Tag: Snowden

Get With The Program, Son. Not.

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

permanent record.jpg

Alternate title: Pseudo-Review: Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

Get with the program. Get with the program. One more time: Get with the program, son. Countless times that was said to me growing up in my beloved & missed united mistakes of #Americant. It usually was said after I tried to talk with someone older than me. You know, perhaps an acquaintance’s parent or just some older guy (an older Boomer) that I had met, encountered, but also a few people that were a bit younger (GenXers). It was all about growing up, don’t you know. Asking questions about life and this and that. Trying to figure things out. Yeah. It was about questioning the system and how I was supposed to fit in that system. Bah humbug, eh.

A few example questions:
– why should I join the military if the military is only about empire and I never will be (about empire)
– is there no alternative to years and years of debt-ridden college for a corporate job that hangs by a whim
– with decimated labour and manufacturing post Reagan, how the hell am I supposed achieve what my parents achieved, they could buy a fcuking house for 50k 

Indeed, dear worst-reader. People would always sneer and smirk and then blindly, dumbfounded, spew monotone: Get with the program, son. And there you have it. Any person since the 1950’s need know nothing else about life or the system that is dysfunctional #Americant other than: Get with the program, son. And boy did I NOT get with the program.

Like so much in #Americant, the word program, in essence, is code. It’s another way of saying there are unwritten rules and laws and boundaries and unless you can afford otherwise, you must abide by them all. That is, btw, what is taught by the entire education system, don’t you know. As far as affording otherwise… As money became America’s new God (perhaps after God was declared dead by enlightened Europe), it was only inevitable, like all finite resources, that greed become its keeper. As in: greed is money’s keeper. With me still, dear worst-reader?

Oh, the greed-shit-show. Yet more code that may or may not differentiate worst-writer from Edward Snowden. In other worst-words, where Snowden thinks he’s fighting the good-fight, worst-writer knows the futility of non-fight fight. Where Snowden thinks there is a boogeyman out to get us all, worst-writer knows that truth is just a mirror, mirror on the wall–supplied by parents. Where Snowden dreams of a city upon a hill, worst-writer and perhaps a few others know that the city is rotgut and shit on a shingle controlled by old, white greed mongers and what ever it is they do with their private parts. But, again, before I get too far off subject…

Twenty or so years my younger, but with similar geographic background, I too was reared in the suburban hell of the mid-Atlantic coast and the government, gift-horse bubble of Washington, DC. With that in worst-mind, Snowden’s book has drawn me nearer. Nearer to myself, to my past, to all-things worth forgetting. For don’t you know, dear worst-reader, Snowden has had to deal with a world of trickle down-ness, of meritless but well structured pseudo-hierarchy, a world of blindness caused by fear. Fear due to wanton and misconstrued patriarchy and the ills of really, really, stupid ugly white people that just can’t figure it out for themselves: hey, suckers, you’ve been duped. But I digress.

I mean, obviously, Snowden is a B-genius. I have to give him that. In fact, the only thing missing in his book, Permanent Record, or his story, as far as I’m worst-concerned, is a bit more tech-talk regarding what, actually, either the NSA or the CIA did with all those plans of full and total government ownership of individual privacy. Snowden has given us content but I’m still waiting for context. Wait. Switch that. Flip it. Yeah. It’s the other way ’round. Or? Ok. Snowden revealed something. I guess. Nomatter.

Snowden is a dreamer slash true believer in the fallacy that there is/could be (a) government for the people and by the people–as though, not unlike #MAGA, it is something that was ever actually possible. Ok. Maybe it was possible before it all turned to THE LAND OF FREE TO BE STUPID and the greed shit-show that is the current iteration of #Americant. I’m referring, of course, to way back when, say, when FDR was elected President for four fcuking terms. But then came that warning from Eisenhower after which the right-wing and all those stupid ugly white men and their shit-show of greed got some mojo on. That mojo was Reagan, I suppose. Yeah, the flood gates of STUPID opened in the 1980s. Or am I wrong?

At the least, I’ve always questioned Snowden’s motivation for doing what he did. I mean, what was the point? To inform people about what they should know–inherently? Or has no one been paranoid about the fact, since its invention, a telephone call could be spied upon? Snowden’s generation is most certainly not the first to grow up in the mental spiral of government conspiracy theory, which is just code for people who don’t quite, intellectually, know how to question wanton and ill-gotten authority. I question his motivation even more now considering he writes, rather abruptly, subtly, and almost stealthily on page 257 of chapter READ,WRITE, EXECUTE:

I needed a way to work with the files, search them, and discard the irrelevant and uninteresting, along with those containing legitimate secrets that I wouldn’t be giving to journalists.

I’m sorry. Did you not reveal legitimate secrets? Oh. Wait. They were powerpoint presentations…

For you see, dear worst-reader, although what Snowden revealed is kinda interesting, none of it surprised worst-moi. I worked, although not at a technical level as Snowden did, on a few tech projects with a few tech companies in my day–I even worked, to my regret, for Booz Allen’s commercial consulting business in Europe as an analyst and researcher. The one thing I will always remember is how error-prone to point of failure large scale data collection can be. I mean, come on, dear worst-reader, did any of this tech collecting stuff stop 9-11? What about the Boston bombing, where only after the fact did they know about the bombers communications via cellphones? My point is this: in a greed mongering society that is incapable of differentiating its political and social needs, and when it spends massive amounts of resources to maintain a dream-delusion, it’s no wonder that organisations like the NSA and CIA turn into a monstrous apparatus that has to somehow justify its existence (costs). Now just add a bunch of hyperbolic, paranoid #Americants to the mix all elbowing each other off a small plank barely attached to a sinking ship… Yeah, baby, the greed $hitshow.

Is Snowden just another angry white guy raised by another angry white guy who was also raised by an angry white guy? Snowden’s details about his family heritage dating back to the Revolutionary War, which was/is a great way to start the book, btw, is reason enough to think, well, there’s a lot of anger running through veins. I mean, considering what’s come of that revolutionary war, don’t you know, and how things are all about the rich eating the poor and the poor–especially the middle class poor–just eating up the likes of what a guy like #Trump tells them… OMG! How else could the ineptitude of faux-newZ permeate so much of a society hell-bent on wet t-shirts, reality TV, WWE and now, of course, #Trump, #MAGA, President Stupid!

Don’t get me wrong. I feel for Snowden. I’ve been to Moscow. Great place to visit, btw. St. Petersburg has the fresher air, though. That worst-said, I’m also first hand aware of the suburban hell that reared Snowden. How I laughed and giggled when he writes about Columbia, MD, and the travel to VA for work. I travelled from College Park, MD, to Gaithersburg, MD for a while. After that I commuted from College Park, to Columbia, MD, too. It was all part of trying to finance the lie of university studies–which ended up being an effort in $hit-futility–and eventually lead to my dropping the $hit-show greed game of #Americant for other shores. But. Again. I’m off subject.

Permanent Record is a great read–especially if you’re an ageing Marylander that jumped ship because, well, Maryland, VA, DC, the east coast, the midwest, and the gluttony of all else #Americant is worth disembarking. Other than that, I really enjoyed reading this book. Got a kick out of it, if you will. And I’m glad Snowden wrote it–even if it seems like a bit of stretch to believe that he really penned it all by himself. Still. I’m gonna recommend it. I might even gift it to a few people. For, don’t you know, dear worst-reader, even a fight of futility, skewed from the get-go, might be worth fighting for. What the heck. And before I end this worst-post.

Here are some of the notes/issues/thoughts I had and may or may not have scribbled in the margins of pages, pages, pages, while reading this book:

  • it’s important to know where someone is coming from, you know, as in their politics
  • is Snowden part of a right-wing sub-culture in #Americant that has been indoctrinated into such an extreme anti-liberal (anti-Democrat Party) sentiment from which there is no alternative political point-of-view meaning that there is only one point-of-view
  • this is the result of a pseudo bourgeois class, a delusional false American dream middle class, that has never taken a sincere look at itself for, perhaps, intellectual enlightenment, and so, this class has remained in a state of mental recess, a grey zone of ineptitude–that has children
  • protesting via espionage for citizen rights that are aligned to a document (The Constitution) that was never written for the poor or the downtrodden or even the fcuking spoiled rotten privileged middle-class… yet privacy is the motivator
  • real protestors, worthwhile protests, are/were occupy wall street, Aaron Swartz (who, thankfully, Snowden briefly mentions in chapter Love and Exile, p. 329)
  • liberals have long since proved that they can change their political direction, which is exactly what Bill Clinton did in the 90s by clamouring on to Reagan’s Neo-liberalism and even having the most success with it, aka the tech boom happened on Democrats watch but is Snowden aware of that
  • the problem with Snowden is his politics which he refuses to name but is perhaps obvious: he’s a right-winger reared by right-wingers and he’s oh-so incredibly suburban hell white and and and
  • his girlfriend refers to shooting guns with him (or as a means to ward off stress), see chapter From the diaries of Lindsey Mills
  • the ship at sea analogy: sysadmins are not ship captains, instead they are something akin to ship builders or even sailors and when they squeal they only bring down their ship–not that which made the ship (pick your poison, pick your enemy, pick your…)
  • One should never let the ship builder sail the ship, hence the delusion birthed by the lie of freedom, the lie of inalienable rights, the lie that is The Constitution that was never about we the people but instead we the privileged, we the haters of aristocracy so that we can make our own aristocracy, we the ones, like the French eventually, that should have chopped the fcuking heads of King fcuking George the 3rd and and and–instead of giving us pseudo king George the 3rd coloured like a fcuking orang-utan and is now President Stupid leader of all stupid people

Good luck suckers.

Rant on.

-T

October Reading List And Missing Eyewear Nose Bridge

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

october 2019 reading list

Superfluous post indeed, dear worst-reader. Begs only the question: what to do, what to do, what to do… in this consume-to-survive world of nothingness galore? Then again, at least I can still read. You know, read, as in, read something to expand the/my mind. It is, must be, a requirement in these days of Marvel movie trauma, don’t you know–although I do dig that scene in Avengers Endgame where Captain Marvel finally appears and has a quick pow-wow with Peter Parker as an apocalypse rages around them.

Scene: Captain Marvel destroys huge alien ship that is reeking ballistic havoc on the Endgame battle field. As the ship crashes to the ground Captain Marvel lands with a thud in front of a distraught Peter Parker as he’s struggling to protect the infinity stones. Captain Marvel is standing above Parker, who is in a ditch cradling the infinity stone glove like a baby.

Peter: Hi. (Odd, quick pause.) I’m… (Another odd quick pause.) Peter. Parker.

Captain Marvel: (Cute grin on her face as she sports a new hair style contrasting previous appearances.) Hey. Peter Parker. You got something for me?

The cadence and tone of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) is mesmerising–to me. At that moment in the film I wish Captain Marvel was two scoops of gelato, chocolate and pistachio, atop a butter crusted cone. But enough about worst-moi.

You know the thing that really gets me about my October reading list to help me get over Brie Larson? Check out the cover of Snowden’s book. What the heck is going on with his glasses? Who the hell wears glasses with a nose pad missing on one side of the bridge? What? Can’t see it? Well, I see it. And it’s driving me crazy.

Rant (and read) on.

-T

How Terrible Cinema Can Save The World Or Maybe Not

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

snowden poster

Finally broke down, dear worst-reader. I splurged the 4,99-€ to rent Snowden last night. Do I regret it? In German the answer is: Jein. It’s a cross between ja (yes) and nein (no). I suppose the more significant question is: would I do it again–as in maybe even buy this movie so that I can play it when I want, how I want, if I want? F’n no! Luckily there’s not much to say about the movie other than… Well, it sucked. In that vein…

During the movie my better half was sick of me turning to her and sticking a finger down my throat. Barf! Especially the various lovey-dovey scenes between Snowden and his pole dancing girlfriend. My guess is Oliver Stone doesn’t really care at this point if his dialogue sucks. He obviously thinks there is a bigger story to be told. Yes, indeed, he thinks that.

I did perk up a few times, though. The scene where the NSA guy lies in front of Congress was pretty good. I even cracked a joke about how the NSA can lie to Congress and get away with it but when Clinton lied about a White House back room blowjob… Then there was the scene where Glenn Greenwald gets pissed at The Guardian and he threatens to go rogue. In fact, during this scene I paused the movie to explain to those watching what really happened–which is a mystery to me why Stone didn’t put this in the movie.

Glenn Greenwald did leave The Guardian and with the help of a mega-rich dotcom funder started the most expensive blog in history: The Intercept. As I’ve posted here, my biggest gripe with the whole Snowden ordeal is the fact that people like Greenwald, to this day, are sitting on all the data. It’s fine if Snowden thinks he was being strategic by giving his data to “responsible” journalists and that they should decide what/when to publish. I just disagree with having to leave it up to profiteering journalists to make that judgement. But I digress.

All in all, this film is horrible. The cinematography sucks. The editing sucks. The screenplay sucks. Etc., etc. Also. I learned nothing new about Snowden–which is the main reason I decided to watch it. Questions are still un-answered and/or un-addressed that I think are important and would have helped people better understand what is really going on with not only Edward Snowden but the entire US government apparatus that reared him. For example:

  • How did Snowden get on that flight to Moscow from Hong Kong? I mean, who let him on that flight? If THEY wouldn’t let him board a plane to South American, how was he able to get to Russia? If the people that were with him in Hong Kong arranged his flight, why wasn’t that in the film?
  • Why is it that The Guardian no longer publishes any of the material that it shared wth Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill?  Is The Intercept the sole publisher of the Snowden material now? Where is the rest of that material?
  • Where does Snowden come from? What are his beliefs? Considering the batshittery of #americant politics these days, I think it’s very important to know what these batshitters think, how they were raised, where they come from. For instance. Who is Edward Snowden’s father? I recall a few times in the news, early on, Snowden’s father was featured in reports with words like “libertarianism” and “freedom”. These words are thrown around like badmintion birdies at a drunk family picnic–especially when used by tea-party families. Again: Batshit radical right wing #americant is what got us into the mess we’re in. The scariest thing about Snowden is NOT is data-dump but how he thinks. The way he throws around the word Constitution, as though it’s a veil of sorts, is also a redflag. Indeed. The country is in quagmire of irrational exuberant misplaced patriotism, rightousness and all that jazz. A Mess. Mess. Mess.
  • The demonising of the CIA and the NSA, as Stone does it, is probably warranted but unnecessary for this story. I’m a big fan of Oliver Stone. I consider him a teacher. The way Stone portrays them here, though, is nothing more than opening a can of worms and then leaving the rest of us to sort it out. What a drag.

I could go on but I’ll leave it at that.

Good luck suckers.

Rant on.

-t

Long Past The Point Of No Return Because The Snow(den)ball Is Long Gone, Melted And Absent of Doctor Strangelove

~ Tom ~ 2 Comments

doctor-strangelove-will-take-us-there

Finally, dear worst-reader, I’ve found something out there on the interwebnets that I can relate to–especially regarding the batsh*ttery of the cult of Edward Snowden. As I’ve worst-written here, I’m not a big fan of Snowden. In short, I question whether or not this so-called whistle blower is all he’s cracked up to be. Also, my biggest gripe about Snowden is, regarding his hack of information, he has really only showed us the how and not the what regarding our masters of empire. With that in mind, I’d rather there be an Edward Snowden than there not be one.

Luckily there is a real writer out there that addresses the Snowden cult along the lines of what I’m unable to articulate. Hopefully the link below will work for a while but if it doesn’t–on account of all the greed mongering going on with how “news” should be on the interwebnets (or not)–let me sum it up.

Malcolm Gladwell writes about how Danielle Ellsberg and Hollywood great John Cusack visit Edward Snowden in a fancy Moscow hotel. Gladwell writes all his brilliant intellectualisations (I mean, he’s really good at that) and then concludes that whistler-blower version 2.0 (Snowden) probably should NOT be in the same hotel room as whistle blower 1.0 (Ellsberg). Really? The real kicker that Gladwell writes is at the end of his report:

screen-shot-2017-01-13-at-17-01-58
Above is a screenshot from Gladwell’s article at newyorker.com (see link below for original source).

The fact that Edward Snowden is unaware of the movie Dr. Strangelove says a great deal about what type of person he is. That’s not to say that he’s less of a person. But Stanley Kubrik’s masterpiece that literally picks apart the American mentality of military, huuuuuuuge government (no matter what faux newz tries to sell you) and anti-intellectualism, is a work of art that should be taught in public schools. Indeed. The world would probably be a better place for it.

Here’s a link to the original article. See it while you still can:

Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, and the Modern Whistle-Blower | Malcom Gladwell newyorker.com

Rant on.

-t

Saga Puke Of #Americant Dumbed Voices Continues, But I'll See The Film Anyway Eventually

~ Tom

Scream no fear all worst

Sometimes I (worst)wonder about the voice(s) that raised me. Obviously I didn’t listen much to them, yet they somehow were able to embed in the depths of the 90% brain that’s used so little. Have the 20+ yrs in #Eurowasteland brought about those distant voices? Has the trauma of expatriate-ism dis-embedded those voices? Not sure. But every time I spend a thought or three on Edward Snowden, I can’t help but think of the influencing voices that make up who and what we all are.

Who raised you, mother f*cker?

I’m looking forward to seeing Oliver Stone’s new movie about Snowden. Of course, due to the greed pricing of corporatists who rule digital downloads–or theatrical premiers–it’ll most likely take me six or so months before I get to the movie–via iTunes or reduced-price DVD–which I rip to my digital movie library–end thought.

So I guess, in a way, there’s no need in reading or watching clips of the #Snowden movi– even though I like the way Stone disses on his (beloved) country all the time.

With that in mind, along with all the other worst-posts I’ve published about Snowden, I still have one question that I need answered about who and what this guy is (all about)…

What are the voices that raised, reared, made him?

I’ll bet you my last dollar-bill that he was raised (i.e. the voices that spoke too loudly to him directly after his birth) by the bat-shittery-machine that has kept the GOP and the republican party and conservatives running the greed show that is #Americant. I’ll bet anyone that his father is a republican or one of those coward “libertarians” who used to be a republican, his mother is a faux-newz die-hard nutbag, his aunts and uncles are all the nightmares that thinking people the world over dream about during their Thanksgiving dinner sleep-overs and wake up in the middle of the night not from over-eating but from too much bullsh*t that is the dumbed-down of a fail-upward nation.

Of course, criticising Snowden while many in the world are trying to turn him into a hero or, at best, a new & improved Daniel Ellsberg, probably means that I have to have a bit more substance to what I’m saying. But then again, if I had substance then I wouldn’t be publishing on this krappy blog, now would I?

Nomatter.

It’s ok that Snowden did what he did. I don’t even care that there are people out there trying to turn him into a hero. I mean, it’s perfectly fine that he released to the world stolen material that, ultimately, is about the HOW and not the WHAT regarding government over-reach. The thing is, I worked (many years ago) for the same company where Snowden was a contractor. And get this!

There is no doubt in my mind that if/when a sensitive young man, reared by the evil lust voices of #Americant political ideology post Cold War, is forced to confront the personalities that work at a shit-hole that is a company like Booz Allen (or any company that works so close to such an ideological government apparatus), it is only inevitable that s/he at some point breaks down. In this case, Snowden’s break-down manifested in self aggrandisement and atypical #Americant delusions of grandeur.

Or maybe not.

Good luck suckers.

Rant on.

-t

The Thing Missing In A World Of Red

~ Tom
world of red
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Countries_implicated_in_the_Panama_Papers.svg

Update: I guess I stand corrected. Since posting things have changed in the map. But I reckon I’ll just leave the original map–for posterity. Link that motivated this update:

Americans implicated in Panama Papers | The Guardian

I’m perturbed as usual, dear worst-reader. Once again my expectations are overwhelmed by the rampant dispersal of new fangled heroes in the form of journalistic endowment and leaks, leaks, leaks. I’m not worst-writing about war-mongering heroes here, of course. No. These heroes are something different. They are the ones who supposedly watch over the gates of information and thereby allow the minions of this world to not be overwhelmed by that information. Which brings me to the question: what would happen if aliens actually came to earth? Do you think the gate-watchers of our earthly atmosphere, i.e. those in the perfect position to detect such a visit, would actually entrust us (minions) with the reality that life exists elsewhere in the universe? I mean. Come on. Basic knowledge of the physical universe states: in order for life to exist there has to be energy. Where there’s energy, especially the kind you can get rich off of, the powers-that-be of the minions of this earth, won’t readily pass up a chance to earn a few bucks just by letting us all know that these visiting aliens come in peace. Hell no! First and foremost the powers-that-be will make sure that before we know about aliens the few and far between rich folk get their deserved crack at the money pot. I suppose it’s a good thing that we live in a period of earth history where aliens, even if they were able to make it here, would have the capacity to see through humanity’s measly existence and would then simply fly-by knowing/learning: they aren’t ready yet.

Which brings me to leaks and the colour red, as in: check out the map above. Two things stand out from the map.

  1. It’s got a lot of red in it that indicates where most of the greed-mongers are that have been implicated in the Panama Papers leak. And:
  2. The US ain’t red!

Of course, let’s not forget in these times of ever-more leaks and Orwellian governments that, although this one is a data-doozy–2.6TB to be exact–it is being released to us via news channels that we must trust as much as we trust Big Brother. Which makes worst-writer ask the following question: Why does there need to be an intermediary with these leaks? Why is it that some anonymous do-gooder in this world has to first contact a journalist and then that journalist has to scrutinise the info in the leak before releasing it? In this case, btw, hundreds of journalist were involved in scrutinising the leaks and all of them are connected to a journalist organisation in Washington DC. I really don’t get that. Isn’t there a way to get these leaks out to us raw?

As corrupt as Julian Assange may or may not be (held up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London), I’ve yet to be given any indication that the idea of simply releasing these leaks to the public via the Interwebnets is a bad idea. Is scrutiny by intermediaries needed to protect the innocent? Fuck the innocent! Perhaps Wikileaks isn’t even the best example of a system that could/should avoid an intermediary. Wasn’t that Wikileaks original intention? But then the website got so big, so popular, there are obviously so many anonymous leakers in the world. Wow.

Obviously Wikileaks also somehow scrutinises the information it gets. And I guess that’s ok. It’s just that, with the Panama Papers, not unlike the Snowden leak–which went through a guy who, because of the leak, was able to suddenly become his own news media organisation–the whole thing oozes worst-writer skepticism. Or are we worst-writing about conspiracy-theory here? Or didn’t you know that the CIA created Wikileaks? The NSA just pissed off Snowden by not giving him the corpo world (at such a young age) and he went rogue but the NSA knew the whole time that he was releasing information that contained no real data–just power-point presentations and new ideas for code words. And what about the idear that Russia’s oh-so-loved two-bit dictator, Putin, has been working all these years because of his love for mother Russia–and not to pocket a buck or three? Come on. Oh! Wait. Now they’ve even got a politician from Iceland by the balls. And what about that big-shot, billion dollar earning soccer player that’s been found out? Oh yeah. Money laundering, offshore accounts is new. Hashtag: how stupid do we have to be to fall for this krapp?

Look. I’m not trying to be downer about everything here. It’s just that things like this feel as though they are connected to something bigger, something like a puppeteer. And that puppeteer is obviously dancing around with the idear that money or taxation are noble endeavours? Just like Snowden’s leak, I can’t help but ask the question: are we really learning stuff here that couldn’t already be known if there was the will of knowledge and truth in our world? Oh. Forget it. What am I saying? Let’s wait for the aliens to come out of the goodness of their hearts.

Rant on. And. Good luck suckers.

-Tommi

Links that motivated this post:

This vs That And Something Above The Snowball(den) Effect

~ Tom

As usual, dear worst-reader, worst-writer is shocked. (But I’m not surprised.) I’m shocked that #americants once again just don’t get it. I mean, come on. Do you really believe that Blackberry died such a tragic death because the Canadians are so bad at managing a corporation? Or could the whole demise of Blackberry have something to do with the fact that it lost its edge in security? Ok. Ok. I have absolutely nothing to substantiate a claim that Blackberry went under because it lost-out on the secure-phone game. But I can say this: the fact that Apple has to answer to the US government because it made products that are secure enough to prevent a multi-billion-dollar funded security apparatus from cracking customer passwords…. Yeah. ‘Nough said. With that in mind, let’s do a worst-writer run-down of what’s happened here so far.

  1. Yet another horrific murder spree takes place in San Bernardino, CA, USA. This murder spree is different than any other murder spree because, well, it was committed by… (wait for it) “terrorists”.
  2. One of the murderers possesses an iPhone, which, btw, was issued by his US employer.
  3. After the murder spree and during the subsequent criminal investigation of it, it’s determined that the culprit shut off the auto back up settings of his US employer issued iPhone.
  4. When the US authorities discovered that a few days of backups were missing they decided that they needed that information in order to further their investigation.
  5. The US authorities, via court order, requested that Apple provide a means to crack the security settings of their iPhones. In other words, Apple has to rewrite its iPhone operating system so that US investigators can attempt to re-install the new operating system on the phone they want to crack. If that works, then US investigators will attempt to “brute force” cracking the iPhone and its user’s access password.
  6. Brute-forcing a password means nothing more than being able to submit millions upon millions of password inputs on the phone. Preventing multiple inputs of passwords is the fundamental means of securing the device.

Ok. I’ll stop there. But if you get a chance to see the video I’ve linked to in this post (see above), heed this: the entire conversation about this issue is wrong. The fact that Apple’s security methodology is being discussed means nothing more than the US has failed after it has invested multiple trillions of taxpayer dollars into a system that was unable to do anything about… the Boston bombing, 9/11, London, Madrid, Paris…

Once again, #americant and the automatons that are part of its hugely expanded government protection apparatus have failed. But then again, failing upwards is winning. And so. While failing all one has to do is tap into the ingenuity of corporatist that don’t fail (as much) and all that taxpayer waste will be fine. Or maybe not. Good luck suckers. And…

Rant on. -Tommi

Madness Says You're Welcome

~ Tom

the madness gun

Two worst-news issues this morn, dear worst-reader: gun control and privacy. What do these two issues have in common? Well, my guess is… Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Or? While reading through the hysteria that is the byproduct of madness on a scale never before seen, I couldn’t help but find some irony in these two stories. With that in mind. Let’s go there, shall we. § First. President Barry O asked the “media” to talk about America’s gun problem. Thankfully the media reacted. The graphs and charts are kinda mind-boggling. Of course the only thing I get out of them all is the WOW factor. Wow, I had no idear that so many people were killed by so many different methods. There’s car crashes. Doctor malpractice. Breast cancer. Suicide. And then there’s the best method of all: terrorism. Of course, it need not be mentioned that Barry O kinda opened the flood gates on that one. I mean, the US is spending trillions on fighting terrorists. In that fight we have so far slaughtered millions. How then can anyone expect the US to spend money on fighting the rampant gun deaths at home? It just doesn’t make any sense. Yet Obama’s recent call to “talk” about the gun problem might pay off. But to what end? Remember, dear worst-reader, it’s not so much the gun lobby (NRA) as much as it is years and years of conservative and batshit politicking that has brought the country to the brink. I mean. Come on. What is supposed to happen when a Democrat president calls for action on guns? I refer you to the supreme court case District of Columbia v. Heller. This case basically guarantees gun ownership under the 2nd Amendment—even though the amendment was written during times of muskets and includes “provisioner writ” regarding a well organised militia. The supreme court ruling also guarantees that you can own any gun you want–even really, really, really big and fast guns. So, again, what is supposed to happen when the president calls on the media to show a country of morons that…. shit happens? Oh yeah, we get to see graphs and charts and numbers. Of course, let there be no discourse regarding the demise of a country’s infrastructure—and I’m not referring to roads and bridges—where psychopaths, who obviously belong in psychiatric care, are instead faced with making pharmaceutical companies huge profits and then living in basements where it’s gun playtime. Obviously some form of gun control is on its way. But how that’s gonna happen with the current supreme court is a mystery to me. Keep in mind, the only supremes up for retirement are liberal ones. If people are serious about gun control then partaking in who nominates and approves of supremes should also be considered. It’ll be a long, arduous road, indeed. § Nomatter. § Let’s move on to European privacy, shall we. But before we do that, let’s set the mood. Say it thus: privasee. That’s how the British say it. Go ahead a repeat it a few times. Feels good coming off the tongue, don’t it? § What’s interesting about privasee and the recent EU ruling protecting it is how it relates to Edward Snowden. Without Snowden’s leaks the EU would have let all this slide, i.e. the moving and collection of private data from the EU to the US. Although I’m a skeptic regarding Snowden–that is, I just don’t think the info he released is very interesting because it’s more about the How and not the What regarding US spying–it seems as though the after-effect of what he’s done is starting to shine—at least in Europe. Europeans are really pissed off at the US about spying. It’s almost as though every frickin’ European has forgotten about the cold war (which spying helped to end) but still remembers the devastation of the great war (WWI+II) where they really learned how to spy on each other. Remember, Europe pretty much gave humanity industrialisation and with it the lust/need of espionage. Because Europe’s antiquated privasee laws are much stricter than in the US it’s only natural that Europeans react in this manner. Or? I suppose it doesn’t hurt matters very much that every European country has its own IP domain (e.g. .de, .es, .fr, .uk, etc.). Why doesn’t the US differentiate its states in this manner? Without using stealth proxies or any other IP trickery, digital content from Belgium or Spain can be easily traced but only within the parameters of EU law. I’m sure that plays a role whether or not US tech companies maintain EU data in the US. But in the end that doesn’t really matter because, well, the EU is just pissed off at the fact that US companies think they can horde everything and, when asked, turn it all over to the government. And that’s all fine and good. But it leads to a question. § “But, dear worst-writer, what does EU privasee law have to do with US gun law?” Well, like I alluded to above, probably nothing. On the other hand, I’ve been more interested in learning about Edward Snowden’s motivations more than anything else. I’m also curious as to why so little information is given to us about who these “mass shooters” really are–and who the hell is Edward Snowden? Is there information out there that someone or some entity doesn’t want to be public? Who are these people? Where do they really come from? What drugs are making them extra crazy? Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to cloud or discredit the issues here (privacy and gun control). But I do recall an interview with Snowden’s father that revealed an atypical mindset of these times, that of a government hating, gun totting, Amurikan. Yes. Indeed. The riff-raff wannabes are all having their time in the limelight. Some of them murder, other’s find refuge in Russia. Either way, the place many others call home continues to spiral into a frenzy of madness. § Good luck suckers. Rant on. -tommi

Links that motivated this post:

The What And Not The How

~ Tom

snowden ball effect.png

No. Seriously. Here’s a question for ya, which is also kinda paraphrasing (the fabulous) Ronda Rousey: In an all-out, open fight, I bet Hillary Clinton would kick Edward Snowdens ass.

Well, dear worst-reader, there you have it. The big Ed, the Snow(ball)den, has come out to tell us–us measly muggle-born non-techies–that what Hillary did with her private email server was dangerous. Really? But hold on a sec. Before I get to the tech/server krapp allow me this brief aside. How, for the love of integrity, does this guy live with himself? An American living in criminal exile in Russia, a country that is basically ruled by a two-bit dictator, and the audience who he is trying to appeal to is supposed to listen to him? What? Oh. I’m wrong? You say he’s in political exile? Oh. You mean in Russia? Ok. Whatever. Still. I do not know… but am somehow curious as to how he does it. And not only how he lives with himself but what’s with those glasses? Is it me or is a nose pad missing from those glasses? (Go ‘head, google nose pad and snowden.) I mean. That’s weird. Is this guy kinda weird? Nomatter.

Opportunity abounds in this world, dear worst-reader. And if you want to get ahead in it, you’d better find your opportunity. (Btw, in #americant, opportunity is a commodity so make sure you can afford it!) I mean, we all must take what we can get, eh. Kentucky marriage licensers do it. Former military generals of Empire do it. Heck, we now have the first candidate in our history running for president who is at the same time under federal indictment. This is America, baby–even though Mr. Snowden can’t live in it. And. If the third world won’t come up to our level, than we’ll damn sure go down to theirs. The banana republic of #americant! And you can also be sure of this: while becoming a 3rd world country, at least America’s trim will be in gold–not unlike the trim The Donald has on his tacky aircraft, tacky cars, tacky penis and wife’s… tacky personality. (Hey, bet you thought I was gonna worst-write somethin’ else there, eh.) But all worst-kidding aside.

Let’s get one thing straight when it comes to this email scandal, Hillary and a criminal locked in Russia who thinks it (i.e. Hillary) is dangerous. First. A brief history lesson. What would you have done if you found out that your husband’s womanising could be proven because of not just a stain on a blue dress but also because of illegally tapped phone line that was given to a biased, sexually repressed, (non)independent (grand jury) counsel? Would you be suspicious about using email–which is essentially no different than making a phone call? Would you do what you could do to protect your phone call, I mean emails–within the boundaries of the law? Btw. There is a way to make email secure. It’s not that hard. But that entails a slightly higher level of tech know-how. I could secure my emails if I wanted to. And there was never chance in hell that I could get a job at the state department. But then again, I did work for the same company Snowden worked for. Hey! Stop that! This ain’t about me.

Here a few questions you might consider while swimming around in the boiling anger you feel for Hillary–because you’ve fallen for the villainization of “liberals” since Limbaugh & Co. got into your head. And be careful. Some of this stuff requires cognition.

  • What server did she use?
  • What hardware did her server run on?
  • Who had administrative privileges to that server?
  • Who had her email address?
  • How did she distribute that email address?
  • In voluntarily turning it over to federal authorities, if it was encrypted, did she decrypt it before turning it over or did she give the authorities her encryption keys?

My point of these question is that we don’t know anything about what Hillary actually did with her emails or her server. Knowing that stuff should be part of judging whether she is/was a danger, or? Well, I guess it shouldn’t if you’re simply boiling over with hate. Instead all we have is a government agency (Justice Dept. and FBI?) combing through all her emails and then releasing certain amounts of them periodically. That said. Here is what we do know when it comes to national security breaches. As mentioned above, a major military general was prosecuted for illegally providing his lover with classified information. We also know that the US government was recently hacked and thousands upon thousands of personal, government employee information (including information of people who were only applying for work) was made public. This scandal alone proves that the US government is spending too much on guns and not enough on technology. In fact, the government cannot know how many emails are floating around with government information. So the last question is, if you don’t trust Hillary (because you hate her so much), what has she actually done wrong? She most certainly hasn’t broken any laws.

What bothers me about this so-called scandal is that it stinks of the same tactics used by the sexually repressed republicans to bring down Bill Clinton in the 90s. And here’s a prediction for you: if Hillary does get elected, there’ll be another sexually repressed republican appointed as general counsel to investigate whether or not she lies about a personal transgression that has nothing to do with running the greatest failed-upward nation-state experiment in human history. I hope she’s  more teflon than Bill.

And one last thought. I’m still waiting for the Snowden leaks, that are conveniently being distributed piece by piece by a profiteering entity, to show me the what and not the how of government spying on its citizenry. Which means that there is something disingenuous about  Snowden appearing along side Daniel Ellsberg. You see, Ellsberg, when he released secret documents to the public, revealed what our government was doing that was illegal during the Vietnam war. But I digress.

Rant on. -Tommi

Links:

Revealing The Revealed

~ Tom

Still waiting, dear worst-reader. Waiting for that moment when it’s revealed that the Snowden leaks have revealed something. Wait–wait. I know–I know. You/Most think the leaks were worth it–even though those leaks are under lock & key by a few money grubbing opportunists. And the reason most people think the leaks were worth it is simple. Everyone needs a boogyman where it can lay blame. And the perfect boogyman is the behemoth, bloated US government. Eh? And that’s ok. If that’s what you want to do–it’s not as though I would defend the behemoth, bloated US government. But this is the (insert # here) time I’ve seen an interview with Edward Snowden and it still hasn’t been revealed (to me) if what he’s revealed contains any significant revealings regarding what exactly the evil behemoth, bloated US government does with its vast spying apparatus. I suppose in the vid above, at about 6:20, something is revealed by the Snowden leaks but that was more like a redacting error and ultimately just embarrassing for the newspaper that printed it. So I ask again, almost like I do here and here, other than us now knowing how the US government spies on countries, national leaders and–thanks to the ingenuity of satirical television–Americans and their #dicpics, what has come from the rigamarole-circus of Edward Snowden? I mean. Seriously! The US spies. Other countries spy. Wives spy on husbands. Neighbours spy. School kids spy. Ok. And now what? Oh. Yeah. There’s television. ¶So I guess John Oliver’s little skit was worth it. For a few moments in the vid I felt pretty uncomfortable watching Snowden’s reactions–which seemed pretty normal for any prude, young, sexually repressed American. But Oliver didn’t take the interview far enough, he didn’t grill this young opportunist enough–because Oliver knows what sells in America ain’t truth and reality. No. What sells in America are penis jokes. And so. The questions that I need answered in order to make the Snowden leaks worthwhile are simple: Who are the people responsible for any illegal, unconstitutional spying? Where is all the illegally acquired data and who controls it? Where is the proof that Google & Co. have cooperated with or were coerced into illegal information gathering of US citizens and who exactly made them do it? Is there any substantial evidence–I mean other than poorly written powerpoint presentations that summarise spying techniques–that shows the US government has broken any laws? ¶Again. I’m not defending the behemoth, bloated US government here. I’m also avidly against the passing of the Patriot Act and think it was even worse than the illegal invasion of Iraq. In fact, repealing the Patriot Act is one thing that would partly restore my faith in the US government. Yet I can’t help but feel that the Snowden leaks will go down in history as the leaks that told us nothing–because I already knew that the US government spies. Didn’t you? But I digress. Rant on. -Tommi

Links:

Dicpics | Huffpost

The Soap Opera

~ Tom
Crying Girl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crying_Girl

Maybe it’s getting to be too much, dear worst-reader. I really thought I could breeze through this little (personal) experiment without any damage. If so many others can do it, I thought, so can I. Or? Binge-viewing TV though isn’t turning out to be what I thought (it would be). But it is better than that binge-drinking experiment I tried so many years ago. Perhaps the reason for that is the TV day-time soap opera repackaged as a night-time pop TV series Mad Men. Is it starting to clog my mind? Or is it mixing well with what I find? Or is it the other way-round-round? Although I’m trying to keep it to no more than two shows a day, I’ve been at this experiment for about six weeks now and I just finished the fourth season. I know. Don’t bother with the math. Even when there are days I don’t watch it, it seems as though I did watch it. Wait. Am I preoccupied? Is my binge where I am? Or maybe it’s not that it’s there but instead it’s everywhere–the mentality that is the Soap Opera. Oh my. For worst-moi this is indeed binge-viewing–and I think I might be drunk on it. Or lost. Nomatter. The damage has been done. I mean, you know that things aren’t going well when you start associating other things like articles read on the Interwebnets that are supposed to be about real-life politics with what you saw an hour ago on a TV show. Which brings me to the article linked below. It seems that The Intercept/Greenwald has decided to merge with the centre of my binge-viewing confusion. And something tells me this (mis)merging isn’t my fault. That is. While reading the below linked article I couldn’t help but think about the re-invention (for millennial viewers) of the television soap opera. Seriously. The new & improved soap opera. For a whole culture of new viewers. And this is all that The Intercept/Greenwald has to offer? Oh wait. It has all the stolen documents by Edward Snowden–and I’m still waiting for something significant to come out of what the dream team of Snowden/Greenwald has sold the world. Until then–AS THE WORLD TURNS–I guess we wait and languish in our/the (soap opera) confusion. That said, this recent article by Greenwald is a real hum-dinger. And it’s no wonder that one (who is bingeing on Mad Men) could compare it to a TV soap. And so. Did you know, dear worst-reader, according to Greenwald/The Intercept that #americant is now angry with #germania because the one (or the other) is gawking at another’s wife? Wait. There’s more. Angela Merkel is having the illegitimate baby of a Venezuelan oil oligarch named Montoya de Schluckmann who was born in Illinois but migrated to Köln-Deutz via a love affair with a US Diplomat after a Bayer-Leverkusen executive, who was a spy for the NSA, died from an overdose of Tylenol given to him by Putin. And get this. President Obama has finally come out of the closet and declared a national day of mourning over the death of John Kerry’s love child that could have been the hope-chest of political relations between Berlin and Washington and a small island that was the inspiration for its name: Diego Garcia. Oh. And let’s not forget the new fangled conspiracy that was hatched recently between the UK and a bunch of drag queens in Brazil that would enable the mass media to ride with a scandalous news story where it would be revealed that the US government is in the business of spying on the (whole) world because a simpleton, misguided by his fail-upward parents, thought it cute to reveal all those silly power-points whereby telling us, again!, that the US government spies. Full stop (of the silliness). I guess. I can’t wait for the day when Greenwald/The Intercept does something more than just hosting a two-hundred-fifty million dollar wordpress website. Come on Greenwald. Give us something to run with. Finally. Please. Or maybe not. Rant on. -Tommi

When Dan Draper Meets His Girlfriend’s Boyfriend’s Husband After Giving Birth To Another Bastard Child He Loves Dearly* | The Intercept

*The real title of the article is: “US THREATENED GERMANY OVER SNOWDEN, VICE CHANCELLOR SAYS”, and maybe that’s even better than my above re-interpretation. Yeah, baby.

The Disingenuity

~ Tom
chickenhawk
A cartoon of a chickenhawk squawking to a listening audience.

Have to go serious cynical this morn, dear worst-reader. Here it goes. While watching the below linked interview on Democracy Now, about half-way through it, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of disingenuity. Amy Goodman was interviewing a so-called whistleblower named John Kiriakou and for the first time, after years of watching her, I actually thought that Amy was having the wool pulled over her eyes. In fact, the disingenuity was becoming so intense I wanted to reach out and try to save Amy. Say what you will about journalists these days. They are, for the most part, nothing but scum-corporatists. Yet, in my view, Amy holds a special position among the pack of broadcast squawks because she is probably one of the only remaining old school journalists with a legitimate venue. Her sincerity is rock solid, she oozes do-goodness, and if I had to bet on anyone never telling a lie, I’d bet on Amy. (Ok, I might bet on Bill Moyers, too.) And that’s saying a lot in the wake of Brian Williams–who represents the epitome of what corporate journalism is today. So if I had to criticise Amy I would do it this way: in her heart she is a young girl that refuses to wake up to the realities of this world and so she rides what’s left of the dying wave of beautiful naive integrity and I look forward to listening to her everyday. So it goes without saying, she would never knowingly misguide her audience–which cannot be said of CNN, faux newz, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. And that makes me kinda sad because, allow me to repeat: Amy has had the wool pulled over her eyes. For the first time I think she’s given us a really, really bad interview because she is unable to see through the lie that is her interviewee.

Let’s begin with what I consider the most important part of the interview (bold text and links are from me).

AMY GOODMAN: What are your thoughts today on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden? What would you advise him?

JOHN KIRIAKOU: I think Ed Snowden is a national hero. I think Ed Snowden gave us information on government illegality that we otherwise would never have had. I regret that the federal government has revoked his passport and has caused him to be stuck in Russia, but I think that he did a very courageous thing. I’m not sure I would have released all of the information that he released, because, in some cases, I want NSA to be spying on foreign governments and foreign leaders. That’s what NSA does; that’s what they’re supposed to do. I want the U.S. government to have a leg up, for example, in trade negotiations or defense contracting or whatever it is. But in terms of the illegality that Ed Snowden revealed, I think he did a great national service.

AMY GOODMAN: In 2013, Edward Snowden commented on the Obama administration’s treatment of whistleblowers who preceded him. He said, quote, “Binney, Drake, Kiriakou, and Manning are all examples of how overly-harsh responses to public-interest whistle-blowing only escalate the scale, scope, and skill involved in future disclosures. Citizens with a conscience are not going to ignore wrong-doing simply because they’ll be destroyed for it: the conscience forbids it. Instead, these draconian responses simply build better whistleblowers. If the Obama administration responds with an even harsher hand against me, they can be assured that they’ll soon find themselves facing an equally harsh public response.” Again, those the words of Ed Snowden. Do you think Edward Snowden should come back to the United States, John Kiriakou?

JOHN KIRIAKOU: I do not, not under any circumstances. And I’ve said that both publicly and privately to him in a letter. I do not believe that he will get a fair trial in the United States, especially in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he’s being charged or where he has been charged. I think the deck is stacked against him, as it is against any whistleblower, and if the government has its way, Ed Snowden will never see the light of day.

I suggest watching the entire interview. And I’m sure most won’t get the feeling of disingenuity like I got. But the thing is this: I do not believe a word John Kiriakou is saying. Where Amy oozes truth and sincerity, the other guy oozes and oozes the exact vulgar and slimy opposite. Is that because he is, obviously, a corporatist? Is it because he worked for the CIA–where the word intelligence means the opposite of what it is supposed to mean? Ok. Ok. I’m probably over doing it here. But listening to this man talk just gives me the creeps. And that’s not all. The creeps this guy gives off is just like the creeps I get from another guy. That’s right. You guessed it, dear worst-reader. John Kiriakou is the same creep that Edward Snowden is. Or am I the only one that gets this feeling when ever people like this open their mouths? (Oh no, am I projecting?) But I suppose none of that matters because, (sarcasm on) Edward Snowden is a hero.

As I’ve tried to worst-write here and maybe here, the book will remain forever open regarding the sincerity of people like Edward Snowden. For starters, I’m still waiting for anything significant to come from his leaks. All I’ve heard from those leaks so far pertains only to the fact that the US Govt. spies. What has come from that spying is not revealed. And so. There were a few people in the right place at the right time, who also understand the workings of making money off of confusion, and they supplanted a new conspiracy in the minds of the masses that is already drunk on conspiracy. Seriously. Is it a surprise to you that the US Govt. is spying on other countries, people and the Interwebnets? Is that new? If you didn’t know already, here’s bit of novelty for you. The Interwebnets is mostly just an extension of telephony, i.e. mass communication that goes back to the telegraph and maybe even the pony-express. With that reality in mind, is it really a surprise that the US is spying? If, on the other hand, Snowden would have released a transcript of Angela Merkel calling Osama Bin Laden and talking to him about moving Al-Qaeda to Leipzig, then, maybe, I’d say that Snowden provided us some significant info. Instead. He reveals to us the NSA has a program called PRISM. He also reveals the NSA has captured every SMS sent in the past x number of years. Oh. And let’s not forget the big news he gave us. Did you know that the US government can read your phone records without a warrant?

But I digress.

Or maybe not.

As far as I can tell, there has been only one significant release of unauthorised information that has come out of this fake war on terror that we all are required to live in. That information was delivered to us by a guy who wants to be woman and s/he is serving 35 years in military prison, Chelsea Manning. As far as the other whistleblowers go (focusing on Snowden and Kiriakou), it seems that they are only part of the how and not the what regarding spying. And if that’s the case, if these people are less significant than the media has made them, who the fuck are they then? I’ll tell you who they are. These two men are nothing more than pissed off corporatists who, like the rest of the children in the sandbox where they play, are throwing a tantrum. These people–and this is what oozes out of Kiriakou in Amy Goodman’s interview (and the same oozes out of Snowden in interviews)–are the children raised by a privileged fail-upwards society. Their parents instilled in them an anti-social behaviour that borderlines on the psychotic–and there are multi-millions of them (most of which get all their information about the world thru the likes of faux news, i.e. these people are clueless to original thought). And let’s not forget that the society that has reared these men is two handed. On the one hand, you can see and hear their craziness in the whacky conspiracy-theory world propagated by the likes of Alex Jones. On the other hand, there’s the whacky world of libertarianism and Ayn Rand-ism–just listen to the sophomoric minds of politicians like Paul Ryan. Indeed, dear worst-reader. We live in a world of weak minds and even weaker intellects which are all so easily preyed upon.

Link: Democracy Now

Good luck.

Rant on.

-Tommi

Prediction #789

~ Tom

Today’s prediction, dear worst-reader, has to do with the extinct Germania snow leopard, spies and Germany finally stepping up to face the worldly role it has so gallantly been avoiding for the past twenty years. The Germania snow leopard was an animal that for a brief time in its history stalked the grounds between Kölnia and Düsseldorfia. This animal was used and abused by the Plebija–an elite group of assassin slash custom agents working for various corrupt customs officials–as a means of controlling the Rhine River. A very small cat-like creature, it was hidden in the dresses of desirable daughters so that when custom officials would demand a peek at what is hidden in those dresses, the docile animal, that sleeps nomatter what goes on around it, would cause such a shriek by the corrupt customs agent, that the daughter would be let go immediately–and most importantly she would be let go unchecked. It is rumored that some of the agents tried to question contents of well-off Germania girls but the issue was eventually let go because most of the officials were beheaded with a crude prototype guillotine-like device that would eventually find its glory in other revolutionary activity in Eurowasteland pre-twentieth century pre-world-wars. Which brings me to the (un)joke of this post. I, dear worst-reader, sincerely do get a kick out of what’s been going on between my beloved American’t and my host expat country Germania. You know, the silly spying thing. For you see, there is a well-endowed paranoia in Germania these days. Where that paranoia comes from can be seen with any brief look into recent Germania history. So I won’t bother with that here. Just let it be worst-said, spying in modern-day Germania is something not to be frowned upon. That is, it is taken very seriously. So serious, in fact, that spying is one of the unspoken laws of the guttural nation state and practical annexed business center for The West. In fact, spying is required by all Germanin citizens that have a soluble bank account. I mean. Come on. If Germanins couldn’t spy on one another where would the country be today? At the least, where would lawyers and government bureaucrats be today? Without every Germanin telling on other Germanins the society would be torn to shreds within seconds, resorting back to its hedonistic, neanderthal founding. Hence the old saying, In Deutschland ist jeder Deutsche ein Polizist aber gibts nicht weiter. But. Please. Allow me to get on to my prediction of the day. I predict, dear worst-reader, according to the public display of Germanias so-called elected officials, all of whom are trying to save face or be exposed as the puppets of American’t that they all are, will utilize the current “spy” scandals as a means to grant Edward Snowden asylum in the near future. The Germanins, again, trying to save face because it has come to light that all they do and say is being watched and recorded, will require not only that all American’t CIA spies leave but that America garantee Snowden that when he arrives in Berlin it will not be required to extradite him. For you see, here is the part where Germania tries to step-up and face its worldly responsibilities. Germania has its own spying problem which is best understood if one can understand the implications of incest on biology. The spying that makes Germania exist has to thin-out (or is it thick-up) its weakened blood supply. It needs ingenuity in its spying. It needs new spying blood. Snowden would be perfect for that. So. What do you say to that for a prediction? Nicht schlecht, na Schatz. Rant on.

Expulsion of Top Spy | DW English News

Wake Up Washington | DW English News

Germans Offer Olive Branch | DW English News

Boom Your Controversy

~ Tom

Hard earned PBS underwritten funding paying off. And a bit shocked about how much time the producers of the videos that are connected to the link below spend on Google and FB. Almost get the feeling that the ill-doings of fear-mongering, The Patriot Act and the resulting behaviour of various smiley-face government agencies isn’t what the “discussion” should be about. Or maybe they should just read 1984 out-loud. Oh well. When all else fails find a boogyman to keep the automatons preoccupied.

United States of Secrets | FRONTLINE | PBS.

Snow(den) Ball Effect

~ Tom

snow-ball-effect

conspiracy theory

noun

1) a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for an unexplained event

2) a royally fucked up society produces individuals who cannot face reality and thereby turn to other means to deal with their inability to comprehend

As worst-stated here and here, worst-writer is torn on the Snowden issue. Trying to get informed about it all, I found myself drifting along pathways. One pathway is that of boredom–on account I have taken comfort in my guess-work about Edward Snowden. The other is a slight fear that if I didn’t follow this stuff I might miss something. I guess that’s also an admission that I’m hoping something worthwhile might come of Snowden’s so-called leaks. But the problem is we have to wait for the guardians of information to release that information to us. Reason for that I’m sure has to do with our maturity, perhaps a bit with the result of denying evolution and the simple fact that Americans have been voting their feelings as directed by others (as opposed to reaching ones own (political) conclusions) for the past thirty-plus years. Oh. And let’s not forget that Snowden’s leak fell into the lap of only a few people–all of whom I’m sure we can trust to act in our best interests in releasing that information. Indeed. The American Dream Delusion continues. Freedom reigns for the few. The rest of us schmucks get to hang out and… blog.

For a while there I actually started to doubt my doubts about the whole Snowden/Greenwald shebang. Doubt is a serious issue, worst-reader. It should never be underestimated. The doubt-doubts I was having were starting to cloud my views. You know, like how the views of conspiracy-theorists are clouded. Thank goodness for Russia Today, though, eh! I mean, thank goodness that a Putin-loving, Russian TV, pseudo newz network is out there to inform us all about what we are missing on account our own newz services can’t really deliver the goods. (See link below.) But then again, what would the ‘goods’ bring if actually given to the dumb-downed masses that have caused the mess we are in from the get-go? You know, the ones that have been voting based on what they’ve been told to vote. Nomatter.

Edward Snowden has finally been interviewed. Now we have our first chance to hear first hand what this young man has to say. Oh wait. Stop the presses. It’s not really the first. NBC is actually the second news organization to interview Snowden. The first interview was from ARD, a German state funded TV network. What? You never saw the German interview? Gee, I wonder why? Oh well. Nomatter.

But that’s not really what I wish to worst-blog about today. What I wish to worst-blog about are the three hours of material in the recent NBC/Snowden interview that were not included. Of those three hours, due to constraints of TV I’m sure, there was some picking and choosing regarding what Americans can and cannot hear. And what, I wonder, should Americans not hear? It seems RT (see link below) has gotten its hands on at least part of the unaired portion of the interview. And what they reveal is quite interesting. At least, from what I can make of it, it’s enough to relieve me of the doubts I was having.

Oh. Btw. Does this mean RT paid NBC? And who knows. The guardians of information might think it best to get the gritty stuff from Snowden out through other means. You know the stuff that might make a rational person raise an eyebrow or three. Or it might make someone question Snowden’s motives–which has been my big thing since this started. For me, he’s always seemed a bit fishy and flakey. Add to that Glenn Greenwald’s ability to enhance revenue streams. Who knows. All of this just seems fishy and flakey. So let’s just trust the fishy and flakey guardians of information to figure out if this stuff is 1) news worthy or 2) legit. Either way, in order for NBC to make a buck off such an interview and not have to buy the rights from the Germans for the ARD interview, the term done-a-snowden or you have been snowdened should now be part of our vernacular.

Thanks to Putin’s RT pseudo news network, whose legitimacy is underscored because they’ve hired Larry King, we get some insight into the other two hours of NBC’s journalistic coup d’etat. We also get to finally see/hear what I’ve been suspecting all along–and what was the origin of my doubts. Snowden is just another conspiracy theory nut-bag caught up in the whirlwind of all the misdeeds from the past thirty-plus years. (See once again Tommi’s less than empirical definition of conspiracy-theory above.) Yeah, baby. While voting their feelings and not their heads, Americans are in a place from which there is no return. And Snowden has joined the ever growing snow-ball. So what happens to those in the Snow(den) ball? Nothing will happen. The status quo continues. Snowden’s leaks are now officially vetted. The kid spoke one or three words too many. He has revealed that he is yet another conspiracy theorists hell-bent on reducing the government to a size that can be washed down the drain of a tub. He is someone that has been sold the post-Reagan mantra that most Americans have bought hook, line and sinker. Here is what determines EVERYTHING:

  • Grievance
  • Belonging (and)
  • Sentiment.

Here’s the link to RT’s text excerpts from the unaired portion of the NBC interview:

Read Snowden’s comments on 9/11 that NBC didn’t broadcast — RT USA.

And so. Questions remain. Questions that enhance my personal vetting process for Ed Snowden. Questions such as:

  • Why is it, while reading Snowden’s unaired comments, I can also hear the steam bellowing from the ears of gun-totting, angry white people and the conspiracy theories that glue them all together?
  • Why, if Snowden is so concerned about “government” collecting data on citizens he doesn’t once mention The Patriot Act and how and who made that act? And why doesn’t he mention that with one clean swipe of the pen that Act could be repealed and good old fashion innocent before proven guilty law could once again be the standard?
  • Why does he feel compelled to talk about nine-eleven in the context of an interview that we would not be having if it weren’t for the reaction by America to that day?

But I digress.

Rant on.

-tommi

Snowed

~ Tom

Come to terms with errors and more errors. Or maybe they’re not errors. The thing is this. He has a platform and a really large bullhorn. Listen to what he says? Yes. But does he really provide answers? Not sure. But then again, maybe there are no real questions asked of him. Nomatter. For history will tell of this. (It will tell of what he says.) And that same history will speak to so few just like the history after it. Or something like that.

Btw, here’s a link to a youtube search regarding The Snowed (effect). Below on of them (vids). And here’s the German ARD interview that really got me riled. Good lucks.

Update: below is the link that lead to the ARD video but it has since been made private. Googling “snowden” and “ard” should get you something, though. Good luck.

h t t p : / / youtu.be/4GlYh58cxKY

video is private

$200m Website

~ Tom

cashOh, dear worst-reader. The news is slow of late. I think it has something to do with journalism being owned these days. You know. Owned like religion, wives and copyrights. So I found myself dredging more than usual this morn to find something of interest and a potential subject to worst-right about. Thank goodness the dredging was short lived.

Link to article of worst-interest.

But the article isn’s what motivated me.

Have you heard about the website The Intercept? No? No big deal. You might never hear about it except for the fact that it is considered the world’s most expensive website. That’s right, dear worst-reader, The Intercept (link is to a wiki page on it) website costs in excess of $200m. Ok. Backtrack a bit. Actually the money is an investment in what is supposed to be a new voice in publishing…. I mean. A new voice in Interwebnet publishing. Wait. That’s not right either. The Intercept is supposed to be a new voice in journalism. Online journalism. (Hope I got that right.) But what’s really interesting about this $200m website is how it came to be.

The investment amount for this website and all it will entail:

  1. as already mentioned, is part of $200m given by one of the founders of eBay,
  2. the catalyst for this rock-star website is Glenn Greenwald and his possession of Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks,
  3. and for that amount of money, this website might just be the counter we all need to save us not only from crooked politics, crony capitalism but–and here’s the real deal–this website might just be the new & improved journalistic voice to help us all save ourselves from ourselves.

Or maybe not.

Nomatter.

Rant on.
Tommi

State Sponsored Injustice

~ Tom

Been following the case of Jeremy Hammond? Or are you just another American’t following the butthole of the dollar that rules your measly life? I know. I’m being a bit harsh (for I, as an Expat, follow the butthole of the €uro which ultimately is the same stinky, smelly thing!) What gets me about Jeremy Hammond, though, is the potential relation to others who also attempt to partake in what should be justice but instead is a systematic relegation of injustice masked in the/a happy-face of corporate dysfunction and a society hell-bent on failing upwards. Wait. Pause. Breath. Let me rephrase.

The case of Jeremy Hammond is what happens when ideologues in the form of federal judges abuse their power because, well, they have nothing better to do. Check out Aaron Swartz to see where the same abuse of state power has happened before. Obviously there can be no justice in a country that lets fraudsters and two-bit criminals get away with blatant robbery, i.e. the bankers and all those that support the speculation state that sustains itself by the profits made from trading debt and selling out. And let’s not forget the war mongers and profiteers of the military industrial complex. Yet young people, committed to openness, fairness and justice above and beyond ideology, are sentenced to jail time for being awesome computer hackers.

worstWriter also can’t help but think about how people like Jeremy and Aaron relate to other hackers e.g. Edward Snowden. Is there even a relation? Indeed. Hammond’s hack certainly differentiates from Snowden’s hack. I’m still waiting to hear about anything really significant coming out of the stuff that Snowden released. And let me not get started on how Snowden is an obvious coward compared to Hammond. (What daddy did you run away to, Mr. Snowden?) Thus far Snowden has told the world what it should already know. Hammond, on the other hand, tried to reveal to the world how the powers-that-be rule the lives of the measley.

I’m sure Chris Hedges would disagree with me.

Rant on.

-TGS-

Awash In Projection

~ Tom

zombie customersAs I’ve waddled down the creek of trying-to-say, failing to say before, one of the main reason I’m skeptical regarding the significance of Edward Snowden and his data dump–which we all have to wait to see based on advertising revenues of those who posses the data–is that I’m not sure what exactly motivated him to do what he has done. I’m not trying to question his patriotism. I’m sure he is as confused as any subordinate in the land of the almost free. But here’s the thing. What is clear about today’s American’t culture of failiing-upwards and corporate dysfunction mixed with greed that runs on gasoline and mall visits with over charged credit cards, is that a once great but now only militarily great nation must figure out how to address all that ails it. Indeed, that is a dilemma above and beyond spying and one that is much more complicated.

For worst-writer where all this began is fairly clear. It all began with the modern interpretation of American’t conservative politics and the fact that so few people are actually capable of getting to the truth of what’s really going on–let alone the fact that so many people don’t really give a hoot about what truth is and how it affects them, hence the success of conservatism and it’s promotion of a consume-to-survive society. This leads to the question of where or when or if any of this nonsense will ever end. The answer to that question is two-fold. First, it will end when the funny business is over. That is, when all the humour has been sucked out and all that one can face is laughter without a cause–because that usually leads to tumultuous tears. (And tears, btw, are usually the only way to get really, really stupid people to actually think about anything–nomatter if it can be measured in milliseconds.) At that moment everything will dissolve like toilet paper in spiralling water and you will stare at regretting what you ate the night(s) before. Second. Once the funny stuff is done, then it’s time to face the piper. In this case the piper is called psychological projection. Remember, a drunk never drinks too much–until AA helps with the realisation. Eventually the pot calling the kettle black has to stop. What about that old saying of never throwing stones when you’re standing in a glass house? No? None of that working for you, dear worst-reader?

Ok. Here’s the thing. As you can read in the slide above, psychological projection is alive and well in the gallows of American’t spying bureaucracy. And ain’t it all funny? I mean, come on. As an iPhone owner I laughed. People who buy iPhones are zombies. But so are people who shop at WalMart or pay almost as much for their car as their mortgage or rent. And what about people who work for a government that creates things like the NSA, i.e. Big Brother incarnate? Not pictured here (see links below) is another slide where Apple’s 1984 ad is used as a way to communicate the idear that Apple itself has become Big Brother. (When in fact, the ad was portraying companies like IBM as Big Brother. More on Big Brother here.) Anyways. The thing I’m trying to get at is this. The summer of 2013 should go down in history as the summer of spying and how it became fashionable. For look who is being spied upon and look who is doing the spying and then look at who is revealing this to us all. Or something like that.

Links:

Rant on.

-tgs-