Of course, in one sense, it is business as usual. Increasing efficiencies make it somewhat more intimidating and outsourcing data collection on that scale is beautiful. I suppose I'm more worried about the commercial entities that sign up for that sort of work.

In this general area, on a personal note, I'd be curious who uses a VPN service and/or what the community thoughts are on there efficacy for privacy?

The mainstream media is the corporate media. Folks used to tell me, "If anyone good was running, you would hear about it." Thing is, with corporate media, that would not be good stuff you would hear. Like the stuff they said about Bernie after he got too much attention to ignore him. So would Trump have won if mainstream media had given him the Bernie treatment and ignored him? Possible, he had Fox News and right wing radio. The US is a violent, racist country. I worked heavey industry. the rank and file was full of ass kissing company men, anti Union, but still working a good paying Union job, doing defence work and bitching about their taxes. Chomsky says the right wing killed the left press before WWI. They started purging the labor unions at the same time, but it paused a bit for WWII, then they went like gangbusters during the four ties and early fifties. By that time, the workers were getting fat(contracts), they signed no strike clauses and gave away what power they had. The new generation does not deserve what's coming if the inviorment or nuclear holocaust does not do them in first, but it is my opinion that things are going to have to get so bad that people are really going to suffer before they start pulling general strikes and shutting the corporatocracy down.

On the plus side, the teachers taking to the street is a real good sign. Government can legislate away a workers right to organized negotiation, but they can not run the machine without bodies.

Wonder if the presidents going to be on the list?

Context? Relevance? Use your words.

You're right, they brought it upon themselves. Asking questions, writing down what people say... they wouldn't dress like that if they didn't want it.