Starker on 27/3/2025 at 16:00
Quote Posted by Nicker
Oh stop fussing, you two! I am sure this man has your national security well in hand.
What, you don't trust WhiskeyLeaks to run one of the largest organisations in the world?
Seriously, though, nobody knows what other operations have been and are being run over unsecure social media channels with random participants. It just came out that the name of an undercover CIA operative was shared on this chat.
But wait, it gets worse:
Quote:
(
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/27/mike-waltz-venmo)
Mike Waltz, Donald Trump's national security adviser who is at the center of the storm over a group chat which leaked highly sensitive military plans to a journalist, left his Venmo account open to the public, according to a new report.
The oversight represents a further security breach, days after the news that Waltz added the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic to a Signal chat in which operational planning for a US attack on Houthis in Yemen was shared.
A Venmo account with the name “Michael Waltz”, which bore a picture of Waltz, was visible to the public until Wednesday afternoon, Wired reported. Waltz's 328-person list of friends included accounts that appeared to belong to Walker Barrett, a National Security Council staffer, and Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff - whose account was also public.
[...]
But wait, it gets even worse:
Quote:
(
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/pete-hegseth-mike-waltz-tulsi-gabbard-private-data-and-passwords-of-senior-u-s-security-officials-found-online-a-14221f90-e5c2-48e5-bc63-10b705521fb7)
Private contact details of the most important security advisers to U.S. President Donald Trump can be found on the internet. DER SPIEGEL reporters were able to find mobile phone numbers, email addresses and even some passwords belonging to the top officials.
To do so, the reporters used commercial people search engines along with hacked customer data that has been published on the web. Those affected by the leaks include National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Most of these numbers and email addresses are apparently still in use, with some of them linked to profiles on social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn. They were used to create Dropbox accounts and profiles in apps that track running data. There are also WhatsApp profiles for the respective phone numbers and even Signal accounts in some cases.
As such, the reporting has revealed an additional grave, previously unknown security breach at the highest levels in Washington. Hostile intelligence services could use this publicly available data to hack the communications of those affected by installing spyware on their devices. It is thus conceivable that foreign agents were privy to the Signal chat group in which Gabbard, Waltz and Hegseth discussed a military strike.
[...]
The official excuse now about the incident is that some unknown staffer must have gotten their hands on the phone of the US National Security Advisor and added this journalist to the list without anyone knowing or noticing. I have no idea how or why they somehow think this is in any way, shape or form better.
And the most crucial part is that if the journalist hadn't piped up in this case, nobody would have noticed it. Nobody has taken any responsibility for it and they at first denied that it had even happened until the journalist published the chats. There is no way of knowing how many other such incidents have been happening or have been quietly swept under the rug.
Nicker on 27/3/2025 at 17:43
One of the people on that Signal was in Russia while they were connected. Possibly in the Kremlin.
Yeah it is pretty worrying what else is being covered up. If that trophy, child bride, The Mouth Of Orange, is any indication, they will gas-light even when the evidence of their fuck-up is enormous and public. "It's a hoax! It's the journalist's fault!"
fahhhhhk
Harvester on 28/3/2025 at 08:47
All my life when people asked me about my dream vacation I'd answer "a road trip through the USA". I wouldn't give that answer anymore, I wouldn't consider it safe to visit and also because over half of you guys voted for this administration so the coolness and reverence factor that the USA has always had for me is rapidly evaporating. It's also difficult for me as a Christian that Trump's win is largely because of Christians voting for him and I find it hard to understand why you'd vote for this guy as a Christian.
I'm going to Paris this summer, never thought I'd prefer the French "frogs" over the Americans I've always looked up to.
Also, even if you guys get a sensible administration after this (and that's a big if), we believed it once when Biden said "don't worry, Trump is gone, the USA is back on the world stage as a trustworthy world power". I can safely say that that trust won't come so easily again.
demagogue on 28/3/2025 at 16:44
It is bewildering that church-going folk voted for him and still so aggressively support him as the second (after Jefferson) openly and most viciously atheist president. He doesn't hide his contempt for any signs of weakness, religion being a major one, and you can see he gets off on exploiting the religious.
The other related part of that, that also speaks a little to your post, is how un-American him and the entire movement are. They're just so fundamentally detached from US history and culture.
The one thing I might say to especially Europeans rightfully disgusted or horrified is just to note that the US is sometimes the leading edge of cultural movements that spread to other regions over time. I have the idea this is the product of a long campaign of disinformation and the literal and tactical re-wiring of people's brains through social media, and I think it will come to other countries over time too. I just mean save some of that horror for your own country when it comes. It didn't seem like this could be imaginable in the US not that long ago too.
baeuchlein on 28/3/2025 at 17:54
In Germany, there are more and more reports, radio news, and other indications that the wave of disinformation as well as the (partially successful!) re-wiring of brains, both via (anti-)social media, is already taking place. The feces have now set course for the fan, and the first pieces have already hit the fan's blades. Funny times are coming to a stop (or worse, maybe even to an end) over here. However, especially state-driven media are becoming aware of the problem and put some countermeasures in place. For example, they finally noticed the problem of (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_balance) false balance. We yet have to see whether these measures will be effective enough or not - most likely during the next political elections. And speaking of politicians - their trousers are getting more and more damp while their owners realize that successfully ruling the country becomes increasingly difficult when more and more political parties with a less than usual amount of adhering to the truth gain influence because their voters can't see through the veils these parties weave.
Nicker on 28/3/2025 at 18:08
I think there are two basic factions of protestant Christianity; Socialist Jesus and Authoritarian Yahweh. It's the latter kind who voted for him. All about being The Chosen, reviling the "others", smiting enemies, getting revenge, controlling sex organs. The usual.
Just getting rid of Trump won't be enough to restore trust in the USA. There will need to be fundamental and robust changes to protect all levels of government against criminal incursions and mental illness.
As far as spreading culture, dema. That's already happened. Trump has given tacit and overt permission to fascists and populists all over the globe, even in Canada. It's going to be a close call in April, whether we continue to stand against Trump (Mark Carney) or elect a toady who will sell us out (Pierre Poiliever).
It may be less hopeful elsewhere.
If Trump was tiny bit less utterly stupid, less reactive and petulant, more charismatic and strategic, things would be even worse.
Starker on 28/3/2025 at 18:26
Quote Posted by Harvester
All my life when people asked me about my dream vacation I'd answer "a road trip through the USA". I wouldn't give that answer anymore, I wouldn't consider it safe to visit and also because over half of you guys voted for this administration so the coolness and reverence factor that the USA has always had for me is rapidly evaporating. It's also difficult for me as a Christian that Trump's win is largely because of Christians voting for him and I find it hard to understand why you'd vote for this guy as a Christian.
I'm going to Paris this summer, never thought I'd prefer the French "frogs" over the Americans I've always looked up to.
Also, even if you guys get a sensible administration after this (and that's a big if), we believed it once when Biden said "don't worry, Trump is gone, the USA is back on the world stage as a trustworthy world power". I can safely say that that trust won't come so easily again.
You are me 20+ years ago with the Iraq war. I never would have believed the US would just randomly invade a country to cause the death of hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants for no good reason.
But even after that I still defended the US and argued that it was the lesser evil compared to the really authoritarian empires like China and Russia. That as bad as the US was with extrajudicial killings, torture, and its soldiers going around raping and killing children, it still held on to some principles that ensured peoples' rights to at least some degree and gave them a way to fight back. That lower level war criminals were still prosecuted. That it allowed a modicum of dissent and even people like Noam Chomsky could live and work in the US without being imprisoned and/or killed.
However, that's all being torn down now -- the US is in the process of becoming a country just like Russia and China where the oligarchy slices up the country and the government exists only to cater to their interests.
heywood on 28/3/2025 at 18:58
Quote Posted by Harvester
All my life when people asked me about my dream vacation I'd answer "a road trip through the USA". I wouldn't give that answer anymore, I wouldn't consider it safe to visit and also because over half of you guys voted for this administration so the coolness and reverence factor that the USA has always had for me is rapidly evaporating. It's also difficult for me as a Christian that Trump's win is largely because of Christians voting for him and I find it hard to understand why you'd vote for this guy as a Christian.
I'm going to Paris this summer, never thought I'd prefer the French "frogs" over the Americans I've always looked up to.
Also, even if you guys get a sensible administration after this (and that's a big if), we believed it once when Biden said "don't worry, Trump is gone, the USA is back on the world stage as a trustworthy world power". I can safely say that that trust won't come so easily again.
That's totally understandable. Maybe try a road trip across Canada instead. There's a lot to see and do in Canada and I've only explored the eastern half of it. Or wait until the MAGA movement dies out. I'm hoping for my kids' sake there will be something worth seeing left after.
Christianity in the US isn't what it used to be. It seems like conservative social values are more important than Christ's teachings. Although I can't call myself a believer anymore, Jesus is still important to me and his teachings and my church experiences have a big influence on my views. So I'm frustrated too. I'm convinced that if Jesus were alive today in the US, he would view a lot of our church leaders with the kind of contempt he had for the money changers in the temple.
uncadonego on 28/3/2025 at 21:40
Quote Posted by heywood
I'm convinced that if Jesus were alive today in the US
He'd be in an El Salvadoran prison...
