The latest news from the NSA whistle blower that the National Security Agency, also called the Puzzle Factory, had been data mining along with wire taps of many citizens for years. No one should be surprised! We have had Eschelon for years in the British, Canadian, and Australian countrysides listening to all Trans Pacific, Trans Atlantic, and International phone calls, faxes, and e-mails. What adds to this intrusion is that this was done inside the United States to general citizens and residents.

When asked on MSNBC, Russell D. Tice who is a former intelligence analyst for the U.S. Air Force, Office of Naval Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and National Security Agency (NSA); opined that this was probably the results of the TIA[Total Information Awareness] project that was developed by Admiral John Poindexter [of Iran Contra fame] and DARPA [Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency] ! To state clarify, Mr. Tice did not mention Admiral Poindexter; just TIA and DARPA. Since this has been around since at least 2002; it is reasonable to believe that this was in fact the source of the Bush allowed extra legal snooping on our collective private communications. On a subsequent blog entry I will discuss some of the protective methods many of us had to adapt due to suspected and known government surveillance as a political activist.