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I've been reading about Operation TIPS I also note that I am not alone in my severe unease about this. On the surface it seems like just extending the "Neighborhood Watch" concept to utility workers, but... "Operation TIPS will be a national system for reporting suspicious, and potentially terrorist-related activity. The program will involve the millions of American workers who, in the daily course of their work, are in a unique position to see potentially unusual or suspicious activity in public places."
Public places? Like someone's home when they allow the Cable Guy in is a now a "Public Place"?
Then there is the "system for reporting (read: encouraged reports with brownie points, or an anonymous tip line) suspicious (read 'anything not pure whitebread middle american') and potentially (read: if someone imagines it) terrorist related activity (read: something the would be SA [Stuerm Abteilung] rat disapproves of)" What a great way to enable the control freaks, blackmailers and other deluded idiots in this country!
Does this scare you? It damn well should! I don't know ANYONE who truly has "nothing to hide" from any zealous enforcer of purity, conformity and obediance. Any grounds, no matter how trivial, can be spun into a "potentially terrorist related activity" with very little trouble.
The question is: "Will we even be able to do anything about it come the November elections?" Or are we too late - was the die cast when the SCOTUS declared the winner of the Florida ballot (and thus the electoral votes) to be King George III?
Public places? Like someone's home when they allow the Cable Guy in is a now a "Public Place"?
Then there is the "system for reporting (read: encouraged reports with brownie points, or an anonymous tip line) suspicious (read 'anything not pure whitebread middle american') and potentially (read: if someone imagines it) terrorist related activity (read: something the would be SA [Stuerm Abteilung] rat disapproves of)" What a great way to enable the control freaks, blackmailers and other deluded idiots in this country!
Does this scare you? It damn well should! I don't know ANYONE who truly has "nothing to hide" from any zealous enforcer of purity, conformity and obediance. Any grounds, no matter how trivial, can be spun into a "potentially terrorist related activity" with very little trouble.
The question is: "Will we even be able to do anything about it come the November elections?" Or are we too late - was the die cast when the SCOTUS declared the winner of the Florida ballot (and thus the electoral votes) to be King George III?
