Freedom News Hour - 05/29/14

Economics and monetary developments occupy co-hosts Walt Thiessen and Bill Westmiller, as they discuss Federal Reserve plans to increase interest rates and quiet efforts to re-inflate the housing bubble with easy money that will create new housing demand and stimulate financial derivatives.

 

Snowden got prominent media attention from NBC this week, while Glenn Greenwald promises a list of names - probably political and media celebrities - who have been monitored by the NSA. The hosts speculate about the various powerful institutions that may be affected by new revelations.

 

Internet companies are becoming worried about their customers demands for privacy, trying to encourage Congress to eliminate an old law that required turning over email and communications that are stored on "The Cloud" for more than six months ... with no warrants whatsoever.

 

Bill described a few of the surveillance programs that have nothing to do (directly) with the NSA. One is called "Stingray", a device used by local and state police to monitor - without a warrant - both the metadata and content of cell phone communications. The law enforcement agencies have been trying to hide its use, to avoid court challenges to prosecutions based on the information. Walt and Bill also talk about the development of license plate databases, which started years ago with "Red Light Cameras", which have grown into a pervasive network of travel information on every American driving in major cities.

 

Walt announced a new "fictional" segment for next weeks show, based on a science fictional "alternate history" of how various government invasions of privacy "were" defeated.