The Investigatory Powers Act legalises powers that the security agencies and police had been using for years without making this clear to either the public or parliament. In October, the investigatory powers tribunal, the only court that hears complaints against MI6, MI5 and GCHQ, ruled that they had been unlawfully collecting massive volumes of confidential personal data without proper oversight for 17 years.
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Samizdata quote of the dayNovember 20th, 2016 |
 16 comments to Samizdata quote of the day |
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The elites hate the common man in all Western countries. Muslims are not a threat but we are. This is also a means of maximizing tax revenue. It is not just about security.
India is the latest in this attack on its own people with its outlawing of paper money except those notes lower than 500 rupees or about $7.50 US. Eventually every money transaction you make will be recorded, archived and used by political enemies to crush you and/or extract every last dime to run inefficient and corrupt government.
Trump may fight this, and maybe a few European politicians who believe in liberty but the rest are from the parasite or rentier class.
Whether it is TSA “Airport Security”, NSA, CIA, FBI MI5, the Inland Revenue and IRS it all amounts to an attack on liberty and freedom. Government wants your money and your obedience, that is all.
Yes, hence his nominees to head the CIA and the JD.
Fortunately, Trump isn’t.
But hey, why care about facts, when you have wishful thinking to keep you warm.
Further proof that written law governs nothing.
People govern people.
Every once in a while, as a courtesy, politicians pass legislation to make the laws on the books match the laws of reality, which often rather bothers those who misunderstand reality.
LOL
Yeah, a guy built a company with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, some of the most famous real estate assets in the world, and a premier global brand but sometimes used eminent domain (as have many of his real estate rivals who he has largely outcompeted and outperformed financially) and is, therefore, a member of the parasite or rentier class. A billionaire member of the parasite/rentier class.
Makes sense.
Trump doesn’t have revenue in the 100s of millions. He is a salesman not a businessman.
His repeated bankruptcies, while perfectly legal, are what many of us choke on. He doesn’t pay his debts, he evades them. A parasite.
I never said he does; I said his company does.
Every businessman is a salesman to some degree. Really successful businesspeople often are amazing at marketing (among other skills) like Steve Jobs.
Most people have shame; Trump doesn’t. What’s your point here?
Not sure what you are talking about here. He does not violate contracts.
K.
Back to the subject of the post: is it just me, or is The Guardian about the only major international MSM outlet that consistently addresses the ‘Privacy & Panopticon’ concerns – and if so, what is motivating them?
Indeed Alisa, they are by far the best on this issue.
Yep, it’s a shame they’re the only ones, because I can never fully erase the suspicion that they would soft-pedal if the “right people” were running the gig with a reasonable expectation that they would stay in power for a nice, long time.
Quite so, Bod.
But wasn’t the Obama administration supposed to be the ‘right people’ from the POV of The Guardian?
17 years? So it started under Blair and Brown…
Why isn’t that surprising? What is not surprising either is that it is still the case since the difference between those 2 and the showers we’ve had since is paper thin.
Well, one of the reasons it *could* start under Blair and Brown is the increased budget of the US Security Apparatus, which funneled all kinds of assistance to the UK (financial, technology, manpower) at the start of the GWoT. While I don’t carry water for those two utter shits, Blair just happened to be the PM when the whole thing kicked off.
We see the same issue in the US with policies such as civil forfeiture. It creates perverse incentives and horrible outcomes for law-abiding civilians.
The urge for politicians to Panopt is bipartisan. To believe otherwise is foolish.
Alisa, I’d need to go back over the record, but I suspect that the Grauniad’s orgasmic delight in getting some leaked information on the Bush Administration blinded them to the possibility that they were opening Pandora’s Box. It would not surprise me to discover that given a time machine, the Graun would have imposed a little more editorial control over the stuff that Greenwald et al came up with.
The good news is that it seems that Greenwald has more principles than I had credited him with. He gets my grudging respect and gratitude, although my dislike for his politics remain.
and
Precisely. And if you are right about Greenwald, then it means that he does it for the right reasons – even if he may be wrong on many other issues. I’ll take that.
Ouch.
Dear bog – I may have to revise my opinions on Greenwald even further:
Whines about Mistreatment – Trump and his ‘Media Stars’ meeting.