Jason you say "Ultimately, there is nothing to fear really.". There is everything to fear and it is illegal.
Our founding fathers wanted to make sure we were protected from this type of thing by giving us the Bill of Rights.
Until we read and understand the Frederalist Papers, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights, we as a people will not know what a gift our founding fathers gave us and what power we really hold.
I submit to you that most of what the federal government is doing is unconstitutional. This is based on reading the constitution and then reading the 10th Amendment.
Freedom is not free. At this point it might take 2 hours a week from every citizen to return us to our rightful place. The cost will be mich higher in the future.
------------------------
Keith Smith
--- On Sun, 8/30/09, Jason Spatafore <
jason_online@spatafore.net> wrote:
> From: Jason Spatafore <jason_online@spatafore.net>
> Subject: Re: Politics/Ethics: Operation PinWale - Obama Administration Seeks Emergency Control of the Internet
> To: "Main PLUG discussion list" <plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us>
> Date: Sunday, August 30, 2009, 11:35 AM
> On Sun, 2009-08-30 at 09:53 -0700,
> Lisa Kachold wrote:
> > "While the details are unknown, credible evidence
> indicates that
> > billions of everyday communications of ordinary
> Americans are swept up
> > by government computers and run through a process that
> includes both
> > data-mining and review of content, to try to figure
> out whether any of
> > us were involved in illegal or terrorist-related
> activity. That means
> > that even the most personal and private of our
> electronic
> > communications–between doctors and patients, between
> husbands and
> > wives, or between children and parents–are subject
> to review by
> > computer algorithms programmed by government
> bureaucrats or by the
> > bureaucrats themselves. (Cindy Cohn, “Lawless
> Surveillance,
> > Warrantless Rationales,” American Constitution
> Society, August 17,
> > 2009)
>
> Yes, analytics is becoming a very strong force in the
> market and will
> continue to grow. Not only is the government monitoring
> your
> conversations but also private corporations are monitoring
> your
> activities. Turn off third party cookies in Firefox and
> you'll realize
> how much is actually being watched on all the common pages.
> Have you
> ever noticed your browser waiting for something from
> google-analytics to
> finish downloading (say, an invisible GIF?) before a page
> is fully
> loaded?
>
> Watching your emails is no different than watching your
> browser, and
> your online posts. The good news is that there is no
> centralized
> networking hubs that allow for all data to be analyzed due
> to the design
> of the Internet and it's nuclear holocaust protections.
> (And monitoring
> exit points outside our country is most-likely the goal of
> the USA's
> involvement here.)
>
> What will happen is that everybody will move to https, the
> "secure web".
> However, there will always be a way to crack and watch that
> and then
> httpss (super secure) will be born...etc. It's a
> game...always being
> played.
>
> As long as FUD can be played upon, people will be preyed
> upon.
>
> My opinion is simple...your government is just as scary as
> your
> corporations. Both of them take the same actions with
> different
> end-games. Governments spy for protection, corporations spy
> for profits.
> Unfortunately, governments are paid for my corporations so
> you can see
> how easily their goals are intertwined.
>
> Ultimately, there is nothing to fear really. People should
> read the
> short story my Marshall Brain called
> "MANNA" (http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm).
> It's almost
> "1984'ish" but shows how people need to learn to get the
> computer to
> work *for* people, not people working for the computer.
>
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