It seems to have come as a big surprise to the world that the US NSA and UK GCHQ are collecting information from social media, e-mail and 'phone records via the US' Prism operation, why?
I must admit it does seem to smack a little of paranoia, but the thinking behind it is sound. Terrorists are quite communication savvy now, they are no longer third world uneducated brainwashees, they are as sophisticated and clever as top scientists, and can use all electronic and covert methods to pass information to each other , in far removed 'target' countries, so it does make some sense to try to intercept and act on those messages.
Unfortunately, both the NSA and GCHQ have picked a rather daft way to go about it, in trying to make it 'covert'. Did they, given the somewhat huge holes in internal security in both countries, for one second truly believe that it wouldn't be discovered? I find that a little hard to believe. Why not just come out and say it, "We believe that terrorists are using social media etc to pass messages, so, in the interests of National Security, we're going to check all social media." or something similar. Yes there would have outcry, but not as much, or as embarrassing, as having your 'secret' project slapped across front pages the world over.
And as for the general populace in these countries, UK included, are they really that naive that they thought that private use of social media was really private? This kind of thing has probably been going on since the first public use of the Internet, in fact, public use of the Internet was probably a godsend to security agencies everywhere.
I personally have no problem with any government agency in any country checking my posts, e-mail, texts etc, because, along with the vast overwhelming majority of worldwide citizens, I have absolutely nothing to hide! And it seems to me that the people causing the most noise over this and are protesting the loudest, are those that may have a skeleton in the closet somewhere.
If it did happen that I had some confidential information to pass on to someone, official or otherwise, and that's unlikely, I hope I would be sensible enough to do it face to face, and in a quiet place somewhere, like a park or a secluded beach, certainly not on the Internet.
India appears to be heading toward the first throes of some sort of sexual revolution if the latest news to come out is correct. Women are demanding that female mannequins are removed from shopfront and market displays because "When men see them and look at them it inflames their passions and they go on to attack women." I have to think that if that is the case, the society is in such poor shape that removing mannequins is no answer. I wish them well, but in a society that has, supposedly, treated women as second class citizens for centuries, they have a seriously uphill struggle on their hands.
It is indeed a very poor state of affairs when so many sexual attacks against women take place in such a short time, but surely the robust investigation of cases and prosecution of offenders is the way forward, and there must be some underlying social reasons that are in need of investigation.
Hmmmm....... I've just been reading the UK Daily Express online, well I only got as far as the main story on the first page and I'm fed up already. Yet more EU cash (£3.7 million this time ) has been wasted on research to tell us how to live.
Apparently now it transpires that two beers a year is enough to cause cancer. I don't know about you people, but I am getting thoroughly fed up with being told the best way to live my life by these so-called 'educated' scientists/doctors. They may well be very highly educated, super intelligent persons, but they lack one very important human quality... Common sense!
It seems that every week new, and sometimes conflicting, 'advice' is revealed on how best to extend/improve our lives. Clicking through to the article I saw in the sidebar stories on how Biscuits are a health risk to children, Exposure to more natural daylight is the answer to sleep problems, We don't have enough time to relax, and how a Vegetarian diet can cut the risk of early death.
This last is a good one. They (scientists/doctors) researched and concluded that vegetarians are less likely to die than meat eaters. Could this possibly be because there are less vegetarians, so the incidence of death is of course less. It's not rocket science, is it.
A quote taken directly from the Express which says it all:
But Ukip’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall said: “At what point do the nannying puritans stop spending our money in order to tell us how to behave.
“One wonders if they have any relation to the world in which the rest of us live. “Can anybody imagine a world where they held sway?
“Small, monochrome, browbeaten and miserable, a shadow of the fun, vibrant land we all love."
I must admit it does seem to smack a little of paranoia, but the thinking behind it is sound. Terrorists are quite communication savvy now, they are no longer third world uneducated brainwashees, they are as sophisticated and clever as top scientists, and can use all electronic and covert methods to pass information to each other , in far removed 'target' countries, so it does make some sense to try to intercept and act on those messages.
Unfortunately, both the NSA and GCHQ have picked a rather daft way to go about it, in trying to make it 'covert'. Did they, given the somewhat huge holes in internal security in both countries, for one second truly believe that it wouldn't be discovered? I find that a little hard to believe. Why not just come out and say it, "We believe that terrorists are using social media etc to pass messages, so, in the interests of National Security, we're going to check all social media." or something similar. Yes there would have outcry, but not as much, or as embarrassing, as having your 'secret' project slapped across front pages the world over.
And as for the general populace in these countries, UK included, are they really that naive that they thought that private use of social media was really private? This kind of thing has probably been going on since the first public use of the Internet, in fact, public use of the Internet was probably a godsend to security agencies everywhere.
I personally have no problem with any government agency in any country checking my posts, e-mail, texts etc, because, along with the vast overwhelming majority of worldwide citizens, I have absolutely nothing to hide! And it seems to me that the people causing the most noise over this and are protesting the loudest, are those that may have a skeleton in the closet somewhere.
If it did happen that I had some confidential information to pass on to someone, official or otherwise, and that's unlikely, I hope I would be sensible enough to do it face to face, and in a quiet place somewhere, like a park or a secluded beach, certainly not on the Internet.
India appears to be heading toward the first throes of some sort of sexual revolution if the latest news to come out is correct. Women are demanding that female mannequins are removed from shopfront and market displays because "When men see them and look at them it inflames their passions and they go on to attack women." I have to think that if that is the case, the society is in such poor shape that removing mannequins is no answer. I wish them well, but in a society that has, supposedly, treated women as second class citizens for centuries, they have a seriously uphill struggle on their hands.
It is indeed a very poor state of affairs when so many sexual attacks against women take place in such a short time, but surely the robust investigation of cases and prosecution of offenders is the way forward, and there must be some underlying social reasons that are in need of investigation.
Hmmmm....... I've just been reading the UK Daily Express online, well I only got as far as the main story on the first page and I'm fed up already. Yet more EU cash (£3.7 million this time ) has been wasted on research to tell us how to live.
Apparently now it transpires that two beers a year is enough to cause cancer. I don't know about you people, but I am getting thoroughly fed up with being told the best way to live my life by these so-called 'educated' scientists/doctors. They may well be very highly educated, super intelligent persons, but they lack one very important human quality... Common sense!
It seems that every week new, and sometimes conflicting, 'advice' is revealed on how best to extend/improve our lives. Clicking through to the article I saw in the sidebar stories on how Biscuits are a health risk to children, Exposure to more natural daylight is the answer to sleep problems, We don't have enough time to relax, and how a Vegetarian diet can cut the risk of early death.
This last is a good one. They (scientists/doctors) researched and concluded that vegetarians are less likely to die than meat eaters. Could this possibly be because there are less vegetarians, so the incidence of death is of course less. It's not rocket science, is it.
A quote taken directly from the Express which says it all:
But Ukip’s deputy leader Paul Nuttall said: “At what point do the nannying puritans stop spending our money in order to tell us how to behave.
“One wonders if they have any relation to the world in which the rest of us live. “Can anybody imagine a world where they held sway?
“Small, monochrome, browbeaten and miserable, a shadow of the fun, vibrant land we all love."
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