Comments on: They tapped my cell and the phone in the basement

By: Mr. X

Mr. X — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 04:08:30 +0000

What are you all? Idiots this is taking away our freedom this is how it all begins!!

By: cc

cc — Wed, 17 May 2006 08:30:41 +0000

One more thing. Secrecy in some of these areas is a valuable tool against the enemy. I don’t necessarily need to be told that my phone records are in a database and may or may not be subject to evaluation if a connection to al-Qaida is suspected. I think I should be notified if i am going to be charged with a crime or with aiding a crime, but the fact that my records are available for review is not something I have to know.

By: cc

cc — Wed, 17 May 2006 08:27:16 +0000

CC, this quote and your use of it are misleading — the whole point of the NSA getting this information is not because they are information packrats, hoarding phone records like Abhi hoards stamps for his collection, but precisely so they can decide which conversations they want to listen to or record — which, as already has been reported and confirmed ad nauseum, the NSA is in fact doing without getting warrants or otherwise submitting to judicial oversight. (And of course there was plenty of outrage in December about this general issue. What’s new now is the revelation that the telecoms have cooperated with the NSA on such a massive scale, which was not widely noted until now.) And how do we know, anyway, that the Bush administration is only surveilling “terrorists” and not “innocent people”? Just because they say so — “trust us”? (Kind of like when the Solicitor General stood up before the Supreme Court, just before Abu Ghraib broke, and told the Court that the Bush administration doesn’t engage in torture”? Or maybe you have in mind Rumsfeld’s comment at the start of the Iraq War to the effect that he “knew where the WMDs were”?) That’s the whole reason why we have a warrant requirement — so there is some judicial oversight to check the executive’s investigative powers.

First of all this hysteria over people being investigated is what’s really misleading. Having phone records is not new for the gov’t, nor is it for many companies and telemarketers either. Now I don’t see it as a problem, since they are NOT just randomly listening in on innocent people’s conversations or looking at all their info. They are trying to track down al-Qaida and their communications, which I should think we’d all want them to do. I’m sick of hearing “oh, they’re spying on Americans.” This is a gross misstatement of what they are trying to do.

The issue isn’t simply that I don’t care if they want to look at my phone records. What are they gonna find? Me talking to my grandmother or getting a call-in from work or a friend asking to hang out, probably. Big deal. I’m not revealing anything over the phone that would be earthshattering.

So what if they know what my phone number is? They are only gonna delve further into my records if they think there is an al-Qaida connection. So if there is a connection, I’d like to know it too. Go ahead, track my phone number.

This isn’t an illegal infringement. Other Presidents, including President Bush’s predecessor, dealt with the issue of comminications surveillence.

By: Saheli

Saheli — Mon, 15 May 2006 21:13:18 +0000

(Why Ecuador?)

GIANT TORTOISES! Do you even need to ask??

Nothing spells revolution like an army of giant tortoises.

/is pleased that her dark fiber wiring of the fortress worked.

By: cicatrix

cicatrix — Mon, 15 May 2006 08:14:23 +0000

5) The fact that former guest-blogger Cicatrix calls the bunker only when the bunker is empty except for me does not indicate the planning of a coup.

err..of course not!! Gosh, Abhi.. you so funny!

It's ok, yaar..just tell the nice people the truth. You need me, as Minister of Style, to check in regularly, to prevent those dark moments (after 2:30 am) when you worry that the ladies really aren't turned on by hirsuit men...

By: Neha

Neha — Mon, 15 May 2006 03:32:10 +0000

2) Neha would place a call to Canada every night after our day-end conference. I thought she was leaking information to the Canadian blogosphere but it turned out that she was just calling her bf who thinks she is really in America to be on the MTV reality show The Real World: North Dakota. DonÂ’t worry bf, she talks about you all the time despite the best efforts of some.

Uh oh. Rajbo (desi rambo = my bf) angry. Rajbo very angry. Rajbo making angry noises, "Ouweyahwaooogrrrr". Rajbo putting on red headband! Nooooooo.

By: Saurav

Saurav — Sun, 14 May 2006 03:26:31 +0000

How about we take this discussion to an internet chat room and focus on the data mining in this thread instead.

Haha, right on But, gurl, go to a good public school. It’s a better investment if you want to do something reasonable with your life (i.e. not investment banking).

I suppose then Godwin’s Law almost applied to your discussion “abilities”.

What makes you think I meant you were almost a Nazi, Vikram? Maybe I just think you’re extremely banal.

By: Everyone's Auntie

Everyone's Auntie — Sun, 14 May 2006 03:09:14 +0000

Beti, it doesn't matter where you go to school, it matters what you make of the experience and your education.

Visit the school, that's worth more than anybody's 2 cents. Except mine.

By: College dropout

College dropout — Sat, 13 May 2006 23:49:23 +0000

How about we take this discussion to an internet chat room and focus on the data mining in this thread instead.

By: Madurai Vivekan

Madurai Vivekan — Sat, 13 May 2006 23:47:20 +0000

taz (#12):

Viva La Revolution! Si Se Puede! (Why Ecuador?)

Come on taz, we all know you were registering voters in Venezuela and Bolivia, and Ecuador's just the next logical step.