Confiscating the Phone Records of US Citizens

[Red Arrow]

I hadn't thought about it, but rarely ever actually talk on my cell phone anymore. 

I fixed your statement to my situation except that I don't have a data plan and don't use my phone for data.  I don't feel the need to be "connected" 24/7  unless that is 24 minutes, 7 times in a decade.

[AquaMan]

Rebound, you may be missing a lot of fun watching practices and conversing with the other parents. Recently I drove past LaFortune park where kids and parents used to play. Now I notice the parents, teenagers and a lot of grade school kids sitting at the park texting. Same thing at Riverparks. A few kids swinging by themselves. If we could make the parks a wi-fi hotspot we could save money by letting the swings and slides rust away!

[patric]

Some sobering graphs from Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/12/10/this-is-how-often-your-phone-company-hands-data-over-to-law-enforcement


And the fairgrounds doesnt surprise me, family living nearby mention they go from 5 bars to nothing at times during the fair.

[Vashta Nerada]

The only way to save America is to make it the Soviet Union:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2013/12/27/judge-rules-nsa-phone-surveillance-legal/WaF4dgUZoZFdsCfYAWZoAO/story.html

Citing the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal judge ruled Friday that the National Security Agency's bulk collection of all telephone records is legal, a valuable tool in the nation's arsenal to fight terrorism that ''only works because it collects everything.''

[patric]

"Our investigation found that bulk collection of American phone metadata has had no discernible impact on preventing acts of terrorism and only the most marginal of impacts on preventing terrorist-related activity, such as fundraising for a terrorist group"
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-13/nsa-phone-data-has-no-discernible-impact-on-terrorism-report

"The Government does not cite a single instance in which analysis of the NSA's bulk metadata collection actually stopped an imminent attack, or otherwise aided the Government in achieving any objective that was time-sensitive in nature."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/13/262098004/review-of-terrorism-cases-finds-nsa-spying-helped-very-little

[heironymouspasparagus]

So....is Snowden a great American hero yet??


The RWRE made one of Oliver North, so Snowden ought to be considered at least ahero even if not great American hero....

[patric]

So....is Snowden a great American hero yet??
The RWRE made one of Oliver North, so Snowden ought to be considered at least a hero even if not great American hero....

Perhaps not necessarily hero, but he served his country (whether or not his country wants to admit it).

[Gaspar]

Watched the president's speech on changes in the NSA.  It was amazingly tedious and nuanced, and absolutely pointless.  He took a long time, using the infuriating phrase "let me be clear" several times, to say absolutely nothing.  He used China and the Soviet Union's past and current intelligence practices to justify what the NSA is doing. He even said "Don't be mad at us because we do it better." It was a BS speech from start to finish.

Basically what it amounted to is YES we've been spying on citizens and foreigners, YES James Clapper obviously lied to congress, YES we will continue to spy on you, but we're going to "take steps" to store the information in a different way.  He kept using the phrase "I'm calling for this, and I'm calling for that."  pancakes! There is nothing to "call for."

The NSA, like the FBI and the CIA, fall under executive jurisdiction, meaning that if the president wants to change or stop the broad spying practices of the agency, all he needs to do is order such. Why does he continue to treat the American public like idiots?  Some of us are not his followers, and as such, we understand how our government works.

He's asking congress to get involved in some manner, meaning PUNT!  This guy hates to make decisions.  He hates responsibility.  What an unmitigated failure.

If Snowden had done anything, it has been to expose this president as even more of a hypocritical political puppet.

EDIT: Actually forgot to mention my favorite part. . . Obama attempted to justify NSA spying by comparing the NSA to the historical actions of Paul Revere.

Dear Mr. President,
Paul Revere's intelligence committee in Boston was created for citizens to gather intelligence on their own government. Fool!

Sorry, but it was like he was giving a speech to a bunch of ten year olds.

Embarrassing.

[Gaspar]

The teleprompter that got him elected is very different from the one he reads from today.

[patric]

Basically what it amounted to is YES we've been spying on citizens and foreigners, YES James Clapper obviously lied to congress, YES we will continue to spy on you, but we're going to "take steps" to store the information in a different way.  He kept using the phrase "I'm calling for this, and I'm calling for that."  pancakes! There is nothing to "call for."

"(Obama's) own White House panel, as well as a federal court judge ... both said there is zero evidence – zero – that this metadata program is actually effective in stopping any terrorist plots"

http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/17/greenwald-obama-nsa-speech-nsa-spying

So when you also consider that many of the programs Snowden exposed were in use BEFORE 9/11 (under various names) as well as the Boston Bombing...

[Gaspar]

"(Obama's) own White House panel, as well as a federal court judge ... both said there is zero evidence – zero – that this metadata program is actually effective in stopping any terrorist plots"

http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/17/greenwald-obama-nsa-speech-nsa-spying

So when you also consider that many of the programs Snowden exposed were in use BEFORE 9/11 (under various names) as well as the Boston Bombing...

Yes, but it is an excellent tool to gather information necessary to win elections!

[Gaspar]

For all of those who thought we would never become "that country," now we are!

As Diane Feinstein said on Meet the Press yesterday:

"New bombs are being devised. New terrorists are emerging, new groups, actually, a new level of viciousness," Feinstein said. "We need to be prepared." . . ."Because the whole purpose of this program is to provide instantaneous information, to be able to disrupt any plot that may be taking place," Feinstein said.

Yet they admit they have not been able to use any of this information for such.  That would lead a logical person to conclude that they are using it for something else. The power to know what everyone is saying, where everyone is going, and how everyone lives their lives is intoxicating, I'm sure!

Our president claims "we are going to store it somewhere else" yet construction on the 1.5 billion dollar NSA storage facility "Bumblehive" continues.

[patric]

Yes, but it is an excellent tool to gather information necessary to win elections!

Such an under-utilization would reek of ineptitude.
You are more likely to find that data as a commodity traded among agencies like ATF, DEA, IRS etc.

When you read about some lucky cop just happening to make a random traffic stop where he just happens to cut open the gas tank and find a bazillion dollars worth of marijuana, well, thanks to Snowden we now have a better idea of how "Parallel Construction" (evidence laundering) works.

We are that country, now.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Such an under-utilization would reek of ineptitude.
You are more likely to find that data as a commodity traded among agencies like ATF, DEA, IRS etc.

When you read about some lucky cop just happening to make a random traffic stop where he just happens to cut open the gas tank and find a bazillion dollars worth of marijuana, well, thanks to Snowden we now have a better idea of how "Parallel Construction" (evidence laundering) works.

We are that country, now.

Hate to burst the bubble, but we have been that for a while...

[Gaspar]

Hate to burst the bubble, but we have been that for a while...

Oh. You haven't burst my bubble, it's just disappointing that this all had to come to light under the current president.  Had it been Bush or any other Repub, the media would have turned it into a shitstorm and the public would be marching on Washington.  Unfortunately under the current administration the media is content to label it as a fake scandal, and the liberal half of the liberty-minded is content with saying "Oh, well.  It's always been this way. Our government is just looking out for us." 

I really wish Snowden had done his thing when Bush was president.

I seem to recall a past president being impeached, and resigning for recording conversations in a single room.