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WillyT
WillyT's Journal
WillyT's Journal
December 2, 2013
BY BRIAN FUNG - WaPo
December 2 at 4:54 pm
<snip>
Thanksgiving can be a touchy time for families with divergent politics. If not Obamacare, it's a good bet that somebody, somewhere was facing off with an aunt or uncle about the NSA.
Defenders of the spy agency might have found this set of talking points helpful. Distributed internally by the NSA the week before Thanksgiving and reported earlier today by Firedoglake, the two-pager — a literal set of bullet points — armed employees with verbal ammunition that they were encouraged to share "with family and close friends."
As with previous sets of talking points prepared for top intelligence officials, this latest document isn't afraid to invoke 9/11. It also cites a common statistic about the effectiveness of NSA surveillance, claiming that it contributed to the disruption of 54 terrorist plots since 2001. Critics challenge this figure, saying that less than a handful of those cases can be realistically connected to the snooping.
Another part of the talking points takes a thinly veiled shot at China.
"NSA does not and will not steal industry secrets in order to give U.S. companies a competitive advantage," it reads. Beijing has, on occasion, been accused of conducting economic espionage as a way to advance its political interests.
At other times, the talking points take a sloganeering turn...
<snip>
More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/02/the-nsa-wrote-turkey-day-talking-points-because-of-course-it-did/
Talking-Points (.pdf file): http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/files/2013/12/nsas-talking-points-for-holiday-gatherings.pdf
My God, These Idiots Are Pathetic...
The NSA wrote turkey-day talking points, because of course it didBY BRIAN FUNG - WaPo
December 2 at 4:54 pm
<snip>
Thanksgiving can be a touchy time for families with divergent politics. If not Obamacare, it's a good bet that somebody, somewhere was facing off with an aunt or uncle about the NSA.
Defenders of the spy agency might have found this set of talking points helpful. Distributed internally by the NSA the week before Thanksgiving and reported earlier today by Firedoglake, the two-pager — a literal set of bullet points — armed employees with verbal ammunition that they were encouraged to share "with family and close friends."
As with previous sets of talking points prepared for top intelligence officials, this latest document isn't afraid to invoke 9/11. It also cites a common statistic about the effectiveness of NSA surveillance, claiming that it contributed to the disruption of 54 terrorist plots since 2001. Critics challenge this figure, saying that less than a handful of those cases can be realistically connected to the snooping.
Another part of the talking points takes a thinly veiled shot at China.
"NSA does not and will not steal industry secrets in order to give U.S. companies a competitive advantage," it reads. Beijing has, on occasion, been accused of conducting economic espionage as a way to advance its political interests.
At other times, the talking points take a sloganeering turn...
<snip>
More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/02/the-nsa-wrote-turkey-day-talking-points-because-of-course-it-did/
Talking-Points (.pdf file): http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/files/2013/12/nsas-talking-points-for-holiday-gatherings.pdf
December 2, 2013
... --- ...
ARGO: Why is the truth behind the assassination of President Kennedy the last chance of America for its survival?
SAHL: Because the evidence developed by District Attorney Garrison indicates that certain people had to take President Kennedy's life in order to control ours. In other words, as Richard Starnes of the New York World-Telegram said, the shots in Dallas were the opening shots of World War III. There's been a great change in this country since Kennedy. I'm afraid a great deal of our hope was interred with his remains.
ARGO: What is the long, hard night that America must go through that you've spoken of?
SAHL: She has to hang on through a period of the military and the CIA with a blank check trying to sell fascism. If she can hang on long enough, Americans may yet live in the country in which they were born. And that is the country structured by Tom Paine and Tom Jefferson.
ARGO: What is the renaissance following this long, hard night, that you also spoke about?
SAHL: We'll start pursuing the American dream again. I don't know if we'll ever realize it, but we're supposed to have the right to pursue it. And that's what this country is. It's an active exercise in man reaching his upper limit, as they used to say in the math department. And the renaissance will be that a ground swell of public opinion will flush out the rascals because the CIA has infiltrated every area of our national life. I'm afraid that the country they subverted best was the United States, be they in the various right-wing churches or be they in the Dallas Police Department. In fact, the CIA is the only organization I know that could penetrate the Birch Society and make them drift further to the right.
Link: http://www.maebrussell.com/Mort%20Sahl/Mort%20Sahl%20-%20Argo.html
SAHL: Because the evidence developed by District Attorney Garrison indicates that certain people had to take President Kennedy's life in order to control ours. In other words, as Richard Starnes of the New York World-Telegram said, the shots in Dallas were the opening shots of World War III. There's been a great change in this country since Kennedy. I'm afraid a great deal of our hope was interred with his remains.
ARGO: What is the long, hard night that America must go through that you've spoken of?
SAHL: She has to hang on through a period of the military and the CIA with a blank check trying to sell fascism. If she can hang on long enough, Americans may yet live in the country in which they were born. And that is the country structured by Tom Paine and Tom Jefferson.
ARGO: What is the renaissance following this long, hard night, that you also spoke about?
SAHL: We'll start pursuing the American dream again. I don't know if we'll ever realize it, but we're supposed to have the right to pursue it. And that's what this country is. It's an active exercise in man reaching his upper limit, as they used to say in the math department. And the renaissance will be that a ground swell of public opinion will flush out the rascals because the CIA has infiltrated every area of our national life. I'm afraid that the country they subverted best was the United States, be they in the various right-wing churches or be they in the Dallas Police Department. In fact, the CIA is the only organization I know that could penetrate the Birch Society and make them drift further to the right.
Link: http://www.maebrussell.com/Mort%20Sahl/Mort%20Sahl%20-%20Argo.html
December 2, 2013
Mort Sahl: JFK, RFK & 911
Mort Sahl: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mort_Sahl
Mort Sahl: JFK, RFK & 911... There's More... If You Look For It...
Who's Mort Sahl ???Morton Lyon "Mort" Sahl (born May 11, 1927) is a Canadian-born American comedian and actor, widely considered the first modern stand-up comedian. He was the first comedian to dress casually and speak about current events in a matter-of-fact style. He helped to get Lenny Bruce some gigs at the Hungry I, and occasionally wrote jokes for speeches delivered by President John F. Kennedy.[1][2] Sahl got deeply involved in the post-Warren Commission investigation of Kennedy's death, and some say it cost him his popularity.
Mort Sahl: JFK, RFK & 911
Mort Sahl: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mort_Sahl
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