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Author Topic: UK government sells out to NSA  (Read 2086 times)

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Offline Killing Time

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UK government sells out to NSA
« on: August 1, 2013, 05:47:09 PM »
UK government sells out

In the latest leak from Edward Snowdon comes the revelation that the US have been paying the UK's intelligence agencies to spy on its own people.
I'm not surprised but I am deeply sickened. This is an appalling abuse of trust, utterly without mandate. All of our major political parties are implicated in this, and thus the primary method of opposition - the opposition - is silent.
It's now official. We're living in a police state without political representation at the highest level to hold the government to account.

Legally the Queen could dissolve parliament if she deemed the government unfit. However, while this is clearly the case, it's obviously not going to happen.
What should be done?

Offline Lachdonin

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Re: UK government sells out to NSA
« Reply #1 on: August 1, 2013, 11:14:51 PM »
I wouldn't say that either the UK or the USA have hit the Police State yet. Inching closer, yes, but i've yet to hear anything about arrests in the middle of the night, or clandestine government agencies abducting it's own citizens. Spying on its populace does set a bad precedence, especially when the agencies responsible have been so determined to keep it hidden, but it's not, in my mind, past the totalitarian threshold yet.

As for what can be done... Well, don't rely on the Queen. As much as i think the old lass could do a better job than either yours, or my parliament, something like that simply isn't done anymore, legal precedence or not.

I also don't think the growing cry (mostly in the States, admitedly) for armed revolt is an answer. Truth be told, i haven't been able to find a single revolution which actually created a better system than the one it was against. That type of change happens over time, with the hard work of forward thinking people who are willing to work with the system to bring about those changes.

So, to that end, i would say the only way to do something about it is to educate yourself. Get involved in politics and the ethics of freedom. Get other people involved. An educated and engaged population is alot harder to manipulate than a bunch of blind sheep, and the only way you can prevent breaches of civil trust like this is if people are actually paying attention.
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Offline Lonewolf

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Re: UK government sells out to NSA
« Reply #2 on: August 2, 2013, 07:10:36 AM »
I had half a mind to start a similar thread myself. It seems that the situation in Germany is quite similar to the one in the UK (though the UK did seemingly a lot of the spying for the NSA in Germany). What annoys me the most is the almost total lack of response of our (German) government. German laws are broken a million times every day (punishable by up to 2-10 years, depending on the spied information) and there hasn't been a single clear statement yet, weeks after Snowdens revealment. I don't even want past cases to be persecuted, but i want 2 things, a very clear signal to the USA that things have to change and a plan how to make the change happen, so that our laws are worth more than the toilet paper i just used to wipe my ass with.

I am not mad at the UK. I am not even mad at the USA, but the total lack of response from my own government really ticks me off. I hope my chancellor Angela Merkel enjoys her holidays into which she disappeared last week. I wonder what dirty little secrets the NSA knows about our high ranking politicans...



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Offline Killing Time

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Re: UK government sells out to NSA
« Reply #3 on: August 2, 2013, 11:45:05 AM »
What also worries me is the almost total lack of news coverage in the UK.
With this latest revelation directly implicating the UK, aside from the Guardian, which is the mouthpiece for the leaks, the majority of the UK media is either ignoring it or consigning it to low priority news.
There is a distinct sense of apathy from the population too. The old lie of "nothing to fear if you've nothing to hide" is still strong, and I honestly don't believe that many people truly appreciate the sheer scale and audacity of this breach of trust.
I'm incredibly depressed.

Offline Irisado

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Re: UK government sells out to NSA
« Reply #4 on: August 2, 2013, 12:09:45 PM »
The reason for the apathy is, most likely, because people only tend to start taking notice when something affects them directly.  Note that this does not mean that I'm defending this apathy.

I have serious concerns about all this intelligence sharing which has been going on, particularly since I have a strong distrust about the transatlantic relationship more broadly.  As for what is to be done though, that's more difficult.  As much as the politicians sometimes drive us to distraction, we need political elites, so just throwing them all out isn't practical, nor is it rational, even though it might look attractive on paper.

All that can be done is to make people more aware of just how serious this issue is, and to educate people, so that hopefully an increasing amount of domestic electoral pressure can be brought on the government of the day to take steps to sort it out.  Education and information does go some considerable way, so disseminate the information among everyone you know, and then have them do the same.  It's a small start, but it's a start nevertheless.
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Offline Sir_Godspeed

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Re: UK government sells out to NSA
« Reply #5 on: August 2, 2013, 02:21:47 PM »
Pff - I brought up the wiring of the EU chambers by the NSA on another site, and all I got was "they're only getting in trouble because they were caught." and "that's what intelligence agencies are for." Of course, that's not the worst thing, the worst thing is this massive overtramp of privacy rights, and how eager our own governments have been to not only work with foreign intelligence services.

Nah, this is pissing me off royally. I've little doubt the Norwegian government is involved in this too.

 


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