I shudder to think what Trump would do with this apparatus.
Hillary 2016!
I think the NSA is supposed to spy on foreign powers - or is that only CIA? Spying may be icky, but our leaders really do need to know what’s going on.
Maybe I’m used to the kind of threats that James Bond deals with, but I’m a little surprised that NSA is tasked with these subjects. Is this on behalf of oil companies and industrial trade groups? I thought NSA was supposed to spy on terrorists, Russians, and Dr. Evil. Man, I am naive.
No surprise. Everything is misappropriated to different uses as soon as it’s implemented. How anyone can consider climate change or trade as terrorism is beyond absurd, and definitely outside the function of the NSA.
Of course they do… That’s why the CIA was spying on Congress…Ooops… Wait… Nevermind…
Perhaps, but doesn’t it seem like their net is a little wide? Seems like they treat “allies” and “enemies” one-in-the-same.
Perhaps it has always been this way, but I think it’s good for the sphere of public discourse to admit that society is so fucked up at this point that there really is no concept of ally. Until we admit it there’s no way of figuring out if that’s acceptable or if we want to change it. (*)
(*) I personally think the system is so broken and corrupt that it can’t be fixed, but for the sake of argument (and continuing forward) you kind of have to act as if it can.
I look forward to hearing how this is all necessary to keep us safe 9/11 ISIL 9/11 9/11
I don’t understand, why DNA? What could they possibly use that for?
No. I’m unsure why people think the NSA’s mandate is limited to spying on terrorists. Probably because the idea of the war on terrorism has gone on for so long and as a narrative has so thoroughly permeated media coverage. But it has never, ever, ever been the case that the NSA is limited to terrorism.
There’s a saying in international relations, “there are no allies, only interests.” It’s a paraphrase, but you get the idea. Yes, it’s Kissinger, so if you view him as evil then the saying is taken with a massive grain of salt. But ultimately, it’s true. You can have common interests with a country, until at some point that country decides it no longer has a common interest with you. By and large, most leaders want to know when that will happen.
Clone army, duh.
Genetic profiling to more accurately predict lifespan and thus model succession scenarios.
Sure but you’d think that maybe in all of Germany there was a better prime.
That DNA sample was taken to Brazil.
Well played!
Oddly enough though several people I know in Germany have recently said they wish Merkel would just go away and retire on a beach, maybe Rio…
Exactly. Of the the top four countries that spy on the US two, Israel and France, are allies. And aggressive spying isn’t a recent thing either in the case of either country.
Everyone’s acting so surprised by this, but this is really completely standard operating procedure. How else is she supposed to get Ban Ki-moon to follow her every dark wish except by putting his DNA in a voodoo doll?
All this outrage over the most straightforward, practical way to rule the UN… I guess love for Realpolitik died in the cold war.
I’m pretty sure it has, at least since Elizabeth I. Gedankenexperiment:
Do we need to know what our allies are up to?
Are they beholden to reveal all secrets to us?
What then shall we do?
