lets hear humanitarians now

[Kayra]

It has taken me a while just to try to think about how to respond to that.

All aspects of what the NSA are tracking and what they do with that information is secret. Americans have absolutely no idea what the NSA is recording, nor do they have any legal means of finding out.

You are correct in that if you have nothing to hide, then you should have no concerns... IF you can be assured that your government is acting responsibly, and in your best interests at all times, and in all ways. Do you think that is the case?

If even one employee of the NSA in a position of authority were to decide to use information garnered with their new technologies and methods to make themselves rich (or powerful), what then? Insider stock information, blackmail, account passwords passed via E-Mail, the list is endless.

How many employees are in the NSA? Do they use reasonable means of protecting the information they acquire? What methods of policing themselves do they use? Are they effective against someone in a position of authority?
NONE of these questions can be answered satisfactorily due to the absolute necessity of secrecy.

To give such an organization carte Blanche to all information without checks and balances in place is lunacy.

[Lancaster]

I trust my government, just like I trust the police force to protect me or the fire dept. to come to my rescue in an emergency. I trust the NSA to use technology to uncover terrorism before it starts. The point of the NSA is to protect YOU and many people forget that. After watching television programs with corrupt policemen and evil government organizations, that's all we see anymore.

It seems like when you boil down a lot of problems, TV has had a part in them....

[InfiniteNow]

Originally Posted by Lancaster

It seems like when you boil down a lot of problems, TV has had a part in them....

Or perhaps you only understand the world through your TV... Your TV, and those presenting information through this medium, are not necessarily the CAUSE of the problem, despite how strong your mental association between the two may be.

I do not claim that the media is not biased, only that you are trying show causation where there only exists correlation.

[Lancaster]

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

Or perhaps you only understand the world through your TV... Your TV, and those presenting information through this medium, are not necessarily the CAUSE of the problem, despite how strong your mental association between the two may be.

I do not claim that the media is not biased, only that you are trying show causation where there only exists correlation.

That's true. It's like money is not the root of all evil; the want of money is the root of all evil...

But the thing that scares me the most is the MTV generation. If they only cared about the outside world instead of who Britney Spear's nanny is, maybe we would have a different world today. Even if they would just watch Fox News or CNN from time to time....For instance, the Vote or Die campaign endorsed by celebs like 'P. Diddy' and Paris Hilton just told teens to get out and vote. Great idea, right? Wrong. They just voted for who the celebs voted for. They didn't care about the issues. There's a difference between voting and voting for the candidate because you understand the issues.

[InfiniteNow]

Originally Posted by Lancaster

But the thing that scares me the most is the MTV generation. If they only cared about the outside world instead of ...

Maybe they care too much? Maybe the distraction is the only way they can avoid going through life in a perpetual state of anxiety? Maybe we all look for an escape every once in a while, but fault others if we feel they do it too often...


Agreed. I'm about to go bump a thread on complacency. Cheers.

[Lancaster]

Please do, I need to rant some more.

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by Lancaster

I trust my government, just like I trust the police force to protect me or the fire dept. to come to my rescue in an emergency. I trust the NSA to use technology to uncover terrorism before it starts. The point of the NSA is to protect YOU and many people forget that. After watching television programs with corrupt policemen and evil government organizations, that's all we see anymore.

It seems like when you boil down a lot of problems, TV has had a part in them....

I do not trust my government!

[Lancaster]

I'm sure they've wronged you before.

[Mercedes Benzene]

I like my government... even though I do not approve of Bush....

[Lancaster]

It's not so much that I like the government, but that I trust it. I don't care who the President is, you must trust the government to serve, it's main purpose is so.