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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: goldsnow who wrote (16096)	2/25/2000 5:45:00 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17770

Goldsnow, Thank you so much for enlighting us with some Marxist wisdom.... Marx is our prophet indeed! Here's yet another bone of contention between the U.S. and its (former?) EU ally: Thursday February 24 5:10 PM ET Europeans Shocked Over Spy Charge By CONSTANT BRAND Associated Press Writer BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Europeans reacted sharply Thursday to reports that a U.S.-led spy network snoops on billions of private phone calls, faxes and e-mails. Allegations that the bugging network is eavesdropping on Europe's businesses were unveiled Wednesday in a report commissioned by the European Parliament. Despite denials from governments named in the report, the head of the EU's assembly called for strong action. ``We have every reason to be shocked at the fact that this form of espionage, which has been going on for a number of years, has not prompted any official protest,' European Parliament Speaker Nicole Fontaine said. The report inspired demands for further investigation Thursday. European leaders called the report shocking and said people should to be wary about what they say electronically. ``It's like a technological nightmare extracted from the crazy conspiracy theories of the X-Files,' wrote the leading Portuguese daily Publico. The Dutch daily ``De Telegraaf' headlined its story: ``U.S. guilty of misuse of satellites.' The EU Commission has not said whether it will launch an investigation into the allegations, but commission officials said they are ``very concerned.' The U.S.-led intelligence group, called Echelon, also includes Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It was set up at the beginning of the Cold War in 1947 and gradually grew to include a network of surveillance-interception stations spread across the globe. An earlier report said firms in EU nations lose several billion dollars per year as a result of corporate espionage. Allegations that Echelon carries out such spying against fellow European allies have met with deep concern, especially from the French, who themselves are members of a wider intelligence ring connected to Echelon. [snip] fullcoverage.yahoo.com Now, do you get the picture?? I mean, the way this whole ECHELON humbug is currently hyped over and over throughout Continental Europe is really ludicrous! Here's what it comes down to if you spin it reductio ad absurdum: Why did Bill Gates successfully turn Microsoft into the world leader in desktop software? Why did Larry Ellison make Oracle the world leader in corporate DBMSs? Why is Hollywood the first movie industry in the world? Why is the US leading the charge in the IT revolution (ie the internet, e-commerce,...) before Europe and Japan? Why is the US the only space power that is running --for the last 20 years-- a reusable spaceship (the so-called space shuttle)? Why is the US the only country successfully tapping the world pool of the best and brightest scientific and artistic individuals? Why is the mass-market American Way of Life so successfully pervading all the other countries around the world (Mcdonald's, Coca-Cola, Nike, pop music, English vocabulary, etc.) Why are Wall Street bankers currently the leaders in the worldwide M&A maelstrom (Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan,...)? Finally, how did the US steal its technological lead from allegedly outsmarting competitors? What did you say??!? Because of the US's inner mobility and meritocracy? Because of its business-minded elites? Because of its corporations's frontier mentality? Because of Hollywood's market-driven rationale? Because of the Pentagon's hefty subsidies to the high-tech and aerospace industries? NO, NO, No, No, no, no, no!! YOU GODDAM FOOL! IT'S BECAUSE OF YOUR ECHELON GEAR! Echelon allowed all the aforementioned slouch enterprises to pump Europe's wiseacre-companies for critical (technological, managerial, financial, you name it!) know-how!!! That's why corporate America has been able to mop up the floor with all its competitors! That's why you Yankees are such jammy bastards! You diddled us with your hush-hush Echelon.... Jesus!