Disclaimer: I understand that by writing this post I am at risk of becoming a person of suspicious activity.
I interrupt The Sparkled Life's main topic of Multiple Sclerosis to write on a topic that is highly disturbing and should be highly concerning to you, to us, to Americans:
the government's gathering of Citizen Data.
This has been in the news for the past few weeks now; how the government is prying into American citizen's lives by spying on their phone records, social media sites, internet searches, downloads, emails, medical information, credit/debit transactions, etc.
This is not new news however. This has been going on for a while. Now, it is out in the open. And despite the rebuttal of the American citizens, civil rights groups and the like, we are told there is nothing that can be done to stop it.
Utah. A state with a lot of room to build. There "they", the government, or more directly, the NSA, are spending billions of American dollars (most likely borrowed from China) to build a super computer to do the following:
Notice the source: NSA itself.
This is not a drill America. This is real life.
Obama's response to the opposing views that this goes against the freedom of the American people:
"They (invasion of privacy operations) help us prevent terrorist attacks," Obama said. He said he has
concluded that prevention is worth the "modest encroachments on
privacy."
And this is not just a pick on Obama and his administration. President Bush was no safe-guard of American freedom either. See in above picture, bottom right, the words "Patriot Act Detention"? Thanks to the Patriot Act, we all, under most circumstances and a good lawyer, could be defined as a terrorist in some way or by action.
The Patriot Act was written years before September 11 occured. It was a sitting duck, waiting for the right moment to be sprung through congress on the tails of "protecting the American people", a campaign ran by President Bush.
The USA Patriot Act
defines domestic terrorism activities as:
"activities that (A) involve
acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws
of the U.S. or of any state, that (B) appear to be intended (i) to
intimidate or coerce a civilian population, (ii) to influence the policy
of a government by intimidation or coercion, or (iii) to affect the
conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or
kidnapping, and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction
of the U.S."
As you read this, I am sure you are confirming that you could never be under this definition.
Wrong. Two examples that show how easily it could be to be defined as a domestic terrorist.
Being pro-life: "to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion". Ever been to March for Life? With the NSA watching your facebook wall full of pro-life messages and pictures of marching on Washington, easily, the government could define you as a domestic terrorist.
Being pro-gay : again, same clause applies. Ever been to a pride festival? Have the equal sign as your profile picture? The government watches that. And yes, it too could apply.
We are no longer the land of the free. Every move we make is being watched, recorded, analyzed and possibly, goodness forbid, put into a "decide act". All for the sake of terrorism, freedom.
Terrorism is not a war that can be fought only by intelligence. Extremist are out there that oppose America and the way that Americans live, no matter what the government does to protect us. There will always be acts of terror unless we make peace. We change hearts. Terrorism and terrorists are unfortunately very tricky, very unpredictable and very smart.
A terrorist is not going to post on facebook "today I'm going to xyz" and make phone calls to home about their actions. They arent going to parade their awful deeds prior. They know and are aware, possibly more so than us, that the government is watching.
So thus the question must be asked: why?
Obama answered it; but let's see an example. Show us Americans how spying on us helps protect us. "That's classified information". Well so is my life. Or it was.
Let's talk medical records for a second (it too being something the government is gathering). I went to a different clinic a week ago and had to personally bring my records. The hoops I had to climb through, the amount of phone calls I had to make, all to receive MY records of MY health. And to top it off, I had to pay for it.
Yet the government has it all in their secret file.
An example of how medical records could be used against you and classify you as a domestic terrorist (or at least put you in a classified group): marijuana has been linked to be a drug that has shown relief for MS patients. The National MS Society posted a blog insert yesterday addressing the positive affects of this drug. However, it is federally illegal to use this drug, though some states have approved it's use as legal. People with MS still use this as an option, despite.
Let's say the government wanted to crack down on illegal drug use. They know the above. So thus they could classify every person who has Multiple Sclerosis into a domestic terrostic group and due to this are put under higher survalence.
This is no joke. Yes, I have a very strong imagination that sometimes can lead me to conspiracy theory ideas. I grew up with the book 1984 as my favorite book. I put faith in the American people and the Constitution rather than the government.
But this is real life. The government is becoming "Big Brother" and there is nothing we can do to stop it. Or at least that is what we are told.
I believe there is something you can do about it. Think for yourself. Read the papers, watch the news but make your own conclusions. Have your own thoughts and your own opinions. This will be the only way to fight the "Big Brother" theory; that is, to remain an individual instead of just one in the crowd.
"Any dead fish can tumble down stream; go against the flow". This motto may just be the way back to American Freedom.
Love,
PS: Hi Government. Still love me?