The NSA: Always watching

Washington Post
New York Times

In the Washington Post, co-authors Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani, emphasized how the NSA (National Security Agency) was mostly used to track down terrorists in foreign countries. As the details of how the organization works become more specified, it occurs to me that this technology is not only used on national foes, but on our own people.

The NSA themselves have claimed they have done a few practice runs on random individuals in the United States. They can track where someone has been and where they'll be. They can follow them into secret meetings and figure out who else is involved by tracking down every other cell phone in that room. Now that the world has become more dependent on technology, it makes things so much easier for others to keep track of people. The government in this case can follow anyone they wish and not be detected at all. This is none other than an invasion of privacy.

CHEATER!

The world is filled with millions of people who think they can cheat the system and get ahead, that turns out to be a horrific reality. Police officers in Winder, Ga have decided to take this path in their career. Many cheated their way through the fitness test required for a police officer to stay in office. What does this mean for everyone else? That incapable police officers are roaming the streets presumed to be physically fit enough to protect the innocent. I see this as a terrifying scenario. Imagine that your house is getting robbed and when the police show up they quiver in the corner as the robbers resume to taking your belongings and cherished memories. The world would be in chaos, everyone would commit crimes knowing that they could outrun the law, or fight against a "trained" professional and win.

It is different if a high school student cheats on a test than if a cop were to cheat on a physical test, but those who tend to cheat in high school will not stop there. Those who see cheating to be a successful method of getting ahead will most likely continue. Cheating would then affect and possibly harm thousands and millions of other people who are innocent. 

The Little Things

When it comes to the little annoyances that life brings, I am usually not one to complain. That could do with how I, and millions of other people were raised to act. The way I see it, if one one were to complain about all of the "little things," then nothing would be enjoyable because people always find some small detail to complain about. An example is found in Buckley's "Why Don't We Complain?" when he mentions that the movie is slightly out of focus. He even claims that it is not much out of focus, but someone with 20/20 vision, such as himself, could barely notice. Throughout the entire film, Buckley is focused on the fact that the shot is out of focus that he does not enjoy the film itself. He even leaves disappointed because he felt he wasn't "man enough" to bring the issue up as a formal complaint to the employees of the theater. 

There was one incident that I remember in which I mention my annoyances to someone in public, and that was at a rock concert. Me being the short 5'2'' person that I am, I have no luck when it comes to seeing demonstrations in class, and much less at a concert with seven foot walls with legs in my way. That is exactly what happened, it was the last performance of the concert and there were two tall men of roughly six feet standing in front of both my friend and me. We were shy middle schoolers at the time, and it took me about 20 minutes before I could even approach one of these monsters. I lightly tapped their mid back and as they looked down to see a scared little girl, they seemed shocked of my very existence. I asked politely if we could switch spots considering my very small stature and justified my case in pointing out that they would be able to see just fine from behind my small body. They both looked at each other before one of them replied with, "Why don't you just scoot over so you could see better." Obviously we were not in the same sausage fest because I was unable to breathe without by chest expanding in someone else's personal space.

Again, I won't bring myself to complain much about anything in public, but when I pay money to "see" a band, and then can't because there are two stubborn giants in my way, I will go out of my comfort zone to try and resolve the issue. However, I am usually not one to complain. I find that if one could deal with a small issue to keep public peace, then that's how it should be; someone shouldn't go out and make a commotion out of nothing, because in the end they are the ones who look like fools.