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Big Brother is Watching

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Hold the phones. Actually, hang them up. The government is tracking your calls.

A USA Today article from Thursday revealed a secret government surveillance program of Orwellian proportions. According to the article, "The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth..." The NSA is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity.

The NSA, launched shortly after 9/11, was under fire earlier this year for eavesdropping on people, suspected of having links to terrorism, when they made international phone calls. W. authorized the NSA eavesdrops without warrants. The media condemned the program as illegal and the public interpreted it as an invasion of privacy. I guess we were just getting warmed up.

Now, the phone carriers are under fire for disclosing what was presumed to be private information. Verizon (I just switched to T-Mobile. Hello again, Catherine Zeta-Jones.) was handed its first class-action lawsuit yesterday to the tune of $5 billion. According to the AP story, the "lawsuit that claims the phone carrier violated privacy laws for giving phone records to the National Security Agency for a secret surveillance program," and "asks the court to stop Verizon from turning over any more records to the NSA without a warrant or consent of the subscriber." Just down south, an Oregonian today filed a $1 billion federal lawsuit against Verizon Northwest, claiming the company violated his privacy rights.

While I think this invasion of privacy is ridiculous, and I should be standing up against the program in principle, if the NSA wants to listen to my calls to Scott, I'll tolerate it. I have nothing to hide. We're very entertaining. I will have a problem if T-Mobile starts charging me for 3-way calling. The NSA's going to have to pick up that bill.

While I'm not a huge pundit fan, I loved Joe Scarborough's analysis about this big story:

"Now, for liberals who've long been going against almost all of these issues to defend privacy, the news has to be disturbing. But no less so the conservatives who have fought national ID cards and gun registration for years out of fear of big government.

Now, whatever you consider yourself, friends, you should be afraid. You should be very afraid. With over 200 million Americans targeted, this domestic spying program is so widespread, it is so random, it is so far removed from focusing on al Qaeda suspects that the president was talking about today, that it's hard to imagine any intelligence program in U.S. history being so susceptible to abuse..."

Happy Birthday, Gramps!

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Happy birthday Gramps! Remember those good old days at the Rolling Hills pool? My body looked a little soft back then. Here is your horoscope for May 13, 2006, courtesy of the Seattle P-I, with some interjections:

You juggle a lot of ideas (Deep Canyon parties? political aspirations?) as you decide what is too much to give and what is enough. You often wonder about your boundaries (Am I playing singles or doubles tennis?). You will question whether an emotional (I love maple bars) or an intellectual approach (I should not love maple bars) is better. Carefully consider your options (boxers or briefs) or experiment with different approaches ("Jerry, I'm free and loving it!"). A natual tone of surprise (I found the remote!) and excitement filters though this birthday year.

Farewell, Daughtry

in

WTF?!! How was Chris Daughtry voted off American Idol last night?

"A lot of people predicted both of you could be in our finale... A lot of people predicted, Chris, that you could be the next American Idol," said host Ryan Seacrest at the end of last night's show. Then, without his characteristic tension-building delay, Seacrest dropped the bomb: "Chris, you are going home tonight. The journey ends. America, you have spoken and Chris is leaving the show tonight..."

Both Daughtry and competitor Katharine McPhee were visibly shocked by the announcement. McPhee, the last remaining piece of American Idol eye candy, joins Taylor "Wedding Singer" Hicks and Elliott "I'm the Larry Bird of vocalists" Yamin in the semi-finals.

Most of my friends know that my reason to get up on Tuesday mornings is to watch American Idol. I'm not the only one stunned by last night's results. At work today, a humbling, post-defeat vibe permeates the office.

"I'm in denial," said my co-worker Karla. "I've been watching American Idol all five seasons and I've always been happy with the end results. I don't know if I can watch it now." Karla, overcome with emotion couldn't continue to talk about last night's results. "You're talking to a person in mourning."

Tom Cruise Hits Aberdeen Up

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Tom Cruise and fiance Katie Holmes were in Aberdeen, Wash., yesterday promoting "Mission:Impossible 3." According to the AP story, TomKat attended a "private screening at the mall cinema with lucky contest winner Kevin McCoy and 150 of his friends. McCoy won an e-mail contest sponsored by 'M:I3' studio Paramount Pictures and Yahoo."

At the event, complete with a red carpet imported from Seattle, Tom Cruise proved he has gone off the deep end.

After receiving honorary Aberdeen citizenship from the mayor (this is Aberdeen's equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize), Cruise said, "I am amazed at how beautiful it is here, and you're really warm and wonderful people."

Now that is just crazy. I have been to Aberdeen. It's not all that beautiful, compared to other NW spots, and the people seem frigid and depressed. I thought jumping on Oprah's couch was bad, but it's now crystal clear that Tom Cruise has lost his mind.

Speaking of couch jumping, Aberdeenians do have a sense of humor. Two radio stations sponsored couch-jumping contests until Paramount Pictures intervened, citing the event "reflected poorly on Tom's image."

Aberdeen's last brush with fame was also contest related. In 1996, an Aberdeen resident won an MTV contest and brought Metallica to town. Apparently, celebrities will only go to Aberdeen if a contest is involved.

Of course, Aberdeen's biggest claim to fame is producing Kurt Cobain and slightly lesser-known Ally Evans. Kurt didn't leave Aberdeen and his broken home fast enough, and the severe depression he developed in Aberdeen ultimately led to his demise. Ally, fortunately, escaped the Aberdeen gloom early and moved to Tacoma where she had only to worry about drive-bys and meth labs. She later moved to Bellingham where she had only to worry about hippies and meth labs. Learning that hippies are more dangerous than drive-bys, she'll be moving back to Tacoma later this year.