Here's a bit of fun:
Some dumb fuck with a crew cut will be reading this up in Yorkshire today, thanks to the title of the post.
I just want to say "Fuck off. You are not welcome here."
Today's subject is the delightful Menwith Hill NSA listening station just outside Harrogate in Yorkshire.
This - if you can't be arsed to click the link - is the world's largest electronic monitoring station, run by the NSA and responsible for "the signals intelligence and communications security activities of the US government".
Ever wonder where your emails go?
Ever wonder what that faint click was on your phone?
In total violation of EU civil liberties legislation and basic common decency, the NSA use Menwith Hill to monitor private (yes, private) telephone conversations, mobile conversations, emails and faxes plus a whole lot more, listening out for key words such as "bomb" or "bush"
(in my more radical days I would often include the word "bomb" in email titles to make sure they read it, on the assumption that if enough people did that, the twats would eventually get bored and fuck off home to America).
We have demonstrated and lobbied against this outrageous violation of civil liberties (and EU law), but to no avail. Menwith Hill is unaccountable, unlawful and undemocratic and amazingly, very few people seem to be aware of its existence.
I can understand why they needed the nearby Fylingdales early warning radar station during the cold war (though that is now being upgraded to become part of the farcical Star Wars defence shield), but Menwith Hill is illegal and immoral.
In case you think they're not listening to you, they constantly monitor all European post, telephone and telegraph signals, together with mobile communications and such corporations as ITT and RCA in the US.
Say "Hi" to them next time you call anyone.
Then tell them to fuck off.
Now you know.
23 comments:
Oh. As GG is currently on blogbreak and has disabled comments on her site, I'll comment here (on the offchance she checks in).
Hey, GG. Looks like a great night out. Nice shot of Rainbow Bridge. And that food has got me drooling in my keyboard.
Enjoy your break.
Who gave the NSA permission to position themselves there in the first place?
I know a guy who was something like second in command of the NSA during the Vietman War. The organization is a monster. My neighbor, the retired CIA spy in the Soviet Union, once described it for me by saying the CIA is like a finger nail compared to the NSA which is more like a big giant house in comparison--you had to be there to understand the analogy.
It used to be an RAF radar station but the NSA took it over in the nineties and now won't even tell the government what it is doing there.
Hi, NSA guys, by the way. While you're listening to us, we are watching you.
Just so you know.
and also i believe this is done from GCHQ in Cheltenham? I've often wondered about the clicking on my phone but then the work (legitimate and admirable) my man does involves some such 'sensitive' shall we say words quite often, just in discussing our respective days and how things have gone. Nothing too confidential, just what we did today. My contents are pretty damned boring it has to be said (wonder how interested that lot get in my cleaning out cupboards and writing news stories about golden weddings?), his are a bit more ... interesting. lol.
yes i went to GG too but disabled comments turn me off. (lol)
GCHQ are a bunch of amateurs in comparison and, even with Bliar running roughshod over civil rights law, are still relatively harmless. The NSA occasionally let GCHQ have some snippets of information from Menwith Hill but keep almost all of their activities there secret for our own government.
Wankers!
Well Dive I am sure you can figure out my response top your post. I don't give fuck who listens to what. IF it means that some terrorist somewhere is stopped from doing his dirty work, so be it. It DOESN'T affect me. I have had no negative experiences with the Patriot Act, wire taping or whatever because I am not doing anything illegal. So, no skin off my nose really. It does not impact my life in any way, shape or form.
This really happens? The sickos!
There isn't anything like that round here, but "sting operations" are quite the rage, thanks to news channels. That's a gross invasion of privacy as well.
Hee hee. Hi, there Prudence.
I love having a good honest Republican around to balance me up.
The "Patriot" Act doesn't apply over here and all that stuff is totally illegal outside of the US border. We would be extremely happy (and our stupid government a whole lot less embarrassed) if the NSA were to move all their stuff into their own yard.
Sorry, Utsav, but there IS stuff like that in your neck of the woods. The NSA take an unhealthy interest in India and China.
M. Divebomb / Divebush,
Most interressant post.
I thought that Pine Gap near Alice Springs was the biggest.
They certainly do the same spooky stuff.
If you speak to local people in Alice Springs, they have stories that would curl your whiskers, mate. There are also heaps of theories about it on the net, and sometimes, if you see a Starlifter flying in to Alice, the next day, a whole family including kids dog, letterbox, cadillac, fingerprints, etc. - just "never" existed !
I can give you the Google earth Coords if you like.
Back in the day, my sister and I used to say the following words as often as possible in phone conversations: bomb, Allah, drugs, Hi G-men, etc.
I'm grrrrrring for you.
Cool, MB.
And Americans wonder why the rest of the world hates them.
Cheers, Sassy. Good girl.
I'm rather complacent it has to be said, on this, a little like Dear Prudence. I'm innocent and frankly amused if they're listening to the inane minutiae of my day.
HOWEVER, and it's in caps as you see, lol, i'm totally with Dive: move it into your OWN back yard. How dare you? And Dive, i don't know much about all this and of course i know our government IS silly, but why do we let them stay here? Is it ONLY so that Blair has a BUSH venue to escape to in the hols?
Dive I can only say that perhaps they have, unknowing to you (UK) saved your asses from time to time. You don't know, I don't know and nobody probably ever will. I can only assume that the strategic placement in the UK is due to the fact more transmission can be picked up from your side of the pond-not the UK specifically but other more dangerous places. If it were in the US perhaps many transmission would be missed due to the distance. I am only speculating for sure as I am not A ROCKET SCIENTIST!I am just a girl who is willing to take whatever help from the GOV. in regards to my children’s safety as well as your own sweet ass!
Ps. on your comment to MB. Only the bleeding heart liberals care what the world thinks of the US. I don't. The USA is one of if not the largest contributor to the majority of global economies. Everyone is happy to take MY money and then they have the nerve to Piss In My Wheaties. FUCK OFF! If you don't like us, don't take our money.
Your modest and well deserved prize can now be collected at my Things UK blog Dive !
From Mme Benaut:
Having been laid low with illness for a day or so, I'm catching up in the wee small hours and just throw this comment in to the mix.
European countries may be able to defend themselves - they have NATO - but in Oz we are much more vulnerable and therefore are perhaps more appreciative of the US alliance - we have some interesting countries on our doorstep shall I say. Echelon has worked away for many, many years without so much as affecting our day to day lives. Having worked at one time, not so long ago, in foreign affairs, Dear P is right - much more goes on to protect our "sorry asses" than we will ever know and I for one, am grateful for that. Dive, some countries and indeed, individuals will always resent US intrusion but I don't and as they say, travel broadens the mind - with all these countrymen broading their minds - their world view, by definition, has to become moderated and less self-obsessed.
Rich, was that expletive for me?
Mme Benaut
Goodness no, Mme, i should think not! Rich wouldn't say that to a woman i feel sure. I think he was directly answering Dive's last line of his post.
PHEW, thanks Lynn! I'd hate to offend Rich, let alone Dive and of course he was responding to Dive's last line, economical with words is all he is.
Mme Benaut xx
Pru, I'm with you. I have nothing to hide, so what if they're listening. If it'll prevent another 9/11-type attack anywhere in the world, US or Europe or wherever (and the threat is not just to Americans, but to the Western world), I say let 'em. Just think how boring it must be to read everyone's drivel or eavesdrop on inane conversations all day.
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