Britain's 'Big Brother' grows bigger and uglier, by the bloody day

Question:

What's the difference between Brown, Blair, Obama, Bush and Orwell's Big (1984) Brother?

Answer:

Not a lot.

(snip)

Phone companies are already required to store details of all calls, such as the time and date, location and who made them, for 12 months for possible use in criminal investigations or court cases.

An EU directive ordering data on internet traffic to be stored in a similar way is due to come into effect in the UK on Monday, 6 April.

The government is also considering proposals to store all communications data on a single database, which may be run by a private company.

(snip)

So what else is new?

So Big Brother Bush spied on Blood Brother Blair. So What?

Here's a short & sweet intelligence test.

Question:

Is the following statement a total waste of time and space?

... under a long-standing agreement, the US and Britain have pledged “not to collect on each other,” former US intelligence officials said.

Answer:

Are you a wacko or what? Of course it's complete crap.

They do it every damned day.

They always have and always will.

The truth is that neither dare not do.

This header's taken from today's (London) 'Times'.

US intelligence file was held on Tony Blair while he was Prime Minister

Now read the rest.



*(Cross posted across at 'appletree'.)

Now Big Brother Really Is Watching "YOU" ...

Who here hasn't, at one time or another, watched something on "YouTube"?

Can you believe this? Can you? Can you comprehend it? Can you?

Google must divulge YouTube log.

Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever
watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled.

The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.

Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the ruling a "set-back to privacy rights".

The viewing log, which will be handed to Viacom, contains the log-in ID of users, the computer IP address (online identifier) and video clip details.

Read the rest at the Beeb's site ... but remember ... beware of BIG BROTHER.

(Cross posted at 'appletree')

Brits Beware : Be Careful With Your Cash ...

When at first we were hit by the following hair-raising headline in this morning's 'Mail' we were shocked. Shocked, we tell you.

Now the taxman can bug your home and phone calls to catch payment dodgers

And here's how the story continued.

Tax inspectors have been given wideranging new powers to bug people's homes and private phone calls.

They also have the go-ahead to intercept emails and plant listening devices in suspects' cars and offices.

The move is the latest expansion of surveillance powers which, until recently, were only available to the police and intelligence services.

But, hey. Stop sweating and please don't panic - since the same startling story soon went on to say ...

A spokesman said: "These powers will not be used in routine cases ...

Aha, we see. That's different then. Now we understand. In Brown's post Blair Britain now every thing's really okay. Freedom still holds sway.

We mean, if it's an official announcement made by an entirely trustworthy, H.M. governmental department, then that remarkably reassuring statement is certain to be true.

You know, all above board, completely transparent and right on the money. After all, such a civilized set of fine upstanding finance fellows wouldn't fib.

Well, would they?

Read the rest of the report to see if you think the same way we do.

Iran: Intelligent Life Forms Found In US Intelligence Services ...

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Well, well, well. Whadaya know? Who'd have thunk it, eh?

Iran welcomes new US intelligence report

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday welcomed the U.S. decision to "correct" its claim that Tehran has an active nuclear weapons program, state-run radio reported.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was referring to a U.S. intelligence assessment released Monday that reversed earlier claims that Iran had restarted its weapons program in 2005 after suspending it in 2003.

"It's natural that we welcome ... countries that correct their views realistically which in the past had questions and ambiguities about (Iran's nuclear activities)," Mottaki said.

Read the rest of the report right here.

But before you do ... two things to take note of ...

(1) The timing of the release of this Intel ... why wait till now to tell us they were wrong?

(2) Read the news report precisely as it's written. Then, read it again ignoring all the included "could"s.

Afterwards, ask yourself the question, where do you draw the line when waffling on and on about "could"s and "could"s and still some more "could"s?

After all, today the Martians COULD land.

You COULD inherit billions of bucks from a hitherto unknown long lost uncle who just died in his sleep, deep in the darkest depths of ... well, anywhere at all actually.

There COULD be a second coming of E.T. on the cards.

The Pope COULD be a closet protestant simply posing as a pontiff.

And we COULD be typing this blog-post blindfolded -- with our hands tied behind our backs while hanging upside down, and singing 'Silent Night' -- in a spaceship.

Seriously, from where we're sitting this sudden turn of events smells strangely fishy, and we strongly suspect it's merely the first chapter of a distinctly new yarn story, as is yet to be told.

(cross posted at Appletree)
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C.I.A. Scandal(s) Shock ...

We're way too wound up to say too much on this stinking score.

So see some of this shit for yourself.

CIA lawyer -- yes, that may be an oxymoron

John Rizzo, acting general counsel for CIA "from November 2001 until October 2002 and from August 2004 until today," -- i.e., during the let's-legalize-torture glory months of Yoo and Addington -- had his confirmation hearing yesterday. Here's the AP wrapup, and here are two posts by Spencer Ackerman, who happily was at the hearing for TPM.

The CIA's top lawyer said Tuesday he did not object to a 2002 memo authorizing interrogation techniques that stop just short of causing a sensation of impending organ failure or even death. [Because, you know, a sensation of drowning isn't a sensation of death, or even impending death ... just don't look up "drown" in the dictionary, okay? -- TBA.]

Yet John Rizzo, who is serving as the agency's temporary general counsel, said he later found the document to be an "aggressive, expansive" reading of U.S. law. * * *

"As with most legal memos, my reaction was it was an aggressive, expansive reading," Rizzo said. "But I can't say I had any specific objections to any specific parts of it."

What does that mean, "as with most legal memos"? Most of the torture memos?

Read the rest right here.

Then take a look at this lousy little lot.

CIA airs decades worth of spy documents

By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Little-known documents now being made public detail illegal and scandalous activities by the CIA more than 30 years ago: wiretappings of journalists, kidnappings, warrantless searches and more.

The documents provide a glimpse of nearly 700 pages of materials that the agency plans to declassify next week. A six-page summary memo that was declassified in 2000 and released by The National Security Archive at George Washington University on Thursday outlines 18 activities by the CIA that "presented legal questions" and were discussed with President Ford in 1975.

Among them: .................

Now hit this link to learn a lot more.

And here's a BBC bit about it all.

"This is about telling the American people what we have done in their name," Gen Hayden told a conference of foreign policy historians.

See that? See what he said?

Done in the American people's name.

Next, access all that illuminating article.

Okay. Plenty have reported. Now you decide.

Now we're shutting up and quitting while we're ahead, since we've still got some especially good American friends -- and we'd not like losing any.

Help!! We've been held hidden away here by our government(s), for years & years.

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