Another socialist blog

Slashdot reports that a provision has been slipped into the Senate mortgage bill, requiring all electronic payment processors to send detailed transaction data to the federal government.  That’s right.  All your eBay, Google Checkout, and Amazon transactions, all your credit card transactions, handed without a warrant to the feds for them to browse on.  Dick Armey, former House Majority Leader and hardly a left-wing bomb-thrower, says “The privacy implications for America’s small businesses are breathtaking.”

True to form, the Democratic Party is once again helping the Bush administration get away with it. This time it’s the House Democrats who approved the FISA Amendments Act, which contains blanket immunity for telecoms that cooperated in warrantless government spying. Far from being a compromise, this bill is complete victory and vindication for illegal wiretapping by the White House, and will scuttle all civil lawsuits against the telecoms before they can be heard in court. Up with the lawless government, down with the rule of law. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Now it’s up to the Senate to vote final passage for the bill. See http://stopthespying.org for information on how you can give your Senators a piece of your mind.

Warrantless bag searches at commuter rail stations: Los Angeles Metrolink riders will be subjected to “random” bag searches. Signs will announce the random searches so terrorists will know to use a different station.

Protest police cameras, and the police raid your house. Philadelphia residents who circulated a petition protesting police surveillance cameras in their neighborhood, had their home raided by local police who entered and searched it without a warrant. The place was ransacked while the residents were held under arrest for 12 hours. No charges were filed.