Three interesting takeaways:
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[*] the amazing amount of unconstitutional activity they're doing -- and paid very little attention by the media (I remember a big fuss about FISA and wiretapping a few years ago, but not anymore)
[*] all of the detail of what's going on in Utah, Tennessee, and elsewhere
[*] how they're not interested in trying to be targeted (following the spirit of the law), but instead simply gather everything said by everyone to store it forever
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Just a few chilling excerpts from the article:
Sitting in a restaurant not far from NSA headquarters, the place where he spent nearly 40 years of his life, Binney held his thumb and forefinger close together. “We are, like, that far from a turnkey totalitarian state,” he says.
... couple this with the "never let an emergency go to waste" attitude, and think on that for a spell.
In secret listening rooms nationwide, NSA software examines every email, phone call, and tweet as they zip by.
... note that the listening rooms described here -- at key junction points throughout the country (large, windowless buildings known as switches) giving access to not just international communications but also to most of the domestic traffic flowing through the US -- are illegal.
Not sure how surprised I should be, of course ... and in some ways it's annoying that we get this much info publicized about the US, and little to nothing about China, Russia, etc.
