( Edward Snowden, 29, revealed himself as the analyst who leaked documents on a massive government surveillance program. (WP))
**************
When Senators Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders are on the same page, we should take notice.
They are both on the same page in describing the NSA’s mega data
mining of phone numbers and locations; and in the storing of internet
emails and social network information.
They consider it a civil liberties threat; and an undermining of the 4th A.
Sen. Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Cmt., argues
that this NSA collection is legal, and has the approval of the
leadership of Congress.(
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-sen-dianne-feinstein-rep-mike-rogers/story?id=19343314#.UbSyckpcGKI)
********************
Feinstein argues that the phone chats are not listened to, and the
web entries are not perused unless the government goes to the
Intelligence Court for approval.
But that is a small , rather meaningless, safeguard.
The case to the Court is presented by the government; and there is no
adversary proceeding…no defense lawyer arguing not to open the web
entries or listening to the phone chats.
Liberal NYT’s columnist Paul Krugman suggests that there are two
different possible surveillance states..a democratic one and an
authoritarian one.
The NSA data collection is the latter.
How long are the phone chats alive…able to be listened to?
You can combine this with cameras almost everywhere; small drones
making flights over the cities in the future (with cameras looking at
all of us); and the future google glasses that can photo everyone on the
street; and you have the perfect Orwellian surveillance storm.
Foreign , and domestic, evildoers, bad guys and gals, need to be monitored.
And in our advance information era, they can’t resort to smoke signals or pony express (or can they?).
Our Bill of Rights are important elements of our freedoms; and the 4th Amend. is one of the most important ones.
I’m not an evildoer, but the NSA data mining does raise concern.
Fox’s O’Reilly has his shorts all twisted on this issue.
He exclaims, loudly, that if a husband calls Rosy’s Massage Parlor for
an appointment, the data on the call is stored in the NSA huge data
bank.
So he says we should be afraid, really afraid.
Big Bill is engaging in hyperbole.
The husband’s wife could not petition NSA to tell her what the Rosy calls by her husband are all about.
Oh, I suppose the wife could walk into the Intelligence Court and ask that the calls become transparent.
The Justices would tell her to leave (LOL).
In some ways, this issue can be considered a women’s issue.
How so, you exclaim?
It is because polls have shown that females make more phone calls than males.
And here is a somewhat apropos joke:
The husband shouts out to his wife that he swatted several flies in the kitchen….3 females and 4 males.
The wife yells back, how can you tell the sex of a fly?
The husband informs her that the 3 females were on the phone; and the 4 males were on a beer can.
**************
When Senators Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders are on the same page, we should take notice.
They are both on the same page in describing the NSA’s mega data mining of phone numbers and locations; and in the storing of internet emails and social network information.
They consider it a civil liberties threat; and an undermining of the 4th A.
Sen. Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Cmt., argues that this NSA collection is legal, and has the approval of the leadership of Congress.(http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-sen-dianne-feinstein-rep-mike-rogers/story?id=19343314#.UbSyckpcGKI)
********************
Feinstein argues that the phone chats are not listened to, and the web entries are not perused unless the government goes to the Intelligence Court for approval.
But that is a small , rather meaningless, safeguard.
The case to the Court is presented by the government; and there is no adversary proceeding…no defense lawyer arguing not to open the web entries or listening to the phone chats.
Liberal NYT’s columnist Paul Krugman suggests that there are two different possible surveillance states..a democratic one and an authoritarian one.
The NSA data collection is the latter.
How long are the phone chats alive…able to be listened to?
You can combine this with cameras almost everywhere; small drones making flights over the cities in the future (with cameras looking at all of us); and the future google glasses that can photo everyone on the street; and you have the perfect Orwellian surveillance storm.
Foreign , and domestic, evildoers, bad guys and gals, need to be monitored.
And in our advance information era, they can’t resort to smoke signals or pony express (or can they?).
Our Bill of Rights are important elements of our freedoms; and the 4th Amend. is one of the most important ones.
I’m not an evildoer, but the NSA data mining does raise concern.
Fox’s O’Reilly has his shorts all twisted on this issue.
He exclaims, loudly, that if a husband calls Rosy’s Massage Parlor for an appointment, the data on the call is stored in the NSA huge data bank.
So he says we should be afraid, really afraid.
Big Bill is engaging in hyperbole.
The husband’s wife could not petition NSA to tell her what the Rosy calls by her husband are all about.
Oh, I suppose the wife could walk into the Intelligence Court and ask that the calls become transparent.
The Justices would tell her to leave (LOL).
In some ways, this issue can be considered a women’s issue.
How so, you exclaim?
It is because polls have shown that females make more phone calls than males.
And here is a somewhat apropos joke:
The husband shouts out to his wife that he swatted several flies in the kitchen….3 females and 4 males.
The wife yells back, how can you tell the sex of a fly?
The husband informs her that the 3 females were on the phone; and the 4 males were on a beer can.