Just how bad is the loss of privacy?

You are carrying your own tracking device and the government thanks you for it.

From Daily Kos
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As Privacy SOS  noted, the controversial security expert who gave a talk entitled "Privacy is Dead" - advocating that we "get over it"-said:

    I can tell you that everybody that attended an Occupy Wall Street protest, and didn't turn their cell phone off, or put it - and sometimes even if they did - the identity of that cell phone has been logged, and everybody who was at that demonstration, whether they were arrested, not arrested, whether their photos were ID'd, whether an informant pointed them out, it's known they were there anyway. This is routine.

    I can tell you that if you go into any police station right now, the first thing they do is tell you, "Oh I'm sorry you're not allowed to bring a cell phone in there. We'll hold it for you." Not a joke. And by the way it's a legitimate investigatory technique. But cell phones are now the little snitch in your pocket. Cell phones tell me where you are, what you do, who you talk to, everbody you associate with. Cell phone tells me [sic] intimate details of your life and character, including: Were you at a demonstration? Did you attend a mosque? Did you demonstrate in front of an abortion clinic? Did you get an abortion?

The NSA wiretapping - a national tragedy.

I don't know all of the facts - the particulars - but as I see it from what is on the front page, Edward Snowden, like Bradley Manning, is a national hero. The release of the details of our government spying on American citizens without due process is important and points out that the real patriot is Snowden and the real traitors are George Bush, Barack Obama and Congress. If our nation survives as a true democracy, in a hundred years or so they'll look back on the loss of protection from the snooping of our government as a significant failure of those elected to protect the constitution.

On the news this morning they reported that the President said that they weren't spying on Americans, they were just collecting data on us.  Is he really freakin' nuts? Does he think that we don't understand that spying is all about the collection of data? Jesus H. Christ, that was a dumb thing to say.

From Forward Progressives
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The Worst Scandal of Our Time is the Disappearance of our Fourth Amendment Rights as Citizens

Which begs the ultimate question, "What exactly happened to our Fourth Amendment rights?" We gave them away, that's what happened. We've given in to apathy in the name of "national security," and as a result we've seen the Fourth Amendment slowly disappear from existence with help from all three branches of government.

The TSA

When the TSA was introduced into airports, it was one of the saddest days in the history of American freedom. I can't imagine we'll ever go back to "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause..." (The fourth amendment to the constitution of the United States)

The TSA - violating American civil rights every day.

Check out the fourth amendment to the constitution - it's pretty clear.

The Fourth Amendment

Neo-Cons love to talk about fighting to keep America free. They loves them a good war - and they loves them some "second amendment" talk - the freedom to keep and bear arms. Gotta have guns to shoot up the bad guys (and your family and friends).

BUT - in this "war on terror," just exactly when did we give up the REST of our amendments? First, I'd like to point to the "fourth amendment."

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Then I'd like to point to some recent actions by Homeland Security as pointed out in a post at the J-Walk Blog...

Apr 23, 2008 1:27 PM
Advances In Law Enforcement
from The J-Walk Blog

Customs agents at U.S. airports don't need any evidence of wrongdoing to search the contents of passengers' laptop computers, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. Although police need probable cause - specific evidence of criminal activity - to search someone on the street, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that no such evidence is necessary for a border search. Courts have also ruled that an international airport is the equivalent of a border.

That is all.