Bugs, hackers, and all that spying jazz

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

"The German government claims to have obtained information suggesting that the United States may have monitored the mobile phone of Angela Merkel. The chancellor called Barack Obama to demand an immediate clarification, it said."
"White House confirms call demanding clarification and insists US is not monitoring chancellor's communications" (Source)

Not sure if the poor NSA guys who were possibly tapping her phone were able to keep a straight face while going through Frau Merkel's messages to her hubby asking him to buy some warm cotton night dresses for those freezing evenings up there in Germany... and some other leather items that wouldn't be appropriate to mention right now. ;)

A bit more srsly though, I bet that after Snowden's latest "contributions" to Teh Truth(tm), most world leaders are now double-checking and triple-checking their phones, tablets, PCs and laptops for hints of those sniffing dogs from the Land of the Free. Case in point:

"Brazil’s bold plan to combat the NSA: President Dilma Rousseff wants to route internet traffic away from the US, but experts say it will do little to deter American espionage" (Source)

No surprise that some major so-called US "partners" are angered by all this. Especially France. And once the Snowdenball has been sent downhill, there'll sure be others to roll along. Now the Brits are utterly concerned that Obama has sent curious microscopic nano-drones under Cameron's bed as well.

Well, let's just give a minor recommendation to the likes of France. OK fine, bring this thing to its very end, why don't you! Completely unplug from the US, pass laws to prevent anyone doing business in France from transferring and storing sensitive info outside the country without permission by the entity to whom that data belongs; kick out Google, Yahoo, Facebook, AOL, etc. Stop playing with words and do a real thing for once. Sure it'll have consequences, some peeps and businesses will hurt, but you're France, for Napoleon's sake! You can do it. I believe in you. Or else, shut up about it and stop pretending you're not doing the very same thing. After all this is the Internet. Once you post something on the Webz, it's already out there.

As for bugging phones and stuff like that, I guess spies now officially become America's third major export, apart from worthless green papers and bomb-shitting drones. Aw-hell-yeah?

And while we're still being completely serious, and because spying on their own citizens has become Teh Gubmint's pastime now (and there are quite a few angered/concerned people at home as well), I suggest you take a pen and a notebook, cuz here are a few suggestions about how to make NSA spying popular with Americans.

"Ten Ways to Make NSA Spying Popular with Americans"

Btw, I like this one the best:

Comments

[byshmen.livejournal.com]

Strong goes as he wants because it is his world

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

The imposition of paratextual apparatus revisits the disarticulation of the preprofessional as the phenomenalism of conceptual drift reflects the reformation of the unspoken. *nod*

/randomsentencegenerator

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

Until she takes if from him, sure.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

pride goes before a fall. And strong doesn't sneak around spying on everyone, you're thinking of insecure.

[brother-dour.livejournal.com]

and some other leather items that wouldn't be appropriate to mention right now.

You mean lederhosen?

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The warm nighties line sounds like something from Studs Terkel's description of Nazis working in the US after the war. The inappropriate leather items probably come from a craft studio on Folsom Street in San Francisco. German lederhosen is superior to anything available in the US.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

It's never appropriate to mention Lederhosen.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

A button for the non-terrorists would not fit in with Dominionist flare. Perhaps a mark on the forehead would be more up their alley. A tattoo of Bush the Younger might appeal to the sensibilities of the bureaucrats at TSA.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Richard Engel's coverage last night on NBC Nightly News (http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/53356873/#53356873)about this latest story on eavesdropping was really good. Germany is especially sensitive to reports of Americans snooping. The country has very tight privacy laws. So much so that when Google tried to street view homes, Germans insisted on the right to blur, or in German: Verpixelungsrecht.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

I wish we had Germany's tight privacy laws...

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Verpixelungsrecht

LOL.

My friend tells this story of riding a gondola in Europe. There was a sign with multiple languages. The English read, "Do not drop objects from windows when gondola is in operation". There was a french translation of several words, a japanese translation of many characters, etc. The german translation was literally one word, no spaces.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Hey, if you are not doing anything wrong and have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about.

Just kidding.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

oh lord, that's that cartoonist that draws the Cameron condom!

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

I just have a hard time believing that these governments are at all surprised to discover that the NSA, a multi-billion dollar US security agency dedicated to intercepting and interpreting foreign signals intelligence, can and will intercept and interpret communications from foreign governments. They can't be this naive. The Germans, especially. Why do they they think their grandfathers invented the Enigma machine? Have they forgotten the consequences that came from the Ziimmerman Telegram? It is a manufactured controversy that lets them act tough for their constituents. Good luck to them.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

Son, I am dissapoint. This was perfect opportunity to slam the Obama administration for alienating our allies and emboldening our enemies. You are slipping man. Euro-hate always comes second to slamming people for alienating allies.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Did China ever give back that plane?

Its having a chilling effect on the software industry. Brazil has cancelled contracts with American companies to build internet infrastructure for example. Good job, spooks.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

It's worth noting that the UK was a 'friendly' government when it cracked our codes to reveal the Zimmerman Telegram. Ironically this, and the whole super-sized spy ring in the WW2 era never rebounded on the UK. Well, one could argue this Administration finally did set in motion a good revenge but eh.

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

USA can't mend this with an apology. Trust has been broken. Oh sure everyone knows spying happens, but not to this extent, not with all this proof.

And along with broken trust, there's ruined reputation, and lost confidence. USA will have difficulty finding friends in this new climate. Who would want to sign an agreement (any agreement) with USA now? Who wants to invest in USA (treasury bonds, etc) when we can't even trust that USA will be paying it's debts in the near future?

Disgusting. Absolutely deplorable.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

This will have implications in the free market too. Brazil doesn't trust our network servers anymore and is building their own interwebs and not using American companies. We don't trust Lenovo laptops because there are back doors in the IC's themselves. Etc etc. Chilling effect on industry. Well done spooks!

They act like they can stop the blowback from the drone strikes, but they cannot even keep their petty bullshit secret. Not good.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

The Market is not a moral actor and what happens in economics is related to morality only by pure coincidence. Happy belated birthday, BTW.

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

All hail the most (unintentionally) transparent administration in history. ;)

[existentme.livejournal.com]

Lol, good one. Talkabout keeping the campaign promise!

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

President Obama orders review of U.S. spying as world leaders push for new limits on surveillance (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-33816_162-57609443/president-obama-orders-review-of-u.s-spying-as-world-leaders-push-for-new-limits-on-surveillance/)

Meaning they'll do it more professionally (read: secretly) this time?

[comeonyouspurs.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Cheap Shot: It's a hell of a thing when Germans are complaining about the American government listening on their phones. :P

Serious bit of the comment: Given that spying on one's allies is a universal characteristic of diplomacy, I find the outrage over the US program to be another one of those disingenuous partisan displays of respect for international law. If this was really a problem, then it would not be a characteristic aspect of diplomacy, but rather would be studiously warded against and landed on with both feet in steel boots whenever it happens. Thus, I conclude that the EU states here are more angry the USA got caught than angry about the issue itself. At the same token, like Assange, very little of what Snowden 'revealed' was unknown at the time, so one can fairly conclude that the degree to which the USA overreacts over a non-reveal and to the outrage of its allies indicates that the USA has some serious problems with people saying that Oz is a man behind the curtain.

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

You heard of the US military budget being equal to all other military budgets put together? I think we have a case of a "Too Big To Fail" spying complex where every bulletin, memo and post-it note is classified as a state secret without discerning what really needs to be kept secret. Even low ranking troops (like Bradley Manning) have had privileged access to such information.

As I said above the difference is the world has proof of the degree and extent of USA spying, which is far greater then anyone else's. At least if Malawi's excellent spies (http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/05/27/malawi-govt-sends-24-spies-on-forced-leave-they-were-linked-to-dpp/) have a bug in the Oval office, at least they havn't been caught.