RIP School Survival Forums
August 2001 - June 2017

The School Survival Forums are permanently retired. If you need help with quitting school, unsupportive parents or anything else, there is a list of resources on the Help Page.

If you want to write about your experiences in school, you can write on our blog.

To everyone who joined these forums at some point, and got discouraged by the negativity and left after a while (or even got literally scared off): I'm sorry.

I wasn't good enough at encouraging people to be kinder, and removing people who refuse to be kind. Encouraging people is hard, and removing people creates conflict, and I hate conflict... so that's why I wasn't better at it.

I was a very, very sensitive teen. The atmosphere of this forum as it is now, if it had existed in 1996, would probably have upset me far more than it would have helped.

I can handle quite a lot of negativity and even abuse now, but that isn't the point. I want to help people. I want to help the people who need it the most, and I want to help people like the 1996 version of me.

I'm still figuring out the best way to do that, but as it is now, these forums are doing more harm than good, and I can't keep running them.

Thank you to the few people who have tried to understand my point of view so far. I really, really appreciate you guys. You are beautiful people.

Everyone else: If after everything I've said so far, you still don't understand my motivations, I think it's unlikely that you will. We're just too different. Maybe someday in the future it might make sense, but until then, there's no point in arguing about it. I don't have the time or the energy for arguing anymore. I will focus my time and energy on people who support me, and those who need help.

-SoulRiser

The forums are mostly read-only and are in a maintenance/testing phase, before being permanently archived. Please use this time to get the contact details of people you'd like to keep in touch with. My contact details are here.

Please do not make a mirror copy of the forums in their current state - things will still change, and some people have requested to be able to edit or delete some of their personal info.


Post Reply 
 
Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Amendment to NDAA Would Give Military 'Clandestine Operation' Authority in Cyberspace
Author Message
HeartofShadows Offline
Fanatic

Posts: 8,557
Joined: Dec 2006
Thanks: 0
Given 80 thank(s) in 73 post(s)
Post: #1
Amendment to NDAA Would Give Military 'Clandestine Operation' Authority in Cyberspace

Quote:As if the NDAA wasn't bad enough -- essentially turning the whole planet, including America into one giant battlefield -- Congress is set to introduce an amendment that would grant more power to the military for offensive operations in cyberspace.

As Mike Masnick highlights in his article for TechDirt, the applicable section currently gives authority to the president, whereas the amendment would give the entire Department of Defense the same authority.

The prospect of clandestine military actions online against whichever targets any one of the military agencies deems appropriate will officially complete the goal of full spectrum dominance.

The current text of the NDAA reads as follows:

SEC. 954. MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN CYBERSPACE.

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.).


This is certainly bad enough, as it essentially gives dictatorial power to current and future presidents. However, what is even worse is the proposed amendment which hands over the power to the Secretary of Defense and every secretive agency under his direction, including anything hidden within the Black Budget:

SEC. 954. MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN CYBERSPACE.

(a) AFFIRMATION.—Congress affirms that the Secretary of Defense is authorized to conduct military activities in cyberspace.

(b) AUTHORITY DESCRIBED.—The authority referred to in subsection (a) includes the authority to carry out a clandestine operation in cyberspace—

(1) in support of a military operation pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (50 U.S.C. 1541 note; Public Law 107-40) against a target located outside of the United States; or

(2) to defend against a cyber attack against an asset of the Department of Defense.

© RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary of Defense to conduct military activities in cyberspace.

Masnick rightly points to the key word "clandestine" within the above text. This is nothing short of an open admission that the military is taking full control over both the supposed safety of the infrastructure as well as manipulation of that infrastructure and the data that moves across it.

In July of last year, the Pentagon announced their strategy to treat cyberspace as an "operational domain" in their Department of Defense Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace (PDF) where they claim that "Hackers and foreign governments are increasingly able to launch sophisticated intrusions into the networks and systems that control critical civilian infrastructure."

Even though the above concern has been disproven time and again, this new amendment seeks only to expand the role of DoD and its dangerous offspring the NSA.

Perhaps worst of all is that this amendment is an open handover of power by Congress to let the Defense Department do whatever it wishes with minimal or no oversight, capitulating to the directives DoD has already given to Congress regarding war in the real world.

A response by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in June of last year to a question by Sen. McCain made clear his view that Barack Obama should work jointly with DoD within a military dictatorship framework, with a philosophy of extralegal measures taken by the president "when needed" by the military:

'Senator, I believe very strongly that the president has the constitutional power as commander in chief to take steps that he believes are necessary to protect this country and protect our national interests,' said Panetta. 'And obviously, I think it's important for presidents to consult, to have the advice of Congress. But in the end, I believe he has the constitutional power to do what he has to do to protect this country.' (Source)

Congress would seem to agree wholeheartedly with this assessment by amending Section 954 of the National Defense Authorization Act and ushering into cyberspace an even wider philosophy of military supremacy over what used to be a Constitutional Republic.

http://www.activistpost.com/2012/05/amen...itary.html

[Image: WARZONES_subs_hostility.png]
image hosting jpg
05-09-2012 12:46 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
UnschoolShqiponjë Offline
Fanatic

Posts: 3,622
Joined: May 2011
Thanks: 1
Given 221 thank(s) in 148 post(s)
Post: #2
RE: Amendment to NDAA Would Give Military 'Clandestine Operation' Authority in Cyberspace

Ah here we go! You guys ready? Give it a few more decades and the government will use these bills to bully and attack citizens that have dissenting opinions. They do that already just not too much in the open.

Live until you die
[Image: Untitled-1.png]
05-10-2012 02:36 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 


Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Contact Us | School Survival | Return to Top | Return to Content | Mobile Version | RSS Syndication