Let's Liberate the Americans!!!

[Yizhi]

Here's the question for you, Gen, how hard is it really to get access to blocked sites in China?

not hard, at least for me.
i never paid for VPN. people around me all have their different 'methods'. it's a market now.

 

[Aepsilons]

not hard, at least for me.
i never paid for VPN. people around me all have their different 'methods'. it's a market now.

I tell you, its just amazing how people get get around. I guess the saying is true, 'if there's a will, then there's a way'.

 

[Genesis]

Here's the question for you, Gen, how hard is it really to get access to blocked sites in China?

Easy.

Here's the real question, can any US apps or sites order KFC for me?

 

[Yizhi]

I tell you, its just amazing how people get get around. I guess the saying is true, 'if there's a will, then there's a way'.

i'm not sure CCP is really trying to block it....just Baidu it you'll find all kinds of 'service'.
and many of the really sensitive sites are not blocked.

 

[Aepsilons]

Easy.

Here's the real question, can any US apps or sites order KFC for me?

I don't know about KFC, but they have an app now that allows people to order pizza !

 

[IPen]

LOL,bad title,bro......
people may pay too much attention to your title rather than the content

 

[Genesis]

I know a lot is wrong with the way western media portrays China. That said, I never thought for once that democracy is very important. We can devise other systems as well.

But what is indeed most important is:
1. Rule of Law
2. Corruption free system
3. Strong Institutions
4. Freedom of Speech
5. Free Press

The above things are very important. Though Xi has been trying to work on 1 and 2, the problem with his methods is that it is not transparent, and it is not institutionalized. When Xi goes away, what about corruption then? Freedom from corruption can only be achieved when the system doesn't allow it. In Chinese system, the officials have all the power, and they can misuse this. The rest of the world deals this via two things:

1. Free Press- which questions the authorities and brings them to account
2. Independent Judiciary - which is totally devoid of any political control
3. Civil Liberties- so that people may not fear while speaking up

I would like to see what system China evolves. I just hope that that system is best for China, and is a betterment on the western style democracy. You can pick and choose if you want. See west devised a political, legal and economic system, which they called the liberal capitalist democracy. They asked others to blindly copy their system. They didn't believe other systems are good. To some extent they were right. China has already adopted a lot of economic frameworks espoused in that system. I think it is not necessary to implant the system, but freedom of speech and rule of law are very important things.

Go to China and talk to people that have, really experience it. It's hard to tell you what it is you are missing.

The things you listed are both true and false at the same time, at different times and places.

lol, tell me, Gen, how ya gonna liberate dem' yanks?

Tee Hee!

With the people that thanked you, I wonder if they read it? lol

We already liberated them, they are now more like our 1970s self than we are. Prosecuting muslims and minorities anyone different, no idea about the world around them and no desire to find out, hating "capitalists" for no reason other than they are not, and blindly following Obama because he is black.

You posted app that can order Pizza, that's easy to make and yea, but what I mean is do you know what you can do with Alipay? Wechat? and things like that? I buy a lot of stuff from Taobao and other stores when I am bored, so every trip back home is like Christmas to me.

I can do all of this on my phone, and pay using the same.

Americans like to think copy equals worse than original, that's only true to things that cannot be sold for as much or more than the original, but more and more Chinese copies are now something entirely different and are walking down our own path.

Americans don't know and don't care, as do the rest of the world, they still want to save us.

Same can be said of our weapons, J-20 won't be a cheap copy, we learnt with 4th gen that cheaper won't sell, best will. If you have 20 million for a fighter, you will have 80, and if you don't have 80, you don't have 20 either.

 

[gambit]

Anybody that's been in China should know how crazy these assertions are, are there political prisoners? Yes, those are very rare and for very different reasons than simply talking about the government. Anyone's been in China knows, everyone from the common cabby to CEOs talk politics, pretty much everyone hates on politics, same as in every other democratic country.

That is why political prisoners are often reclassified as psychiatric cases.

In your China, political dissidents are imprisoned, and please do not even attempt to deny it, while in the US, our political dissidents are celebrated and often became millionaires. Talking about politics is not the same thing as using speech to point out ideological/institutional flaws. Simple question: 'Why does China not allow competing political parties ?' That is and have been the core of political dissatisfaction for many in China. That question goes beyond 'hating politics'. If it is so benign, then why not allow competing political parties and let the Chinese voters decide ?

 

[Genesis]

That is why political prisoners are often reclassified as psychiatric cases.

In your China, political dissidents are imprisoned, and please do not even attempt to deny it, while in the US, our political dissidents are celebrated and often became millionaires. Talking about politics is not the same thing as using speech to point out ideological/institutional flaws. Simple question: 'Why does China not allow competing political parties ?' That is and have been the core of political dissatisfaction for many in China. That question goes beyond 'hating politics'. If it is so benign, then why not allow competing political parties and let the Chinese voters decide ?

You know, I was actually going to debate you, but since you keep going on about how we silence critics everywhere I go, well, I'll silence you then, since apparently that's who we are.

I'll grant you your wish.

 

[TaiShang]

You know, I was actually going to debate you, but since you keep going on about how we silence critics everywhere I go, well, I'll silence you then, since apparently that's who we are.

I'll grant you your wish.

Ignore that Vet troll along with his Indian counterparts. LOL.

Infamous 'Regin' malware linked to Snowden's NSA files
Published time: January 27, 2015 22:11
Edited time: January 27, 2015 23:01

Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Researchers say that a powerful computer program that was discovered last year and is linked to campaigns of espionage waged against global targets is strikingly similar to a piece of malware used by the National Security Agency and its Five Eyes allies.

Earlier this month, journalists at Der Spiegel published the source code for a computer program called 'QWERTY' – “a piece of software designed to surreptitiously intercept all keyboard keys pressed by the victim and record them for later inspection,” and said that they hoped the disclosure would “foster further research and enable the creation of appropriate defenses.”

The QWERTY program, according to documents provided to Der Spiegel by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, is included in an arsenal of malware products used by the National Security Agency and its intelligence gathering allies, colloquially called the Five Eyes. That suite of tools, the German paper said, is used by the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom in order to eavesdrop on targets and conduct other sorts of destructive cyber ops.

According to researchers at Kaspersky Labs who have reviewed QWERTY during the last 10 days, the keylogger’s source code can be linked to 'Regin,' another spy tool that raised eyebrows when it was discovered in late 2014 and alleged to have been used against targets in Algeria, Afghanistan, Belgium, Brazil, Fiji, Germany, Iran, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia and Syria, among others.

Image from securelist.com

READ MORE: Sophisticated ‘state-sponsored’ spying tool targeted govts, infrastructure for years

“Considering the extreme complexity of the Regin platform and little chance that it can be duplicated by somebody without having access to its sourcecodes, we conclude the QWERTY malware developers and the Regin developers are the same or working together,” Costin Raiu and Igor Soumenkov, researchers at Kaspersky’s Securelist blog, said on Tuesday.

When details about Regin emerged last November, The Intercept — the online news site founded by Snowden collaborator Glenn Greenwald — said the spyware originated as far back as 2003 and had been deployed against European Union computers and the networks of Belgacom, Belgium’s leading telecommunications company. Researchers with Symantec called it “highly suited for persistent, long term surveillance operations,” and said it had been included in efforts waged against private companies, government entities, and research institutes in Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Ireland.

Less than a month after those initials reports on Regin surfaced, Germany’s Bild newspaper alleged that the spyware had appeared on a USB drive used in the private computer of the head of Germany’s Department for European Policy, but had been contained before spreading further through the nation’s networks.

Image from securelist.com

“Looking at the code closely, we conclude that the 'QWERTY’ malware is identical in functionality” to a plugin used with Regin, Kaspersky concluded this week.

Although the intelligence agencies of the US and its allies are often accused of eavesdropping on adversarial nations — especially in light of the Snowden revelations that have uncovered, among other operations, spy programs that affect innocent Americans — the recent QWERTY analysis suggests that a keylogger specified by the NSA leaker as being an example of a powerful Five Eyes prying tool is likely affiliated with Regin. If correct, the researchers may have furthered the case against the NSA and its intelligence gathering operations, providing more evidence linking the US spy firm to widespread surveillance missions.

Upon Tuesday’s reports from Kaspersky, Spiegel published a follow-up in which the paper re-hashed a report from 2011—two years before the first Snowden leaks—in which a Dutch cybersecurity expert attributed the tool used to hack Belgacom as belonging to either the NSA or its British counterpart, GCHQ.

According to Spiegel, the Regin tool has also been linked to hacks which targeted the International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Austria, as well as the 2011 attack on European Commission computers and other endeavors.

***
LOL.

Koch brothers prepared to unleash nearly $1bn leading up to 2016 election
Published time: January 27, 2015 20:22

Businessman David Koch. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri)

Conservative American oligarchic industrialists Charles and David Koch plan to raise $889 million to spend on political operations ahead of the 2016 election. The sum would be more than twice as much as the Koch network spent during the 2012 election.

The budget figure was released Monday in Palm Springs, Calif., to about 450 donors and allies who attended the Koch network’s annual winter meeting of Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the non-profit organization at the epicenter of the Kochs’ political advocacy.

As head of the vast network of politically-conservative non-profits, Freedom Partners funnels millions of dollars that often pass through ‘dark money’ groups that -- thanks to the 2010 US Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United -- are legally allowed to raise and distribute unlimited amounts of money while withholding the identities of donors.

"We have never seen this before," Sheila Krumholz, head of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, said of the Koch budget. "There is no network akin to this one in terms of its complexity, scope and resources."

To put $889 million into perspective, the Republican National Committee (RNC), the campaign fundraising arm of the Republican Party, raised and spent $400 million during the 2012 election cycle.

Freedom Partners, meanwhile, spent almost $240 million during the 2012 campaign season, funding nearly three dozen right-wing organizations. The network intended to spend $290 million during the 2014 midterm election, according to the Daily Beast.

The cascade of wealthy funders that attended the weekend conference were feted by four potential Republican presidential candidates -- US Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. At least six US senators were on hand to thank donors, according to reports.

On Saturday, Charles Koch addressed the conference, claiming Freedom Partners’ work has been "largely defensive to slow down a government that continues to swell and become more intrusive."

"Americans have taken an important step in slowing down the march toward collectivism," Koch said, according to excerpts released by the organization. "But as many of you know, we don't rest on our laurels. We are already back at work and hard at it."

Democrats -- many of whom will support former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s formidable fundraising machine should she choose to run for president in 2016 -- denounced the Kochs’ planned largesse.

"What an obscene amount of money," said Ben Ray, a spokesman for American Bridge, a Democratic-aligned super PAC, according to USA Today. "It just goes to show the kind of cold calculation that the Kochs will apply to protect their bottom line."

"If they are spending more than the RNC, I know exactly who the (Republican) presidential candidates will listen to,” Ray added.

Operations of Koch Industries, the second-largest private corporation in the US, include oil refining and distribution, manufacturing of a wide variety of consumer products, cattle ranching, and chemical production. The brothers' top political priorities rest in savaging government regulations -- especially environmental restrictions -- and undoing the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

 

[Genesis]

Ignore that Vet troll along with his Indian counterparts. LOL.

Infamous 'Regin' malware linked to Snowden's NSA files
Published time: January 27, 2015 22:11
Edited time: January 27, 2015 23:01

Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Researchers say that a powerful computer program that was discovered last year and is linked to campaigns of espionage waged against global targets is strikingly similar to a piece of malware used by the National Security Agency and its Five Eyes allies.

Earlier this month, journalists at Der Spiegel published the source code for a computer program called 'QWERTY' – “a piece of software designed to surreptitiously intercept all keyboard keys pressed by the victim and record them for later inspection,” and said that they hoped the disclosure would “foster further research and enable the creation of appropriate defenses.”

The QWERTY program, according to documents provided to Der Spiegel by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, is included in an arsenal of malware products used by the National Security Agency and its intelligence gathering allies, colloquially called the Five Eyes. That suite of tools, the German paper said, is used by the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom in order to eavesdrop on targets and conduct other sorts of destructive cyber ops.

According to researchers at Kaspersky Labs who have reviewed QWERTY during the last 10 days, the keylogger’s source code can be linked to 'Regin,' another spy tool that raised eyebrows when it was discovered in late 2014 and alleged to have been used against targets in Algeria, Afghanistan, Belgium, Brazil, Fiji, Germany, Iran, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia and Syria, among others.

Image from securelist.com

READ MORE: Sophisticated ‘state-sponsored’ spying tool targeted govts, infrastructure for years

“Considering the extreme complexity of the Regin platform and little chance that it can be duplicated by somebody without having access to its sourcecodes, we conclude the QWERTY malware developers and the Regin developers are the same or working together,” Costin Raiu and Igor Soumenkov, researchers at Kaspersky’s Securelist blog, said on Tuesday.

When details about Regin emerged last November, The Intercept — the online news site founded by Snowden collaborator Glenn Greenwald — said the spyware originated as far back as 2003 and had been deployed against European Union computers and the networks of Belgacom, Belgium’s leading telecommunications company. Researchers with Symantec called it “highly suited for persistent, long term surveillance operations,” and said it had been included in efforts waged against private companies, government entities, and research institutes in Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Ireland.

Less than a month after those initials reports on Regin surfaced, Germany’s Bild newspaper alleged that the spyware had appeared on a USB drive used in the private computer of the head of Germany’s Department for European Policy, but had been contained before spreading further through the nation’s networks.

Image from securelist.com

“Looking at the code closely, we conclude that the 'QWERTY’ malware is identical in functionality” to a plugin used with Regin, Kaspersky concluded this week.

Although the intelligence agencies of the US and its allies are often accused of eavesdropping on adversarial nations — especially in light of the Snowden revelations that have uncovered, among other operations, spy programs that affect innocent Americans — the recent QWERTY analysis suggests that a keylogger specified by the NSA leaker as being an example of a powerful Five Eyes prying tool is likely affiliated with Regin. If correct, the researchers may have furthered the case against the NSA and its intelligence gathering operations, providing more evidence linking the US spy firm to widespread surveillance missions.

Upon Tuesday’s reports from Kaspersky, Spiegel published a follow-up in which the paper re-hashed a report from 2011—two years before the first Snowden leaks—in which a Dutch cybersecurity expert attributed the tool used to hack Belgacom as belonging to either the NSA or its British counterpart, GCHQ.

According to Spiegel, the Regin tool has also been linked to hacks which targeted the International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Austria, as well as the 2011 attack on European Commission computers and other endeavors.

***
LOL.

Koch brothers prepared to unleash nearly $1bn leading up to 2016 election
Published time: January 27, 2015 20:22

Businessman David Koch. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri)

Conservative American oligarchic industrialists Charles and David Koch plan to raise $889 million to spend on political operations ahead of the 2016 election. The sum would be more than twice as much as the Koch network spent during the 2012 election.

The budget figure was released Monday in Palm Springs, Calif., to about 450 donors and allies who attended the Koch network’s annual winter meeting of Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the non-profit organization at the epicenter of the Kochs’ political advocacy.

As head of the vast network of politically-conservative non-profits, Freedom Partners funnels millions of dollars that often pass through ‘dark money’ groups that -- thanks to the 2010 US Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United -- are legally allowed to raise and distribute unlimited amounts of money while withholding the identities of donors.

"We have never seen this before," Sheila Krumholz, head of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, said of the Koch budget. "There is no network akin to this one in terms of its complexity, scope and resources."

To put $889 million into perspective, the Republican National Committee (RNC), the campaign fundraising arm of the Republican Party, raised and spent $400 million during the 2012 election cycle.

Freedom Partners, meanwhile, spent almost $240 million during the 2012 campaign season, funding nearly three dozen right-wing organizations. The network intended to spend $290 million during the 2014 midterm election, according to the Daily Beast.

The cascade of wealthy funders that attended the weekend conference were feted by four potential Republican presidential candidates -- US Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. At least six US senators were on hand to thank donors, according to reports.

On Saturday, Charles Koch addressed the conference, claiming Freedom Partners’ work has been "largely defensive to slow down a government that continues to swell and become more intrusive."

"Americans have taken an important step in slowing down the march toward collectivism," Koch said, according to excerpts released by the organization. "But as many of you know, we don't rest on our laurels. We are already back at work and hard at it."

Democrats -- many of whom will support former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s formidable fundraising machine should she choose to run for president in 2016 -- denounced the Kochs’ planned largesse.

"What an obscene amount of money," said Ben Ray, a spokesman for American Bridge, a Democratic-aligned super PAC, according to USA Today. "It just goes to show the kind of cold calculation that the Kochs will apply to protect their bottom line."

"If they are spending more than the RNC, I know exactly who the (Republican) presidential candidates will listen to,” Ray added.

Operations of Koch Industries, the second-largest private corporation in the US, include oil refining and distribution, manufacturing of a wide variety of consumer products, cattle ranching, and chemical production. The brothers' top political priorities rest in savaging government regulations -- especially environmental restrictions -- and undoing the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

The entire thread is based on getting to know a country first hand and he comes in here and repeats the "party line." If he's not interested in knowing things that are realities on the ground but fantasy on TV, who am I to educated him, I'm not being paid, I certainly would like to receive that 50 cents, what am I up to know a million dollars. I could use that money.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Very well said. If a particular system works for the Chinese, then by Jobe, let them enjoy it.

Yeah I'm sick of Asians apologizing for their country's domestic governance system. When a white man wants to talk to me about Chinese politics, I just have the air of "I don't deal with losers" and brush them off. Why? Because it is useless to talk to them about it. Stop being fking losers who keep apologizing for things that aren't their fault, its like the people in real life who apologize for their interests, total lack of confidence, total losers.

 

[TaiShang]

Yeah I'm sick of Asians apologizing for their country's domestic governance system. When a white man wants to talk to me about Chinese politics, I just have the air of "I don't deal with losers" and brush them off. Why? Because it is useless to talk to them about it. Stop being fking losers who keep apologizing for things that aren't their fault, its like the people in real life who apologize for their interests, total lack of confidence, total losers.

Indeed. Ignoring those people is the best. Recently, on this forum, too, there has been an Indian influx, many poking their nose and attempting to lecture China on how it should govern itself.

For one thing, if Indians are so sure of what others should do, why not start with applying them to their own miserable situation?

Better ignore those Indians and other trolls. Better do not engage them about stuff that has nothing to do with them. China's internal affairs is its own business; foreigners have no say. Leave it that way.

 

[DoTell]

During the crazy days of cultural revolution, Chinese used to say "we'd rather eat socialist grass than capitalist rice". Fast forward 40 years, now we are hearing "I'd rather be poor in a democracy than rich but with no freedom "

The Chinese in the 60's were definitely overly brainwashed. The "freedom" lovers nowadays? Well, they'll know they've been misinformed as well if they actually see China in person.

 

[dlclong]