The "God of Money"

Pope Francis did it again. On Sunday, during a meeting with a group of unemployed workers, the Pope abandoned his prepared comments and railed against economic inequality. Pope Francis has previously spoken out against harsh austerity policies that are harming millions around the world, but at this speech on the island of Sardinia, the Pope condemned the “god of money” and today's “economic culture.”

The pontiff said, “We throw away grandparents, and we throw away young people. We have to say no to this throwaway culture. We want a just system that helps everyone.” He explained that the focus on profits over people marginalizes the youth and the elderly, and creates a “hidden euthanasia” that neglects those who need our help. In some of his strongest remarks against economic injustice, Pope Francis called on the world to focus more on helping people, and less on the love of money. Hopefully, world leaders were listening.

Comments

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 26 weeks ago
#1

Pope Francis announced today that to prove how sincere he was about economic inequality and his comments against those who worship the "God of Money" the Catholic Church will now auction off all it's worldly goods... churches, statues, limosines, jewelry, properties, whore houses, investment holdings, and everything else in order to distribute to all of the world's needy. He said that no church leader needs to live like kings and that they should all live like paupers...in rags...and partake of meager sustenence...just like Jesus did. Of course not all of the Papal heiracrchy agreed with him and are are now baracaded inside the Vatican with arms and munitions and won't let the Pope back inside. They are now desperately plotting on how to respond to such comments...damage control. Rumor has it that they have contracted with the same PR firm, Hill & Knowlton, that sold the 1st Bush administration's first invasion of Iraq (Kuwait babies bayonetted in hospital wards ;-0 )

http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 26 weeks ago
#2

Palindromedary ~ Very disturbing indeed. I hope you are being sarcastic. It's hard to tell. This Pope is living up in words and deeds to the moral convictions of his namesake, THE GREAT SAINT, St. Francis of Assisi. What you claim he intends to do is possible however not very wise. He would face grave opposition; and, we need this guy to stay healthy and active. He's doing a great job. Hopefully his wise words won't fall on deaf ears.

He is taking the Church far away from the metaphorical representation of the Great Whore spoken of in Revelations. Surely he is aware that Rome wasn't built in a day; and, it may take longer than a day to deconstruct it as well. To this end he has the hopes and prayers of all the faithful.

Even a small man with just one shovel can move a mountain with time, dedication, and determination. Let Pope Francis be that man, and let faith be that shovel.

sandlewould's picture
sandlewould 9 years 26 weeks ago
#3

World leaders were listening...& laughing...all the way to the bank. The only reason the Pope was allowed by the Catho-Capito machinery to say what he said is because the powers that be know we won't fall for it anymore, talk is cheap, and false hope is profitable. I'm not saying he doesn't mean what he says, just that no money is lost, & money is gained by continuing to string us along. All the talk in the world, whether from the Pontif or the people en mass, can not stop the profitable, intentional genocide & population control the global elites commit every day via austerity, corruption, and polution. Sadly, much, MUCH more to come. Our only hope is to stop looking to our "leaders" & our political systems to make changes, to start looking to ourselves & our communities and to relearn how to survive not only off the grid in terms of energy, but in every conceivable way and for folks like Thom to start addressing this through education in sociology new forms of democratic governance & sustainability...to shift from political discussion which will never go anywhere in our current paradigm to discussion of solutions like OWS found in Zuccotti before they got bulldozed. We can talk about/organize against gvernment surveilence, injustice and economic inequality 'till we're purple in the face, but it won't change or stop anything. We can mobilize every citizen to action, but it will simply be ignored or used as an excuse to jail or kill. Dianne Feinstein a DEMOCRAT, is now proposing legislation that will wipe out freedon of press & speech in 1 fell swoop. This is how gov. will continue to respond to protest. Reinventing capatalist democracy will not work this time. Time for a new paradigm, not for reinvention, but invention. We need to hear from the finest minds in social philosophy, alternative energy & sustainability. Politicians, no matter how well meaning or liberal, if working within the current system, will only fall prey to the corruption of the system, or be powerless to stop it.

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 26 weeks ago
#4

DAnneMarc: Of course I'm trying to be funny again...and sarcastic...but not of Pope Francis...he is, at least, saying all the right things...my suggestion is that just as Pres Obama is most likely limited in what he can say and do by the ruling elite, Pope Francis is as well...except Pope Francis seems to be bucking the trend and going out on a limb. Very dangerous...I believe that Popes have been poisoned before and I sure hope Pope Francis is very careful what he eats. We do need leaders that say things that will possibly work for change for the masses and not make the fat cats fatter. It's time the fat cats went on a very strict diet....A "diet of worms", perhaps! ...let them eat worms! ;-}

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 26 weeks ago
#5

Sandlewould: I certainly think that it is about time we purge the Democrat party of all of the fake Democrats...either that or break up the two party stranglehold and send one big loud message to the ruling elite by electing a third party into office...make it an overwhelming defeat for both Republicans and Democrats.

Was it a matter of "allowing" Pope Francis to say those things or did he lay his head on the chopping block headed for Sainthood?

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 26 weeks ago
#6

DAnneMarc: Atheists do not have much faith in "faith" but if that is your thing then that's ok by me. But, I'm afraid that "one man moving a mountain, if given a shovel", is not very realistic because both the man and the shovel will be worn out much sooner than the mountain.

Unfortunately, we all may be worn out. And any tools we may have also may be worn out, well before we can achieve moving the capitalist mountain. Now, if we had more high-tech tools.....it wouldn't take so long to move those mountains. Other countries have been successful at moving their mountains and their mountains were also very tall...but it took the people to realize that nothing would change playing the same old fake-democracy game. They got way more active...and I don't mean holding little chit-chat and tea rallies in each other homes that most likely had ruling elite agent infiltrator spies present.

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 26 weeks ago
#7

Palindromedary ~ Thanks for clarifying that. You had me a little worried.

Sandlewould ~ I agree! Very well said! The heads up on Ms Feinstein was most enlightening. I made up my mind to vote her out of office long ago anyway for a long laundry list of other reasons; but, now I have even more reason. Trying to establish a law to regulate internet free speech? That's blatant treason and another violation of her oath of office. This woman belongs behind bars. For anyone who might not be up to speed on this story, here is a link to an article and a video of her testimony.

http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/2013/09/diane-feinstein-defines-free-speech-the-1st-amendment-a-privelage-video/

I can't wait to step into the voting box next election. Bye, bye Diane. I would vote for a hand puppet before ever voting again for you.

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 26 weeks ago
#8
Quote Palindromedary:But, I'm afraid that "one man moving a mountain, if given a shovel", is not very realistic because both the man and the shovel will be worn out much sooner than the mountain.

Unfortunately, we all may be worn out. And any tools we may have also may be worn out, well before we can achieve moving the capitalist mountain.

The Bible

Quote The Book of Daniel, chapter 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

(Emphasis Added)

Palindromedary ~ Quite frankly, I think you just might be right.

dglsdxn 9 years 26 weeks ago
#9

I am not a Catholic by any stretch, but I do find your comment rather a vain attempt at dark-satrie. I greatly admirely this new Pope, and he is showing his humility to the world in his actions as well as words. I know the Catholics have their problems, just as I'm sure you have YOURS! Let's not lose sight of the message he is giving!

johnbest's picture
johnbest 9 years 26 weeks ago
#10

Our priest almost every Sunday rails against abortion, birth control and gay marriage and the government. This church should lose it's tax exemption. He is one of these authoritarian, hard core right-wingers who most likely listens to hannity. The Homily was supposed to be about the poor but all he preached was that we must go to confession. He never addressed the issue of the poor in America nor in the World. He also railed against the "liberal" press for twisting the Pope's words. My wife and I were furious. We are sick of his attitude and next Sunday we are going to go to another Catholic church that has a Puerto-Rican priest who we really like. We are sick of being lectured by this authoritarian priest.

DHBranski's picture
DHBranski 9 years 26 weeks ago
#11

With sincere gratitude to Pope Francis, and a heart-felt "thank you" to Thom Hartmann for passing this information along. The fact that most US "progressive" groups have turned their backs on the poor since Clinton made it cool has come with some pretty severe consequences. Our homeless have been virtually driven into hiding, often jailed and/or brutalized on the streets. Middle classers don't "get" some basic points about US poverty today. Millions of us are a single job loss from losing absolutely everything, with no way back up. How do you get a job without a home address, phone, bus fare? Now our government is targeting Social Security again. Few know (since media largely overlooked it) that it was Bill Clinton who took the first steps toward dismantling Social Security, starting with the disabled. Because of Clinton, the seriously ill and disabled became the fastest-growing group of homeless Americans. They did quite poorly on the streets. (Upon taking office, President Obama reversed Clinton's policies against the disabled, unquestionably saving lives and significant suffering.) I often think of how different things might have been, had our media chosen to inform the public about just what was happening to so many of the disabled.

michaelmoore052's picture
michaelmoore052 9 years 26 weeks ago
#12

Maybe he can get our biggest debts forgiven. You know, China & Social Security.

Kend's picture
Kend 9 years 26 weeks ago
#13

That is your best yet Palin. Nice

Kend's picture
Kend 9 years 26 weeks ago
#14

interesting how even the Catholic church had to bring in a new CEO to help get back the market share they have been losing over the last couple of decades. Sign of the times I guess. According to Thom Hartman shouldn't the Catholic church share are there wealth with other religions. You know pay there fair share To the Muslims, Buddhists and atheist.

2950-10K's picture
2950-10K 9 years 26 weeks ago
#15

Palindromedary: "diet of worms"......Is this wry humor in reference to Martin Luther's famous 1521 speech to the Imperial Diet in Worms Germany, which also makes them the Diet of Worms? .................just wondering!

2950-10K's picture
2950-10K 9 years 25 weeks ago
#16

By echoing Christ's teachings Pope Francis sounds a lot like a Democratic Socialist. This is very refreshing in a world where the "God Almighty Dollar " or "God of Money," has caused many to lose sight of what's truly important during this very fleeting moment that we all call life. What good are $billions to the billionaire if he chooses to do nothing good with his billions while he's alive? More importantly, why do we as a society allow someone to possess billions to begin with?

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 25 weeks ago
#17
Quote Palindromedary:Was it a matter of "allowing" Pope Francis to say those things or did he lay his head on the chopping block headed for Sainthood?

Palindromedary ~ That's a tricky question. Of course, there is no way of really knowing for sure. I can only give my humble opinion. Personally, I believe the Pope spoke on his own, and from the heart. I don't think that the Vatican really wants a pontiff who embodies the SOS. (Same Old Stuff.) That is why they picked this guy in the first place. The church is in very serious danger of losing it's edge. People see it for the opulent and hypocritical entity described in Revelations. People are outraged by the pedophile scandal and the Vatican's perverted way of coping with it. The faithful flock is diminishing at record numbers as people lose faith in the institution. This is a type of situation that only a modern day Saint can cure.

So yes, Pope Francis is speaking his mind instead of an agenda. Yes, he is speaking the truth and the true way of Christianity. Yes, he is placing his head on the chopping block and in the way of danger. Finally, yes, we could very well be seeing a modern day Saint in action.

This is nothing new with this man. He would not do the job any other way. Look at his life and you can see this is nothing new. Like Saint Francis he has embraced modesty and poverty in his own life. He refuses to isolate and protect himself from his flock. He insists of driving his own used car and preparing his own meals. He is a man who knows how to live through his faith and therefore does not fear death. He is an inspiration to all of us. He embodies the empowerment of true faith throughout the world community and right back to the Vatican--just like his namesake, The GREAT SAINT, St. Francis of Assisi did when he saved the church during his lifetime.

Essentially, that is precisely why I believe he was picked for this job. No one else from the inner sanctum of the Vatican could ever pull this job off and they know it.

Is he going to be martyred? Not necessarily! St. Francis wasn't. The same can be said for many other great Saints. You don't have to be killed to live a great and successful life serving God. As the typical Saint believes, 'As God wants so do I want.'

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#18

dglsdxn: I rather thought Pope Leo X was quite a Pope. You know...the "Fable of Christ" Pope who spoke the truth about "Christ"....just a fable after all!

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#19

2950-10k: Actually, the thought did cross my mind at the time not that I was specifically referring to it. And the "let them eat worms" was a reference to the alleged saying of Marie Antoinette's "let them eat cake" in response to hungry people during the famine in France.

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#20
Quote DAnneMarc:The faithful flock is diminishing at record numbers as people lose faith in the institution. This is a type of situation that only a modern day Saint can cure.

I would be just as happy as pig in slop if the Catholic church collapsed under it's own hypocrisy and centuries of corruption and cruelty...and that goes for all other cults...I mean "churches" as well. But isn't that the way the church has always been? I mean they have brain-raped so many people for thousands of years, burned heretics to the cross, tortured them, stole their land...all while claiming they were God's messengers...men of peace....like Jesus.

Religion needs to be shown for what it is..a way to control the masses in a way that is seen fit by a few mumblers of non-sense and purveyors of superstitions. I have nothing against people believing in whatever the hell they want to believe in as long as they don't try to proselytize others who don't want to be proselytized into their non-sense. The proselytizers know very well not to knock on my door or ring my door bell anymore. Those soul ghouls just pass right on by...and good riddance. And as long as the religion subject, in whatever form, is brought up then I have every right to express my views...the views of a lifelong atheist. We've taken enough crap from religious freaks for thousands of years and we need to all fight back.

But we've had to put up with all kinds of atrocities by these hypocrites. And it is high time these anachronistic organized-superstition-preaching- empires crumble to the ground. And every time the church is embarrassed by science they are always forced to change...to modernize in some way. The earth is not flat and is not the center of the universe and is not merely 6,000 years old as some people believed for centuries because that's what the church insisted upon and some still believe even today.

So, it looks like, once again, the Catholic Church is having to give in yet a little more in order not to lose followers.

You know, the ruling elite in the US, realized that their "faithful sheep" were abandoning their beliefs in the validity of democracy...because it has been so corrupted. We were on the verge of, perhaps, a violent demonstration of rebellion. So, along comes Senator Obama, a smooth talking orator that said everything that people wanted to hear. He was selling hope and the people fell for it...twice...even after he may have staved off a violent rebellion as a result of the criminal bank bailout at the tail end of Bush's presidency...and acted as a kind of "cushion" when all those people lost their houses. It was all duly blamed on the past Bush administration but things under Obama was going to be better....again, false hope. Their ruse worked and prevented an all out rebellion. Had McCain/Palin won the Presidency it would have been very difficult for the Republicans to get anything they wanted passed. There may even have been a violent revolution. But Obama pandered hope...albeit a false hope...and that lugubrious scoundrel managed to let the Republicans get almost everything they wanted. How sneaky!

So too would it be for this lugubrious and "saintly" Pope ( a Jesus Christ personified no less) who just may save that floundering empire from extinction. I sure like his messages..but are they real? I liked Obama's messages during his campaigns too! Or is Pope Francis the Papal peddler of false hope that will keep the corrupt Catholic church infrastructure going on and on? There may be just as much deviousness playing out in the Papacy as in corrupt US politics. The true believers are always easy targets in both arenas.

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 25 weeks ago
#21
Quote Palindromedary:So too would it be for this lugubrious and "saintly" Pope ( a Jesus Christ personified no less) who just may save that floundering empire from extinction. I sure like his messages..but are they real? I liked Obama's messages during his campaigns too! Or is Pope Francis the Papal peddler of false hope that will keep the corrupt Catholic church infrastructure going on and on? There may be just as much deviousness playing out in the Papacy as in corrupt US politics. The true believers are always easy targets in both arenas.

Palindromedary ~ Well said! I share your apprehension. I like the Pope, the Church, unfortunately, is still the same old Church. The same is true of the puppet masters in Washington. I too would be happier than a Pig in slop if both institutions were to disappear one fine morning. Poof! Gone! All of our prayers answered.

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#22
Quote kend:interesting how even the Catholic church had to bring in a new CEO to help get back the market share they have been losing over the last couple of decades. Sign of the times I guess. According to Thom Hartman shouldn't the Catholic church share are there wealth with other religions. You know pay there fair share To the Muslims, Buddhists and atheist.
Very well said, kend! But, of course, the whole charity thing usually has an attachment condition...converting to Catholicism. That's what Mother Teresa was all about...she had no problems taking big bucks from people who swindled other people out of them...and most of that money didn't even go for feeding the poor...it went back to the church. She was holding out a little food and shelter to destitute people in order to win converts to the church.

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#23

DAnneMarc: Your "prayers"...my "hopes". To each his own..right?

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 25 weeks ago
#24

Palindromedary ~ Absolutely! I wouldn't have it any other way.

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#25

Now, what are you bad boys, the NSA and/or GCHQ up to this time?

Quote cryptome:
On the brink of catastrophe (2013-09-21) --

"This could have been larger than 9/11", says one source who closely followed the case.

A piece of malicious software has been found on the network of BICS, a daughter company of Belgacom. It is hard to grasp even for well-informed insiders. The BICS network is so wide and deep that it is promptly clear to everybody that this is not just a Belgian problem. This problem is at least of European proportions. Because whoever controls BICS, controls the communication of a large part of the world. "This could have been larger than 9/11", says one source who closely followed the case. Without a grain of irony.

Gradually it became clear that the hackers are not only interested in the communications in the Middle-East, where BICS holds a solid position via South-African minority shareholder MTN. "They have been looking around and took what they could", state sources involved in the investigation. They are clear about one thing: the attack originated from the United States. "We determine that by the signature of the malware, but especially by where the trails lead. They partially run through the UK. We think the US is the main destination. And the past weeks at the US Embassy, you notice some embarrassment when you request exchange of information." Yesterday, the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported that the UK intelligence service GCHQ (Government Communications Headquartes) are responsible for the attacks. It based that claim on slides disclosed by whistleblower Edward Snowden. The news that GCHQ is behind the Belgacom attack is a surprise to at least the services working on the affair.

BICS provides the hardware infrastructure that carries internet traffic, phone conversations, text messages and mobile data of telecom companies and government institutions. And the more sensitive the customer, the more likely he is the end up at BICS. The daughter company of Belgacom markets itself with the argument that they never ever look at what travels over its cables. "We provide the cables for you, and you just send whatever you want over them", is what it basically boils down to.

A glance at the list of BICS' customers makes one dizzy. The financial transport center Swift, Electrabel, bpost, Belgocontrol, they are all connected to BICS. The NATO in Evere, the European Commission and Parliament, SHAPE, the Supreme Headquerters Allied Powers Europe, in Bergen; BICS, BICS, BICS. Even the headquarters of the NATO Allied Air Command, in Ramstein, Germany, from where the 2011 air attacks on Libya where coordinated, depends on BICS.

http://cryptome.org/2013/09/belgacom-hack-en.htm

bobbler's picture
bobbler 9 years 25 weeks ago
#26

How interesting, the rest of the Vatican is trying to get rid of the new pope, for following the examples left by Jesus. LOL.

RaleighMom's picture
RaleighMom 9 years 25 weeks ago
#27

Along the lines of income inequality: Thom, I love your policy position to end billionaires. However, I think there's an opening, using our unique historical moment, to nudge us in that direction. Let's create a "donut-hole" in the cap on Social Security contributions. Today we have a cap. Let's say that anyone who earns above 500 million dollars has to re-enter the Social Security system and pay the same rate as the average working stiff. Let's create a "donut-hole" in Social Security participation. Anyone who re-enters at the top end is ensuring the stability of our entire economic system. Social Security provides the consumer base that prevents our economy from completely collapsing during recessions. Without an ongoing economy, these billionaires would not exist. Complete collapse would mean theft and destruction of their plants and equipment, it would mean the end of cash flow from consumers.

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#28

NSA surveillance: A guide to staying secure

Quote article by Bruce Schneier-The Guardian:The NSA also devotes considerable resources to attacking endpoint computers. This kind of thing is done by its TAO – Tailored Access Operations – group. TAO has a menu of exploits it can serve up against your computer – whether you're running Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iOS, or something else – and a variety of tricks to get them on to your computer. Your anti-virus software won't detect them, and you'd have trouble finding them even if you knew where to look. These are hacker tools designed by hackers with an essentially unlimited budget. What I took away from reading the Snowden documents was that if the NSA wants in to your computer, it's in. Period.
---
As was revealed today, the NSA also works with security product vendors to ensure that commercial encryption products are broken in secret ways that only it knows about.
---
Basically, the NSA asks companies to subtly change their products in undetectable ways: making the random number generator less random, leaking the key somehow, adding a common exponent to a public-key exchange protocol, and so on. If the back door is discovered, it's explained away as a mistake. And as we now know, the NSA has enjoyed enormous success from this program.
---
Endpoint means the software you're using, the computer you're using it on, and the local network you're using it in. If the NSA can modify the encryption algorithm or drop a Trojan on your computer, all the cryptography in the world doesn't matter at all. If you want to remain secure against the NSA, you need to do your best to ensure that the encryption can operate unimpeded.

And the article goes on to give 5 pieces of advice on how to avoid being spied on.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-how-to-remain-secure-su...

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#29

How a Crypto ‘Backdoor’ Pitted the Tech World Against the NSA

Quote article by Kim Zetter for Wired:But one advantage to having the algorithm supported in products like Vista — and which may be the reason the NSA pushed it into the standard — is that even if it’s not the default algorithm for encryption on a system, as long as it’s an option on the system, an intruder, like the NSA, can get into the system and change the registry to make it the default algorithm used for encryption, thereby theoretically making it easy for the NSA to undermine the encryption and spy on users of the machine.

Schneier says this is a much more efficient and stealth way of undermining the encryption than simply installing a keystroke logger or other Trojan malware that could be detected.

“A Trojan is really, really big. You can’t say that was a mistake. It’s a massive piece of code collecting keystrokes,” he said. “But changing a bit-one to a bit-two [in the registry to change the default random number generator on the machine] is probably going to be undetected. It is a low conspiracy, highly deniable way of getting a backdoor. So there’s a benefit to getting it into the library and into the product.”

To date, the only confirmation that the algorithm has a backdoor comes in the Times story, based on NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden, which the Times and two other media outlets saw.

“[I]nternal memos leaked by a former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, suggest that the NSA generated one of the random number generators used in a 2006 NIST standard — called the Dual EC DRBG standard — which contains a back door for the NSA,” the Times wrote.

An editorial published by the Times this weekend re-asserted the claim: “Unbeknown to the many users of the system, a different government arm, the National Security Agency, secretly inserted a ‘back door’ into the system that allowed federal spies to crack open any data that was encoded using its technology.”

“This is the worst problem that the NSA has done,” Schneier says. “They have so undermined the fundamental trust in the internet, that we don’t know what to trust. We have to suspect everything. We’re never sure. That’s the greatest damage.”

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/09/nsa-backdoor/1/

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#30

'Occupy' affiliate claims Intel bakes SECRET 3G radio into vPro CPUs
Tinfoil hat brigade say every PC is on mobile networks, even when powered down
By Richard Chirgwin, 23rd September 2013

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/23/intel_stuns_world_with_wakeon3g/

DAnneMarc's picture
DAnneMarc 9 years 25 weeks ago
#31

Palindromedary ~ Interesting article on the vPro processor. Lesson learned--don't buy a computer with a vPro CPU. If you've already purchased one only use it for video games. Plug it into an outlet strip with a switch and turn off the power when not in use.

Add it to the list of things not to buy, right next to the new iPhone.

(Don't buy anything whose name begins with a lowercase letter.)

Thanks for the heads up!

Of course if you want to live with your head in the sand you will help the NSA more than anything you could possibly say or do on the internet. I suggest always behaving like the NSA is listening. Then they have no power over you. If you are concerned about your accounts, check them frequently and keep paper records of them as well. Don't allow high tech chicanery to stuff you into a box of isolation. Learn to work with it and around it. Nevertheless, it is better to be aware of the problem then not.

You know back in the day it was possible to use simple secret written and verbal codes with privately held keys to broadcast secret messages over the radio and through the mail. They were very popular in WWII and in the 50's with school kids. The same could be used on the internet and even if intercepted would take months to crack. Encrypted or not if intercepted somehow the message still needs to be decoded to be understood. There are more than one way to skin a goat and breaking our internet rights to privacy isn't going to do any damn thing to hinder the privacy of the truly creative.

ie. Nan na nan na boo boo stick your head in .........///**

(Now decode that!)

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#32

DAnneMarc: Doo Doo tell! Reminds me of that kid back in pre-TV days, that would religiously listen to his favorite Radio show, Little Orphan Annie, that told everyone to be sure to send off for Little Orphan Annie's secret decoder ring so that they could decipher a very important message that they were going to broadcast at a future date. He sends off for his ring, gets it, writes down that encrypted message on a piece of paper, locks himself in the bathroom thinking he was about to learn the secrets of the universe by decoding that message...his mother calling him as he says "wait a minute!" while he deciphers each letter..the final message, "What?!" he shrieked with disbelief and disappointment: "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine? What? A crummy commercial?" Rumor has it that that kid went on to head the NSA Spy program. ;-}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdA__2tKoIU

Mark Saulys's picture
Mark Saulys 9 years 25 weeks ago
#33

I hope nobody puts anything in this guy's tea to make him go sleepy time PERMANENTLY like liberal Catholics believe was done to Pope John Paul I.

Palindromedary's picture
Palindromedary 9 years 25 weeks ago
#34

Mark Saulys: I hope not as well! I actually saw Pope John II in South Korea in October of 1989 when he went through. I had gotten off at the wrong train stop in Seoul as I was trying to get to Itaewon Street. So I started hiking across Seoul when I came upon a large crowd of people lined up at a fence bordering a highway. There was a bridge across the highway with crowds of people up there as well. Many women were very colorfully dressed. And one very excited elderly woman came up to me with a big smile and kept saying something in Korean and repeatedly crossing herself. I suspected, at the time, that she must have immediately recognized just how magnanimous and great I was...lord of the underworld, and all, and that she was obviously into Satan worship ( I perceived that the cross she was making was actually a bit upside down..so it was obviously Satanic).

But the crowd got excited and kept staring down at the highway below. Then the Pope mobile flies by...just a whoosh...it came and went. I actually saw the Pope waving inside his bulletproof plexiglass shell for a brief couple of seconds as he flew by.

So I realized that the woman wasn't into Satanic worship after all. And so this little devil just kept hiking over the bridge and through the streets till I got to Itaewon street where everyone speaks English because all the shopkeepers and sidewalk vendors want to sell Americans their cheap suits and fake designer watches and other goods.

Stay tuned, kiddies, while old uncle Louis Cypher (gawd, I hate chickens) tells you about the air raid sirens that went off in South Korea one day that scared the bejesus out of me! But it was just a drill.

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Hello All

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