There are a number of very good articles floating around as the NSA debacle begins to sink in. Two in particular come to mind, the first is a great long read, the second and third are just about the range of implications that will emerge over time of living in a surveillance state that continues to have many functioning democratic institutions:

The Ecuadorian Library

Lawyers eye NSA data as treasure trove for evidence in murder, divorce cases

It’s time Google came to grips with how it enables the surveillance state

Again, as outraged as Americans may be, we non-american have already had to come to grips with the fact that a drone strike can be called against us any time, any where, with no judicial oversight. And now we are coming to grips with the fact that the US government is monitoring everything we do online and building the capacity to store it, indefinitely.

I don’t think America has really grasped how far it has fallen from the “shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.” This isn’t to say any one thinks that other players are better, but America sold the world not on a relative debate (hey, we’re better than the Russians) but on the promise of an ideal.

More on all of this on Tuesday but wanted to share the reads.