I think your mistake is believing that most sites are secure. True end to end encrypted communication between strangers is a hassle. Read about Glenn Greenwald's efforts at implementing encryption before Snowden would communicate with him to get an idea of what's involved. Most of what we consider 'secure' is actually only 'secure enough for its purpose'.
There is a thing called TOR. It stands for The Onion Router. A few years back, a newstory was out about a US embassy, who did an improper install/securing job, and all their communications, were being sent in readable form.
Then the government put out a bootable Linux distro called LPS. This was in part, so no evidence would be left, where most could access it, and in part to fix the TOR issues. I did find it interesting that Snowden didn't use that distro, but used Tails instead (makes me wonder what sites LPR communicates through).
Then we had the story about how Silk Road was busted, and it uses TOR.
The encryption program, used by many, that was considered to be one of the best (Truecrypt), was suddenly shutdown a few years ago. There was speculation that this had to do with a National Security Letter, as well as speculation that a quantum computer was successfully made, and all of our current software security, was obsoleted.
Secrets and software have limited lifespans.
I went to dinner with James Clapper and John Brennan just a few days before the election.
I used to work with some of the 3-letter agencies, on math-related things. My wife with another of the 3-letter agencies, on catching-bad-guys-and-taking-their-stuff things.
I have no clue what's going on, or who is doing what to whom, or what their ultimate goals are. I have some *theories*, but I've not seen any real published data or verifiable sources so far.
And in today's "news" environment, the media accounts seem...precious.
Thanks, I wanted to ask you because I thought you would know, so it is interesting that you are feeling the way you are. I too have theories, but they are just that, based on sheer intuition and nothing more.
I think "precious" is a good word for it.
Where is the golum picture?
Or is this the "isn't that precious" picture, when you mean, you little sh**.
This one makes me laugh.
More and more, I am realizing that it's all smoke and mirrors. Whoever tells the biggest lie over the loudest bullhorn--over and over--wins. The big lie gambit is especially noticeable to me in areas where I have done my research, but I'm sure it works equally well in all disciplines. And what with "truthiness," it's really easy to just throw up your hands--or put them over your ears--and give up. Is anthropocentric global warming real? It would seem so, but scientific consensus has been spectacularly wrong before (see Semmelweis, Ancel Keys). I liked that line about "I don't know if my liver can take this." I suppose it's too late for me to take up drinking...
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