Now and then someone from this site drops by one of my 200 blog sites.  Just for those who don't have the time to look at these here are the first posts on the site:  http://impeachobama2013.blogspot.com/ and while you are at it take a look at:  http://syriaandislam.blogspot.com/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, June 14, 2013

7/14/13
Mr. Obama is watching you!

 

On the Sunday 7/15/13 evening national news for NBC there was a 4 minute segment about a revamped U.S. Mail program that the government has now admitted captures images of both sides of any post card, letter or package which is put into the USPS system. 

 

This covers ALL mail, domestic and international. At one time the post office was considered to be the largest intelligence service of the government and watching the mail goes as far back as the Civil War.  

 

The 'new' aspects of this program may well prove to exceed the authorization for such intelligence gathering as provided by the Congress.  Governmental spokesmen admit that all these images are saved electronically in case any address or name draws future attention.  When/if that happens, the various agencies can pull up information to determine what mail was sent by or received by a person, firm or address.

 

Big Brother has arrived.

 

The above page is from a FOIA reply from a citizen in Buffalo, NY, who accidently learned that he was a target of this governmental snooping. The relevant text is about the 'Automated Facer Canceller System' (AFCS) and reads in part:  'The AFCS incorporates a 'Mail Isolation Control and Tracking' (MICT) program which photographs and captures an image of every piece that is processed.'  

I Idon't know of any simple 'fix' to safeguard privacy but a few common sense things come to mind:

 

1)   No longer use a return address on your mail.  Such return addresses have long been a feature promoted by the post office so if your correspondent is gone or the address is incorrect you will get your mail back.  You might want to omit any such return address in the future.

 

2)   Modify your name for incoming bank statements, bills etc.  Rather than using Dr. John J. Smith, ask your bank, utility etc to just use J. Smith.  Don't give out any extra information for the government to copy and file away.

 

3)   Avoid getting mail at a 'home' address.  This won't help all that much as all mail will still be copied but using a private mail receiving service can't hurt.

======================================================

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

I am waiting to hear how Mr. Snowden can be blamed/prosecuted for 'leaking' secrets when retired U.S. General James Cartwright has been leaking secrets about the Stuxnet virus attack on Iranian nuclear facilities in 2010.  Seems that the White House wanted that info leaked to make itself look good and had the General do it.  I smell a coverup coming. Anyone notice a double standard here???? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Misc:   This blog site is about Obama but recent events have brought up an interesting side issue of recently released info about governmental spying that seems in excess of that which is approved by existing legislation.  If you are not interested in this then just skip down a few posts and get back to the real topic here:  'IMPEACH OBAMA'.  Thank you for looking at my little blog. A bit off the blog topic but in the news:

Edward Snowden:  Hero or traitor? Let's sort out some terms right off the bat so we know what is bullshit and what is not.
Traitor - a person who commits treason by betraying his or her country.  Treason - The crime of betraying one's country, esp. by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government. So Snowden is neither a traitor nor has he committed treason.  People throwing around such terms either have no access to a dictionary or they have some agenda that they are trying to sell you. I said when this story broke that I did not have enough information to know if he was a good guy or a bad guy.  I am still on the fence and I, like you, am watching this develop.

 

Here is something to mull over: If a passerby notices your home is on fire at 3 a.m. and breaks down your front door to enter and wake you up should he then be charged with burglary or vandalism for his efforts to alert you to the danger? This issue really is NOT about Snowden, it is about our government being out of control and snooping into all of our lives and greatly overstepping their authority.  Of the 50 acts of terrorism that have supposedly been stopped by government surveillance only sketchy details on one (perhaps 2) have been provided.  Where is the information on the other 48?  (if there is actually another 48) I have made no decision on Snowden, except that he is no traitor.

=========================================================