On Jan 4, 2006, at 23:23, Martha Krieg wrote:
It's quite possible that the person who sent the joke wasn't even thinking about political paranoia. Maybe the joke just didn't fit their general comfort level for public exposure?
Even if reduced to initials, as I always forward my jokes? I have several -different - sources which share the same initials. I *try* to remember to add I, II or III in those cases but don't always...
I've been politically concerned about writing certain things to people abroad, if I planned to visit those countries (assuming that the mail might be read over there), but I doubt I'd be concerned that the electro-snoops are looking for risqué jokes...
According to the news, the pattern of the snooping went thus: they observed the international e-correspondence and phone conversations of suspects (and no one knows who's a "suspect", or on what basis). At first. But the list of "suspects" kept growing; everyone who was contacted by a suspect, became a suspect to be watched. So it was simpler to view all transimissions at the source (providers), then trying to hunt and peck (or peek). And the collected info -- even if collected by mistake, even if the original suspect has been proven to be a dead end -- is never erased. How else would Greenpeace or Catholic relief workers end up on the spied-upon lists?
Sure, they're not looking for risque jokes (but I send political ones, too <g>)... But they are looking for locations from which/to which such transmissions are made; some locations are more suspicious than others. Since one has totally no control over the location of the transmitter, at least in e-mail (a lot of spam comes from "suspect" areas), one can be netted in the suspect web very easily. Personally, I don't give a d... about surveillance; I grew up in a totalitarian regime and I have my fingerprints registered here same as I had there. But, for Americans, it may be a rude awakening...
When I was 6 or 7, Warsaw hosted a "Youth Festival"; only political friends were invited as delegates, naturally :) I made "friends" (as much as a small child can make friends with a 20yr old, and that through an interpreter) with a young man from India and, for a year or so, we corresponded -- my Mother's friend translated my letters into English and his into Polish. All his letters came opened. All my letters were delivered to the PO open -- the clerk read them, then licked the envelope's edge to close it... But, at least, we *knew* it was being done.
I think it's easier to tolerate totalitarian-type surveillance when one expects it.
-- Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
