Saturday, August 10, 2013

News and Comment

Be careful what you wish for. You may get it.

   News: Two small email providers have decided to shut down their messaging service and destroy their files rather than turn them over to government snoopers. This even before it's clear that the scoopers have demanded the files. The companies cite privacy issues as the reason.
   Meanwhile, President Obama is trying to reassure the American people that such surveillance is necessary to combat terrorism, and the public needs to be more comfortable with government watchdogs.
   Comment: Do you still think Edward Snowden was a traitor in exposing the National Security Agency's trolling through the electronic files of American citizens? Watchdogs can bite.

   News: The chairman of the Republican National Committee has threatened to deny NBC's News Division access to presidential debates if the NBC Entertainment Division goes through with its plan to broadcast a film biography of Hillary Clinton. The odd thing is, the proposed biopic is to be produced by a unit of the Fox empire, controlled by Rupert Murdoch.
   Comment: Can you say "petty"?
   It's reminiscent of Protestant Loyalists in Northern Ireland demanding the right to march through Catholic Republican neighborhoods chanting "Nyaah, nyaah, we beat you" as they celebrate a Protestant victory over Catholics at the Battle of the Boyne on the 12th of July, 1690 -- more than 300 years ago.
   Even now, police moved in yesterday in as nationalists backing unification with the Republic of Ireland were blocked by loyalists insisting that Ulster remain part of the UK.

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