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posted by mattie_p on Tuesday February 25 2014, @02:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the I'm-not-directly-spying-on-you dept.

Angry Jesus writes:

"German language magazine 'Bild am Sonntag' reports that, in response to Obama's recent order to stop spying on Angela Merkel and other heads of 'friendly' states, the NSA has instead ramped up spying on everybody Merkel communicates with. Cory Doctorow points out that this action demonstrates that the NSA is out of control and deliberately disobeying a presidential order with a level of duplicity worthy of a four year-old."

 
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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by evilcam on Tuesday February 25 2014, @03:09AM

    by evilcam (3239) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @03:09AM (#6445)

    The really sad part, the really, truly depressing part of this story is not that it even happens but that the NSA Et Al. clearly don't even care. And best I can tell neither do most Americans.

    Pretty well every story I read about the US just makes me shake my head :(

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by frojack on Tuesday February 25 2014, @04:22AM

    by frojack (1554) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @04:22AM (#6480)

    Quote: NSA Et Al. clearly don't even care. And best I can tell neither do most Americans.

    You're dead wrong on that. I know several career Marine Corp officers who live by me who are pissed as hell.

    Everybody I know is very cynical about the government in general. Any last remaining shred of trust is gone.

    --
    Discussion should abhor vacuity, as space does a vacuum.
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by mrbluze on Tuesday February 25 2014, @04:45AM

      by mrbluze (49) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @04:45AM (#6489)

      But the war machine rolls on regardless, be it the Middle East, or Eastern Europe, or the hidden wars on the African Continent. Will that stop?

      --
      Do it yourself, 'cause no one else will do it yourself.
      • (Score: 1) by metamonkey on Tuesday February 25 2014, @11:21AM

        by metamonkey (3174) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @11:21AM (#6655)

        It's able to be slowed. Slightly. The MIC was all for dropping bombs on Syria, but public support was nil. I think polls showed only something like 9% support from the American public. Because of that level of opposition, the PTB stood down and let Russia solve the chemical weapons problem with diplomacy.

        --
        Left a beta website for an alpha website.
      • (Score: 4, Informative) by mcgrew on Tuesday February 25 2014, @12:17PM

        by mcgrew (701) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @12:17PM (#6703) Homepage Journal

        But the war machine rolls on regardless, be it the Middle East, or Eastern Europe, or the hidden wars on the African Continent. Will that stop?

        The latest news is that the head of the defense department wants to cut the US military to pre-WWII levels. [washingtonpost.com]

        --
        Free Nobots! [mcgrewbooks.com]
    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by evilcam on Tuesday February 25 2014, @08:17AM

      by evilcam (3239) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @08:17AM (#6563)

      You're dead wrong on that. I know several career Marine Corp officers who live by me who are pissed as hell.

      Everybody I know is very cynical about the government in general. Any last remaining shred of trust is gone.

      I sincerely hope that is the case; we get the government we deserve and too much apathy only ever leads to people trying to baby everyone. When it happens at the super power level then you have a problem...

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by mojo chan on Tuesday February 25 2014, @08:42AM

      by mojo chan (266) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @08:42AM (#6575)

      Pissed as hell but still not doing much apparently. Where are the mass protests? Where are the political alternatives at the next election? You can make excuses about the powers that be crushing all dissent and maintaining the two party system, but that just means you failed to act when it would have been easier and are now required to take more extreme measures to protect your liberty.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Blackmoore on Tuesday February 25 2014, @12:35PM

        by Blackmoore (57) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @12:35PM (#6717) Journal

        How can you protest? If you take a day off from work and show up to peacefully protest; you get tagged by the snoops, bagged from work (because the government told them you were up to no good), and end up homeless.

        protesting won't get real until the majority of people are unemployed and starving.

        until then they remain happy with bread and circuses.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2014, @11:34PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2014, @11:34PM (#7097)

          until then they remain happy with bread and circuses.

          Corollary: If you remove the bread and circuses, the people will become unhappy.
          Extension: If people are unhappy, they will protest meaningfully.
          Extension #2: If people protest meaningfully, change can be effected.

    • (Score: 1) by Fnord666 on Tuesday February 25 2014, @01:51PM

      by Fnord666 (652) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @01:51PM (#6773)

      You're dead wrong on that. I know several career Marine Corp officers who live by me who are pissed as hell.

      That's a good sign then. The government will almost certainly try to use our troops against us and there needs to be significant doubt in the minds of US soldiers about the "rightness" of their leaders. When there is a ring of soldiers around the white house, we will need them to be facing inward, not outward.

      • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday February 25 2014, @02:02PM

        by frojack (1554) on Tuesday February 25 2014, @02:02PM (#6782)

        That very thing has been worrying me for quite a while.

        Obama talks big while lecturing Ukraine, Venezuela, Egypt, and Tunisia about their treatment of protesters. Yet you know damn well if they start burning cars on Pennsylvanian avenue he will have snipers on the roof tops just like every despot.

        --
        Discussion should abhor vacuity, as space does a vacuum.
        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by TheLink on Wednesday February 26 2014, @03:46AM

          by TheLink (332) on Wednesday February 26 2014, @03:46AM (#7181)
          What worries me is the polarized mindless D vs R voters/supporters.

          Doesn't seem a great stretch that such D/Rs can easily be convinced by their respective leaders to kill R/Ds "to save America" or whatever bullshit required.

          Happens in other countries, just look at the news from time to time - part of the population starts going to war with the rest of the population, and all for no real good reason.
          • (Score: 2) by SMI on Wednesday February 26 2014, @06:22PM

            by SMI (333) on Wednesday February 26 2014, @06:22PM (#7591)

            "I do not believe that the solution to our problem is simply to elect the right people. The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. Unless it is politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing, the right people will not do the right thing either, or if they try, they will shortly be out of office."
              - Milton Friedman