Things like this don't happen in the land of the free, ...

Northern Maine wrote: Rights always come along with responsibilities, and it’s the latter part of that truism that libertarians generally forget.

The only "responsibility" that came with my "rights" is the obligation not to interfere with YOUR rights.

And that's a truism statists generally forget.

How 'bout privacy and just wanting to be left alone.

Have no fear! You will never feel alone (or free) with these guys on the job!

http://rt.com/usa/news/surveillance-spy ... izens-178/

I was just going to post a thread on this. Just read this:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/nsa-whi ... eillance/#

rockwood wrote:I've been reading about this "data center" for some time now....The title of the article says it all. "Safety or Surveillance".

Soon, there's going to be no such thing as privacy, and it's all in the name of keeping (you) safe.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=22705217&nid=14 ... featured-1

Who knows how many of these data centers there are (or will be).

I have steered clear of this thread for many reasons. First and foremost is I am quite tired of talking about it and I am just focused on getting ready to handle what ever comes down the line at us. However, this whole thing has me a bit concerned.

On one hand, I agree with guys like Freetown Fred, if you aren't doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about. On the other hand, I believe in our freedoms as Americans. Our Amendments. Our rights. Rights that my grandfather fought for in cold, wet trenches 10' away from Germans trying like hell to kill him. He didnt do that so our government could read our every email, text message, and listen in on our phone calls. My grandfather is probably rolling over in his grave over that!

I dont think a text I send to my wife should be allowed to be saved and stored in some massive database. I dont think an email I send to my mom should be either. I dont think a phone call I make should be recorded. Should they be scanned and looked at for key phrases? Sure...certain words should tip them off and allow them to dig deeper, but just a conversation between me and my wife that is PERSONAL if you get my drift, should be no one's f*cking business but mine.

I guess what bothers me the most about all of this is so many of the nuts out there that do the terrible crimes, the mass shootings, the car bombings, so many of them blog and Facebook about it for weeks before they uncork. No one ever seems to catch it and stop it. If they are really concerned about it, then they should be scanning for those types of things, not reading text messages about what my wife is wearing to bed tonight or where we are going fishing when the weather turns.

Kind of reminds me of the movie Minority Report with Tom Cruise...

It is unfortunate that things that are designed to keep us safe or help us in one way or another, always end up harming us in the end.

"As far as his own life was concerned, one thing seemed quite clear. 'I made one great mistake in my life,' he said to Linus Pauling, who spent an hour with him on the morning of November 11, 1954, '...when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them.'".

Ronald Clark, Einstein: The Life and Times, pg. 620.

Who defines what doing wrong is? certainly not the individual.

Private messages are open to erroneous interpretation.

And they laughed when I got my tinfoil hat.

Does anybody really think that it's only the Govt. that has access to anything you put out there in the cyber world. I think the Govt should be the least of your worries. It is feared that our whole economic system could be shut down by the hit of a few keybord keys--again, not the govt. All this gloom & doom projection is good for the imagination I suppose, but for myself, if I don't want people or the govt controlling my life, why would I post anything publically. Life is way to short to be whining about what is or may be. If you're all paranoid about all this real, grown up life stuff, stop putting yourselfs out there. Sure, we as a Country are not where,I beleive, we belong but I've said this a lot--all we can do as individuals is keep our own back yards straight & make sure our voices are heard in the right places.

freetown fred wrote:Does anybody really think that it's only the Govt. that has access to anything you put out there in the cyber world. I think the Govt should be the least of your worries. It is feared that our whole economic system could be shut down by the hit of a few keybord keys--again, not the govt. All this gloom & doom projection is good for the imagination I suppose, but for myself, if I don't want people or the govt controlling my life, why would I post anything publically. Life is way to short to be whining about what is or may be. If you're all paranoid about all this real, grown up life stuff, stop putting yourselfs out there. Sure, we as a Country are not where,I beleive, we belong but I've said this a lot--all we can do as individuals is keep our own back yards straight & make sure our voices are heard in the right places.

The question is not whether I put anything on the internet or not or whether I'm doing anything wrong or not.

The question is, does the Fourth Amendment mean what it says or not?

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Do you have a RIGHT to be secure in your "effects" which would cover all private texts and phone conversations.

I don't expect any privacy on this forum because it's an open area which anyone can access. But I do expect any texts I send to my wife to be exclusive between us unless as the 4A states, a warrant has been signed by a judge which names SPECIFICALLY the information being sought by the police.

You can't be half pregnant. You either have a right to privacy or you don't.

Pick a side.

You being such a Constitutionalist (LOL) I don't see anyone interfering with your "freedom of speech" anywhere. Let's see--reading the fourth amendment, I'm sorry, I can't find anything about emails or texting or anything that even mentions computers, cell phones or even regular phones--for someone that spouts to the "T" the constitution---or is that just when it's convenient? I guess that updating every 9 years might not of been all that bad to follow through on Oh wait, I beleive you stated that you disagree with that when it was mentioned. Hmmm?

freetown fred wrote:You being such a Constitutionalist (LOL) I don't see anyone interfering with your "freedom of speech" anywhere. Let's see--reading the fourth amendment, I'm sorry, I can't find anything about emails or texting or anything that even mentions computers, cell phones or even regular phones--for someone that spouts to the "T" the constitution---or is that just when it's convenient? I guess that updating every 9 years might not of been all that bad to follow through on Oh wait, I beleive you stated that you disagree with that when it was mentioned. Hmmm?

Maybe you should put down the moonshine and pick up a book. Preferably a dictionary.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/effects?s=t

ef·fects

plural noun

goods; movables; personal property.

Are computers and cell phone and even regular phones "personal property"?

Just do this Fred....

And maybe if you are done being poorly sarcastic, you could cite where I said the Constitution SHOULDN'T be revisited every so often.

I'm pretty sure I'm the one that advocates not tying future generations with our debt and our laws.

jpete wrote:

freetown fred wrote:Does anybody really think that it's only the Govt. that has access to anything you put out there in the cyber world. I think the Govt should be the least of your worries. It is feared that our whole economic system could be shut down by the hit of a few keybord keys--again, not the govt. All this gloom & doom projection is good for the imagination I suppose, but for myself, if I don't want people or the govt controlling my life, why would I post anything publically. Life is way to short to be whining about what is or may be. If you're all paranoid about all this real, grown up life stuff, stop putting yourselfs out there. Sure, we as a Country are not where,I beleive, we belong but I've said this a lot--all we can do as individuals is keep our own back yards straight & make sure our voices are heard in the right places.

The question is not whether I put anything on the internet or not or whether I'm doing anything wrong or not.

The question is, does the Fourth Amendment mean what it says or not?

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Do you have a RIGHT to be secure in your "effects" which would cover all private texts and phone conversations.

I don't expect any privacy on this forum because it's an open area which anyone can access. But I do expect any texts I send to my wife to be exclusive between us unless as the 4A states, a warrant has been signed by a judge which names SPECIFICALLY the information being sought by the police.

You can't be half pregnant. You either have a right to privacy or you don't.

Pick a side.

Is the Constitution a living document or original document? Either way it is NOT black and white and left to the interpretation of the reader in its application....Hence picking a "side" would be only based on one's interpretation and not black an white. What if a person chooses to pick bits and pieces from two different interpretations for application? Where do they stand...plausibly the wrong side based on both interpretations? If things were black and white and no gray area...there would inevitably be a side to choose and defend...however, In my opinion (for better or worse depending on the interpreter) the gray is where a lot of people stand! Just curious if you could answer the questions posed here without being defensive, and at face value?

Rwalker wrote:I have steered clear of this thread for many reasons. First and foremost is I am quite tired of talking about it and I am just focused on getting ready to handle what ever comes down the line at us. However, this whole thing has me a bit concerned.

On one hand, I agree with guys like Freetown Fred, if you aren't doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about. On the other hand, I believe in our freedoms as Americans. Our Amendments. Our rights. Rights that my grandfather fought for in cold, wet trenches 10' away from Germans trying like hell to kill him. He didnt do that so our government could read our every email, text message, and listen in on our phone calls. My grandfather is probably rolling over in his grave over that!

I dont think a text I send to my wife should be allowed to be saved and stored in some massive database. I dont think an email I send to my mom should be either. I dont think a phone call I make should be recorded. Should they be scanned and looked at for key phrases? Sure...certain words should tip them off and allow them to dig deeper, but just a conversation between me and my wife that is PERSONAL if you get my drift, should be no one's f*cking business but mine.

I guess what bothers me the most about all of this is so many of the nuts out there that do the terrible crimes, the mass shootings, the car bombings, so many of them blog and Facebook about it for weeks before they uncork. No one ever seems to catch it and stop it. If they are really concerned about it, then they should be scanning for those types of things, not reading text messages about what my wife is wearing to bed tonight or where we are going fishing when the weather turns.

Kind of reminds me of the movie Minority Report with Tom Cruise...

It is unfortunate that things that are designed to keep us safe or help us in one way or another, always end up harming us in the end.

"As far as his own life was concerned, one thing seemed quite clear. 'I made one great mistake in my life,' he said to Linus Pauling, who spent an hour with him on the morning of November 11, 1954, '...when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them.'".

Ronald Clark, Einstein: The Life and Times, pg. 620.

Well said!

Are we talking about posting things publically, as in this forum, or are we talking about posting things privately, as in a text message to my wife? To me, they are 2 completely different things. I am all for the government scanning the internet for potential threats, foreign and domestic, but I am not all for them scanning private texts and phone calls. Huge difference between the 2.

And Fred, we can protect ourselves against the private citizen attempting to intercept info. That is why I have things like LifeLock in place. People have tried to steal my identity and my cards several times, just the dangers of all the online shopping I do, but every time someone has tried, LifeLock has stopped them cold. I have had it for 3 years now on the wife and myself, and it is worth every penny IMO. If the private citizen wants to look me up and google earth my house and show up with the intent on doing me harm, I am confident that they will have decided they have chosen the wrong house right about the time the alarms start going off and the bullets start flying.

But the governemnt? We are powerless to their reach. Every firearm you buy is has a serial number in your name. What if one day they decide to knock on every door and say they are there to collect? http://www.ammoland.com/2012/08/09/chin ... z2EGwFHILu

Bending here or there on one freedom lends to bending on all of them. That isn't gloom and doom my friend, that is reality. Soon the only way to maintain any sense of privacy within your own home will be to ride a letter to town on horseback...

I do not know why some of you attack jpete about the Constitution. He obviously knows the document and explains repeatedly that it is written in PLAIN english so as to be read without debate by common people. Changes in technology do not effect whatsoever the limitations it places on the GOVERNMENT. Not you as individuals. It is the Ten commandments of what a gov. CANNOT do to you based on the history of what the effects are when they do. You cannot give up some part of them. If the Constitution was updated every ten years say, what sane people would vote to give up the basic rights guaranteed by each one if taken one at a time and explained and debated? The answer to that scares me as much as this last election and what has transpired since in the gov. Just look at the new post about bailing our Detroit and think about her mental state.

Kevin

To ask him to answer a question when he has quoted the appropriate Constitutional law pertaining to that freedom is silly. And riding a horse to town still subjects you to search ans seizure.