More spying and focused energy beams? NSA, say it ain't so.
A nation that spies on its own people neither trusts nor can be trusted.
That quote is my own. Use it. Believe it. Explore it. But be discerning in what you choose to believe about allegations and accusations.
I just watched a video on 9to5mac.com titled "To Protect and Infect. Part II" presented by Jacob Appelbaum.
Jacob "Jake" Appelbaum makes some pretty serious accusations and allegations against the NSA for illegal spy activity—not against other nations but against its own people—in other words, you and me.
If the charges are true, then we, as a nation, should pressure the government into dismantling the operations and into abandoning the agency. If, however, the allegations are false and the "leaked" documents are found to be fake, then the NSA's accusers should stand up and apologize for what they've said and have taken as gospel. I'm no lawyer, so I don't know if they should stand trial or not but they need to answer for their assumptions, if found to be wrong.
NSA is watching you
I'm skeptical of the lengthy and elaborate accusations. Sorry Jake.
Let me give you some background for my skepticism as a prologue to this discussion before continuing.
Supposedly this domestic spying began during the "Cold War" and has escalated to the point at which it currently stands. If that's true, then allow me to warn you to not believe everything you hear, see, or read—even if it looks like an official government document.
During the so-called Cold War, there was a lot of spying, sabre rattling, brinkmanship, and careful release of "leaked" documents. It is those "leaked" documents that I want to focus on here for the purpose of this discussion.
Intelligent espionage includes the release of real and fabricated documents. Officials leak the real ones to give spies and the public a "taste" of what's going on. The fake ones are released to confuse and to bait the enemy into chasing red herrings. Chasing those tasty tidbits is expensive and fruitless. It also makes the chaser look like a fool, which is their intended purpose.
Remember "The Defector" episode from Star Trek: TNG? The Romulan defector was a high-ranking officer and Romulan official who was privy to Romulan "secrets" and strategies. The truth of the matter was that he hadn't been trusted by the Romulan high command for some time and most of the information he had was false and useless.
But the Romulans made it look like he was vital and that his loss would cause a great incident between the Federation and Romulus. It was all fake.
That's Cold War stuff. And it's often more effective against an enemy than real bombs are.
To further prove my point, how much money did the US spend on building up a legitimate nuclear arsenal to defend itself against Russia's overestimated warhead fleets? What was the price of President Kennedy's spy surveillance of Cuba during the "missile crisis?"
If I were spying on someone, I'd let that person believe that I had near magical powers and that I could see into his very soul. His sleep would be disturbed. His level of paranoia would be so high that he would take crazy precautions against my spying ability. He would drive circuitous routes to try to shake my surveillance. He would pay in cash. He would disconnect his phone.
NSA exposed
He would live in the dark.
In essence, I would own (pwn) him and his life.
How would I do it? How would I convince him that I knew everything there was to know about him, his movements, his habits, and so on?
I would do some preliminary spying. You'd be surprised to know what all you can find out about a person through the internet, public records, and a bit of personal research. It doesn't take much to convince someone that you know more than you know and that you have more power than you have.
That too is a cold war.
Heightened vigilance is expensive, time-consuming, and exhausting.
It makes you do things that you wouldn't normally do.
All in the name of protecting yourself from this enormous beast that lurks in every crevice of your being.
In the aforementioned video, Jake describes some very elaborate exploits for mobile devices and computers in general.
Some of the technologies he talks about seem magical and unreal to me. Some of the accusations are downright silly.
For example, saying that the NSA intercepts your Amazon.com purchases to plant malicious software onto your hard drives, into your BIOS, or into your networking hardware. He also accuses the NSA of using technology to "beam" energy into your body.
He suggests that the NSA can compromise your powered-off WiFi from eight miles away.
He also says that he and other security researchers have been targeted by the NSA and are under attack.
At one point during his presentation, he asks the audience, "Who's crazy now?"
I'll take a guess at that. It will be a lot easier than trying to guess how many jelly beans are in that jar at the grocery store I'll betcha.
It's cute and lucrative to play on people's paranoia. I see it all the time at the local gun shows that come through town. It got so crazy at one point, during the Clinton years, that I stopped going to gun shows.
"The government is going to take our guns". "The government is spying on us". "You should go off the grid". "You should stock up on water, dehydrated food, and put half your assets into cash and gold".
Crazy, right?
I hope you said "Yes".
And, of course, by saying that this is all paranoia, there are those of you who will retort with, "That's what they want you to think; that's how they'll get you". To which I respond, "You should stock up on some of those yummy antipsychotic medications your doctor prescribed you (or should prescribe you)".
Before you assume anything about me, I'm actually one of those people who believes in certain conspiracies. Examples: John Kennedy's assassination, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, Anwar Sadat's death, and a few more. They were not perpetrated by a single person. Each of them was carefully orchestrated with multiple possible scenario options, many people involved, and scapegoats/patsies available to take the fall when something goes wrong.
Yes, Eric Snowden is such a patsy. He is the Romulan defector. He is L.H. Oswald. He is part of the bigger plan. See? Conspiracy. I'm in on that level.
I wasn't fooled when I saw General Colin Powell testify before Congress about WMDs in Iraq. He didn't convince me. His pictures didn't convince me. He was also a patsy. When he realized it, he bailed. I had a lot of respect for him but he was tricked or part of the trick to invade Iraq, which I believe to be a criminal action by the US government. There, I said it.
I won't live my life steeped in paranoia*. I won't change the way I drive home from the grocery store. I won't power off my WiFi router at night. I won't power off my phones at night. I won't go off the grid. I won't be a victim of silliness. And neither should you.
If the NSA is guilty of said charges, then they should be held accountable for them.
And Jake Appelbaum would be a lot more convincing if he weren't dressed like an actor from Star Trek: TNG in that video. He also lost a great deal of credibility when he accused the NSA of beaming energy into people. I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't judge him too harshly. Maybe the NSA is working on an actual Phaser and this is the prototype for it.
Maybe guys like Jake are being used to perpetuate this kind of paranoia to take the focus off of the real problems: jobs, economy, literacy, hunger, orphaned children, welfare, gangs, and the disaffectation of our voting population.
Think about it. If I were trying to cover up a real problem, I'd leak something else to do it. Wag that dog, dude, wag that dog.
*With the exceptions of my foil helmet, the bits of foil in my car's hubcaps, and the foil lining I've put up all around the eves of my house.
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