I’ve spoken to many Americans about this and the majority seem completely brainwashed. Their views are that they are in extreme danger from terrorists and NSA spying is helping to save them. Also, the usual “I got nothing to hide so who cares?”. It’s pretty sad. They just want to get back to the more important discussions like sport and reality tv shows.
I just spent time this Christmas Day speaking with my cousin, a brilliant, highly educated, Canadian accountant. She was describing the travel adventures that she and her sister were undertaking and planning in their retirements (i.e. living in other countries). When I told her that I could not go anywhere, other than road trips in Canada, she asked why. I could not think of a short, simple, don’t worry type answer so I began with asking her if she had ever heard of FATCA. She had not, so it took me quite awhile to explain what it is and why I am trapped as a deemed “US person” … forever. She kept saying things like this is ridiculous, this is impossible, the USA can’t possibly handle all that influx of data. I explained the bottomless pit of the Utah data bank and how eventually border crossings would be linked to a person’s IRS reporting status. I apologized for talking about something like this on Christmas Day (she did ask though) but aside from the surprise of getting this new information I think she did at least begin to understand what is going on, albeit on a less than in-depth level. My cousin is a real beauty and I could just imagine her eyes getting bigger and bigger as our conversation went on. I probably should have avoided the topic somehow but what’s done is done and now the NSA has it all recorded too. At least I could reassure her that my soon to be non-American husband would be safe after his paperwork is completed, even though I, the Canadian, would never be safe.
2001 was the implementation of the self-request to be spied upon, to be saved from the boogeyman.
3000 lost in the event.
vs
7300 lost in the self-initiated Iraq retaliation
4500 lost in the self-initiated Afghan retaliation
all privacy lost in the self retaliation
I just read a disturbing article, which I’ve linked above,about how draconian laws are being passed in Britain to keep people away from US bases where drones could be being launched,.plus NSA intelligence gathering!!
Thanks for the interesting article, monalisa.
The by-laws have aroused great criticism from citizens and rights groups.
People do not like the idea that their country is in cahoots with America’s drone operations, nor do they understand why their basic right to walk nearby is now being threatened by something to do with the United States.
Rightly so. Also rightly so, US Persons in the UK and all countries of the world do not understand why their basic rights to financial privacy are now being threatened by the US — with help from all countries in the IGAs they are signing with the US for FATCA. There should be outrage at both of these!!!
And these ‘exclusion’ zones could someday be operating on the Canadian side of the border too? http://rt.com/usa/court-upholds-laptop-border-searches-041/
“……A US federal judge has reaffirmed an Obama administration policy granting officials the authority to search Americans’ laptops, citing a controversial premise that makes citizens within 100 miles of the border eligible for a police check.
District Judge Edward Korman made his ruling in New York on Tuesday, more than three years after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit. The ACLU claimed that – since Americans put so much of their lives on their computers, cell phones, and other devices – border officials should have reasonable suspicion before sifting through someone’s personal files.
Attorneys argued that searches conducted without reasonable suspicion are a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.
Not so, according to Judge Korman. In his decision Tuesday he argued that the area 100 miles inland falls under a “border exemption.”…….. “…………” The trouble is, the ACLU noted, that almost two-thirds of the population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US border. New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, and dozens of other major metropolitan areas fall under the so-called “exemption” zone.
The civil-liberties advocacy group filed suit in 2010 on behalf of Pascal Abidor, a 29-year-old Islamic Studies student whose laptop computer was held for 11 days when he was traveling by Amtrak rail from Canada to his parents’ home in New York. ……”
“…A well-known privacy advocate has given the public an unusually explicit peek into the intelligence world’s tool box, pulling back the curtain on the National Security Agency’s arsenal of high-tech spy gear.
Independent journalist and security expert Jacob Appelbaum this week told a hacker conference in Germany that the NSA could turn iPhones into eavesdropping tools and use radar wave devices to harvest electronic information from computers, even if they weren’t online….”
Here’s an interesting canadian comment from HappyCanadianGrl:
I’ve spoken to many Americans about this and the majority seem completely brainwashed. Their views are that they are in extreme danger from terrorists and NSA spying is helping to save them. Also, the usual “I got nothing to hide so who cares?”. It’s pretty sad. They just want to get back to the more important discussions like sport and reality tv shows.
I just spent time this Christmas Day speaking with my cousin, a brilliant, highly educated, Canadian accountant. She was describing the travel adventures that she and her sister were undertaking and planning in their retirements (i.e. living in other countries). When I told her that I could not go anywhere, other than road trips in Canada, she asked why. I could not think of a short, simple, don’t worry type answer so I began with asking her if she had ever heard of FATCA. She had not, so it took me quite awhile to explain what it is and why I am trapped as a deemed “US person” … forever. She kept saying things like this is ridiculous, this is impossible, the USA can’t possibly handle all that influx of data. I explained the bottomless pit of the Utah data bank and how eventually border crossings would be linked to a person’s IRS reporting status. I apologized for talking about something like this on Christmas Day (she did ask though) but aside from the surprise of getting this new information I think she did at least begin to understand what is going on, albeit on a less than in-depth level. My cousin is a real beauty and I could just imagine her eyes getting bigger and bigger as our conversation went on. I probably should have avoided the topic somehow but what’s done is done and now the NSA has it all recorded too. At least I could reassure her that my soon to be non-American husband would be safe after his paperwork is completed, even though I, the Canadian, would never be safe.
2001 was the implementation of the self-request to be spied upon, to be saved from the boogeyman.
3000 lost in the event.
vs
7300 lost in the self-initiated Iraq retaliation
4500 lost in the self-initiated Afghan retaliation
all privacy lost in the self retaliation
It’s obvious
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/06/25/snowden-has-snowden-betrayed-the-us-by-telling-the-truth-to-its-citizens/comment-page-1/#comment-869759
http://rt.com/news/uk-protect-us-drone-bases-033/
I just read a disturbing article, which I’ve linked above,about how draconian laws are being passed in Britain to keep people away from US bases where drones could be being launched,.plus NSA intelligence gathering!!
Thanks for the interesting article, monalisa.
Rightly so. Also rightly so, US Persons in the UK and all countries of the world do not understand why their basic rights to financial privacy are now being threatened by the US — with help from all countries in the IGAs they are signing with the US for FATCA. There should be outrage at both of these!!!
Support for Snowden building:
http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/weeks-in-the-making-an-editorial-on-snowden-may-go-beyond-what-is-realistic/?_r=0
And these ‘exclusion’ zones could someday be operating on the Canadian side of the border too?
http://rt.com/usa/court-upholds-laptop-border-searches-041/
“……A US federal judge has reaffirmed an Obama administration policy granting officials the authority to search Americans’ laptops, citing a controversial premise that makes citizens within 100 miles of the border eligible for a police check.
District Judge Edward Korman made his ruling in New York on Tuesday, more than three years after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit. The ACLU claimed that – since Americans put so much of their lives on their computers, cell phones, and other devices – border officials should have reasonable suspicion before sifting through someone’s personal files.
Attorneys argued that searches conducted without reasonable suspicion are a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.
Not so, according to Judge Korman. In his decision Tuesday he argued that the area 100 miles inland falls under a “border exemption.”…….. “…………” The trouble is, the ACLU noted, that almost two-thirds of the population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US border. New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, and dozens of other major metropolitan areas fall under the so-called “exemption” zone.
The civil-liberties advocacy group filed suit in 2010 on behalf of Pascal Abidor, a 29-year-old Islamic Studies student whose laptop computer was held for 11 days when he was traveling by Amtrak rail from Canada to his parents’ home in New York. ……”
Since the crossborder harmonization has US border security officials wanting exemption from Canadian laws but intend to operate on Canadian soil http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/08/01/surprise_stephen_harpers_us_border_deal_does_imperil_canadian_sovereignty_walkom.html , will that exclusion zone expand to include a similarly large swath through Southern Ontario, etc?.
Add this to the reasons to keep a close eye on Harper’s moves to gift Canadian sovereignty to the US:
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/31/nsa-iphone-spy-apple-inc/?__lsa=null
“…A well-known privacy advocate has given the public an unusually explicit peek into the intelligence world’s tool box, pulling back the curtain on the National Security Agency’s arsenal of high-tech spy gear.
Independent journalist and security expert Jacob Appelbaum this week told a hacker conference in Germany that the NSA could turn iPhones into eavesdropping tools and use radar wave devices to harvest electronic information from computers, even if they weren’t online….”