.........."Sept. 11 should have provoked us to think more creatively about security and privacy. We should have realized that we can collect and preserve the phone data without giving the NSA or FBI direct access to it. All we have to do is apply the traditional requirement—a search warrant—to the query process. That would be a real lockbox. It would thwart terrorism while preventing abuse.
It’s particularly rich to see Al Gore, the former vice president, complaining about the phone surveillance program. Thirteen years ago, when he was running for president, Gore promised to put Medicare and Social Security funds in a “lockbox” so Congress couldn’t spend them on other programs. Critics mocked the idea, pointing out that ”no one has yet designed a lock box that Congress couldn't pick.” In the case of the phone records database, the NSA doesn’t even have to pick the lock. It has the key."
.........."Sept. 11 should have provoked us to think more creatively about security and privacy. We should have realized that we can collect and preserve the phone data without giving the NSA or FBI direct access to it. All we have to do is apply the traditional requirement—a search warrant—to the query process. That would be a real lockbox. It would thwart terrorism while preventing abuse.
German protestors greeted the American President today with signs reading "Yes We Scan!". Germany because of their past treasure privacy more than the US government.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
Today even Germany's Angela Merkel expressed concern about the NSA. She grew up in East Germany and Stasi spying and now sees similar tactics from a supposed ally America.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
"Edward Snowden Joins Goldman Sachs, Receives Full Pardon
Jul 03, 2013
Goldman_Sachs.svgEdward Snowden, the intelligence whistleblower on the run from the U.S. government, has reportedly accepted a top job with investment banking giant Goldman Sachs.
In a related development, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it will drop all charges against him, and President Barack Obama has promised to pardon him if ever convicted."...
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“Remember that we’re Goldman Sachs. We can do whatever the hell we want and the government won’t even touch us.”
Legal analysts say Snowden’s hiring by Goldman Sachs was the best move he could have made.
“What better place to hide from the United States government than Wall Street, where we know nobody will go after him?” said Ben Stone, a professor of law at Harvard Law School.
“It is somewhat of a shame that Mr. Snowden took the job,” he added. “I thought the guy had ethics and principles of justice.” "
