SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : I Will Continue to Continue, to Pretend....
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: Sully- who wrote (18482)5/17/2006 11:04:15 AM
From: Sully-   of 35834
 
Phone Numbers? What Phone Numbers?

Power Line

It's interesting that we all tend to assume that anonymous leaks are true. Everyone's experience is that when people are willing to step forward and take responsibility for a factual claim, it is more likely to be true than an anonymous rumor. But when the anonymous rumor appears in the pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, or, as in this case, USA Today, we all put our experience aside and assume the truth of the leak.

I've noted this paradox before; it was brought to mind again by reports that both Bell South and Verizon have denied the report that they supplied the National Security Agency with records of customers' phone calls. Here is the story on Verizon:

<<< New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. Tuesday denied it provided the National Security Agency with data from its customers' domestic telephone calls.

But the telecommunications company said it "will not confirm or deny whether it has any relationship" to the NSA program.

"That said, media reports made claims about Verizon that are simply false," the company said. "One of the most glaring and repeated falsehoods in the media reporting is the assertion that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Verizon was approached by NSA and entered into an arrangement to provide the NSA with data from its customers' domestic calls. This is false." >>>


I have no idea what's going on here, but it's highly unlikely that Verizon's categorical denial is false. So it looks like a valuable reminder that

1) just because something is illegally leaked doesn't mean it's true, and

2) it's hard to draw conclusions about issues like the NSA anti-terror programs unless you're sure what the facts are.

Via Power Line News.
powerlineblognews.com

SCOTT adds: Don't miss Tony Snow's close encounter of the Helen Thomas kind on this subject over at Hot Air.
hotair.com

powerlineblog.com

upi.com
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  

HomeMailHotSubjectMarksPeopleMarksKeepersSettings
Terms Of UseContact UsCopyright/IP PolicyPrivacy PolicyAbout UsFAQAdvertise on SI
© 2025 Knight Sac Media.  Data provided by Twelve Data, Alpha Vantage, and CityFALCON News