Bill
03-25-2007, 01:11 AM
I was just reading an ordinary news story about a school training postal inspectors to deal with bombs.
And I was struck by the assumptions, and the banal acceptance, of government surveillance of all phone calls in america now.
The reporter is telling her mother what she's writing about, and her mother keeps hanging up on her. after four times, she gets the answer to "why?"
"Don't talk about you-know-what on the phone," her mother says. "The government may be listening.".
Now even little old ladies take it for granted that in america, everyone is under surveillance all the time, every phone call is recorded, and someone is always checking on what you say.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17757459/site/newsweek/
"March 23, 2007 - When I told my mother I was going to bomb school, she hung up on me. A misunderstanding, I thought, and called back and told her about the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Training Academy I had just visited. “I know what to look for in package bombs.” The line went dead again. Finally on our fourth connection, she explained that talking about “you-know-whats” on the phone is a bad idea; the government may be listening. So if the National Security Agency computers tapped into our lines that night, let me explain: I was wildly singing the praises of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service."
And I was struck by the assumptions, and the banal acceptance, of government surveillance of all phone calls in america now.
The reporter is telling her mother what she's writing about, and her mother keeps hanging up on her. after four times, she gets the answer to "why?"
"Don't talk about you-know-what on the phone," her mother says. "The government may be listening.".
Now even little old ladies take it for granted that in america, everyone is under surveillance all the time, every phone call is recorded, and someone is always checking on what you say.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17757459/site/newsweek/
"March 23, 2007 - When I told my mother I was going to bomb school, she hung up on me. A misunderstanding, I thought, and called back and told her about the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Training Academy I had just visited. “I know what to look for in package bombs.” The line went dead again. Finally on our fourth connection, she explained that talking about “you-know-whats” on the phone is a bad idea; the government may be listening. So if the National Security Agency computers tapped into our lines that night, let me explain: I was wildly singing the praises of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service."