more on "Whistleblower" is not a mere neologism

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Paul Saffo <paul () saffo com>
Date: May 14, 2006 5:10:24 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: "Whistleblower" is not a mere neologism

Actually, Whistleblower is hardly a neologism.  According to  
wordorigins.org and several other sources, the word was first used  
back in 1970, and the phrase "blow the whistle" dates to 1934.   
Neologisms are objectionable when they simply express a concept more  
poorly than a pre-existing word -- "detrain" is thus a poor  
substitute for "disembark."
But "whistleblower" neatly captures a concept for which there was no  
prior word.   Your dislike of the word in this instance only confirms  
that  "whistleblower" is no mere neologism, but a euphonious and  
descriptive word with the power to persuade.  Your argument would be  
clearer if you restated it  as follows:  "Mr. Klein is not a  
whistleblower, but a traitor."


-p



On May 14, at , David Farber wrote:

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Joe Pistritto <jcp () jcphome com>
> Date: May 14, 2006 4:22:32 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net, EEkid () aol com
> Subject: RE: [IP] Whistleblower outs NSA's secret spy room at AT&T
>
> You know, its just deplorable how people are inventing new words  
> where old
> ones are perfectly usable.  You know, like "detrain" and "deplane"  
> instead
> of "disembark".   Its really too bad we don't have an equivalent of  
> the
> French Academy to regulate the use of English the way they do in  
> French.
>
> In this case, the word you are looking for isn't "whistleblower",  
> but rather
> "traitor".
>
>    Best regards,
>        -jcp-
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
> Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 3:38 AM
> To: ip () v2 listbox com
> Subject: [IP] Whistleblower outs NSA's secret spy room at AT&T
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: EEkid () aol com
> Date: May 13, 2006 8:01:24 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Whistleblower outs NSA's secret spy room at AT&T
>
> Whistleblower outs NSA's secret spy room at AT&T
>
> April 08, 2006
>
> Mark Klein, a retired AT&T communications technician, said the
> company shunted all Internet traffic--including traffic from peering
> links connecting to other Internet backbone providers-- to semantic
> traffic analyzers, installed in a secret room inside the AT&T central
> office on Folsom Street in San Francisco. Similar rooms were built in
> Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego.
>
> "Based on my understanding of the connections and equipment at issue,
> it appears the NSA (National Security Agency) is capable of
> conducting what amounts to vacuum-cleaner surveillance of all the
> data crossing the Internet," Klein said. "This potential spying
> appears to be applied wholesale to all sorts of Internet
> communications of countless citizens."
>
> In 2003, the National Security Agency set up a secret room inside the
> phone company's San Francisco office building that was not accessible
> to AT&T technicians, Klein said.
>
> The former employee's statement, as well as several documents saved
> by him after he left the company in 2004, shows further evidence of
> domestic spying initiatives by the federal government.
>
> Klein's statement is being incorporated into a class action filed in
> San Francisco federal court, in which lawyers with the Electronic
> Frontier Foundation (EFF), Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman &
> Robbins, and Traber & Voorhees in Pasadena claim that AT&T illegally
> allowed the NSA taps.
>
> "Despite what we are hearing, and considering the public track record
> of this administration, I simply do not believe their claims that the
> NSA's spying program is really limited to foreign communications or
> is otherwise consistent with the NSA's charter or with FISA [the
> Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]," Klein said.
>
> News that the NSA was working with major telecommunications companies
> first surfaced shortly before Christmas. The Bush administration has
> acknowledged the existence of a domestic spying program, but claims
> the executive order was limited to those individuals with known
> terrorist ties.
>
> The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a class-action lawsuit
> against AT&T on January 31, 2006, accusing the telecom giant of
> violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating
> with the National Security Agency in its massive program to wiretap
> and data-mine Americans' communications.
>
> "The evidence that we are filing supports our claim that AT&T is
> diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in
> violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment," EFF
> Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston said in a statement.
>
>
>
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