It’s funny when a British person says it…

So I have been listening to KPFA 94.1 a lot these last few weeks and they are in their fundraising mode.  So a lot of the programming has had a lot of sound bytes from discussions and documentaries.   I tell you the host of the show Flashpoints really knows how to get people worked up!

One of the days that I was listening, I heard a panel discussing essentially the dissolving of the 4th Amendment.  For those of you who have forgotten what that 4th Amendment was, (oops a little slip, was!)

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.

One of the panelists was a charming British woman.  She began her speech with “I don’t know what you Americans are complaining about.  At least you have a Constitution to shred!”

I had to laugh.  Sorry.  She went on to say that what she has instead of “rights” are called freedoms.  There is no privacy and all your information is available  on a whim.  A whim!

As she continued on, I found myself getting more and more horrified.  Of course this new information compiled with everything I have been hearing just made it so hard to trust anything I see that is considered “news.”  I was disgusted to learn that while currently, the government can’t on a whim ask for personal information without having to go through the proper channels, they can however simply ask a company and that company isn’t obligated to protect the consumer so they’ll gladly hand it over.

Did you know that Google collects every single search you perform?  Every single click is recorded and each thing that you look for, the government can see it if they want to.  There is an alternative, though.  If there is a search that you would love to keep private, use www.StartPage.com to look it up!

I just wanted to put that info in your ear, because I don’t know if you all listen to corporate-free radio KPFA.