"More Steps On The Slippery Slope."

Freedom has a price, But I cannot believe that price includes allowing government agencies freely spying on their own citizens. This is another of the many pieces being moved into place for the Tribulation age society.

Note that the NSA report in question was sent to President Bush shortly after he took office. This means that it was put together BEFORE the hyper-security concious aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. I've no doubt that since then there is even more government monitoring of private citizens and their activities, movements and communications than ever before.

I see this as a strong argument in favor of the increased use of strong encryption such as PGP whenever possible. This kind of suggestion generally produces a reaction something like: "If you're not doing anything wrong you should have nothing to hide."

The problem with that kind of thinking is that it's very much like saying "My freedom and privacy don't mean anythng, go ahead and read my email, track the websites I go to, watch my movements, monitor my purchases and travel habits, Etc. Etc." Giving that sort of power to a government, ANY government, is another step on the slippery slope.

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What Price Freedom?
NSA outlines plans for spying on Americans
By KATHERINE SHRADER
Mar 13, 2005, 07:06

The nation's electronic intelligence agency warned President Bush in 2001 that monitoring U.S. adversaries would require a "permanent presence" on networks that also carry Americans' messages that are protected from government eavesdropping.

The warning was contained in a National Security Agency report entitled "Transition 2001," sent to Bush shortly after he took office and reflects the agency's major concerns at the time.

The report was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the National Security Archive, a private security watchdog group at George Washington University that made the document public Friday.

The papers offer a rare glimpse into the usually publicity-shy NSA, which monitors communications involving foreign targets and does code-making and breaking.

Full Article:
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_6387.shtml
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Here's another chunk of your privacy being disregarded. It's bad enough that RFID tags are being used more and more. However once you purchace something, any and all RFID tags on or embeded in it should be at the very least disabled permanently. Ideally they should be physically removed and destroyed.

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New Mexico Kills RFID Privacy Bill
By Claire Swedberg

The state's House Judiciary Committee rejected a bill that would have compelled New Mexican stores to remove or disable RFID tags on purchased items to protect consumer privacy.

Full Article:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1449/1/1/
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RFID and similar technology have far more use than tracking and identification. Some of these uses even have fascinating potential usefullness. The first problem is that we cannot afford to let that djinn out of the bottle. The second problem is that it's already halfway out.

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Non-medical ICT bodily implants 'threaten human dignity, democracy'
- Commission advisory group
18/03/2005 by Leigh Phillips

A European Commission ethics advisory group has warned that non-medical applications of ICT implants in the human body are 'a potential threat to human dignity and democratic society,' arguing in particular against their use for surveillance purposes.

The European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE), chaired by Swedish philosopher Gwran Hermerjn, has presented to the Commission its opinion on the ethical aspects of information and communication technologies (ICT) implants in the human body.

Full Article:
http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=6805
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I am very reluctant to bring up the Terri Schiavo case these days and ONLY do so now because it is relevant to what God is trying to get across to His people concerning the last days.

The polls referred to in this news item shows another symptom of the increasinly cold hearted nature that people display in todays society. While there is a chance for life, especially including the chance that the patient has any degree of conciousness, then it's obvious that removing life support measures constitutes an act of murder. In all of the court hearings it seems that there is little to no weight given to an affidavit filed by a doctor that determined Mrs Schiavo to be "minimally concious". (see http://www.nationalreview.com/pdf/Affidavit.pdf for that doctors evaluation of her condition on March 1, 2005) Only a society in which the love of many has waxed cold would NOT decide to err on the side of life.

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Polls: Most Back Schiavo's Husband
WASHINGTON, March 22, 2005

(AP) About seven in 10 Americans say Congress inappropriately intervened in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose relatives disagree over whether she should be allowed to die, according to a new poll.

About six in 10 said they agreed with the decision by a Florida judge to remove the feeding tube from 41-year-old Terri Schiavo, according to two polls out Monday.

Her husband wants her taken off life support after more than 14 years in which she has lived in a vegetative state. But her parents want her kept alive in case she responds to treatment someday.

Full Article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/22/national/main682114.shtml
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