We have the NSA spying on phone calls, emails, etc. We have surveilence camers on stop lights, at ATMs, inside stores, outside of buildings, police now have tools to extract erased emails, phone numbers, and text messages from our cell phones, and now they are gearing up to put drones to use in our countries skies and water ways... At what point do we say enough is enough? Are we a nation of such pussies that we can't feel safe unless we're under constant monitoring? Has big brother gotten too big for his britches?
No, we have become a nation of paranoids who see black helicopters, secret government agents, thought police and Klingons behind every tree. Technology moves on and there are consequences that must be death with. Excesses must be identified and remedied when they are real and oppressive. But unreasonable fear must be ignored by pragmatic people. The sky has never actually fallen. Law-abiding citizens need not fear routine public camera surveillance, it keeps us safer, makes traffic flow easier, helps monitor weather, and we can access much of it ourselves for our own purposes. There is nothing on my cellphone that I care if the police see, if they have a proper warrant. I'm delighted that they can bust crooks by what they foolishly reveal on their phones. There is nothing in my email that is especially sensitive, either. The NSA isn't actually reading email, they are just monitoring who is emailing known terrorists. Doesn't bother me a friggin' bit, keep up the good work, boys. Drones are a marvelous thing for a number of very important jobs. They are far cheaper than aerial photography from planes and helicopters which has been going on for 100 years and nobody seemed to mind. Yes technology can be abused, but this is nothing new, which is why it has always been illegal to tap a phone without a warrant or unreasonable intrusions into privacy with telescopes and telephoto lens in the last century. In earlier centuries, the technology of modern postal system required vigilance to outlaw third parties from reading other's paper mail. There is always a proper balance to be found between reasonable use and and unreasonable use of any technology. What is important is to police the violators and abusers of any technology, not try to outlaw and restrict the technology itself. Especially when based on irrational fears.
You are right Red we can't put the technology genie back in the bottle. There are many positives uses as you mentioned and we must police the violators and abusers. We need to recognize some of those abusers are in the government (local, state & federal) and we need to have people in and out of government keep a watch out and we as a people must be strong enough to demand fair treatment. It is on all of us to do this.
As long as there are still people out there willing to fight for the right of Americans we should be ok. There are times when Lawyers don't suck balls.
But when people fight back they are quickly labeled nut jobs, domestic terrorists, or anti-govt loons.
Standing up for your rights and pointing guns back at those pointing them at you. That ain't crazy. that's American.
Those "crazy Americans" probably prevented another Ruby Ridge or Waco type incident. I've dealt with a few Fed. and state Game Wardens. If I didn't know better I'd swear some of those guys are itching for a gun fight or belong to some animal rights or anti-gun groups themselves. And some of these rangers at Sardis, Enid, and Grenada are the biggest, rudest assholes you'll ever meet.
