From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

David Petraeus, Paula Broadwell, and you.

Hello again, I'm Mormon Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

the daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

The affair of the end of David Petraeus' career has demonstrated the vulnerability of all Americans to government cyber spying. Under current law, there's no

expectation of privacy for email or other telecommunications which go through third parties

like Google or Facebook. The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search does not apply,

creating the potential for abuse by government agents.

Can the law catch up with technology?

Or has the U.S. already become a surveillance state?

On a reporter's notebook later on, trying to save Twinkies and 18,000 jobs. First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from the members of KCRW and from the Public Radio International Program Fund.

Hello again, Warren. I'll leave back with To the Poit. The incident that forced a CIA director to resign is being cited as evidence that technology and laws passed

since September 11th are turning the U.S. into a surveillance state. Why don't constitutional

protections apply to email? What's the role of Google, Facebook, and the cloud? On reporter's

notebook, hostess brands and its union have agreed to mediation, but it may be too late to save a small industry based on Twinkies, ding-dongs, and other confections.

First, this news update, as we began broadcasting and recording this program just moments ago, there was hope that the hour for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel had arrived.

Ashura Frankel is based in Jerusalem for NPR and the

Maclachi newspapers. She joins us from the border between Israel and Gaza. Shira

Frankel, welcome.

Hi.

What signs do you see that a ceasefire might, in fact, be in the works?

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