"Is The Government Spying On You?"

Governments around the globe have always been nosy, and totalitarian regimes made spying on its citizens into an art form.

But here in America its different, right? Wrong! 9/11 was the ultimate game-changer. The fear of terrorism has led to a new era of trading privacy for security. Remember the outrage when it was discovered that President Bush was wiretapping suspected terrorists without a warrant?

Well, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Over the last decade, as the world went wireless, surveillance became virtually invisible. Only it isn't just suspected terrorists and criminals they're watching anymore.

It's us. That right, it's directed at all of us.

The ACLU, in its campaign to stop illegal spying, says, "Increasingly, the government is engaged in suspicion-less surveillance that vacuums up and tracks sensitive information about innocent people. The erosion of reasonable restrictions on government's power to collect people's personal information is putting privacy and free speech rights of all Americans at risk."

What is the government interested in?

• email
• phone calls
• tweets
• texts 
• Facebook
• Google
• and apparently our finances, too

According to Reuters: "The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country." This info came from a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.

The above information gathered on all of us will then be:

• tracked
• analyzed
• archived
• and kept indefinitely

Is nothing sacred anymore? Even our idle web-surfing is tracked. Aaron Saenz of Singularity University writes, "Nokia, Sprint, Ericsson, Facebook, Google--think of a business that helps people talk and exchange information and you'll think of a company that has helped law enforcement agencies look through private data."

What's next? Micro-drones the size of a small bird. Think we're kidding? Think again.

Next time you see a cute little hummingbird peering in your bedroom window? 

Shut the blinds.

A wise man once said: "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail." --American statesman Henry L. Stimson

"For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men" --2 Corinthians 8:21

News:

• MSN: Iran's supreme leader warned the Islamic Republic would level the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if Israel launched a military attack.
• NBC News: North Korea issues fresh threat to U.S. with new YouTube video. This time the U.S. Capitol is destroyed.
• Reuters: U.S. beefs-up missile defense against North Korean threat.
• CBC News: The Federal Reserve foresees unemployment remaining high into 2015.
• CNBC: Illinois passes new law requiring gold/silver buyers to register.