Breaking news you won't want to miss:
XKeyscore: NSA Tool Collects 'Nearly Everything A User Does On The Internet'

And here's a video with a quick recap of this disgusting display and abuse of power:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxfk1cN8isI

Pre-crime is just around the corner...

 

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Good one.

 

Well I would say it's because before recent events nobody conclusively knew that they had this capability so they couldn't just start going after everyone and blow their cover. Concerning drug trafficking it is no secret that the CIA has been bringing drugs into the US for a long time. Look into the sad story of the reporter Gary Webb if you don't believe me. Plus using these programs for everyday activity would cause privacy concerns among citizens but by claiming that it only targets terrorists they can have all the information on everyone and save it for a future date when they could possible use it as leverage. I've actually seen some articles that show that this isn't far from the truth and that they have been using information gleaned from this program for other activities.

 

Well I never claim to know THE truth I can only judge on the factual information put before me as well as my own gut instinct. If there's one thing I know, it's people. I also take into account that there is a struggle between the government and the governed. There are different interests at play based on different societal roles and responsibilities, I can understand that when you're running a country you have to sometimes do things that you might not be okay with in your personal life. However I know what I want for my life and I can tell you one thing: it's not this. *no* This has just gone into the area of the freakishly absurd. Eisenhower warned of this exact thing and if he was worried about it then what can be said about now when we can see it in front of our face in brilliant 1080 pixel bullshit.

 

Concerning the traditional tools comment I believe that's what they've been doing. I saw some articles recently about that, if I can find them again I will post them here. And believe me I take everything I read or hear with a grain of salt. I'm not that guy who's building a bomb shelter in the event of imminent danger.

All of science is built off of data that you have never seen with your own two eyes but you still live with it as factual information, you have to take something as a foundation for a world view and this is more solid than other sources where you can glean information such as your emotions. With that kind of thinking who's to say that any of this is real and by this I mean your own personal human experience? We end up at the brain in a vat hypothesis.

 

Well isn't the statement there is no truth asking me to accept that statement as fact?

I choose to believe it's truth because it's certainly a lot better than anyone else has come up with, is built on some logic and evidence and is open to reevaluation and change.

I agree with you on an existential level but then how can you realistically find any sort of meaning in your life? You do have viewpoints and morals don't you? Therefore you must have found some kind of foundation to build on or everything is senseless and the mind is always striving towards sense. A person cannot survive in such a state much less a society. You take certain things as a given based on your observations of the world around you and the key element is being open to revision as new information comes in. That is why I recently told a person on these forums: one should never hold beliefs that are beyond scrutiny because that impedes growth. Some trees only survive because when the harsh wind comes they are flexible. There isn't a belief that I hold that is beyond a second look and I think that's what has allowed me to learn and adapt into the person you see before you now. I guess you could say that I have a firm belief that you shouldn't have firm beliefs.

Alraun should be in on this conversation, I know he'd have something awesome to add but I'll end with cogito, ergo sum. *yes*

 

Well it's the same with 9/11, they had a report that told them that terrorists were likely to fly airplanes into buildings and they ignored it. Russia warned them about the brothers involved in the Boston Marathon bombing and they ignored them even though they did investigate them at some time and decided that they weren't a threat. Whether they were simply a bunch of fools or calculated that this would get them the room to legally maneuver how they wanted is a scary thing to consider. There was actually a think tank Project for the New American Century that stated that the kind of change that has happened since then could only be instituted after a cataclysmic event. And here we are today...

This think tank also pushed for an invasion of Iraq:
Project for the New American Century

 

Well I didn't see it, I just heard about it on the news. It was the report that the president got from the CIA I believe or maybe it was when they did the investigations after the attack, not totally sure.

This is from USA today but let me find something more substantial:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002-09-19-attacks-intelligence_x.htm

 

Read the article I posted. And check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPZKM-N6dfg

Is it me or is the video not loading?

 

Hey that's classified buddy.

 

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.