A victory for basement dwellers everywhere!!

NDAA & SOPA: Are you with us or against us, Citizen?

IMA CHARGIN MAH LOIC

I can't decide?

Is this good or farked up.

/Kinda like looking at a B-2 and thinking it is beautiful? or an image of horror.

Give me unlimited power dude, I totally promise not to abuse it, I swear.

Well, /b/ is farked.

Bye bye Wikileaks.

Eh, it still is required to follow all legal requirements for exercise of kinetic war powers, so it's not really offensive in and of itself. It just clarifies that hacking/etc has military value and may be authorized.

Wow, thanks guys! i wanted to experience the oppression my grandfather fought against in WWII today!

FTFA: "A recent report from a post-9/11 intelligence fusion center that a water pump in Illinois had been destroyed by Russian hackers turned out to be baseless - and was simply a contractor logging in from his vacation at the behest of the water company."

So, how do we go from "teh Ruskies did it" to "self induced"?

Oh yeah...got to keep the sheeple afeered and begging the goobermint to protect them from the bad man.

This is the most depressing week in politics in years.

inkblot: This is the most depressing week in politics in years.

My professional advice to you is start drinking heavily yesterday.

Bob16: inkblot: This is the most depressing week in politics in years.

My professional advice to you is start drinking heavily yesterday.

As your attorney, I advise you to take a hit out of the little brown bottle in my shaving kit. You won't need much, just a tiny taste.

RIP Fark.

Well if not them, who else?

sprawl15: Bob16: inkblot: This is the most depressing week in politics in years.

My professional advice to you is start drinking heavily yesterday.

As your attorney, I advise you to take a hit out of the little brown bottle in my shaving kit. You won't need much, just a tiny taste.

Ha ha.

You're doing "F and L". I'm doing "Animal House".

"Fand L " had better drugs therefore it was a better movie.

Can we please agree that both parties are in on it and kick all of these asses out of power?

Um, isn't the President's action for "offensive action" in cyberspace still restricted to the formal declaration of war, or did I miss something?

imashark: Um, isn't the President's action for "offensive action" in cyberspace still restricted to the formal declaration of war, or did I miss something?

There are no formal rules for cyber warfare, as far as I know.

Marine1: Can we please agree that both parties are in on it and kick all of these asses out of power?

Yes, and no.

These asses will be replaced by new asses, same as always. You have the right to vote for the candidates that the oligarchy puts forth. You can also vote for other candidates, but they will never win office.

Stick a fork in us. We're done.

imashark: Um, isn't the President's action for "offensive action" in cyberspace still restricted to the formal declaration of war, or did I miss something?

Not formal declaration of war, but exercise of war powers under the WPR, which is close enough:

FTA: Congress affirms that the Department of Defense has the capability, and upon direction by the President may conduct offensive operations in cyberspace to defend our Nation, Allies and interests, subject to-

(1) the policy principles and legal regimes that the Department follows for kinetic capabilities, including the law of armed conflict; and
(2) the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.).

stupid ass fedz u cant hack or nuthin I GOT NORTON

LasersHurt: There are no formal rules for cyber warfare, as far as I know.

no spawn kills

This bill is another huge power grab. Basically it is the PATRIOT Act II. If we don't [a portion of this post has been censored by the United States Government under the US SOPA Act]

Goodfella: Basically it is the PATRIOT Act II.

Patriot III, actually. Patriot II was straight to DVD, though, so I can understand why you missed it.

Corto was at Screaming Fist. Well, gotta go. Molly's expecting this construct of the Dixie Flatline.

inkblot: This is the most depressing week in politics in years.

fifthhorseman: Corto was at Screaming Fist. Well, gotta go. Molly's expecting this construct of the Dixie Flatline.

Shaka, when the walls fell.

Marine1: Can we please agree that both parties are in on it and kick all of these asses out of power?

Unfortunately, we can't. And they think it's hilarious.

Headso: LasersHurt: There are no formal rules for cyber warfare, as far as I know.

no spawn kills

no camping
cheaters will be BANNED!

Well if ya can't beat 'em...

No flying planes into the enemy start zone.

Has anyone seen the final draft of this thing?

They're having some war games in February and someone close to me is playing the role of the Iranian Ambassador. Should be a hoot.

The Cyberwar part isn't the part to be overly concerned about:

"It's something so radical that it would have been considered crazy had it been pushed by the Bush administration," said Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch. "It establishes precisely the kind of system that the United States has consistently urged other countries not to adopt. At a time when the United States is urging Egypt, for example, to scrap its emergency law and military courts, this is not consistent."

There was heated debate in both houses of Congress on the legislation, requiring that suspects with links to Islamist foreign terrorist organizations arrested in the US, who were previously held by the FBI or other civilian law enforcement agencies, now be handed to the military and held indefinitely without trial.

The law applies to anyone "who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaida, the Taliban or associated forces".

Rand Paul, a strong libertarian, has said "detaining citizens without a court trial is not American" and that if the law passes "the terrorists have won".

"We're talking about American citizens who can be taken from the United States and sent to a camp at Guantánamo Bay and held indefinitely. It puts every single citizen American at risk," he said. "Really, what security does this indefinite detention of Americans give us? The first and flawed premise, both here and in the badly named Patriot Act, is that our pre-9/11 police powers were insufficient to stop terrorism. This is simply not borne out by the facts."

Paul was backed by Senator Dianne Feinstein.

"Congress is essentially authorizing the indefinite imprisonment of American citizens, without charge," she said. "We are not a nation that locks up its citizens without charge."

Paul said there were already strong laws against support for terrorist groups. He noted that the definition of a terrorism suspect under existing legislation was so broad that millions of Americans could fall within it.

"There are laws on the books now that characterize who might be a terrorist: someone missing fingers on their hands is a suspect according to the department of justice. Someone who has guns, someone who has ammunition that is weatherproofed, someone who has more than seven days of food in their house can be considered a potential terrorist," Paul said. "If you are suspected because of these activities, do you want the government to have the ability to send you to Guantánamo Bay for indefinite detention?"

Under the legislation suspects can be held without trial "until the end of hostilities". They will have the right to appear once a year before a committee that will decide if the detention will continue.

The Senate is expected to give final approval to the bill before the end of the week. It will then go to the president, who previously said he would block the legislation not on moral grounds but because it would "cause confusion" in the intelligence community and encroached on his own powers.

But on Wednesday the White House said Obama had lifted the threat of a veto after changes to the law giving the president greater discretion to prevent individuals from being handed to the military.

Human Rights Watch said that by signing the bill Obama would go down in history as the president who enshrined indefinite detention without trial in US law.

"The paradigm of the war on terror has advanced so far in people's minds that this has to appear more normal than it actually is," Malinowski said. "It wasn't asked for by any of the agencies on the frontlines in the fight against terrorism in the United States. It breaks with over 200 years of tradition in America against using the military in domestic affairs."

In fact, the heads of several security agencies, including the FBI, CIA, the director of national intelligence and the attorney general objected to the legislation. The Pentagon also said it was against the bill.

This still has to pass another vote in the Senate. GET ON THE PHONE WITH YOUR SENATOR

BullBearMS: This still has to pass another vote in the Senate. GET ON THE PHONE WITH YOUR SENATOR

Eh, I'm hoping that they pass it. I seems that a totalitarian state is the inevitable endgame anyway, and I'd rather is come and go as quickly as possible in hopes that I'll still be young enough to participate when the rebuilding begins.

I hear Costa Rica is nice.

IrateShadow: BullBearMS: This still has to pass another vote in the Senate. GET ON THE PHONE WITH YOUR SENATOR

Eh, I'm hoping that they pass it. I seems that a totalitarian state is the inevitable endgame anyway, and I'd rather is come and go as quickly as possible in hopes that I'll still be young enough to participate when the rebuilding begins.

Last time, 60 million people got killed.

Kuroshin: Go ask Iraq or Afghanistan.

Google 'authorization for use of military force'.

This has to be the last straw. For the sake of our liberty this cannot be allowed to continue. I say we all get together and

BRB, someone at the door.

HotIgneous Intruder: Last time, 60 million people got killed.

This time, they'll have nukes and can probably do much better.

Headso: LasersHurt: There are no formal rules for cyber warfare, as far as I know.

no spawn kills

or corpse humping

make me some tea: InferiousX: I hear Costa Rica is nice.

I have a cousin who's been there for like 10 years. He loves it. He learned to speak fluent Spanish as well. I could always crash on his couch. Hitchhiking through Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador might be a bit of a chore, though.

I've heard nothing but good from people who've moved there...but yea the voyage might be difficult to survive. I don't really need most of my material possessions anyway. They sell XBox's in Costa Rica I'd imagine.

Seriously though, it may be hubris but I'm not entirely sure that the world will survive the eventual decline of the US. There's just too much ordinance and too many people that think they're being driven by god for all to not end in the more horrible way imaginable.

sprawl15: Eh, it still is required to follow all legal requirements for exercise of kinetic war powers, so it's not really offensive in and of itself. It just clarifies that hacking/etc has military value and may be authorized.

Why yes, but the United States was just designated as a "battlefield". Sounds to me like the Pentagon could hack your computer when you aren't home, plant a bunch of extremist stuff, then send it off as evidence you are a big scary person, and send around the local Gestapo to wisk you away without a trial for the rest of your life.


Keep rockin' in the free world!!! Wooooo!