“Since January, some CIA operatives involved in the agency’s missions in Libya have been subjected to frequent, even monthly, polygraph examinations,” Drew Griffin of CNN Special Investigations Unit reported on August 1. (In the same report, it was revealed that 35 CIA agents were at the Benghazi compound that night.) One source, said Griffin, called this “an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency’s Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out.” At the same time, some CIA operatives, it was reported elsewhere, were being forced to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA).
“The reports on the non-disclosure agreements are accurate,” Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) told me at the Citizens’ Commission on Benghazi conference, held at Heritage. Additionally, he said, he was called by “a person on the scene in Benghazi, asked to sign another NDA, and he wouldn’t do it, so therefore he has a lawyer downtown to fight this with regard to his career.”
Frankly, I'm amazed the PPACA website came out as well as it did. Most large IT contract jobs, whether public or private sector, are much, much worse. The typical outcome for a multi-million-dollar IT contract project is massive delays, substantial budget overruns, and poor/missing functionality
The Obamacare website is a typical, or worse. The portion of the site for Spanish speaking people has never worked at all, and Spanish speaking Americans are one of the key groups of the uninsured. The rest of the site is plagued by errors in the data provided to insurers causing all sorts of problems including multiple enrollments and cancellations, incorrect family relationships, and plenty of other problems.... when it works at all. It will be at least months late in working, and that work won't be done for free, so that is late and almost certainly over budget. There are technologists that have looked at the problems and some of them are recommending that it be scraped and start over. The Obamacare site was designed with less capacity than the site for Medicare Part D. It is a debacle of epic proportions. That is before you get to the policies some people are getting, or other repercussions of the law.
President Obama has promised people who liked their current doctor and health-care plan would be able to keep it as the Affordable Care continues to get implemented, but that’s proving not to be the case for many Americans.
Insurance companies have sent out hundreds of thousands of letters to consumers in recent months cancelling their health-care plans.
Kaiser Health News reports the cancelled policies “fall short” of the essential health benefits the ACA requires all plans include beginning Jan. 1, and are therefore not eligible for sale on the state and federally-run exchanges.
The law requires plans to include coverage for maternity care, ambulatory services, prescription medications and more, additions that critics say will drive up premium costs for policyholders who may never use them.
Among the insurance companies terminating policies are Kaiser Permanente in California, which sent notices to 160,000 policy holders; Highmark Pittsburgh, which dropped 20% of its individual market customers; and Independence Blue Cross, a major insurer in Philadelphia, eliminating 45% of its individual policies, Kaiser reports. The biggest hit comes in Florida, where insurer Florida Blue has dropped 300,000 policies.
In some cases, policies for those with pre-existing conditions were terminated while other customers faced price increases since the rollout of the new insurance exchanges, according to Kaiser. Beginning in mid-September, for example, Blue Shield of California sent nearly 119,000 cancellation notices to individuals, and nearly two-thirds of this group were notified of rate increases, the nonprofit news service reports.
Apparently there are repercussions for criticizing the "most transparent administration ever" cover ups.
For months, White House and State department officials searched for @NatSecWonk, a hunt that intensified after he repeatedly expressed doubts about the official administration accounts about the Sept. 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi.
So, why did they force survivors to sign secrecy agreements?
Note to self: When the story topic is "beheading videos" one must not mention beheading videos, or the groups responsible for them, or why they might do it. One may only mock Christians.
If the big loss here is that people have to get to the airport an hour earlier and walk through a metal detector, as they have had to do during many periods in the past, that isn't much of a loss. It is also unrelated to the terrorist's goals.
If the terrorists "won," then it happened decades ago, during the problems with Palestinian hijackings, and hijackings to Cuba in the 1960s and 1970s. Various security measures were put in place at that time, including metal detectors, and armed guards with machine pistols at many European airports. Then the terrorists apparently inexplicably lost, and the measures become lighter, and then heavier, and then lighter, and now heavier again.
The current security procedures that not that onerous, and people continue to fly despite them. If you think the terrorist goal is to make everyone arrive an hour earlier at the airport and walk through a metal detector, you fundamentally misunderstand their goals. Maybe you should read this for a start:
So if the courts, the executive branch, and the legislature all agree with an interpretation of the Constitution that is different than what you think it is, how do you think that is going to get resolved in your favor? And beyond that, what is it about your ideas on the Constitution that should override the views of the three branches of government, not to mention that of legal scholars in the law schools that are likely to agree? Is something tyranny just because you say so even if almost everyone else disagrees?
So far it appears that only a couple of businesses have closed. One because it apparently made promises that it really couldn't keep legally (and toyed with the court along the way which really upped their problem) and this one that appears to have shut down because it had tiny profit margins and wanted to act in a way that would result in a big and expensive legal battle.
If you are thinking a revolution is going to occur based on situations like this, I think you're wrong. You might be able to get the law changed, but you will have a lot of work to do.
In the end, you can't really do anything about it. The government your company is under (at the very least, maybe other entities too) can compel you. So now it's just a matter of which government you're least worried about.
In the end the problem is bigger than that. The government of the countries you do business in can tell you to do certain things too, as many Europeans are fond of pointing out to Americans.
For European companies, the NSA reading their data equals their competitors reading their data. This has been known here since at least the early 90s, when Echolon data was used for commercial advantage of US companies.
We've got technology businesses shutting down their services because they are now afraid of (i.e.: terrorized by) their own government? Did the terrorists actually win this war on terror?
No. The problem is that some business what to hold themselves above the law and find that it is very expensive to attempt to do that, and almost certain to fail.
It looks like they didn't shut down because of "terror" but because they didn't want to comply with court orders and didn't have the money to fight a losing battle.
Looks like a problem with thin profit margins and a desire to fight court orders instead of comply. That is going to be expensive which isn't a good fit for a small business with thin margins.
Selling to enterprises is more lucrative than selling to consumers, of course, providing one possible reason CryptoSeal chose this route. Another factor is that businesses seeking a VPN service may be more concerned about security from hackers than about hiding Internet activity from governments and Internet service providers.
A comment on Hacker News apparently posted by CryptoSeal founder and CEO Ryan Lackey points to the cost of legal services being one of the main factors.
"The financial issue was the potentially huge liability due to a legal action or battle, not the (small) costs of operating the service," Hacker News user "RDL" wrote. The service "was covering operating costs and some profit," but the risk of defending against a government order would have wiped that out.
Since you are making up imaginary circumstances to achieve your desired outcome, how do you know the space aliens didn't intervene to help the hostile country? Does that make the hostile country just a pawn of the space aliens?
I'd say we bloody kick the UK out of Europe..... If I were the Yanks I'd simply nuke the island just to be sure.
Not going to happen. Not only is the UK a key ally of the US, but it is also the seed for many of the best sitcoms. Nobody will be willing to give that up.
Slashdot Mirror
Sorry, but the news doesn't get better if you change the source. Could the issue be that you need your news politically vetted?
Benghazi Providing Rich Material For An 'All the President's Men' Sequel?
“Since January, some CIA operatives involved in the agency’s missions in Libya have been subjected to frequent, even monthly, polygraph examinations,” Drew Griffin of CNN Special Investigations Unit reported on August 1. (In the same report, it was revealed that 35 CIA agents were at the Benghazi compound that night.) One source, said Griffin, called this “an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency’s Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out.” At the same time, some CIA operatives, it was reported elsewhere, were being forced to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA).
“The reports on the non-disclosure agreements are accurate,” Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) told me at the Citizens’ Commission on Benghazi conference, held at Heritage. Additionally, he said, he was called by “a person on the scene in Benghazi, asked to sign another NDA, and he wouldn’t do it, so therefore he has a lawyer downtown to fight this with regard to his career.”
Rep Wolf Says Benghazi survivors were forced to sign non disclosure Agreements
Frankly, I'm amazed the PPACA website came out as well as it did. Most large IT contract jobs, whether public or private sector, are much, much worse. The typical outcome for a multi-million-dollar IT contract project is massive delays, substantial budget overruns, and poor/missing functionality
The Obamacare website is a typical, or worse. The portion of the site for Spanish speaking people has never worked at all, and Spanish speaking Americans are one of the key groups of the uninsured. The rest of the site is plagued by errors in the data provided to insurers causing all sorts of problems including multiple enrollments and cancellations, incorrect family relationships, and plenty of other problems.... when it works at all. It will be at least months late in working, and that work won't be done for free, so that is late and almost certainly over budget. There are technologists that have looked at the problems and some of them are recommending that it be scraped and start over. The Obamacare site was designed with less capacity than the site for Medicare Part D. It is a debacle of epic proportions. That is before you get to the policies some people are getting, or other repercussions of the law.
You Can Keep Your Current Health Insurance.Or Not
President Obama has promised people who liked their current doctor and health-care plan would be able to keep it as the Affordable Care continues to get implemented, but that’s proving not to be the case for many Americans.
Insurance companies have sent out hundreds of thousands of letters to consumers in recent months cancelling their health-care plans.
Kaiser Health News reports the cancelled policies “fall short” of the essential health benefits the ACA requires all plans include beginning Jan. 1, and are therefore not eligible for sale on the state and federally-run exchanges.
The law requires plans to include coverage for maternity care, ambulatory services, prescription medications and more, additions that critics say will drive up premium costs for policyholders who may never use them.
Among the insurance companies terminating policies are Kaiser Permanente in California, which sent notices to 160,000 policy holders; Highmark Pittsburgh, which dropped 20% of its individual market customers; and Independence Blue Cross, a major insurer in Philadelphia, eliminating 45% of its individual policies, Kaiser reports. The biggest hit comes in Florida, where insurer Florida Blue has dropped 300,000 policies.
In some cases, policies for those with pre-existing conditions were terminated while other customers faced price increases since the rollout of the new insurance exchanges, according to Kaiser. Beginning in mid-September, for example, Blue Shield of California sent nearly 119,000 cancellation notices to individuals, and nearly two-thirds of this group were notified of rate increases, the nonprofit news service reports.
Apparently there are repercussions for criticizing the "most transparent administration ever" cover ups.
For months, White House and State department officials searched for @NatSecWonk, a hunt that intensified after he repeatedly expressed doubts about the official administration accounts about the Sept. 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi.
So, why did they force survivors to sign secrecy agreements?
BenghaziGate: At Least 5 CIA Employees Forced to Sign Nondisclosure Agreements
Dude, most people here have big enough egos as it is without referring to them as "god like," even if you do it indirectly.
It is ... the most interesting code update in the world.
Note to self: When the story topic is "beheading videos" one must not mention beheading videos, or the groups responsible for them, or why they might do it. One may only mock Christians.
If you are deliberately killing innocent people with drones, you aren't doing it right. That is why they don't deliberately target innocent people.
Pakistani General - Actually the drones are awesome
Why don't you demonstrate your true manliness and post something more along these lines?
Or do you not want to end up in a video on Facebook or Youtube? Move along, nothing to see .... if you want to keep your head.
No problems there. Nope. Nope. It seems to be a successful strategy for them. You seem to be encouraging it.
South Park Muhammad Cartoon Sparks Jihadi Death Threats
If the big loss here is that people have to get to the airport an hour earlier and walk through a metal detector, as they have had to do during many periods in the past, that isn't much of a loss. It is also unrelated to the terrorist's goals.
The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants
If the terrorists "won," then it happened decades ago, during the problems with Palestinian hijackings, and hijackings to Cuba in the 1960s and 1970s. Various security measures were put in place at that time, including metal detectors, and armed guards with machine pistols at many European airports. Then the terrorists apparently inexplicably lost, and the measures become lighter, and then heavier, and then lighter, and now heavier again.
The current security procedures that not that onerous, and people continue to fly despite them. If you think the terrorist goal is to make everyone arrive an hour earlier at the airport and walk through a metal detector, you fundamentally misunderstand their goals. Maybe you should read this for a start:
The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants
As opposed to Booo! anti-American propaganda? Are you challenging his statements of fact? It doesn't appear so.
As opposed to random internet opinion guy making even less supported claims? Hard choice.
Maybe you can help, are you doing to deny that bribery is a problem in international competition?
Once again I see no denial of bribes in your post.
I don't see any denial about bribes in your post.
So if the courts, the executive branch, and the legislature all agree with an interpretation of the Constitution that is different than what you think it is, how do you think that is going to get resolved in your favor? And beyond that, what is it about your ideas on the Constitution that should override the views of the three branches of government, not to mention that of legal scholars in the law schools that are likely to agree? Is something tyranny just because you say so even if almost everyone else disagrees?
So far it appears that only a couple of businesses have closed. One because it apparently made promises that it really couldn't keep legally (and toyed with the court along the way which really upped their problem) and this one that appears to have shut down because it had tiny profit margins and wanted to act in a way that would result in a big and expensive legal battle.
If you are thinking a revolution is going to occur based on situations like this, I think you're wrong. You might be able to get the law changed, but you will have a lot of work to do.
In the end, you can't really do anything about it. The government your company is under (at the very least, maybe other entities too) can compel you. So now it's just a matter of which government you're least worried about.
In the end the problem is bigger than that. The government of the countries you do business in can tell you to do certain things too, as many Europeans are fond of pointing out to Americans.
For European companies, the NSA reading their data equals their competitors reading their data. This has been known here since at least the early 90s, when Echolon data was used for commercial advantage of US companies.
That isn't really true.
Why We Spy on Our Allies - By R. James Woolsey, former Director of CIA
The terrorists won as soon as we had to take off our shoes and throw away our nail files in order to get on an airplane, starting around 12 years ago.
Did that prevent you from getting on the plane? If not, then no.
We've got technology businesses shutting down their services because they are now afraid of (i.e.: terrorized by) their own government?
Did the terrorists actually win this war on terror?
No. The problem is that some business what to hold themselves above the law and find that it is very expensive to attempt to do that, and almost certain to fail.
It looks like they didn't shut down because of "terror" but because they didn't want to comply with court orders and didn't have the money to fight a losing battle.
You mean Boeing.
Boeing Called A Target Of French Spy Effort
Airbus' Presentation on Boeing 787 - Bad CI Ethics?
Looks like a problem with thin profit margins and a desire to fight court orders instead of comply. That is going to be expensive which isn't a good fit for a small business with thin margins.
FTA:
Selling to enterprises is more lucrative than selling to consumers, of course, providing one possible reason CryptoSeal chose this route. Another factor is that businesses seeking a VPN service may be more concerned about security from hackers than about hiding Internet activity from governments and Internet service providers.
A comment on Hacker News apparently posted by CryptoSeal founder and CEO Ryan Lackey points to the cost of legal services being one of the main factors.
"The financial issue was the potentially huge liability due to a legal action or battle, not the (small) costs of operating the service," Hacker News user "RDL" wrote. The service "was covering operating costs and some profit," but the risk of defending against a government order would have wiped that out.
Since you are making up imaginary circumstances to achieve your desired outcome, how do you know the space aliens didn't intervene to help the hostile country? Does that make the hostile country just a pawn of the space aliens?
Oui.
So will the french demand the return of the Statue of Liberty that they gifted to the americans?
Not so much as retribution, simply because it doesn't apply, any more.
The spying was in France. The US is still free. Your post is nonsense.
I'd say we bloody kick the UK out of Europe..... If I were the Yanks I'd simply nuke the island just to be sure.
Not going to happen. Not only is the UK a key ally of the US, but it is also the seed for many of the best sitcoms. Nobody will be willing to give that up.