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NSA Metadata Collection Gets 90-Day Extension
schwit1 sends word that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has authorized a 90-day extension to the NSA's ability to collect bulk metadata about U.S. citizens' phone calls. In April, the House of Representatives passed a bill to limit the NSA's collection of metadata, but the Senate has been working on their version of the bill since then without yet voting on it. Because of this, and the alleged importance of continuing intelligence operations, the government sought a 90-day reauthorization of the current program. The court agreed. Senator Patrick Leahy said this clearly demonstrates the need to get this legislation passed. "We cannot wait any longer, and we cannot defer action on this important issue until the next Congress. This announcement underscores, once again, that it is time for Congress to enact meaningful reforms to protect individual privacy.
What the fuck? Just how much are these scumbags being paid off? I have difficulty believing someone could be that corrupt just for the hell of it, so I'm certain there's a big bribe--I mean, "campaign contribution," in it for them.
I mean, seriously, wtf is the problem here. This is against the constitution. You know, the laws you the government is supposed to be holding. In fact, you are being called on it, Congress said Fuck you on this shit, the Senate is being slower on it, so that means it's okay to continue violating our rights for 90 more days?
Fuck you and fuck no!
I guess for the next 90 days, American citizens should ignore Federal Laws. I mean, if they want to play this way, we should play back.
Be seeing you...
Speeches must be made, and dinners must be eaten. And of course, checks must be signed, or however they do it with all this new electronic banking stuff.
And I know we can count on 98% you to reelect 95% of these people back into office, and they'll fix everything right up. Yep, that's just what they'll do.. Iron clad guarantee.. Like Desktop Linux, reform is just around the corner. And day now...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Why even bother getting an extention? We all know the program will continue anyway.
Fuck you and fuck no!
That's the spirit. Things have got to change, But first, you gotta get mad!
All of this furor is over call and subscriber data being sent to the NSA directly on a regular basis. If I wanted to build a computer platform capable of storing and doing queries on this information for the whole United States I could probably assemble one off the shelf for a couple grand.
I would not need a water-cooled data center in Utah, centrally located so you can lease dark fiber to carry multiple terabit streams into it. Among other data centers in other parts of the country which are in planning, already constructed, or just manage to stay under the radar because they were built from the black ops budget. I would not need secret agreements (negotiated voluntarily or by threat) with service providers to tap and split optic cables.
This issue of NSA bulk metadata collection is a straw man, a distraction to divert attention from NSA's full content backbone tapping capability. It is a little duck set loose for Congress to shoot down, so they can hold up the dead duck as they pose for a group photo, leaning on their rifles.
The horrifying truth is -- if and when, possibly now -- NSA has enough backbone taps in place, they would already have access to this data that is being sent to them. In the modern world there are but a few major telecoms and their call data converges at central billing and collection points. The telecoms would gladly keep these links unencrypted or leave the keys in the mailbox for a nudge nudge wink wink absolving them of public ire.
Even the judges are stalking this duck and believe me, they are relieved when the topic of conversation fixes on call data rather than bulk content interception. That is because there is legal precedent for law enforcement collection of so-called 'pen trace data' without warrants, and they have a leg to stand on.
I'll serious money that if YOU were to ask any member of Congress a very specific and impeccably worded question about bulk content collection and backbone taps, you would get a clumsy response about call metadata. And move on to the next question. It is that insidious.
NSA has crossed the line. It needs to be completely disbanded, its secret assets colocated at Tier 1 and Tier 2 exchanges completely disconnected, dismantled and sold at auction. Its employees sent home. Or we're all fucked.
LYNCHPIN of warrantless spying: Hepting v. AT&T
Clap on! Clap off! Clapper's PRISM DISINFO Gambit
RAISE CONGRESS, while you still can!
A fable: NSA and the Desolation of Smaug
<blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
the terrorist will win and Osama Bin Laden will return from the grave and institute Sharia law and take away our bacon cheese burgers and beer and NFL/NBA/MLB and get rid of all the booze like prohibition and make everyone bow to Mecca five times a day and keep girls from walking around in shorts because you know THEY HATE OUR FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why is Snark Required?
...as a limited time approval of the FISA courts.
You never know...
browser extentions were created for that very purpose http://qz.com/125642/new-brows...
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Nobody thinks that this law does anything to curtail mass surveillance. They just added some language to make it appear to restrict phone call record collection, but since everyone calls the phone company and even terrorists can order pizza or call any one of a million phone numbers that are common to everyone, then restricting the number of hops to anything more than one "hop" means they can still collect every single phone record. This law is about distraction and plausible deniability for Congress people.