future america = communist russia / nazi germany?
sometimes i wonder at the future of this country...
some recent articles about the government's involvement with the internet / wiretapping / homeland security
US files motion to intervene in AT&T secrets case
summary :: when the US gov't petitioned both Online Search Engines(Google, Yahoo, MSN) and Telecommunication(AT&T, BellSouth, etc) for all information concerning searches queries, communication logs, and other personal information, these huge corporations more than happily abliged. Many people cried foul, saying that the gov't has no right to this information unless it had proof a crime has been committed, in which case a warrant must be attained to obtain the information. One organization, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a suit against these companies in order to gain some exposure to this issue and cause a stir in the political scene. It seems now that the US gov't has now filed a motion in the case against the EFF saying that the claim should be dimissed. No matter what you may think of this ("i'm not doing anything illegal, what do i care if they know who i called or what i search for"), this information can be construed and interpolated to attach you to situations you may have had nothing to do with.
US could access EU data retention information
summary :: the EU recently passed a very very controversial data-retention law that requires telecommunication companies in europe to store all information about all forms of communication for a extended length of time that would be open access for the gov'ts to search for "suspicious activity". under this law, the US may be able to obtain complete full access to these records, now allowing the US to not only spy on US citizens emails, text messages, instant chats, phone calls, etc... but all of the citizens of Europe.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
summary :: aided by the cooperation of US telecom corporations, AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, the NSA has been secretly collecting phone call records of tens of millions of Americans; the vast majority of whom aren't suspected of any crime. only Qwest refused to give the NSA information because they were uneasy about giving information to the government without the proper warrants. the usefulness of the NSA's domestic phone call database as a counterterrorism tool is unclear.
now, with all of these stories surfacing... think of all the things that have changed lately in washington. Bush has appointed 2 supreme court justices (the part of gov't that checks to see whether or not the other two branches have done anything illegal. Bush has appointed a new Department of Justice Attorney General to check the gov'ts legality... who is behind the search query suponeas to Google, Yahoo, AOL, and MSN. Bush has appointed a new director of the CIA (a civilian agency) who is a military general. on top of the controversial war in iraq, the failed hunt for bin laden, and a controversial NSA program... it seems as though the citizens of the US would be complaining, but these things aren't being covered by the larger news networks on television.
with such blanket issues as "child porn" and "terrorism", the gov't has been on a campaign to obtain as much information about their very own citizens activities, conversations, and communications than any other nation besides communist russia and nazi germany. Bush has already demonstrated his pro-war ideals by invading two countries and establishing a "free democracy" there.
don't peg me as anti-american though. i support our troops and truly wish for them to come home. i admire their jobs and dedication to this country. but if the men ordering them into battle from a bank of computers using information that was fabricated and construed for whatever purpose that has now been proven completely unaccurate, do we as citizens of this fine country not get protest for their safe return?
they are defending our freedom overseas while our own civil liberties and freedom at home as rotting away.
this gov't has been nothing but a cheap magician's act that is meant to draw our attention away from the true issue - america's freedom.
some recent articles about the government's involvement with the internet / wiretapping / homeland security
US files motion to intervene in AT&T secrets case
summary :: when the US gov't petitioned both Online Search Engines(Google, Yahoo, MSN) and Telecommunication(AT&T, BellSouth, etc) for all information concerning searches queries, communication logs, and other personal information, these huge corporations more than happily abliged. Many people cried foul, saying that the gov't has no right to this information unless it had proof a crime has been committed, in which case a warrant must be attained to obtain the information. One organization, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a suit against these companies in order to gain some exposure to this issue and cause a stir in the political scene. It seems now that the US gov't has now filed a motion in the case against the EFF saying that the claim should be dimissed. No matter what you may think of this ("i'm not doing anything illegal, what do i care if they know who i called or what i search for"), this information can be construed and interpolated to attach you to situations you may have had nothing to do with.
US could access EU data retention information
summary :: the EU recently passed a very very controversial data-retention law that requires telecommunication companies in europe to store all information about all forms of communication for a extended length of time that would be open access for the gov'ts to search for "suspicious activity". under this law, the US may be able to obtain complete full access to these records, now allowing the US to not only spy on US citizens emails, text messages, instant chats, phone calls, etc... but all of the citizens of Europe.
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
summary :: aided by the cooperation of US telecom corporations, AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, the NSA has been secretly collecting phone call records of tens of millions of Americans; the vast majority of whom aren't suspected of any crime. only Qwest refused to give the NSA information because they were uneasy about giving information to the government without the proper warrants. the usefulness of the NSA's domestic phone call database as a counterterrorism tool is unclear.
now, with all of these stories surfacing... think of all the things that have changed lately in washington. Bush has appointed 2 supreme court justices (the part of gov't that checks to see whether or not the other two branches have done anything illegal. Bush has appointed a new Department of Justice Attorney General to check the gov'ts legality... who is behind the search query suponeas to Google, Yahoo, AOL, and MSN. Bush has appointed a new director of the CIA (a civilian agency) who is a military general. on top of the controversial war in iraq, the failed hunt for bin laden, and a controversial NSA program... it seems as though the citizens of the US would be complaining, but these things aren't being covered by the larger news networks on television.
with such blanket issues as "child porn" and "terrorism", the gov't has been on a campaign to obtain as much information about their very own citizens activities, conversations, and communications than any other nation besides communist russia and nazi germany. Bush has already demonstrated his pro-war ideals by invading two countries and establishing a "free democracy" there.
don't peg me as anti-american though. i support our troops and truly wish for them to come home. i admire their jobs and dedication to this country. but if the men ordering them into battle from a bank of computers using information that was fabricated and construed for whatever purpose that has now been proven completely unaccurate, do we as citizens of this fine country not get protest for their safe return?
they are defending our freedom overseas while our own civil liberties and freedom at home as rotting away.
this gov't has been nothing but a cheap magician's act that is meant to draw our attention away from the true issue - america's freedom.