because they can...

Just when you thought it was safe to come out from under the bed cover and greet the world--This!!!

Indeed, visitors to the Beijing Olympic Games have been officially advised by U.S. officials that their laptops may be targeted for duplication or bugging by Chinese government spies hoping to steal business and trade secrets.

Guess it's really not a problem then if you don't mind if all the countries start doing it... in the name of National Security, of course!

Was he carrying any digital media cards or drives in his pockets? "Then they told me that they were impounding my laptop," says Hogan, a freelance investigative reporter whose recent stories have ranged from the origins of the Iraq war to the impact of money in presidential politics.

Well there you go. Speak out against the government and have your laptop confiscated.

How long before these Fucks start wearing "BROWN SHIRTS?" Adolph an his boys have nothing over this Bush bunch, Fucking Country going to hell in an hand basket an these fucks on the Right are making excuses as to why we need to to for go our Constitutional Rights, what a fucking Disgrace!!

...you should have got on the Revolution.....read and support Ron Paul....Revolution, A Manifesto. It's going to take a revolution...you are being called to action.

but nobody has lost any rights.

Wobbie the badge bunny

THOSE THINGS WILL END UP IN THE FLEA MARKET BECAUSE THEY NEED MONEY...

'How long before these Fucks start wearing "BROWN SHIRTS?" '

Apparently well after we start making ridiculous Nazi comparisons that undermine the more sensible arguements against this type of abuse.

"SULLY"....What the Hell are you talking about, sensible arguments, when an American Citizen has his personal property taken without any reason other than they don't like the cut of his jib??? Are ou fucking crazy??? Its people like you that really grips my Ass, you let them take away your rights one at a time an one day, start crying about where did your rights go..............

Big Brother is no longer just watching you.....

Sully...I believe he meant it in the metaphorical sense. It's not what they wore, but what they did while wearing it that give the phrase it's ability to used as both adjective and a verb. It's just another phrase in the lexicon of descriptive slang used to convey connotation. The rest of his post might have been a shade or two over the top, but I thought his usage of "brown shirt" was apt, but that's just me.

208 days left before America has a birthday.

Basically, you may never know. And in case you don't know they have the right now to come into your home without your knowledge and place keyloggers or copy or image your hard drives or flash drives or cameras or anything they like in your homes without your knowledge and you will never know...

It is already happening folks...The Patriot Act gives the right. I work in the IT security field. Even I may or may not be able to detect "their" presence.

How fun!

208 days left before America has a birthday.

Posted by cgmorris at 2008-06-27 01:17 PM | Reply | Flag:

If you think this is here only because Bush supports it you are a stupid tool/fool. The current mainstream Repub AND Dem Representatives are supportive......

"SULLY"....What the Hell are you talking about, sensible arguments, when an American Citizen has his personal property taken without any reason other than they don't like the cut of his jib??? Are ou fucking crazy??? Its people like you that really grips my Ass, you let them take away your rights one at a time an one day, start crying about where did your rights go..............
Posted by celisary at 2008-06-27 12:56 PM

"Homeland security" is Nazi vernacular, and they are indeed acting outside of Americans Constitutional rights. Whatever could they be looking for? Information against Israeli interests?

In order to control their actions we need to observe their reactions to certain legal stimulus.

Something that would make Michael Chertov fly home to Israel ASAP.

Perhaps it is time to clean house and "We the people" retake our government.

Re-elect no one.

It is time to vote. Make your choice

"Are ou fucking crazy??? Its people like you that really grips my Ass, you let them take away your rights one at a time an one day, start crying about where did your rights go.............."

No. I'm not crazy. That is why I don't like when people get all hysterical and start throwing around Nazi references. I understand the difference between abuses of privacy and personal property and the types of things the Nazi did. I'm not defending the people who are stealing this stuff. I'm saying that when you go overboard and start calling everyone a Nazi, you undermine your credibility and make it very easy for the apologists to dismiss you. Calling people Nazis is an emotional response that is so overused these days that it doesn't mean anything anymore.

"Sully...I believe he meant it in the metaphorical sense......"

Yes, I know. I know who the brown shirts were, what they did and how the term is used meathporically in the present. Its an overused tactic that just dumbs things down. It is tired and counterproductive.

Well shucks, at least they didn't do any racial profiling. They treat everyone the same regardless of possible threat. You asked for it, you got it.

but nobody has lost any rights.

Wobbie the badge bunny

Posted by northguy3 at 2008-06-27 12:47 PM

I suggest you take a moment, and read the Bill of Rights, especially this one:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I think he knows Roy ...he is making fun of Wobbie the Pooper Scooper and his statement that "nobody has lost any rights".

But you are right to point that out as that is the exact Right that is being violated by the "Brown Shirts".

Roy-that for me or Wobbie?

Indeed, visitors to the Beijing Olympic Games have been officially advised by U.S. officials that their laptops may be targeted for duplication or bugging by Chinese government spies hoping to steal business and trade secrets.

Yeah cause Walmart or Ford or GM execs don't take laptops with them and their Chinese plants don't have computers either.

Idiots.

Roy-that for me or Wobbie?

Posted by northguy3 at 2008-06-27 01:59 PM

Sorry, I missed the sarcasm.

So I guess it's for anyone who would condone what the Department of Fatherland Security is doing.

"Well there you go. Speak out against the government and have your laptop confiscated."

Shit like that is the exact reason we have a bill of rights.

The very reason i wont travel to your troubled shores...i had a sweet disney trip planned for the kids..screw that now..i will take them to the pne or Whistler .

"It is tired and counterproductive"

Yes, I agree, but in this case I thought it was an apt usage due to the subject of the thread. I'm not looking for an argument, mind you. A frightening number of Americans do not possess the ability to express themselves adequately, and resort to using the phrases they are familiar with. Your premise could also be used against those that like to chuck around epithets like "traitorous libs" and meaningless, counterproductive swill of that cloth.

I'm going to miss the America I was born into. When I learn of jack boot (opps...another Nazi metaphor) tactics being used without the proper vetting of We the People, then I must admit that 9/11 did indeed change everything. It's just sad that our betters have decided to throw out the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the name of security.

I'm beginning to feel more and more like Winston Smith with each passing day.

I'm beginning to feel more and more like Winston Smith with each passing day.

Posted by dutch46 at 2008-06-27 02:14 PM

Well said...

sadly, me too...

Wait. Winston Smith was that toddler toucher from canada whose style i try to copy because I'm such a fucking loser, right?
Sincerely,
donnerBoy

From the article:

DHS contends that travelers' computers can also contain child pornography, intellectual property offenses, or terrorist secrets.

So what if it does? You could have a hard drive full of illegal data, without a warrant, they can't act on anything they find.

Wouldn't it be funny if we got rid of the right wing fascists and discovered that the so called "terrorists" have been trying to tell us that they hate the fascists....not us???

I'm thinking that isn't nearly as far fetched as the fascists would like us to think.

We must steal their electronic sh#t in order to save them...

I'm going to miss the America I was born into. When I learn of jack boot (opps...another Nazi metaphor) tactics being used without the proper vetting of We the People, then I must admit that 9/11 did indeed change everything. It's just sad that our betters have decided to throw out the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the name of security.

* * * *

The government was monstrous and overbearing before 9/11, and they're monstrous and overbearing now. Just over 10 years ago the Clinton Administration sent in tanks and poison gas against American citizens in Waco, TX, because the ATF was up for a big budget appropriation. 9/11 was a huge opportunity for us to see what worked--United 93, when American citizens rose up in as an ad-hoc militia, and provided us our only good news of the day--and what didn't, which was everything else. Every organ of organized government failed catastrophically, and all the personnel who failed were rewarded with big promotions, and big budgets.

9/11 didn't change anything. The Department of Homeland Security is an abomination, and was the very first day it was proposed. But, frankly, to compare them to the Brownshirts is insulting to both sides: the DHS is incompetent but not bloodthirsty; the Brownshirts were bloodthirsty and, unfortunately, very, very efficient.

Wait. Winston Smith was that toddler toucher from canada whose style i try to copy because I'm such a fucking loser, right?
Sincerely,
donnerBoy

Posted by 101Chairborne at 2008-06-27 02:34 PM

This coming from a "loser" troll that has nothing constructive to add to a serious conversation about the Bush Administrations violation of Constitutional Rights but a nasty insult....

Impressive Chairpoodle!

"Your premise could also be used against those that like to chuck around epithets like "traitorous libs" and meaningless, counterproductive swill of that cloth."

I don't consider myself a lib or a con but I've been called a traitor on here for saying shit about Bush. I just throw that one back at the person saying it. I don't see how one can still support him unless they are a traitor.

"... to compare (DHS) to the Brownshirts is insulting to both sides..."

Unless I read RisR incorrectly - and sometimes righties stumble over their verbiage - to compare Bush's Gestapo to Hitler's Gestapo insults both Gestapos. So hope lives that DR Fascists will see what's going on and join the 2008 push for change.

Meanwhile I repeat: I quit commercial flying about when I had to doff my shoes TWICE at LAX. Better grounded, I think, than continued police harassment. herm

"But, frankly, to compare them to the Brownshirts is insulting to both sides:"

Er....probably that was the intent.

If you misunderstand me, it's because you're not very bright. It's stupid to say that the Bush people are Nazis, and it's stupid to say the Nazis are like the administration. I was hardly a big fan of Clinton, or of Nixon--but those guys on their worst days weren't nearly as bad the Stalinists or the Hitlerites or the Maoists. And to tar your political opponents with that kind of brush just causes me to ignore everything else you have to say.

"I don't see how one can still support him unless they are a traitor."

You'll get no argument out of me on that, Sully. Like the curse admonishes us, we are indeed living in "interesting" times.

"I quit commercial flying about when I had to doff my shoes TWICE at LAX. Better grounded, I think, than continued police harassment. herm"

I had to take my shoes off at the gate once after being searched at the normal security stop. They did it as everyone else was boarding and all the idiots were looking at me like I'm a scumbag as if there was any reason to it. So I gave the staring passengers a "Fuck you" look, finished up with security, got on the plan and forgot about it until now. I've chosen to fly several times since then.

If someone from the NSA steals your shit, that's one thing and people shoudl be pissed. But its a bit melodramatic to get all upset about having to remove shoes. Is it stupid? I think so. But its their job to screen people and they get the blame when the shit hits the fan so I indulge their shoe fetish. I don't consider it an infringement of my rights as I am choosing to fly and know the rules that come along with it.

But its a bit melodramatic to get all upset about having to remove shoes. Is it stupid? I think so. But its their job to screen people and they get the blame when the shit hits the fan so I indulge their shoe fetish. I don't consider it an infringement of my rights as I am choosing to fly and know the rules that come along with it.

Posted by Sully
* * * *

Exactly. And to compare having people remove their shoes before boarding an aircraft to building extermination camps at Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz is stupid.

And by the way--if you think Americans' airport security is too stringent (it is), it's a lot worse in Europe. A lot more checkpoints, a lot more hands-on searches, a lot more rifling through luggage. If Hermy thinks Bush has reconstituted Naziism at LAX, good thing he didn't try Munich. He would've thought the Germans were at the gates of Moscow all over again.

If you think this is here only because Bush supports it you are a stupid tool/fool. The current mainstream Repub AND Dem Representatives are supportive......

Posted by ride_on at 2008-06-27 01:20 PM | Reply | Flag:

All instituted under President Fear....errr...Bush.

Ain't that right Strappy?

....actually I think most of this nonsense started FDR.

Hey dudes, coming into the country, everything can seized. From the story, which you may not have read, as usual.....

Customs insists that terrorism and child pornography are sufficient justification for electronics searches. And even civil libertarians agree it makes sense for customs to search luggage, which could pose immediate dangers to aircraft and passengers.

With all this Nazi, and "brown-shirt" talk i fell the need to point out once agian, what was the driving Ideology behind 30's Germany. it rhymes with: SOCIALISM. The Italians were the Fascists and the Nazi's were SOCIALISTS. Its as simple as that.

"Clinton or Nixon .. . on their worst days weren't nearly as bad Stalinists, Hitlerites or Maoists."

I just KNEW RisR would make me back down from any praise I may have expressed for his words. We weren't talking about Clinton, or even Nixon, who was Richard The Great alongside George The Terrible. Yeah, if you look hard enough you may find a Gestapo worse than Bush's. But should you have to?

"And to tar your political opponents with that kind of brush causes me to ignore everything else."

Golly, Rightie, it would truly sadden me to think that you tuned out the truth just because, as Jack Nicholson so famously said, you can't handle the truth. herm

And even civil libertarians agree it makes sense for customs to search luggage, which could pose immediate dangers to aircraft and passengers.

Posted by DavetheWave at 2008-06-27 05:42 PM

cameras and hard drives and flash drives pose what type of danger to aircraft and luggage friend?

Please point out to me which "libertarian" would agree that it is right and just that the CONTENTS (personal files and folders) of laptops, cameras, hard drives and flash drives, etc, would not be protected against unreasonable searches and seizures as per the Fourth Amendment to the Bill of Rights especially anywhere in America?

"The Italians were Fascists and Nazi's (sic) SOCIALISTS. Its (sic) as simple as that."

No. Nazis, short for National Socialists, were the Republicans of Weimar Germany. They used the "socialist" label when it had fewer negative connotations, but REAL socialists - like Jews, gypsies and gays - went to concentration camps. herm

Das Muthafuckaland Security are seizing laptops and camera's without warrants now?

Ve vant to see yer papers and personal digital material.

Vy?

Because ve sed so!

Not. Good. Enuff.

Another sickening over-reach.

I can haZ IMPEACHMENT now?

Be Well.

cameras and hard drives and flash drives pose what type of danger to aircraft and luggage friend?

should have been a snappy

cameras and hard drives and flash drives pose what type of danger to aircraft and passengers friend?

sheese!

Amazing. The Con fanatics that have foisted this on us have told us for 50 years: "Government is the enemy" and "The Government is too big and intrusive."

The hypocricy stinks.

By the way, socialism entails the government or "the people" owning the means of production. The people did not own anything in Germany--the government controlled every aspect of their lives hand in hand with big business. At one point it was treason to quit your job. Nazi Germany was a right-wing, authoritarian police state, allied with big business. The "Socialism" was a bad joke. Like the Soviets calling their prision camp "democratic."

Wait. Winston Smith was that toddler toucher from Canada whose style i try to copy because I'm such a fucking loser, right?

Posted by 101Chairborne at 2008-06-27 02:34 PM

No need to copy Chairprincess, you're just a fucking loser.

Have a nice weekend, dick snot!

Golly, Rightie, it would truly sadden me to think that you tuned out the truth just because, as Jack Nicholson so famously said, you can't handle the truth. herm

Posted by herm
* * * *

The truth is that anyone who can't tell the difference between the Bush Administration and the Nazi regime should, in a perfect world, have to learn the difference on his own hide.

But we don't live in a perfect world, so the rest of us have to just listen to your bloviating douchebaggery. Free country though. So, please, proceed.

Well let's remember, RR, that the Nazis started out small too. I've been watching our government over the decades get bigger and bigger, more intrusive and more oppressive. I don't see any resistance. Germans thought they were free too. I don't like where this is going. Where does it stop?

Police State FTW.

I can haZ IMPEACHMENT now?

Be Well.

Posted by dethspud

There's a reason why impeachment hasn't happened yet. Wussie commentry like this should make it obvious. In other words, STFU with the cutesie lolcat shit.

If you want to impeach the fucking lowlife, grow some testicles and get on with it already.

"I can haZ IMPEACHMENT now?
Be Well.
Posted by dethspud"

There's a reason why impeachment hasn't happened yet. Wussie commentry like this should make it obvious. In other words, STFU with the cutesie lolcat shit.
If you want to impeach the fucking lowlife, grow some testicles and get on with it already.
Posted by Apocalypto at 2008-06-28 01:45 AM

Apparently you have been keeping your eyes sewn shut or glued, I don't care which.

Perhaps you could provide an example of the linguistic expertise necessary?

"wussie", uh-huh. I've got another suggestion, however I doubt your rectum can fit an entire dictionary since it definitely doesn't post in this thread effectively.

Customs insists that terrorism and child pornography are sufficient justification for electronics searches. And even civil libertarians agree it makes sense for customs to search luggage, which could pose immediate dangers to aircraft and passengers.

This is after getting OFF the plane.

One would think the individual would be a child porn suspect before the computer was taken. Boy, now I would be really pissed if I was this reporter.

I am more afraid of Homeland security than any terrorist.

I am more afraid of Homeland security than any terrorist.

No kidding.. If they took my laptop for that long, I would have a hard time staying in business..

How long before these Fucks start wearing "BROWN SHIRTS?" Adolph an his boys have nothing over this Bush bunch....

Posted by celisary

And I'll bet you think 'what me worry' will change that when he gets in office.

Too bad 'what me worry' has been in office almost two terms.

Whistle ass receives a warm welcome.

At least they didn't moon him.

Just so you all get it right when it becomes the new buzz-word, it's pronounced "Shtah-Zee" and it's it's spelled "Stasi". It stands for, "Staatssicherheit" which translates directly to "State Security", and in new englisch to, "Homeland Security".

Here ya go, welcome to your new reality:

What a collection of hyperbole and hysteria based on paranoid interpretations of the world.

Redlightrobot and bani seem to have Israel on the brain. It seems to be as debilitating as water on the brain.

And are danni and celisary climbing on the paranoia train? It seems so.

You folks seem to forget that the Nazis and the fascists were "socialists." The left is the fountain of totalitarian ideology and thought.

Rightwingers are usually freedom lovers, but rationale people, who understand the need to respond to actual threats to life and property in this world (as is being done by worldwide). You're not "free" if you are in danger of being killed by Islamics, who are dedicated to your destruction, or so they say and do. Get a reality check leftwinglugnuts, protofascists.

You folks are also quite prone to worship at the cult of the personality. You project all sorts of characteristics on people, and then deceive yourselves ito believing that your delusions are reality. Look at whom you've adulated. Stalin, Chairman Mao, Hitler, FDR. Obama. You can't get enough of "perfect leaders." What a bunch of malfunctioning creeps, dangers to this country and its freedoms as they worship "leaders," and are misfits living in a nether world rather than dealing with reality.

The Nazis were leftwingers? BWAHAHAHAHA.

The government of Nazi Germany was a fascist, totalitarian state. Totalitarian regimes, in contrast to a dictatorship, establish complete political, social, and cultural control over their subjects, and are usually headed by a charismatic leader. Fascism is a form of right-wing totalitarianism which emphasizes the subordination of the individual to advance the interests of the state. Nazi fascism's ideology included a racial theory which denigrated "non-Aryans," extreme nationalism which called for the unification of all German-speaking peoples, the use of private paramilitary organizations to stifle dissent and terrorize opposition, and the centralization of decision-making by, and loyalty to, a single leader.

The following song is in high rotation at the Johnson household.