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Star-spangled sheep ready for the slaughter
by Kismo Saturday, Aug 2 2008, 8:06am
international / human rights / commentary

Home of the brave, land of the ‘free,’ ay! The lyrics to a popular song require changing after it was revealed that border guards have powers to confiscate indefinitely, all personal printed and written material, including handwritten notes, all digital data contained on storage devices such as laptops, iphones, flashdrives etc, and write-only storage mediums such as CDs and DVDs. The regulation applies to all, citizen and non-citizen travellers. The law/regulation can be applied without reason or justification on whosoever a ‘guard’ chooses. The criteria for selection remains undefined, which allows for huge abuses of citizens’ rights. One can easily imagine certain personality types/guards disapproving of the way he/she was looked at and reacting immediately with confiscation and intimidation!

'Home of the SLAVE, land of the SHEEP'

A similar, though more targeted law in Australia saw agents of an Australian Security Organisation abuse the law and derive great delight in confiscating and physically destroying the hard-drives of an independent journalist and film maker who dared to make a film compromising a serving Prime Minister, John Howard (see link). http://cleaves.zapto.org/news/story-769.html

Intrusive laws targeting data are not effective, as data is easily stored on encrypted remote servers to be accessed at will over the Internet. This type of randomly applied intrusive law is designed to psychological intimidate a population and make it more receptive and compliant to ‘authority’ – notwithstanding it is usually the ‘watchers’ that take advantage of their position to break the law.

Oversight and accountability are ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL when applying intrusive laws of this nature. The scope for abuse without accountability is huge and certain to occur. Nevertheless, idiot legislators persist in encroaching on personal liberties and privacy to a degree never before seen in modern democracies. The closest examples occurred in the communistic totalitarian regimes of the 20th century – models the Bush-Cheney regime is at pains to emulate!

Few imagined Bush could or would impose additional draconian laws on American citizens after Congress legalised domestic spying. However, in an effort to reach the outer limits of mindless authority, DHS has introduced the most intrusive (and ineffective) security laws to date.

Personal data once confiscated can be copied and shared with any other ‘agencies’ (or paying customers, further scope for abuse). The amazing aspect of this law is NOT that the current regime has applied it, rather, it’s that people tolerate it!

While these laws apply to all they nevertheless target the socially underprivileged to a greater degree than others. Corporate directors and the privileged have greater access to expensive communications and on-line data storage/security. The current ‘measures’ are clearly designed to psychological harass the masses while only slightly inconveniencing the privileged!

Wake up America! The PROVEN CRIMINALS occupy the White House; do not be distracted by tactics of distraction and inversion. Simply arrest the CULPABLE, if you’re up to the task!

[In a way we applaud these new laws; the SHEEP ARE FIT FOR the SLAUGHTER. March on the capital and save your miserable lives, you ‘brave’ Americans – it’s been done before to great effect and benefit to the nation and the people!]

Excerpt from the Washington Post follows:

by Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post
August 1, 2008

Federal agents may take a traveller’s laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies …

Who is watching the watchers?

Baa' aa' aa

http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN0126069520080802