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My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid

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Carol Haynes:
Was it ever thus ...

Trouble is that modern government (on either side of the pond) seems to think that the only way to tackle a problem is to hit everyone .... some other examples from the UK ...

Problem: Schools are struggling in deprived inner cities
Solution: Impose a restrictive curriculum and targets on all schools
Results: Good schools get frustrated with restrictions, struggling schools .... struggle

Problem: There is no way to easily identify terrorists
Soultion: Impose a national identity card collecting the largest amount of personal data on citizens possible and insist that visitors to the country provide the evidence before they are allowed in.
Result: There is no way to easily identify terrorists (they won't bother with the cards) and we destroy tourism (nobody will want to provide the level of personal info required for a 2 week holiday).

Problem: It is difficult to collect evidence on terrorism
Solution: Allow the police to imprison 'terrorist suspects' for 3 months without charge, trial or reference to a lawyer (thankfully this idea was chucked out)
Result: Labour party activist chucked out of party conference and arrested under new terror legislation (just for shouting one word in the conference - "Rubbish").


This is what we choose to call democracy ... the main difference is that in western democracy I can say these things reasonably confident that I won't be dragged away in the night ... just don't say 'rubbish' in public ... it is obviously a code word.

tomos:
........ do you think we'd get away with the American version: "garbage", or how about "trash" ??

wOOPs! 
I'd better be careful, I know Bush & his missis are over here in Germany as I write  :)

thunder7:
I know this I do not like my gov looking thru nothing of mine we have locks and passwords for a reason

ljbirns:
From The New York Times, July 14, 2006
 
>WASHINGTON, July 13 — After months of resistance, the White House agreed Thursday to allow a secret intelligence court to review the legality of the National Security Agency’s program to conduct wiretaps without warrants on Americans suspected of having ties to terrorists.

Senator Arlen Specter worked with President Bush and White House officials to agree on a plan to review the wiretapping program.

If approved by Congress, the deal would put the court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, in the unusual position of deciding whether the wiretapping program is a legitimate use of the president’s power to fight terrorism. The aim of the plan, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told reporters, would be to “test the constitutionality” of the program.

The plan, brokered over the last three weeks in negotiations between Senator Arlen Specter and senior White House officials, including President Bush himself, would apparently leave the secretive intelligence court free to consider the case in closed proceedings, without the kind of briefs and oral arguments that are usually part of federal court consideration of constitutional issues. The court’s ruling in the matter could also remain secret.

So A SECRET court reviews what were secret wiretaps in SECRET proceedings
and will keep their decision a SECRET.


" Who will watch the watchers ? "

Lew

thunder7:
yeah I hear he is one to watch: Senator Arlen Specter

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