In this case the source may not be relevant when the information is correct.

to what this administration has been doing to our rights.  Domestic drones, electronic survellance, the  Individual Payment Advisory Board....at least people are starting to pay attention.  Ray Bradbury is doubtless turning in his grave.

with the Patriot Act in 2002, which was renewed last year. Our civil liberties are being sacrificed more and more every year, all for a "good cause".  We could get into a big political discussion here, but the issue for this board is the impact on the hobby. Have seen the Patriot Act take down domestic crime, so don't think the hobby could be used against individuals if it suited some larger purpose.

You have no expectation of privacy on the internet. The reason it was created is to share information in an open environment. Everyone gets to see everything. With the exception of a few minor court rulings regarding internet providers releasing customers’ information it's wide open and meant to be that way.
Regarding phone calls, they can track where calls originate and terminate on the internet but listening in is a totally different can of worms that’s too long to get into here.  The short version, listening to a person’s phone calls without a warrant makes the conversation inadmissible in court and by the way, as a general rule it’s a felony to record anyone anywhere without their knowledge or a warrant (yes, there are exceptions but not many).  
As far as being monitored, most of us are just not interesting enough for the NSA to spend time and resources categorizing. Even if they are I’m not losing any sleep over it.  
BTW, all of the communications here and around the world have been being "captured" for a long time.

Think of the private parties that do the same: your ISP, your cell provider, your credit card issuer, your bank, your internet search service, each "app" developer who's app you install on your smart phone and many more - all trying to learn and know more about you so they can sell you something, or sell data about what your likely to buy to someone who sells the same.

This is old news.  "Ma Bell" has been cooperating with NSA for a long, long, looooong time now.   And half of those bastards are probably VIPS members on this board, all of them sweating it out until their next 5 year review.  LOL