Bush Funds US Spying on Internet Chat Rooms

[vista]

Bush Funds US Spying on Internet Chat Rooms

Michael Hill, AP -- TROY, N.Y. -- Amid the torrent of jabber in Internet chat rooms - flirting by QTpie and BoogieBoy, arguments about politics and horror flicks - are terrorists plotting their next move?The government certainly isn't discounting the possibility. It's taking the idea seriously enough to fund a yearlong study on chat room surveillance under an anti-terrorism program. Mark Rasch, a former head of the Justice Department's computer crimes unit, said such a system would bring the country one step closer to the Pentagon's much-maligned Terrorism Information Awareness program.

Research on that massive data-mining project was halted after an uproar over its impact on privacy.

"It's the ability to gather and analyze massive amounts of data that creates the privacy problem," Rasch said, "even though no individual bit of data is particularly private."

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/10/12/6878231

US still funding powerful data mining tools - Total Information Awareness projects transferred to other agencies.

The Associated Press reports that the US government is still financing research to create powerful software tools that could mine millions of public and private records for information about terrorists, despite last year's controversy over how easily and how often the software might implicate people who have nothing to do with terrorism.

Although Congress eliminated funding for the original project, known as the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program and run by Iran-Contragate figure retired Adm. John Poindexter, AP reports, lawmakers left undisturbed a separate but similar $64 million research program run by a little-known US government office called Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA) that has used some of the same researchers as Mr. Poindexter's program.

ARDA, is so secretive it's not listed in the 684-page official compilation of federal departments, agencies and offices, reports Tech Central. ARDA researches and develops computer software and equipment to "intercept and analyze foreign intelligence that is transmitted electronically – and to protect the US methods used to obtain and communicate it." 

 

[Andem]

Welcome to the age of convergence..

During the Cold War, a number of Western Soviet experts claimed that the US and the Soviet Union were actually, ideological differences aside, starting to resemble each other. This theory was called "convergence". In a nutshell, this was the idea that, regardless of ideology, whether it be one of democracies with market economies or one-party states with central economic planning, the superpowers were being pushed closer together by the forces of modernization. Urbanization, higher levels of education, post-industrialization, consumerism and overall heightened social expectations, it was said, were lessening the ideological differences between the competing powers, as both had to deal with the same problems. Ideology, at the end of the day, was not enough to clearly differentiate the two supposedly different political systems.

Source

Now, just take away the wreath of wheat representing farmers and replace it with greenbacks.. Then we have a new coat of arms that effectively represents the current and future values of the United States (as expressed by former Soviet values mixed with so-called "American" values).

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Bush Funds US Spying

This isn't anything new...I was banned from the US a long time ago and it had to be from something I said on the internet.

 

[LadyC]

What, just getting banned from a site wasn't good enough for you, you had to get banned from a whole country?!?

I'm impressed, Rev.
:wink:

 

[Martin Le Acadien]

What, just getting banned from a site wasn't good enough for you, you had to get banned from a whole country?!?

I'm impressed, Rev.


Hell Rev,
I thought that the FREE ACADIE bumpersticker was my hold up at the border! The lady at Revenue Canada-Customs asked me where
Acadie was! History wasn't her strong suite but then with her looks it didn't need to be. Like Lady C i'm impressed but I am
in exile and just sneek across with my RV posing as Normal Tourist
seeking out adventure, funny thing, customs never checks whats in my heart and mind, just whats in the refrig.

Acadien in exile (French Neutral)

Je me souviens 1755.

 

[Rick van Opbergen]

Acadia as in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia? or more? or less? do you think it has to become independent? or am I asking stupid questions at the moment?

 

[Diamond Sun]

Being banned from the whole country is pretty amazing. Is it a permanent ban? I know my husband and his brother have both been banned from the US at one time or another. (Called being "red flagged"). Apparently highly skilled technical workers aren't welcome in the US, but they'll take that 16 year old combine worker anyday.

 

[Martin Le Acadien]

Re: RE: Bush Funds US Spying on Internet Chat Rooms

Acadia as in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia?

Acadie was that land until 1720 which comprised parts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI when the Treaty of Utrich gave what is now Southern Nova Scotia to Great Britian which she called NOVA SCOTIA. In 1755 a Deportation of People were carried out in the name of "SECURITY" and the Acadien People (Those persons who spoke French, were Roman Catholic and described as French Neutrals under the Treaty of 1720) were scattered over the 13 Colonies, the Caribbean, the Falkland Islands and prison camps in England until after the last French and Indian War(1756-1763) when the poor wretched souls from which I am descended found their way to Louisiana in an exodus of Biblical Proportions. Read the poem by Henry Longfellow "Evangeline" and you will get a glimpse into what we Acadiens or Cajuns (Corrupted word in English from the word Acadian) call the "GRAND DERANGEMENT" or what some historians who want to downplay the darkside of Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide of the Acadien and MicMaq people at the hands of Great Britian.


or more? or less?

The Acadien People have overcome their trials and arrived at a new Renaissance, both in the Maritimes of Canada and Louisiana with the rebirth of French language, Culture and Arts. Here in Louisiana we were punished for speaking French but gained the upper hand 30 yrs ago with our restored voting rights and political numbers. We obtain some of our French News and Heritage from the Maritimes via broadcasts, movies, music and the arts and even 250 years of seperation has not dimmed our connection to what my grandmother said her Grandmother said her grandmother called her land of birth, "La Terre des la longue nieges" or "The Land of Long Snows".


do you think it has to become independent?

Independent as a separate country? No, Acadie is a "Pays
sans Frontieres" or a country without froniers (borders) since we predate the Canadian and US countries, our people lived in harmony with the Native Americans or First Nations People
and intermarried with them. Since our people live in a technical Exile due to history, our minds must first be independent and then we can hope for recognition of our belonging to both the US and Canada.


or am I asking stupid questions at the moment?[

The only stupid question is the one not asked, study our struggle
by looking at the history of the Acadien People, Sturdy the "GRAND DERANGEMENT" and history of Nova Scotia and particularly the year 1755 and Gov. Lawrence (Acadia's own Adolf Hitler).

 

[Andem]

Martin, you are not asking a stupid question nor are you in the wrong for finally distinguising yourself from the rest of the United States just like Quebec is constant in distinguising it's self from the rest of Canada.

Though Quebec and Acadia are two very different causes, I very much understand how you wish to be part of Canada because of our acceptance and embrace of two languages, both English and French. Other Acadians from Nova Scotia and the rest of the maritime provinces are all very happy to be part of Canada.

I know the US is just a melting pot.

 

[Andem]

Re: RE: Bush Funds US Spying

This isn't anything new...I was banned from the US a long time ago and it had to be from something I said on the internet.

I still wonder how you can get banned from an entire country, I know people like Cat Stevens can do it because he's now muslim and his name is quite obviously muslim, but just because you post some facts on Internet forums?

Did you just get stopped at the border one day being told "No, you can't get in, we don't like the way you think?" or something along those lines?

Geeze, banned from the states because of a forum.. that's horrible.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Bush Funds US Spying

I was actually looking into getting a pardon for a twenty year old drunk driving charge and the woman looking into said, "They have you listed as an unfriendly activist."

It's the same as those no-fly lists that anti-war and anti-trade protestors keep showing up on...basically a secret enemies list.

The thing is that the most active thing I was doing at the time was making fun of George Bush on the old Michael Moore site (I don't think the new one has poster boards) and sending bizarre e-mails to Zenfisher. I wasn't going to protest marches or anything, not even the March for Peace. If I can end up on one of those lists, so can anybody.

I haven't checked my status since but my assumption is that these lists will disappear rather quickly when Bush leaves office, just like Nixon's offical enemies lists did. You never know though...I heard Farley Mowatt is still banned from the US after all these years.

 

[Martin Le Acadien]

Re: RE: Bush Funds US Spying on Internet Chat Rooms

Martin, you are not asking a stupid question nor are you in the wrong for finally distinguising yourself from the rest of the United States just like Quebec is constant in distinguising it's self from the rest of Canada.

Though Quebec and Acadia are two very different causes, I very much understand how you wish to be part of Canada because of our acceptance and embrace of two languages, both English and French. Other Acadians from Nova Scotia and the rest of the maritime provinces are all very happy to be part of Canada.

I know the US is just a melting pot.

I was answering a question for a poster from the Netherlands
and we are trying to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the US
mainly by our language and food habits (Cajun is not hot, just spicy GOOD food) along with our music and culture ("Betty Sue,
I dont' think these folks are true blue Red Neck Americans, they talk funny and fly a French Flag with a Yellow Star in it!") The Acadians from Louisiana would be happy to be in Canada also!
(In the summer) but then most Acadians from the Maritimes
would be happy to be in Louisiana durant l'hiver.(During the winter)!

We haven't melted in, just ready to influence the flavor of the
pot to our liking.

 

[Rick van Opbergen]

wow that was quite interesting Martin. is it not true though that the French-speaking part of what you call Canjuns is nearly extinct? I've heard that the number of people in Louisiana who still speak French is quite small; that it is a dieing community. Is that true?

 

[Martin Le Acadien]

Re: RE: Bush Funds US Spying on Internet Chat Rooms

wow that was quite interesting Martin. is it not true though that the French-speaking part of what you call Canjuns is nearly extinct? I've heard that the number of people in Louisiana who still speak French is quite small; that it is dieing community. Is that true?

While French Speaking Cajuns were on the decline from 1940
to 1980's, the rebirth of the Francophone in Louisiana has
been mass media and the older folks who were punished for talking it in School (Made to kneel on rice, whipped or punished
in some other cruel way) have lead th fight since they were the key. It wasn't cool to speak French in the 50's, now it has come full circle and is being taught in French Immersion programs with
Teachers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec France and Belguim. The intermarrying rate with English Speaking "Americains" was a factor but now its cool to speak
French and be "Cajun" so the rebirth is under way. Until the 1990
census by the US Govt., there was no way to enumerate who spoke French so the latest figures show about 900,000 people in
Louisiana are Allophoneas (Biligual) with a total Acadian count of about 2.5 Million Acadians in the US (counting emigrated and deported together).

The Canadian Govt has taken somewhat of an interest in our
numbers and have tried to report that they could not "find"
any French Speaking Acadiens in Louisiana since there is a
Lawsuit over the Deportation under the International Court
of Justice for Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing (search Warren Perrin Petition).

My wife and I have been very active in preventing the :wink:
EXTINCTION of the ACADIENS
in South Louisiana and our neighbourhood is just filled
with Children, so rumours of our demise is GREATLY exxagerated.

Vie L'Acadie

 

[Darkgrammer]

rofl, the government can't control the internet, lol. Hell if they banned me from the US, I'll go to canada and say sh*t about them again. If you can hear this you low scum of an excuse for a government worker then I say, Screw Bush, screw the US for everelecting him, screw republicans, now if that makes me unpatriotic then the government has reach a new low.

*3 Moths Later, Darkgrammer was found Shot near a Ditch in Washington D.C*

 

[Rick van Opbergen]

wow that was quite interesting Martin. is it not true though that the French-speaking part of what you call Canjuns is nearly extinct? I've heard that the number of people in Louisiana who still speak French is quite small; that it is dieing community. Is that true?

While French Speaking Cajuns were on the decline from 1940
to 1980's, the rebirth of the Francophone in Louisiana has
been mass media and the older folks who were punished for talking it in School (Made to kneel on rice, whipped or punished
in some other cruel way) have lead th fight since they were the key. It wasn't cool to speak French in the 50's, now it has come full circle and is being taught in French Immersion programs with
Teachers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec France and Belguim. The intermarrying rate with English Speaking "Americains" was a factor but now its cool to speak
French and be "Cajun" so the rebirth is under way. Until the 1990
census by the US Govt., there was no way to enumerate who spoke French so the latest figures show about 900,000 people in
Louisiana are Allophoneas (Biligual) with a total Acadian count of about 2.5 Million Acadians in the US (counting emigrated and deported together).

The Canadian Govt has taken somewhat of an interest in our
numbers and have tried to report that they could not "find"
any French Speaking Acadiens in Louisiana since there is a
Lawsuit over the Deportation under the International Court
of Justice for Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing (search Warren Perrin Petition).

My wife and I have been very active in preventing the :wink:
EXTINCTION of the ACADIENS
in South Louisiana and our neighbourhood is just filled
with Children, so rumours of our demise is GREATLY exxagerated.

Vie L'Acadie

wow that's really interesting to learn. i'm studying antropology and I find this really interesting do you have a website or something about this re-emerging Acadian identity?

 

[Martin Le Acadien]

[Vie L'Acadie [/quote]
wow that's really interesting to learn. i'm studying antropology and I find this really interesting do you have a website or something about this re-emerging Acadian identity?[/quote]

Just do a search on the Acadien or Acadian or Cajun as the keywords and you will find a bunch of information. Jeez, are there websites, too many to count or so it seems, happy reading.

 

[Rick van Opbergen]

Yeah I did some reading now, maybe I'm even planning to buy a book about Cajun history!

 

[Reverend Blair]

From Reporters Without Borders:

The United States wields a predominant influence over the Internet's development. It has the most advanced technologies, imposes its technical standards and produces more online content than any other country in the world. The influence is cultural as well as technological.

Thanks to its first amendment, the US constitution is very protective of free expression. Many racist websites and sites that defend violence are tolerated in the United States, where there are few restraints on the freedom to express one's opinions. But since the 11 September 2001 attacks, the government has had emergency anti-terrorist measures passed which trample on individual freedoms and ignore confidentiality in communications. So the Internet is suffering the consequences of this fight against terrorism.

The debate has continued in 2004 between the government, which wants to maintain the legislation established in 2001 such as the Patriot Act (see box), and US civil liberties groups pressing for the withdrawal of measures that were supposed to have been temporary. The US government is today caught in an increasingly glaring contradiction. The fight against terrorism pushes the government to ride roughshod over civil liberties : it spies on the Internet, it intercepts e-mail messages, and gives the FBI more and more online surveillance powers. In this sense, it is a model for repressive governments, which pride themselves on having adopted laws similar to those passed by the United States in September 2001. Such repressive laws obviously have an even more harmful effect in countries without checks and balances that protect individual freedoms and without an influential civil society.

It is thanks to technology supplied by US corporations that China carries out its online surveillance and hunts down cyber-dissidents (see box). Nonetheless, the United States likes to see itself as the champion of online free expression and has launched costly programmes to combat censorship around the world.

The full story can be found at http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10612

 

[Rick van Opbergen]

:mrgreen: with the talk about Acadians/Cajuns, I kinda forgot this thread was actually about Bush and the US.