Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/12/31/no-russia-didnt-hack-vermon.html
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And while the US falls apart, Russia can do whatever they want.
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Just here to watch establishment apologists try to defend the WP again 
(Because Intercept is fake news amirite?)
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I’m not too concerned with an over-selling of the russian connection here. Seems like overselling individual incidents is the only way systemic problems ever get addressed. On almost every issue stories are a much more effective means of communicating to the general population than dry statistics.
What I am worried about are the lessons being drawn from the stories. Russia using the DNC and podesta hacks for their PR purposes is a geo-political problem. But the ease of hacking, regardless of the hackers’ identities, is a technical and policy problem. The pressure should be on the NSA to start prioritizing defense over offense — e.g. no more hoarding zero-days in case they might be useful in the future, instead they need to alert the vendor and assist in fixing them as quickly as possible. If the NSA won’t do that, then defensive work should be spun off into another agency that is completely independent of the NSA.
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I’m concerned with this Russian connection in general, because we’re kind of stuck hoping that the Dems can, as a party, be something less than awful, and this Russian hacking scare is part of their frantic effort to blame anyone and everyone except themselves for their performance in this election, in order to avoid learning anything at all from it.
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Well said. Thank you!
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In this current environment, my real concern for all this is if the government says something lke “the Russians are hacking” and so-called reputable news sources spew this without a counter check, how am I, the public, to make any determination of the facts? I don’t have time to scour each and every news and alt-news site to dig up the facts. My option is to feel skeptical about every news story I read from whatever source - domestic and foreign. For the right OR left this is incredibly dangerous and I think we’re all beginning to feel the burden of an unreliable press-corps.
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Big blackout in Maine, within hours of Obama’s sanctions. Coincidence?!
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You take that back! We all have to trust Washington Pravda! (WaPa for short) It is our only shield, nay, bulwark against the scourge of Fake News which seek to sap and impurify the precious bodily fluids of the body politic.
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Yes.
Sucks, but… yes.
The correct frame of mind to face 2017 with is a paranoia-induced psychotic break. Because if the world has gone mad…
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WP fucked up bad, doesn’t mean Greenwald didn’t dive head first in to crazy town more than once this election season. Hell, he’s using this story to summarily dismiss the other story - the one he summarily dismissed because the CIA was the source and because the FBI didn’t agree with them. He is pointing to very valid criticisms of the media’s handling of the events, and at the same time committing the very same sins himself.
You can be both critical of WaPo’s bad journalism and Greenwald’s election coverage.
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It might be worth it to ask why announcements of such importance come from “officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a security matter”.
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Why would officials speak publicly about these security matters unless prompted by preexisting knowledge from the media?
But it is apparently a terrible source, as malware found on a laptop not connected to the grid is not the same as Russians hacking the power system.
Thing is, when you’re caught overselling your point, you instantly lose all credibility. HRC might be able to clarify this for you =p .
I’m disappointed in Greenwald and Cory.
The Russian hacking threat isn’t fake. If you work in tech and you know people who work at the Big Companies or work at the Big Companies yourself, you’ve heard stories of clear evidence of Russian hacks.
It’s not clear to me why people want to underplay Putin.
As a queer person, it upsets me to see so many folks defending Putin, someone who consistently says folks like me are pedophiles and will lead to the downfall of civilization.
And he’s taking that violently homophobic message to other countries and allying with religious extremists and right wing parties using it.
I’d love to feel like folks are looking out for queer people but they’re not. And a story like this in which we say that a story that had a few details wrong means we should just dismiss Putin’s threats is gross.
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Correct, the threat is not fake. The original story, implying a Russian hack of the utility in question, however, damn well is. And that can cause people to think the threat, itself, doesn’t exist; credibility is funny like that.
Fake news DOES NOT benefit the narrative. If you “cry wolf” constantly, no one will pay attention when the wolf is at your door.
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It wasn’t fake, it was factually incorrect and it was not rigorous. Incorrect journalism that lacks rigor is not fake news, and only a handful of people are pushing that all incorrect news is fake news because they themselves are pushing their own agenda.
For this to be fake news you would have to show that WaPo completely fabricated the story, anonymous source and all.
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I think that’s a fairly accurate summary of how WW1 started. You see, you want exaggeration and stories when it’s something you agree with. But what about the guy who believes the opposite?
Also, see Trump.
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Also, see Jews and their international conspiracy to destabilise Germany and France.
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