
The NSA-DEA police state tango - rosser
http://www.salon.com/2013/08/10/the_nsa_dea_police_state_tango/
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linuxhansl
So, the DEA and other agencies create the incentives for the criminal drug
milieu by creating artificial scarcity, i.e. high prices... which in turns
leads to more criminal activity and violence and subsequently to more funding
for these agencies.

Perfect.

~~~
harshreality
_Perfect._

They certainly think so. That leaves out the part where politicians won't shut
down those agencies (or parts of agencies) because of the power base they
represent.

As Rand observed through Dr. Ferris, "There's no way to rule innocent men...
when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them." They can make criminals
by passing more laws or by detecting more people breaking already existing
laws. Rand was referring only to the first type, and they do have some
different effects, but they both serve to increase control.

First the courts allowed searches (except they're called officer safety
frisks) based on "reasonable suspicion" (an absurdly low and vague hurdle
created by Terry vs Ohio); now intelligence collected by agencies pursuant to
foreign intelligence mandates is being used to improve detection and
conviction rates for domestic crimes. And there's the beginning of mass
surveillance of public spaces: cameras, radios, and modern technology enabling
identification and location tracking of individuals, cars, cell phones...

It's an interesting political dynamic when everyone's fearful that they've
broken some law and fearful that they've been detected but not yet arrested.

The politicians, most of them, want to rule, not serve. They want to
accumulate power for themselves and their friends, at the expense of everyone
else who is caught between increasing surveillance, stricter laws, and
increased black market related criminal activity.

------
FellowTraveler
But I thought NSA data was only used for counter-terrorism efforts?

Turns out, that's bullshit. It's used by DEA, it's used by IRS -- soon it will
be used by Obamacare.

~~~
linuxhansl
Please spare us the "Obamacare" paranoia.

I agree that once data is available it _will_ be abused. But Obamacare one of
the main problem? Dude, take off the tinfoil hat.

~~~
FellowTraveler
Just a reminder that the IRS will be enforcing Obamacare, and it's already in
the news that the IRS was secretly using NSA data.

It would be the height of naiveté to believe the information wouldn't end up
being abused. It's already being abused. Also, maybe you aren't in the USA so
FYI, the IRS is currently in a scandal for abuse of authority, especially
related to "tinfoil hat" organizations. (Those crazies apparently being,
people who do not trust the IRS to handle their health care.)

~~~
linuxhansl
Almost all civilized countries have public healthcare and they managed just
fine without (ab)using data from intelligence services. Even in the US we
already have Medicare and Medicate for large parts of the population and have
seen no indication of any involvement of NSA/CIA/FBI. The idea is absurd.

------
mtgx
I couldn't believe Obama said on his conference that "there have been no
reported abuses of the spying in the media", even though the fact that NSA was
giving info to DEA, IRA (and probably others) was just in the news 2 days
before, and his DoJ even started investigating them.

What's worse is that he actually got away with it, and those "journalist"
jokers at the White House that were laughing at his jokes didn't even ask him
about it.

------
fsckin
The tenuous connections made in the 'drugs fund terrorism' PSAs a decade ago
make so much sense now.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVQnbNspHsk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVQnbNspHsk)

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFLFihL6JNk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFLFihL6JNk)

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnTwn6hwSX8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnTwn6hwSX8)

