More Big Brother...........

Markverhyden

Markverhyden

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Following up on the thread about the FBI recouping a lot of BC from the Colonial hack. Apparently the FBI and a number of other national LEA's were involved in "running" an encrypted messaging service used by criminal gangs.

www.wsj.com

The FBI Secretly Ran the Anom Messaging Platform, Yielding Hundreds of Arrests in Global Sting

The FBI set up and monitored the encrypted communications platform Anom, yielding more than 800 arrests in 16 countries.
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com

And it looks like the Australian Federal Police are channeling the Darth Vader look.......
(from the article linked above)

im-350574.jpg
 
What I want to know is how this is "Big Brother"?

It was a targeted sting, and a very cleverly targeted one, that used modern technology (and attitudes about same) to get at an organization (or organizations) that, by all appearances, we're much better off without.

To me, "Big Brother," means intrusive surveillance of the everyday life of virtually everyone. There's plenty of that going around, too, and much of it done by private entities. Data mining is a lot more "Big Brother," in my opinion, than this was.
 
Yeah... since when did effective law enforcement become synonymous with big brother?

This is exactly what government is supposed to be doing... it's mission number 2, protecting the property of its citizens. Which comes only after mission number 1, protecting its citizens lives.
 
Computer Bloke said:
Do only citizens have rights to police protection in the US now? The rules change so quickly it's sometimes hard to keep up.
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Do not confuse the primary goals of government with enumerated rights.

But, to answer your question... technically speaking no one in the US has the right to life. I used to think we did, then I gained three chronically ill children and found out just how wrong I was.

And two of those children, have conditions that make them 2nd class citizens at best in the UK and its former colonies. So I can argue they don't have a right to life there either.
 
Computer Bloke said:
Oh. I'm not confused. The primary goal of government is the same as for any organization - to perpetuate itself. Everything else is detail.

We certainly don't have different classes of citizenship in this former colony, and healthcare is available to citizens and non-citizens alike on pretty much the same basis (though there are complications about certain types of accident coverage). This often surprises visitors, especially from the US.
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If your citizens have to pay over the counter for insulin, you're a liar... Because that's the deal with the UK, CA, and AU. They all make insulin not covered by the state medical to save money. A reality that costs type 1 citizens $1500-$2000 / month on the average, or they die.

I wouldn't fault you for not knowing that though... I know I certainly didn't until one of my kids got sick... now I have another... and a 3rd with something else going on.

*Edit* Reddit paints a really nice picture of how NZ handles diabetes... if so, rock on and continue making the rest of us look bad.
 
Computer Bloke said:
Oh, I'm not confused. The primary goal of government is the same as for any organization - to perpetuate itself. Everything else is detail.

We certainly don't have different classes of citizenship in this former colony, and healthcare is available to citizens and non-citizens alike on pretty much the same basis (though there are complications about certain types of accident coverage). This often surprises visitors, especially from the US.
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Not ones in the know. I would gladly flee the United States to go to your fine land. But your government has standards and turns us bums away. Lol
 
Computer Bloke said:
From the rather excellent site Beyond Type 1 (https://beyondtype1.org/managing-type-1-diabetes-in-new-zealand/):

"Costs for health treatment in New Zealand are mostly state-funded and here is a break down.

A visit to a community doctor (general practitioner or GP) usually costs about $50 if you are earning, less if you are in a lower socio-economic area or on state support.

Three months’ supply of a funded medicine like insulin generally costs about $5 an item due to the state subsidy.

The maximum prescription costs are $100 per year (20 items).

Costs for private visits to a diabetes specialist are around $200 – although again, the state provides free access to a diabetes specialist, nurse and dietitian once a year (and maybe more often if control is poorer)."

I hope that answers your question.
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Pretty much the same here in Aus. Doctors here "bulk bill" Medicare, so it costs nothing for a visit to a GP.
Blood tests are free too.
Getting things like xrays, ultrasounds etc are also bulk billed to a large degree so they cost nothing as well.
Otherwise you pay like a nominal fee of 20% and Medicare pay the rest.
Anyone and everyone has access to health care with no exceptions.
You can join a Health Fund for extra benefits like "Private Hospital/doctor of your choice, but most dont because it costs a lot more at the checkout.

A hospital stay in the public hospital - no matter how long you stay or what your illness is - is free and you usually see your own doctors/specialists anyway.

Having lived with 2 type 1 diabetics (mum and daughter) and now a third (living with his father), I can say it cost $5 for 3 months supply of insulin for each person. Testers and test strips were/are free and visits to diabetes specialists and educators are free as well.

The one thing that annoys the beejeezuz outa me when I go to the GP is that they have poor english skills and "google" your symptoms...like wtf???
 
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nlinecomputers said:
Only the white ones....
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Correction, wealthy ones... my kids are as white as they get, and they're at the end of a gun held by... well to be frank most of their family.

It's really not about race anymore, it's about wealth. Of course minority groups also tend to be poor, which only feeds the cycle.

And yes, we've been assaulted by an officer abusing his weapon too... just lucky enough to not get shot.
 
Sky-Knight said:
I find this hilarious because our entire profession largely consists of being professional Googlers!
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And in the modern world, where it's impossible to "know everything" in any professional area, a big part of expertise is knowing how to find accurate information that you can't instantly pull out of the wetware. That's a major, major skill set.
 
Barcelona said:
But we are not not doctors diagnosing potentially life threatening illnesses.
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No, we're not. But I have to trust in the professional discretion, expertise, and clinical judgment of those I choose as my care providers. And part of that is trusting that if they're looking something up it's for very good reason, whether I understand what that reason is or not. [Much like what we expect, and experience, in our own professional roles.]
 
britechguy said:
No, we're not. But I have to trust in the professional discretion, expertise, and clinical judgment of those I choose as my care providers. And part of that is trusting that if they're looking something up it's for very good reason, whether I understand what that reason is or not. [Much like what we expect, and experience, in our own professional roles.]
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Still, it doesn't fill me with confidence when they have to google a diagnosis.
 
It was an infiltration and a very smart one. The FEDS created an app called ANOM they then installed this app on the phones crims use that are encrypted. The FEDS then managed to get a high ranking criminal who is now based in Turkey to distribute these phones. These where sold to organised crime syndicates from the Italian Mafia, Triads, South American Cartels and Motorcycle gangs worldwide, which all include money laundering and drug cartels. This particular criminal had high level contacts, he was based in Australia though fled to Turkey.

The crims had no idea these phones where being monitored directly to law enforcement via this app.
 
Barcelona said:
Still, it doesn't fill me with confidence when they have to google a diagnosis.
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Why? Just as we know what's good and bad information we still have to look junk up.

Medicine is advancing at a pace comparable to IT. We can't know our junk, why do we expect the doctors to know theirs?

When I go to a doctor I'm paying for his brain to use his hard earned education to filter the crap to something that works! And next week a better answer might show up! A doctor that tries to make me think he's got it all in his head is what makes me nervous, that's patently impossible. We can't do it in our jobs, and you're right... When we have that oops moment people aren't dying, we just go fix it!

So I expect the doc to look crap up!
 
Sky-Knight said:
If your citizens have to pay over the counter for insulin, you're a liar... Because that's the deal with the UK, CA, and AU. They all make insulin not covered by the state medical to save money. A reality that costs type 1 citizens $1500-$2000 / month on the average, or they die.
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Citation needed.

In England, insulin-dependent diabetics are entitled to an exemption certificate, which provides for free prescriptions (all prescriptions for that person, not just diabetes-related). Elsewhere in the UK, prescriptions are free anyway. Insulin is only available on prescription.

Diabetes UK:
If you use insulin or medicine to manage your diabetes you're entitled to free prescriptions, but if you’re under 60 and living in England you must have a medical exemption certificate before you can claim them.

Prescriptions are free for everybody in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Even without an exemption certificate, the prescription charge in England is £9.15 (~USD13) per item. All prescriptions are free for children under 16 (18 if in full-time education), adults over 60, and many other qualifying cases. Even without any other exemptions, anyone can buy a prepayment certificate, costing £105.90 (~USD150) for 12 months, which covers all prescriptions for the year.

I don't know how you arrived at $1500-$2000 per month, but it certainly isn't for insulin costs in the UK – I don't think it's even possible to rack up charges like that for any NHS treatment.
 
I suppose I'm one that liked the way your GP diagnosed issues back when I was younger,
He would listen to your chest, press here, feel there, ask you "does that hurt" etc and at the end give you his professional diagnosis and usually a script.

Now it's 3 mins max, a few questions, google and take this to the chemist. :(
 
@NJW It's not just insulin that's required for one... for two, everything you just stated comes in direct opposition to type 1 UK residents that find there way to me here in Phoenix. I'll never understand WHY anyone would want to leave the British Isles and come HERE to this desert hell hole... but it happens.
 
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