Snooping on Citizens in a (supposedly) Democratic, Free Society

There have been some recent revelations about the extent of government spying on it's citizens (and everyone else, to be fair...).  The most egregious reports have come out of the USA, but I really wonder what is going on here in Canada?  I suppose the stories will come out at some point....  We've already had the talking points from Vic Toews but I hope we've moved past the "with us or with the pornographers" stage of the discussions....

The argument is often made that "...if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear...".  One prescient comment I saw put it this way: "If you say you have nothing to hide, you probably lie about other things too."

The Washington Post had an article which it called "Five Myths About Privacy".  It addresses that "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" mantra that's thrown out there far too often.

As the Washington Post article put it:

 "Even if a person is doing nothing wrong, in a free society, that person shouldn't have to justify every action that government officials might view as suspicious. A key component of freedom is not having to worry about how to explain oneself all the time."

Exactly.

Tools of the Trade

 Had a bit of an upgrade here on the hacienda the other day.  I'd been cutting down some big trees that were shading the garden and threatening the house and vehicles (as well as the usual dead tree cutting up that I'm always doing...).  Anyway, my trusty, but old, 1980s-era Homelite saw quit.  Actually the saw runs fine but the tip sprocket on the bar seized, and it's almost impossible to find a replacement for a saw that old.

Within an hour or so I'd made up my mind to upgrade to a new, efficient Stihl chainsaw and came home with the model shown above.  Used it to cut down the final tree in the trio.  I have to say that I'm impressed at how well it works and how fast it cuts.  Has safety features that didn't even exist when my old saw was made.  Should last me the rest of my life.

Today, Catherine and I finished filling the woodshed with split wood, pieces that we'll be using in the winter of 2014-15 so it has lots of time to dry and cure.  It's so nice to get that job finished.  My chainsaw work for the season isn't over yet, though.  I have lots of downed trunks to slice up and pieces to stack, ready for next spring when we go through the process once again.