Bomb assassinate hack anarchy topple the government jihad

[tp4tissue]

True, but if the NSA wasn't monitoring actions what else would they be doing? Where else would they get the intelligence that they need? Darn near everything in the world today uses a computer, especially cross continent communication whether you are contacting family or you (or anyone) are contacting terrorist groups. The NSA is trying to monitor these communications to help, IMO.
But...back to my first question; If they weren't monitoring, what else would they do?

Not monitor them and not get the info, because they shouldn't have it. Many a man we consider heroes now were once branded as enemies of the state. A government should never have the power to put down such groups so early they never have a chance to gain momentum.

That's what we entrust the government with though...  even if it's not perfect it's the most efficient way to do it... we can't individually take up responsibilities like this because it would be too resource intensive, and run with significantly more overhead.

So, we have a group of people above common decency to spy on US, and the alleged terrorists...   

They're not out for a witch hunt, that is rare for a modern government...  but they may be out for scapegoats... hence the worry by some of abusive spying...

Then we go back to well, how many dead good people is acceptable.. because surely good people die anyway... how many can we lose... that is what social planning is about.. the acceptable losses...

The government is fully prepared to go on which hunts though, and they do make a nice show for any would be terrorists on American soil. The Boston bombing a few months ago is a perfect example. They shut down almost the entire city and surrounding areas. My 72 year old mother had armed troops come through her house and although it was a tense situation for her, I surprised that she didn't feel violated at the same time. Situations calling for extreme measures breed a sense of solidarity, but having it be a constant Orwellian invasive nightmare is the wrong approach. There is a time and place for such tactics, but treating everyone as a would be suspect all the time is shameful and as I stated before, constant suspecion has been proven time and again not to work.

Yes, I'm ok with some witchhunting... I'm only interested in the NUMBER of false witches.. I don't care if it's not zero...  they used to kill a bunch of people for witch-n-wizardry but it wasn't enough to seriously hamper other social development.. so imo that's fine...

[CommunistWitchDr]

This is now back to a NSA jokes thread.

From reddit /r/circlejerk-
The NSA has been spying on us for years. They see our emails, our searches, our conversations, everything. But can they see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

[sth]

the NSA is trying to do the best that it can to protect the U.S. from threats both domestic and abroad by monitoring the citizens of the U.S.

) good one

[SmallFry]

Do you have a better suggestion?

[Tarzan]

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

- B. Franklin.

[davkol]

To each their own, I'm alright with it. Do I like my privacy? Yes, but I'd rather not repeat some of the disasters that this country has faced in the last 15 years or so now.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

[davkol]

True, but if the NSA wasn't monitoring actions what else would they be doing? Where else would they get the intelligence that they need? Darn near everything in the world today uses a computer, especially cross continent communication whether you are contacting family or you (or anyone) are contacting terrorist groups. The NSA is trying to monitor these communications to help, IMO.
But...back to my first question; If they weren't monitoring, what else would they do?

Not monitor them and not get the info, because they shouldn't have it. Many a man we consider heroes now were once branded as enemies of the state. A government should never have the power to put down such groups so early they never have a chance to gain momentum.

That's what we entrust the government with though...  even if it's not perfect it's the most efficient way to do it... we can't individually take up responsibilities like this because it would be too resource intensive, and run with significantly more overhead.

So, we have a group of people above common decency to spy on US, and the alleged terrorists...   

They're not out for a witch hunt, that is rare for a modern government...  but they may be out for scapegoats... hence the worry by some of abusive spying...

Then we go back to well, how many dead good people is acceptable.. because surely good people die anyway... how many can we lose... that is what social planning is about.. the acceptable losses...

The government is fully prepared to go on which hunts though, and they do make a nice show for any would be terrorists on American soil. The Boston bombing a few months ago is a perfect example. They shut down almost the entire city and surrounding areas. My 72 year old mother had armed troops come through her house and although it was a tense situation for her, I surprised that she didn't feel violated at the same time. Situations calling for extreme measures breed a sense of solidarity, but having it be a constant Orwellian invasive nightmare is the wrong approach. There is a time and place for such tactics, but treating everyone as a would be suspect all the time is shameful and as I stated before, constant suspecion has been proven time and again not to work.

Yes, I'm ok with some witchhunting... I'm only interested in the NUMBER of false witches.. I don't care if it's not zero...  they used to kill a bunch of people for witch-n-wizardry but it wasn't enough to seriously hamper other social development.. so imo that's fine...

You're fine with that as long as you're not accused of being the witch, I suppose.

[davkol]

Also relevant.

    First they came for the communists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

    Then they came for the socialists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

    Then they came for me,
    and there was no one left to speak for me.

[iri]

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

- B. Franklin.

it seems you americans have already forgotten this.

[dante]

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

- B. Franklin.

it seems you americans have already forgotten this.

You can't have it both ways!

Ok, lets have a compromise: The NSA and other agencies stop spying on people.  In return you can't complain when you start reading about terrorist attacks on the news several times a week.  Deal?

[davkol]

Operation Northwood

[Glod]

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

- B. Franklin.

it seems you americans have already forgotten this.

You can't have it both ways!

Ok, lets have a compromise: The NSA and other agencies stop spying on people.  In return you can't complain when you start reading about terrorist attacks on the news several times a week.  Deal?

No Deal. We don't need the NSA's domestic surveillance programs that break the fourth ammendent  to stop terror attacks. how about we go after why people are committing acts of terror in the first place? instead of playing wack-o-mole.

We are just masking the problem like everything else going bad in this country/WORLD like drug addiction, gun violence, obesity, cancer, polution, domestic violence, education, the list goes on and on. we micromanage our issues or just straight up ignore them.

[ferociousfingerings]

Problem > reaction > solution.

"We" aren't "masking the problem," we are creating the problem, in order to justify what is portrayed as a solution, which is actually the originally intended goal.

Rather than digging into the source of problems to determine the correct solutions, we are choosing solutions, then creating problems to justify implementing them. The purpose is not to solve the problem. The purpose is to implement what can only be "justified" by claiming it is a solution.

However, yes, there are real people who believe it is their job, and the purpose of their organization, to protect the U.S. and its citizens. Unfortunately, many of those people don't realize they are being mislead into exploiting and enslaving those very same citizens they believe they are protecting... and even themselves.