Merkel calls Obama about 'US spying on her phone'

[rotary]

If I was a betting man I would bet that Obama was a stranger to the truth when he denied snooping

[mrdome]

Can you just imagine how the US would react if it were the other way around!?

[Credo]

Can you just imagine how the US would react if it were the other way around!?

And you think they don't spy?

[Briggsy]

I would be surprised if every government is not monitoring anything and everything it possibly can.

[churchill]

I would be surprised if every government is not monitoring anything and everything it possibly can.

Perhaps but 'Only Fools get caught "

[PeterSmiles]

I would be surprised if every government is not monitoring anything and everything it possibly can.

Perhaps but 'Only Fools get caught "

Fools and those who don't know the limits.

[Credo]

There are no limits until you get caught.

[LawrenceChee]

Disgusting behavior of a world bully !

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[folium]

Disgusting behavior of a world bully !

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What have the Chinese done now?....whoops thought I was someone else for a moment!

[LawrenceChee]

Disgusting behavior of a world bully !

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What have the Chinese done now?....whoops thought I was someone else for a moment!

Hahahah you get the drift ...writing like this seems irresponsible but fun !

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[Basil B]

Of course Angela knew the Americans had tapped David's and Francois's phones

Of course Francois knew the Americans had tapped Angela's and David's Phones

Of course David knew the Americans had tapped Angel's and Francois's Phones

So why are they so shocked...

[sustento]

Mrs Merkel made news in technology area a year ago - ordering couple of thousands BlackBerry mobiles for her administration.

She admires BlackBerry for their security features - encrypted massage system for example....

I wonder.....NSA already gone through it?

There was a piece on the BBC news today. Some German security firm has developed encrypted voice hardware which is being deployed to German Federal government mobile phones at the moment.

[Saradoc1972]

Can you just imagine how the US would react if it were the other way around!?

And you think they don't spy?

I wouldn't be too afraid of our Bundesnachrichtendienst... they are hardly 5000 guys altogether.

Germany has deep-rooted problems with surveillance and clandestine operations by the state as such (don't mention the war now). They are probably tied up spying on China, the Middle-East and some other countries with which Germany is enjoying good relations where their presence causes far less suspicion than anyone with an Anglo-Saxon background and trading that info for warnings against those many many (4) terrorist-plots against Germany however remote those plots were from being put into action.

[Jingthing]

Never happened ...

Edited October 24, 2013 by Jingthing

[Saradoc1972]

This is actually all a bit on the droll side...

I don't suppose too many users here have been following the NSA affair in Germany.

Our beloved Chancellor Merkel did what she does best, i.e. ignore the matter. She was not so much refuting what Snowden had brought up but more like sticking her fingers in her ears and going "lalalalala".

Foreign Minister got sent over to the US to an intelligence meeting scheduled much earlier and "demanded answers", to which he got told all was hunky-dory and the relevant documents needed to be declassified first.

Some magazines here printed cartoons of him sitting next to General Alexander being told "Listen up, it's all perfect and that's what you'll report home".

In August the Intelligence Committee chair told the press whatever some Mr. Snowden had said had been found unbased in light of the wholehearted American explanations, and unilaterally declared the scandal to be over in the sort of press-conference where some official gives a 2 minute speech and then turns on his heels allowing no questions. Opposition could bark as much as it wanted.

NOW, that it's Merkels own mobile phone....

We got cabaret artists over here that accuse her of having no opinion at all, but when she is standing in front of an angry crowd she'll turn round and declare the protesters to be backing her new position.

Edited October 24, 2013 by Saradoc1972

[ToddWeston]

Mrs Merkel made news in technology area a year ago - ordering couple of thousands BlackBerry mobiles for her administration.

She admires BlackBerry for their security features - encrypted massage system for example....

I wonder.....NSA already gone through it?

There was a piece on the BBC news today. Some German security firm has developed encrypted voice hardware which is being deployed to German Federal government mobile phones at the moment.

Next week the BBC will report a lot of American sightings at Bletchley

[sustento]

Mrs Merkel made news in technology area a year ago - ordering couple of thousands BlackBerry mobiles for her administration.

She admires BlackBerry for their security features - encrypted massage system for example....

I wonder.....NSA already gone through it?

There was a piece on the BBC news today. Some German security firm has developed encrypted voice hardware which is being deployed to German Federal government mobile phones at the moment.

Next week the BBC will report a lot of American sightings at Bletchley

It actually sounded quite interesting. It was carried on an SD card inserted (ooooer!) into a smartphone. I've been thinking about buying a pair for me and the boyfriend...

[Saradoc1972]

Mrs Merkel made news in technology area a year ago - ordering couple of thousands BlackBerry mobiles for her administration.

She admires BlackBerry for their security features - encrypted massage system for example....

I wonder.....NSA already gone through it?

There was a piece on the BBC news today. Some German security firm has developed encrypted voice hardware which is being deployed to German Federal government mobile phones at the moment.

Next week the BBC will report a lot of American sightings at Bletchley

Angie got hers a month ago, which probably why the US proudly and succinctly declared not to be monitoring her mobile presently.

[Baloo22]

Wait a minute here. I seem to remember Obama touring Europe and huge crowds of Europeans looking on with adoring eyes and cooing sweet praise. Ohhhh! Ahhhhhh! They even went and gave him a Nobel Peace Prize for doing .......ahhhh?....hummmmm? Well, nothing at all, really!!!

It aptly demonstrated that, not only the U.S, but Europe also possessed a large number of people lacking critical thinking skills and stupid enough to buy into the schtick of the smooth-talking snake oil salesman.

So, now, when I hear about any Europeans complaining to Obama; Sorry, my sympathy generator is busted !!

[Saradoc1972]

Wait a minute here. I seem to remember Obama touring Europe and huge crowds of Europeans looking on with adoring eyes and cooing sweet praise. Ohhhh! Ahhhhhh! They even went and gave him a Nobel Peace Prize for doing .......ahhhh?....hummmmm? Well, nothing at all, really!!!

It aptly demonstrated that, not only the U.S, but Europe also possessed a large number of people lacking critical thinking skills and stupid enough to buy into the schtick of the smooth-talking snake oil salesman.

So, now, when I hear about any Europeans complaining to Obama; Sorry, my sympathy generator is busted !!

Let's just say Europeans, Germans probably most prominently so, can be a bit infantile about US elections and Democratic presidents.

US elections are very closely followed here for reasons best known to the media and seen as epic battles between good and evil. The Republican candidate is invariably the "evil" guy, especially after George W. Hence Obama tended to be seen much like bat's piss* for having so far failed to start new wars even when under pressure for national politics and with his drone wars staying largely under the radar.

That is apparently now changing as US politics are being brought to Europeans' front doors and they don't like them.

* a shaft of golden light in utter darkness

[corkythecat]

I think those who are not being spied upon will wish they were significant enough

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[Saradoc1972]

I think those who are not being spied upon will wish they were significant enough

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Apparently nobody is left out. Sadly, I'm not feeling more important now.

[hanno]

Just saw on BBC that the US spied on 35 top politicians worldwide.....

[Baloo22]

Wait a minute here. I seem to remember Obama touring Europe and huge crowds of Europeans looking on with adoring eyes and cooing sweet praise. Ohhhh! Ahhhhhh! They even went and gave him a Nobel Peace Prize for doing .......ahhhh?....hummmmm? Well, nothing at all, really!!!

It aptly demonstrated that, not only the U.S, but Europe also possessed a large number of people lacking critical thinking skills and stupid enough to buy into the schtick of the smooth-talking snake oil salesman.

So, now, when I hear about any Europeans complaining to Obama; Sorry, my sympathy generator is busted !!

Let's just say Europeans, Germans probably most prominently so, can be a bit infantile about US elections and Democratic presidents.

US elections are very closely followed here for reasons best known to the media and seen as epic battles between good and evil. The Republican candidate is invariably the "evil" guy, especially after George W. Hence Obama tended to be seen much like bat's piss* for having so far failed to start new wars even when under pressure for national politics and with his drone wars staying largely under the radar.

That is apparently now changing as US politics are being brought to Europeans' front doors and they don't like them. * a shaft of golden light in utter darkness

"Let's just say Europeans, Germans probably most prominently so, can be a bit infantile about US elections and Democratic presidents."

I certainly agree with that 1000% !! But they shouldn't feel too bad about it. As demonstrated last year, we had enough clueless people to vote Obama into another four years!

One other really neat thing about all this faux outrage. Does anybody think that the intelligence services of Germany, Great Britain, France, etc do not also tap in, and record, the communications of anybody that they have the technology/ability to do so? Including official agencies and persons of other countries. If anybody thinks that, they are dumber than a bag of rocks! It's just that those countries have not had their "Snowden Moment" yet. It will come!

Also,

[Saradoc1972]

"Let's just say Europeans, Germans probably most prominently so, can be a bit infantile about US elections and Democratic presidents."

I certainly agree with that 1000% !! But they shouldn't feel too bad about it. As demonstrated last year, we had enough clueless people to vote Obama into another four years!

One other really neat thing about all this faux outrage. Does anybody think that the intelligence services of Germany, Great Britain, France, etc do not also tap in, and record, the communications of anybody that they have the technology/ability to do so? Including official agencies and persons of other countries. If anybody thinks that, they are dumber than a bag of rocks! It's just that those countries have not had their "Snowden Moment" yet. It will come!

Also,

I cannot hope to comment on the merits of Obama being re-elected as only little of US internal politics spills over here. Obamacare, FEMA screwing up over a hurricane, gun control+Jim Carrey, end of story. Merkel just got voted into another four years, how's that? Anyway it's not Obama who invented the present spying apparatus, but he went along with it. As I said dividing aspiring presidents into good and evil is a bit infantile, it makes no difference at all who comes into power.

To the point: A little friendly spying among nations is not the problem. The problem is when someone is overdoing it. Big time.

Some nation spying on embassies and government/supranational institutions is one thing. Big whoop, they're being spied on, why on earth have they been using encryption for decades? That revelation would have been a storm in a teacup. Actually the US were accused of spying on the UN round 2000 or so and some diplomats there stated they would feel insulted if they were not subjected to spying. Affair over within the week, the UN and some members barking a little.

Businesses also know they might be targeted and take precautions if they know what's good for them. Germans/Swiss/Austrians can be very touchy here as they have little else to sell apart from know-how and high-tech. Little natural resources to sell around here.

I am personally very critical of Merkel's handling of the Snowden-affair so far, when it "just" seemed to relate to the general public, I refer to my above posts. The not-so-faux outrage now is more about discovering that your "partner-nation" has developed technologies you cannot presently hope to counter and is using them against you. It's like your neighbouring country got itself the nuke and now you need to get it, too (So many keywords... I'm, sure this thread now has a new follower in the US )

It feels threatening and invites countermeasures. Our good Mr. Snowden's revelations were not so new to Russia and China, they started developing national OS years ago to get away from Windows as that is seen to be too vulnerable being US software. So, starting with Brasil, there is now going to be a wave of national internet and telco segments, which promotes censorship according to national flavour. I don't like that outlook a bit.

Snowden was heavily criticized for having taken refuge in Russia, because of Russia being "evil" like China and not respecting civil liberties and press freedom. If now the US doesn't abide by civil liberties such as privacy, side-steps rule of law through secret courts, secret laws, secret orders, where does that leave you?

If all this spying causes outrage among US-Americans and US lawmakers (or at least more than half of those) why should there be no outrage abroad?

[Baloo22]

Disgusting behavior of a world bully !

You can bet that the intelligence services of Germany, France, Great Britain, and every other country that has the ability is doing the exact same thing! The only ones surprised by this are the totally clueless !! News Flash--> It's what national intelligence services do!!

It's like you ( and other clueless ones) go to a pond. You see some fish swimming in the water and start screaming;

" Look! Those fish are swimming in water! Oh my god!! Astounding! Outrageous! Shocking! Alert the media! "

[Credo]

I am pretty sure much of this hand-wringing is simply because it made it into the mainstream media. You can bet that most leaders are quite careful about phone tapping and what they say. You can bet they know someone either is listening or is trying.

If you remember even the UK Royal family had phones tapped by the newspapers.

[LawrenceChee]

Disgusting behavior of a world bully !

  

You can bet that the intelligence services of Germany, France, Great Britain, and every other country that has the ability is doing the exact same thing!    The only ones surprised by this are the totally clueless !!     News Flash--> It's what national intelligence services do!!   

 

It's like you ( and other clueless ones) go to a pond.  You see some fish swimming in the water and start screaming;

 

"  Look!  Those fish are swimming in water!   Oh my god!!    Astounding!   Outrageous!   Shocking!   Alert the media! "

You should follow some of the Chinese thread and know this is not my normal tone or postings ...but I been told the words "bullies" and "disgusting " are sensational reporting that is irresponsible and fun ...so I was trying it out :-)

Glad to see it really gets attention ..hahahahah

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[Scott]

LawrenceChee, you've done a very good job of getting attention and making your point with facts and level-headed posts. There are a lot of people who admire your stance, your tenacity and your ability to stay calm and focused.

[Morakot]

Obama defends hiring Rupert Murdoch after Angela Merkel’s phone hacked

Evening Harold (In Quaz Nos Confidimus), by ollieperks | October 24, 2013 · 11:00 am

President Obama defended hiring Rupert Murdoch as his communications officer after it emerged the US may have been hacking Angela Merkel’s phone. President Obama had phoned the German Chancellor to discuss the issue and left a message, however she has denied receiving it. But Obama is adamant he left the message on her voicemail.

http://eveningharold.com/2013/10/24/obama-defends-hiring-rupert-murdoch-after-angela-merkels-phone-hacked/

Edited October 25, 2013 by Morakot