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[nadinbrzezinski]

This message was self-deleted by its author (nadinbrzezinski) on Mon Jul 22, 2013, 04:45 PM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[WillyT]

1. K & R !!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. We did raise this ahem... problem, with Congresswoman Davis

yesterday.

But yup, we have more than a few photos of this gentleman recording the comings and goings of people. I will grant him this, most comicon attendees are... hell, we had our grocery list of things to shoot... but the transmitter is an added nice touch.

[railsback]

2. Oh, geez, back with the STASI

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[Aerows]

174. You *DO* realize this is at ComicCon

Where people come to enjoy their fanbase, not to start trouble. Oh wait, it's okay because these people have weird taste and might, potentially, in some other world, dislike Obama.

[railsback]

181. The Obama STASI spies on everyone

Why would ComiCon be any different?

[Aerows]

183. I think that you need

to take a deep breath and relax, since he is our President, and ranting and raving on either side won't change it.

[JaneyVee]

3. Comparing this to the Stasi is offensive to anyone whose ever lived under the Stasi.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. So let me see

the Argentina Military, the Chilean Military, insert totalitarian state here.

This is a classic tool of repression, you defend that.

And you think the Stasi started with already built files? We are early in this shit, still

Some of us would like to PREVENT the full on police state... you may not get it, but none of this starts fully formed.

[JaneyVee]

6. I don't have to agree with surveillance or hyperbole.

It's offensive.

[HiPointDem]

9. what's offensive is universal surveillance reminiscent of the stasi.

[kestrel91316]

18. [phone] for your excellent smackdown of the Stasi apologist.

[JaneyVee]

24. Stasi apologist?! You guys are hilarious. I'm Russian.

[pasto76]

37. No comrade, this "police state" lunatic rhetoric ONLY holds water....

if you believe that ComiCon is a major social event. Its a convention, not the inauguration. I agree with your diagnosis of over the top rhetoric and hysteria. I hope you havent had personal experiences with the Stasi. I can assure you that the disconnect with our average american and average DU poster is just as big as the disconnect between them and our troops, and anything having to do with actual warfare. Be Cool

[kestrel91316]

62. Well, then, that certainly explains a lot about your charming personality.

[JaneyVee]

75. Don't know what that means.

[JaneyVee]

22. Hey, that's much better. Far less hyperbole, more nuance.

[Aerows]

176. Amen.

I'm sick of people trying to defend universal surveillance as though it is a perfectly good reason to target Americans that have a hobby.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. You got the photos there, go argue with them

In fact, you go argue with THESE PEOPLE who are making THAT COMPARISON

Germans Hail Snowden as NSA Evokes Stasi Seizing Lives of Others
By Cornelius Rahn & Leon Mangasarian - Jul 10, 2013 3:01 PM PT

Willi Kuhlmann remembers the day the Berlin Wall was erected on Aug. 13, 1961, and how the system of spying on East German citizens by secret police known as the Stasi intensified.

His experience as a border guard along the Wall that divided Germany’s capital city for 28 years makes him mistrustful of the data-gathering carried out by the U.S. National Security Agency, revealed in a series of disclosures to publications including Germany’s Der Spiegel by fugitive Edward Snowden in recent weeks.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/germans-hail-snowden-as-nsa-evokes-stasi-seizing-lives-of-others.html

Germans WHO LIVED UNDER IT are making the comparisons. You think this is hyperbole then?

[JaneyVee]

20. Those guys don't have a nefarious plan, they're just doing their jobs.

They probably have a wife and kids and get paid by the hour to protect Comicon from a potential 'Boston incident'. If something went down they would be the first ones on the scene to help any victims, including life saving CPR. Btw, how we're the Boston bombers caught? Video surveillance. I am in NO WAY endorsing a Stasi state, that's just more hyperbole from posters on this thread who can't handle nuanced debate and like everything to be black or white. Lets stop making believe everything is an evil plan. These are middle class workers. Like I said, I don't have to endorse surveillance or hyperbole.

[FSogol]

25. All last a sensible post in this thread of ridiculous hyperbole. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Really? So you think San Diego PD and Harbor Police

can't handle an event they have been handling for close to two decades? I will add, SDFD, with not just a few aid stations, but a few prestaged ambulances and paramedics and EMTs on the floor.

And you are ok with DHS recording people? Because that is what they were doing. They were not there to provide CPR.

As to how they were caught, the brothers, it was from private citizen video.

Look on the bright side, they are trying to drink from both the Niagara Falls and the Mississippi river at full flood, it's called information overload.

Oh and speaking of Boston... the Tsarnaev Brothers were pointed out by not ONE but TWO foreign intelligence service, and they still went ahead and were able to do their op. You know what? Cause they are looking at Geeks at comicon, instead of doing their jobs.

Franklin comes to mind here, you are neither safe or free, congrats.

I did notice though that after the attitude of people who actually lived through that was pointed to you, you went for the OTHER talking point... predictable. Oh and yes, a talking point is all they are at this point.

[JaneyVee]

30. They were caught by surveillance cameras on Lord & Taylor. Also,

Do you have proof that guy even worked for DHS, or just speculation? Perhaps he was recording footage to promote on website for next Comicon. Also, if you attended Comicon or stood anywhere near the entrance or exits you were on video surveillance already dozens of times. Again, I'm not endorsing it, just pointing out the obvious.

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. Look at the photo of those guys IN UNIFORM

they were DHS... we SPOKE TO THEM. Boy they hate the press as well.

Then look at the guy in uniform at the left, and zoon in to the face of the guy in cammy taking video today. Same guy,

Oh and Lord and Taylor, in case the irony is not sufficient yet for you, is also private. So all the video they had DID NOT COME FROM THEIR OWN DATA GATHERING. See what I said above about DATA OVERLOAD?

[questionseverything]

131. 40 years ago at the county fair

there was always a police presence.....afew city police and a few county cops(usually on horseback)....they laughed and joked with the crowds,they were part of the community...they were there to let every1 know,drinking and fighting would not be accepted

fast forward,after 9-11 the police presence went times 5,stern faces and flac jackets,no interaction,they are now above the community

dhs is the feds,for any1 that doesnt understand the difference,i do not know how to explain it

[nadinbrzezinski]

141. Compare and contrast

my local cops only wear swat gear when there is a swat action and by policy they interact and chat with people and answer questions, these clowns... from DHS not so much

[WinkyDink]

27. "...they're just doing their jobs." Most brutish employees of the State are.

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. We talked to the local PD IC

and their attitude is completely different from these guys.

We had at one point five different protest groups. SDPD is doing all they can to manage a convention that attracts over 200K people, and to keep the civil rights and first amendment rights of people protected. In the meantime, these clowns are recording our comings and goings and using sophisticated software. I just hope the software chokes on the masks.

[7962]

108. Its Comic Con, what on earth were you protesting?

Not to judge, but I'm curious. That seems like one of the more protest-less types of events i can think of.

[nadinbrzezinski]

120. I wasn't. We were there as *press* doing out jobs.

We had two Christian groups, we know we talked to them last year...trying to save souls from the devil and hell that is Comicon. By the way, they don't talk to each other, nor do they consider the other group true Christians.

Group one uses yellow signs and pretty much tries the quiet way...ok, here is a copy of our introductory bible...and a free get out of hell card...

The second group is from LA...they are loud, they are obnoxious, they walk the line between protected speech and incitement very carefully. SDPD did a marvelous job helping their incitement language, "whore," "devils" "unbelievers" under some control.

Then you have the counter protesters. They are such a feature now...the counter protesters, some got actual professionally printed signs. Some were repurposed pizza boxes. They actually tried to have a debate with these people...it got heated.

You also had about 300 folks march on Saturday due to trayvon Martin and both Saturday and Sunday SD360.org came to protest the XL pipeline. And yes, I need to write the story featuring all this.

For the record, we saw the trayvon Martin march come in from a trolley train

[7962]

154. Good lord, you had your hands full!

"get out of hell free card", still laughing.........

[RetroLounge]

35. "...they're just doing their jobs."

Good germans, and all...

RL

[rhett o rick]

39. Of course they are "just doing their jobs". And if their "jobs" requires they spy on

Americans, then it's ok. If they kill children with drones, it's ok. If they torture, it's ok, because it's just part of their jobs. I find your rationalization offensive.

[JaneyVee]

74. Hate the ideology, not the workers just earning a paycheck.

[rhett o rick]

79. Totally disagree. Morality should win out over a paycheck.

When someone like Dich Cheney says to torture someone, a decent person would find another line of work. I think those that actually do the dirty work should be prosecuted. We enable the torturers by letting them off the hook. If all Americans would have told Cheney if you want him tortured, do it yourself Jack, no one would have been tortured.

[JaneyVee]

82. Equating torture to some guy on the beat earning a paycheck is a stretch.

I share your vision, but as far as we know this guy is neither spying on anyone or torturing people. Seems like he's actually there to keep the peace. Was anyone harassed by him that day? Are there any pending complaints about their actions that day?

[rhett o rick]

85. When you said, "those guys" I understood it to mean those guys spying on us. The specific guys

taking pictures is just a foot soldier. But he is on the wrong side. We are at war to survive. If we cant stop the Oligarchs we will see poverty hit 99%.

[HiPointDem]

129. the stasi had foot soldiers too. without foot soldiers the machine stops.

[matthews]

19. What is offensive is the government that the taxpayers

pay for is being used to treat us as terrorists.

They spy for the benefit of the 1% at a cost to the 99%.

[JaneyVee]

21. If something were to happen at Comicon those guys would be

On the scene saving lives being called heroes.

[WinkyDink]

28. "If something were to happen...." The Universal Excuse for the Surveillance State.

[pasto76]

43. bullshit. Its called responsible management

you would be the first one to scream LAWSUIT if someone cut their finger on an action figure and the ambulance took 11 minutes to get there, instead of 8. This is called a planned event, the city has a responsibility to ensure that the affect on regular, non convention life is minimized. you want someone in the building across the street to die of a hear attack because the goddamn ambulances cant get through? It has happened. It happens. It happened in my town in 2002 when some dipshit protestors decided to violate their permit and leave the city park, onto a major N-S corridor through town. Oops, its a half mile away from a Level 1 trauma center. Yeah, the cops came and used force to clear the road, and rightly so. People like you scream 'police brutality!' when a family is across the street hoping their loved one doesnt die.

more to the point, NONE OF YOU KNOW what this guy was doing. This entire thread is all speculation. If you really believed this was some kind of threat, you'd be DOING SOMETHING about it, not posting anonymously on some internet forum

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. Across the street, the ambulance is staged 30 seconds from it

The city has done this without Feds violating the fourth for decades.

The gear they bring "is classified." That is a direct quote. Nor were they there for the full event.

The rationalizations are scarier than these guys

[WinkyDink]

161. Blah de blah blah.

[matthews]

56. If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas. nt

[99th_Monkey]

44. More to the point, why attack or detract-from someone's post

who is expressing concern about the formation of the 100%-saturation surveillance state?

that is what I don't get.

[defacto7]

49. My wife lived under the Stasi...

As an East German who escaped before the wall came down, she thinks the analogy is somewhat realistic. You are Russian... and what does that have to do with the Stasi unless you lived in East Germany? Wondering.

[BlueStreak]

38. And those regimes didn't have sophisticated face recognition technology

Last edited Sun Jul 21, 2013, 09:42 PM - Edit history (1)

They use photography as an intimidation tool. Today's "total security state" has the potential to go far beyond intimidation. One doesn't need very much of an imagination to think how this is likely to be used. And Comic Con isn't exactly the most threatening setting in the world. Imagine a regime that used these people and technologies to catalog everyone who attended a Bernie Sanders rally, or more likely an Al Sharpton rally. But it is no less threatening to our society if it were used to catalog anybody attending a Glenn Beck rally or one of those fake Faux News rallies.

Cataloging the public, when the public is not violating any laws, is just plain wrong.

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. BINGO

Cataloging the public, when the public is not violating any laws, is just plain wrong.

You are very correct indeed and let me add... ilegal

[BlueStreak]

63. "Illegal" is such a harsh word

"If the President does it, it is not illegal." R. Milhouse Nixon

The problem is that there are no laws to stop this sort of thing. They are buying thousands of drones to be used domestically. Some of them will undoubtedly be used just to watch what people are doing -- people who have done nothing wrong. The SCOTUS will find a way to make sure this is not considered an illegal search.

There are video cameras everywhere. 99.9999999% of them today are to protect private property and are not involved in the assembly of any dossier. But it really is just a tiny step from collecting every phone call in the country to start to hang cameras everywhere cataloging faces.

If your face isn't dong anything wrong, then your face has nothing to be concerned about. And we'll let your face know when it is doing something wrong. Count on that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

64. We still have time

But that door is closing...fast

[rwsanders]

167. I can't remember the name of the program, but I read somewhere that govt. agencies were tapping...

into these private security cameras and using the facial recognition software to build the dossiers on people.

[Brother Buzz]

184. Well, that's proof positive the DHS isn't tapping into CCTV

They had to hire The Man with the Yellow Hat, disguised with a white hat, to stand out there with a camera on a tripod to do their Double Super Secret Background work.

[villager]

7. No, what's offensive is the shredding of our former Constitutional protections, and the rampant...

...apologies for it, from the Executive on down.

[truedelphi]

135. + My Household. n/t

[hobbit709]

13. It's not offensive to me and some of the people I know.

So unless you've actually experienced a totalitarian regime.

You wouldn't like what my mother would compare it to-namely what she lived under from 1938-45.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. It reminds me a lot of the dictablanda I grew up under

and people who grew in Nazi germany that we know have made THAT comparison as well.

At the moment I think it is more like the dictablanda, but it can turn into full blown classic total state this fast.

[hobbit709]

17. Now, now! You know that those of us that have actually experienced these things

Are not allowed to make comparisons by those who haven't.

[truedelphi]

136. Since Nine Eleven, I have known at least

A dozen older people who did compare what is happening here in the USA to what went on in 1933.

Important to remember - it doesn't happen all at once. The changes are incremental.

And apparently the changes are working. Especially given how many people on a supposedly liberal board are accepting this.

Our budget has been stripped down to bare bones - except for what the Military/Surveillance State needs. The bridges collapse under the wight of our cars; the schools and fire districts are closed.

But always more money for more surveillance.

Including this type of nonsense:

http://millvalley.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/does-the-marin-sheriff-s-office-need-a-370k-armored-truck

Believe me, Californians facing a terrible fire hazard this year would be far far safer if our fire districts were restored!

[rhett o rick]

32. Just thought you'd stop by with a few nice words for the OP. nm

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. Well there is this famous line from a certain movie

way back

and it applies to some here.

[ret5hd]

36. Exactly. Because we have to arrive at our destination...

before we speak of our destination.

[lofty1]

61. Never lived under the Stasi

Seeing any overt show of militarism at this type of event is offensive to anyone who has never lived under the Stasi. Their presence is designed to make people be afraid. It is unacceptable in the USA.

[sabrina 1]

104. No it is not and I personally know that for a fact from someone who DID live under the stasi.

Amazingly we just found out that Merkel, in Germany, who has been ACTING quite upset about the surveillance of not just Americans but of Europeans also, has just been exposed in the latest revelations of cooperating with the US Surveillance program on Germans.

If YOU think this comparison is an insult, you need to listen to what those who lived under the Stasi in Germany today have to say.

It is in fact an insult for YOU to diminish the fears those people have considering many remember how it all began, or were told about it by their parents and grandparents.

Get used to the comparison now that these latest revelations in Germany have brought back some truly frightening memories to those in that part of the world who know a lot more about it than we do.

And considering Merkel's own background? An East German about whom there have been rumors re her own father and the Stasi? This is RECENT history, within living memory for a large part of the world.

It is indeed a huge insult to dismiss these comparisons. In fact in Europe, from those who remember, it is now being said the Stasi would be envious of this program.

[backscatter712]

107. Oh give me a fucking break.

When it's the Germans comparing the NSA to the Stasi, and when an actual former member of the Stasi says the NSA's doing far worse than the Stasi, the comparison's apt.

[rwsanders]

168. No matter how bad it gets, some will still say "their not like the gestapo at all,

their uniforms are a different shade of brown".

[Aerows]

178. Pretty much

it's ridiculous.

[Warren Stupidity]

124. The analogy is apt. Universal surveillance is the common characteristic.

And, by the way, former citizens of East Germany have used the comparison. Apparently they aren't part of this anyone you refer to.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

132. Sticking your head in the sand is also offensive. nt

[truedelphi]

134. We are at the very beginning of what is being planned. Scoff if you want to -

But if the PTB are not stopped immediately - and by that I mean by end of this year, forget about this society.

They confiscate our homes, and that is legal. Since 1-2-2009, over eight million households foreclosed on. Is this Hope and Change? (Over the last few months, Wells Fargo foreclosed on a guy whose economic crime was pre-paying his damn mortgage.)

The same crowd that has looted our monies, swiping Main St Dollars and converting them to Wall Street capital, is now seeing to it that the military's annual budget of 1.2 trillions of dollars is converted to the Surveillance State.

The American people watch as the bridges collapse, the fire departments are cut back, the schools are closed etc. but there is this money for such a security force at a comic festival?

And already DHS has made some 67 Counties in California a bit "richer" by giving the counties these "Bearcat" tanks:

http://millvalley.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/does-the-marin-sheriff-s-office-need-a-370k-armored-truck

[Half-Century Man]

8. A few years back I brained stormed a book plot with my writing partner...

..about a terrorist attack on a comic-con. I still have the notes around here somewhere. All the ideas broke down into stupid joking very quickly. At our most demented we did not speculate the fucking Department of Homeland (fatherland?) Security might investigate fanboys.

Wow.

What possible motivation for this could there be? Realistically; Marketing data (?).
Speculatively; DHS is trying to get one up on their perceived most challenging rival for budgeting, S.H.I.E.L.D.
Strawhat cammopants is a secret otaku and trying to write the trip off as a business expense.
DHS is looking for proof of Soul Reapers (psssst turn around).

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. They had adds for SHIELD throughout

it is coming to your tv in the Fall.

[Half-Century Man]

12. Cool

I'll look for it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Do not ask me, we were chasing other things such as John Lewis

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023308887

And I need to work on the other three stories

[BlueStreak]

40. A few more years on this trajectory and those story notes could earn you a visit

from the Secret Service, FBI, or worse.

[rhett o rick]

42. Terrorists know better than to mess with the nerds.

I say that with love. My daughter was there. Not that I think she is a nerd. Oh my Dog I should quite while I am ahead.

[Half-Century Man]

57. One of the projected heroes

was a chubby lat 30 something who lives in his mother's basement, wears a homemade Captain America costume complete with collector shield. He would be used in a comedy relief sort of role until the self rescue by the Con-goers. Then we find out he has practiced with a shield for 28 years. And like the old school Capt. America he can bank it off multiple hard structures and people.



Might have to dig that up.....I got a couple new ideas....

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

65. What was the motivation for detonating a device at the Boston Marathon?

Training secrets? A better spot on the route in the future? Free water and sliced oranges?

As usual, everyone has skipped a page ahead on the quiz.

[Laelth]

14. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[99Forever]

23. K&R

[DeSwiss]

45. This is what to expect......

...as the legacy of Project Paperclip.

- That's where we started on this path......

[KoKo]

46. "They" think they are the "Cool Dudes."

Wait until it hits them...what is going on that we are trying to warn them about.

[treestar]

47. The Stasi?

What is this event? What camera? How do you figure it is DHS? Are we to believe they went undercover because you told them you knew they were DHS? The T-shirt says "police," not DHS and they may even be bicycle cops, if those black bikes are theirs. And why did they let you photograph them without grabbing your camera and arresting you?

What do they get out of spying on who publicly goes to this event? How can they use any of the information to suppress dissent?

[limpyhobbler]

97. look closer

[treestar]

111. Maybe. The one on the right says "police" and has a different insignia

The DHS one has no weapons.

We don't know why he is standing there. He's not undercover.

And a comics convention? What are they going to get out of it?

[limpyhobbler]

114. Trying to understand what your point is but I can't figure out what is the point of your post.

[treestar]

116. I'm sort of laughing at the OP

The guy taking the photo could be anyone.

The DHS guy is apparently there to bring on the totalitarian state by spying at a comics convention. Plus he supposedly went undercover when she and her buddies confronted him.

The OP amuses me on many occasions.

[pnwmom]

48. Right, and none of that would ever be necessary because there would never be a situation

like at the Boston Marathon, where they would have to quickly determine who set off a bomb and find them.

[nadinbrzezinski]

54. Several points

1.- The Tsarneav brothers were identified as persons of interest by not one, but two foreign intel agencies.

2- ID with video from an I-Phone in PRIVATE hands.

3.- Second source from a private camera.

Points two and three require translation...they were CIVILIAN.

Now seriously, you think they were there to get evidence on a crime? The division of pre crime must pay well these days.

There is more on this sordid talking point well, above. Find a new talking point seriously. This one has more holes than Swiss cheese.

[treestar]

88. the person with the camera could be a member of the DU photo group

or anyone just taking pics in public.

[lofty1]

80. something to keep in mind

Something to keep in mind when bringing Boston or any other "terror" act into this.

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/fbis-terror-scam

[Spitfire of ATJ]

50. Time to resurrect the term "Jarheads".

[Agschmid]

51. Is this comic con?

A widely recorded and publicized event where really you should have no expectation of privacy?

I don't understand the post really either...

[nadinbrzezinski]

53. The privacy release to comic con and news media

Is implied when you pick up your badge. I did not realize that included the mass cancelation of the Fourth Amendment...silly me. So let's take this a step further, let's have them record all they want everywhere. (Wait, they are)

Oh and that was outside the convention hall....in a public street.

If you cannot understand how the fourth applies I can't help ya.

[rwsanders]

55. You have more energy and patience than I ever would trying to point out the simply obvious

to those who choose not to open thier eyes.
Hang in there. (Good work).

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. Hey when you get the photos they still argue

which is amazing.

This is a case, fully, of cognitive dissonance... on steroids.

[Agschmid]

68. No it's a case of "I don't understand your OP"...

A man... You could not identify... Is taking pictures of a crowd... Outside of one of the biggest conventions all year... Oh and the pictures are really not all that clear...

Is that it? But he works for an agency and is spying?

[Agschmid]

69. My eyes are open...

I just don't see conspiracy in everything... And also understand there will be surveillance in public, cameras are now everywhere... Gas stations, phones, ATMs, traffic cams...

I don't feel someone (even a govt agency) taking pictures really violates my 4th amendment rights...

But hey I guess I'm a sheep?

[Agschmid]

67. No I get the 4th amendment...

[nadinbrzezinski]

77. good bye

[Agschmid]

81. Makes total sense for you to ignore someone...

Who calls you out on this stuff... Yup... I get it.

I don't ignore people I engage in conversation.

[Hekate]

86. LOL. I was going to ask the OP wtf she was talking about, then remembered...

... that she put me on ignore too.

Welcome to the ever-expanding club.

[Agschmid]

87. Thanks...

I'll buy us some tshirts...

[Hekate]

90. Well done!

[treestar]

121. That might explain why the posts get loonier and loonier

Nothing left to pull her back to reality. The "Stasi" let her get away with this post too! I would expect them to hack DU and pull it down, since it exposes their "operations."

[sad-cafe]

102. you simply pointed out truth

but that was contradictory to the story the op was trying to spin so you are now on the famous iggy list. We are a good rational lot. Welcome.

[olddots]

59. nothing new I've been photographing the photogaraphers for years

What is new is their files don't get tossed out when the file cabinets get full -----we are watching the watchers ,we outnumber them but we pay them to watch us ....... I don't know if the bad guys are winning or the good guys are loosing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

60. They tried to get people not to photograph them

[Agschmid]

70. Seems like they did not try very hard...

[Boom Sound 416]

66. i dont get it

why do you think this guy is DHS and why would he need to transmit (i presume) images when he is recording them internally

[Agschmid]

71. Welcome to the CT/woo section.

[Boom Sound 416]

76. huh?

picture one of those smiley faces doing something to make a question mark appear over its head/self

that's what i look like right now

[Agschmid]

78. Ok...

CT=conspiracy theory

And woo well it just sort of means out there...

[Boom Sound 416]

83. much obliged

[Hekate]

89. Transmitter? The guy with the garden hat, white gloves (eczema?), big camera? Viewfinder?

I tried making that pic as big as I could and there's just not enough clarity on my screen to see much of anything. But frankly when I see a camera like that I think "viewfinder" and not "transmitter."

And when I see a nerdy guy at ComicCon wearing a goofy straw gardening hat and what appear to be white cotton gloves, the outfit just doesn't scream "undercover agent" to me.

However, since the OP now has me on ignore (whew) I am in a position to only marvel at the complexity of the world around her, and cannot ask her to explain it any more.

Hekate

[Boom Sound 416]

92. i see

the light is beginning to come on

[treestar]

122. "the complexity of the world around her!"

That sums it up.

I think I am on ignore too.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

147. i am all but positive i am still on ignore

and yes, her world is one of the most fascinating around. i mean, it's X-Files all the time and 6 ft of hail...

sP

[FSogol]

118. I wanna know why someone thinks a belt buckle is a D-ring carabiner?

[hrmjustin]

73. Love the pics Nadin!

The cops are cute as well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

94. One of them is mine

the others hubby.

We are actually doing our job as reporters. We do ask people questions about things like this,

[hrmjustin]

95. I liked your OP.

You don't have to worry about me.

[nadinbrzezinski]

98. I know, did not intend to sound brash

Lord...I am sore...:lol:

[hrmjustin]

99. I know.

[Dreamer Tatum]

84. So let me get this straight...

It's a public event where thousands of people are gathered, many in costume. Some of those costumes are elaborate and large.

Aaaaaaand, there was a marathon in Boston recently at which people were killed and maimed pretty easily by people dressed less ornately.

So...maybe instead of invoking secret police about which I will wager you know nothing, why couldn't you smile and nod at the gentlemen who were there to make sure people had a good time and didn't get blown to bits?

Now suppose the unthinkable did happen, and someone (a teabagger, natch) DID detonate a bomb. Gee, don'cha think having some crowd pix might be sort of nice?

[geek tragedy]

91. Shorter OP: some dude wore a funny hat to Comic-Con, which proves that democracy is dead.

Crap like this makes DU dumber.

[Agschmid]

93. +1 n/t

Tried to get it locked as CT but not enough consensus on our end.

[LordGlenconner]

153. She has many sycophants, apparently.

[X_Digger]

96. +1 n/t

[zappaman]

100. +1000 n/t

[sad-cafe]

103. +100000000000000000000000

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000>

[FSogol]

109. Amen: Crap like this makes DU dumber.

[treestar]

112. Some have to feel they are in the middle of great historical drama!

It might be fun to look at the world that way for a day.

The Revolution is starting at a comics convention!

[FSogol]

115. At least they weren't North Koreans or Cancer-causing Wind Turbines.

[treestar]

117. ....

Haven't heard about those turbines lately. I need to get the East County Magazine.

How is that war with North Korea going? I was distracted by the Royal Baby. I hope we are winning. I'd hate to live under Kim Jong Un (though he doesn't have the surveillance state Obama does).

[FSogol]

119. Kim Jong Un wouldn't cancel Comic Con, but all the comics would be about him.

[treestar]

130. Just got back from a work out and visit to convenience store

In the convenience store parking lot, I saw a white flatbed truck towing a white trailer on which were painted the words "New Castle County Special Project."

What the hell is the dictablanda up to?

[FSogol]

133. During lunch, over on route 50 by the circle, there was a member of the Stasi

with his motorcycle parked, pointing some type of transmitter at oncoming traffic. This isn't the America I know!

[LordGlenconner]

155. What's next?

The government watching us through our tellys? Toasters that have meta data collection capabilities?

[DevonRex]

172. Oh, she already did the "Your TV is watching You" one. A couple of months

ago I think.

Bit your toaster idea is brilliant! I say we start that rumor ASAP! If you can't beat 'em, drive 'em crazy faster. That's my new motto.

Welcome to DU!

[KittyWampus]

175. The OP'er has in fact opined that they ARE watching us through our tellys….

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3023113

[ProdigalJunkMail]

148. i was waiting for 6 ft of hail myself... nt

[Bobbie Jo]

123. +1000

Thread over.

[intheflow]

125. Yes. Posts like this make me miss the unrec button.

Police have always been present at large events. These police look pretty chill in their non-militarized outfits. If they'd shown up in full riot gear, there might have been a story. But really, this OP is just paranoid.

[geek tragedy]

126. What's hilarious is that she's surreptitiously taking photos of a crowd and private citizens,

posting their pictures on the Internet without their permission, and then decrying the surveillance state.

[intheflow]

127. ..

Spot on!

[Kali]

156. bingo

[Skidmore]

163. This and

censoring other's freedom to disagree with adolescent "plonking".

[Number23]

169. You are absolutely KILLING this thread. THREAD is now OVER

You and your logic and such. I have to admit to not getting what the OP was about in the least but judging by some of the comments, I see that I am by no means alone. Or that I'm not missing all that much by not getting it.

[Agschmid]

170. Valid.

[Rex]

137. Probably a wind turbine supporter to boot!

[Cali_Democrat]

139. hahahahahaha

[avaistheone1]

101. k&r

[Mopar151]

105. To start with, them boys ain't right

Look, I'm sorry if somebody is lit up about the word Stasi, but you're missin' the point(s). Spooks, finks, wiseguys, heat, no matter - these guys stick out like a sore thumb and they're damm proud of it.

OP's point should be well taken - these ain't the cops, fire/rescue/emt, the trashmen, or any of the usual good guys. Whatever they are up to, it's not the regular course of business. the guys who sent them know, if they read their own manuals (and not the ones copied from the Russians), that they are not going to get actionable intelligence of any significant violent threat. As an old hardcore racer, I share a piece of the lunatic fringe with the Comicon crowd - if any of us are gonna blow shit up, we are gonna gather the biggest crowd of fellow lunatics we can, and get everybody way back so's they can get a good view! We don't need no stinkin surveillance, we got GoPro, and we'll be up on YouToob soonest.
Had they read their manuals from FBI Profiling, they'd know that the bad guys are not in their comfort zones at anything like Comicon or The Nitro Nationals, They're not packin' up a big tailgate party and dressin' in tribal colors, with their best crazy hats - they are holed up somewhere, building the rage and fantasizing vengance so vast that justice must emerge, somehow.
FWIW, I think White Glove Photo Man is freaked about sun, not germs - I've seen salt water fishermen in similar. He may be trying to get a whole bunch of faces or iris of the eye images to do some sort of data mining. The Beefcake Brothers are there to let attendees know they are being watched, for???? - but we're keeping an eye on you, pal!

[GObamaGO]

106. You have to admit

The straw gardener's hat was a nice touch!

[nadinbrzezinski]

113. Standard issue for SD lifeguards

It covers face well.

[muriel_volestrangler]

110. Nadin - how did attendees know that you weren't an undercover cop?

And how happy do you think they are that you have now put pictures of them on the internet, for all, including the government, to see without their permission? They weren't doing anything wrong. What is achieved by you publishing these photos without blanking out the identities of everyone except the person you suspect of being a government agent?

[Progressive dog]

128. The Stasi didn't need to film.

They didn't allow that kind of convention.

[LordGlenconner]

138. Forgive me, I am often slow

But I'm not seeing what I'm supposed to be seeing.

A man in an poorly chosen hat with a camera with a transmitter on top? He is sending photos to the NSA/CIA/MI6 and other spy agencies?

[Cali_Democrat]

140. Who knows

Trying to fully understand this OP is an exercise in futility.

[nadinbrzezinski]

142. It was not denied

and yes, same guy as uniform left, from the photo in uniform.

[LordGlenconner]

144. What was not denied?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

149. LordGlenconner...

if you don't understand her misspeak and constant incoherence then YOU are the problem. you can read that all through most of her threads. anyone who dares question is just too dumb to be conversing with her. if you're lucky, when you ask her to clarify a couple more times she will put you on ignore.

welcome to fantasy-land...

sP

[LordGlenconner]

150. Thanks for the clarification

For a moment there I thought I had suffered a stroke, or something equally ghastly.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

160. hey! you made it...

welcome to the club!

sP

[nadinbrzezinski]

151. You go personal...you go to ignore.

Good bye

[LordGlenconner]

152. Well ta-ta

I hardly knew ye, and yet feel as though I've won the national lottery.

[DevonRex]

157. You have indeed been granted a boon in that you'll not be addressed

directly by her anymore. The frightening aspect is the number of people who looked at those photographs and simply cheered her on.

I imagine there might be a few who are encouraging her to get even more extreme so the situation will has to be officially resolved. But that leaves a hell of a lot who encourage her because they fall for the woo, for lack of a better term.

[Kali]

164. hell I actually AGREE with her sometimes

but she is so rude and condescending to ANYBODY that even asks a question, she must turn large numbers away from her causes. so much for a "journalist" providing clear material to educate the public.

what a joke.

[DevonRex]

165. I have on a couple of specific things. But i won't tolerate the rudeness or

condescension, especially to Americans. She has stated too many times that Americans don't know this or that, or that Americans have no clue about something. It never ends. She's been told gently, politely, directly and angrily that she should quit doing that. Yet she continues. So...

[Kali]

166. well she just got locked out of this thread

for rudeness, but I agree, doubt she will get the lesson.

[Agschmid]

171. I can't believe the hosts voted to leave it...

[MineralMan]

143. The Stasi? Really Nadin. There is security at every large event.

I'm sorry, but this is just over the top.

[DevonRex]

158. After the Boston Bombing, who the fuck needs SECURITY, RIGHT NADIN??????

For all the fuck you know there were threats called in.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

159. but you know full-well those Stasi were there to photograph all

the comicon-ers because you can tell exactly who everyone is in those costumers. the one i bet they ID'ed right away was the pirate without a head...

(in case it was needed)

sP

[DevonRex]

162. Yeah! I bet they had super duper implant shots to put GPS in people's skin.

I heard that from somebody on TV late Friday night. He had poofy hair and looked all scary. And he said the CIA controls the weather.

[Aerows]

173. Is that at ComicCon?

Good Lord.

[hrmjustin]

177. Yes it is.

[Aerows]

179. Well let's just bash

nerdville, which I would have gone to if I had half a chance, because nerds don't like spying. Do you know why nerds don't like spying? Because they get abused by it.

[hrmjustin]

180. I wasn.t bashing it. I liked the OP.

[Aerows]

182. Well, my nerdiness came out then :D

These type of events are designed for people that fly under the social radar. Attempting to turn them into a political recipe is like attempting to make an apple pie with feces an edible dessert for anyone. It disgusts me that people try to make this political.