Quite honestly, I find myself starting to "edit" my own comments on DU

[99th_Monkey]

because I KNOW they are subject to public scrutiny at the very least, which means
that the evil forces behind this insidious tyranny that keeps morphing into shape before
our very eyes, can use every utterance as "evidence" that will never see a courtroom,
but which might actually get me locked up or worse, at some point down the road,
where all the cans have been kicked.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

1. For anyone listening at the NSA I think that you're doing a great job and all deserve pay raises.

[ileus]

19. ^ Not only that I voted for your boss.

[Arugula Latte]

39. I think they've all been working out.

Lost some weight. Lookin' good, NSA peeps. Lookin' good there.

[nebenaube]

2. hmm

Thanks to AJAX, Facebook's text edit control is a keylogger. This one, not so much...

[reformist2]

3. It seriously is time to start cutting back on internet use altogether.

[emulatorloo]

13. Never trusted the Internet, but one day I just said fuck it.

[BlueStreak]

4. The people at NSA tend to be very intelligent. And good looking.

[BlueCheese]

29. I see what you did there.

[BlueStreak]

30. I can't help noticing that some other people here hate the NSA, but

I think they are really cool.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

33. It should remind all of us of the story:

Two men were hiking in the mountains. One suddenly stopped, removed his hiking boots, and started putting on sneakers.

The second man asked why he was doing that.

The first one answered, "I thought I heard a bear."

The second argued logically, "Even with sneakers, you can't outrun a bear."

The first responded, "You're right. But I just need to outrun you."

[BlueStreak]

34. Exactly. Y'all are on your own when the NSA gets here. :)

[hobbit709]

5. I don't care if I'm on a list or not.

Won't be the first, won't be the last.

[sibelian]

53. Well it would be better if you weren't on any.

Wouldn't it?

Why should you or I be told we should trust anyone?

[temporary311]

6. Probably wouldn't do any good.

Leftists and liberals are usually among the first targets for these kinds of programs, even more so when they become used for truly nefarious ends. Wouldn't be surprised if this site or any other that's even a little left of center has been archived multiple times.

[BlueStreak]

7. You can bet that they are tabulating a "national security score" much like Equifax does with credit

If they can identify a person as being active on a politically-oriented site, that will be very bad for your score. If there is one thing the authoritarians don't want, it is politically informed and active people from ANY political viewpoint.

So individual posts probably aren't that important to them at this stage. They would be much more interested in the "meta" characteristics. How often do you post? Mow many different sites do you frequent? etc.

Same thing with the phone records. They don't really care about the message content when we're talking about compiling Big Data. If you get a call from an al Qaeda phone number -- or from a reporter that is critical of the administration -- that's enough to finger you for extra scrutiny.

[99th_Monkey]

15. I think you are 100% correct

in you assertions. We've been bamboozled by the terrorist meme,
into accepting a corporate-driven oligarchy, despite all "guarantees"
to the contrary contained in the US Constitution.

It's all over but the shoutin'

[emulatorloo]

8. Better to just say what you want and give a shout-out to Agent Mike

That worked in the past just fine.

[temporary311]

10. But what if it's Agent Steve on the clock

and he thinks Agent Mike is a dick?

[freshwest]

59. Better yet, do a John Connor and erase yourself from the net. Oops, too late. Way too late.

Better hop on that ride with the nice robot.

[quinnox]

9. not me

I wouldn't edit, they can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

[DevonRex]

11. Forget it. You've got a Thought Implant. It beams straight to FIVE EYES. nt

[freshwest]

43. Mercy! I can hear the breathless terror in the OP all the way to my computer! Cue the music:

Daily intro music on the Infowars program.

They will be coming for us.

SOOON

[DevonRex]

48. *snort*

[url=http://www.desismileys.com/][img][/img][/url]

[treestar]

50. The paranoia here is laughable

And of course there is nothing the government can do against its critics. I suspect op will simply attribute his ordinary misfortunes to the secret machinations of agent mike.

[TalkingDog]

12. Look. Agent Mike is just doing his fucking job. Give him a break.

It's hard work shredding the Constitution.

[99th_Monkey]

16. Yes, of course we all pity Agent Mike

poor fellow.

[LWolf]

14. I've always done that,

not because of public scrutiny, but because DU is a censored site. So I self-censor.

[99th_Monkey]

17. DU is "censored" by whom?

besides ourselves I mean.

[LWolf]

25. DU is not a free-speech site.

Read the TOS.

[99th_Monkey]

38. So we are censoring ourselves, by mutual agreement with Skinner, et. al.

Your answer helps me to know your meaning.

I've already perused the TOS, but thanks anyway.

[hunter]

54. Have you read YouTube or Yahoo comments. Facebook???

That's why this site is "censored" -- so it doesn't end up looking like those.

I don't "self censor" here at all.

If I lose my cool, a hide doesn't bother me.

My politics are far left of the DU mainstream and my views on economics and the environment are radical.

If misogynist or homophobic posts are hidden, if posts advocating violence are hidden and certain posters banned, good. That's what keeps this place readable.

Posters who irritate me, I ignore mostly in my head, but sometimes by using the ignore functions.

[LWolf]

55. Nope.

I don't read YouTube or Yahoo comments. My participation on Facebook is mostly to keep in touch with people I know who are too far away to see in person.

If your politics are really "far left of the DU mainstream," you have to self-censor. Why? Because DU is a partisan site, and that's what I'm referring to. The Democratic Party is not "far left," and the Democratic Party mainstream is not left at all. Many high profile elected Democrats work in opposition to the left. You can criticize them to a point, but there is a limit.

You think misogynistic posts are hidden? Maybe the most extreme, but there are plenty that aren't. That goes for the rest, as well.

Do you realize how many of those banned posters were posters FROM THE LEFT, who did not censor themselves carefully enough? Plenty.

I don't "ignore" anyone; I can do that on my own without help.

I have rarely had a post hidden, because I follow the rules, and censor myself, or just don't post at all if I think I'm going to lose my cool. The only action I've ever had admins take against me was to ban my sigline privileges for a few years; it was too controversial and pissed a bunch of people off. The funny thing is that many at DU have now come around to that position, and would probably agree with that signline to some degree were I to put it up again. I'm not going to, though. I'm self-censoring.

Here's something interesting: I found DU in 2002, became an active member in January of 2003. Having lived in RW strongholds my entire life, surrounded by neocons, it was refreshing to find people who weren't. When I first got here, I was moderate, in comparison to a large number of posters I was reading. Now I'm too far left for DU, for the most part. The interesting part? My positions on issues haven't changed a bit. It's DU, along with too much of the Democratic Party, that has moved emphatically to the right and above ground with the election of a center-right neoliberal Democrat to the WH. These days, while I don't "ignore" people, plenty ignore me. Why? Because I'm too far left, and not partisan enough, for them.

[hunter]

56. I voted for Obama eyes wide open knowing that...

... U.S. politics represents various factions of the oligarchy; knowing that U.S. politics is about money more than the people.

U.S. candidates and politicians who are not supported by the oligarchy are shot down (sometimes literally...)

Center-right Obama is still better than Romney. The game is still rigged so we lose, but with the Democratic candidates we lose less. It's not a two party system, it's a one and a half party system.

I don't think we can fight the machine in their own venue other than to keep the elections clean. (The election of George W. Bush was dirty in every way.)

But beyond the ballot box there are ways to put pressure on the oligarchs. Their models of human behavior and nature are flawed and that is their weakness.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. The point of DU has always been to get your comments available to the whole world

It's a forum, nearly all of which has always been visible to the whole world - and when meta-discussion was here, all it took was the creation of an account by any interested party. No-one should ever think that DU would be able to hide your true identity if government lawyers set to work; a court would force the disclosure of your identity for a normal libel case.

I suppose your DU mail is something you could reconsider now; that is private between you and the sender, but if you think your ISP monitors or copies everything sent over your internet connection, it would include that. And I would think court orders would be able to force DU to disclose DU mail; if you're worried about that, then delete the stuff you don't want read by others, and ask whomever you sent it to to do the same.

[99th_Monkey]

20. I'm not really all that "worried" frankly,

I'm beyond worried, as way too many horses have already Left the barn, so to speak.

I'm sure my file goes back to the late 60s, which I was involved with SDS, anti-war
groups, and the Ceasar Chavez grape boycott.

But I didn't exactly lie in saying that recent developments with NSA, NDAA, the drone
war (aka the "New Terrorist Factory&quot , etc. do give me some pause re: what I say
here.

I know the risks, as does Snowden, whom I greatly admire for coming forward.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/06/09/edward-snowden-reveals-himself-as-nsa-leaker/

&feature=player_embedded

[wandy]

21. Watch what you say. Watch what you do..................

And keep in mind, today's alert level is Orange.

[RKP5637]

28. ... time to get out the duct tape and plastic wrap? God was that stupid. I recall

pallets and pallets of the stuff here at Home Depot.

[kestrel91316]

32. Gawd. I was renting a leaky old house then, and I was stuck trying to figure out

which room to use as my duct-tape-and-plastic safe room, since none would have sufficed for various reasons.

I had face masks and even atropine injection (nerve gas antidote). I just stuck the stuff in a closet and forgot about it. It was there IF I needed it. When I moved out in 2007 I tossed all that and realized how we all had been played for fools.

[niyad]

36. wasn't it rummy who owned stock in alcoa--which was getting rich from the sale of plastic wrap?

[RKP5637]

37. ... probably. It's all a racket, and then we pay them too, what a deal. n/t

[ThoughtCriminal]

22. One reason I post is that I want "Them" to read to read it.

Yeah I'm talking to you Mr. Keyword Parsing A.I. Software Thing!

As for the utility of such a system for actual national security, I think it's like thinking you can write great plays by doing a computer analysis of word count metrics for Shakespeare.

[treestar]

23. this site is public anyway!

[99th_Monkey]

41. Yes, except for DU direct messaging. I did acknowledge that in the OP.

did I not?

[freshwest]

58. What, you didn't fall for the spell cast in the OP? It's classic! Well written, I'm rec'ing it.

[awoke_in_2003]

24. I dont...

I didn't when Bush was the spy in chief, I won't now. Fuck their surveillance. If something I have to say makes me so dangerous that they need to come after me I will just end it, because then this place wouldn't be worth living in.

[msanthrope]

26. Agent Mike is pretty understanding. I wouldn't worry. nt

[Buns_of_Fire]

31. And his kids are just ADORABLE!

(Hi, Mike. Just checking in. I hope you got to take the kids to Disney World before they raised the prices. I know how tight money can be when you work in a government job, believe me! Please give them a hug from "Uncle Buns" and say "hi" to your wonderful wife for me. As always, my best to all...)

[RKP5637]

27. Edit doesn't matter. If it's been posted it's there already. If editing more

before ever posting, that's a different story. I have to admit for me, I feel under constant surveillance anymore, real or imagined. TPTB, whomever, will manage to totally fuck it up for everyone. That's how it often goes, good things get fucked up because the crew enters that turns them into weapons. The internet will become akin to "Idiocracy," stuff for stupid people, because the smart ones say fuck it.

And the bad guys, they will just carry on. Not too many planning bad are probably going to do an APB across the world.

[applegrove]

35. I edit because sometimes I replace one word for a like sounding one, or my

meaning is not clear. Spelling. Commas. I often scan and rescan ideas in my brain, getting a 3D picture, and I update/expand my thoughts.

[99th_Monkey]

42. Me too

I love that we can do that with our DU posts, for clarity's sake, if
nothing else.

Sometimes though I think people become suspicious when they see
very many self-edits without any explanation, so I try to do that in
the space provided.

[applegrove]

44. I never explain. I guess I should. I don't feel suspicious of anyone who

has edited a post. I suppose I should make the note.

[FarCenter]

40. I was fingerprinted in a police station when I was about 10

It was on a school trip, and they were showing us how it was done. I doubt they kept them. But the FBI has at least 3 later sets.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

45. Did you live during the McCarthy era?

[99th_Monkey]

46. I was just a kid then

but I DO remember that some of my dad's friends were targeted,
one was a journalist whose life was totally destroyed.

[alcibiades_mystery]

47. ROFL

This is the edited version?

[99th_Monkey]

49. That's for me to know

and you to find out.

Glad you are amused. We all need a good laugh once in awhile.

[alcibiades_mystery]

51. The amusement you generate

is actually pretty consistent.

[liberal N proud]

52. That's like zipping up after she is knocked up

We know that agent Mike has already collected enough on all of us over the last 10+ years.

[99th_Monkey]

57. I know. belive me, I know.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2979677