None of this surprises me...and it will only get worse.

Some war, we have pea-shooters against their patriots. More like an assault on the unarmed.

Dunno why you all fret so much.

Going to the US meant I had a retinal scan/photo and my fingerprints taken....going up the Empire State meant also I had my undies sniffed.

...and the crew-cut grunt who wanted to know why I was wearing sunglasses....[it's called glare, you fucking moron].

None of that bullshit happens in Oz....

"Why are you visiting the US?"

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass....and I'm all out of bubblegum...."

America is just a police state. There is no liberty, there is no freedom and there is no right of the self.

America has gone the way of the romans but the reason it will work is because any attempt at revolt will trigger a wattling street scenario where the heroic boadiccas are stereotyped as bin ladens and tim mcveighs.

This is actually the goal - the government WANTS to be provoked into unleashing the full lockdown because without provocation it would be injust, but if there were any believable attempt, they could justify it.

1984 has been among us for a very long time now, before september 11. The only difference between now and back then is now they have the 9/11 excuse to pivot away from privacy and into imaginary enemies and closet monsters. (Will the next law be that all americans must have government CCTV in their houses just in case the boogeyman or closet monster wants to abduct a child? what about the babies? surely if you are not hiding a closet monster then you should not be afraid?)

I find it amazing that in college, every single thing i learn that is "against academic stme andards" for writing and speech (such as demagogy and usage of logical fallacies) are not only the norm of our society - it is the language, the script itself. Anyone who doesn't use them and make every issue into some "us and them" nonsense, they are ostracized and forced to "solve the crime" while those who use baseless conjecture and circular reasoning with red herrings are made very wealthy. The difference of conduct - that politicians and corporations are paid to use fallacies while everyone else is told not to use them is very revealing.

And the system can get away with it because it wants wattling street so it can claim provocation into war on closet monster terrorists. The presidents have never refused orders from the domestic program and military so it doesn't even matter who the president is - the decisions are always the same decision for the same reason with a different target. It is sad when the best hope our population has over the next 100 coming years is total collapse of our society followed by building a new national identity with a whole new set of laws, and a constitution that blocks orwellianism rather than one that promotes it.

our constitution does block orwellianism. at least according to the people that wrote it. but its meaning has been twisted since then.

I guess no one found my viral marketing idea funny. You could make millions on spam that uses terrorist keywords though. Millions.

Hmm, I wonder if my middle-school prediction (around 9/11 post 9/11) will come true, that America will become a Fascist military police state.

Never could decide if I wanted to fight back or join ranks for the helluvit

Guess it depends if soldiers will get class/caste privileges or not

Yanno, I liked the joke, but just now found the thread.

I dunno, I mean yea sending in material and/or spam/ advertisements with the keywords would be cool, but even just messing with them by using game-terminology extremely ambiguously to make it sound like something bad.

For example: "Did you move the Korean tactical nuke closer to Hawaii yet?" "I wonder how many bombers it will take to overcome their defenses."

Let me guess - they handed you a form and you corrected the spelling on it.  That'll torque 'em off

Yes, yes I will do this

No, it's not 95k per year.  The family I speak of have had their combined income assessed... meaning the husband and wife.  Of the 5 kids, only the youngest has a tax bill... deemed to be S76,000.  However, that's still ludicrous as she became an Australian citizen in 1972, just 2 years after the family arrived here. 

Now I was born in the UK, but the government there doesn't own my arse and does not expect to collect taxes from me, or any other expatriate, for that matter.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57552687-38/leahy-scuttles-his-warrantless-e-mail-surveillance-bill/

I love it! Thanks, Cauldyth! 

Saved me the update.

Seems the public voice does carry... or, he got a better offer. lol. Sorry for the 65 year old cynicism.

Freedom, eternal vigiliance, yadda yadda yadda.