How long is it going to be before people recognise that, at least during certain periods (which have been quite extensive) the U.S. government is (or has been) functioning in a way that doesn't just have the potential to infringe civil liberties, but is actually doing so to a degree that can be compared in many respects to what was done in the USSR, say, practices that the U.S. government itself criticised? It is no longer a question of a slippery slope. The slope has slipped.
Daniel C. Boyer > US kills controversial anti-terror database. > > Long criticized for keeping track of regular > everyday citizens, the > governments anti-terror database will officially > close Sept. 17. The > Threat and Local Observation Notices or TALON, was > established in 2002 > by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz > as a way to collect > and evaluate information about possible threats to > U.S. servicemembers > and defense civilians all over the world. Congress > and others protested > its apparent use as an unauthorized citizen tracking > database. The TALON > system came under fire in 2005 for improperly > storing information about > some civilian individuals and > non-government-affiliated groups on its > database. The Air Force developed TALON, or the > Threat and Local > Observation Notice system in response to the Sept. > 11, 2001, terrorist > attacks as a way to gather data on possible > terrorist threats. Anti-war > groups and other organizations, protested after it > was revealed last > year that the military had monitored anti-war > activities, organizations > and individuals who attended peace rallies. > > more... > http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18609 > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Shape Yahoo! in your own image. Join our Network Research Panel today! http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7 _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
