Tom 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (137)

• On the post: During Cold War, CIA And FBI Hired Over 1,000 Nazis As Spies, Limited Investigations Of Those Nazis

  

  Tom ( profile ), 28 Oct, 2014 @ 05:51am

  Re: Re:

  I suspect the CIA's tolerance of "moral lapses" as with regard to these former Nazis, is why they're such indescribably criminal bastards and practitioners of barbaric torture today...

• On the post: Feds Want To Keep A Big Part Of Their Argument Against Lawsuit Over Internet Spying A Total Secret

  

  Tom ( profile ), 28 Oct, 2014 @ 05:12am

  Hold on. Isn't this the same government that told us "never copy that floppy" with regard to software piracy, always insisting that copying was theft?
  
  I guess it's not theft when the government does it, but certainly is theft when the people do it. Do as we say, not as we do...

• On the post: During Cold War, CIA And FBI Hired Over 1,000 Nazis As Spies, Limited Investigations Of Those Nazis

  

  Tom ( profile ), 28 Oct, 2014 @ 05:02am

  American citizens: potential threats.
  Actual war criminals: helpful assets.

• On the post: Guidelines On Who Might Be Suspicious: Too Nervous? Too Calm? Blending In? Standing Out? It's All Suspicious

  

  Tom ( profile ), 27 Oct, 2014 @ 07:41am

  I've got it. Travel in a Schroedinger's Box. That way, you're simultaneously traveling and NOT traveling. Until they look in the box, they can't determine which quantum state you occupy, and thus you won't appear suspicious.

• On the post: Canadian And American Politicians Use Ottawa Shootings As Excuses To Demand More Surveillance, Greater Policing Powers

  

  Tom ( profile ), 25 Oct, 2014 @ 05:27am

  It's perfectly reasonable for PM Harper to want to know more about threats to his safety. After all, he couldn't get a clear view of the assailant from the cupboard he was apparently hiding in...
  
  Better give up all our fundamental human rights, there's terrorists after us.

• On the post: SWAT Team Raids House And Kills Homeowner Because Criminal Who Burglarized The House Told Them To

  

  Tom ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2014 @ 09:24pm

  The land of the free... and the home... of the... BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG DAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKA BANG BANG BANG BOOM "LOWER YOUR WEAPON!"

• On the post: Dutch IT Contractor Suggests Letting Police Have Direct Real-Time Access To All Of Your Devices… For Your Safety

  

  Tom ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2014 @ 06:37am

  So, when do we start setting fires and cutting important-looking cables?

• On the post: FBI Director: The Internet Is The Most Dangerous Parking Lot Imagineable

  

  Tom ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2014 @ 03:46pm

  Remember, folks. The internet is not a truck. It is more like a series of tubes. But it is also like a poorly lit parking lot where you may (and most likely will) be raped and/or killed. Don't attempt to protect yourselves too much from this possibility, however - the NSA is on the lookout for people who wield the magic key known as encryption. (The internet is unlocked by magic keys.) Those caught with the magic key are probably either terrorists or child molesters, so make sure to keep your magic key in your pocket while you navigate the poorly lit parking lot/series of tubes but not a truck that is the internet.
  
  And that's what "Democracy" means.

• On the post: Politicians Cynically Using JP Morgan Hack To Try To Pass Laws To Diminish Your Privacy

  

  Tom ( profile ), 06 Oct, 2014 @ 10:10am

  The government we trusted to keep us safe is becoming a metastasizing cancer. Soon, it will have to be excised.

• On the post: Head Of City of London Police Unit That Operates Without Court Orders Worries About Online 'Lawlessness'

  

  Tom ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2014 @ 04:55am

  When the policeman's motto to serve and protect, becomes corrupted to serve only the wealthy elite and protect their profit margins, it is time to subtract that policeman's right to police.

• On the post: Absolutely Disgusting: Eric Holder Implies That Mobile Encryption Will Lead To Dead & Abused Kids

  

  Tom ( profile ), 01 Oct, 2014 @ 07:46am

  I think people like Eric Holder are far more of a threat to my kids than child molesters.

• On the post: Imagine How The FBI And NSA Would Flip Out If Tor Browsing Was Built Into Firefox Or Chrome?

  

  Tom ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2014 @ 01:56pm

  Re: I can take a guess...

  Civilization as I know it has already ceased to exist. I thought the civilization I inhabited was above spying on its own citizens. I thought spying on their own citizens was what made the Russian and Chinese civilizations bad, and ours good, because ours would never stoop to such depths.
  
  I've rapidly gone from believing our western governments to be ethical and moral beacons to the world, champions of civilization all, to considering them the direst threat to my safety and well-being in existence. Nowadays I can't decide whether to leave, or stick around and watch it all come apart.

• On the post: Imagine How The FBI And NSA Would Flip Out If Tor Browsing Was Built Into Firefox Or Chrome?

  

  Tom ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2014 @ 01:47pm

  FBI director James Comey: "If TOR comes to Firefox, your children will inject heroin and ebola directly into their eyeballs, defect to ISIS, and produce child pornography. Pandemonium! Cats and dogs living together! Mass hysteria!"
  
  Anyway, TOR is probably already compromised. Keep in mind who made the damn thing in the first place.

• On the post: Executive Order 12333 Documents Redefine 'Collection,' Authorize Majority Of Dragnet Surveillance Programs

  

  Tom ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2014 @ 09:26pm

  Man, I can't wait to see CNN covering this.
  
  I mean, CNN would be stupid not to cover something that affects every American alive, wouldn't they?

• On the post: New 'Company' Claims It Uses Algorithms To Create Content Faster Than Creators Can, Making All Future Creations 'Infringing'

  

  Tom ( profile ), 29 Sep, 2014 @ 12:09pm

  Odd, all the copyright executives on Earth just simultaneously ran from their offices. Who knows where they went... but I'm sure we can find out by tracing the snail-trails they left behind.

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

  

  Tom ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2014 @ 11:30am

  "Won't somebody please think of the children?"
  
  I have. I'd rather they not grow up in a totalitarian, authoritarian dictatorship.

• On the post: DailyDirt: Animals Behave Like People Sometimes

  

  Tom ( profile ), 18 Sep, 2014 @ 05:47am

  Dogs feel every emotion we do. They just don't realize it, having never invented therapists.

• On the post: Canadian News Outlet Warns Canadians That US Law Enforcement Officers Will Pull Them Over And Seize Their Cash

  

  Tom ( profile ), 17 Sep, 2014 @ 05:23am

  The only way I'd visit the evil-ass US is in a blackbag and zip-ties, without my consent. Sadly this is a realistic possibility.

• On the post: More Yahoo vs. The NSA: Government Tried To Deny Standing, Filed Supporting Documents Yahoo Never Got To See

  

  Tom ( profile ), 16 Sep, 2014 @ 09:45am

  Re:

  Violynne, chances are the businesses had no choice in the matter. They were most likely compelled to co-operate, and prevented from even disclosing the matter to their customers, via a National Security Letter.

• On the post: White House And Senate Intelligence Committee Still Can't Agree On CIA Torture Report Redactions

  

  Tom ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2014 @ 08:25pm

  Re: "It would be unfortunate if..."

  The reason, singular, is simple: the committee knows what the CIA does for a living. They are America's murderers, assassins and torturers. Their job is to eliminate anyone that might threaten America as they see it - and the committee knows that they too can be declared "un-American" if the pressure on the CIA gets to be too great.
  
  These folks topple nations. They incite revolutions. They back dictators. They kill countless people. They finance themselves with drug smuggling and arms sales. They have satellites, they have drones. They have a freakin' heart attack gun. A few congressmen wouldn't be tough to dispatch, if it looks like they're trying to clog the empire's gears from turning smoothly with pesky war crime investigations.

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