Posted on 06/09/2013 4:50:27 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
I think big govt. of any stripe is a huge mistake.Let’s go back to states rights dismantle big govt. and those who love chicago, la, nyc other hell holes let them have it.
The only data mining I ever heard of that sounded reasonable to me was what Col. Tony Shaffer did.
There is a problem with this logic. Let me give you an example:
Assume you have a known terrorist in Chechnya with the phone number 123-456-7890. You want to know who he is calling in the United States today. You might even want to know if anyone in Boston is being called.
There were one billion phone calls made in the U.S. today.
How do you find out who the terrorist called without looking at all 1 billion calls via a Google-like database search?
I'll give you the answer: You can't.
This is the problem in a nutshell. Either you want to find who the terrorist called or you don't. If you don't that's fine. No database search required and you can simply outlaw such searches. If you do, however, there is no escaping that search.
To me it seems like whatever happens in the last 4-6 weeks seem to have a huge overbearing influence on elections. Perhaps its when most LIV’s are finally paying attention.I guess the truth is we really don’t know which issues will stand the test of time and what will motivate voters one way or another so many are so flaky these days.
In an earlier post I predicted that Hayden would defend the program. I further predicted that the Freepers would turn against him as a result.
I was right on both counts.
But I'm curious. What did he say that you don't believe is true?
You do it the old-fashioned way. You get a warrant, and have that phone provider send you the records. And if you can provide enough evidence, you can probably get a wiretap as well.
I hope not but don’t rule anything out.
They do get get a warrant.
Let me give you another example: Who did the terrorist call 5 years ago on June 09, 2008? Can the phone company tell me? How about anytime in June of 2009. How about ever? Billions and billions of records. Are those kept indefinitely by the phone companies? Do they have the wherewithal to do the search?
I doubt it.
But Stephen B. Wicker, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University, said the practical distinction between the metadata of calls and their content is rapidly disappearing because of technological advances, such as GPS features in mobile phones.
“There is a blurring of the line between content and context,” said Mr. Wicker, whose research focuses on privacy issues in wireless information networks.
Using analytical software, the NSA could use mobile phones’ metadata over time to paint a picture of where their users went, who they talked to and what their habits were, Mr. Wicker said.
There are also reports that Internet data, credit card info, and other personal information are being collected. SCOTUS has just ruled the police can collect your DNA and put that in a national data base. Obamacare will soon be collecting our medical information.
We gave up the right to privacy over 100 years ago. NSA is a nit compared to the IRS.
I certainly did not vote to give up my right to privacy. The big difference between now and 100 years ago is technology. We now have the capability to capture and use such data using supercomputers. And there are much more data available today. Brave New World and 1984 are fast becoming a reality with cameras everywhere and facial recognition technology a reality along with the ubiquitous smart phone with all of its capabilities.
The technology has outpaced our ability to control it. We need to rethink public policy or we will wind up eventually living in a police state. No government can be trusted with that capability.
We are taking our eyes off the ball and that was the probably the plan. Note that we aren't talking much about the real Obama Scandals this week and we are seeing Obama defended by leading Republicans some of whom can in no way be classified as RINOs. I'd rather be talking about the IRS abuses myself. I continue to preach caution.
All of these scandals have a central thread, i.e., intrusive, lying government that has lost the trust of the people. Career government employees are taking sides with the Administration whether it is the State Department's cover-up with its ARB report or "rogue" IRS employees attacking the political opposition or the DOJ going after reporters or NSA collecting secretly data from the private sector. Whistle blowers are few and far between. Career government employees are willing accomplices. The courts have just become rubber stamps for the government's overreach.
IRS collects the data along with many other federal agencies. It appears that the full weight of the government can be brought to bear on a citizen simultaneously by a number of federal agencies. Consider the case of Katherine Englebrecht of True to Vote. She was attacked by the IRS, EPA, FBI, and ATF personally and against her business. Someone or some mechanism exists to orchestrate these efforts.
The IRS is just the tip of the iceberg. We have a government that has run amok trampling our individual liberties and establishing and expanding fearsome technological systems that present a great danger to this nation. Let's see the forest for the trees. This is much bigger than the IRS.
These morons aren't even using the good human intel they are already getting, while saying they need more and more data. There is a major disconnect here. To me, they aren't serious about using their existing intel flow. Why would they be serious about using all of this additional data in the manner they claim?
There is just too much potential downside to this, and very little observable upside. I'd rather deal with the chance that Verizon would only be able to provide a years worth of data instead of the five years they might want.
Yeah, at the FISA court where the government has a 1,789-0 record. That's not due process, it's a rubber stamp.
Great post today! Thanks.
We now know they were collecting data from all the major phone companies. The stated rationale was that the phone companies only kept the data for a certain period of time.
Why not just tell the phone companies to keep the records for a longer period and have the federal government pay the additional costs associated with longer storage? The feds could then use specific warrants to track specific phone numbers.
Of course, I realize that they are doing more than just trying to track down individual numbers. No doubt NSA is using software programs to track patterns and other indicators. They just haven't told us the truth as to why they need all of the records. The Administration has been lying to the public whether it is Benghazi, Fast and Furious, the IRS scandal, the collection of data on leaks involving reporters, the use of phony email addresses at EPA, etc. How can anyone trust the government with this burgeoning capability to invade our privacy?
My 100 years ago comment was relative to the IRS.
Yes, other Government agencies represent potential threats to our liberties but it is the IRS and, in particular, the Obamacare armed IRS that is the most serious threat. The EPA, with it's power to stop commerce in it's tracks is also a serious threat and one where the abuse of the system is seen daily. So far I haven't seen that sort of abuse coming out of the NSA.
Yes, we should worry about giving up our liberties. And if we want to shut down the NSA and keep them from accessing our data it wouldn't worry me to death. But they are, at this point in time, a far less serious threat to our liberties than half a dozen other Obamabot infested Government Agencies.
You are presuming lots. Considering the 0 has quietly taken over ALL facets of the government including, apparently including the military,
In fact I just heard the pre-race prayer at the Pocono Nascar race. The fellow offering the prayer said this was one sport where it was still ok to mention God. He then made another comment I couldn't understand, then he yelled, “yea GOD” and some Military types sung the Nat’l Anthem.
GREAT NEWS!!!!
FRiend, you posts are right on target. That the beltway GOP is covering the kenyan’s skinny behind on this is very telling. Team Kenya does not deserve the benefit of the doubt on ANYTHING at this point in history. They lied to us for over a year about the IRS, Benghazi, F&F, etc., etc.
1789-0 must be fully vetted. Shame on the beltway GOP for their cowardice in these historic times.
Were those Benghazi-related pay-offs, since achieving the blind sheik's release was muffed (h/t Hillary, Barry)?
Does an Egyptian check (commission/finder's fee) to Huma help fund Mr. Abedin's campaign, or does that money arrive in a diplomatic pouch as randomly-numbered $9500 credit cards?
HF
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