NSA must prove value of phone program

    Edward Snowden is an exiled American computer specialist and former CIA employee and NSA contractor who disclosed classified details of several top-secret United States and British government mass surveillance programs to the press. Since his emergence in June, Americans have learned a lot about how our government is keeping tabs on us all. For seven years, the National Security Agency has been collecting detailed phone data on hundreds of millions of Americans not suspected of anything. The NSA has harvested millions of e-mail and instant messaging contact lists. Though the program is targeted at foreigners, it sweeps in many ordinary Americans. They are also building a 1 million square-foot fortress in Utah to hold a massive collection of data. 

    The question our author is asking is; Is searching for a needle in the haystack in order to connect all the dots the best way to approach this? The problem is that we're not simply talking about hay or dots but millions of Americans and their private information being on tap for whenever the government feels it is needed. Our own lawmakers knew very little about what was going on. The author goes on to say also, that if this technology and practice were around could we have rewrote history prior to 9/11? During that time we did have lots of data, but did not have the means or capacity to share this vital information among fellow agencies. The author seems to be giving us a choice and has a neutral feel to it because at the end he adds "Choosing between privacy rights and security from terrorism is difficult. But before Americans are forced to make that choice, the government ought to demonstrate that this intrusive program has extraordinary value. So far, the administration hasn't even come close." We can truly see both sides of the spectrum in this conundrum of privacy vs. national security.

Just one more thing about Rick Perry’s future...

http://www.statesman.com/weblogs/grapeshot/2013/jul/09/just-one-more-thing-about-rick-perrys-future/

 

     The question of whether or not Rick Perry takes another shot at the White House is still up in the air. But after a sub-par performance in 2012 against considerably weak candidates does he stand a chance against an even more well versed competition in 2016? The frequently mentioned list of possible 2016 Republican candidates includes Marco Rubio, Chris Christi, Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal and, in the Republican version of the role Barack Obama played in the 2008 Democratic primary, Ted Cruz. A much harder hitting cast than Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum in 2012. Christie and Bush however are distrusted by the majority of the Republican base, and Cruz appears to appeal across all bases. I can see that Republicans who might run in 2016 seem to be stronger candidates but each will have their own weaknesses. One person has to win the nomination obviously and who knows it very well may be a Republican candidate. However, the opponents that Perry would likely face may not be as strong as some are saying. As for the Democrats it seems Hillary Clinton is their only likely option. The author says that Rick Perry will likely not win the Republican nomination but says he has a chance.  

    I don't know anything about Jody Seaborn, the author of this article, but I am going to assume since he believes Perry would still have a chance even after his piss-poor performance in 2012 that he is in fact, an idiot. I assume Seaborn is a Republican living in Austin therefore, outnumbered greatly. He failed to bring up some of the events that prevented Rick Perry from being a powerful candidate including his poor ability of public speaking without making himself appear to be a complete jackass. Also, he blamed his disastrous presidential campaign on having undiagnosed sleep apnea. He's been governing the third largest state for over ten years with undiagnosed sleep apnea and now all the sudden when you have to answer questions this is a problem? We can assume his dog ate his homework as well.