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The nauseating revelations keep coming, wave after wave…

First, that our government has been monitoring U.S. journalists to find the source of “serious national security leaks” which resulted in the seizure of Associated Press telephone records. A bit later, government agents out Fox News Reporter James Rosen as a co-conspirator in a leak of classified information.

This was followed by the stunning discovery that the NSA is scooping up all of our phone call metadata, and has been for years. Then came allegations that the NSA and FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of our leading Internet companies to spy on us: Microsoft (“Your Privacy is our Policy”), Yahoo, Google (“Do No Evil”), Facebook, YouTube, Skype, AOL and Apple.

Facebook tracks our every social move (along with its friends at shadow agencies), and even Google seems to be drifting over to the dark side. To what extent are they aiding and abetting this “protection” of the security of this country and its citizens?

Steadily, since 9/11 and the passage of the Patriot Act there have been a series of laws passed and upheld that threaten our Civil Liberties and are in violation of our constitutional rights. Think of the mechanisms:

The Patriot Act, FISA, SOPA,PIPA CISPA, Drones, Warrantless wiretapping, Location Tracking, camera surveillance, RFID….the insults go on and on.

Set a Techie to Catch a Techie

The subject’s complexity calls for our dividing the show into two parts. This first, today’s show, deals with the background and history. The follow-up show covers the “How-To’s” of self-protection and will serve to counsel us as to a sensible program of self-protection from governmental or private industry incursions.

We will employ today’s “15 Minutes of Fact” guest, Richard Garboski as President of eTechHelp, to flex his technology credentials and experience to help us make sense of all this.

Whatever happened to that Endangered Species, the Fourth Amendment, with such old-fashioned phrasing such as “…and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause…” preceded by “…the rights of the people shall not be violated…?”

What is currently being done through our courts to ensure that our constitutional rights are protected?

More importantly, is it possible to fight fire with fire – using technology to become our own guardians and protectors in this day of Internet, phone and even public surveillance?

In response to this need to know, Rich is creating an educational series called “Under the Radar” that proposes to teach people the latest tools for operating anonymously and securely on the Internet and even out in public spaces.

If you would like to learn more about Rich Garboski and his company, you can visit  eTechHelp on the Internet. He can also be followed or reached on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or via his email, Rich@eTechHelp.com.

I suggest that you “star” both interviews as well as forward them to people, like yourself, who want to take back their privacy and security. If we have no interest in allowing Big Brother to walk through our front door, we certainly need to know how to lock the back door.

You can find me on Twitter and scribing away at the Huffington Post as well.

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It’s not easy being a student today.  It’s even less easy being a current or former student coming face-to-face with a ton of debt from different lenders and trying to figure out how to manage paying different amounts at different times to different entities. 

Way back when you took those loans out (can you remember being 17 or 18?), no one told you that you that you would also need a minor in math and economics just to deal with their complexity.  Studies tell us that some 65% of all students seriously misunderstand their loan obligations…and that’s on over $1 TRILLION in student debt!

It would appear almost…predatory…if it all weren’t so legal.  Lenders, at least up to the present, have no problem saddling students (few of them qualified to make an educated decision) with tens of thousands of dollars of obligations.

And, why shouldn’t you sign those papers placed in front of you when you are the most vulnerable?  You are young, you have a great future before you, and that degree is a ticket to a better life.  That is, if you don’t default.  That is, if you keep your payments up to date.  That is, if you can determine the best survival financial strategy when things do get tight.  And there’s that job thingee.

Before I distress you out totally, dear student listeners, let me assure you that you do have allies out there.  To quote that famous Occupy Wall Street Strike Debt Axiom – You Are Not A Loan.

Our guest today, Andrew Josuweit, CEO and Founder of Student Loan Hero, was motivated by his own painful experience with student debt to develope an online technology which will go a long way towards making your life easier.

To remind my listeners of my own background in the credit and collections industry, I cannot stress enough the very real dangers involved in getting over one’s head in debt.  Be particularly aware that certain student debts  – regardless of your financial situation in the future – cannot be discharged in a personal bankruptcy.  This is a distinction that defaulted students share with one other social class:  convicted felons.

Let’s see if this interview – and the tools discussed – can make this an unlikely future for my student and ex-student listeners.

You can find Andrew Josuweit by way of email at Andrew@studentloanhero.com, on LinkedIn as Andrew Josuweit, on Twitter as @StudentLoanHero, and at his website, www.StudentLoanHero.com.