Big Brother is at it again

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angelwing
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Big Brother is at it again

#1 Postby angelwing » Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:19 am

Statement may allow goverment to open mail:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070105/ap_ ... g_the_mail

And aloow listening on cellphones even if they're off:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... gs130.html

(moderators feel free to delete if this gets political)
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#2 Postby gtalum » Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:21 am

I'm guessing cell phone manufacturers will soon be selling phones that you can turn off for real, instead of hibernate like phones do now when you turn them off. In the meantime, ditch the phone or remove the battery if you talk about sensitive stuff. It's getting more and more like China here every day.
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#3 Postby GalvestonDuck » Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:51 am

People are running around with cellphones and digital cameras, capturing random acts of whateverness and posting them on sites like YouTube. Forget Big Brother watching...there are tattle-tale Little Sisters snooping around as well. :)

What's the biggie? If you're not doing anything you're not supposed to be doing, what have you got to worry about?
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#4 Postby gtalum » Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:54 am

GalvestonDuck wrote:What's the biggie? If you're not doing anything you're not supposed to be doing, what have you got to worry about?


It's called "privacy".

Example: someone puts a spy camera in your home and watches you while you shower. You aren't doing anything wrong, so why should you care if they watch?
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#5 Postby Regit » Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:55 am

GalvestonDuck wrote:
What's the biggie? If you're not doing anything you're not supposed to be doing, what have you got to worry about?


The erosion of freedom? I happen to like all my freedoms, whether I need them or not.

I can't get into it without getting political, but if you actually look at some of the new "laws" that have popped up recently (and look at them beyond the lousy research the media does), it's downright frightening.
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#6 Postby Windswept » Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:58 am

Who gets to decide what we are "supposed" to be doing?
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kevin

#7 Postby kevin » Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:19 am

I like my constitution the way it is. I'll defend it anywhere.
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#8 Postby coriolis » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:08 pm

I feel a rant coming on.

I don't want anyone to know that I stopped for that candy bar on the way home because then everyone will want me to buy one for them too.

They already have the ability to monitor our whereabouts, (GPS) conversations, (cell phones), purchases (electronic transactions), web browsing (spyware), you get the picture. They already gather data, sort it, create profiles, make predictions etc.

Seems like just about everything is in place. Now it's just a small step to make all of this mandatory and decide to use the information for other purposes. I predict that soon every car will be GPS equipped whether the customer wants it or not. I saw GPS equipped shoes for children. That's great for abductions, but it would be easy to put it in other products.

It's not just about criminal activity or even terrorists. It can and will be used against political adversaries, corporate rivals, political dissidents, and anyone deemed to need watching. That could include religious, racial, economic, sexual, or any other kind of minority or unpopular group. And who gets to decide who is to be watched? That's what makes it so scary.

Once we're monitored, categorized, data based, sorted, and completely studied, then what's to say that someone's assets won't suddenly and mysteriously be frozen if they're a trouble maker. Or maybe the system would prevent me from buying that candy bar because I'm overweight. Or my wife would be able to monitor me and then demand her own candy bar. The possibilities are endless.

Keep cash money. It's the last obstacle to total control.

Sorry for the rant but this topic gets me going.
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#9 Postby Yarrah » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:24 pm

^^ Indeed. No one know what the future holds for us. Maybe a government that isn't as democratic and benign as the current one. I'm pretty sure that people who now live in countries ruled by a dictator expected that something like that would happen. Who know what might happen if all the information that is being gathered about us falls into the wrong hands, such as a possible future dictator. A database such as the one that's being made at the moment was something Hitler and Stalin would love to have.
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#10 Postby feederband » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:45 pm

Good!!!! The government needs to protect me by all means necessary....It would suck if I was a bad guy though...
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#11 Postby JonathanBelles » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:46 pm

feederband wrote:Good!!!! The government needs to protect me by all means necessary....It would suck if I was a bad guy though...


i was gonna say something to that effect.
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#12 Postby gtalum » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:48 pm

feederband wrote:Good!!!! The government needs to protect me by all means necessary....It would suck if I was a bad guy though...


Wow that's a scary attitude. I'm certainly glad most people don't feel this way.
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#13 Postby Brent » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:49 pm

I don't get this(opening the mail). The Anthrax attacks were 5 years ago, not a thing since. Why is this happening now? :roll:
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#14 Postby feederband » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:50 pm

gtalum wrote:
feederband wrote:Good!!!! The government needs to protect me by all means necessary....It would suck if I was a bad guy though...


Wow that's a scary attitude. I'm certainly glad most people don't feel this way.


Whats so scary?

They want to see my electric bill? who cares....

They want to see How mant times I call my wife at work ? who cares..

They want to see my pot shippment I just sent UPS?...NO WAY THEY CAN'T DO THAT..... :wink:
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#15 Postby gtalum » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:52 pm

feederband wrote:Whats so scary?

They want to see my electric bill? who cares....

They want to see How mant times I call my wife at work ? who cares..

They want to see my pot shippment I just sent UPS?...NO WAY THEY CAN'T DO THAT..... :wink:


It's not just this bparticular violation of our rights. It's the whole "they can do anything they want to do if it's necessary to protect me" attitude. How exactly do you think it is that totalitarian governments come to power? They always do it in the name of national security. It always starts small and seemingly unintrusive, as a way to fight some imagined threat.
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#16 Postby feederband » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:55 pm

And whats wrong with a need to do what is necessary to protect me attitude..If I got blowned up a Mc'donalds because they could not of open a piece of mail that would of stopped it all I would be pissed...Not to mention dead..
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#17 Postby gtalum » Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:05 pm

feederband wrote:And whats wrong with a need to do what is necessary to protect me attitude..


There's a reason we have a constitution which severely limits the federal government's powers. The attitude you expressed is the attitude that allows a government to break through those limits and become totalitarian. it's the potential for abuse that scares me about these types of things. For instance, at some point someone high up might decide that people who disagree politically are a threat to him and open mail to find out who the opposition is and go after them.
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#18 Postby GalvestonDuck » Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:06 pm

gtalum wrote:
GalvestonDuck wrote:What's the biggie? If you're not doing anything you're not supposed to be doing, what have you got to worry about?


It's called "privacy".

Example: someone puts a spy camera in your home and watches you while you shower. You aren't doing anything wrong, so why should you care if they watch?


What's that have to do with your mail or cell phone? I'm simply saying that it's not just the government watching. We're surrounded by our own creation of paparazzi for the average Joe. Just asked anyone in the Rodney King case.

Personally, I don't care if anyone sees me rent Xanadu for the 23rd time, buy a copy of "Catcher In The Rye," hop on a plane for Orlando, walk down the street at 6:53 in the morning, or run a stop sign. The first four don't really matter that much anyway and the last one would embarrass me and make me more careful the next time around.
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#19 Postby feederband » Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:44 pm

gtalum wrote: For instance, at some point someone high up might decide that people who disagree politically are a threat to him and open mail to find out who the opposition is and go after them.


Then that would be wrong...But know one is saying they are going to do that...Your rights are worthless if terrorist blow you uP at Mcdee's...
The way you think is one of the main reason 1000's died on 9/11...
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#20 Postby gtalum » Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:51 pm

feederband wrote:The way you think is one of the main reason 1000's died on 9/11...


I would lvoe to respond to this, but it would be deemed political.

Suffice it to say that there was already plenty of information available within the government's constitutional bounds to stop 9/11, but there were many breakdowns in both law enforcement and intelligence.
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