"Freedom Is The Sure Possession Of Those Alone Who Have The Courage To Defend It." ~~~ Pericles

Sigh . . . . . .

We're already starting to see that. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and others are pleading with the government to allow them to explain details of what information they provided in response to National Security Letters and other government demands. They've lost the trust of their customers, and explaining what they do -- and don't do -- is how to get it back. The government has refused; they don't care.

It will be the same with you. There are lots more high-tech companies who have cooperated with the government. Most of those company names are somewhere in the thousands of documents that Edward Snowden took with him, and sooner or later they'll be released to the public. The NSA probably told you that your cooperation would forever remain secret, but they're sloppy. They'll put your company name on presentations delivered to thousands of people: government employees, contractors, probably even foreign nationals. If Snowden doesn't have a copy, the next whistleblower will.

This is why you have to fight. When it becomes public that the NSA has been hoovering up all of your users' communications and personal files, what's going to save you in the eyes of those users is whether or not you fought. Fighting will cost you money in the short term, but capitulating will cost you more in the long term.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/the-nsa-is-commandeering-the-internet/278572/



The Gadfly is finding it very difficult to get upset about this NSA stuff.  For we dirty fucking hippie liberals warned Americans that this domestic spying shit was going to escalate exponentially after 9/11 occurred.  Predictably, we were ignored and marginalized and told to shut our mouths lest we be labeled as "traitors."  And just like how we were right about the stupidity of Vietnam and Iraq and the meddling in other countries affairs and other foreign and domestic actions that are turning this country into an unrestrained corporatocracy/Military Industrialopoly, we were right yet again about the NSA's Big Brother activities.

It is actually good to see some mainstream outlets such as The Atlantic, investigating this story more in depth. The Gadfly, quite frankly, believes that Edward Snowden has done more to preserve the heart of American democracy by his whistle blowing on the obviously out of control spooks in our government and he will be vindicated once the dust settles.  Mr. Snowden's messy situation aside however, now is the time for all concerned Americans to unify and stand up and denounce this internal data gathering bullshit.  We The People need to reclaim the rights that our founding fathers and documents assigned to us and there are not enough ifs, ands, or buts from the government and it's privatized intelligence infrastructure to justify what they are doing -- and leave no doubt about it -- they must comply with The Constitution lest they themselves, in the eleventh hour, be labeled "traitors."

The Gadfly really cannot say much more on this matter.  The outcome is solely in the hands of the American people - they either care about the preservation of their way of life and the democracy and freedom that comprises the core of their existence, or they don't.  Time will dictate our fate.


----TFG