So as you may have heard, section 215 expired.
In theory the Government has shut down their collection
(but who is to say they actually did -- I have my doubts)

But apparently there is something looming that will make it legal again.
Through all the trash news propaganda, I can't really find out what it is.

Thoughts or explanations?

Don't be fooled.

Stop and consider the pure economics of the Military Industrial Complex,™ and therefore of the lap-pig legislators, judges, justices, and Presidents who serve them.

Why do we now have an infernal arsenal (sic ...) of thousands(!) of nuclear warheads waiting to be exploded, on more-thousands(!) of missiles ... when there are not (nearly!) enough target cities on this planet, to aim them at?

Simple: because there is money in it.

But: "not just Money, but t-o-p s-e-c-r-e-t Money."

It's a public fact that the United States Government "borrows" more than $2 Million USD per minute from its never-ending piggy bank. And that, as per http://www.militaryindustrialcomplex.com, it spent $45 billion of that money in April on public (nevermind "classified") military contracts.

When "nuclear missiles" began to out-live their welcome, "senseless surveillance" was a very easy replacement. Given that there are only about 750 politicians, judges, justices, and senior officials in the entire(!) United States Government upon which to dispense "all that $C$A$S$H", it is very simple mathematics, really. All of it: "¢la$$ified." "You (burp... belch...) will never know."

You can be quite assured that the US Congress would not "bite the hand that $$feeds$$ them," without first quietly ensuring that the new bill will profit them even more.

I think we need to monitor SE Tennessee, USA a bit better.

To answer OP's question, there will be efforts in Congress to reinstate the lapsed "authority."

In the meantime, I expect that the NSA and the other three letter agencies will continue to do what they have been doing. The US has a long history of "investigative" agencies doing illegal things in the name of "national security," when the true goal was "gaining political advantage/avoiding political embarrassment."

Look up COINTELPRO as a for instance.

Also, what sundialsvcs said.

Yawwwwnnn - who gives a damn.

American myopia - they'll still be monitoring the rest of the known world. Every second of every day.
Maybe American citizens as well. I wouldn't bet against it personally.

It's merely human nature, folks. There is, simply, a staggering amount of cash to be made by doing secret things for (any ...) government. And all of that spending is (supposed to be ...) secret.

Of course, the one thing that gives it away is the accounting. "If the US Government is spending millions of dollars a minute, you can be sure they're not spending all that money on the Post Office." Nor on any of the good social programs that are listed as being such recipients of the government's largess.

Human nature. The one "universal constant" in human experience has a value of Infinity. That constant is: G = Greed. Yes, there comes a point in some people's lives where they really don't care how much Money they have: they simply want More of it. It's literally the stuff of fairy tales, like the tale of King Midas.

As you drive down the highway and count the number of cameras that are now pointing at you, remember that someone $old all that stuff, and probably got paid for it out of some secret budget. There is "plausible denial" all around, and the astonishingly-fat invoice is comfortably #CLASSIFIED#.

Ed Snowden really didn't reveal that many "secrets," but he embarrassed the hell out of a lot of fat-cat people.

Hysterical and so sad. Not safe for work. It's John Oliver's show about all this along with his interview with Ed Snowden.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEVlyP4_11M

[/quote]
So, is there any way to stop the corruption?

Not surprised. I heard that the so called "FREEDOM" act was supposed to stop it but it get so amended and screwed to bits that it now does the opposite i.e. makes it LEGAL again.

You are absolutely right. People are greedy. Even if they are living a comfortable life, they still collect MORE money. At that point, satisfying greed could be the only reason. Of course greed cannot be satisfied.

I don't believe for a minute that Snowden's leaks significantly affected national security. It's all crap propaganda and the people that believe it lack the ability to think for themselves. All Snowden did was blow the cover off what the gov has been doing ($$) for years.

The TSA is a waste of time and money too: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...hrough-n367851

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song

Bruce Schneier, the now-famous crypto expert, refers to it as "security theater." Even the officials who work in the various agencies that have now been lumped under one umbrella don't like it, and have spoken about how the arrangement makes it more difficult to do their jobs.

But those expensive scanners at the airport terminal cost billions of dollars. Naturally, the government contractors want to sell as many of those things as possible. "To Keep America $afe."

Here's the biggest problem with that, however: self-confident myopia. "There are none so blind as those who will not see." The entire effort is geared around trying to prevent someone from taking a dangerous thing onto an airplane. But, if you are so inclined, (a) there's lots of other ways to get something onto a plane, and (b) you can put a pretty big bomb in a day-pack. Just stand in line on the other side of that checkpoint, wait for a big crowd to accumulate, and "send yourself to the happy-land where 150 lusty busty virgins will be waiting for you." (It's already been done in Russia, in baggage claim. Maybe it was 150 bottles of vodka.)

The more money you spend on "high technology," the bigger are the "blinkers" that you are wearing. All that gear makes you feel safe. So, you do not consider anything that "all that gear" is not designed to protect against.

And your enemy, wherever he is, merely says, "given that I am a psychopath, what else can I do?"

The government contractors are anxiously waiting to see, so that they can build and sell more classified gear.