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Several hours ago, a US federal judge ruled against some of the NSA’s espionage:

December 16, 2013

WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled Monday that the National Security Agency’s controversial surveillance program that collects millions of Americans’ telephone records may be unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon ruled in a lawsuit brought by conservative activist Larry Klayman that the legal challenge to the massive surveillance program — disclosed in full earlier this year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden — would likely succeed.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/16/judge-nsa-surveillance-fourth-amendment/4041995/

December 16, 2013

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government’s gathering of Americans’ phone records is likely unlawful, a judge ruled on Monday, raising “serious doubts” about the value of the National Security Agency’s so-called metadata counterterrorism program.

“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen,”  U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, appointed by Republican President George W. Bush in 2002, wrote in a 68-page ruling.

The U.S. Department of Justice said it was reviewing the ruling in a case brought by Larry Klayman, a conservative lawyer, and Charles Strange, described in court documents as the father of a cryptologist technician for the NSA who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011. The judge ordered the government to stop collecting data about the two plaintiffs, who were Verizon Communications Inc customers. Verizon declined comment…

Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of both NSA and the Central Intelligence Agency, said the metadata made a contribution to weaving the “tapestry of intelligence” and that judges “are not really in a good position to judge the merits of intelligence collection programs.”

An Obama administration official said that on 35 occasions  in the past, 15 separate judges assigned to the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court had declared bulk communications of telephone metadata lawful.

Judge Leon has issued headline-making rulings before. In 2011 he blocked cigarette-warning labels that showed graphic images such as a man with a hole in his throat, saying they were unlawful compelled speech, and this year he ruled that the Federal Reserve ignored the intent of Congress in a case about debit card swipe fees.

Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit group in Washington, said the ruling “means that the NSA bulk collection program is skating on thin constitutional ice.”

In defending the data collection, U.S. Justice Department lawyers have relied in part on a 1979 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that said people have little privacy interest when it comes to records held by a third party such as a phone company.

Leon wrote that the latest circumstances were different.

“The government, in its understandable zeal to protect our homeland, has crafted a counterterrorism program with respect to telephone metadata that strikes the balance based in large part on a 34-year-old Supreme Court precedent, the relevance of which has been eclipsed by technological advances and a cell phone-centric lifestyle heretofore inconceivable,” he wrote.  http://www.voanews.com/content/us-judge-governments-phone-data-collection-likely-unconstitutional/1811634.html

The reality is that the USA’s National Security Agency has repeatedly violated rules and agreements with USA courts according to other documents (see NSA found repeatedly violating privacy rules, revealed documents black-out reason why all American telephone records were collected).

Even if the NSA is ordered to stop all of it, it will be too little too late.  The reality is that because of the Snowden disclosures, the USA has agreed to share intelligence, espionage, and data collection techniques with the Europeans.  As well intentioned as that MIGHT be from the USA and Europe, the reality is that this will be a disaster for the world.

15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:15-18)

Because of what the USA and UK have done, and the fact that USA President Obama has declared that he would share espionage secrets, techniques, and findings with the Europeans in general and the Germans in particular, this is setting the stage for even greater surveillance which will come from the emerging Beast power in Europe (Revelation 13:16-18).

A few hours ago, one local radio personality commented that he felt that because of his long-term impact, that Edward Snowden should have been named “person of the year.”  Not because the radio commentator necessarily backed what Edward Snowden did, but what will likely develop because of Edward Snowden.  And even though Pope Francis may have more long-term impact (and was so-named by Time, see ), Edward Snowden’s disclosures have pointed out USA government hypocrisy and constitutional violations than any one else in some time.

But, as I mentioned, I believe that the biggest impacts will be how the Europeans and others react to the USA, at least partially because of the disclosures.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 17th, 2013 at 12:03 am and is filed under Prophecy.

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