Surveillance In America

[ThomWV]

Not so very long ago the madman who led a large nation became intent on destroying his internal enemies, all of them. He killed millions He was not the first of his kind. The man I am thinking of was Stalin. Using criteria of his own making Stalin singled out and murdered millions of his countrymen and women.

Were these times those you would have done enough by reading this page to have earned execution. Were then now you would have left a trail right to your door if you posted a response. Consider what can easily be found out about you. The state of your health, mental and physical, as well as a list any behavior changing drugs you might have had prescribed - now or ever. Your financial life, past and present, with assessments and ratings by professionals. Every legal dealing you have ever had, every tax you have ever paid, all the bills and receipts of your life in electronic form can be, and are, combed daily by Agencies of Government who's names are disguised by acronyms you have never heard. School transcripts and the list of organizations you have belonged to over the years tell a story too. You have been photographed more in the last 48 hours than your grandfather was in his entire life. Cameras watched you at every traffic signal, the GPS in your cell phone tracked you across the face of the earth and your "On-Star" listened in on every word you said. The NSA captured every digital bit of it, zero, by one, by zero. All reports have it that the NSA's ability to sort information is astounding, Senators have quaked when informed.

You know, this really does have to stop.

Maybe its time we had a good public discussion on the individual's right to privacy. What do you think?

[Zodiak]

1. I think the discussion will go nowhere

We do not get to decide these things....the government does.

They won't even tell us what they are doing now, but they cannot trip over themselves fast enough to give even more surveillance power to themselves. People don't want to be spied on, but what difference does that make? What the people want became anecdotal long ago.

There is no debate...there will never BE a debate.

You do not have privacy rights...this is not the country you grew up in.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

2. I thought we've been trying to have that discussion for a long time.

But certain groups in this nation are driven by fear instead of common sense. They claim to need the information gathered. Is this the same group that wants smaller government? Is this the same group that wants freedom? I say they have no faith in their own principals.

[mdmc]

3. no rights

none