http://www.wired.com/news/politics/...tw=wn_tophead_1

I'm not really into the whole conspiracy stories, but seeing more of this sickens me. Patriot Act II never got off the ground, but congress just gave more powers to the FBI in a spending bill. Spending bills don't generally receive as much publicity as other congressional acts, so this one slipped right through without as much as a whisper. It basically gives the FBI the right to subpoena information about a person from any business or organization they choose without a judge's order. It also puts a gag order on the source they got their information from. I need to find another country to move to

Oh ... and where would you go?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/netprivac...,736011,00.html

http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2987/ID...ll/pfindex.html

http://www.privacyinternational.org...r2003/index.htm

Although as disturbing as these trends may be, looking at the situation pragmatically,I am not as worried as long as the government only has powers of eavesdropping under strong suspicion such that they'd issue those "National Security Letters" or whatever. Hey, if they want to spend a million dollars in surveillance efforts finding out what I eat or whom I talk to that's fine by me ... take me to court and try to convict me on something and it will be a field day for ACLU lawyers and the supreme court. Now if I was an alien under which I could fall under the blanket of the Patriot Act then that would be a different story ...

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Retro ...

quote:

Originally posted by occrider Oh ... and where would you go? http://www.guardian.co.uk/netprivac...,736011,00.html http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2987/ID...ll/pfindex.html http://www.privacyinternational.org...r2003/index.htm Although as disturbing as these trends may be, looking at the situation pragmatically,I am not as worried as long as the government only has powers of eavesdropping under strong suspicion such that they'd issue those "National Security Letters" or whatever. Hey, if they want to spend a million dollars in surveillance efforts finding out what I eat or whom I talk to that's fine by me ... take me to court and try to convict me on something and it will be a field day for ACLU lawyers and the supreme court. Now if I was an alien under which I could fall under the blanket of the Patriot Act then that would be a different story ...

That chimichanga you ate last night looked pretty good.

At least that is what my buddies at NSA told me

/end funny

There are reasons to believe that Western countries are becoming more and more Orwell-esque, but there are also reasons to believe that it will not happen. For one thing, you are able to find information contrary to the "official" story. We are not, as of yet, seeing a wholesale revision of history to support the views of the political elite. When such things do happen, then I will be more scared. Because he who controls the present controls the past, and he who controls the past controls the future.

MrS

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Click the sig to see MrSquirrel

-"Reality" is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.

My post was an exaggeration, I do not believe that we are at a state of "big brother-ness" yet. I do find it disturbing however to see more and more of our privacies evaporating. Yes, for most of us it really doesn't matter, as they won't find anything, but to me that is not the point. I believe we do have a human right to privacy at least in some degree. In my own home, I should not be afraid of observation, at least without a court order. I know the term is very over-used, but this and the patriot act alike are what I see to be the beginning of a slippery slope. If we have no trouble with these kinds of observation techniques, what stops there from being cameras on every street corner, monitoring devices in every car, and tapping devices on every phone? After all, if you're not doing anything wrong, who cares if your constantly under observation, right?

As far as leaving the country, I couldn't find the sarcastic/disappointed emoticon, so that's the one I used. If Hilary Clinton were ever elected president, my exodus of the US wouldn't be in question, however.

Ok well here I go before I slowly ween myself off this damn board. First of all I don't hate America as much as eveyone thinks around here. I'm afraid of America actually. And I'm more so afraid of the the direction of the world. I'm not a hippie but I do think of the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that if we don't change the way we act we are going to destroy the human race. It's enevidable.

First of all no one likes to be forced into something with the threat of violence. Revenge...it's human nature for the most part...Now I realise becasue the point that we are at we can't all just throw down our arms and that'll be that. But we have to slowly make an effort to reverse the damage that we are currently doing. Yes there are going to be sacrifices to be made but look at all the human sacrfices that are being made now. But it'll work ..it's worked before...Gandhi did it!

The real problem is not enough people believe that we can live in a world without the use of violence. But one day it's going to be too late. America won;t be able to keep it's eye on every corner of ther world. What I hate about America is that it doesn't want to change . It needs war to be a part of it's economy. Everyone knows it ...America needs to set the example but it's not going to. The problem is deeply rooted in society and in the education system.

I have been coming to this forum for along time and it's really disturbing how alot of people think on this damn board. It's people like this that get into power and make the world a fucked up place for the rest of us. If anyone thinks we're are doing ok as the human race then I think you are blind. It's not just the terrorsits that are messing up this world I'm afraid to say. It's been building for along time.

I think America is "big brother" and is slowly trying to achieve that....I know they're problems all over the world but it's America who sets the example of using violence to solve problems. And don;t had me that shit that's it a last resort. The USA hasn't used much restraint in bringing out it's war machine.

When will people wake up!?!?!??!?!?