Sweden plan would monitor e-mail

[regfootball]

msnbc

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Sweden's government presented a contentious plan Thursday to allow a defense intelligence agency to monitor — without a court order — e-mail traffic and phone calls crossing the nation's borders.

The government insists only a fraction of the electronic communications will be affected, but critics worry the program, designed to combat terrorism and other threats to national security, is too far-reaching.

it figures that those hippie swedes would have no issues with leaving an open book on everyone's personal lives.

thing is, if it goes over there, the kumbayas in this country will suggest we need to monitor all our mail here too.

[FAPTurbo]

Those wacky Socialists.

[CSpec]

Not cool.

[trinacriabob]

it figures that those hippie swedes would have no issues with leaving an open book on everyone's personal lives.

Isn't this sort of INconsistent with the ultra-liberal, "live and let live" ...but don't get too close Scandinavian way? I had a friend from Indy (an IU grad) who took a job up in the Twin Cities. He said that, while everybody was very polite, they weren't particularly friendly. He then took a position in Cincinnati, much closer to Indiana, and said the people were a lot more "normal" in this regard.

I just finished reading a required book called "Authentic Leadership" in which the author uses the term "Minnesota Nice." This is so incredibly Nordic. Give me Mediterranean in-your-face-ness any day of the week...and STAY OUT of my e-mails, Helga.

[capriceman]

Anyone no some one in Sweden were i can send the Full Anarchy's Cookbook to there email every day and "how to make a backyard nuke to destroy Sweden."

[Intrepidation]

Who the hell gives a $h! about Sweden enough to attack them anyway?

[Robert Hall]

I'm sure the Homeland Security guys already monitor all of our email or are trying to...this is the kind of thing I could see the Republicans loving..

[Camino LS6]

Note to Homeland Security monitor:

BITE ME!

[capriceman]

Camino I will have to kill you know. The Voice said do so.

(leave the keys to the GTO on the lawn and I'll let you live) :AH-HA_wink:

[Dragon]

Between CANIVORE/whatever is being used now, allowable warrant less searches that were revealed in the last year or soand all abuses of patriot act provisions for info gathering that were recently uncovered, you don't think you're government hasn't done/is doing something similar for years and years?

Hell, I think my government does it, and they aren't anyhere as security/terrorist hungry as yours is.

[regfootball]

Isn't this sort of INconsistent with the ultra-liberal, "live and let live" ...but don't get too close Scandinavian way? I had a friend from Indy (an IU grad) who took a job up in the Twin Cities. He said that, while everybody was very polite, they weren't particularly friendly. He then took a position in Cincinnati, much closer to Indiana, and said the people were a lot more "normal" in this regard.

I just finished reading a required book called "Authentic Leadership" in which the author uses the term "Minnesota Nice." This is so incredibly Nordic. Give me Mediterranean in-your-face-ness any day of the week...and STAY OUT of my e-mails, Helga.

true. Minnesota nice is nothing more than a veiled way of being clicky and pricky. MN is a hard place to get to know people because outsiders are quietly scrutnized unless after about 3 years you get in their 'cicle of accpetance'.

The more we can transcend over time above that backstabbing nordic attitude, the better with me. Be nice on the surface but behind it all be very unwelcoming 'until you pay your dues' is what it is. It's very white supremicist in an 'i'm superior' sort of way. Everything is 'fine' until outsiders challege the establishment.

[deftonesfan867]

Wisconsin is just as bad req.

[NDL]

I'm sure the Homeland Security guys already monitor all of our email or are trying to...this is the kind of thing I could see the Republicans loving..

Exactly. While people are talking about wacky socialism, it's already being done here.

And while most republicans support it, democrats have done nothing against it.

[CSpec]

Shhhh, you guys had better stop talking, if Americans know about the secret violations of their privacy it helps the terrorists!

[trinacriabob]

MN is a hard place to get to know people because outsiders are quietly scrutnized unless after about 3 years you get in their 'cicle of accpetance'.

The more we can transcend over time above that backstabbing nordic attitude, the better with me.

And the Pacific Northwest is EXACTLY the same way, particularly Seattle. That's why I couldn't stand it, though my parents retired in that region. In fact, you know that MSP and SEA are tied at the waist...too many Minnesotans of the smug variety moved there and made it uptight. They couldn't stand me. (I do have one friend from northern MN who is of French Canadian origin and she is one of the coolest and funniest people I've ever met - I met her at U of I when we were students).

Down here, I am myself at work, or wherever, and it works just fine. Within a couple of weeks of being at work down here, numerous other employees were including me in their lunch groups.

It's for that reason that my Dad, when he was alive, had a deep seated dislike of Nordic types, being from the other end of Europe (Sicily) and all. He was so irreverent, emotional and talkative that those stoic types seemed confining to him. He talked to all of our neighbors except for Mr. Olsen with whom he just drew a blank. And, yes, enough people notice it about Seattle that it's almost documentable.

Don't even think about changing it "over time." You either assimilate, keep being yourself and risk not being in the clique, or move. I moved. And, it shouldn't take 3 years to be accepted. I know anywhere between 3 minutes and 3 weeks if I want to hang out with somebody.

[avant1963]

If you don't think this administration is already doing this (a well as searching your snail mail w/o a warrant) you are living in a dream world.

And if you give the stupid line "If you have nothing to hide, then what is the problem?" then you have no reason to be living in the USA. Our right to privacy is a key provision in the creation in this country, and in six years, more has been done to tear this ideal apart than at anytime in our history.

I strongly agree with Benjamin Franklin when he wrote: "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/...says_feds_.html

[NDL]

And if you give the stupid line "If you have nothing to hide, then what is the problem?" then you have no reason to be living in the USA.

When I hear that example from Parents, I ask them this:

Suppose your daughter dated a guy who, upon suspicion:

- Snuck around, and opened all of the mail coming to your house, that was addressed to your daughter.

- Read all of her e-mail.

- Tapped into her phone conversations, to know of their content.

- Paid off the local utility worker, who could report back, if he saw something 'suspect.'

- Tracked her purchases, to the extent where this guy knew what brand of deodorant your daughter wore!

What would you say about this guy? You'd say that he was sick. You'd think evil of him. You'd want him locked up. If anything, the above scenario sounds like a Lifetime thriller movie.

Still intent on thinking: "I have nothing to hide?"

[Robert Hall]

And the Pacific Northwest is EXACTLY the same way, particularly Seattle. That's why I couldn't stand it, though my parents retired in that region. In fact, you know that MSP and SEA are tied at the waist...too many Minnesotans of the smug variety moved there and made it uptight. They couldn't stand me. (I do have one friend from northern MN who is of French Canadian origin and she is one of the coolest and funniest people I've ever met - I met her at U of I when we were students).

Down here, I am myself at work, or wherever, and it works just fine. Within a couple of weeks of being at work down here, numerous other employees were including me in their lunch groups.

I haven't had the experience of living in the NW or Minn., but I've found people here in Denver very laid-back and welcoming... I think it has a lot to do with the fact that so few people here were born here, most of the Coloradans in my demographic (30 something computer professionals) are transplants from the Midwest like myself, or from the East Coast, West Coast, or the Canadian plains (lots of Western Canadians here).

Edited March 15, 2007 by moltar

[trinacriabob]

but I've found people here in Denver very laid-back and welcoming... I think it has a lot to do with the fact that so few people here were born here, most of the Coloradans in my demographic (30 something computer professionals) are transplants from the Midwest like myself, or from the East Coast, West Coast, or the Canadian plains (lots of Western Canadians here).

I've gotten that sensation, too, from people from there I've known and when I've been there. (I did not get a good feeling in Boulder, though, as granolas pretend to be so liberal, but are actually very rigid and smug -- their list of "shoulds" is much longer than most peoples). I hear Denver is often used as a "test market" because the cross-section is "extreme" so it really represents the US pop. I've often questioned if the cultural amenities are very good, though. The one thing that I don't think I could handle is the extreme dryness which creates a lot of nasal problems for me, so I like a mild dose of humidity to keep me out of pain. Another thing that keeps Denverites upbeat is 300 days of sunshine, compared to less than 100 in Seattle..is it any wonder northwesterners are so morose?

[Robert Hall]

I've gotten that sensation, too, from people from there I've known and when I've been there. (I did not get a good feeling in Boulder, though, as granolas pretend to be so liberal, but are actually very rigid and smug -- their list of "shoulds" is much longer than most peoples). I hear Denver is often used as a "test market" because the cross-section is "extreme" so it really represents the US pop. I've often questioned if the cultural amenities are very good, though. The one thing that I don't think I could handle is the extreme dryness which creates a lot of nasal problems for me, so I like a mild dose of humidity to keep me out of pain. Another thing that keeps Denverites upbeat is 300 days of sunshine, compared to less than 100 in Seattle..is it any wonder northwesterners are so morose?

The dryness takes some getting used to..I have to use humidifiers at home...I'm more prone to nosebleeds here than when I lived in the Midwest...I love the sunshine. A friend of mine moved back to the NW (Portland) a couple of years because he & his wife found it too sunny and dry here. As far as cultural amenities, there is enough for my interests...plenty of live music (both local and national bands) and movie theatres.and the art museum has a new wing. Though it's definitely not a San Francisco or LA as far as the arts, etc. Lots of food choices in Denver, Boulder and the burbs, plenty enough to keep a foodie like myself happy..