They said it wouldn't happen ..

[Tony Scharf]

I didn't watch the video, but I've seen plenty enough. 
The news is quite terrifying, but it's not all bad.  I don't know how much of it filters over there, but there are a number of court challenges tot he surveillance state that are winding their way up the ladder.  This is also going to be a major issue in the upcoming elections, aside from the economy. 
A lot of this infrastructure was put in place by some of the more nasty elements of the last president, and then it is widely believed that Obama has had to go along with it due to threats related to some sort of information the NSA has on him. I don't believe that so much as I do that this has all been setup in such secret, that in the name of 'plausible deniability' the President was probably kept unaware of it (very easily done under the prior president). 
Living in Chicago, I can tell you that the cameras are everywhere.  I think I read we have more cameras in Chicago than any other city in the country. The insidious thing is that you don't even notice them unless you really go looking for them (in high crime areas, they make them more obvious with lights on them to let you know that 'big brother is watching').  
legally, there is probably very little that can be done about cameras.  Its been long established that privacy rights are only really guaranteed when you are in your home or another private setting.   In a public place (i.e. the street) you have no reasonable expectation of privacy.  They can and always have had the right to watch you however they wanted when you are in that public space, only now they have the technology to actually make that feasible. 
As to the internet, that's another point.  I always just kind of assumed *someone* has always been listening.  I mean...who created the internet?  It wasn't a group of boy scouts trying get a badge, I'll tell you that.  And is the network private or public space?  Where is the 'door' behind which you are safe and outside which you are not? 
What doesn't help is the level of paranoia and panic on both sides.  You've got one side panicked about government spying and the other panicked about terrorists plotting.  There is very little room for discussion and public debate.  That is what honestly frightens me the most.  
I've said my piece on this before, but I'll summarize.  I actually don't mind so much the surveillance and living my life as a transparent, open book if no one else does - including the watchers in government.  The question is whether or not we are mature enough to live in a world where everyone has access to everyone's information?  Can we live in a world of mutually assured disclosure?  I think that prospect, more than any, is what scares the governments of the world - that if they can watch US and this much access to US, then the technology has gotten good enough for US to watch THEM with the same level of detail and rigor.   
Honestly, I think that this came to light should be seen as a very positive sign that we are moving in the direction of a truly information open society.  I know that sounds somewhat terrifying, particularly to my European friends who are much more paranoid about privacy than I am.  I think my position is practice, if anything.   The genie of information transparency is already out of the bottle, and the problem with genies is once out, they don't go back in.
My thoughts and opinions on this are constantly evolving. 
Tony
> 
> "A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State. 
> We'll discuss the shocking cases of police state brutality upon 
> civilians, even upon children, the elderly and pregnant women.
> 
> America was once a society that valued individual liberty and 
> privacy. But in recent years it has turned into a culture that 
> has quietly accepted surveillance cameras, police and 
> drug-sniffing dogs in our children's schools, national databases 
> that track our finances and activities, sneak-and-peek searches 
> of our homes without our knowledge or consent, and anti-terrorism 
> laws that turn average Americans into suspects.
> 
> In short, America has become a lockdown nation, and we are all in 
> danger. Sadly, the police state has gone global and there is no 
> place to go to escape it."
> 
> 
> -- 
> Gert
> 
> gert van santen
> www.gertvansanten.nl
> _______________________________________________
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> music-bar at lists.music-bar.org
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