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August 10, 2005

Big Brother is Listening

Turns out, the USG never stopped snooping on U.S. citizens. Apparently, when the truth came out in the 70s, the government set up a commission that barred the USG from snooping on citizens without a warrant. (Before that, the government wasted a lot of time and energy keeping tabs on anti-war protestors and other deviants.)

So, the USG still spies on citizens. We saw that previously when the California National Guard kept tabs on a Mothers Against the War rally. Now, if you have a phone conversation with a foreigner, that conversation could be tapped and in the summary of the convo, your name will be replaced with the words "U.S. citizen." Catch is that if any bureaucrat is interested in knowing the identity of the mentioned citizen, that info is handed over by the snooping agency (except if the bureaucrat happens to work at Congress).

I think all of us aberrant individuals understand that someone is watching and listening (and reading). Is it possible that the mainstream will ever again care about their right to privacy? Or will they just continue to believe the excuse that this so-called war on terror means their rights must be trampled on?

More info:
"Big Brother and the Bureaucrats," by Patrick Radden Keefe, Op-Ed in the NYT

Posted by cj at August 10, 2005 7:03 AM

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