Slashdot Mirror
2001 Big Brother Awards Announced
DaHat writes "ABC News.com is reporting that the latest round of Big Brother Awards are out. This years list includes the FBI's carnivore system being named "Most Invasive Proposal." The NSA won a "Lifetime Menace" award for, allegedly, "50 years of spying" on Americans and others and even the Florida company ChoicePoint was named "greatest corporate invader," for their actions during the Florida recount. Get the whole scoop and whole article here." We should have a different award, the Stalin award or something for entities advancing the destruction of the first ammendment. We can nominate the evil organizations oppressing freedom of speech like the RIAA, the MPAA, and Slashdot.
How interesting that he included slashdot on the list for censoring freedom of speech. Sometimes this is true even here, where people fight for and discuss freedom of speech issues because of abusive moderators. Despite the safeguards in place (M2 anyone?), there's still a definite problem here; often, those who care to disagree are moderated down to oblivion.
Don't you know that there is only one prototypical american, who has lots of guns, is loud and offensive, and only speaks one language?
Or are all my european friends lying to me?
See the subject. The NSA has the same restriction as the CIA; however, it specializes in SIGINT while the CIA does... well, pretty much everything else. Damnit, man, if yer gonna refute someone else's post, could you please be sure you're right?
Btw, I don't mean to be redundant here -- all the other refutations were by ACs, and not explicit in their subject lines.
Not Caucasus but Urals. Stalin/Russia saved the day. Sorry but they did it. If Hitler went up then we wouldn't be here to discuss this... At least I would surely not be here. I may carry some of the oldest european blood but i also have some jewish blood and i am not ashamed of it (but I do hate Sionism). So I would be a ashtray by the most...
No Berlin was sorrounded even before western allies made it to the Elba river, which is quite far from Berlin... In fact Berlin was well located inside the territory ocuppied by the soviets. However due to agreements, Stalin gave a good piece of Berlin to the western allies. Later when relations with US got to frost level, Moscow decided to rise that same Berlin Wall that sorrounded completely West Berlin from the rest of Germany. Until the 80's most if not all contact with the West was made through air.
On what concerns the take of Berlin then one should note that it was one of the biggest battles of WWII. Russians had to overcome an heavily defended fortification line and to fight for every corner. Only the Reichstag (the center of the Nazi Government) took days to be conquered. Historians note that reports about the fight of Reichstag were made on the basis of what floor was conquered.
And you go read the diplomatic cases, the minutes and talk with people who lived the whole shit. It would be much better for your education.
Lived 40 years under Soviet occupation. Who told you to run to Hitler to ask for a piece of Czechoslovakia. It's on there and it is not pretty. So don't try to be more saint that Molotov Ribbentrop or anyone else. Everyone was trading Europe with Hitler. E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E. And Poland was one of them. And that helped Hitler to get Czechoslovakia to its knees. And get you later you fools...
Look pal. I have seen how your First Amendment works in your country... Yes you make a lot to defend it. But sometimes it is not worth anything more than the street trash. And it is not Hitler, Stalin, Satan, Hussein or Khameini who take that right from you. It's your own bosses, politicians, Presidents and bureaucritters.
So, for political maturity, first pick up your own. We don't say Reaganomics when someone picks up shitty liberalism and pisses off the whole country...
I'm not holding this poor jerk responsible for his country. But I can't stand to hear these polish speak about how badly were treated for 40 years of soviet occupation. Damn they have now a country of their own. And they were some of the very first to help Hitler to do his dirty job. Sorry but this is not History books. It's from very reliable sources that worked on the Reichstag archives. I saw copies of this as I was damn interested on some events that happened in 1938. And I was socked to see how everyone treated and traded with Hitler. In fact he treached everyone. Hitler was a diplomatic monster that managed to cheat everyone. He played with everyone's appetite to gain his power.
In 1938 the only problem with Poland was some minor "worries" about Dantzig (now Gdansk). And how these guys talking about butchering the Czechoslovakia. Poland was even ready to send troops to help Germany deal with the Sudetes.
So I can't stand that people speak only about poor Poland... There is only one poor country here and that's Czechoslovakia. They were the first. And everyone was agreeing or helping the butchering. Poland was acting on it... So?..
Look Man have you ever seen what these battlefields arounf here look like? Normandy? Give me a break ok? Yes you had a damn hard time there. You made D day a big day. You are heros and no one takes this from you. But take a trip to Kursk before saying anything about Normandy. And don't forget to pass by Stalingrad. And what concerns Berlin don't forget that Russians pushed hard to get there first and alone. They had to kick Guderian's ass in Pomerania, then turn back to Berlin and force the Siegfried lines at night, what, for that time was a brilliant madness. One small error and Russians would be kicked back to Poland in a few days. But they did this and went roaming a super-defended city that didn't want to give up for nearly two weeks. During that time you were all also pushing hard but didn't make even near Berlin. Look at the old maps of Europe and look at Germany's division on East and West. And where Berlin is....
You speak about Normandy. Germans were 24 kilometers from the center of Moscow. And it was holiday in Russia. And you know what these Russian bastards did??? They openly marched! Stalin alone in the tribune and echelons of soldiers and tanks marching in October's Revolution Day. And by that time any German General could see the Red Square's buildings through a damn binocule! You weren't even in the war when that thing happened. And in a few days they beated the Germans so badly that they had to go back a few hundreds of kilometers.
And your politicians did want Berlin before Russians... But if someone says "nado" to "nado" and only God stops the roar.
Didn't the Nazi's ban radios you can tune, and mandated that you had to have a radio with approved preset stations? What was the name of that?
Or how 'bout the "Black Marker" awards.
other ideas:
muzzle awards
turncoat awards
the draconies
we say so awards
"Let him go, Ralph. He knows what he's doing." --Otto Mann (simpsons)
ANy way, another company that people should be on the watch for is planetu. Of course that is if you use a coupon and a frequent buyers card. They are linking off line shopping habits with online coupons. And collecting lots of information on who you are (name address etc), as well as what you shop for, (mainly groceries now, but who knows later), and how often. Scary to me. And they build an online / offline database about you. Good idea behind what they are trying to acomplish, but to big brotherish for me.
This is only the beginning. Choicepoint is only the first step in 'identity' theft and making the little guy (like me) getting f***** over by the system in some way. Suddenly the police show up at your door for something that you did not do, but you cannot prove it cause your identity has been stolen. Oh this happened to a friend of mine. Well sort of...
I don't want a lot, I just want it all!
Flame away, I have a hose!
Only 'flamers' flame!
Despite the European Congress may have been listened fluently by the NSA... We still have our own Big Brothers! BB Awards happened a few weeks ago in France ,during a Conference about digital counter-cultures called Zelig, and went to INRIA (public-funded research institute!) for making software to recognize "suspect" behaviors on videosureveillance tapes, Sagem Morpho for its morpho-analysis tools, and to the French Ministry of the Inside (call it Ministry of Love if you prefer...) for putting everyboy, from the victim to the witness to the suspect, in every criminal case in the same database...
brrr....
Pictures from the event are available on my site, though... =)
how could this get modded +interesting when it's a troll?
NO HUMAN would go and put their entire life into public eyes unless they were
a) stupid
b) getting the chance to win a million dollars.
I have no complaints with them listening into my phone calls or reading my e-mail
Maybe it sounds cliche if I say this, but honestly, go to a book store or chapters or whatever, and pick up 1984 by George Orwell. READ it. Think about it. See where things CAN go when personal liberties and rights are squashed to nothingness. Then ask yourself, "Do I really want to live in a world like that?"
Um, hate to break it to you man, but we watch all those shows because the people on Jerry Springer etc. are freaks. It's a freakshow featuring the fuck-ups of our society, darwin awards waiting to happen. The average American wouldn't be caught dead in the on-air audience, let alone on the stage.
Two words:
Victor Suvorov
Wrong, the CIA spies on the world, the NSA spies on Americans.
Do the story posters do this for their own benefit? To show that they made a joke?
- I don't care if they globalize against free speech. All my best free thoughts are done in my head.
As well as the news article this link probably should have been included in the story as well.
Years of experience in letting other people to watch your hard drive contents.
The opinions in this comment are subject to GPL, you can copy, modify and redistribute freely (as in speech).
Slashdot seems to be able to twist just about any story into a gripe with the MPAA and RIAA.. My favorite grocery store was out of FlavorRich skim milk. They seek to limit my choice, much like the RIAA and MPA....
Ok Americans, you don't have anyone destroying the first amendment? Why Stalin and first amendment here? When did Stalin stepped on first amendment? When do you stop thinking that the world starts in New England and ends in Alaska?
Stalin was a butcher. But he was a Soviet butcher who lead Soviet Union and not America. And there were no First or Last Amendments of the likes. Pick up you OWN people for that and point out and leave Stalin alone. If anyone has anything to say about Stalin then it is Germans, Poles, Czecks, Slovaks, Yougoslavians, Chinese, Koreans, Georgians, Azeris, Tatarians, Russians and a several other tens of nations that lived in the grip of the Butcher of Nations. But you should THANK GOD that there was Stalin as he saved the world and YOU from being swallowed by the Nazi machinery. And NEVER DARE to forget about that!
Pick up you McCarthy's, Hoover's, Nixon's for that First Amendment of yours... And never forget History. And if you have any troubles about this then go and pick some old films of the 50's and look at your First Amendment and how it worked. Btw, on Slashdot someone, not long ago, published a link to such type of archive. I took some of those films and OH MY. How you loved Uncle Joe in the 40's... And how you HATED him and Russia in the 50's. You hated SO MUCH that you could not say a correct thing about Russia's History or say Lenin's true name...
NSA speis on all communication outside the USA. That is correct. However, some communications are routed outside the USA and sometimes people within the USA contact the rest of the world. Therefore, the NSA is spying on Americans de facto, even if unintentionally.
I'm in the USA. If you're not and you're reading this, then the NSA is reading my words, even though I'm a private citizen.
"Let him go, Ralph. He knows what he's doing." --Otto Mann (simpsons)
I'm all for it...let's do it. We can all submit our top offender and why. We can post the results on a reporter-friendly page, with links to threaded discussions as to the why's
/. front page blurb to coordiate it.
that would rock, we just need a
"Let him go, Ralph. He knows what he's doing." --Otto Mann (simpsons)
I'd prefer the Ball and Chain awards for the consumer product with the most strings / ropes / chains attached. Thus appliances with GPS, windows XP, and dvd would all be eligible.
I think the winner would be windows XP hands down, but the restrictions on things like copy "protected" hard drives are pretty ball and chainy too.
Lifetime Menace, Runners Up
IBM for years of selling computers to developing countries that are used to suppress populations and for lobbying against privacy laws and standards wordlwide
IBM awarded, partly, for selling computers to developing countries that are used to suppress populations? Doesn't every company in the US try to sell computers to as many other countries as it can? Should Linus get mentioned for a reward because the Chinese government (who don't give a damn about privacy) get to use Linux (and for free)?
I would like to see this televised. Its cool that we as geeks can appreciate it, but nothing will be done to STOP these companies until we bring it before the regular joe kinda guy. All joe knows is that windows XP will make his life easier. Does he know about SAP or what it does to his mp3 collection?? Does he understand the real draconian measures being taken by MS, NSA and others?
I think you'll find that the americans complaining about privacy are not the same americans that are appearing on talk shows. In america, like all countries, there are plenty of stupid and smart people to go around. The only difference here is that america offers up its stupidity for all to see and laugh at. Just enjoy the show and lighten up. And the social security number is only one of the reasons americans are complaining about privacy. Had you been here to experience eight years of clinton/gore, perhaps you would have the same perspective on privacy.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
NSA spies on everyone BUT Americans. Spying on americans is FBI territory. CIA, again, is external.
Come on people, I'm not even American and I know these things.
Neither ABCNews nor the Slashdot write-up seem to link to the actual Privacy International site or their 2001 US Big Brother Awards page.
Also, the ABCNews article and Slashdot write-up dwell entirely on the privacy violators, while the original site also mentions that
...and awards the Brandeis Award to...
These are the good guys (and girls). They deserve some recognition, too.
-M
You're smart; why haven't you learned Python yet? http://diveintopython.org