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Big Brother Will Be Watching Us
Cyber Tzar = Thought Policeman
First the definition of Tzar, Tsar, Czar etc. from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar
Tsar or czar[1] (Bulgarian цар, Russian:
царь (help·info), Ukrainian: цар, in Serbian: цар / car, in scientific transliteration respectively car' and car), occasionally spelled csar or tzar in English, is a Slavic term designating certain monarchs.
Originally, the title Czar (derived from Caesar) meant Emperor in the European medieval sense of the term, that is, a ruler who claims the same rank as a Roman emperor, with the approval of another emperor or a supreme ecclesiastical official (the Pope or the Ecumenical Patriarch).
Occasionally, the word could be used to designate other, non-Christian, supreme rulers. In Russia and Bulgaria the imperial connotations of the term were blurred with time and, by the 19th century, it had come to be viewed as an equivalent of King.[2][3]
"Tsar" was the official title of the supreme ruler in the following states:
Reports are rampent on the tubes that by week's end the President will appoint a so-called Cyber Czar. Cyber crime is so challenging that we need a fresh batch of Federal Bureaucracy to watch over the Internets. Funny thing is I thought we had the FBI for just this purpose.
Cyber Crime is scary and growing and we as a country need to fight it with everything we have, BUT it is just another form of crime that our FBI can and should be given authority over.
Some references:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/25/MNPA17QRFQ.DTL
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/25/AR200905...
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 26, 2009President Obama is expected to announce late this week that he will create a "cyber czar," a senior White House official who will have broad authority to develop strategy to protect the nation's government-run and private computer networks, according to people who have been briefed on the plan.
The adviser will have the most comprehensive mandate granted to such an official to date and will probably be a member of the National Security Council but will report to the national security adviser as well as the senior White House economic adviser, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations are not final.
All of the articles I've read, mention that this person will report to the NSA and Economic advisors but even directly to the President. This White House, this Administration is once again trying to bypass the career / non-political people in our enforcement agencies so that they, The President, can Dictate policy and action directly. Dictate being the word that scares the shit out of me. We have separation of powers in the government but also have always had a separation between the career employees and the politcal appointees of the White House. President Obama wants to throw that tradition under the bus. He wants full control and the next step my friends is the taking away of our right to say and think differently than our leaders.
The bots will say that he is good, he is well intentioned. He may indeed be but this is how it begins. This is how dictators gain control of democracies. A universal threat such as terrorism or cyber security demands that we give up just a tiny bit of our freedom so the govenrment can protect us. The new Cyber Czar needs to be in the White House so he/she can have direct access and bypass all those stupid rules and controls that the FBI and others work under.
Well, those millions of men and women we honored this weekend did not give their lives so the USA could begin to spy on it's people, monitor our email or read this blog post.
Our Freedom and Our Constitution are not things that Obama can screw with any more than Bush.
"War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength."
Special thanks to Brittney Gabriel the student who made that video in 2007
- NewHampster's blog
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there are parts of our lexicon that come directly from the thought police of 1984 or the McCarthy Era. So many in the media have become so used to using the terms that they no longer realize what they are saying.
Suspected Terrorist
Potential Threat
One I just heard in relation to ships going in and out of N. Korea - Possible Nuclear Cargo
since when does the USA deal in suspicion rather than guilt?
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
Thank you NH for writing this. We cannot allow our government to start spying on us under the guise that they they are trying to protect us. You are so right....this is indeed how it begins.
If so, there's not much to worry about.
That said, it was a strange announcement. Cyber crime should belong to the FBI; issues related to national security involving the internet would be the province of the NSA. It's probably the case that there are computer systems used by the government, including the White House, that are pretty outdated and so, more susceptible to hacking. Maybe Obama needs some type of coordinator to determine which systems should be modernized, prioritize the work, and advise on system security for any upgrades, but that doesn't sound like a cabinet level post to me. If he's talking about a White House appointee trying to oversee and coordinate the computer security programs of the FBI, the NSA, the military (think DARPA), etc - what's the purpose of that and also - what problem is Obama trying to solve? If that can't be defined, sounds like more pointless bureaucracy.
As for Big Brother - that was the new FISA law and it's already fait accompli.
Independently adrift
My problem with the whole thing is this. I have always approached the Internet and especially blogs with the "assumption" that the CIA, FBI or NSA may be reading this stuff. I don't actually mind the professionals looking because I'm not "breaking any laws". I do get scared shitless by some political hack analysing my "intent" then having me locked away for my suspected subversion. Am I just shooting off my mouth or am I trying to subvert the government?
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
if it ever becomes *cough* law, *cough* as Obama is incredibly advocating, would give the government the ability to do exactly that. Gee, looks like you wrote something 5 years ago (which the goverment legally spied on and kept records of under FISA) that might indicate you may consider doing something 'bad' 5 years in the future. OK, throw you in jail with no trial and throw away the key (under the upcoming preventive detention law). Welcome to the US of Chile, circa 1970.
It seems only the blogosphere really took note of Obama's bizarre speech at the National Archives on May 21, 2009. (I include Rachel Maddow in the blogosphere due to her shows ratings. It's likely that the same audience watches her show as reads the blogs every day.)
Independently adrift
Sure, there's the threat of cyberterrorism that we need to deal with but it should be done by a professional team that's apolitical. The only reason to have this be a political appointment, a czar who reports directly to the president, is to exert political manipulation. An Internet Czar could monitor political blogs for content critical of the POTUS, for example. Obama has already employed cyber attack teams to prey upon blogs with critical discourse. We called them obots and they hounded Hillary supporters until we left higher profile blogs. Considering his track record, the idea of a Web Czar is troublesome indeed.
Why all the Czars? Aren't the FBI and Homeland Security competent to do this job? If not then we don't need another Czar, another level of bureaucracy, we need more competent people in the FBI and Homeland Security.
I believe that we have competent people in both places. But the powers that be are so busy playing politics that competent professionals do their job at their own peril should it not meet the proper "political" criteria.
A Dishonest/Biased Media Is A Crime Against Democracy!
are already firmly in control.
Move over and make room under the bus for car dealers who did not contribute to Obama.
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/05/shock-big-dem-donor-group-gets...
If this goes unreported by the mainscream media you can figure democracy is pretty much done here in Amerika.
GONE FISHING
Is not interested in Obama corruption at this time creeper.
When, and if, they pull their heads out of his posterior they may have a look since they like to pretend to be investigative reporters from time to time.
Maybe the "Car Czar" could look into this? Oops he's an Obama appointee so the chances of him detecting an Obama scandal are about the same as my flapping my wings and yap hard enough and long enough to fly. "0"
A Dishonest/Biased Media Is A Crime Against Democracy!
Thanks for this link creeper. I would say that this is unbelievable, but with Obama I can believe anything.
President Obama deserves real praise for his groundbreaking, exciting pick of Sonia Sotomayor to be our next Supreme Court justice. I know this statement is off-topic in this Big Brother thread, but I since I haven't seen anything written about it yet at Partizane, I though I might as well. What an exciting life story she has, what obvious intellect, what an inspiring choice!
you are right, and I have a suggestion. You write a post (it is time); I will reply there.
I'm able to write posts?
we don't discriminate
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
…has a great story and it'd be great to have another woman on the bench. It's fabulous that she'd be the first Hispanic. Other than that, she's a poor choice, IMO. Justices should not be chosen on the basis of race or gender. It isn't good that judge Sotomayor has shown racial and gender bias in her decisions. Her 60% reversal rate by the high court might be normal but it sure doesn't sound good.
The choice of Sonia Sotomayor seems to be just a political choice rather than the best choice for the court or the country,
You make it sound as if there is a white male out there who is more qualified than Judge Sotomayor for the position. She has more experience as a judge than any of the current justices on the court had when they were nominated, or anyone nominated in the past 100 years. She has the most impeccable legal academic credentials a nominee could have. The idea that she has been picked "on the basis of race or gender" is not only petty, it's inaccurate.
And at what point does a woman or Hispanic person get the job based on their qualifications alone? Are women and Hispanics always quota picks to you? It sounds like the only justice you would feel to be a non-quota pick is yet another white male. Bush just gave us two of those in a row.
Do you think the court should just go on being 8-1 male to female forever, when there are more women than men in this country? I think yours is a sad, small, narrow way of thinking about this wonderful nomination.
and I applaud him for it.
Interesting tidbit. Yesterday the press were all saying that her parents were immigrants from Puerto Rico. All those born in Puerto Rico since 1917 are citizens. typical american press elitism.
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
Or typical stupidity of those in the press. I guess they weren't aware that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory.
and let your feelings be known (I just did): 1-202-456-1111. You can also write him directly:
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
when Senator Obama voted to give a free pass to the wire-tappers? That was a headsup.