Liz 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (247)

• On the post: Adrian Lamo On The Stand: 'Did Manning Ever Say He Wanted To Help The Enemy?' 'Not In Those Words, No.'

  

  Liz ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2013 @ 04:26am

  Re:

  My only source for numbers came from a recent episode of Rachel Maddow show. So take that for what it's worth. But she presented a few figures that state that there are 483,263 non-military, non-governmental contractors who work for the intelligence services that are granted high level Top Secret security clearance. This being a staggering number in itself. However as the article states there are around 4,900,000 individuals who have access to the information with lower levels of security clearance.
  
  NSA leaks: Who has clearance for top secret information?
  
  
  Their source as linked in the article: 2012 Report on Security Clearance Determinations (Warning: PDF)
  
  
  That looks like about 10% of contractors who have access to some of the most secretive intel gained by the U.S. government through it's spying programs. Since this is a for-profit endeavor, it would not surprise me at all if there were more than a dozen rats for each whistle-blower.

• On the post: Adrian Lamo On The Stand: 'Did Manning Ever Say He Wanted To Help The Enemy?' 'Not In Those Words, No.'

  

  Liz ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2013 @ 04:09am

  Re:

  I see that word bandied about a lot these days. When I hear "traitor" thrown out by politicians and talking heads on cable news, I keep thinking back to the words of Inigo Montoya:
  
  You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

• On the post: Amid NSA Scandal, Orwell Books Rocket Up The Sellers Lists

  

  Liz ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2013 @ 03:53am

  Re: Glenn Beck?

  Have you read anything from Glenn Beck? Agenda 21, Being George Washington, Common Sense, The Overton Window, and two kids books The Christmas Sweater and People Behind the Patriots.
  
  He writes some interesting speculative fiction and alternate history books not unlike Ray Bradbury or George Orwell. I mean, if you toss out your suspension of disbelief, his writing is almost passable!

• On the post: NSA Spying Revelations Start To Cause Outrage In Europe; China Next?

  

  Liz ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2013 @ 10:04pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Put plainly, the US is very much a country that considers it's own wants or laws to be applicable globally, and only pays attention to the laws in other countries when it cares to, when it wants them changed to benefit US corporate interests, or when it is forced to.

  
  
  It's easy to place blame on a single entity. Curse not just American Government and American Businesses.
  
  When the U.S. had been called to become the world's political enforcer since 1938, the government fell into a pattern of behavior. During the Cold War the U.S. and its allies were a counterweight to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union fell, the Eastern Block nations gained independence, and the global dynamic changed. The only Superpower left was the United States. However the role as some sort of global enforcer and international nanny remained. Called upon by allies and those governments who needed assistance in the past few decades. This put the country into an unenviable position that whatever decision the government took in international affairs, they would be cursed by others whether they acted or not. If they sent aid to a foreign land, it was seen as meddling in international affairs. If they refused to send aid, it was seen as being greedy and wasteful and the people were painted in a negative light.
  
  The corporatism that you mention specifically isn't just relegated to the United States, but to the governments of every country where they operate. It is because of this corporate action that other countries such as Brazil, India and China have gained such prominence and are catching up to the rest of the developed world to become a major influence in the economic and political sphere around the globe. The "cheap labor" offered by the people who live in these areas learned about First World wages, benefits, and materialism. The international trade led them to copy the latest tech, utilize the newest research, and communicate globally with their peers around the world. They wanted to share "The American Dream." Except they wanted to have it in their own homelands.
  
  These issues are endemic to the developed nations as a whole. These multinational corporations hold more assets outside of the United States than they do within. And they use that money and influence on every government where they have a foothold. They act in their own self interests, use lobbying, bribery, advertising, PR Campaigns, and whatever other legal and extralegal measures that are available to them to change policy by way of industry trade groups and associations. They don't want governmental control. They just want to make ever more money on the international stage at the cost of competition and emerging market disruptions. Changing a few laws here and there for their benefit are just a means to secure their streams of income. When a corporation works on an international level, then those are the laws that they need to mold to suit their needs.
  
  With the socio-economic changes that have been happening around the world, other countries catching up, and the United States seeming to stagnate or fall behind in several measurable areas (financial, educational, social, etc.), it's easy to target the one that appears to be on the way out of the spotlight. The power vacuum that was left behind by the Soviet Union is being filled by several distinct entities with their own ambitions each. Latin America rising with Brazil at the lead. Communist China which is at odds with the practices of more Capitalist nations (especially in Asia). Dwindling resources, greater hunger for food, oil and coal from developing nations and the growing importance of the Middle East and Africa to the global stage - along with their religious and social turmoil that permeates the rest of the world as a whole.
  
  This is the effect of Globalism. Humanity is experiencing a painful growth spurt as we move into the 21st century. And the United States is not fully to blame.

• On the post: NSA Spying Revelations Start To Cause Outrage In Europe; China Next?

  

  Liz ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2013 @ 06:34am

  Re: Re:

  Imperialistic tendencies? I must have missed something in the past 20 years. Can you tell us which countries the United States has claimed and annexed as part of the nation?
  
  I think you may want to consider a better word choice. The rest of what you stated is sadly true, but I don't think it falls under the notion of empire building.

• On the post: Kim Dotcom Threatens To Sue Google, Facebook And Twitter Over 2-Factor Authentication Patent If They Don't Help Him

  

  Liz ( profile ), 23 May, 2013 @ 09:36pm

  And so goes all of the goodwill he may have gained. Flushed down the toilet like the big turd that he is.

• On the post: NYPD Sergeant Says 'Guilty Until Proven Innocent' Is Just The Price We Pay For A 'Free Society'

  

  Liz ( profile ), 09 May, 2013 @ 07:33am

  I've said it before about school policies and it applies equally as well here: Zero Tolerance policies are a way for people in a position of authority to refrain from using critical thinking skills.

• On the post: Doctors Call Out Novartis For Insane Pricing On Cancer Drug

  

  Liz ( profile ), 03 May, 2013 @ 10:28pm

  Re: Re:

  PRMan, you sir, are an ass.

• On the post: Maxis: Your Reward For Buying Our Horribly Launched SimCity Is The Previous, Better Version Of It

  

  Liz ( profile ), 18 Mar, 2013 @ 03:46pm

  Re:

  Watch those last two words there, bub. You could summon an Elder God.
  
  The last thing this world needs is an indomitable entity which saps the sanity of the world's population.

• On the post: Security Reporter Raided By SWAT Team After Someone Put In A Bogus 911 Call

  

  Liz ( profile ), 15 Mar, 2013 @ 06:08pm

  Re: /

  That's a bit harsh. It isn't like he downloaded thousands of documents from MIT servers.

• On the post: Maxis Insider: EA Lying About Needing Servers For Single Player SimCity

  

  Liz ( profile ), 13 Mar, 2013 @ 02:16pm

  Re: Re: Re: EA are lying?

  Those camps would be called "Quality Assurance Centers."

• On the post: Senator Tweets About 'Very Uncomfortable' TSA Pat Down: 'OMG'

  

  Liz ( profile ), 12 Mar, 2013 @ 11:47am

  Re:

  Even though there is a "Social Conservative" struggle here in the United States, this country does remain fairly progressive with regards to the individual. There are openly gay and transgender people holding public office, as well as a number of cyborgs in government positions. Even though some have elected to have minor modifications such as pacemakers, artificial hearts, and hearing implants (ocular implants are in development). There are a few who are on their way to full cybernetic conversion.
  
  However don't let this idyllic vision of our country direct your focus away from the darker side. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has yet to gain a reasonable foothold within our system. In fact, it appears that any measurable form of intelligence seems to be lacking on a grand scale.

• On the post: Proposed California Bill Would Require Sites To Hand Over Private Info On Kids To Their Parents

  

  Liz ( profile ), 07 Mar, 2013 @ 10:58am

  Re: May contain Sarcasm

  That or a post-it note. Post-it notes seem to be a legit form.

• On the post: Bradley Manning Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize As People Begin Realizing How Damaging His Case Is To A Free Press

  

  Liz ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2013 @ 12:08pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  I'm surprised someone as snappy as you missed the point. Zakida Paul thinks Obama didn't deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. Even though it was awarded to him after a disastrous 8 years of Bush Jr. White House, the first black man to be elected U.S. President, and a potential for sweeping change for American politics with regards to the War on Terror?.
  
  Now when dennis deems mentioned Kissinger, it was to illustrate that there were worse people who received the prize than Obama.

• On the post: CNET Reporter Resigns Over CBS Interference In Dish CES Award

  

  Liz ( profile ), 14 Jan, 2013 @ 12:21pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Well done

  There goes my afternoon.

• On the post: Unintended Consequences, Lead And Crime

  

  Liz ( profile ), 08 Jan, 2013 @ 12:30am

  Re:

  With an average lag time of 23 years between the heavy use of leaded fuels and the dramatic shift in crime rates. They pinpointed several factors and biological links which lead to criminal activity.
  
  The data tallied has been done by a number researchers in different fields and they come to the same conclusion.
  
  You might want to actually read the article. It even touches on your hypothesis of population density leading to increased crime. The data they collected shows that the per-capita crime rates between urban and rural areas were about the same with lowered lead exposure levels.

• On the post: FBI, Working With Banks, Chose Not To Inform Occupy Leadership Of Assassination Plot On Its Leaders

  

  Liz ( profile ), 02 Jan, 2013 @ 11:00pm

  Re:

  Can't say that I have. Care to provide some links?

• On the post: So, What Didn't Enter The Public Domain This Week, That Should Have

  

  Liz ( profile ), 02 Jan, 2013 @ 09:03am

  Re: Re: Re: Re: I don't think any "culture" is actually lost, you just have to pay for it.

  An exaggeration isn't really all that correct. Remove the word "that" from his quote and then you have it.

• On the post: Salt Lake City Police Dept. Makes The Move To 'Always-On' Eyecams

  

  Liz ( profile ), 28 Nov, 2012 @ 01:22am

  Re:

  That's a nice idea in principle, however even cops are innocent until proven guilty.

• On the post: Early-Morning Raid Sent To Confiscate 9-Year-Old's Winnie The Pooh Laptop For Downloading Music

  

  Liz ( profile ), 26 Nov, 2012 @ 06:17am

  ?It would have been easier for all concerned if you had paid the compensation,? the police advised
  
  There's a word for this. That word is Extortion.

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