I'm not sure if most of you are familiar with the NSA and what it is, what it does, and what we as US citizens don't know about it. When I first started reading war books on Vietnam, Desert Storm, then gaining an interest in secret gov't platoons such as Delta Force and different Seal Teams, I then started reading up about the DOD, NSA, DHS, etc, and have read numerous books and articles and researched them on the internet, not only for knowledge about such agencies, but also to open up my last comment in the previous sentence.

 

Here is a link to something that, for people who are not familiar with the NSA and other similar governmental agencies, will most likely find interesting, as well as other words. This has apparently been going on for quite a few years, and more info creeps out every so often.

 

http://www.nytimes.c...ogram.html?_r=1

 

Laura Poitras is a well-known film maker. I saw part of a documentary of hers a few years ago and recently saw this article and thought I would post it up. I normally don't post things like this, but I thought some of you on here would enjoy learning more about this. If you liked what you read, I would suggest researching Laura. She has been interviewed frequently and has quite a few videos up on her as well as news articles and such. Also check out this book if you're into reading, it's a very good read on information relevant to this topic.

Without appearing flippant.....We all knew to some extent that our lives,histories,correspondence,viewing and search habits in a post 911 world is not only susceptible but most likely regularly scanned and logged by one agency or another.

Throughout our history there has always been an element that wishes to keep tabs ,as it were, on American citizens under a guise of national security..... J E Hoover and the McCarthy trials come to mind.

So.... what to do? Live your life and avoid sensitive searches,go off grid,move to another country?

Again I don't wish to minimize the implications of our very lives being explored and cataloged without our consent but it's hardly without our knowledge.

Wow, that's some scary shit... Well, we all know that the government has all kinds of programs for spying... but when it's used to the extent that is being described, on our own citizens, it's pretty scary.

Of course it's been going on for quite a while, even pre-9/11, and yes, Duppie, there are a few things to do to limit yourself from being 'watched' or even watched at all. I would be interested to see, even though it would be almost impossible to get accurate data, what amount of people go to the extent of living off the grid or even moving out of the country because of programs like this.

 

I knew that there were facilities that housed different sorts of gov't data and such, but learning that there is a huge facility being built just to secure and organize citizen data is pretty crazy. Nonetheles the fact that Binney guesses it can house over 100yrs of data.

Of course it's been going on for quite a while, even pre-9/11, and yes, Duppie, there are a few things to do to limit yourself from being 'watched' or even watched at all. I would be interested to see, even though it would be almost impossible to get accurate data, what amount of people go to the extent of living off the grid or even moving out of the country because of programs like this.

 

I knew that there were facilities that housed different sorts of gov't data and such, but learning that there is a huge facility being built just to secure and organize citizen data is pretty crazy. Nonetheles the fact that Binney guesses it can house over 100yrs of data.

I believe truly "living off the grid" to be more difficult than we can imagine.Limiting modern conveniences,commerce and contact is not for the faint of heart or mind.

With all the advances in modern electronics its so easy for big brother to keep his eye on you. They can listen to you even with your cell phone turned off. Thats sick.

I'm no conspiracy theorist or anything, but I do think it's a bit naive to think that the government doesn't "spy" on us in multiple ways. If there's something really important to your privacy simply don't put it on your computer.

If there's something really important to your privacy simply don't put it on your computer.

Oops! I guess my pictures from college just disqualified me from public office! Ha, ha, ha!

 

You are correct though. Don't open the honey jar thinking you won't get ants... ;-). Goes along with my belief that if someone wants something bad enough, they're gonna find a way to get it.

You must be reading the novel "Wired"

NSA (and their Predecessors) has been involved in stuff like this since the end of WWII it's nothing new, as Technology advances they're usually a generation or trhee a head of the commercial stuff out there. NSA reads EVERYONE's mail, and monitors telephone conversations. The key is who has the ACCESS to the information gathered.