got that out of my post.

Nowhere in my post did I ever allude the only problem with the Patriot Act was a couple of individuals abusing their positions, a conclusion you decided to attribute to me.  So please explain your need to put words of your choosing into another's post.


From the link in the opening post.

The NSA said the reports show most incidents “involve unintentional technical or human error. In the very few cases that involve the intentional misuse of a signals intelligence system, a thorough investigation is completed” and “appropriate disciplinary or administrative action is taken."

Other than incidents involving deliberate abuses of position by individuals and/or "unintentional technical or human error" please detail the problems of the Patriot Act which justify its demise as a tool of counter terrorism so the rest of us may become experts in this matter.

Skeptical wrote:

Paquette wrote:Throwing a few low level employees under the bus and pretending that's the whole problem is a time honored CYA tradition.

Do you really believe that a couple of stalkers is the only problem with the NSA?

As someone whose screen name starting with the letter "P" rebuked another poster on another thread'

You have a mighty creative style of reading comprehension if you got that out of my post.

Nowhere in my post did I ever allude the only problem with the Patriot Act was a couple of individuals abusing their positions, a conclusion you decided to attribute to me.  So please explain your need to put words of your choosing into another's post.


From the link in the opening post.

The NSA said the reports show most incidents “involve unintentional technical or human error. In the very few cases that involve the intentional misuse of a signals intelligence system, a thorough investigation is completed” and “appropriate disciplinary or administrative action is taken."

Other than incidents involving deliberate abuses of position by individuals and/or "unintentional technical or human error" please detail the problems of the Patriot Act which justify its demise as a tool of counter terrorism so the rest of us may become experts in this matter.

Just for future reference, in regard to government run programs, you don't feel that we should judge otherwise successful or necessary programs on a few anecdotal mishaps?

Skeptical wrote:From the link in the opening post.

The NSA said the reports show most incidents “involve unintentional technical or human error. In the very few cases that involve the intentional misuse of a signals intelligence system, a thorough investigation is completed” and “appropriate disciplinary or administrative action is taken."

How is that quote different from what I said? "A few cases of intentional misuse" and "unintentional technical or human error". They threw a few low level employees under the bus and the rest they pass off as an "oops".

I seem to remember a little bit of an uproar over the wholesale collecting of data on each and every American citizen including phone records and electronic communications. You might think that illegal search is justified but most people think that is a gross violation of our constitutional rights.

And if you're defending this just because of the Bush connection, Obama has taken this crap a step farther than Bush did. Are you also defending Obama's misuse of the NSA?

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:From the link in the opening post.

The NSA said the reports show most incidents “involve unintentional technical or human error. In the very few cases that involve the intentional misuse of a signals intelligence system, a thorough investigation is completed” and “appropriate disciplinary or administrative action is taken."

How is that quote different from what I said? "A few cases of intentional misuse" and "unintentional technical or human error". They threw a few low level employees under the bus and the rest they pass off as an "oops".

I seem to remember a little bit of an uproar over the wholesale collecting of data on each and every American citizen including phone records and electronic communications. You might think that illegal search is justified but most people think that is a gross violation of our constitutional rights.

And if you're defending this just because of the Bush connection, Obama has taken this crap a step farther than Bush did. Are you also defending Obama's misuse of the NSA?

Considering you said earlier, "Do you really believe that a couple of stalkers is the only problem with the NSA?",  WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS THAT HAVE YOU SO UPSET, if there is more than what has already been pointed out?

Enlighten us who do not know the truth about the dark and dirty transgressions of the NSA.

I am not defending anybody!

The NSA may loosely be likened to any tool to be used for good or bad and such use depends on the character of the people directly operating the tool.  If it is being used for illegal scrutiny of the general population then it strongly indicates those in charge are less than honorable people.

This is freaking hilarious. A very short time ago republicans and most democrats were justifiably outraged over what the NSA has been doing. Nearly everyone was up in arms over this extreme overreach of powers. It seemed like a no brainer, they're tracking our every phone call and collecting our every email, how can that be constitutionally justified?

So what has changed to cause this extreme flip? Is wholesale spying on on virtually every American citizen wrong or not?

Paquette wrote:This is freaking hilarious. A very short time ago republicans and most democrats were justifiably outraged over what the NSA has been doing. Nearly everyone was up in arms over this extreme overreach of powers. It seemed like a no brainer, they're tracking our every phone call and collecting our every email, how can that be constitutionally justified?

So what has changed to cause this extreme flip? Is wholesale spying on on virtually every American citizen wrong or not?

You might have to ask Obama and/or his people because IIRC the allegation of tracking our every phone call or collecting our email, in short spying on every American citizen (that must mean illegal immigrants were immune) happened not too long ago on Obama's watch.

I Repeat, the proper use or improper use of the NSA reflects the character of the people in charge!

What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Skeptical wrote:

Paquette wrote:This is freaking hilarious. A very short time ago republicans and most democrats were justifiably outraged over what the NSA has been doing. Nearly everyone was up in arms over this extreme overreach of powers. It seemed like a no brainer, they're tracking our every phone call and collecting our every email, how can that be constitutionally justified?

So what has changed to cause this extreme flip? Is wholesale spying on on virtually every American citizen wrong or not?

You might have to ask Obama and/or his people because IIRC the allegation of tracking our every phone call or collecting our email, in short spying on every American citizen (that must mean illegal immigrants were immune) happened not too long ago on Obama's watch.

Repeat, the proper use or improper use of the NSA reflects the character of the people in charge!

Yes, I have repeatedly said that Obama is doing the same thing. In fact, I said that Obama has kicked it up a notch.

But by all accounts, these abuses didn't start in 2009. Were these abuses of power wrong or were they only wrong after 2009?

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Oversight. Real oversight, not the joke of an oversight structure that we have now that rubber stamps anything they want.

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Another part of the equation is to get rid of this "at all costs" mentality where we justify tossing aside the constitution, our morals, our laws and our faith so we can gain some false sense of security. We can quit being big pussies that are so afraid of every bump in the night that we're willing to throw away everything we believe in.

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Another part of the equation is to get rid of this "at all costs" mentality where we justify tossing aside the constitution, our morals, our laws and our faith so we can gain some false sense of security. We can quit being big pussies that are so afraid of every bump in the night that we're willing to throw away everything we believe in.

With that said, What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Or are you advocating to eliminate any and all security methods?

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Another part of the equation is to get rid of this "at all costs" mentality where we justify tossing aside the constitution, our morals, our laws and our faith so we can gain some false sense of security. We can quit being big pussies that are so afraid of every bump in the night that we're willing to throw away everything we believe in.

Pssst...We are no longer a Constitutional Republic and are much closer to a dictatorship. The barriers that could have prevented this were not initiated and Congress and the Judicial branch are largely letting the President rule as a self appointed dictator. You no longer have freedom/privacy in the new Amerika. Everyone was warned what could happen and given Obama's background what was likely to happen. The thing that took me off guard was the Congress and Judicial branch offering zero resistance. Obama probably has dirt on every Congress person and Supreme Court Justice. It's over...get used to it.

Darth Cheney wrote:

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Another part of the equation is to get rid of this "at all costs" mentality where we justify tossing aside the constitution, our morals, our laws and our faith so we can gain some false sense of security. We can quit being big pussies that are so afraid of every bump in the night that we're willing to throw away everything we believe in.

Pssst...We are no longer a Constitutional Republic and are much closer to a dictatorship. The barriers that could have prevented this were not initiated and Congress and the Judicial branch are largely letting the President rule as a self appointed dictator.  You no longer have freedom/privacy in the new Amerika.  Everyone was warned what could happen and given Obama's background what was likely to happen.  The thing that took me off guard was the Congress and Judicial branch offering zero resistance. Obama probably has dirt on every Congress person and Supreme Court Justice. It's over...get used to it.

Unfortunately you may be right.  While I naively hold out hope that we can rid this country of the progressive liberals before all is lost, it appears that we may be over the edge.  Right now it looks like we are about 10 years behind Venezuela.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/03/todays-venezuela-from-a-r_n_2800828.html

http://boingboing.net/2014/02/21/venezuela-after-being-promi.html


There is no question that we are condemning our children and grandchildren to a standard of living that will be deplorable.  Shame on us conservatives for allowing the progressive liberals to bring this destruction to our country.  About all we can do now is point these progressive liberals out to our children and grandchildren so when the crap hits the fan, they will know the faces of the azzholes that caused this.

Jammer wrote:

Darth Cheney wrote:

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Another part of the equation is to get rid of this "at all costs" mentality where we justify tossing aside the constitution, our morals, our laws and our faith so we can gain some false sense of security. We can quit being big pussies that are so afraid of every bump in the night that we're willing to throw away everything we believe in.

Pssst...We are no longer a Constitutional Republic and are much closer to a dictatorship. The barriers that could have prevented this were not initiated and Congress and the Judicial branch are largely letting the President rule as a self appointed dictator.  You no longer have freedom/privacy in the new Amerika.  Everyone was warned what could happen and given Obama's background what was likely to happen.  The thing that took me off guard was the Congress and Judicial branch offering zero resistance. Obama probably has dirt on every Congress person and Supreme Court Justice. It's over...get used to it.

Unfortunately you may be right.  While I naively hold out hope that we can rid this country of the progressive liberals before all is lost, it appears that we may be over the edge.  Right now it looks like we are about 10 years behind Venezuela.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/03/todays-venezuela-from-a-r_n_2800828.html

http://boingboing.net/2014/02/21/venezuela-after-being-promi.html


There is no question that we are condemning our children and grandchildren to a standard of living that will be deplorable.  Shame on us conservatives for allowing the progressive liberals to bring this destruction to our country.  About all we can do now is point these progressive liberals out to our children and grandchildren so when the crap hits the fan, they will know the faces of the azzholes that caused this.

The possibility of a modified Ferdinand Marcos maneuver can't be ruled out.

Jammer wrote:

Darth Cheney wrote:

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Another part of the equation is to get rid of this "at all costs" mentality where we justify tossing aside the constitution, our morals, our laws and our faith so we can gain some false sense of security. We can quit being big pussies that are so afraid of every bump in the night that we're willing to throw away everything we believe in.

Pssst...We are no longer a Constitutional Republic and are much closer to a dictatorship. The barriers that could have prevented this were not initiated and Congress and the Judicial branch are largely letting the President rule as a self appointed dictator.  You no longer have freedom/privacy in the new Amerika.  Everyone was warned what could happen and given Obama's background what was likely to happen.  The thing that took me off guard was the Congress and Judicial branch offering zero resistance. Obama probably has dirt on every Congress person and Supreme Court Justice. It's over...get used to it.

Unfortunately you may be right.  While I naively hold out hope that we can rid this country of the progressive liberals before all is lost, it appears that we may be over the edge.  Right now it looks like we are about 10 years behind Venezuela.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/03/todays-venezuela-from-a-r_n_2800828.html

http://boingboing.net/2014/02/21/venezuela-after-being-promi.html


There is no question that we are condemning our children and grandchildren to a standard of living that will be deplorable.  Shame on us conservatives for allowing the progressive liberals to bring this destruction to our country.  About all we can do now is point these progressive liberals out to our children and grandchildren so when the crap hits the fan, they will know the faces of the azzholes that caused this.

About 98% of the republicans are also going along for the ride. That POS John Thune and the skirt are absolutely worthless. When it collapses, I hope every politician is held accountable and tried as traitors.

Darth Cheney wrote:

Jammer wrote:

Darth Cheney wrote:

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Another part of the equation is to get rid of this "at all costs" mentality where we justify tossing aside the constitution, our morals, our laws and our faith so we can gain some false sense of security. We can quit being big pussies that are so afraid of every bump in the night that we're willing to throw away everything we believe in.

Pssst...We are no longer a Constitutional Republic and are much closer to a dictatorship. The barriers that could have prevented this were not initiated and Congress and the Judicial branch are largely letting the President rule as a self appointed dictator.  You no longer have freedom/privacy in the new Amerika.  Everyone was warned what could happen and given Obama's background what was likely to happen.  The thing that took me off guard was the Congress and Judicial branch offering zero resistance. Obama probably has dirt on every Congress person and Supreme Court Justice. It's over...get used to it.

Unfortunately you may be right.  While I naively hold out hope that we can rid this country of the progressive liberals before all is lost, it appears that we may be over the edge.  Right now it looks like we are about 10 years behind Venezuela.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/03/todays-venezuela-from-a-r_n_2800828.html

http://boingboing.net/2014/02/21/venezuela-after-being-promi.html


There is no question that we are condemning our children and grandchildren to a standard of living that will be deplorable.  Shame on us conservatives for allowing the progressive liberals to bring this destruction to our country.  About all we can do now is point these progressive liberals out to our children and grandchildren so when the crap hits the fan, they will know the faces of the azzholes that caused this.

About 98% of the republicans are also going along for the ride. That POS John Thune and the skirt are absolutely worthless. When it collapses, I hope every politician is held accountable and tried as traitors.

There are certainly a bunch, but I think you are a little high on the percentage.  

Then you also should segment this crowd.  There are some who really aren't Republicans, but are democrats posing as Republicans to get elected.   There are some who know better, but are weak kneed and afraid of losing their next election.  There are the middle of the road go along to get along crowd - these are the people who really annoy me.  And finally I think we would be surprised about just how many are really conservatives in their heart, but are clueless in their head.

Many of the Republican politicians have never taken the time to really study conservative principles.  As a result, they make a lot of mistakes and don't even realize it.  We might have a chance with this group if we could just get their attention and get them to study conservative principles.   This is not something that is taught in our educational system.

Skeptical wrote:

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Another part of the equation is to get rid of this "at all costs" mentality where we justify tossing aside the constitution, our morals, our laws and our faith so we can gain some false sense of security. We can quit being big pussies that are so afraid of every bump in the night that we're willing to throw away everything we believe in.

With that said, What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Or are you advocating to eliminate any and all security methods?

Did you completely miss the post right above the one you quoted or are you choosing to ignore it?

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:

Paquette wrote:

Skeptical wrote:What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Another part of the equation is to get rid of this "at all costs" mentality where we justify tossing aside the constitution, our morals, our laws and our faith so we can gain some false sense of security. We can quit being big pussies that are so afraid of every bump in the night that we're willing to throw away everything we believe in.

With that said, What is your plan for effective and efficient operation of the NSA, or similar agency, guaranteeing no accidental eavesdropping on innocent people and/or mass spying of American citizens while keeping the US safe from terrorist attacks?

Or are you advocating to eliminate any and all security methods?

Did you completely miss the post right above the one you quoted or are you choosing to ignore it?

Oversight, real oversight !

How will this "real oversight" plan you propose detect and prevent from happening in the first place such things as  a U.S. Army sergeant using an NSA system “to target his wife,” also a soldier or detect and prevent from happening an analyst searching her spouse’s personal telephone directory without his knowledge to obtain names and telephone numbers for targeting,” ?

How will this "real oversight"(which can also be known as hindsight) plan assure complete integrity of the people performing in a system of operation?

Which raises another question ... who will assure the integrity of the overseers???

Please expound and expand your "real oversight" plan that accomplishes just the two things mentioned above not to mention the myriad of technical and/or other human errors