Monday, November 18, 2002

You Are a Suspect QUOTE OF THE DAY "After two years in Washington, I often long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood." - - Fred Thompson         (Actor turned Senator from Tennessee & now turned actor again) RHINO HERE: William Safire is not a soft hearted left leaning liberal by any sense of the imagination. He was not only one of Nixon's speech writers, he also wrote Spiro Anew's speeches including the infamous one about the "nattering, nabobs of negativism". Yet, in the article excerpted below the line, it's alarming to sense his fear of what John Poindexter has dreamed up for us Americans. Remember him? National security adviser under Reagan who cooked up the plot to secretly sell missiles to Iran to pay ransom for hostages, with the illicit proceeds going to illegally support contras in Nicaragua. As Safire warns, Poindexter's back with a plan more diabolical than Iran-contra; the "Information Awareness Office". This is a must read. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/14/opinion/14SAFI.html?todaysheadlines After discovering Monty Python's Terry Jones is a regular contributor to the UK Observer & featuring his satirical column this weekend, OK, George, Make With The Friendly Bombs, I then found another column of his about his own head of state "The Audacious Courage Of Mr Blair". Sarcastic but not funny. http://www.observer.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,796605,00.html 8:26:49 AM    comment

William Safire: You Are a Suspect By WILLIAM SAFIRE, NY Times, 11/14/02 WASHINGTON — If the Homeland Security Act is not amended before passage, here is what will happen to you: Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade you receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book and every event you attend — all these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as "a virtual, centralized grand database." To this computerized dossier on your private life from commercial sources, add every piece of information that government has about you — passport application, driver's license and bridge toll records, judicial and divorce records, complaints from nosy neighbors to the F.B.I., your lifetime paper trail plus the latest hidden camera surveillance — and you have the supersnoop's dream: a "Total Information Awareness" about every U.S. citizen. This is not some far-out Orwellian scenario. It is what will happen to your personal freedom in the next few weeks if John Poindexter gets the unprecedented power he seeks... READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/14/opinion/14SAFI.html?todaysheadlines Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law ( http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html ). All copyrights belong to original publisher. "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. RHINO'S WEB SITES: http://www.rhinosblog.info (RHINO'S WEBLOG - PRESENT & PAST) http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) 8:18:29 AM    comment

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