Something amazing is happening over the NSA and you all are missing it.

[hootinholler]

This is the third (charmer, eh?) time I've posted about a rally to demand a proper investigation into the activities of the NSA and subsequent accountability. That's going to happen on Oct 26th in DC.

The amazing part to me is that the coalition putting this together is truly bipartisan. Finally! There is an issue that has everyone's attention and we're all pretty much on the same side. Think about that. How often does that happen? The far right, libertarians, progressives, civil rights groups all coming together on the same side of an issue.

Here's the list: italics are my comments

18MillionRising
350.org
Access
American Civil Liberties Union
American Library Association Don't fuck with Librarians!
Americans for Job Security
Applied Research Center
Association for Progressive Communications
Association of Alternative Newsmedia
Association of Research Libraries
Big Bad Lab
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Bitcoin Foundation
Blog Action Day
Bradley Manning Support Network
Calyx Institute
Campaign for Liberty
Center for Democracy and Technology
Center for Media Justice
Centro de Cultura Luiz Freire
ColorOfChange.org
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Consumer Watchdog
Courage to Resist
CREDO Action
Daily Kos
Defending Dissent
Demand Progress
Detroit Digital Justice Coalition
Digital Fourth
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontiers Australia
EngageMedia
Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA)
FIDH - Worldwide Movement for Human Rights
Fight for the Future
Firedoglake
Foundation for Innovation and Internet Freedom
Free Press
Free Software Foundation
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Freedom Works
Gandi.net
Generation Justice
Generation Opportunity
GNOME
Green Party of Rhode Island
Green Party of the United States
Greenpeace USA
Guardian Project
HackThisSite.org
Icelandic Modern Media Initiative
Internet Archive
League of Technical Voters
Learning About Multimedia Project
Libertarian Party
Liberty Coalition
LibrarianShipwreck
Main Street Project
Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party Association
Media Alliance
Media Literacy Project
Media Mobilizing Project
Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition.
MoveOn.org
Mozilla
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Security Counselors
Occupy Wall Street NYC
OccupyWallSt.org
Open Internet Tools Project
Open Technology Institute at New America Foundation
OpenMedia.org
Participatory Politics Foundation
Partido PIRATA
PEN American Center
Pirate Party of Austria <---- ???? Gotta google that one
PolitiHacks
Praxis Project
Presente
Privacy and Access Council of Canada
Privacy Camp
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Progressive Librarians Guild
Public Knowledge
R Street Institute
Reel Grrls
Restore America's Voice
RestoreTheFourth
RevolutionTruth
Rights Working Group
Rocky Mountain Civil Liberties Association
RootsAction.org
Tactical Tech
TechFreedom
Telecomix
Tenth Amendment Center
The Other 98%
Tor
Upwell
Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center
WBAI Radio
Whistleblower Defense League
WITNESS
Women in Media & News
World Wide Web Foundation
Writers Guild of America, West
YourAnonNews
May First/People Link

WOW. Now, what if, and I know that's a big if, but what if we learn that we really can work together?

I intend to be at the rally. I would love it if you can join me. We really do need a huge turnout and there will be bands.

I would also like to see Democratic Underground on that list.

All y'all come holler with me.

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, hootinholler.

[Laelth]

2. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[babylonsister]

3. "...there will be bands."

This sounds fantastic! So much going on, thanks for cluing me in.

I can't be there, but K&R! Democracy at work!

[Octafish]

4. Lauter sprechen in das Mikrofon, bitte.

Da sein oder quadratisch sein.

[NightWatcher]

5. ich bin auslander und spreche nicht gut deutch

Casting pics from a German porn shoot?






or is it those sneaky undercover agents?

[Octafish]

41. STASI Fashion Show

The Art of Disguise

http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/08/10/7331544-the-stasi-fashion-show-east-german-spy-archive-showcases-the-art-of-disguise

[hootinholler]

7. Ja bitte!

Even these guys are coming!



P.S. Please excuse the pigeon Deutsch

[KoKo]

24. LOL's... That's really something!

[hootinholler]

27. Have you seen Emo Hitler?

[tavalon]

67. I read that as Elmo Hitler

It put an entirely different, but equally odd image in my head.

[Octafish]

47. Weird how ''organized'' those on the right are.

Funding. Like in wars for profit.

[hootinholler]

53. With the recent revelations, to think of all that information.

How many "Snowdens" are there who rather than expose the deeds, simply sell it to folks like Poppy or the Koch bros?

Why, they could have the inside dope on the orange futures market.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

59. Snowden was discovered very quickly...

Last edited Fri Sep 27, 2013, 12:17 AM - Edit history (1)

..and if he ever leaves Russia he'll be quickly arrested and spending a lot of time behind bards bars.

So, as to your question of how many "Snowdens" are there who rather than expose the deeds, simply sell it to folks like Poppy or the Koch bros, the answer is clearly "none". Besides, the typical purchaser of such information has been the soviets. Buying information as an american, offering economic incentive for someone else to commit a crime, is illegal - and taking such a risk (when they're already billionaires) is absurd.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[hootinholler]

61. Oh really?

Got another one?

[KoKo]

64. Snowden..."Behind the Bards?" Anyone have a good PiX of this?

I've made typo's myself...but, this one is a DUZY!

[sabrina 1]

75. Wrong, again. Snowden wasn't 'discovered quickly', Snowden had the guts to reveal himself

and will go down in history as a hero. Like so many others from the past, who during their times, were attacked by those who also had so much to hide.

It's likely they would still be trying to find out who he was had he not simply told them.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

78. There were already FBI investigators at his door in Hawaii when he made it to Hong Kong...

...so he had a good 24 hours before the Guardian's information was traced back to him. The U.S. weren't particularly interested in letting it get out that they'd identified him, of course.

This info came courtesy of TPM, although I get a "Page doesn't exist" error when I go back to the link.

Snowden will be remembered neither as a hero or a traitor. He will be, at best, a footnote. More likely, trivia.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[sabrina 1]

79. Lol!

'Page doesn't exist'



Of course it doesn't!

Snowden's place in history will be as important as Ellsberg's if not more so!

[hootinholler]

82. So, you did have another one!

It gives me a sad you didn't share it when I asked.

Let's have a lookie-loo at your broken link. Just because I'm curious about the reality you claim to be proud of.

[MannyGoldstein]

76. Good point. Billionaires would never participate in illegal stuff for even more lucre

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-02/koch-brothers-flout-law-getting-richer-with-secret-iran-sales.html

As to Snowden - once we again get a President in office who respects the rule of international law, he'll be able to move to many other countries.

[hootinholler]

81. When we get that President

Ed will be able to come home.

[leveymg]

26. Ist ein der Karl Rover in der diskise?

[Octafish]

42. Same type of lovely.

SECRET Government Is a One-Way Mirror

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x319123

[leveymg]

44. Wow, a 15-track recording session! Dig that Epson computer! Oldie but goldie

vintage spookware, circa 1975. The Stassi would die for what we have planted in the Utah desert.

[hootinholler]

45. Epson?

I thought it was a PET, did Epson make the PET?

[leveymg]

50. Not a PET, but very similar to that Commodore 1st gen PC

Here:



Looked around, and that's not an Epson, Apple II or TRS or Sharp. Looks a lot like an E. German knock-off of the VECTOR micro shown here with some others from the same era:

[leveymg]

74. In the same vein, found this blast from the past (1987):

Workers demonstrate personal computers as technological achievements in a parade in East Germany, 1987

[hootinholler]

83. ROFL

That is a bizarre composition!

[leveymg]

84. Thought you might dig it.

The juxtaposition of the PCs in kids wagons, the heroic Socialist Realist plaster statues, and girls in clean suits and peasant dresses is a mind-blower.

A while back I read the autobiography of Markus Wolf, the Stasi Minister, and it makes clear that E. Germany was just such a mess of contradictions of high idealism and modernism with old-fashioned Prussian militarism and an almost child-like optimism about the perfectibility of people and technology. "Man Without a Face," read it at Googlebooks: http://books.google.com/books/about/Man_Without_A_Face.html?id=BJfkgIsmrU8C

[hootinholler]

85. At first I thought those two were on a wedding cake

Then I realized East Germany didn't do same sex marriages.



I'll have to check into that book.

[Octafish]

46. One agent per 15 locations.

Sounds about right. I mean, "Reich."

[leveymg]

54. I recall reading the Stasi could only tap about 85 phones at once in the whole country!

Last edited Thu Sep 26, 2013, 09:38 PM - Edit history (1)

But, they had like 170,000 paid citizen informers watching everyone else. They had found the secret to full employment.

[KoKo]

65. I wonder how the "Paid for Spy" stats are for the USA these days......

If you think about it.

When will it get to citizen on citizen reporting with the backlash on NSA. Things have a tendency to "MORPH."

[leveymg]

71. There are more than 4 million Americans with security clearances. Most of them

Last edited Fri Sep 27, 2013, 08:09 AM - Edit history (1)

are cleared to spy on the rest of us.

One might therefore say, numerically, that we are far more spied upon than the East German population was before the Wall came down.

Actually, it's worse than that.


In 1990, the population of E Germany was about 16 million, of which 170,000 were paid Stasi informants. That's about 1 percent of the population. That number almost exactly matched the number of active uniformed personnel in all three branches of the DDR military.

Today, the active duty US military numbers about 1.5 million, but the number of American civilian contractors with security clearances is at least twice that same number. There are roughly 300 million of us. That means, the proportion of security-cleared military and civilians is actually fifty percent higher in America today than it was in Communist East Germany at the time Markus Wolf ran the Stasi.

He would feel right at home in America, 2013.


(Stasi files)

[NYC_SKP]

6. Recommended. (nt)

[kenny blankenship]

8. The first rule of Fight Club is

You do not talk about the Fight Club. The Second Rule of Fight Club is...

Now, I know that in the movie the rule was stated in order to be violated, BUT, I think if you will try it on for size in this present situation, it may help explain why there is so little "talking about it" at a site supposedly frequented by "Underground" Democrats and progressive activists, even though you've posted the notice three times.

Yes, the hour is getting very late and we've all stayed up past our bedtimes. The air, this time of year, is getting chilly and we feel it in our bones.

The First Rule of a Police State is-
There is no such thing as a Police State! Shut up, do you want to get us all put on a list or something?

[tavalon]

68. Kenny, we are, these days, well known, hardly underground,

and your handle and your real name and address are all logged by people who want to keep tabs on you and me.

I remember a number of years ago, someone stood up and said something like "I will not be cowed by people trying to silence me. My name is ________________. Hundreds of us stood up with that person just by typing our real names on the internet. I did it because I already knew they knew - it was a way of standing up and giving them the middle finger.

Nowadays, I think a lot about PGP, though nothing I say should get me arrested, we live in times that in some ways are scarier than the dark, dark, Bush/Cheney/Rove years.

[Fumesucker]

9. Oh good grief..

[hootinholler]

12. Wrong Beltway, silly.

[Dragonfli]

17. I flew that route on acid once, stayed right above the road too!

At least I think I was flying, their was so much spittle and hatred flying out of my mouth because I heard someone rated out illegal activities and didn't get his stitches for being a rat!

Fucking snitches!!!

I got so angry I took 8 hits of acid and I am pretty sure I was flying, I know for a fact that, flying or not, that was the route!!!!
The rest is a bit hazy.......

[Th1onein]

10. A BIG KICK and a REC!

[sabrina 1]

11. I cannot be there in person this time, but will definitely be there in spirit.

[hootinholler]

55. The site mentions viewing parties.

Not sure what that means exactly.

[dorkzilla]

13. I'm in!

I can attend--I can drive to (in NYC area) and I've got room for 4 more if anyone wants to go, just let me know!

[WillyT]

14. HUGE K & R !!!

[starroute]

15. Can the same bunch be lined up against the TPP?

With just a few specialized exceptions, most of them should also be concerned enough about issues ranging from copyright to national sovereignty to get onboard.

[hootinholler]

16. If we are to fix anything

This is the sort of coalition we need. It will be a tremendous opportunity to talk about issues that cut across the spectrum.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

18. Clicking on the link to the rally resulted in an attack on my computer system

attempterd to change my registry

[hootinholler]

21. I've had no issues with the site

[dorkzilla]

51. Me neither! n/t

[Dragonfli]

19. Can't get to DC, wish I could tho /nt

[leveymg]

20. 10/26 in DC. See you there!

We should make plans to get together, HNH.

[hootinholler]

22. Absolutely!

I'm hoping we have enough for a good ol fashioned meet up.

[leveymg]

25. I'm sure we'll have a nice big group of DUers. Thanks for getting the ball rolling!

Should be fun.

[KoKo]

23. Recommend. What an Impressive LIST! Dare we HOPE???

[hootinholler]

28. Ya know, I wondered that also

It is so tempting to hope.

[grasswire]

29. K&R

I agree that DU should be on that list.

[NealK]

30. K&R n/t

[malokvale77]

31. Great...

Anyone going from Dallas, Texas?

[Logical]

33. Wait! Snowden didn't matter remember! nt

[JDPriestly]

34. Too far from Los Angeles, but I will be there in spirit.

[cui bono]

35. I can't make it there. Hopefully there will be other ones in other cities.

Thanks for representing!

[hootinholler]

39. The details on the site are sparse

But they do mention viewing parties. I suspect there will be more information forthcoming.

[JimDandy]

36. K n R. n/t

[idwiyo]

37. K&R

[BelgianMadCow]

38. Third time lucky!

well done, hootinholler!

It's interesting to ponder the difference in recs, isn't it? It doesn't give me much hope in terms of getting active enough in time, but that may just be gloomy me.

[hootinholler]

40. Indeed, it is

It's also interesting to ponder the lack of the usual suspects posting in here.

[myrna minx]

43. K&R -Great!

[grahamhgreen]

48. How do we get DU on the list?

[hootinholler]

49. I would imagine that we would have to petition Mr Allen

To sign on to the document:

Dear Members of Congress,

We write to express our concern about recent reports published in the Guardian and the Washington Post, and acknowledged by the Obama Administration, which reveal secret spying by the National Security Agency (NSA) on phone records and Internet activity of people in the United States.

The Washington Post and the Guardian recently published reports based on information provided by an intelligence contractor showing how the NSA and the FBI are gaining broad access to data collected by nine of the leading U.S. Internet companies and sharing this information with foreign governments. As reported, the U.S. government is extracting audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track a person's movements and contacts over time. As a result, the contents of communications of people both abroad and in the U.S. can be swept in without any suspicion of crime or association with a terrorist organization.

Leaked reports also published by the Guardian and confirmed by the Administration reveal that the NSA is also abusing a controversial section of the PATRIOT Act to collect the call records of millions of Verizon customers. The data collected by the NSA includes every call made, the time of the call, the duration of the call, and other "identifying information" for millions of Verizon customers, including entirely domestic calls, regardless of whether those customers have ever been suspected of a crime. The Wall Street Journal has reported that other major carriers, including AT&T and Sprint, are subject to similar secret orders.

This type of blanket data collection by the government strikes at bedrock American values of freedom and privacy. This dragnet surveillance violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which protect citizens' right to speak and associate anonymously, guard against unreasonable searches and seizures, and protect their right to privacy.

We are calling on Congress to take immediate action to halt this surveillance and provide a full public accounting of the NSA's and the FBI's data collection programs. We call on Congress to immediately and publicly:

1:

Enact reform this Congress to Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the state secrets privilege, and the FISA Amendments Act to make clear that blanket surveillance of the Internet activity and phone records of any person residing in the U.S. is prohibited by law and that violations can be reviewed in adversarial proceedings before a public court;

2:

Create a special committee to investigate, report, and reveal to the public the extent of this domestic spying. This committee should create specific recommendations for legal and regulatory reform to end unconstitutional surveillance;

3:

Hold accountable those public officials who are found to be responsible for this unconstitutional surveillance.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[tavalon]

73. It felt good to be using Firefox (a Mozilla browser)

to sign it with. I haven't used Exploder in years.

[dorkzilla]

52. If we can't get DU "officially" added to the list, we should at least organize a meet-up

And again, if anyone from the NYC area wants to go and needs a ride, I've room for 4 more! You may have to put up with listening to Django Reinhardt for a few hours, but its free!

[tavalon]

69. I always loved those meet ups before the rallys in DC

I met Skinner at one and helped hold the banner with Earl G during the actual rally. But my memory being half as good as it used to be, I have no idea if that was the same protest or two different ones.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

56. Cool, gandi.net is the registrar of all my websites. nt

[Vanje]

57. K&R - Wish I could go. nt

[hootinholler]

58. Me too!

Maybe a way will present itself.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

60. K&R nt

[adirondacker]

62. NSA Spied on MLK, US Senators and Other Vietnam War Critics, Documents Show

NSA documents that were declassified this week show that the agency—which has come under increased scrutiny for its dragnet surveillance practices—heavily surveilled and tapped the phones of high-profile critics of the Vietnam War, including Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and two U.S. senators including Idaho Democrat Frank Church.

They were joined on the NSA's "watch list" by roughly 1,600 other prominent war critics whose overseas phone calls, telexes and cables were monitored.

While Vietnam-era spying on U.S. citizens, conducted under the codename Operation Minaret, was known at the time, the targets of this surveillance were not public until now.

The documents were forced to be declassified this week following an appeal to the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) by an independent research institute, the National Security Archive.

snip
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/26-2

[avaistheone1]

63. Incredible coalition!

k&r

[tavalon]

66. I had totally missed this and thank you for it.

Tiny quibble though with your stating it's bipartisan. Granted, I didn't look into each company and group but I know a number of them because they are ones I belong to or have participated in this or that action. They all seem to be progressive. Now, they are diverse with differing main agenda's so it's cool they've come together over this. Now, if I had seen the NRA or Heritage Foundation, my eyes would have fallen out.

Please understand, I'm thrilled about this, I just don't see much that says conservatives are involved. As is usual, the progressives are doing the heavy lifting. That's why I'm a progressive - I don't mind the work and they are more often in the right than in the wrong.

[hootinholler]

70. Well I haven't googled everyone

I will admit it seems to be tilted left, but there are many who are non partisan.

You can't get much farther right than Freedom Works though.

[tavalon]

72. And I didn't see Freedom Works first time through

Anyway, one way or another, I'm in.

I'm thinking of changing my sig line to: Don't worry, NSA, if I want you to have my grandmother's cookie recipe, I WILL send it to you. You don't have to sneak.

[99th_Monkey]

77. Senator Wyden also is introducing a bill to curb NSA's dog

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/25/226263270/senators-announce-bill-that-ends-nsa-phone-records-collection

[Pterodactyl]

80. "Bradley Manning Support Network"?!?!

Uh, helloooo! It's Chelsea Manning.

[KoKo]

86. Probably they registered it early on...and legally haven't had time to

change it. If they registered as a 501-C..something...they'd have to stick with Bradley for now. At least that's a possibility as to why.