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What are they up to now?
What is the Bush administration up to now? According to a US government website, http://www.citizencorps.gov/, they are setting up Operation TIPS:
Operation TIPS - the Terrorism Information and Prevention System - will be a nationwide program giving millions of American truckers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains, utility employees, and others a formal way to report suspicious terrorist activity. Operation TIPS, a project of the U.S. Department of Justice, will begin as a pilot program in 10 cities that will be selected. Operation TIPS, involving 1 million workers in the pilot stage, will be a national reporting system that allows these workers, whose routines make them well-positioned to recognize unusual events, to report suspicious activity.
On one hand, this makes a lot of sense. Why not have one Federal Government contact point that people can report "suspicious" activity to? On the other hand, it is very reminiscent of the Communist bloc "Neighborhood Watch" committees, where 10% of the population was set to spy on the other 90%. And, to quote Declan McCullagh of Politechbot, "Why is it that the most revealing news reports about the USA are coming nowadays form the UK, Aussie, and other non-USA media?" This one was first reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, of all places.
Well, I am volunteering, and I encourage you all to do the same. Although be warned when you do - Mozilla asserts that the FEMA certificate on the site is not valid - perhaps somebody else is intercepting the offers to volunteer?
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