I do meetings like this ALL DAY LONG. No offense, but there's always someone like you that wants to introduce some new technology that is supposed to make us so much more efficient. Instead we spend half of every meeting trying to get that new tech working.
The best way to lead a meeting that I've used: A conference room big enough for everyone. An overhead projector hooked up to a computer. Remote into your personal workstation from that computer. Have project goals in whatever tool you use at your company. Personally, I prefer a shared spreadsheet, either Excel or Google docs. Avoid large project management software packages because they require everyone that needs to see them to have a license. They rarely do. Log minutes in a text document that can track changes (word or whatever) If there are people not in the room you can share your desktop with them have have a conference bridge the can call into for audio. Discourage using whiteboards for the sake of your remote users. Also, you cant save whiteboards. I had ours taken out years ago. PAINT actually comes in handy if you get fluent in it. I can do some pretty complicated flowcharts using it, very quickly... then later put them into visio so they look nice and are editable. I'm actually vision certified and can use it fluently. But I can do a flowchart in Paint in about 1/10th the time. Box, Line, Circle, Text, done! It doesn't look great, but this is a meeting not an art studio.
Now the person LEADING the meeting is not the person at the keyboard. "Charlie, bring up the requirements. Thanks..." etc... The leader, leads the person at the keyboard. The person at the keyboard is only focused on having the correct things up, and logging of whats decided. When you're all done, you send everything (or a link to everything) out to everyone that was there with a statement like "This is the result of our meeting, please review" etc... so corrections or clarifications can be made. Changes should be "requested" not simply made without talking to anyone.
I know it's clunky, but it works. I've tried damned near everything. We have a lot of managers that like to fall for online marketing so every few months there's a new initiative. I'll keep letting them bring the stuff up and we can keep trying. I imagine one day there will be some new neat way of doing things. But it's not here yet, and tablets are certainly not going to do it.
Not all crashes are created equal. Simply stating "Crashes increased" means nothing. Scratched paint? Were they fatal? The perfect example are roundabouts. When they were introduced in the US years ago, the number of accidents in those intersections actually increased rather dramatically. People were up in arms, but then the statistitions came out and explained that while the number of accidents increased, they were on average far more minor incidents. Mostly side swipes and such. It was damned near impossible to get into a fatal car crash in a roundabout. Compare that with our old red light system where accidents are very often bad enough to total both cars and are frequenty fatal and suddenly that increase in total accidents doesn't seem so bad.
My favorite is when they shut off the breaker to the "Haunted house" and them use some $3 EM sensor they got off ebay to show all the "energy" in the air. Apparently the local power company invented EM radiation and the rest of the universe must abide by our circuit breakers.
But reality is far less interesting than we want it to be...
For some reason I end up talking to a lot of people that believe in this nonsense... especially ghosts. My main argument is usally that their view of the world is just too mundane. Ghosts? No... the universe is far stranger, far wackier then that. Then I go on to explain Relativity and Quantum mechanics. They freak out, refuse to believe it. They'll believe in a 7' tall ape man living in the pacific northwest that no ones ever found a corpse for... but a sub atomic particle being in 2 places at once? I'm just crazy!
Welcome to your new telco system. One Contract, One Network, Universal Surveillance.
You mean like half the rest of the world? It's not uncommon for a country to have a single sudo-government agency that runs telecoms like its a utility. Again, you make it sound like we're talking about the end of democracy or something here. 2 Companies merged for gods sakes, it happens all the time. 0.0000625% could be bothered to submit an online complaint form in protest. ONE showed up at a hearing. I had more people complaining than that when I tried to put up a chain link fence 3yrs ago.
I bet more people have complained in slashdot threads on this topic than have complained to the FTC!
As a slight point of clarification, one member of the public was granted time during the hearing to speak, and said person pre-request it and was asked to submit their script for review. It was not a "we will now open the floor" situation.
And the article makes it sound like the throngs of unwashed masses stormed the gates and threw off the shackles of their corporate overlords. I think I was a tad more accurate in my description.
This is like reading the comments section of a Fox news story. So everyone on slashdot wants to believe their own myopic version of reality so badly they're willing to accept something that so obviously biased, so obviously skewed that it's not dis-similar to a lot of the anti-global warming stories I see elsewhere?
The Comcast/Time-warner merger involves 32,000,000 customers total. The FCC got a total of less than 2000 comments... good or bad. The article only mentions ONE PERSON that stood up and spoke out against the deal at the hearing. ONE.
Now, I don't dispute that if you asked the majority of customers they'd probably prefer this deal didn't happen. But to portray it as if there is this massive customer revolt? This submission and that article are, at the very least, intentionally misleading.
If I look into the future I see a press release about a year from now:
"In a clear victory for consumers, the FTC has levied a fine of $20 million against T-Mobile in response to fraudulent SMS charges. The largest fine (related to fraudulent SMS charges on a tuesday, during a leap year) ever."
then another year out
"T-modile announced that a former FTC director will now work as CEO of Regulatory affairs. T-Mobile released a statement saying that they are pleased to be working with someone with so many years working in government. The FTC director said in a statement "I really like me new boat!"
These are outrageous, but even at 20 cents a text, it's gouging IMO.
you know SMS is completely and totally free for the carrier right? So it's even more of a scam than you think. The only reason they're not charging as much now is because there are so many IP text apps out there now. You're an idiot if you're paying for them at all.
They do that all the time. Some of it isn't even a secret. It's not just the NSA either. We have a huge intelligence system with many players and our foreign policy depends heavily on what it reports.
None of that is in this court decision and is therefor irrelevant to this discussion. They gave them blanket authorization without any reason what-so-ever. Do you think Japan is plotting against us? Because we're intercepting their telecoms... Why? Just in case they decide to go evil? This isn't about justified research of an identified threat. This is about capturing ALL data ALL the time. It's not even spying and we should stop calling it that. This is something different. Something evil.
Here we agree though I think that most other countries would do the same if given the opportunity. Power corrupts and all that.
That's not, even remotely, what I said. But whatever.
Only because they can not, not because they would not. I have no faith that most of the 95% of the world's population outside the US is really any different when handed such powerful tools. I would find it very surprising if other major economic powers were not heavily investing in activities similar to what the NSA does. Not saying I think that is a good or right thing, just that I think it is inevitable.
No they wouldn't. You're making generalizations about the entire population of other countries. Given the option, I bet the majority of those populations would be just as opposed to this sort of thing as the US population is. There are a few, in the governments of other countries that would prefer to violate the rights of the people rather than risk their physical safety. We have the same kind of people here. It's up to us to stand up and say "No!" You're letting apathy get in the way of your sense of right and wrong. This is wrong, so say it. Do not stand for it. Our children or grand children could very well be herded into camps in the future due to your apathy here today. Stand, be Strong, Fight! The easiest fight to win is the first. The further you let this go, the heavier the chains will be in the future. We can stop this, but not with your attitude. You can not make distinctions between "us" and "them" because you're always a "them" to someone. Any right you take away from someone else can be taken away from you.
I assume you think I'm being overly dramatic. But this really is the issue of our time. 20yrs from now we could look back on this time as when Charliemopps got all fired up over that NSA thing that died... what a dork. Or we could remember it as "When we could have stopped the NSA but didn't" I sure hope its the former.
yum install Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm Setting up Install Process Parsing package install arguments Examining Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm: Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386 Marking Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm to be installed Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ---> Package Brakes.i386 0:1.10.1-1.1 set to be updated --> Processing Dependency: Brake_fluid for package: Brakes --> Finished Dependency Resolution Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386 from Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm has depsolving problems --> Missing Dependency: Brake_fluid is needed by package Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386 (Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm)
yum install Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm Setting up Install Process Parsing package install arguments Examining Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm: 1:Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386 Marking Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm to be installed Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ---> Package Brake_fluid.i386 1:1.0.2-5.el5_6.1 set to be updated --> Processing Dependency:/usr/sbin/GM_ASEP_CERT for package: Brake_fluid --> Finished Dependency Resolution 1:Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386 from Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm has depsolving problems --> Missing Dependency:/usr/sbin/GM_ASEP_CERT is needed by package 1:Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386 (Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm)
So... a non lawyer got a request from the IRS to explain his charitable status, they decided he wasn't a charity, and now he's posting to a blog that the entire open source world is coming to an end? I think dude needs to spend more time getting a lawyer and less time posting to slashdot.
I HATE the IRS with a passion. This stuff should be easy. But the fact of the matter is, it's not. You need legal representation if you're going to be a 501(c)
Then we have this: "We have no plans to appeal their decision." ok... so what's the point of this post? If you're agreeing with them, I don't get it. If you're not agreeing with them, but just rolling over, then you deserve what you get.
I have no idea why ANYBODY would even consent to logging in to his Facebook account on a computer or unlocking his phone while in custody, let alone post a coerced message like that. I'm sure lawyers will hash all this out in court, but my according to the article
Jamerson was charged with two counts of simple assault and one count of obstruction against the officer, all misdemeanors, Lyon said.
I am for civil liberties, but I'm not sure I disagree with the charges.
Having said that, his case is about being coerced. Who's to say he didn't offer to write a nice post himself and the officers laughed and said "sure!"?
You've never been arrested before have you? And by the Atlanta police? Trust me, you'd do a lot more than make a facebook post to get out of that situation.
The article specifically says that there's four countries the NSA hasn't spied on, and you included two of them in your comment.
No, it didn't The article said very specifically "A court permitted the NSA to..." yada yada...
That means the NSA has blanket jurisdiction to spy on those countries. It does not mean the NSA isn't spying on the remaining 4. They would either need other justification (another ruling or legal opinion) or they could just be doing it and ignoring the law. Something they've clearly demonstrated they have no problem doing. I included them intentionally. I believe in basket ball it's called "Drawing the foul":-)
Germany dropped a US carrier (Verizon) over the NSA issue. The worst part about this whole thing is the spying is worthless. The NSA is alienating our allies, driving away customers from US businesses all so the NSA can record the phone calls of little old ladies talking about bridge.
It's a freaking clandestine service, yea it's their job to spy on other nations. How else do you insure that Iran is not making icbm's? ask them nicly?
But we're not talking about Iran are we? Iran's shown themselves to be a direct and obvious threat to the united states. I've no problem with tapping the phones of Irans leaders. The NSA is recording the private phone calls of the citizens of Canada... Mexico, England, Germany... That's not spying, that's a very insulting invasion of privacy... and whats worse, this horrible invasion of privacy that alienates our alies has absolutely no value to the NSA at all.
Sorry, but I'm not going to get my panties in a bind that the NSA is spying on other countries' governments considering:
1. That's the NSA's freakin' job.
2. Anybody who thinks that the only country in the world that spies is the U.S. is either an idiot or a liar.
I'm sick of this inane, uninformed argument. 1. It shouldn't be. That's why we're having this debate. It would be one thing if our government found evidence of something shifty going on... spied to confirm or refute that, and then took action. That's not what they are doing though. They're bugging every world leader, tapping the phones of damned near every citizen, reading our mail... this is Orwellian blanket surveillance which is a far cry from "Spying" This isn't "Spying" it's totalitarianism and it's wrong.
2. Comparing what the rest of the world does to what the NSA does is a joke. Yes, they spy on us, but they're not intercepting ALL of our phone calls. How many countries do you think have the US presidents phone tapped? I bet it's just one... take a guess who I think that is.
But lets assume for a second that the rest of the world had the NSA's capability and disregard for human dignity and privacy... I could go on and on about the moral implications and what not but the fact of the matter is this argument was resolved thousands of years ago with the simple line: "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" It's not a hard concept to grasp. WE are better than that. We don't need to do this. It's wrong, we all know it. It should stop immediately.
Slashdot Mirror
New York is shaping up as a major battleground for Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable.
Battleground eh?
0.0000625% of the customers complained.
That's not a battleground, that's one dude with jock itch.
Stop, just stop,
I do meetings like this ALL DAY LONG. No offense, but there's always someone like you that wants to introduce some new technology that is supposed to make us so much more efficient. Instead we spend half of every meeting trying to get that new tech working.
The best way to lead a meeting that I've used:
A conference room big enough for everyone.
An overhead projector hooked up to a computer.
Remote into your personal workstation from that computer.
Have project goals in whatever tool you use at your company. Personally, I prefer a shared spreadsheet, either Excel or Google docs.
Avoid large project management software packages because they require everyone that needs to see them to have a license. They rarely do.
Log minutes in a text document that can track changes (word or whatever)
If there are people not in the room you can share your desktop with them have have a conference bridge the can call into for audio.
Discourage using whiteboards for the sake of your remote users. Also, you cant save whiteboards. I had ours taken out years ago.
PAINT actually comes in handy if you get fluent in it. I can do some pretty complicated flowcharts using it, very quickly... then later put them into visio so they look nice and are editable. I'm actually vision certified and can use it fluently. But I can do a flowchart in Paint in about 1/10th the time. Box, Line, Circle, Text, done! It doesn't look great, but this is a meeting not an art studio.
Now the person LEADING the meeting is not the person at the keyboard.
"Charlie, bring up the requirements. Thanks..." etc...
The leader, leads the person at the keyboard. The person at the keyboard is only focused on having the correct things up, and logging of whats decided.
When you're all done, you send everything (or a link to everything) out to everyone that was there with a statement like "This is the result of our meeting, please review" etc... so corrections or clarifications can be made. Changes should be "requested" not simply made without talking to anyone.
I know it's clunky, but it works. I've tried damned near everything. We have a lot of managers that like to fall for online marketing so every few months there's a new initiative. I'll keep letting them bring the stuff up and we can keep trying. I imagine one day there will be some new neat way of doing things. But it's not here yet, and tablets are certainly not going to do it.
Not all crashes are created equal. Simply stating "Crashes increased" means nothing. Scratched paint? Were they fatal? The perfect example are roundabouts. When they were introduced in the US years ago, the number of accidents in those intersections actually increased rather dramatically. People were up in arms, but then the statistitions came out and explained that while the number of accidents increased, they were on average far more minor incidents. Mostly side swipes and such. It was damned near impossible to get into a fatal car crash in a roundabout. Compare that with our old red light system where accidents are very often bad enough to total both cars and are frequenty fatal and suddenly that increase in total accidents doesn't seem so bad.
My favorite is when they shut off the breaker to the "Haunted house" and them use some $3 EM sensor they got off ebay to show all the "energy" in the air. Apparently the local power company invented EM radiation and the rest of the universe must abide by our circuit breakers.
But reality is far less interesting than we want it to be ...
For some reason I end up talking to a lot of people that believe in this nonsense... especially ghosts. My main argument is usally that their view of the world is just too mundane. Ghosts? No... the universe is far stranger, far wackier then that. Then I go on to explain Relativity and Quantum mechanics. They freak out, refuse to believe it. They'll believe in a 7' tall ape man living in the pacific northwest that no ones ever found a corpse for... but a sub atomic particle being in 2 places at once? I'm just crazy!
Welcome to your new telco system. One Contract, One Network, Universal Surveillance.
You mean like half the rest of the world? It's not uncommon for a country to have a single sudo-government agency that runs telecoms like its a utility. Again, you make it sound like we're talking about the end of democracy or something here. 2 Companies merged for gods sakes, it happens all the time. 0.0000625% could be bothered to submit an online complaint form in protest. ONE showed up at a hearing. I had more people complaining than that when I tried to put up a chain link fence 3yrs ago.
I bet more people have complained in slashdot threads on this topic than have complained to the FTC!
As a slight point of clarification, one member of the public was granted time during the hearing to speak, and said person pre-request it and was asked to submit their script for review. It was not a "we will now open the floor" situation.
And the article makes it sound like the throngs of unwashed masses stormed the gates and threw off the shackles of their corporate overlords. I think I was a tad more accurate in my description.
So... How is this even tangentially related to being newsworthy for a tech site?
Like, seriously, WTF?!
It's newsworthy because we finally have proof that another countries legislature is at least, just as ridiculous as our own.
I click on the "enlarge" button and I get images of the exact same size!
The pictures are nano-scale duh.
This is like reading the comments section of a Fox news story. So everyone on slashdot wants to believe their own myopic version of reality so badly they're willing to accept something that so obviously biased, so obviously skewed that it's not dis-similar to a lot of the anti-global warming stories I see elsewhere?
The Comcast/Time-warner merger involves 32,000,000 customers total. The FCC got a total of less than 2000 comments... good or bad. The article only mentions ONE PERSON that stood up and spoke out against the deal at the hearing. ONE.
Now, I don't dispute that if you asked the majority of customers they'd probably prefer this deal didn't happen. But to portray it as if there is this massive customer revolt? This submission and that article are, at the very least, intentionally misleading.
If I look into the future I see a press release about a year from now:
"In a clear victory for consumers, the FTC has levied a fine of $20 million against T-Mobile in response to fraudulent SMS charges. The largest fine (related to fraudulent SMS charges on a tuesday, during a leap year) ever."
then another year out
"T-modile announced that a former FTC director will now work as CEO of Regulatory affairs. T-Mobile released a statement saying that they are pleased to be working with someone with so many years working in government. The FTC director said in a statement "I really like me new boat!"
These are outrageous, but even at 20 cents a text, it's gouging IMO.
you know SMS is completely and totally free for the carrier right? So it's even more of a scam than you think. The only reason they're not charging as much now is because there are so many IP text apps out there now. You're an idiot if you're paying for them at all.
Because in my circles, it's the smart people who don't trust the Internet.
I bet you read that on the internet.
They do that all the time. Some of it isn't even a secret. It's not just the NSA either. We have a huge intelligence system with many players and our foreign policy depends heavily on what it reports.
None of that is in this court decision and is therefor irrelevant to this discussion. They gave them blanket authorization without any reason what-so-ever. Do you think Japan is plotting against us? Because we're intercepting their telecoms... Why? Just in case they decide to go evil? This isn't about justified research of an identified threat. This is about capturing ALL data ALL the time. It's not even spying and we should stop calling it that. This is something different. Something evil.
Here we agree though I think that most other countries would do the same if given the opportunity. Power corrupts and all that.
That's not, even remotely, what I said. But whatever.
Only because they can not, not because they would not. I have no faith that most of the 95% of the world's population outside the US is really any different when handed such powerful tools. I would find it very surprising if other major economic powers were not heavily investing in activities similar to what the NSA does. Not saying I think that is a good or right thing, just that I think it is inevitable.
No they wouldn't. You're making generalizations about the entire population of other countries. Given the option, I bet the majority of those populations would be just as opposed to this sort of thing as the US population is. There are a few, in the governments of other countries that would prefer to violate the rights of the people rather than risk their physical safety. We have the same kind of people here. It's up to us to stand up and say "No!" You're letting apathy get in the way of your sense of right and wrong. This is wrong, so say it. Do not stand for it. Our children or grand children could very well be herded into camps in the future due to your apathy here today. Stand, be Strong, Fight! The easiest fight to win is the first. The further you let this go, the heavier the chains will be in the future. We can stop this, but not with your attitude. You can not make distinctions between "us" and "them" because you're always a "them" to someone. Any right you take away from someone else can be taken away from you.
I assume you think I'm being overly dramatic. But this really is the issue of our time. 20yrs from now we could look back on this time as when Charliemopps got all fired up over that NSA thing that died... what a dork. Or we could remember it as "When we could have stopped the NSA but didn't" I sure hope its the former.
yum install Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm
Setting up Install Process
Parsing package install arguments
Examining Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm: Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386
Marking Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm to be installed
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package Brakes.i386 0:1.10.1-1.1 set to be updated
--> Processing Dependency: Brake_fluid for package: Brakes
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386 from Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm has depsolving problems
--> Missing Dependency: Brake_fluid is needed by package Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386 (Brakes-1.10.1-1.1.i386.rpm)
yum install Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm /usr/sbin/GM_ASEP_CERT for package: Brake_fluid /usr/sbin/GM_ASEP_CERT is needed by package 1:Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386 (Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm)
Setting up Install Process
Parsing package install arguments
Examining Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm: 1:Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386
Marking Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm to be installed
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package Brake_fluid.i386 1:1.0.2-5.el5_6.1 set to be updated
--> Processing Dependency:
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
1:Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386 from Brake_fluid-1.0.2-5.el5_6.1.i386.rpm has depsolving problems
--> Missing Dependency:
So... a non lawyer got a request from the IRS to explain his charitable status, they decided he wasn't a charity, and now he's posting to a blog that the entire open source world is coming to an end? I think dude needs to spend more time getting a lawyer and less time posting to slashdot.
I HATE the IRS with a passion. This stuff should be easy. But the fact of the matter is, it's not. You need legal representation if you're going to be a 501(c)
Then we have this: "We have no plans to appeal their decision."
ok... so what's the point of this post? If you're agreeing with them, I don't get it. If you're not agreeing with them, but just rolling over, then you deserve what you get.
I have no idea why ANYBODY would even consent to logging in to his Facebook account on a computer or unlocking his phone while in custody, let alone post a coerced message like that. I'm sure lawyers will hash all this out in court, but my according to the article
Jamerson was charged with two counts of simple assault and one count of obstruction against the officer, all misdemeanors, Lyon said.
I am for civil liberties, but I'm not sure I disagree with the charges.
Having said that, his case is about being coerced. Who's to say he didn't offer to write a nice post himself and the officers laughed and said "sure!"?
You've never been arrested before have you? And by the Atlanta police? Trust me, you'd do a lot more than make a facebook post to get out of that situation.
I'm curious. How, exactly, are we supposed to "find evidence of something shifty going on" without, well, SPYING on people??
That is irrelevant.
argumentum ad consequentiam
It's the same as asking: How are the police supposed to get "probable cause" for a warrant if they don't search your car first?!?
The article specifically says that there's four countries the NSA hasn't spied on, and you included two of them in your comment.
No, it didn't The article said very specifically "A court permitted the NSA to..." yada yada...
That means the NSA has blanket jurisdiction to spy on those countries. It does not mean the NSA isn't spying on the remaining 4. They would either need other justification (another ruling or legal opinion) or they could just be doing it and ignoring the law. Something they've clearly demonstrated they have no problem doing. I included them intentionally. I believe in basket ball it's called "Drawing the foul" :-)
I'm a woman, you insensitive clod!
Lies! Facebook and Google told me you don't exist.
Happy developers? I didn't even know that was a "thing"
How could they have possibly run this test?!!? Frauds!
It's a scandal that there are countries the NSA isn't allowed to spy on. What if the terrorists are hiding there?
"intercept through U.S. companies not just the communications of its overseas targets, but any communications about its targets as well,"
i.e. They're even spying on the countries we have anti-spy agreements with. Nothing to worry about.
I submitted this as a story a while back but it never got picked up:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/93f6...
Germany dropped a US carrier (Verizon) over the NSA issue.
The worst part about this whole thing is the spying is worthless. The NSA is alienating our allies, driving away customers from US businesses all so the NSA can record the phone calls of little old ladies talking about bridge.
It's a freaking clandestine service, yea it's their job to spy on other nations. How else do you insure that Iran is not making icbm's? ask them nicly?
But we're not talking about Iran are we? Iran's shown themselves to be a direct and obvious threat to the united states. I've no problem with tapping the phones of Irans leaders. The NSA is recording the private phone calls of the citizens of Canada... Mexico, England, Germany... That's not spying, that's a very insulting invasion of privacy... and whats worse, this horrible invasion of privacy that alienates our alies has absolutely no value to the NSA at all.
Sorry, but I'm not going to get my panties in a bind that the NSA is spying on other countries' governments considering:
1. That's the NSA's freakin' job.
2. Anybody who thinks that the only country in the world that spies is the U.S. is either an idiot or a liar.
I'm sick of this inane, uninformed argument.
1. It shouldn't be. That's why we're having this debate. It would be one thing if our government found evidence of something shifty going on... spied to confirm or refute that, and then took action. That's not what they are doing though. They're bugging every world leader, tapping the phones of damned near every citizen, reading our mail... this is Orwellian blanket surveillance which is a far cry from "Spying" This isn't "Spying" it's totalitarianism and it's wrong.
2. Comparing what the rest of the world does to what the NSA does is a joke. Yes, they spy on us, but they're not intercepting ALL of our phone calls. How many countries do you think have the US presidents phone tapped? I bet it's just one... take a guess who I think that is.
But lets assume for a second that the rest of the world had the NSA's capability and disregard for human dignity and privacy... I could go on and on about the moral implications and what not but the fact of the matter is this argument was resolved thousands of years ago with the simple line: "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" It's not a hard concept to grasp. WE are better than that. We don't need to do this. It's wrong, we all know it. It should stop immediately.