US plans massive data sweep | csmonitor.com

"The US government is developing a massive computer system that can collect huge amounts of data and, by linking far-flung information from blogs and e-mail to government records and intelligence reports, search for patterns of terrorist activity.
The system - parts of which are operational, parts of which are still under development - is already credited with helping to foil some plots. It is the federal government's latest attempt to use broad data-collection and powerful analysis in the fight against terrorism. But by delving deeply into the digital minutiae of American life, the program is also raising concerns that the government is intruding too deeply into citizens' privacy."

You have to sit back and think when you read something like this "Is this something new?" How can I believe that the government hasn't been doing this in some form for years? The truth is that we are in a state of decline and I guess 200 some odd years of a freedom loving democratic republic isn't such a bad run. You can not tell me that this won't be abused by those in power either, government can never seem to get it right. I am sure they will dig through grandmas email and see that she said she wanted to bomb someplace, maybe a grocery store for they all know where she got screwed over the other day, and wiretap every form of communication that they can on her off that basis. Or what about that 16 year old kid who buys a book off of Amazon about Islam? I could go on and on, but for the sake of saving space and your time ......