Our government spies on us and initiates force against us, indiscriminately, regardless of whether we’ve been “naughty” (i.e., violated someone’s rights). We’ll discuss Snowden’s Christmas message, Obamacare as “Christmas treat” and much more. Check program notes, below, for links to all the stories, etc., we plan to discuss, then join in live, either by phone or in the chatroom.
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Program Notes:
Last Week’s Debate Between Bosch Fawstin & Yaron Brook on Naming The Enemy’s Ideology
My Summer 2012 Course, “Toward A Society of Privacy”
Surprise! It’s Super Easy to Identify People From Metadata HT Chip via Facebook
Judge Says NSA Phone Surveillance Is Legal
U.S. District Court Judge Leon: NSA Spying Likely Violates Fourth Amendment
Michelle Obama helps the President sell Obamacare
ObamaCare approval drops to record low
New ObamaCare fees coming in 2014
Dodd-Frank reform law is changing how banks do business in Oklahoma HT Rob Abiera
It’s a Very Merry Christmas for Washington Insiders HT Glenn via Facebook
Cato: Ending The Year on a Positive Note
BBC: Sherlock Mini Episode – Many Happy Returns We already saw it, but HT Michael via Facebook anyway 🙂
Don't Let It Go 
Thanks for another great show Amy and Bosch. As you both demonstrated, it’s difficult, if not impossible to find truly good news from 2013. Examples of things that weren’t as bad as they could have been or negatives that were avoided just don’t do it for me.
I have yet to think of any concrete examples of good news of any real value for American citizens, but I think there are some individuals who should be celebrated for particular actions they took this year, e.g., Snowden’s NSA revelations and Ted Cruz’s principled stand against Obamacare.
Personally, however, 2013 is the year I read my first Ayn Rand novel and had my philosophical “awakening.” This, of course, led to my introduction to Objectivism, an insatiable quest for knowledge, and your show – among many other positive things. Thanks to this I now have a principled, philosophically correct approach to discovering, perceiving, and conceptualizing reality.
I am only one more person learning and advocating Ayn Rand’s ideas, and I might not make much of a difference in the overall big picture. But how many more individuals had a similar experience this year? I’d say that is definitely a positive toward the goal of changing the prevailing philosophy.
Keep doing what you do!
Glenn Greenwald Keynote at the 30c3 Conference (Hamburg, 12/27/2013)
Thanks Craig, Is there a list of comparatively reliable encryption software anywhere that you know of?
Gayle
Der Spiegel reports:
Inside TAO: Documents Reveal Top NSA Hacking Unit
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http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-nsa-uses-powerful-toolbox-in-effort-to-spy-on-global-networks-a-940969.html
The NSA’s TAO hacking unit is considered to be the intelligence agency’s top secret weapon. It maintains its own covert network, infiltrates computers around the world and even intercepts shipping deliveries to plant back doors in electronics ordered by those it is targeting.
…
Take, for example, when they intercept shipping deliveries. If a target person, agency or company orders a new computer or related accessories, for example, TAO can divert the shipping delivery to its own secret workshops. The NSA calls this method interdiction. At these so-called “load stations,” agents carefully open the package in order to load malware onto the electronics, or even install hardware components that can provide backdoor access for the intelligence agencies. All subsequent steps can then be conducted from the comfort of a remote computer.
These minor disruptions in the parcel shipping business rank among the “most productive operations” conducted by the NSA hackers, one top secret document relates in enthusiastic terms. This method, the presentation continues, allows TAO to obtain access to networks “around the world.”
Shopping for Spy Gear: Catalog Advertises NSA Toolbox
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http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/catalog-reveals-nsa-has-back-doors-for-numerous-devices-a-940994.html
After years of speculation that electronics can be accessed by intelligence agencies through a back door, an internal NSA catalog reveals that such methods already exist for numerous end-user devices.
This reminds you of what America used to be.
Just gotta smile. 🙂
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