Bradley Manning: Traitor or Whistleblower?

NoCoPilot wrote:

Except the NSA can't listen to phone calls.

They can and they do.

What I meant to say was "phone calls are not recorded and stored."  The NSA can wiretap your phone with a warrant (which are easier to get than they usta be) but that's only live and only if authorized.  Nobody is going to review your calls for the past six months and pick out every time you said the phrase "true profit."  That's 9/11 conspiracy crazy.

Or maybe they do store the people they're listening to, I don't know.  But there wouldn't be enough capacity to wiretap & store everybody.

I have not heard anything about the NSA recording and storing phone calls, but they do have the capability to randomly listen to phone calls in real time. And there have been reports of them doing just that - often just for entertainment.

What reports? Who reported it? Where?

_Howard wrote:

Start here.

Quote :

"These were just really everyday, average, ordinary Americans who happened to be in the Middle East, in our area of intercept and happened to be making these phone calls on satellite phones," said Adrienne Kinne, a 31-year old US Army Reserves Arab linguist assigned to a special military program at the NSA's Back Hall at Fort Gordon from November 2001 to 2003.

Those "just happeneds" are important. Pay attention to them.

NoCoPilot wrote:

_Howard wrote:

Start here.

Quote :

"These were just really everyday, average, ordinary Americans who happened to be in the Middle East, in our area of intercept and happened to be making these phone calls on satellite phones," said Adrienne Kinne, a 31-year old US Army Reserves Arab linguist assigned to a special military program at the NSA's Back Hall at Fort Gordon from November 2001 to 2003.

Those "just happeneds" are important.  Pay attention to them.

NoCoPilot wrote:

Except the NSA can't listen to phone calls.

The point is that those intercepts prove this to be an invalid statement.

You know what I meant. Don't be obtuse.

Government has rested, and withdrawn one of the most serious charges because the details are classified. Judge has until Thursday to decide if the defense even needs to present. I'm guessing an acquittal on all the serious charges is in the works, maybe time-served on some of the minor charges.

Meanwhile, Edward Snowden is being hailed as "the last hope of America."

NoCoPilot wrote:

I'm guessing an acquittal on all the serious charges is in the works, maybe time-served on some of the minor charges.

I'm guessing a light sentence in American terms. That's about thirty years, eligible for parole after twenty.

The judge ruled against an automatic acquittal today. Manning's defense is going to have to present.

I'm thinking either they'll be so hamstring by security limitations, or they will blow the case wide open with evidence they WILL present. Either way the government is in an untenable position.

The government has devised a method of prosecution without evidence by claiming national security prevents the presentation of the evidence - but it must still be considered valid by the court, even though the defense can argue against it. In Manning's case, they claim that they can't even name the "enemy" he is supporting, because it is a secret enemy. This takes their absurdity to a new level.

It's depressing to see the Espionage Act used for prosecution to such an extreme degree. Fuck it - break out the guns and let's have a field day.

Where there's a problem...

there's a solution:

Wow, good call.

I think I've still got the set that was issued with my secret clearance. Of course, the ones in the picture are much advanced technology.

Do they have a set which will make me look smart?

They do, but they are only available to university faculty and graduate students.
I have found, however, that two six packs of ale and a mirror will do the job.

Funny, that's the same recipe to make a woman attractive.

1862? Fucking yanks have no clue. Beer has been smoothing the approach for thousands of years - literally.

wiki says

Quote :

Some of humanity's earliest known writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating beer and beer parlours, and "The Hymn to Ninkasi", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, served as both a prayer and as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people.

Going back to the question of whether they listen to your phone calls:

Evidence that the NSA Is Storing Voice Content, Not Just Metadata

New Details on Skype Eavesdropping