Score One For The NSA Being Able To Listen To Threatening Telephone Calls

            Washington, D.C. - Friday, December 27, 2013, United States District Judge William Pauley found no evidence the government had used bulk telephone data (that collects information about telephone calls) for any reason other than to investigate and disrupt terrorist attacks.  According to a news wire,  U.S. District Judge William Pauley ruled 11 days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, in Washington, D.C., said the futuristic program that collects data from telephone calls, amounted to an "indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion."  Stephen Vladeck, an American University law professor who specializes in national security, said if federal appeals courts in New York or Washington, D.C. accept District Judge Leon's analysis, "then it seems likely, if not certain, that this case, will get to the Supreme Court by the end of the year."  While acknowledging the program "vacuums up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States",  Judge Pauley said, it's constitutionality "is ultimately a question of reasonableness."  Pauley said the public interest tilted "firmly" toward the government, for which combatting terrorism "is an urgent objective of the highest order."  See also, www.popularmechanics.com.