Two big stories, imho, in the last few days have been the O'Neil revelations, and the introduction of CAPPS2. I just did a DU search for "CAPPS" and then one for "O'Neil." - there were 6 threads on CAPPS, and 66 on O'Neil. Likewise, O'Neil was all over the "media" for a few days, and now? Meanwhile, CAPPS2 was reported, I'm betting little noticed, and has faded.
I'm not trying to say O'Neil's news isn't huge. But the bottom line is, bush is a moron, and a puppet, and the invasion of Iraq was a fraud upon the American people and the world by a gang of thugs who have seized control of our nation. In a way, common knowledge, and hopefully O'Neil may serve to wake those in denial.
The CAPPS story, tho, scares the hell out of me. Credit info. instantly available about anyone, and everyone, who flies? Just to travel? Why not add train and bus service? Taxi service? Why not add last ten bank transactions? Why not add most frequented website visits? In the name of security, can we do too much? :scared:
I don't mean to recycle the CAPPS2 debate (or maybe I do), but I get the feeling something is being slipped past us here, by the gang known for doing things that way.
http://www.newhavenregister.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1281&dept_id=7574&newsid=10795485&PAG=461&rfi=9snip:
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the policy would restrict citizens’ rights without providing them clear cause, and could lead to further restrictions on peoples’ access to places and events.
"We’re not talking about people entering the country. We’re not talking about terrorists. We’re talking about people the government thinks are suspicious, but can’t actually arrest," Rotenberg said. "There has to be some public basis for doing it.
You can’t just pull someone off the street and not have a reason for doing it."
snip:
The "registered" traveler program would favor business travelers and the wealthy, Steinhardt argued.
snip:
But Hatfield said that the TSA is still negotiating the implementation of the program with airlines. An outright "security directive" has not been issued to get airlines to turn over passenger information, though that is an "available means," he said.
So what is the bigger story - CAPPS2 or O'Neil?