US agency (NSA) “collecting phone records“

[Donovan]

Which "means" are you referring to? Just this or x-rays at airport security, searches at sporting events or cameras at traffic lights? How about those pesky sobriety checkpoints?

None of these examples you provide are either secret, illegal or hidden from the people of this country. Annoying, maybe. But not illegal. The warrantless spying is in direct violation of the fourth amendment. There is a huge difference between inconvenient and illegal.

I'm not sure what you mean about suspecting official versions of 9-11. I've heard people postulate that the Pentagon was never hit...do you think that? I've also heard that people suspect the Colorado movie theatre shooter was mind controlled by the government to further gun control efforts. Really?

Your argument is histrionic and extreme. I said there are many documented government falsehoods and deliberate lies associated with the official version of 9-11. Not conspiracy, fact. Such as the repeated insistence that Iraq was somehow involved despite all evidence to the contrary, and the suppression of Saudi involvement. Our government is perfectly capable and willing to lie to us repeatedly in self-interest and the pursuit of personal gain. That also is not conspiracy theory.

I heard about this today. Shame on federal agents monitoring this guy's internet postings...

Working off clues from a blurry image of an 11-year-old girl wearing pajamas in the back of a car, federal agents scrambled to find the pedophile who posted the image on the Internet and asked how he should rape the little girl.

Determined Homeland Security agents in Washington, D.C., analyzed the photo for any possible clues that could lead them to the girl’s location. Agents were ultimately able to beat the odds and save the girl in an operation they called “Sunflower.”

Story:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/...nt-page-3/

Granted, the PRISM program warrant process seems shrouded but supposedly, they are obtaining warrants to gather specific information.

A little digging uncovers that this story isseveral years old and 1) involved posts made on the worldwide web, after which detectives HAD PROBABLE CAUSE TO INVESTIGATE a crime in progress. In other words, legal procedure was established and followed. Not the same thing as just gathering everybody's info from private data and keeping it. Not to mention it's pretty fucking convenient this story suddenly surfaces again now with a spin making it look like the NSA are singlehandedly saving the world through illegal spying.

I think you're just trying to fuck with CN. I could swear we've been on the same side of conspiracy theorist arguments where we agreed that the number of people needed to successfully carry off these large scale conspiracies make them highly unlikely. Or maybe I'm mistaking you for someone sane.

It would indeed be highly unlikely for a vast network of people to come together for a common longterm future goal such as the theory that the Illuminati rule the world bla bla. However, there is no such limit on the ability of bad men and greedy men to seek wealth and self preservation. That's not conspiracy it's human nature. People in power want to keep it, and our entire society was deliberately designed to thwart that. Our founding fathers recognized that men are greedy and power hungry by nature. That's why they made it hard for America to be undone by despots. By giving away liberties they fought like hell to provide you, you are doing a disservice to your own American way of life.
Simple as that.
If you think the right not to have your personal effects( letters, pamphlets, postings etc) seized at will without due process and probable cause is one you can do without, then you don't deserve it and shame on you. Keep in mind: the conversation we are having right now could be seen as treasonous since we are questioning our leaders. How okay would you be with being arrested tomorrow and dragged away for no other reason than your remarks here were seen as a potential threat to national security? Sedition is a very subjective charge...