So who thinks we're being watched? [Archive]

Kassad

18th March 2009, 00:09

With recent documents, leaks and confessions that stem from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency, it's be absurd to think that means of communication are not consistently being monitored for the sake of manipulating information and maintaining omnipresence in today's world.

Blackscare

18th March 2009, 00:14

Can a mod change the last question to "yes, and it's probably gotten more intense since this economic shit started" or something to that effect, since the 4th option that is there now will probably not be chosen by anyone anyway? I should have included that but I forgot to.

Arise!

18th March 2009, 00:26

I wouldn't be suprised at all.

Vahanian

18th March 2009, 00:36

yeah the probably are watching

Plagueround

18th March 2009, 00:50

Probably.

LeninBalls

18th March 2009, 00:57

I said yes, but they don't take us seriously. "Those crazy commie kids and their drugs, when will they ever learn!"

LOLseph Stalin

18th March 2009, 01:01

I wouldn't doubt it if this site was being watched. We are the enemies of the "free" nation of America. Besides, Big Brother is watching us...

Dust Bunnies

18th March 2009, 01:34

They probably have bigger fish to fry, we may be watched but we aren't top priority to them, they see us as a joke.

LOLseph Stalin

18th March 2009, 01:39

They probably have bigger fish to fry, we may be watched but we aren't top priority to them, they see us as a joke.

Like Al-Qaida for example.

rednordman

18th March 2009, 01:50

Absolutly no doubt. Whether or not they take us seriously is another question, but I do wonder whether this sort of stuff has happened for the last 50 years, recession or not. As dustbunnies said, the DO have bigger fish to fry, but they also hold us in total contempt also, no matter what part of the left wing spectrum we are on. Its messed up as you would expect this from conservative/republican governments but I bet it happens under Nulabour/Democates ones also.

Adam KH

18th March 2009, 02:20

They see us as a joke. Right-wing extremists are much higher on the radar.

The only exception would be if any poster on this site has ever been busted for some major direct action. If so, I'm sure they've looked through our site with interest.

Bitter Ashes

18th March 2009, 02:43

First rule of budgetting:
"If we dont spend our full budget this year we wont get as much next year"
Says it all really :rolleyes:

genstrike

18th March 2009, 02:58

they see us as a joke.

Maybe it's because we are a joke?

Coggeh

18th March 2009, 06:39

Maybe it's because we are a joke?
Speak for yourself.

18th March 2009, 09:12

I'm pretty certain "they" have a big file on me, given the awkward moments in which senior police officers always seem to recognise me. It's funny and scary at the same time.

DÃ³chas

18th March 2009, 09:18

id be very surprised if they didnt, even if they see us as no threat at all if they feel that we are getting too "restless" they may step in to squash us down. :rolleyes:

Glenn Beck

18th March 2009, 10:12

Given how easy it is to do so and given all the leaked (and public) info about government involvement in data mining research since the 80s it would be moronic to assume that they DON'T do something so elementary as at least cache everything here and perhaps run a program on it that looks for key words and phrases. If they're ever given a reason to look more closely at any website you can bet they would have several people reading the logs. Even if the website in question seems ridiculous and harmless, the security business favors the paranoid.

Wanted Man

18th March 2009, 14:53

choff

18th March 2009, 15:09

Probably just data mining to be on the safe side. But not as if some top level security guy is monitoring this site. RevLeft is utterly irrelevant to the rest of the world. It's just a discussion forum. RevLeft is a "threat" to capitalism just like a farmers' market in a village is a "threat" to big food companies.

You can afford to be paranoid if you're a prominent activist who can actually threaten something. But not if you just post on this forum.

Agreed. I'd be surprised to find out that this site isn't being monitored, but likely in the same fashion just about every other site on the Web is. I don't think any of "them" have a special salary and corner office just for monitoring RevLeft.

Wanted Man

18th March 2009, 16:38

Too bad. I'd totally monitor you guys if it earned me a decent salary, my own office and a nice car. ;)

Pogue

18th March 2009, 16:40

Too bad. I'd totally monitor you guys if it earned me a decent salary, my own office and a nice car. ;)

scab!

Killfacer

18th March 2009, 17:37

I think "they" are probably aware that we're a bunch of arm chair revolutionaries babbling about politcal theory who pose no thread to the status quo what so ever.

cyu

18th March 2009, 19:00

I say BRING IT ON! There's nothing quite like propagandizing to agents who still have to pretend they are anti-capitalist :D

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win, then they claim it was their idea all along”.

I guess somewhere in there, you have to add "then they monitor you" :thumbup:

LOLseph Stalin

18th March 2009, 19:03

They see us as a joke. Right-wing extremists are much higher on the radar.

Haha! I sure hope so. ;)

pastradamus

18th March 2009, 19:34

Yes, they are watching and monitoring this site. That is certain. Sites such as Indymedia and raisethefist have in the past been infiltrated and we even saw the raisethefist.com's owner Sherman going to prison.
I remember back in 2002 this site was getting visits from .Gov and .Mil links so yes, its fact that they are in some way keeping an eye on this place.

LOLseph Stalin

18th March 2009, 19:36

They should be focusing on stormfront. We don't pose a threat at all...

Pirate turtle the 11th

18th March 2009, 21:09

To be honest I think its probably just police to see about details of demos , etc

Pogue

18th March 2009, 21:13

To be honest I think its probably just police to see about details of demos , etc

This really.

Hello PC Plod!

Wanted Man

18th March 2009, 23:43

Plagueround

19th March 2009, 00:49

I think "they" are probably aware that we're a bunch of arm chair revolutionaries babbling about politcal theory who pose no thread to the status quo what so ever.

As my grandmother always said..."If the shoe fits, fuck you."

Maybe that's not quite what she said. Something like that...

Arise!

19th March 2009, 01:27

Considering pretty much everyone on this website align to revolutionary ideologies that seek to destroy capitalism and the state, all the talk of revolution, and the general nature of discussion on this particular community, these things would more than likely warrant investigation.

Not too mention the whole "Green-Scare" and the rise of 'domestic terrorism', and recent bills passed supporting greater lengths to prevent domestic terrorism, such as the Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Act. I'm sure for the FBI, the CIA, or the NSA, we would all make great suspects for people who've been responsible for crimes against capitalism and the state.

Now, combine all of the above with current economic factors, which would make a revolution possible, with the growing police state.

Comrade B

19th March 2009, 01:40

The website probably has hot words being watched by the US, some particular members may be under more watch than others as well. Don't think revleft is considered a major threat to the US, because it is a discussion forum, not an organizations website. Those of us that actually could be considered a threat to our leadership are already being watched for their other affiliations.

PCommie

19th March 2009, 02:20

Of course they're monitoring us. It would be stupid to think that world governments (especially the U.S.) aren't monitoring every leftist forum on the 'net. The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) probably has a special section for it. They fear us, and rightly so, because we are a powerful force, and their fear of us adds to our power.

Don't think revleft is considered a major threat to the US, because it is a discussion forum, not an organizations website.

That situation is very dynamic. We all agree on one thing: Capitalism must die. The fact that we spread that idea is a threat alone, not considering how easy it would be for us to organize a rebellion.

H&S forever,
-PC

DancingLarry

19th March 2009, 03:17

I'm going to suggest they view us (probably correctly) as a mixed bag, and that the smaller percentages of people they take seriously or at least think need an eye kept on them leading to regular review of what goes on here. Remember that today's NSA has absolutely massive data capturing and analysis capability, so it doesn't take much to suck every post here into their hose.

Sendo

19th March 2009, 14:59

paranoia: to believe the CIA has a chip in you, a hobbyist Marxist.

delusional: to look at the history of the CIA, the RBI, Cointelpro, recent provacoeurs, surveillance in the US,Uk,PRC and instances like Comcast monitoring the content of subscribers*and think there is not some mega-peta-giga-wuzzis database logging openly violent sites like these.

(I had something like that happen with TimeWarner...my former roommate and I were on so many sites saying so much and downloading so much our content all of our internet slowed and got routed through some off-shore computer. We left the house anyhow, I wonder if it stopped. Every phone call to TimeWarner got generic responses. Whenever I pressed the matter and they actually brought up my account I'd get disconnected.)

himalayanspirit

19th March 2009, 16:19

Its very likely that we are being watched. But it depends on who is watching. The posters here are all from different parts of the world. So if the CIA is reading the blogs and posts of someone from a country which is left-leaning, then it hardly matters. But if the CIA is watching someone from the US, then that individual has to be cautious.

But I wonder why would someone monitor us when there are endless other things going on in the world which need more attention and importance? Perhaps some bots are being used to monitor this site and nothing more.

MikeSC

19th March 2009, 17:13

LOLseph Stalin

19th March 2009, 19:58

It's certainly possible- in the news recently there was a business that monitored people- their political persuasions and whatnot- to sell to other businesses. "Communist" being a category that gets you put on the blacklist. This place must have popped up when they were google-searching for commies, I guess

It's that kind of crap that worries me. It shouldn't have to matter to a business what one's political views are. Here in Canada we're not even supposed to mention anything about politics or religion when we get a job.

Brother No. 1

19th March 2009, 20:06

They most likely have watched us before the Crisis. But they wouldnt take us seriously.

LOLseph Stalin

19th March 2009, 20:14

They most likely have watched us before the Crisis. But they wouldnt take us seriously.

Well we are "just a bunch of kids" afterall...

Brother No. 1

19th March 2009, 20:16

i am the more kid of anyone you. I'm the youngest on the site after all.

LOLseph Stalin

19th March 2009, 20:17

i am the more kid of anyone you. I'm the youngest on the site after all.

Wow! Are you actually?

Brother No. 1

19th March 2009, 20:21

14...I dont think anyone else is 14 here. No? Then I am the youngest.

LOLseph Stalin

19th March 2009, 20:23

There's lots of people younger than me here. xD

Anyway if we want to talk we should leave it in PM so we don't spam up the thread.

Brother No. 1

19th March 2009, 20:24

I see you point.

fabiansocialist

19th March 2009, 20:34

They probably have bigger fish to fry, we may be watched but we aren't top priority to them, they see us as a joke.

Some junior apparatchik casts a bored eye over this site every once in a while.

fabiansocialist

19th March 2009, 20:48

They should be focusing on stormfront. We don't pose a threat at all...

That's hilarious. Stormfront is a complete joke: they're all talk. They couldn't even cooperate to fix a light bulb let alone pose a serious threat to the status quo. RevLeft is more of a threat -- though mind, that isn't saying much.

Brother No. 1

19th March 2009, 21:10

Stormfront is filledwith cowards.

LOLseph Stalin

19th March 2009, 21:14

fabiansocialist

19th March 2009, 21:20

*sigh* Sarcasm never works online. I was partly being sarcastic...

Okay; it was still worth a good laugh. Stormfront is such a joke and "white nationalism" (whatever it means) even more so.

fabiansocialist

19th March 2009, 21:21

Stormfront is filledwith cowards.

Net nazis and keyboard warriors, whining on and on interminably.

Brother No. 1

19th March 2009, 21:22

Then they are cowards with no lives.

pastradamus

20th March 2009, 03:56

That's hilarious. Stormfront is a complete joke: they're all talk. They couldn't even cooperate to fix a light bulb let alone pose a serious threat to the status quo. RevLeft is more of a threat -- though mind, that isn't saying much.

Stormfront is an absolutely bullshit site. Obviously nobody here agree's with Stormfront but if you look at it - RACISM.....Thats their only agenda! Hatred and Racism is all thats contained in stormfront and this just goes to show how stupid and incomplex they are as a board.

LOLseph Stalin

20th March 2009, 03:59

Okay; it was still worth a good laugh. Stormfront is such a joke and "white nationalism" (whatever it means) even more so.

I sometimes lurk on stormfront just to laugh at their shit.

Rebel_Serigan

20th March 2009, 05:59

Stormfront, ahh those silly dick heads (pardon my language, what came over me?) I think the goverment doesn't give two shits about a ton of teen agers with a few older people talking about something they know works better. I do however believe they are watching us, I mean if they weren't I would be insulted, because when wheels turn theya re going to be crushed without so much as a backward glance at the thing they should have been watching, instead of Stormfront, hehheh, Stormfront, that is just funny.

Rjevan

20th March 2009, 19:03

I would be really surprised if we are not watched.
I think they don't take us seriously but in their unlimited paranoia and their "Big Brother is watching you"-mentality they try to collect as much information about non-conform groups as possible.

Dr.Claw

20th March 2009, 22:07

I think they are watching us and waiting for somebody to post something that would cause a wide-scale uproar and cause a massive amount of people to rebel. I think it's necessary that we taunt them.

SMITE ME YOU COWARDS!!!!:tt2:

Dr.Claw

20th March 2009, 22:20

On second thought how can I trust this site? How do I know that this site isn't all a part of some government plan to keep an eye on us who have anti-capitalist ideas.

I'm not accusing anybody of anything or attacking anybody,I'm just questioning. It's sad that I have to.

It's sad that people can't have simple political discussions without being paranoid and having to worry about somebody "keeping an eye on us." :cursing:

Rjevan

20th March 2009, 22:36

If this nice man, our beloved Mr Schäuble, would be your Secretary of the Interior, you would understand why I'm paranoid. ;)
http://klisch.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/schaeublone.jpg

mikelepore

20th March 2009, 22:40

The people here who advocate violent methods and physical force, instead of the political process, are bring watched. But for those of us who advocate revolutionary change when it will be authorized by a mandate of the majority of the people, and the use of the constitutional method, the government has no reason to watch us, because if they did watch us there would be nothing for them to find that they would be interested in. I could give the FBI my entire life story without any cause for fear.

"Inestimable is the value, dignified the posture of the political movement. It affords the labor movement the opportunity to ventilate its purposes, its aspirations and its methods, free, over and above board, in the noonday light of the sun, whereas otherwise, its agitation would be consigned to the circumscribed sphere of the rat hole. The political movement renders the masses accessible to the propaganda of labor; it raises the labor movement above the category of a 'conspiracy'; it places the movement in line with the spirit of the age, which, on the one hand, denies the power of 'conspiracy' in matters that not only affect the masses, but in which the masses must themselves be intelligent actors, and, on the other hand, demands the freest of utterance." -- De Leon

Dr.Claw

21st March 2009, 00:57

If this nice man, our beloved Mr Schäuble, would be your Secretary of the Interior, you would understand why I'm paranoid. ;)
http://klisch.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/schaeublone.jpg
I think it's crucial that we be paranoid.

Poison

21st March 2009, 01:07

Maybe, but I doubt communists are their concern right now. I'd be more concerned about groups like RedWatch, that might sit around and monitor communist groups so their e-peens feel nice and big.

EDIT: If you've never read or watched Naomi Wolf, do so. She's my sole reason for thinking the gov might ever watch random little groups like this. She's a journalist and has written & spoken about instances of the government treating citizens like criminals, including one example of government monitoring and infiltration of an anti-death penalty group.

bcbm

21st March 2009, 02:21

Net nazis and keyboard warriors, whining on and on interminably.

Many of whom are well armed and connected with even more well armed groups that want to destroy the federal government and are generally part of the movement that led to the bombing in Oklahoma City. To say nothing of connections to some of the largest, most well organized and violent gangs within and out of the federal prison system.

Trystan

21st March 2009, 02:36

Dr.Claw

21st March 2009, 03:52

It's not unlikely. In Britain, 1 out of an every 160 people have files stored on them at MI5. Some of the people on the books are mere environmentalists. So people who asvocate (armed) revolution are most likely targets.
Ya but, they might be monitoring to "stay ahead of the game" and try to prevent a revolution from happening.

fabiansocialist

21st March 2009, 09:00

Many of whom are well armed and connected with even more well armed groups that want to destroy the federal government and are generally part of the movement that led to the bombing in Oklahoma City. To say nothing of connections to some of the largest, most well organized and violent gangs within and out of the federal prison system.

Yes, many of whom are well-armed. The problem is they lack a coherent ideology. "White nationalism" by itself doesn't constitute one because it doesn't answer key questions on who owns what, who does what, and how society is to be organised. If you go to the Stormfront site you will see what I mean. Of course this doesn't mean there aren't individuals within the "movement" who don't have their own clear ideas but there is no explicit common ideology for the whole.

Also, I suspect that most of the armed and organised groups you refer to probably stay shy of a joke site like Stormfront.

bcbm

21st March 2009, 11:56

Yes, many of whom are well-armed. The problem is they lack a coherent ideology.

It hasn't taken a coherent ideology to blow up the Ohlahoma federal building or build large gangs in prison or organize people outside of prison for "racial action." Pretending our enemies are stupid or ineffective doesn't make it so.

Of course this doesn't mean there aren't individuals within the "movement" who don't have their own clear ideas but there is no explicit common ideology for the whole.

By being vague about the "right" you could easily be just as vague about the "left." I've spent plenty of time dealing with the far-right. Enough to know that while a number of them may be dumb, they certainly aren't all so and the parts of their "movement" that have strength certainly make the left look pathetic by comparison.

Also, I suspect that most of the armed and organised groups you refer to probably stay shy of a joke site like Stormfront.

Maybe, maybe not. The point is that underestimating our enemies and overestimating ourselves, as I've seen here consistently, isn't a winning strategy.

fabiansocialist

21st March 2009, 19:13

It hasn't taken a coherent ideology to blow up the Ohlahoma federal building or build large gangs in prison or organize people outside of prison for "racial action." Pretending our enemies are stupid or ineffective doesn't make it so.

But they are not a credible threat to the powers-that-be: they are not ready to take over power. Of course, the same can be said about the Left as well (or what passes for such). To be a credible threat they would need a coherent ideology and mass organisation and mobilisation. That does not exist -- at least presently. It is unlikely that either Stormfront or Revleft get more than a sporadic glance by some junior functionary. We are not a serious threat to the status quo. Neither is the Stormfront crowd.

JimmyJazz

22nd March 2009, 02:02

I'm positive they are watching us from time to time. Not round-the-clock monitoring like Stormfront has probably been getting since Obama's election, but I'll bet that RevLeft is one of the sites that the London Police are monitoring as they make plans (http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/21-2) for how to counter G20 protestors.

Qayin

22nd March 2009, 21:35

Of course they are,why wouldnt they?

We oppose them,and vouch to destroy their system of exploitation

bcbm

22nd March 2009, 22:02

But they are not a credible threat to the powers-that-be: they are not ready to take over power.

Only a very foolish government would let something get to that point before noticing.

JimmyJazz

23rd March 2009, 06:15

Only a very foolish government would let something get to that point before noticing.

Er, aren't you American? :)

bcbm

23rd March 2009, 06:53

Yes, the USA, which has one of the most sophisticated police states in the world. Not likely to ignore even minor threats, given that they send spooks to Grannies for Justice meetings.

Psy

24th March 2009, 16:24

Yes, the USA, which has one of the most sophisticated police states in the world. Not likely to ignore even minor threats, given that they send spooks to Grannies for Justice meetings.
The problem with that is you have information over load like the U.S.S.R secret services had were you are gather so much data that you can only really just archive it as it would take too many man hours so sift through all the data collected. Even with the FBI super computer carnivore that was built with AT&T help that job is to collect everything on the Internet going through AT&T equipment, is limited to only being able to flag key words for humans to analyze later as the super computer can't understand context so if your wrote a e-mail (that was the bomb) the super computer would flagged it as suspicious as it contained the word bomb and a human would have to spend time reading it to decide if it worth further investigation. Given the current language of youth odds are the FBI is buried with flagged message totally out of context.

skki

25th March 2009, 03:35

Nah. Revleft posts are archived on google. They have bots monitoring this sort of thing. Alerts will spring up if they get any suspicious keywords. Like If, for case of example, I was to say:

HEY GUYS NEXT SUNDAY IM GOING TO SHOOT THE QUEEN AND BLOW UP BUCKINGHAM PALACE WITH MY SOCIALIST COMRADES TELL MY PARENTS I DID IT FOR THE LULZ.

They might have a look.

We could just ask the admins if they've been getting any hits from .gov domains.

Communist

9th April 2009, 18:44

"...so yes, it's fact that they are in some way keeping an eye on this place"

RevLeft is being watched, most likely through data collection and probably by a few humans as well. That's not being paranoid at all, that's just the way the government works. Better to spend time, money and technology watching socialists rather than, I don't know, helping someone. Anyway...

dez

9th April 2009, 19:27

I'm pretty certain "they" have a big file on me, given the awkward moments in which senior police officers always seem to recognise me. It's funny and scary at the same time.

Wouldnt say its a file per se but an informal thing.

Senior, Low-ranked police officers dont have access to that sort of file.

Letting you realize they know who you are is also part of their intimidation game, so I would advise you to act cool, pretend you dont know about anything and surprise them every once and a while.

Mike Morin

10th April 2009, 01:16

You folks are ridiculous.

If you are the slightest danger to the Capitalist Fascists you ARE being watched, very closely.

If you are a serious danger to the Capitalist Fascists, you wouldn't even be participating, you'd be locked up.

I'm curious about the .com nature of this website and who is underwriting it? That's not to say that there aren't good former (or even current) Capitalists who for many years or generations have seen the light with respect to socialism and dedicated their lives and resources while either riding the fence to make a living and/or seeing their reserves sacrificed.

MM
peu