General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsQuite honestly, I find myself starting to "edit" my own comments on DU
because I KNOW they are subject to public scrutiny at the very least, which means
that the evil forces behind this insidious tyranny that keeps morphing into shape before
our very eyes, can use every utterance as "evidence" that will never see a courtroom,
but which might actually get me locked up or worse, at some point down the road,
where all the cans have been kicked.
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)ileus
(15,396 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Lost some weight. Lookin' good, NSA peeps. Lookin' good there.
nebenaube
(3,496 posts)Thanks to AJAX, Facebook's text edit control is a keylogger. This one, not so much...
reformist2
(9,841 posts)emulatorloo
(44,182 posts)BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)BlueCheese
(2,522 posts)BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)I think they are really cool.
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)Two men were hiking in the mountains. One suddenly stopped, removed his hiking boots, and started putting on sneakers.
The second man asked why he was doing that.
The first one answered, "I thought I heard a bear."
The second argued logically, "Even with sneakers, you can't outrun a bear."
The first responded, "You're right. But I just need to outrun you."
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Won't be the first, won't be the last.
sibelian
(7,804 posts)Wouldn't it?
Why should you or I be told we should trust anyone?
temporary311
(955 posts)Leftists and liberals are usually among the first targets for these kinds of programs, even more so when they become used for truly nefarious ends. Wouldn't be surprised if this site or any other that's even a little left of center has been archived multiple times.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)If they can identify a person as being active on a politically-oriented site, that will be very bad for your score. If there is one thing the authoritarians don't want, it is politically informed and active people from ANY political viewpoint.
So individual posts probably aren't that important to them at this stage. They would be much more interested in the "meta" characteristics. How often do you post? Mow many different sites do you frequent? etc.
Same thing with the phone records. They don't really care about the message content when we're talking about compiling Big Data. If you get a call from an al Qaeda phone number -- or from a reporter that is critical of the administration -- that's enough to finger you for extra scrutiny.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)in you assertions. We've been bamboozled by the terrorist meme,
into accepting a corporate-driven oligarchy, despite all "guarantees"
to the contrary contained in the US Constitution.
It's all over but the shoutin'
emulatorloo
(44,182 posts)That worked in the past just fine.
temporary311
(955 posts)and he thinks Agent Mike is a dick?
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Better hop on that ride with the nice robot.
quinnox
(20,600 posts)I wouldn't edit, they can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)Daily intro music on the Infowars program.
They will be coming for us.
SOOON
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)[url=http://www.desismileys.com/][img][/img][/url]
treestar
(82,383 posts)And of course there is nothing the government can do against its critics. I suspect op will simply attribute his ordinary misfortunes to the secret machinations of agent mike.
TalkingDog
(9,001 posts)It's hard work shredding the Constitution.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)poor fellow.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)not because of public scrutiny, but because DU is a censored site. So I self-censor.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)besides ourselves I mean.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)Read the TOS.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)Your answer helps me to know your meaning.
I've already perused the TOS, but thanks anyway.
hunter
(38,326 posts)That's why this site is "censored" -- so it doesn't end up looking like those.
I don't "self censor" here at all.
If I lose my cool, a hide doesn't bother me.
My politics are far left of the DU mainstream and my views on economics and the environment are radical.
If misogynist or homophobic posts are hidden, if posts advocating violence are hidden and certain posters banned, good. That's what keeps this place readable.
Posters who irritate me, I ignore mostly in my head, but sometimes by using the ignore functions.
I don't read YouTube or Yahoo comments. My participation on Facebook is mostly to keep in touch with people I know who are too far away to see in person.
If your politics are really "far left of the DU mainstream," you have to self-censor. Why? Because DU is a partisan site, and that's what I'm referring to. The Democratic Party is not "far left," and the Democratic Party mainstream is not left at all. Many high profile elected Democrats work in opposition to the left. You can criticize them to a point, but there is a limit.
You think misogynistic posts are hidden? Maybe the most extreme, but there are plenty that aren't. That goes for the rest, as well.
Do you realize how many of those banned posters were posters FROM THE LEFT, who did not censor themselves carefully enough? Plenty.
I don't "ignore" anyone; I can do that on my own without help.
I have rarely had a post hidden, because I follow the rules, and censor myself, or just don't post at all if I think I'm going to lose my cool. The only action I've ever had admins take against me was to ban my sigline privileges for a few years; it was too controversial and pissed a bunch of people off. The funny thing is that many at DU have now come around to that position, and would probably agree with that signline to some degree were I to put it up again. I'm not going to, though. I'm self-censoring.
Here's something interesting: I found DU in 2002, became an active member in January of 2003. Having lived in RW strongholds my entire life, surrounded by neocons, it was refreshing to find people who weren't. When I first got here, I was moderate, in comparison to a large number of posters I was reading. Now I'm too far left for DU, for the most part. The interesting part? My positions on issues haven't changed a bit. It's DU, along with too much of the Democratic Party, that has moved emphatically to the right and above ground with the election of a center-right neoliberal Democrat to the WH. These days, while I don't "ignore" people, plenty ignore me. Why? Because I'm too far left, and not partisan enough, for them.
hunter
(38,326 posts)... U.S. politics represents various factions of the oligarchy; knowing that U.S. politics is about money more than the people.
U.S. candidates and politicians who are not supported by the oligarchy are shot down (sometimes literally...)
Center-right Obama is still better than Romney. The game is still rigged so we lose, but with the Democratic candidates we lose less. It's not a two party system, it's a one and a half party system.
I don't think we can fight the machine in their own venue other than to keep the elections clean. (The election of George W. Bush was dirty in every way.)
But beyond the ballot box there are ways to put pressure on the oligarchs. Their models of human behavior and nature are flawed and that is their weakness.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,361 posts)It's a forum, nearly all of which has always been visible to the whole world - and when meta-discussion was here, all it took was the creation of an account by any interested party. No-one should ever think that DU would be able to hide your true identity if government lawyers set to work; a court would force the disclosure of your identity for a normal libel case.
I suppose your DU mail is something you could reconsider now; that is private between you and the sender, but if you think your ISP monitors or copies everything sent over your internet connection, it would include that. And I would think court orders would be able to force DU to disclose DU mail; if you're worried about that, then delete the stuff you don't want read by others, and ask whomever you sent it to to do the same.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)I'm beyond worried, as way too many horses have already Left the barn, so to speak.
I'm sure my file goes back to the late 60s, which I was involved with SDS, anti-war
groups, and the Ceasar Chavez grape boycott.
But I didn't exactly lie in saying that recent developments with NSA, NDAA, the drone
war (aka the "New Terrorist Factory" , etc. do give me some pause re: what I say
here.
I know the risks, as does Snowden, whom I greatly admire for coming forward.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/06/09/edward-snowden-reveals-himself-as-nsa-leaker/
wandy
(3,539 posts)And keep in mind, today's alert level is Orange.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)pallets and pallets of the stuff here at Home Depot.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)which room to use as my duct-tape-and-plastic safe room, since none would have sufficed for various reasons.
I had face masks and even atropine injection (nerve gas antidote). I just stuck the stuff in a closet and forgot about it. It was there IF I needed it. When I moved out in 2007 I tossed all that and realized how we all had been played for fools.
niyad
(113,552 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)ThoughtCriminal
(14,049 posts)Yeah I'm talking to you Mr. Keyword Parsing A.I. Software Thing!
As for the utility of such a system for actual national security, I think it's like thinking you can write great plays by doing a computer analysis of word count metrics for Shakespeare.
treestar
(82,383 posts)99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)did I not?
freshwest
(53,661 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I didn't when Bush was the spy in chief, I won't now. Fuck their surveillance. If something I have to say makes me so dangerous that they need to come after me I will just end it, because then this place wouldn't be worth living in.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)Buns_of_Fire
(17,194 posts)(Hi, Mike. Just checking in. I hope you got to take the kids to Disney World before they raised the prices. I know how tight money can be when you work in a government job, believe me! Please give them a hug from "Uncle Buns" and say "hi" to your wonderful wife for me. As always, my best to all...)
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)before ever posting, that's a different story. I have to admit for me, I feel under constant surveillance anymore, real or imagined. TPTB, whomever, will manage to totally fuck it up for everyone. That's how it often goes, good things get fucked up because the crew enters that turns them into weapons. The internet will become akin to "Idiocracy," stuff for stupid people, because the smart ones say fuck it.
And the bad guys, they will just carry on. Not too many planning bad are probably going to do an APB across the world.
applegrove
(118,778 posts)meaning is not clear. Spelling. Commas. I often scan and rescan ideas in my brain, getting a 3D picture, and I update/expand my thoughts.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)I love that we can do that with our DU posts, for clarity's sake, if
nothing else.
Sometimes though I think people become suspicious when they see
very many self-edits without any explanation, so I try to do that in
the space provided.
applegrove
(118,778 posts)has edited a post. I suppose I should make the note.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)It was on a school trip, and they were showing us how it was done. I doubt they kept them. But the FBI has at least 3 later sets.
Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)but I DO remember that some of my dad's friends were targeted,
one was a journalist whose life was totally destroyed.
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)This is the edited version?
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)and you to find out.
Glad you are amused. We all need a good laugh once in awhile.
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)is actually pretty consistent.
liberal N proud
(60,344 posts)We know that agent Mike has already collected enough on all of us over the last 10+ years.