WHAT THE FUCK? IS THIS TRUE?
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I have the attention span a a gnat so I was only able to read about half of the article. But, this subject is talked about on television and radio a lot. It would take the entire population of China to have enough people to monitor every call made on a cell phone. The way I understand it is that the satellites look for patterns and key words and phrases. These words and key phrases could change regularly because those that are up to no good know they could be monitored and they employ a code, using one word to mean something else. So it’s a never ending cat and mouse game that changes at lightening speed because of the technology of the beast. The crimminal’s codes are continually changing. I get the impression that those that complain the most about these monitoring policies think a little bit too much of themselves. Listening to them for a while and my eyes glaze over and I say to myself these people are loons and I have no interest in listening to them. When and if the system picks up on a pattern then a flag goes up and then human interaction would pick up. I kind of like this technology. My entire medical history is on my Veterans Administration ID card. If I’m unconscious and can’t respond they can swipe my card and my medical history pops up. My cell phone is my home phone and it is always on except for the hour or two here or there where I might have to turn it off. But, if I get lost or I’m hit over the head and am lying unconscious and laying in an alley they can find me. Assuming they didn’t steal my phone. I think reasonable people don’t feel threatened by this. If anybody listened in on my conversations they’d be bored to tears, it would be sheer torture for them. They have bigger things to worry about.
Sure the U.S. government monitors the telephone conversations of drug trafikkers and the like. In a population running past 300,000,000, grandma shopping and a little tyke riding a tricycle will remain irrelevant to law enforcement. On the other hand, an illegal immigrant running across a border is of interest. We have between 10 and 20 million of the latter–something has gotta change.
The average American citizen yawns at this sort of thing.
Listen in to my phone calls? You’d be bored. But they’re not. If there’s a Big Brother out there wanting to control our lives, it’s coming from the left in America, not the scary conservatives.
It’s so very interesting that it’s the liberals in your country who are speaking out for freedom of speech and religion, and in our country, the liberals are trying to shut down dissenting viewpoints.
You must consider your source. Alternet is absolutely NOT a place to go if you are seeking rational discourse on the issues of today.
Can you say “might as well be a subsidiary of moveon.org?”
If it is anti-Bush, you will find it at Alternet. If Bush came out on a gorgeous summer day and said “the sky is blue and the grass is green,” Alternet regulars would post hysterically about “Bush’s LIES!!!!!!”
I think I’d strap my aluminum helmet on real tight for this one. I haven’t seen any screaming headlines in the MSM on this, and I think this, if true, would be a screaming headline generator in an almost election year.
IS THIS TRUE?
Its from alternet.org. What do you think?
It will happen..and they will outsource it to call centres in India…lol..no joke…hey maybe Egypt can get a piece of that action…since they have a budding call centre industry
Heck they’ve outsourced the war in Iraq to private armies..tons of videos on youtube u can check out…so…
They’ll do this and the average American won’t know or won’t care because they are no longer constiutents, they are consumers that are told who to vote for by TV news channels and polls in newspapers…and most don’t even vote anymore…
Hey as long as they can get Nike, Guess, Puma and other designer crap on sale at the outlet on the weekend, that’s all that matters…
fyi John..not surprised ur phone conversations are boring…lol
The US government is no threat to its citizens’ privacy. That is because we put limits on what the government can do with the information it has, and the information it can get.
For example, we already have rules about what the police can and cannot do if they want to search a person’s house or car. If they don’t follow the rules, they cannot use any evidence they find against you to bring criminal charges. And, they cannot publish it, either. And, the can’t use evidence they find subsequent to and as a result of an illegal search.
Well Mr. Sandmonkey, aren’t you glad to hear that?
Hmmmm?
I’m so glad you are back.
Really Mr. Sandmonkey.
You monkeys, always jumping about.
(Sometime after Christmas, when the depression let’s down, I hope to find out what’s up wid you.)
anonymass, you’d look cute in an orange jump suit.
You have to consider the source. The author has a long history as a conspiracy theorist, and all of his “information” is based on twisted “facts,” speculation, and conjecture. The program, as it does exist, was halted by Congress on October 2 of this year so the civil liberties implications could be investigated.
Here is what I found on the subject from the Department of Homeland Security official site.
In 1974, the Rockefeller Commission urged the creation of a Civil Applications Committee to facilitate the appropriate use of Intelligence Community remote sensing capabilities for civil purposes within the United States. For more than 30 years, the Civil Applications Committee, comprising members representing 11 federal civil agencies, has facilitated requests by civil agencies to make use of space-based imaging and remote sensing capabilities for purposes such as monitoring volcanic activity, environmental and geological changes, hurricanes, and floods.
Following the attacks of 9/11, an independent study group was appointed by the Director of National Intelligence to review the current operation and future role of the Civil Applications Committee and study the current state of Intelligence Community support to homeland security and law enforcement entities.
The study group unanimously recommended in its September 2005 report that the scope of the Civil Applications Committee be expanded beyond civil applications to include homeland security and law enforcement applications, and concluded that there is an urgent need for action. The study group concluded a new approach is needed to effectively employ Intelligence Community capabilities for civil applications, homeland security and law enforcement uses.
In March of 2006, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff notified the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) that DHS would work with the DNI to implement the recommendation of the study group that DHS be the executive agent of the new office, the National Applications Office.
In May 2007, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell designated the Department of Homeland Security as the executive agent and functional manager of the National Applications Office.
Congress agreed with this approach and provided funding for the office to initiate operation in the fall of 2007. Intelligence and Appropriations oversight committees have been briefed and approved the reprogramming.
National Applications Office Organization
The National Applications Office will be led on a day-to-day basis by the Department of Homeland Security. A National Applications Executive Committee will be established to provide senior interagency oversight and guidance. The National Applications Office will work with its customers to meet their requirements with the advice and support of three customer domain working groups:
Civil Applications Domain Working Group: This working group will continue the efforts of the Civil Application Committee that have been ongoing for more than 30 years, including scientific, geographic and environmental research.
Homeland Security Domain Working Group: The “Homeland Security Domain” includes those government agencies and activities involved in the prevention and mitigation of, preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural or man-made disasters, including terrorism, and other threats to the homeland. This domain can encompass the many operational and administrative components of DHS, as well as other federal, state, local, and tribal elements who partner with the department. Its work will complement the Civil Applications Working Group in areas like natural disaster response.
Law Enforcement Domain Working Group: This working group includes federal, state, local, and tribal entities, and those activities which support both the enforcement of criminal and civil laws, and the other operational responsibilities and authorities of these entities.
Protecting Civil Liberties and Privacy
The NAO prioritizes the protection of privacy and civil liberties. All activities fall under existing legal authorities, including Executive Order 12333 and the Privacy Act.
The NAO will rely on existing, longstanding practice and procedures established by the Intelligence Community to ensure the appropriate protection of privacy and civil liberties.
Because it is a part of the Department of Homeland Security, the NAO is subject to compliance oversight by the DHS Inspector General, Chief Privacy Officer, and the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Additional oversight will be provided by the Civil Liberties Protection Officer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The NAO will be reviewed annually on its performance and this will include a review of NAO’s protection of privacy and civil liberties.
Yes. It’s absolutlely true! In fact, I had my microchip installed in my brain just last week. Now, all the silly thoughts I didn’t let escape from my mouth will surely cause heads to explode. Geeez. Who afraid of this crap? There are simply too many of us to monitor, interrogate and imprison. The only way to weed out dissenters (by whose standards?) after you’ve found them this way, is to kill them and I think that isn’t about to happen anytime in the US of A any time soon.