The Propaganda War Against Us: The First Shot Is Fired

Originally posted by IsntLifeFunny
I hope you all join me in the real world where we can actually make a difference.

Please know this; I am doing something out there in the real world to make a difference. It has to start at home though. I've been outspoken many times on ATS about networking with family, friends, and neighbors. It's happening where I live. Just because it's not on the internet, doesn't mean it's not happening. I wish you all the best. We all need to support each other, and understand that divided we fall.

reply to post by Hefficide


S & F. Hefficide, I could not agree with your words any more strongly. Glad you have the sleepless spells when you come out with something like this. Thanks.

Just posting to apologize for being largely absent from this thread for the past 24 hours... I had a doctors appointment yesterday and my aunt passed away the day before that. I have to attend the funeral in a few hours but then will get back here to reply to everyone who's had questions.

Wow - a few thoughts on this.

1) You (general) had to know this day would come.

2) 'They' are kinda right (when you get right down to it) - the fact that this could eventually be the impetus for shutting you down, IS a little disturbing, but this type of 'activity' certainly stands in the way of Big Brother's ultimate plan*.

3) But, you are also right - in terms of the propaganda, and the liberties that will, no doubt, be taken (Read: 'abused') to suppress, control, and/or eliminate 'potential threats' to this plan (*complete control of everything and everyone)

4) What about Facebook? Surely, in some roundabout way, that could be considered a 'Forum' given the propensity for people to not only post political content but also for those posts to evolve into actual discussions every bit as serious, heated, threatening, etc, as we get in here at ATS.
(how many other people just got captured there?)

We have the playbook right in front of us (Orwell 1984) yet [the populace, in general] choose to ignore it.

We are doomed, I'm afraid.

Edit to add: The old boiling Frog anecdote - wouldn't people be a lot more likely to respond and take notice if we [the people] compiled a list of freedoms or crazy / threatening legislation that has been implemented that simply did not exist 5 or 10 or 20 years ago? (Hmmmm... a project)

Sadly, I think the OP is absolutely correct in his suspicions.

With TOR being compromised and the Fed taking a very hard look at BitCoin and other virtual currencies right now, it is only a matter of time before the whole idea of privacy will be a distant memory of a past without constant monitoring.

Everywhere you look, the technology that most of us have so willingly... lovingly, even... taken into our lives is being turned against us.

Smartphones; PC's/laptops; gaming platforms (see XBox One), Smart TV's, and even baby monitors now.

I only know one thing for sure... if it has a chip and the ability to transmit, it can and probably will be used against you. Especially if you are considered an outlier.

reply to post by Dreine


One of the main movers and shakers of TOR was speaking to Assange along with a group of "cypherpunk" activists.

In this moot the man admitted to being involved with military intelligence. Specifically with the Navy.

In short, as soon as this video was published, TOR was acknowledged to have been compromised by design some time ago. If it was ever secure at all (which is doubtful.)

Here is the video

Originally posted by Hefficide

Just posting to apologize for being largely absent from this thread for the past 24 hours... I had a doctors appointment yesterday and my aunt passed away the day before that. I have to attend the funeral in a few hours but then will get back here to reply to everyone who's had questions.

My condolences, Heff.

Well I'm not a fan of the way things have been going, as much as most are not .. however, it's accurate and very valid to say that terror groups HAVE been using forums for collaboration and planning for quite a while now and with the NSA's prism system being disclosed to the public .. there is no question they are likely paranoid about using standard forms of communication.. that stands to reason.

I think there's some serious fear mongering going on by suggesting that this is targeting "us" ..

I don't doubt this forum is monitored to some degree, it would be kind of careless if they weren't .. but I don't think for one moment that the powers that be think that ATS is a terrorist haven .. the forum is open and public .. that notion is silly.

These organizations no doubt do NOT do their planning in public forums.. if they did, then they would be morons .. the forums are probably closed, invite only and encrypted with https ..

reply to post by miniatus


The inference intended was not to suggest that we are being targeted on the same level currently... rather than the potential exists.

Having said that, given the recent admission that certain political groups were inappropriately targeted for IRS attention based upon their political affiliations, combined with the fact that people are now being arrested for online posts fairly often, combined with the intensified media push to marginalize the "conspiracy" community?

It all does add up.

Do I fear black Suburbans swarming my house currently? No. But do I wonder if I might be rejected for jobs, or for social aid, or find myself being audited... and things of that nature? I think that concern is 100% valid and not in the realm of fear mongering.

The further concern is that once taboos are broken, they tend to just keep getting worse. Once a taboo is willingly violated, it becomes the new normal.

Here in the UK it seems like we're now getting bombarded with stories about kids killing themselves following online abuse on websites, with the subtext - 'The internet is dangerous and kills our children, it must be CONTROLLED!'

Which is presumably how they're going to sell it here.

Originally posted by Painterz
Here in the UK it seems like we're now getting bombarded with stories about kids killing themselves following online abuse on websites, with the subtext - 'The internet is dangerous and kills our children, it must be CONTROLLED!'

Which is presumably how they're going to sell it here.

The crazy thing about the recent story about Ask.fm is that the girl may have sent herself all them messages, which really doesn't add up at all.

Originally posted by Hefficide
reply to post by miniatus

 

The inference intended was not to suggest that we are being targeted on the same level currently... rather than the potential exists.

Having said that, given the recent admission that certain political groups were inappropriately targeted for IRS attention based upon their political affiliations, combined with the fact that people are now being arrested for online posts fairly often, combined with the intensified media push to marginalize the "conspiracy" community?

It all does add up.

Do I fear black Suburbans swarming my house currently? No. But do I wonder if I might be rejected for jobs, or for social aid, or find myself being audited... and things of that nature? I think that concern is 100% valid and not in the realm of fear mongering.

The further concern is that once taboos are broken, they tend to just keep getting worse. Once a taboo is willingly violated, it becomes the new normal.

I think those are legitimate concerns, but in a lot of ways they always have been ... employers like mine tend to google around and try to find things about potential hires.. One has to be diligent about their online identity.. that's why when I'm on this forum ( which is the only forum I really participate in ) .. I don't use my normal screen name.

But of course that's only useful if you're trying to keep your professional life out of your personal life.. it doesn't make you immune to surveillance naturally.. but anyway.. I was just saying that I think the article doesn't really pertain to ATS so much as it points out a true reality that these terror groups probably are making use of private forums more so now than they were because of the NSA revelations.

reply to post by Hefficide


But assuming that the whole situation with terrorists using online forums is true, how should the media report on it then without you finding an agenda behind the article itself?

Or are you saying that the whole story is a fabrication?

Originally posted by Painterz
Here in the UK it seems like we're now getting bombarded with stories about kids killing themselves following online abuse on websites, with the subtext - 'The internet is dangerous and kills our children, it must be CONTROLLED!'

Which is presumably how they're going to sell it here.

I don't get cyber bullying .. every site I use has the ability to block people and/or report them.. to me I think real life bullying would be much more of a problem.

Instead of trying to "CONTROL" it .. our children need to be taught how to deal with those situations instead of just sitting them in front of a computer and letting them have at it .. It's a parenting matter on both the side of the bully and the one being bullied in my humble opinion..

Teach them how to block people, teach them to report it to their parents.. don't let it escalate.. and also teach them never to engage that bully back because that's exactly what they want, a reaction.

Originally posted by miniatus
.. however, it's accurate and very valid to say that terror groups HAVE been using forums for collaboration and planning for quite a while now and with the NSA's prism system being disclosed to the public .. there is no question they are likely paranoid about using standard forms of communication.. that stands to reason.

I think there's some serious fear mongering going on by suggesting that this is targeting "us" ..

These organizations no doubt do NOT do their planning in public forums.. if they did, then they would be morons .. the forums are probably closed, invite only and encrypted with https ..

I tend to agree with your comments 'miniatus'. I do appreciate Heff's attempts to keep us 'aware' of the potential abuse of electronic surveillance by our government, or for that matter other governments. (yes, I believe other governments are making efforts to spy on us, but mostly for the theft of Intellectual Property both of our Government, our High Tech Corporations, and our military and research laboratories).

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is alleged to undertake a widespread effort to acquire U.S. military technology and classified information[citation needed]. To fulfill its long-term military development goals, the PRC uses a variety of methods to obtain U.S. technology -- including espionage, the exploitation of commercial entities, and a network of scientific, academic, and business contacts.

Source China Spying on United States

Additonally, as some others have explained in a 'Devils Advocate' perspective, the high tech spying, I really don't believe the general, law abiding citizens are being spied on, just doesn't make a lot of sense to me (because the expense: cost and manpower hours to do so would make it prohibited), and tend to feel that those who are worried are paranoid or just exaggerating the true purpose of surveillance, which is to protect our citizens and our country.

Why surveillance is happening in this new world since 09/11/2001.

In secretive chat rooms and on encrypted Internet message boards, al-Qaida fighters have been planning and coordinating attacks — including a threatened if vague plot that U.S. officials say closed 19 diplomatic posts across Africa and the Middle East for more than a week. It's highly unlikely that al-Qaida's top leader,
But the unspecified call to arms by the al-Qaida leaders, using a multilayered subterfuge to pass messages from couriers to tech-savvy underlings to attackers, provoked a quick reaction by the U.S. to protect Americans in far-flung corners of the worldwhere the terror network is evolving into regional hubs. For years, extremists have used online forums to share information and drum up support, and over the past decade they have developed systems that blend encryption programs with anonymity software to hide their tracks. Jihadist technology may now be so sophisticated and secretive, experts say, that many communications avoid detection by National Security Agency programs that were designed to uncover terror plots.

Source Online Forums Provide Havens for Terror Plots

So, infact, U.S. citizens may be under surveillance, it is being conducted for the sole safety of the law abiding citizens, BUT does go after citizens tied to Terror Groups like Al Qaeda as stated here:

Indefinite detention without trial: Section 1021[edit source | editbeta] The detention sections of the NDAA begin by "affirm[ing]" that the authority of the President under the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF), a joint resolution passed in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, includes the power to detain, via the Armed Forces, any person, including a US citizen,[13][21] "who was part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners", and anyone who commits a "belligerent act" against the U.S. or its coalition allies in aid of such enemy forces, under the law of war, "without trial, until the end of the hostilities authorized by the [AUMF]".

National Defense Authorization Source

Lastly, we live in a new world post 9/11. There are Terrorists out there trying to kill U.S. citizens and destroy symbolis of our Freedom We need to protect ourselves and use every means to do so. I personally have seen no proof that any American citizen has been harmed by our increased surveillance activities. However, I am in favor of much better oversight of how we are doing it, and put proper measures in place to insure abuses do NOT happen.

Originally posted by SquirrelNutz
Wow - a few thoughts on this.

1) You (general) had to know this day would come.

2) 'They' are kinda right (when you get right down to it) - the fact that this could eventually be the impetus for shutting you down, IS a little disturbing, but this type of 'activity' certainly stands in the way of Big Brother's ultimate plan*.

3) But, you are also right - in terms of the propaganda, and the liberties that will, no doubt, be taken (Read: 'abused') to suppress, control, and/or eliminate 'potential threats' to this plan (*complete control of everything and everyone)

4) What about Facebook? Surely, in some roundabout way, that could be considered a 'Forum' given the propensity for people to not only post political content but also for those posts to evolve into actual discussions every bit as serious, heated, threatening, etc, as we get in here at ATS.
(how many other people just got captured there?)

We have the playbook right in front of us (Orwell 1984) yet [the populace, in general] choose to ignore it.

We are doomed, I'm afraid.

Edit to add: The old boiling Frog anecdote - wouldn't people be a lot more likely to respond and take notice if we [the people] compiled a list of freedoms or crazy / threatening legislation that has been implemented that simply did not exist 5 or 10 or 20 years ago? (Hmmmm... a project)

edit on 8/16/2013 by SquirrelNutz because: (no reason given)

Quit over reacting bro.

The government does not have as much control as you think.

The main reason why they are trackin you guys FOR ONE.
Is Terrorism.


The whole reason why the world is in a state of Psychosis Is becuase 1. The Bible is coming Real
2. People are freaking out.
3. The world is supposed be induced in evil, As it was written. Do you know why tho? What purpose would all this pain and suffering and corruption have.

Well if we were to just hand you a perfect society. With Pepetiual resources used in constant development so people wouldn't have to work.

Now, it would be Much more difficult to cleanse the earth of stupid people. If the stupid people Arn't given the oppertunity to make their Ego Blatently Obvious for people to spot out.

In a perfect society, You wouldn't beable to tell if people are greedy or back stabbing because.... Everything is provided for us.
Even if someone bumps ahead of you in line. Its not even reason to cast them into flames.
Because eventually youl get your food and won't really care if that guy was a dick or not.

With the society we have now, You can almost immediately tell if the person is corrupted or not.
So... Sorry you guys have to suffer, But it makes it much easier to for me to spot these people when the time comes.

Im sure there are some rich people out there who were very wise with their money and distributing it amongst friends and family. Those people will be left alone. Its the people who have branded themselves with Sin. And the wolves will come Hungry as ever. Then the earth will be changed. Right after this catastrophic war. Right now we are in the trials, People are given an extended time to cope. And co-operate with the change.

The new world Order is Front. There is no new world order. Just Masons acting sac-religiously.
They have done a pretty good job. At enticing both sides. I have done my own research. They seem to want the prophecies to move along as should. So are these people totally evil? Some of them are. Others are just doing what must be done in order to TEACH EVERYONE. The capacity for Evils. What they can do to our planet. And what we can do to ourselves.

Eventually we will be alone again, for a short time. Right now tho, Since we discovered nuclear fission. They will not leave us alone until EVERYONE is on the same page. No more Nukes. Its devistates the land, We have other weapons we can use that are less harmful. But yeah, Thats why everything is the way it is. Its a test. Because Baal gets to scoop up the corrupted, The ones who don't want to live on Earth and he takes them away from Earth never to Return.

The underlining point of this all. Is all of this is to break you down physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Shatter all your walls, So that you will want to leave here and never look back. Only the weak will leave.
The strong will stay and Protect Earth for as long as she lives.

Originally posted by jlafleur02
In reference to the encryption software, If the government had the source code for the encryption software would it be able to reverse engineer a way to break any code. It is encrypted with a program and I would think if they had the software code that was used then they would know how to decrypt it? Is this how it works or do you need the key no matter what?

I looked online for an answer but found nothing. If you had the source code for the encryption software you would be able to see how it formulates the encrypted message. I would think the NSA would have no problem getting this from the designer of the software.

can google crawl this?

Everyone knows "real" terrorist don't use anything electronic ever, or even go near an area easily surveyed by

electronics including satellites or long range listening devices. Fail fear mongering....

Originally posted by Em2013
The fact that ATS isn't SSL is what bothers me, but I hope that all of the database stuff is encrypted. I also hope that ATS has the balls to say no to the government should they demand everyone's username and passwords.

edit on 16-8-2013 by Em2013 because: said SSH instead of SSL lawl

You are kidding right, lol. There is nothing they can not break. They don't even need the keys anymore. It is game over as far as that goes. The recent hoopla is about them reading your emails and listening to our phone calls. Problem is, they have been doing this for years.

Did you catch the statement from the founder of Oracle. He kinda laughed and said it is not just the govt, corporations are also doing it. You honestly think all your Hotmail, Gmail, yahoo, etc emails are private, lol.

We find out today they used the new program over three thousand times to spy on Americans just this year.