I'm Tempted To Mail Letters To "Mr. Yellowcake" And My Elderly Aunt In The Name Of Some Wanted Terrorist
Since nobody in government is making it hard to violate our privacy and other civil liberties, I think the answer might be that a lot of us lead them off track.
Got an aunt with dementia? Write and mail a letter to Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri c/o that aunt and include a brownie recipe.
It seems the U.S. Post Office is also looking up every citizen's butt. From The New York Times, Ron Nixon writes about the "Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, in which Postal Service computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United States -- about 160 billion pieces last year":
It is not known how long the government saves the images.Together, the two programs show that postal mail is subject to the same kind of scrutiny that the National Security Agency has given to telephone calls and e-mail.
Probable cause? Pffft! Nobody complained when they got searched at the airport.
Okay, not many people.
More from the piece:
The Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program was created after the anthrax attacks in late 2001 that killed five people, including two postal workers. Highly secret, it seeped into public view last month when the F.B.I. cited it in its investigation of ricin-laced letters sent to President Obama and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. It enables the Postal Service to retrace the path of mail at the request of law enforcement. No one disputes that it is sweeping."In the past, mail covers were used when you had a reason to suspect someone of a crime," said Mark D. Rasch, who started a computer crimes unit in the fraud section of the criminal division of the Justice Department and worked on several fraud cases using mail covers. "Now it seems to be, 'Let's record everyone's mail so in the future we might go back and see who you were communicating with.' Essentially you've added mail covers on millions of Americans."
Bruce Schneier, a computer security expert and an author, said whether it was a postal worker taking down information or a computer taking images, the program was still an invasion of privacy.
"Basically they are doing the same thing as the other programs, collecting the information on the outside of your mail, the metadata, if you will, of names, addresses, return addresses and postmark locations, which gives the government a pretty good map of your contacts, even if they aren't reading the contents," he said.
But law enforcement officials said mail covers and the automatic mail tracking program are invaluable, even in an era of smartphones and e-mail.
Not an excuse to do it. Catching a few perps is not worth it. Our civil liberties are extremely precious and today -- July 4 -- is a day maybe we should spend a little more time reflecting on that and what we should do to stop them all being yanked from us without any suspicion we've done anything more than, say, write Granny a thank you note for the ugly tie.
My mom scares me. She said she had nothing to hide so why worry if the govt was listening to her phone calls?
I asked her if she'd be ok with the govt pointing a camera in her bedroom and recording everything... they wouldn't look at it, of course, unless the camera picked up the cue words. She said no. I'm relieved she has a line -somewhere-
Things people could be discussing that are perfectly legal and ethical that they don't want overheard by random people
* Health problems
* Phone sex with their legally married spouse
* Their weight
* other stuff?
NicoleK at July 3, 2013 10:54 PM
Don't worry Nicole. They'll have your health care records sitting over at the IRS already because of Obamacare. :-p
What bothers me is the number of people who don't understand or worry about their liberty and rights until something happens.
Jim P. at July 4, 2013 5:00 AM
Think also about how much a program like this must cost versus the actionable intelligence it produces.
Mike at July 4, 2013 5:47 AM
We don't have independence, liberty or freedom, no matter how some fat deluded American waves a flag or tears up during a ball-game rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Don't pay your taxes, the Sheriff arrives to throw you off your property. As Kelo demonstrated, the Sheriff will arrive to evict you if someone else promises bureaucrats they will may more taxes than you do.
Radwaste at July 4, 2013 6:15 AM
NicoleK: Things people could be discussing that are perfectly legal and ethical that they don't want overheard by random people
* Health problems
* Phone sex with their legally married spouse
* Their weight
* other stuff?
Good point, NicoleK. Anybody else have any more ideas of legal and ethical things people legitimately wouldn't want other people, including (especially) government employees, to know about? I'd like to have a list to refer to the next time someone tells me that as long as I'm not doing something wrong I don't have anything to worry about.
Ken R at July 4, 2013 8:02 AM
I've heard there was a time in America when a citizen could do- or not do- pretty much as he pleased, whether the government liked it or not, as long as he did not infringe on the rights of other citizens to do the same. But now it seems like the government can require citizens to do, or forbid them from doing, whatever it sees fit.
If we are required to do what the government demands, and free to do only what the government allows, and subject to punishment when we don't submit and "obey the lawful orders" of the government, how are we different from servants and slaves?
My cousin told me, "Americans still have more freedom than anyplace else in the world." But that made me wonder... back before the Civil War, weren't the slaves who had the most lenient masters still slaves?
If someone can order me to do something - buy bronze level medical insurance, participate in the Social Security scam, hand over my iphone, store my gun unloaded in a safe - and I'm not free to refuse and walk away; or if someone can forbid me from doing something - smoke a joint, buy raw milk from my neighbor, home school my children, carry a pistol for self defense - and I'm not free to ignore him and do what I want anyway, then I don't own myself, and I'm not free.
Ken R at July 4, 2013 9:01 AM
-- Anything with a lawyer, but especially
your defense strategy.
-- My finances
-- Whom I'm talking to in the first place.
-- My family recipe for baked beans.
-- My clothing sizes, or for a woman what
is her bra/cup size.
-- While not ethical my discussions with my
mistress.
-- My interview for a new position while
currently employed.
Jim P. at July 4, 2013 9:44 AM
Ken-It's a damned shame anyone should have to justify our desire for privacy. They use "share" to shame us like we are selfish children.
*conversations with friends/coworkers about other coworkers, the Boss, ethical conflicts at work
*catalog ordering - clothing and intimate apparel sizes and tastes. (I used to get customer service calls when customers felt funny about ordering underwear from a man.)
*Books I've read, websites I find interesting that I might share with selected friends.
*Unorthodox but harmless hobbies and interests...occult stuff, ufo stuff, actually any of that "tin hat" stuff...I know a middle aged woman who still reads TigerBeat mag and is embarrassed to admit it...National enquirer is a guilty pleasure to many.
*Discussions of soap opera characters that might sound like we have intimate details on every tramp and con man in town.
*Family issues, like trying to figure out if Cousin Johnny actually fondled Cousin George or is Cousin George is a big fat liar. Or did the neighbor really try to peep Granny's window or is she getting delusional? Is brotherinlaw flirting with sisterinlaw or are they just bored at family dinners? Call it "speculation about others" category.
*Angsty BFF conversations. We reveal vulnerability to friends we would never share publicly.
*Financial info/planning
*Family Planning or sexual info.
*Intellectual property. I've had songwriters sing me new songs over the phone. Writers read new stuff over the phone or discuss plotting. Inventors have friends they talk to about their ideas.
*political affiliations and opinions
*vacation plans
*Snarky comments about people
My standard question to these people is "Think of 5 things you did or thought this week that you would not want publicly announced on the 6pm News."
We get to pick and choose who we share our information with. Or should. I am a private person and share very little personal information with others. And it ain't nobody's business if I do.
bmused at July 4, 2013 9:51 AM
I want to work the following phrase into my phone calls as often as possible:
"It's a brand newclear day, perfect for going fishin."
Or maybe just discuss the day's news - anything about terrorism, terrorist groups, guns, whatever's in the headlines - to trigger them into a panty-wetting frenzy.
If they're going to waste our money we might as well waste their time.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at July 4, 2013 10:17 AM
Guys, this is off-topic, but you have to see this. It seems the Las Vegas Gestapo thinks it's perfectly fine, right and proper to take over someone's home as a lookout when expressly denied permission to do so without consent of the owner.
This is stunning, what the police did. To him, to his dog, to his elderly mother.
These cops need to be in prison!
Patrick at July 4, 2013 10:24 AM
I'd like to have a list to refer to the next time someone tells me that as long as I'm not doing something wrong I don't have anything to worry about.
Instead of a list, try this (emphasis mine):
Feel free to ask your questioner which part of "shall not be violated" they need you to explain.
This and similar colony laws were push back against general warrants, which allowed British customs officers in the Colonies to search your home at will, and seize anything that was “prohibited and uncustomed” goods, and arrest pretty much anyone they liked without hint of suspicion.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 4, 2013 10:38 AM
"It's a brand newclear day, perfect for going fishin."
A friend called this past week as he was on his way to Lowes, and I asked him to pick up a couple of pounds of semtex as I had a big project coming up, and then later on "what the hell kind of hardware store is this, they don't stock semtex?"
I R A Darth Aggie at July 4, 2013 10:41 AM
These cops need to be in prison!
Prison? that's too good for them. Tar, feathers, offenders, some assembly required.
They forgot to include the police union in their lawsuit. The individual officers don't have that much money, but the union and the city both have money.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 4, 2013 10:48 AM
Thank you, Darth. I agree.
I'm absolutely floored by this. Amy didn't have a link place for me to post it today, and I didn't want it to get buried. In fact, I wouldn't mind if Amy wanted to share it as its own entry.
Patrick at July 4, 2013 10:54 AM
IRA, that won't work for the my mothers of the world, because she'll say the Constitution should be updated for the times.
NicoleK at July 4, 2013 12:25 PM
Think about if you're a small business owner, and you're discussing firing an under-performing employee. Or you've been doing business with Supplier A for years, but you're secretly discussing with Supplier B because they've offered you a better price.
Cousin Dave at July 5, 2013 6:58 AM
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