I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Nice to hear from you Mary - sory to hear about your mother.

I think what gets lost in this whole hoopla about the NSA using private copanies to listen in on Americans is:

WHY OH WHY do people in this country get so fussed up over government surveillance and not seem to mind that private entities, which have no constituents and cannot be voted out, have access to any and all data about us.

Why do people here trust under-regulated, un-representative capitalists more than a public entity? Galls me every time. I am not on Facebook or most any other site fo privacy reasons. I do NOT trust the private sector to act in any any interest other than its own - or its shareholders'.

Does this mean I trust government? In principle, no. But I do know that at least I have the right of redress and that when the governent has that much data to mine through, the chances are greater that my triple murders and five armed robberies will go unnoticed.:-)  No one is saying enough about the power of human lack of follow through to practically ensure most people's privacy when we are talking about that much data.

But, again, the most glaring omission in this discussion, IMO, is why Americans appear to trust companies more than public entities.

Anyone who has any worries about privacy should see how the ads on the sidebar of facebook change constantly, with whatever you are posting. Creepy. 

Athena-I forgot to mention how glad I am to see you posting again. 

Mary

This could be very cool ... marking my calendar.

Athena, glad you like my current avatar.  I've always admired Audrey Hepburn.  Such talent and the epitome of style, class, and compassion.  Hope you are continuing to heal and gain strength and hope your recent oncology appointment was reassuring and hopeful.

Gardengumby, fingers crossed for the house!

Mary, glad your mom is doing better. 

In regards to the NSA/Verizon situation, I'm in agreement with those who react with a "meh."  These kinds of things having been going on forever and most certainly under Bush, as this cartoonist illustrates.....

I found the Gospel of Thomas to be very inspiring.  Too much free thinking, grey areas for the church though.

My understanding is that the Church removed the books that did not emphasize the divinity of Jesus but instead focused on his teachings.  How typical.

On the privacy thing - I find it all disturbing.  Yes, it's been going on for a while, yes, I find corporations having this kind of information equally disturbing.  Yes, I found it as disturbing or more so under Bush, but the fact that Obama is doing it doesn't comfort me.

I do remember the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century - and while the United States is far far from those situations at this time - I am not convinced that some far-right nut couldn't win the presidency and then, under the guise of fighting terrorism, go after "enemies" and some government entity knowing all about every one of us could be used.   Remember that Hitler was elected and that he took emergency powers after the bombing of the Reichstag.  I will agree that it's not likely - or probable - I agree that it's possibly paranoid, but I don't like anyone - the government or corporations - knowing who to round up.

Bel - an articulate article on the subject, but I would expect nothing less from Dershowitz.