Our national fixation with shiny new Apple gadgets has overshadowed impending military action in Libya for the killing of an American diplomat. If CNN’s public “news pulse” is any indication, iPhone 5 news was more than twice as popular as an international crisis that has our Commander-in-Chief sending two Navy destroyers armed with Tomahawk missiles off the coast of Libya. “It is a sad, sad commentary on our nation when #apple is trending higher than #libya,” tweeted army officer and author Jessica Scott.
Apple mania has also buried the fact that House of Representatives has approved “Sweeping, Warrantless Electronic Spy Powers,” extending the controversial post-9/11 Bush wiretapping law that allows federal authorities to listen in on Americans without a warrant. Senator Ron Wyden, an early opponent of the Stop Online Piracy Act, has put a hold on a matching bill in the Senate against the wishes of President Obama.
House passed extension of FISA bit.ly/LgvhIT Hey, tech press: what’s > important: new #iPhone5 or govt ability to tap it w/o warrant?
— Alex Howard (@digiphile) September 12, 2012
So, we might be embroiled in another foreign conflict without 4th Amendment privacy protections. But, hey, the new iPhone has a 4-inch screen. Oh, the iPhone also works over the blazing-fast LTE network. Wait…what country were we talking about again?