On Monday, a link circulated through Twitter about a new product that capitalizes on the current anti-government, anti-NSA paranoia.
The product is an iPhone accessory called the OFF Pocket. The manufacturer claims that if we stash our phones inside an OFF Pocket it can block NSA operatives from eavesdropping on us via “radio waves in the 2.4GHz spectrum.” The inventor claims that it takes too long to turn off our phones (or, apparently, to enable the Airplane Mode) so, hence, the OFF Pocket tricks NSA spies into thinking our phones are turned off when they’re really not.
I hope they make one in silver fabric. You know, to match the tinfoil hats.
But wait a second. I heard on The Young Turks and elsewhere that NSA can eavesdrop on us even if our phones are turned off. Evidently there’s a way for NSA to use our phones as a listening device, and it’s totally going to use it against you personally. So this OFF Pocket thing is pretty much useless.
Seriously, anyone who buys a special iPhone cozy that blocks NSA spy-beams doesn’t get to make fun of Alex Jones any more.
The noticeable upswing in Alex Jones style anti-government paranoia on the left of all places has reached epidemic proportions, and if you haven’t been infected yet you’re regarded as either an unthinking Obama administration automaton or you’ve fully embraced the worst Bush-era transgressions. There’s never been room for nuance with this crowd; it’s a pervasive intransigence that happens to be a feature of their paranoia. If you’re not screeching about the conspiracy, you’re clearly part of the conspiracy.
It’s not surprising, then, to discover that Alex Jones’ dual websites, Prison Planet and Info Wars, are loaded with all of the same breaking news stories and bombshells about Edward Snowden and NSA that are also found at The Guardian, Salon and elsewhere. [READ MORE]