Groaker 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (670)

• On the post: Why Won't The Press Admit That CIA Director John Brennan Lied?

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2014 @ 07:59am

  What did anyone expect?
  
  
  Such behavior on the part of the Executive branch and their lapdogs is the reason for the existence of TechDirt and many similar blogs.

• On the post: Obama Administration Learns: If You Redefine Every Word In The Dictionary, You Can Get Away With Just About Anything

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 25 Sep, 2014 @ 08:14am

  Obama is just an alias. His real name is Humpty Dumpty.
  
  “When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.”
  
  -- Lewis Carol

• On the post: The Threats Against Emma Watson Were All An Anti-4Chan Campaign

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 01:24pm

  Re:

  Want to be celebrities and their agents try to work the press for attention. Then for the few that manage to achieve that status, the press becomes anathema. Are the victims? Or are they reaping what they sow? If a celebrity gets what they want, then they drop the people who got them there.
  
  Everything has a price. The loss of privacy for actual celebrities is even recognized by law. Not a total loss, but far different than for the average unknown. It is one thing to want to have the price of celebrity go both ways. In reality is quite another thing.

• On the post: FUD: Former FBI Guy Lies, Claiming New Mobile Encryption Would Have Resulted In Dead Kidnap Subject

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 12:22pm

  Lying is what the FBI does best.

• On the post: Law Professor Claims Any Internet Company 'Research' On Users Without Review Board Approval Is Illegal

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 12:21pm

  Intentionally hooking up someone with the purpose that they are expected to dislike their prospective mate, when contracted to do the opposite, is a civil tort.

• On the post: The Threats Against Emma Watson Were All An Anti-4Chan Campaign

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2014 @ 12:17pm

  This pretty much had to be a fraud. Would anyone think Ms Watson would not sign a release for nude pictures?
  
  Really, what is the big deal? There are for the most part, with a few minor exceptions, two types of genitals, two types of chests, and minor differences in the shape of butts. I would think that anyone who has access to the 'net knows those differences and has a pretty good idea of what most people look like with their clothes off -- not as good as they do with them on.

• On the post: Law Enforcement Freaks Out Over Apple & Google's Decision To Encrypt Phone Info By Default

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2014 @ 11:51am

  They just don't want us to have the ability to do unauthorized arithmetic in the privacy of our own bedrooms, or elsewhere.

• On the post: Study Indicates College Textbook Piracy Is On The Rise, But Fails To Call Out Publishers For Skyrocketing Prices

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2014 @ 10:04am

  Prices

  Prices are indeed outrageous. I recently saw Kindle Elementary Electronic Engineering eBooks over $100, and an occasional one over $200. I thought $15 for an Organic Chem book was insane in the 60's.

• On the post: DOJ Proposal Would Let FBI Hack Into Computers Overseas With Little Oversight

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 17 Sep, 2014 @ 10:17am

  First the Congress had to declare war. Then the President pulled in the ability to create de facto wars. Now the FBI wants that same ability without any accountability.
  
  Does anyone doubt that Stuxnet would have likely started a war if it had been performed against a nation that had a chance of winning a war against the US -- China for example?
  
  But Iran is too weak, so they had to eat this offense.

• On the post: Study: Cable Cutting To Continue, Especially As Millennials Age

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 13 Sep, 2014 @ 06:06am

  Cable cutting

  It is not just for the Millennials. It is not just about saving money (though that is not insignificant.) But more so about the product. Roku provides services either with the one time purchase of their box, or ala carte. That is what I have been looking for in cable since 1970.
  
  Cable provides endless repetition of a few shows which are primarily named "reality shows," while Roku provides thousands of high quality movies and series.
  
  The only downside of this is that, like cable, Roku is starting to add longer and longer commercials. While still shorter than the commercials of cable, the future seems to extrapolate that they will catch up.

• On the post: DOJ Inspector General Says FBI Actively Preventing Him From Doing His Job

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 12 Sep, 2014 @ 05:07am

  Sinking ship

  This has reputedly been going on for years. So why hasn't the IG done something about it for years?
  
  This is just another example of Rattus rattus domesticus fleeing the sinking ship of state. "While I tried, but my hands were tied."
  
  How many government criminals are going to run, claiming it was all the other guys fault, before someone actually gets held accountable for their actions?

• On the post: President Obama Claims CIA Torture Was Okay Because People Were Scared And The CIA Is A 'Tough Job'

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2014 @ 08:08am

  A government that can not control fear and madness in crowd. That allows panic to overrule accepted and well defined law, is a government that needs to be replaced, and all involved punished.

• On the post: Connecticut Supreme Court Says State Cops Can Detain You Simply For Being In The Vicinity Of Someone They're Arresting

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 04 Aug, 2014 @ 05:53am

  Officer safety is a rather bizarre concept. The homicide rate of police "on the job" is low. One fifth that of cab drivers. Much lower than that of farmers.
  
  Yet police, whose primary concern should be the safety of the civilian population, kill more innocents than police are murdered. The police have voluntarily accepted a paid position to provide protection to us, but continually refuse to see those who are not police as being less than human.
  
  It reaches the final irony of Orwell's Farm when the pigs are walking on two trotters, and claim "some four legs good, two legs better."

• On the post: White House Finishes Review Of CIA Terror Report: Feinstein Wants To Know Why It's Basically All Blacked Out

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 03 Aug, 2014 @ 06:37pm

  THIS. As well as massive unrest.

• On the post: DailyDirt: What's That In Your Food?

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 02 Aug, 2014 @ 07:29am

  I love it when you talk dirty.
  
  Really, everyone is allowed a foul up a year, and this piece is TechDirt's.

• On the post: White House Finishes Review Of CIA Terror Report: Feinstein Wants To Know Why It's Basically All Blacked Out

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 02 Aug, 2014 @ 07:25am

  "At least Feinstein didn't just rubber stamp the redactions."
  
  It is my belief that Feinstein is merely trying to rehabitate her image, and that this will end up like the elephant in the mouse cage -- where everyone is getting squished to death, but no one admits anything out of the ordinary is happening.

• On the post: Peak Internet Dismisses Defamation Suit Against Former Customer Who Complained About Its Lousy Connection Speeds

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2014 @ 05:45pm

  Congratulations!

• On the post: Thank You For Supporting Our Net Neutrality Reporting

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 01 Aug, 2014 @ 11:38am

  All I did was throw few bucks, write a few letters, and make some calls. You guys are the ones who deserve the real thanks for the work you put in, and the danger that you endure.
  
  Might I suggest,that if possible, you have your next fund raiser straddle Dec/Jan when people are in a more giving mood. Becoming a 501-3c would probably not be hard,and provide lots of of advantages.
  
  Best wishes

• On the post: Amazon To Hachette And Authors: Here, Let Us Explain Basic Price Elasticity To You

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 31 Jul, 2014 @ 02:20am

  Re: Re:

  $1.99 is only a bargain bin if others are selling similar material for significantly higher prices. If everybody is selling for $1.99, then that is just the going rate.
  
  Inflation in the prices of paperbacks has far exceeded the general CPI. In the early '60s, paperbacks went for $0.25, and "Bantam Giants" were $0.35. A paperback is now about $10, which is 40 times the cost while the CPI is up around 10. College text books have startling absolute price increases over that period, but their increases are much more in line with the CPI.

• On the post: Wikileaks Reveals Super Injunction Blocking Reporting On Massive Australian Corruption Case Involving Leaders Of Malaysia, Indonesia & Vietnam

  

  Groaker ( profile ), 30 Jul, 2014 @ 12:35pm

  Re: Re: Secret cases in the US - nope

  I take it by your statement that you haven't bothered to read the first couple of paragraphs of the "California Review Article." Kindly do so before making such statements.

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