Slashdot Mirror
What's Going On in Canada?
Jack Action writes "Up in Canada, the Privacy Commissioner of the province of British Columbia is recommending an immediate freeze on all outsourcing of public data to US-connected firms, Reuters and the CBC are reporting. After extensive consultations, the Privacy Commissioner has found that the USA Patriot Act threatens the private data of citizens even if they don't live in the USA (repeat: non-Americans are at risk). You can visit the Commissioners website, and download a summary or the full report." And reader digity writes "The long-standing Canadian battle on grey-market satellite dishes took a surprising turn in a Quebec courtroom yesterday. The grounds: freedom of expression. Yet another reason to come to the Great White North!"
At least this post is on-topic by making a comparison between the patriot act and being f#$@%& in the ass. I would have given it +5 insightful given the chance... :-)
In a world where Echelon is used for international corporate espionage, and where we've declared war on any country that we think is harboring terrorists, then why should anyone's privacy be protected?
Those damned pinko Canadians may be terrorists, and we need to protect ourselves.
Its ok, I have my tin foil hat. It keeps the government microwaves from reading my brain patterns.
Seriously folks, what does the patriot act allow the US government to do that it wasn't able to do before, just illegally? I mean, sure, it means they can do this stuff more in the open, but that doesn't mean that they weren't doing it before anyway.
The US Government has been the biggest customer of high-end computing firms for the past fourty years. What do they do with all that computing power? They use a lot of it to churn through the data we create. Not to look for ciminals, or mass murderers, or whatever - no - to look for people that could challenge the status quo, that could expose the real people behind the governments of the last fifty years who control the American people.
Come on, you've seen the X-Files! Its all real! ALL of it! NON FICTION, I tell you!
Are you ready to believe? TRUST NO ONE!
Firms in India are setting up shop in Canada as a front for their offshoring operations. Our confidential information that crosses in to Canada ends up in India. Canada's confidential data that crosses in to the United States ends up in... well, probably India.
Folks, we're witnessing a major coup. In the century where Information is Power, all of the information is going to one country - India! India is the new world power.
And, just to piss off some neocon Bush babies who hate our freedom even more: remeber, we're half French!
Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits!
Whoo! Aaaaargoooos!! Strike, Leafs, strike!!!
Illegal?
Naah!
The Patriot act says that it is fine - They are protecting themselves from Terrorism you know!
I for one welcome our new pro-privacy overlords!
Bloggy Goodness
Shouldn't that be: "What's going on in the USA?"
No. We're not allowed to discuss that by law. Sorry, we're not allowed to tell you which law.
The power that this gives is huge. (Does some senior politician have a mistress or do private business with a drug dealer?--Amdocs has the information. Etc. And Slashdotters are surely familiar with data mining.) Many people have claimed that this power has been abused by the Israeli government--in particular, by Mossad--and such power obviously facilitates espionage. Whatever abuses have occurred, it seems insane to give this much power to a foreign agency.
For references and links to more information (there's lots, and it's downright scary), google for "Amdocs" and "Comverse Infosys".
It's mainly used by the police to look for marijuana grow-ops. I just hope the police chopper flying overhead isn't watching my heat signature as I'm taking a dump or viewing internet pr0n. :-) The Court's full decision is here.
However, in order to protect Canadian culture, elements of the 103rd Shania Twain Clone Trooper Regiment have been placed on high alert status.
Remember than in Canada its also legal to share music and movies (as long as you don't sell them). Several provinces now allow gay marriage, and most politicians favour decriminalizing (though not legalizing) marijuana.
On the other hand, while many Canadians own rifles and shotguns, most of us are not allowed to carry concealed weapons; also, provinces are starting to ban smoking in all public places, and the federal government regulates how much foreign content radio and TV stations are allowed to show.
So, in brief, if you're an MP3-sharing, pot-smoking, gay privacy freak, c'mon up and join us; if you're a gun-toting, tobacco-smoking, Baywatch-watchin' law-and-order freak, you might be happier staying down in the U.S.
Its ok, I have my tin foil hat. It keeps the government microwaves from reading my brain patterns.
This is WRONG!! chrome is a government COLLABORATOR, pretending to be an informative rebel in order to feed us DANGEROUS disinformation. DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!!
Just to clarify: Even the BEST Tin Foil* hat CANNOT prevent the government from READING your brain patterns. Tin Foil is useful to prevent MIND CONTROL but is COMPLETELY INEFFECTIVE at preventing MIND READING (more properly called MIND SCANNING). Do NOT make the MISTAKE of believing that you can think in SAFETY AND PRIVACY just because you're wearing Tin Foil.
If you want to be safe from MINDSCANS you need to ENCASE your head in at LEAST 1/4" of LEAD, or 1/16" of DEPLETED URANIUM. Also, make sure that there are NO CRACKS OR HOLES larger than 1/16". Yes this means that it's not possible to think and see at the same time. Some well-meaning FOOLS have claimed that lenses of LEADED CRYSTAL provide mindscan protection while allowing visibility but this is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE.
Since you obviously CANNOT wear a lead helmet 24/7, anyone regularly thinking SUBVERSIVE THOUGHTS must also LEARN to CONTROL THEIR THOUGHTS WHEN UNPROTECTED! After YEARS of EXTENSIVE RESEARCH conducted in part by INFILTRATING the CIA, I have learned the ONLY way to do this EFFECTIVELY and AUTOMATICALLY. My method is based on the SAME techniques used to train CIA AGENTS to defend themselves against MINDSCANS. For only 26 LOW LOW monthly payments of $29.99 I will deliver DIRECTLY TO YOU a series of DVDs and PRINTED MANUALS that teach you QUICKLY AND EASILY to DEFEND YOURSELF agains MINDSCANS. I have to deliver these educational materials BY HAND, of course, because ALL of the postal and delivery services are TOOLS of the INTERNATIONAL CONSPIRACY HEADED BY THE ILLUMINATI UNDER THE GUISE OF THE UN.
Call quickly, supplies are limited.
* Pre-1987 Reynolds wrap is the best Tin Foil, by the way. Other brands were never sufficiently thick and post 1987 Reynolds has been modified at CIA REQUEST with MICROSCOPIC WAVEGUIDES that actually FOCUS the MIND CONTROL SIGNALS.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
The first rule about PATRIOT Act is you do not talk about PATRIOT Act!