Skip to main content

One Nation Under Surveillance?

Just 15 years ago most of us were still getting most of our mail delivered by the USPS postman. Now it has become very rare even in the case of most bills.

I have often wondered, if the equivalent of today’s mass surveillance had been going on 20 or even just 10 years ago… and people would find ALL their PERSONAL cards and letters had been copied, opened, read and stored by their “Protective government,” would they have responded with the same stoicism and indifference that seems to permeate today’s sheeple?

I think here would have been a MIGHTY uproar! Yet because its “Digital” it doesn’t seem to register…GO FIGURE?

Who wouldn’t be upset if they found strangers had been going to their personal stuff, searched through their file cabinets and drawers, read ALL their PRIVATE records and looked through their very personal (those not placed on Face Book) photo albums? Or would it be ok if people knew it had happened but the burglars left no traces and placed everything back where it originally was?

It wouldn’t be! But the very same thing is happening today! (NSA, IRS, DHS, and the acronyms go on and on and on….”

WELCOME TO ONE NATION UNDER SURVEILLANCE! 

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Moldy Middle

While taking statistics during my quest to get an MBA and while earning my engineering degree, the professors always emphasized the importance of finding the statistical mean of any population by using the Central Mean Theorem (a.k.a the highest point of the Bell Curve). As an engineer, this was essential in order to maximize throughput, minimize cost and waste, and ultimately make a better, faster, cheaper widget. A funny thing happened on the way to the dark side of marketing. I discovered that the only thing in the middle of the road was quite literally dead road kill. I do not know if you remember stores like Bradlees, Ames and Service Merchandise (just to name a few), but they all folded because the environment changed and they were caught trying to service the mythological “average customer.” Part of that change came when Wal-Mart began its juggernaut with the discount department store. Wal-Mart did two things right: 1) Focused on “mobile” consumers, and 2) Fo...

5 Lessons on How to Treat People

Here is a listing of stories that hopefully help you understand how to treat people... the author is unknown.... the wisdom is priceless. 1. First Important Lesson - "Know The Cleaning Lady" During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello." I've never forgotten th...

Chance and the Cosmos

What if we are alone?  With the recent breathtaking Venus in Transit pictures happening yesterday, I was amazed at the size and scope of this cosmic happening. What struck me was how everyone was talking about how rare an event this was, and it got me thinking about space, and probabilities, and are we alone? I remember as a kid hearing Carl Sagan talk about the billion upon billion of stars in the universe and the probability that somewhere out there, there has to be life around one of those other stars. According to the European Space Agency’s scientists, there are 1 times 10 to the 12 (a 1 with 12 zeros trailing) stars in our galaxy, and perhaps 1 times 10 to the 11 or 12 galaxies in the universe.  That means there are 1 times 10 to the 23 or 24 (1 with 24 zeros trailing) stars in our universe. That is a vast amount of places that could have a planet like ours.  But now we have to think small, like in chance and probabilities, and this got me postulating. Ea...