I would have really hated to be someone who was ordering medical or school supplies

[MrScorpio]

The last couple of days from home or work...

Only to realize that my orders couldn't go through because MC/VISA/PAYPAL was shut down.

It wouldn't be a good day at all.

[REP]

1. I refilled my Rxs online today with no problem; other online orders completed just fine

I paid with credit cards - no problems.

[MrScorpio]

3. I'm glad to hear that

At least everything wasn't screwed up

[REP]

8. Me too - I'm nearly out of most of 'em (take 10 a day for kidney disease)

Kidney disease is not a ton of fun, but boy do I get to take a lot of pills!

[MrScorpio]

10. You're lucky that some anarchists didn't make your life any more difficult

Than it already is.

You really don't deserve a thing like that to happen to you

[REP]

15. Actually, I approve of Anonymous.

I think what they did will help me in the long run.

[MrScorpio]

26. Still, I'm glad that you were able to get your meds

Life still needs to go on

[Newsjock]

2. I would have really hated to be one of those teen boys who DynCorp got raped

It wouldn't be a good day at all.

[tkmorris]

4. Yep. Think that trumps the OP all to hell and gone

[EFerrari]

5. Or one of those 600 Iraqi civilians shot at check points.

That's a real bad day.

[laughingliberal]

13. Or one of the Reuaters' reporters shot from a helicopter. That would have been a real suck day. nt

[JVS]

6. That would suck.

[MrScorpio]

9. Which makes me wonder where the press was when that happened

Were there any reporters on that story?

[EFerrari]

12. Well we know they weren't in Honduras when their counterparts were being kidnapped

and tortured in the bloodless coup.

[laughingliberal]

14. +1 nt

[Alamuti Lotus]

21. the loyal embeds were doing what their gov't handlers told them to do

reporting on all the great successes of occupation, musing about the horror of shark attacks, and marvelling at how phenominally awesome the economy actually is.

[tkmorris]

25. Why yes, there was

Unfortunately the US State Department put the kibosh on the story.

"He urged the US State Department to shut down a reporter he heard was snooping around, and was horrified that a rumored videotape of the party might surface. He predicted that any story about the party would "endanger lives." He said that his government had arrested two Afghan police and nine Afghan civilians on charges of "purchasing a service from a child" in connection with the party, but that he was worried about the image of their "foreign mentors," by which he apparently meant DynCorp. American diplomats told him to chill. They apparently had a better handle on our media than Atmar, because when a report of the party finally did emerge, it was neutered to the point of near-falsehood. "

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/12/wikileaks_texas_company_helped.php

Ya see Scorp, that's what this is all about. Our press is no longer free, and hasn't been for quite some time. The pressures upon them are far too great. Without organizations like Wikileaks corporations like Dyncorp, and the US government as well, can do pretty much anything they want to without fear that anyone will ever shine a spotlight on it. And hey, if that means I don't get buy that sweet touring bike at Ebay today because my Paypal account or Visa wouldn't work than I'm OK with that.

[MrScorpio]

27. Then the blame lies with the Fourth Estate for being we as well

It's obvious that their failure has led to the rash actions of anarchists

Which pretty much puts a pox on all of our houses.

[laughingliberal]

28. Perhaps they were gunned down by a helicopter before they could report. nt

[Kalyke]

61. No -- once again, the blame lies with Big Corp.

You see, Big Corp gobbled up all the independent news outlets that used to add voices and other opinion to the media stream and forced them all to report celebrity gossip, obituaries, Republican talking points and killer animals.

The DDOS "attack," once again, is the latest device the people can use to show their displeasure of Big Corp's attacks on their livelihoods, their paychecks, their health care, their tax rate, their media, their entertainment, their abilities to ferret out the truth and their very souls.

[inna]

67. completely false equivalency. unrec.

[leftstreet]

17. +1

[readmoreoften]

57. +1

[tekisui]

64. Or one of the 21 kids we killed with cluster bombs in Yemen.

[MrScorpio]

7. If I had a dying relative and couldn't get there in time to see them

Because I couldn't get a plane ticket either.

Well, let's say that I wouldn't want to be that person either.

[aquart]

20. If you can afford a plane ticket, you can rent a car, or take a train.

Or maybe visit that relative BEFORE it looked like the end was nigh. Which is how we do it in my family.

[laughingliberal]

22. Or if all the guests at my wedding were gunned down by a drone attack, that would suck! nt

[Alamuti Lotus]

23. But that wouldn't be half as bad as having your commerce inconvenienced!

[sudopod]

30. You're not going to win the debate by comparing

inconveniences to massacres.

[Alamuti Lotus]

11. I would have really hated to be someone in Yemen who was gunned down by a US drone

or one of those Reuters reporters or Iraqi children....

Add some sense of perspective to your poutrage if you're going to more effectively attempt to stir up sympathy for big business or other mafia gangs in service of real liars and killers.

[laughingliberal]

18. +1,000,000 nt

[MrScorpio]

24. The point being is that many ordinary people don't deserve...

To have their lives made more difficult because of the rash actions of a bunch of anarchists

Besides, the credit card companies that many people are now depending upon, for better or for worse, are not funding the War Machine... Your tax dollars are.

But the war machine seems to be immune, we keep sending its supporters to Congress every election.

And we still accept the fact that the press refuses to tell us all of how ugly war actually is.

So, people get all up in arms when they find out what the truth about war and what is done in our names.

I'm sorry, we should have known about this a long time ago, but we've been lied to for so long, it's a bit of a shock and people become reactionary.


Perhaps, when someone actually figures out how to get our tax dollars to stop funding the War Machine, then perhaps I'll cheer on the "activists".

But in the interim, life needs to go on, doesn't it?

[laughingliberal]

33. Perhaps a little inconvenience will get some people's attention. nt

[MrScorpio]

40. For how long and to what extent?

No one seems to have those answers.

[laughingliberal]

41. I don't believe we knew how long it would take when we started the fight for civil rights, either.

I'm sure it's a bother you can't just set TIVO to record the miniseries all wrapped up with the outcome known but them's the breaks.

[MrScorpio]

29. Is this really news that war kills innocent people?

War has always killed innocent people... Always.

Frankly, I'm shocked to find out that people find that fact shocking.

[Alamuti Lotus]

31. innocent people being blown up? yaaaaaaaaaaawwwnnn...

commerce being slightly disrupted? jumpin fucking jesus, alert the media and circle the wagons!!

re-read that suggestion I had about perspective in poutrage, and get back to me.

[laughingliberal]

32. Yes. And war often inconveniences people. I support the efforts to fight censorship. nt

[MrScorpio]

46. It's news to you that war kills innocent people... Am I reading this right? nt

[Union Scribe]

47. No, you aren't.

[laughingliberal]

50. No. And I'd guess you're being deliberately obtuse. nt

[Alamuti Lotus]

34. no, we're not surprised

We're not SHOCKED by one word of this. We're mad about how fucking arrogant and cold these gangsters are about every damn aspect of their crimes -- and by 'crimes', I basically mean 'daily business as usual'. Not only that, but we're not thrilled with the lies and complacency of the paid assets people are told to believe represent them. And we're annoyed with the really truly sad sacks of swill that the shrill harpies are in their kneejerk excuse of authority.

[Bragi]

63. But it's good to see the crimes and lies exposed /nt

[Bragi]

65. What if I could buy a Sham Wow imediately! On credit!

The horror.

[BlackHoleSon]

16. Or one of the 3 wise men

trying to use MC/VISA/PAYPAL to buy gifts for the baby Jesus!

[laughingliberal]

19. You never really loved Baby Jesus! nt

[EFerrari]

39. . . .

[quinnox]

35. God forbid a person inconvenienced by this

Frankly, this concern is beyond trivial. If this is the worst thing one has to deal with, its an easy day. American comfort is not the end-all be-all of life.

[McCamy Taylor]

36. I would really hate to be someone who could not get the health care he needs

Because our government is more concerned about covering up its dirty little secrets than it is with keeping us healthy.

[ZombieHorde]

37. Point taken. Most political situations are more complicated than

we make them out to be. Cost/benefit should be considered.

[MrScorpio]

38. That's exactly right

It seems that few people are keeping that thought in mind.

It's all cheering for destruction I'm not comfortable with.

We either build or destroy this world... I have a hard time cheering for the destroyers.

[laughingliberal]

42. I'd hardly call a little inconvenience in the online shopping experience 'destruction.'

Sheesh! How did people buy stuff 20 years ago?

[MrScorpio]

43. Because, that is merely a small reference to what goes on in this world

And the rash and unrelated actions of a group of anonymous cyber terrorists are are being celebrated without seeing the bigger picture that their actions have far reaching consequences and a definite impact on innocent lives and livelihoods.

There's much more to be concerned about here than trivial pursuits... But no one wants to admit that.

[EFerrari]

48. No. Their actions are being celebrated because they do have far reaching consequences.

And, btw, no one was prevented from using a credit card. The payment processing centers were not brought down. This time, anyway.

[laughingliberal]

49. Sorry, if you think I'm going to see some inconvenience for Americans who still have resources...

to shop online as being a worthwhile reason to to silence dissent, think again.

[EFerrari]

45. You agree the situation is complicated and a line later, reduce it

to a binarism, building or destroying.

The truth is, the threat of ungovernability is the one thing governments must respond to. They don't have to respond to phone calls or letters, elections or even laws. But they must respond to insurgency if they are to survive.

It's not civil and it's not comfortable but then, usually the events that drive people to use such measures haven't been civil or comfortable either.

[MrScorpio]

51. It's your assertion that government is completely unresponsive to the needs of people?

Well. that's part of the problem right there. I believe most of this position relies on the prevalence of acute myopia in regards to individual concerns.

And it's been discussed at length in regard to how the Teabaggerati view the role of government. They rail against the very services that they benefit from and promote policies that will harm them in the end. All because of their hostility towards government.

They try to both build and destroy it at the same time. A very complicated position indeed. So few of them actually understand the impact of government, now it seems that this kind of viewpoint hold sway here as well.

From what I know about government, threatening any of it or its bureaucratic structure rarely turns out well for the attackers. And after the attacks occur, things are likely to be made worse. And regardless who is ever in charge, they are quick to circle the wagons and then find a way to retaliate against their attackers.

And either building or destroying happens in this world. And rather than building coalitions that change the way that government works, (I guess that that's too hard), many people are opting to destroy.

Frankly, I rather build, yes.

But in the end, I doubt that any of this cyberterrorism will make our live any better or reduce the power of the war machine.

[EFerrari]

53. And I, remembering how a massive stand down of our troops in Viet Nam.

coupled with an insurgency at home, ended the war, disagree with that. Remembering how our strike at Cal brought the Regents to divestment in South Africa, I tend to think that smart target actions can work out well.

And that's despite my myopia and similarity to the tea klanners and apparent destructiveness in your eyes. :)

[MrScorpio]

54. If I remember correctly....

The Vietnamese played a large part in ending our little soiree over there.

Lest we not forget those guys.

[laughingliberal]

56. I don't believe you do remember correctly. Nor does Mr LL who was there at the end. nt

[laughingliberal]

52. +1000 nt

[Lucian]

44. Minor inconvenience.

The benefits outweigh the risks.

[Hannah Bell]

55. everytime workers stand up for themselves someone tells a story like that.

ooooh, those poor people ordering medical supplies.

the ruling class kills people directly every day.

[readmoreoften]

59. +1. It's always the same isn't it?

[readmoreoften]

58. You'd probably hate the inconvenience of a picket line too.

Damn strikers getting in the way of your widget!

[inna]

68. certainly sounds like it. big -1 for the OP. nt

[Swamp Rat]

60. Well, at least those inconvenienced folks have some form of healthcare or educational opportunities.

:(

[Gormy Cuss]

62. Because school supplies are so time sensitive. n/t

[tekisui]

66. MC/VISA/PAYPAL chose to take the side the took.

They buckled under pressure from Big Brother to harm wikileaks. They fired first. I don't feel sorry for them or their customers. It is just the interconnected world we live in now.

Big businesses doing the bidding of governments open themselves and their customers to responses.