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Northwest Sued for Divulging Customer Information
ChazeFroy writes "Northwest Airlines is now being sued for giving customer information to the government. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in US District Court in St. Paul MN, contends that the airline violated its own privacy policy as well as federal and state laws."
Oh great. Another frivoulous lawsuit. Don't these ambulance-chaser lawyers realize that the federal government will protect our privacy? These lawsuits just add to the cost of doing business. We must crack down hard on these frivoulous lawsuits by getting some real tort reform. After all, Northwest Airlines has the best interests of their customers in mind and can't really be expected to keep customer data private when there are profits to be made.
Of all the nerve!
It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
Key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year. (Democratic Applause.) The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. (Republican Applause.) Our law enforcement needs this vital legislation to protect our citizens. You need to renew the Patriot Act. (Republican Applause.)
Clarifications in bold
----- LoboSoft specializes in Digital Language Lab
...Key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year. (Applause.) The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. (Applause.)....
The AC, of course, is quoting President Bush's State of the Union Speech given last night.
The applause for "Key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year" was predominantly by the Democrats, and was apparently unexpected by the Republicans.
To repudiate the Democrats, the Republicans rose to their feet and even more loudly applauded "The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule."
Yes, that's right. The Republican majority clapped loudly and enthusiastically for the proposition that the terrorist threat won't end.
But besides being black humor at its best, it just makes sense: the continuing "War on Terrorism" gives the Republicans an excuse to grab more power, further limit our liberties, and direct more no-bid contracts to Halliburton. Our fear of terrorism is their ticket to the good life.
So it was telling that later in the speech, President Bush characterized the "War on Terrorism" as "a task that does not end."
Like the "War on Drugs", Bush knows he'll never win the "War on Terrorism", and so he'll always have it around to justify more and more intrusive government. So long as there's a "War on Terrorism", Bush and his Republican cronies get to keep their cushy jobs, old men like Admiral Poindexter get to stare into your bedrooms, and young men from poor families get to join the army and die for Halliburton's oil.
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In other words, you couldn't reliably pick out terrorists based on statistical analyses of passenger flight records.
Not surprising. I mean, how many terrorists list their occupation on a credit card application as "suicide bomber"?
But I bet you can pick out anti-war, anti-Bush, and anti-Republican travelers for harassment, uh, I mean, protective detention.
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