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Latest Revelations on the FBI's Data Mining of America

An anonymous reader writes "You probably already knew that the FBI was data mining Americans in the "search" for potential terrorists, but did you know that they're also supposed to be looking for people in the U.S. engaged in criminal activity that is not really supposed to be the province of the federal government? Now the feds are alleged to be data mining for insurance fraudsters, identity thieves, and questionable online pharmacists. That's what they're telling us now. What else could they be looking for that they are not telling us about?"

85 of 446 comments (clear)

  1. Among other things? by bladesjester · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People comiting "moral crimes".

    They have a history of blackmail using that sort of thing.

    --
    Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
    1. Re:Among other things? by trolltalk.com · · Score: 3, Insightful

      After the J Edgar Hoover bit, the FBI is in no position to blackmail anyone.

      Call me when they find Osama. Or all those "lost billions" in government funds.

    2. Re:Among other things? by ArcherB · · Score: 3, Informative



      After the J Edgar Hoover bit, the FBI is in no position to blackmail anyone.

      Call me when they find Osama. Or all those "lost billions" in government funds.


      Actually, it's the CIA that is tasked with finding Osama. Well, unless Osama is somewhere in the US and commits a crime that crosses state lines or something.

      --
      There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
    3. Re:Among other things? by bladesjester · · Score: 4, Insightful

      After the J Edgar Hoover bit, the FBI is in no position to blackmail anyone.

      No, that would just stop them from acting as publicly. Even if they didn't act directly, they could still do so through an intermediary.

      That would also give them plausible deniability. "We at the Bureau are saddened and angered by the actions of this [rouge angent|hacker|whatever]"

      Never kid yourself that they wouldn't sink to it again if they thought it would work in their favor.

      --
      Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
    4. Re:Among other things? by jcr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      After the J Edgar Hoover bit, the FBI is in no position to blackmail anyone.

      You're kidding, right? How can threatening to push Hoover out of the closet stop the FBI from blackmailing you? Hoover's dead, and outed. There's no threat to make there.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    5. Re:Among other things? by mcrbids · · Score: 4, Funny

      [rouge angent|hacker|whatever]

      So, you think they'd sell Avon on the side?

      --
      I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
    6. Re:Among other things? by walt-sjc · · Score: 4, Funny

      Whoosh.

    7. Re:Among other things? by WingedEarth · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually, Bush shut down the Bin Laden unit of the CIA. He was probably worried that his friend might get caught.

  2. this is news? by farkus888 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've been assuming that since before they admitted they were using it to look for terrorist.

    --
    thats right, I rarely use capitals. deal with it. but don't mistake my laziness for stupidity
    1. Re:this is news? by bdjacobson · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I've been assuming that since before they admitted they were using it to look for terrorist. Right. It's just unfortunate all the places they're mining now. Ride public transit? In Atlanta, MARTA has just recently transitioned to RFID cards that you scan to let you in. The gates have IR sensors that know when you're standing there. Up until just recently you walked up to it and it would let you out. Now you have to scan your card again to get out as well. So they're (and by they're I mean at least Atlanta City Gov, perhaps passing on to FBI/Feds) mining my traveling habits (I ride MARTA daily so I don't like this).

      What good would this information do them? Not much. I'm not sure what they could use it for. At least you don't have to scan your card to exit the bus when you get off. So they only ultimately know which lines are being used the most. I supposed they could use this to improve service. I've spoken with several employees and they say they're not keeping the data...right...of course they're not...

      As usual, there's no possibilities for abuse in the near future, but they're still doing it, which makes you question what they've thought of that you haven't.
    2. Re:this is news? by KoldKompress · · Score: 2, Funny

      I keep a normal life on my CC, metrocard, etc. but I also keep cash in a shoebox along with a cash only metrocard in the event I need to escape. Along with your three different passports under different names etc.
      Bond, is that you? Shouldn't you be posting anonymously?
  3. Leakers! by slashqwerty · · Score: 5, Interesting
    What else could they be looking for that they are not telling us about?

    They're looking for 'leakers' who spread misinformation through government documents. Once they identify which government official's cell phone was in the same vicinity as the reporter who published the leaks they're gonna smack the leaker down.

    Oh. They're also digging up dirt to discredit the leakers.

    1. Re:Leakers! by Gilatrout · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Except when the leakers is thier boss in the White House, then they work to discredit and intimidate the whistle blowers.

  4. What else are they tracking, you ask? by GoodbyeBlueSky1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The amount of porn everybody watches online. In thirty or so years when today's youth starts running for government office, mudslinging campaigns based on this knowledge (which by then will be hilariously declassified!) will be hugely entertaining and embarrassing for everyone involved.

    I think I've discovered the terrible future of reality TV.

    --
    why? forty-two.
    1. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by Kadin2048 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This is why it's critically important to lower the signal-to-noise ratio, by sending filthy pornography to everyone you know.

      Do it for America.

      --
      "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
    2. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by superdude72 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I know you're kidding, but prior to 9/11 the Justice Dept. did seem to be transforming itself into a federal vice squad, wiretapping a brothel in New Orleans and cracking down on medical marijuana clubs in California--clubs that state voters and local law enforcement approved. Their emphasis on "moral" crimes was unprecedented. I have no doubt medical marijuana clubs were a higher priority for the senior leadership than counterterrorism. In their minds, those dirty marijuana-toking, pornography-loving hippies *are* "the terrorists."

      There is very little that you could say about this administration that I would find too insane to be plausible.

      More on Ashcroft's Justice Dept. here.

      And from recent testimony re: the NSA wiretapping it appears that Ashcroft was actually *less* disrespectful of the Constitution and rule of law than Gonzalez.

    3. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by superdude72 · · Score: 4, Funny

      PS,
      If this were fark.com I'd be posting an image macro: "Ceiling Ashcroft... is watching you masturbate"

    4. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by wwwillem · · Score: 4, Insightful
      There is very little that you could say about this administration that I would find too insane to be plausible.

      I think I can: if I recall correctly it was elected by Americans not only once but twice.....


      --
      Browsers shouldn't have a back button!! It's all about going forward...
    5. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by Stanislav_J · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And from recent testimony re: the NSA wiretapping it appears that Ashcroft was actually *less* disrespectful of the Constitution and rule of law than Gonzalez.

      That's the really scary thing. When Ashcroft ruled the legal roost, I remember being appalled at some of his attitudes, priorities and actions, and was pleased to see him go. Then along came "Seedy Gonzalez." Never, ever believe that things have gotten as bad as they can -- they can always get worse.

      --
      "Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket." -- Eric Hoffer
    6. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by witte · · Score: 2, Insightful

      >democracy doesn't work. People are too dumb for it.

      This is exactly why a decent education for everybody is crucial for democracy to keep working.
      Without good education, over the course of one or two generations a society will devolve into mob rule... and eventually fascism.

    7. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've got a feeling that the worst about Abu Gonzales has not yet seen the light of day. It's bad enough that he ran the Justice Dept. as an in-house campaign office for the Republican Party, but thanks to the innate fairness of the American voter, we're finally getting a little insight into what else is going on in his capacious closet.

      I feel bad for folks of Hispanic descent, who, after seeing one of their own achieve such high office in the US, have to learn that the guy's a total schnook. With all that's come out recently regarding the Justice Dept, Surgeon General, Homeland Security, Budget Office, EPA, FDA, etc., is there a single agency under the Bush Administration that's not been tainted and crooked? Education? no. Housing? hell no. This is a tough one.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    8. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What is really scary is that there were millions of Democrats who probably could have beaten Bush, and they nominated one of the few who couldn't.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    9. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm convinced you know the saying about being able to bring the donkey to the well but being unable to force him to drink.

      You can't force people to learn. Education is free here up to university level and university fees are laughable compared to other countries (or would you consider about 500 bucks a semester crippling?). Still, we have the same consumerdrones. Decent, free education has no power against marketing.

      Let's look at the role models our teenagers have today. You have American Idol (or the localized version thereof), where they learn that all that matters is looking cute (voice is secondary, praise to the computer). You have Big Brother, where they learn what matters is to be fun, easy-going, sociable and likable, and to brownnose to the ones that can throw you out, if you want to win. What it comes down is that success depends on being liked. Liked, in turn, depends on fitting in. Don't stick out, don't raise your voice, don't differ from the pack. Neither in appearance, action nor opinion. And you're liked and you're loved, and you succeed. And here's where marketing steps in and tells you you gotta wear this junk, eat that junk and be at this party to be liked and loved.

      Education has no power against this message.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    10. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by Obyron · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The system should use the popular vote and not the electoral college. How broken the EC is has been debated, but I think a change might not be a bad thing. (How can it be a good thing to have someone win an election that more people voted against then for?)

      We are a republic of individual states. The Electoral College system makes sure that those states still have power. In a popular vote system, presidential candidates would only have to campaign in LA, Chicago, and NYC. The first two caucuses that can give a candidate enormous momentum are in Iowa and New Hampshire. How amazing is that? We had presidential elections turn on the outcomes of voting in Florida and Ohio. For me that's evidence that the Electoral College system works.

      The population of my entire state is similar to the number of people just in the San Francisco metro area. That shouldn't make our votes worthless, guarantee that we never get a chance to meet candidates, or reduce or access to government. That's what will happen if you get rid of the Electoral College system.

      --
      --Obyron
    11. Re:What else are they tracking, you ask? by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The amount of porn everybody watches online. In thirty or so years when today's youth starts running for government office, mudslinging campaigns based on this knowledge (which by then will be hilariously declassified!) will be hugely entertaining and embarrassing for everyone involved.

      I think I've discovered the terrible future of reality TV. Mod parent insightful. I don't doubt this one for a minute. It's just so obvious. And with the face recognition technology being developed, just imagine doing a name and age cross-reference to find out if any of the performers were under 18. 17 years, 8 months? Oh my God! He's a porn-hoggin' pedo!
      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  5. Political Blackmail by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Is there anyone who doubts that Karl Rove has the wiretaps indexed for the most effective political control of both his Republican "friends" and Democratic enemies? I'm sure Rove knows who you are.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  6. I can see a use for this. by khasim · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Okay, so the FBI collects a WHOLE BUNCH OF INFORMATION about criminals.

    If they're able to form a behaviour pattern from that and provide it to the state law enforcement agencies the I say that it would be okay.

    As long as the FBI removed any individual identifying info (names, aliases, addresses, etc). Even in their database.

    "Each of these initiatives is extremely valuable for investigators, allowing them to analyze and process lawfully acquired information more effectively in order to detect potential criminal activity and focus resources appropriately," Boyd said in a statement.

    Fuck you, Boyd. What is "lawfully acquired" varies with the laws passed. When a private person does it, we often refer to that as "stalking" and it is illegal.
    1. Re:I can see a use for this. by __aawavt7683 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Okay, so the FBI collects a WHOLE BUNCH OF INFORMATION about criminals.


      You're a criminal now, huh? .. well, I suppose I don't care so much about that, but it rather bothers me that you're calling _me_ a criminal.

      -DrkShadow
    2. Re:I can see a use for this. by jimmydevice · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Laws change. You like gay porn? Maybe some shemale hardcore action? Are the actors a little young (18)? How about downloading movies, TV or MP3s? Do you look at anarchist sites? PETA, ALF and ELF will probably get you on the watch list, even if you think their stuff is BS. Everything you type that goes over the net, every phone call, every fax, every communication is being monitored. The trick is not tripping a gate in the NSA spy machine. When the wind changes, all that information will be available to hunt you down.

    3. Re:I can see a use for this. by DrSkwid · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Show me a man that's not a criminal and I'll show you a man that doesn't drive.

      --
      There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    4. Re:I can see a use for this. by mooingyak · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, they are criminal offenses. If you ever take a closer look at the question, it's usually phrased something like "Have you ever been convicted of a crime (other than moving violations)?"

      They're generally misdemeanors and are so prevalent that nobody treats it as a criminal record.

      --
      William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
  7. don't trust the governmetn by jollyreaper · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There's never been a power given to a federal agency that its members haven't immediately sought to abuse. But the same goes for state, local, federal government of all stripes, insurance agencies, organized religions, etc. It's human nature. Power will be abused so it's just common sense to restrict it as much as possible.

    When the FBI honchos go wringing their hands and lamenting over all the crimes they could have prevented if only they had more powers, the first question should be "why aren't you able to do your job with the resources you have?" Throw more money and more powers at the problem and you'll just get the same song and dance during the next budget hearing.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    1. Re:don't trust the governmetn by Evilest+Doer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's human nature.
      Actually, I don't think it is human nature. It's just the nature of the sort of people who seek offices of power. Those who seek power are almost always people who desire to control others. There are many (such as myself) who don't wish to control others, but simply want to be able to reasonably run their own lives and let others run theirs.
      --
      I feel like death on a soda cracker.
    2. Re:don't trust the governmetn by jjh37997 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      There's never been a power given to a federal agency that its members haven't immediately sought to abuse. But the same goes for state, local, federal government of all stripes, insurance agencies, organized religions, etc. It's human nature. Power will be abused so it's just common sense to restrict it as much as possible.

      To restrict something requires the use of force (i.e. power). Who are you going to trust to wield that power, the government? A better idea is to give the power to everybody so as to eliminate the power imbalances that lead to the abuse you speak of.

    3. Re:don't trust the governmetn by leereyno · · Score: 4, Insightful

      An even more important question is "Can you prove that the crimes you're seeking to prevent are actually WORSE than the crimes that will be committed BY YOU with these new powers?"

      The most dangerous of all criminals are those who carry badges and whose chief weapons are the power and authority of the state.

      --
      Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
  8. Well, duh! by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Did anybody really think they wouldn't find a "use" for all the data they've been collecting?

    Every single head-of-department has had his eye on it since day one.

    --
    No sig today...
  9. Echelon by mrshowtime · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Pardon my conspiracy theory, but hasn't the government been spying on us, well, forever? Sure, legally it's a faux pas, but an "Echelon" type system must exist by now if it has not been with us since the dawn of the computer age. I say privacy is pretty much a thing of the past. Everyone wants everything NOW and WIRELESS. Pretty much in the next 10 years just about everything will be wireless. This means that a conversations/data will be able to be plucked out of the air by just about anyone (as is being done now.)

    --
    "Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
    1. Re:Echelon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting
      > Pardon my conspiracy theory, but hasn't the government been spying on us, well, forever? Sure, legally it's a faux pas, but an "Echelon" type system must exist by now if it has not been with us since the dawn of the computer age. I say privacy is pretty much a thing of the past. Everyone wants everything NOW and WIRELESS. Pretty much in the next 10 years just about everything will be wireless. This means that a conversations/data will be able to be plucked out of the air by just about anyone (as is being done now.)

      You fail to understand the difference between spies (NSA, CIA) and cops (FBI).

      Spies: Your nation's spies are paid by the number of bad guys they neutralize (kill, imprison, discredit, or blow cover on). That means that they have a second job: to ignore everything else they see. Corollary: Unless you're actually working for the bad guys, your spies are paid to ignore you. Your nation's spies really are the good guys. They're paid to ignore things so that they can come down like a motherfucking hammer on other things.

      Cops: Your local cops are paid by the number of guys they turn over to your DA for prosecution, and your DA's paid by the number of people he can convict. Your DA is an attorney; he has no loyalty except to his own political career. Corollary: your cops don't really have the option of having a second job; they're paid to ignore nothing, and to come down hard on anything that moves.

      For cops, no crime is too small. For spies, not so much. And that's why I trust spies more than cops.

      As a kid who was brought up with the notion that "a policeman is someone you can always trust", that's the second-saddest fucking thing I've ever written. The saddest thing is that as an adult... it isn't that I've been lucky enough to have never encountered a bad cop (because I have been lucky -- I've never met a bad cop -- every cop I've encountered has been both polite and professional)... but it's that I think my experience has been lucky.

  10. But, but ... by bi_boy · · Score: 5, Informative

    But if you have nothing to hide .... oh yeah.

    --
    Chicken fried butter sticks? Do ... do you use a fork? - Black Mage, 8-Bit Theater
  11. That's Pre-Homeland Security by tjstork · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, it's the CIA that is tasked with finding Osama. Well, unless Osama is somewhere in the US and commits a crime that crosses state lines or something.

    That was true before 9/11. Now, the CIA and FBI are allowed to collaborate.. in fact, anyone in the DHS is allowed to share information, because they are all one big happy Gestapo now.

    --
    This is my sig.
    1. Re:That's Pre-Homeland Security by OriginalArlen · · Score: 3, Informative
      Seems as good a point as any to mention that the EFF's continuing legal fight for information on illegal surveillance has turned up definitely evidence that Gonzales was lying when he acted all surprised to hear that NSLs (National Security Letters, the things you're not allowed to tell anyone about if you get one.) Turns out the FBI were well aware NSLs were being abused for routine (non-terrorist) surveillance. In fact Gonzales had been sent a report on one such incident the week before he testified - under Oath - to Congress that there were no such problems.

      I'm actually starting to feel slightly hopeful for the first for years - this century, in fact! - that the tide of BigBrother-dom is going to get rolled back somewhat. The first cracks in the dam are appearing as the end of the Dubya regime approaches. It's just like Saddam's generals doing deals with the US through back-channels in 2002-3. Except without the bombs and bullets and such, obviously.

      --

      Everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from Blake's Seven
    2. Re:That's Pre-Homeland Security by purplepolecat · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually, it's the CIA that is tasked with funding Osama.
      fixed!
    3. Re:That's Pre-Homeland Security by Darlantan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      By whose standards?

      Have a wife? Happen to enjoy oral or anal sex? There have been times and places (and still are, actually) where that's a fairly serious crime. I'm not talking about other countries or the middle ages, either -- right here in the US. In fact, it's a pretty safe bet that you've violated several laws without even knowing about it. You weren't caught because either A) Nobody saw you, or B) Nobody cared.

      A law isn't some magical construction based upon something that is universally wrong. Laws (at least here in the US) are drawn up by a very small minority, enforced by a larger minority. As long as the enforcers (police, FBI, etc, and even possibly the military) are willing to enforce a law, it doesn't matter how much the majority dislikes it. Here in the US, there are some checks that would keep things from going from where we are today to instant dictatorship, but a slow transition to a totalitarian government is quite possible. Keeping everyone under watch is a step that would aid that cause.

      If you're fine with being filmed all the time, then by all means, have at it. I'm sure there's a firm that is more than happy to do the job, and if ever you're mugged, your house is robbed, whatever...it may very well make finding the culprit afterwards quite a bit simpler, as well as make convicting him or her much easier. Many of us don't find the loss of our privacy, or the granting of further powers to the government worth it.

      --
      Fill in your four or five-letter word of wisdom here _ _ _ _ _.
  12. Re:What's that? by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The FBI is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!
    The FBI^W Roman Legion is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!
    The FBI^W Gestapo is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!
    The FBI^W KGB is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!
    The FBI^W CIA is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!
    The FBI^W FBI is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!

    There, fixed that for you, asshole.
    The law is what "Big Brother" says it is. Try to pay attention, will you??
    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  13. Re:Everyone is using data mining by mochan_s · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To wit - if Amazon is allowed to know what sort of books I buy, doesn't that make it, in a way, more powerful than the government? And I haven't even mentioned Walmart, who lives and dies by it.

    No, no.

    Data mining does not necessarily mean that each and every data must be exact. Data mining is creating probability relationships in large populations.

    There are mathematical and statistical methods where data can be obscured whilst the data mining still be accurate. Look up the field of privacy preserving data mining.

    My point is that it is possible to data mine whilst preserving privacy. Privacy and benefits of data mining and not mutually exclusive.

  14. This is exactly what they *should* be doing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "...did you know that they're also supposed to be looking for people in the U.S. engaged in criminal activity that is not really supposed to be the province of the federal government? Now the feds are alleged to be data mining for insurance fraudsters, identity thieves, and questionable online pharmacists."

    They *should* be looking into fraudsters, identity theft and other such items. These things cross state boundaries which the federal government is suppose to investigate. Frankly, I don't care if they're out there searching *publicly available* information.

    The problem isn't that they're doing this. The problem is that the data that is out there isn't fully accurate, so people could effectively be accused on false information. (Not that this doesn't happen anyways). If they're going to use this kind of thing to pursue criminals then there needs to be checks that protect the fourth amendment (due process). In other words if someone was flagged as a possible criminal then any further information discovered as a result of them being flagged (such as them *actually* having committed a crime) must hinge upon the validity of the original data.
    .

  15. Re:Everyone is using data mining by holistah · · Score: 3, Interesting

    that's the main problem I have with the leftright scale of political idealism, it's not leftright, it's not even circular, if there's any overlap, then it's spherical.... liberal != socialist, "radical right" != and has nothing to do with conservatism, religious radicalism has nothing to do with conservatism, I'm so sick of these generalisations... why must things be explained in 1 dimension? there are not 2 sides to issues, and most positions that are traditionally linked to either side of the leftright spectrum contradict every other position traditionally linked with that side of the 'spectrum'... stop generalizing and maybe you will understand other people's positions, then, MAYBE then you will be able to compromise, AND ACTUALLY SOLVE PROBLEMS P.S. WTF is this guy getting modded troll for? He has a perfectly valid point of view, it's just founded on misconception of reality is all... P.P.S. I read some of the comments this person made to figure out if it is a dude or chick, still haven't figured that out, but it seems like they are all Right vs. Left.... maybe it is Troll, or maybe he/she is just too rigid/stupid to see other points of view in more than one dimension...

  16. Re:Everyone is using data mining by suresk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would argue that the vast majority of liberals in America aren't trying to push central planning aspects of socialism.

    Not to mention the fact that data mining like this would be a pretty ineffective way to do it.

  17. Not the feds' problem? by Shag · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, insurance fraud, identity theft and questionable online pharmacies aren't matters for federal law enforcement, because they don't cross state li... oh, wait.

    *plonk*

    --
    Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
  18. "I have nothing to hide" == 1984 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Unfortunately, people seem to accept infringement after infringement always telling themselves that it won't apply to THEM.... And, eventually, we have 1984. War is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength. Survalience Is Safety.

    And, In the end, /.'s last comment before being completely shutdown will be a resounding "we told you so." But, it won't matter, because no one will ever read it.

  19. My biggest problem... by suresk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is that our lives are becoming more and more transparent to the government, but the government is becoming more and more opaque to us. This is the exact opposite of how it should be and should be a huge flashing warning light to everyone.

  20. Or demand transparency, checks and balances by Tancred · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One reaction to abuse of governmental power is to restrict it as much as possible. The other is to have transparency in government and checks and balances. The secrecy of the current administration is a dangerous precedent, even if you agree with their policies. They should be working for us and shouldn't be able to hide so much of their work. Thankfully we have things like the FOIA and the Sunlight Foundation. Checks and balances are part of the foundation of our system of government. Again, the current administration's "unitary executive" theory is a dangerous precedent.

    1. Re:Or demand transparency, checks and balances by evilviper · · Score: 4, Insightful

      One reaction to abuse of governmental power is to restrict it as much as possible. The other is to have transparency in government and checks and balances.

      No, that's a completely false dichotomy. No matter how many restrictions you create on the government's power, if there is no oversight, they will disregard them entirely, without any repercussions.

      Transparency is just one tool, and frankly, it's ridiculous to believe that transparency accomplishes anything on it's own.

      Again, the current administration's "unitary executive" theory is a dangerous precedent.

      Indeed. You need only look at the existing situation, where the public overwhelmingly disagrees with the administration, yet congress continues to go along with the administration, and completely fails to hold anyone accountable for even the most blatant legal violations, to see that our system of checks and balances doesn't work.

      The culture of Washington, the two party system, etc., they all conspire to allow law breaking and corruption to continue unchallenged.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  21. You're forgetting something by Jeff+Molby · · Score: 3, Insightful

    To wit - if Amazon is allowed to know what sort of books I buy, doesn't that make it, in a way, more powerful than the government?

    No, the data Amazon collects results primarily from my voluntary interactions with it. Thus, if Amazon abuses my trust, I can sever my relationship with it.

    The government, on the other hand, retrieves this data without my consent and has the power to coerce me.

    There's a big difference between those two scenarios.
  22. FBI mining data...with what? by unitron · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Is this the same FBI that has been in the news in the past few years for not being able to get a decent modern computer system in spite of throwing millions of our tax dollars at the problem?

    --

    I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

  23. This IS their job. by r00t · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is the FBI, not the NSA or CIA.

    WTF do you think we pay the FBI to do? Sit on their asses?

    Maybe you think we should disband the FBI? Maybe the state police, county sherifs, and city cops too?

    Sorry, anarchy doesn't work so well. Anarchy is a vaccuum that will get filled by something, and that "something" might be a whole lot less to your liking.

    1. Re:This IS their job. by jlarocco · · Score: 3, Insightful

      WTF do you think we pay the FBI to do?

      It was my understanding that we pay the FBI to investigate crimes.

      I'm not a criminal, nor have any crimes been committed against me, so it seems odd that the FBI would trample my privacy and waste resources mining through my online activity/phone calls/whatever.

      If the FBI wants to investigate criminals, fucking wonderful. But they should leave the rest of us alone.

  24. sanity check... by AmishElvis · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Karma whores, all of you.

    ...looking for people in the U.S. engaged in criminal activity that is not really supposed to be the province of the federal government...

    Since when is it not the province of the FBI to look for people in the U.S. engaged in criminal activity? It's their fucking job. That's why it's called the Federal Bureau of Investigation. If all you people can do is trot out the same old "government bad...GOVERNMENT BAD!" knee-jerk conspiracy theories when shit like this pops up in the news, nobody is going to take you seriously. At least RTFA and comment on the actual issues.

    For example...

    But it [the database] could be based, in part at least, on commercial or public information that might not be accurate -- potentially ranking an innocent person as a terror threat. Watch lists, for example, have mistakenly identified people as suspects based on their similar names or birthdates to terrorists.

    I can see this being a major problem. I'd hate to have a name like, oh I dunno, Osama Bin Laden, and try to get through an airport security checkpoint. More importantly, what if I do something mildly suspicious that comes to the attention of the authorities? I can imagine the conversation...

    FBI Agent: We'd like a warrant to wiretap this man's phone.

    Judge: What did he do?

    FBI Agent: He wrote a strongly worded letter to his local police department contesting a parking ticket he received.

    Judge: I dunno, that seems pretty weak. What's his name?

    FBI Agent: Osama Bin Laden.

    Judge: Granted.

    Maybe in addition to a terrorist watch list we should have a not-a-terrorist-don't-watch list. Just a thought.

    1. Re:sanity check... by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Since when is it not the province of the FBI to look for people in the U.S. engaged in criminal activity?

      Since forever. The FBI's job is to discover who committed crimes. A subtle distinction to be sure, but dig deeply enough in someone's life and you are likely to find some crime. Rather, when a crime has been committed and brought to the FBI's attention (subject to juristiction), the FBI is supposed to determine who committed it.

      . I'd hate to have a name like, oh I dunno, Osama Bin Laden, and try to get through an airport security checkpoint. More importantly, what if I do something mildly suspicious that comes to the attention of the authorities?

      Yes. Or any celebrity name. My friend, who prosecutes traffic offenders, recently had OJ Simpson (not that OJ Simpson) show up in his court. Naturally, the most experienced attorney was the one passing out the assignments. Naturally, he assigns himself OJ Simpson. So because of this guy's name, he unjustly has more zealous prosecution. I bet he gets off a lot fewer tickets than most people for the same reason.

      But your solution ignores the context. TFA's context was not that agents would mistake your mythical person for a terrorist leader, but that the automated system would. How is the agent supposed to know why you were red-flagged (I imagine two terrorists with the same name are possible)? Having to prove that you don't deserve to be on those lists, that it is a case of mistaken identity, seems like having to prove your innocence. Which, IIRC, is the presumption in America anyway.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
  25. Re:What's that? by bmgoau · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And by "big brother" you mean the local government representative YOU elected for your area to vote on issue like this for you.

    We have no one to blame but ourselves for the way our governments act.

  26. I really have to say by iminplaya · · Score: 2, Insightful

    avoteforrepublicansisavoteforvictory, republicansarefuckingfascists

    That's so lame. It just makes the opposition look like a bunch of twerps.

    --
    What?
  27. Re:republicansarefuckingfascists by ShaunC · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Man, you know you're doing something right when you're the Minority Party and the radical left still blames you.
    OK, I guess I must have been asleep for the past few years. I thought FBI Director Mueller was nominated by the President, and I seem to recall that some guy named Alberto Gonzales is running the show at the DoJ. Furthermore, we're talking about questionable behavior and potential abuses of power that have been ongoing for several years now. Y'know, while the conservatives held the majority, wiping their tender arses with the Constitution and making the largest federal powergrab in the history of the United States.

    Yeah, the nerve of the "radical left" to cry foul... </eyeroll>
    --
    Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
  28. "Conservative" Supreme Court will save us (really) by triclipse · · Score: 4, Interesting
    An out of control Federal government is the result of many decades of the judiciary backing down as congress passed laws which allowed the executive to invade the provinces of the States, rendering the Ninth and Tenth Amendments all but meaningless.

    It wasn't until Lopez v. United States (and, subsequently, United States v. Morrison) that the Supreme Court had the balls (well, with O'Connor, the ovaries) to draw the line for the first time in seventy years and keep the Feds out of the State's business.

    Yes, that would be Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, O'Connor and Rehnquist. We can only hope that Alito and Roberts will be "conservative" that way too.

    If it was up to those nutbags Stevens, Breyer, Ginsburg and Souter, there would be no distinction between the States' province and the Fed's province. Those of you hoping for a democrat president better be aware that democratic appointees will almost surely give the Feds back all the power they lost under Rehnquist. (Yes, I know Souter was appointed by Bush I.)

    --
    No Inflation Taxation without Representation
  29. Re:Everyone is using data mining by suresk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I guess that is why you only hear liberals "griping" about stuff like:

    - Providing adequate health care to all citizens of the country we live in
    - Sensible foreign policy
    - Finding alternatives to oil
    - Abolishing capital punishment
    - Making taxation more fair
    - Taking better care of our environment

    Yep, nothing but total mud-slinging at the Republican party....

  30. FIRST: realize that the F.B.I. is INEPT,then whine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful


    FIRST: realize that the F.B.I. is INEPT, then whine all you want. The more data collected, the more it buries the whole lot. Do you really think TBs upon TBs of raw data is somehow magically processed and folded into a nice, neat folder on you? Get real! It's like throwing a 1000s fish in a pond and letting a bunch of urbanites loose to catch their dinner. They look awfully funny trying, and by-golly, sometimes get lucky! The poor fish, you say. BFD! You are much, MUCH more likely to be killed by the likes of a Paris Hilton than some Waco-notched, cowboy federales.

  31. Re:Nothing to hide by leereyno · · Score: 4, Informative

    You're arguing from the flawed premise that privacy is about hiding one's sins. It is not. Privacy is about liberty, about the right of each individual to personal sovereignty. That which is private is beyond the legitimate purview of the state, or of society. Privacy is not about the things that people do wrong in secret. It is simply the sum of all that is not public.

    You claim you have nothing to hide, but you do. If you were forced to walk down main street without a stitch of clothes on, defecate into a bucket in plain sight, and then present the contents to passers-by for inspection, I guarantee that your respect for privacy would be improved tremendously. It would be even further improved if the details of your paycheck, credit card statements, and bank balance were to be presented to the world via a large electronic billboard on your front lawn. If this idea truly does not bother you, then I invite you to publish those financial details here. Put your money where your mouth is.

    The long and short of it is that there are aspects of each person's life that they and they alone have the rightful authority to regulate. The only way to ensure that this right is not abridged or undermined is to keep those aspects secret.

    Privacy is the first protector of liberty.

    --
    Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
  32. Re:republicansarefuckingfascists by MikeJ9919 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The largest federal powergrab in the history of the United States? Have you read any history?

    Some better examples:

    (1) The Reconstruction Congress forcing the ratification of the 14th Amendment as a condition for readmitting the Confederacy to the Union. This eventually gave the federal government final say over whether just about anything the states did was Constitutional.

    (2) The massive expansion in size and spending of the federal government under Roosevelt, claiming the right to regulate practically anything under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Would you believe that the Supreme Court determined that a man growing wheat for his own family's consumption could be prevented from doing so because that consumption, taken together with others doing the same thing, would overall reduce the national demand for wheat? You should, because it not only happened, it's still good law. In fact, the only pushback against it has come from...wait for it...Republicans.

    (3) Abraham Lincoln unilaterally suspended habeas corpus on United States soil as applied to United States citizens.

    You were saying?

  33. Re:What's that? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And by "big brother" you mean the local government representative YOU elected for your area to vote on issue like this for you. We have no one to blame but ourselves for the way our governments act.

    You mean I unilaterally choose my government officials? Neato!

    Oh, you mean I get 6.7e-7% (yes, both the e-7 and % were intentional) of a say I get because I live in a country where my decision is diluted by every dolt who thinks the most important issue is gay marriage/WMD in Iraq (to cover two popular but opposing side's rallying cries)? I blame a collection of idiots, either the leaders themselves or my fellow citizens who are outvoting me.

    --
    Your ad here. Ask me how!
  34. A poem to think about... by posterlogo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    When the Nazis came for the communists,
    I remained silent;
    I was not a communist.

    When they locked up the social democrats,
    I remained silent;
    I was not a social democrat.

    When they came for the trade unionists,
    I did not speak out;
    I was not a trade unionist.

    When they came for me,
    there was no one left to speak out.


    For those who think they're safe from all this, or that all this privacy "nonsense" doesn't affect them because they've got nothing to hide...

    One of the reasons I admire the ACLU is that they stick up for the privacy even of insane druggie assholes like Rush Limbaugh. For all those Republicans who think this is some sort of liberal propaganda, keep this up -- in the totalitarian state where the neocon policies are taking us, it won't matter too much what your political affiliations are.

  35. Re:republicansarefuckingfascists by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The hostility of many modern Republicans toward Lincoln (the first Republican President!) and the Union side in the Civil War generally is fascinating, in much the same way as watching microscopic images of multiplying tumor cells is fascinating. It really explains a lot about modern conservative ideology to see how its roots trace back to the old plantation: scratch a conservative, find a crypto-Confederate.

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  36. Re:Nothing to hide by mjwx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A you are a person with nothing to hide, May I have your pin number.

    I mean if you have nothing to hide surely you don't need to keep your pin number a secret, or your account numbers, or the amount of money/debt you have or where the spare key to your house is kept.

    You have nothing to hide after all.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  37. Re:republicansarefuckingfascists by OverlordQ · · Score: 2, Funny

    Did you sleep through high school civics class? Let me step you through this: the FBI is an agency of the Department of Justice. The DoJ is part of the Executive Branch of the United States Federal Government. George W. Bush and his Administration have controlled this branch of government from 2001 until now.

    Oh thank God! I thought there was a House Judiciary Committee who oversee the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement entities.
    Thanks for informing me that no such Committee exists and all the blame falls on the Executive Branch! I'm so relieved now.

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  38. I wager it is associations not behavior ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "If they're able to form a behaviour pattern"

    This assumes there are more chances that if someone has a different behavior to the majority's, then he is an undesirable person. This damages diversity by encouraging homogeneity.


    I think you need to loosen the wrappings on the tin foil hat. ;-) I knew a guy who did a lot of on-site tech support. Lots of flights around the country with very little time spent at the destination. Once when flying home the DEA questioned him for about 15 minutes. He fit a travel profile they look for, this was the early 1990s. He explained his job, they apologized for the inconvenience. I expect that nearly all false positives go something like that.

    I expect that the article that started this thread misrepresented the details. Aside from behaviors like traveling to Pakistan for a couple of months, having wads of unexplained cash(1), etc they are not looking at many behaviors. Past law enforcement data mining that I saw had to do with associations. Who you called, who you had interactions with, what locations you frequented, etc. Such networks do help identify criminal networks - gangs, organized crime, etc. Might help for terrorist cells as well.

    (1) Wads of unexplained cash have been reported for many decades. I think the laws requiring cash transactions above a certain to be reported are from the 1970s, but I'm not 100% sure about that.

  39. I don't understand by Potor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I accept that the summary is against data mining - which clearly bothers me as well.

    But I do not understand:

    ...that is not really supposed to be the province of the federal government? Now the feds are alleged to be data mining for insurance fraudsters, identity thieves, and questionable online pharmacists.
    I thought that this was precisely the "province" of the FBI: nationally-coordinated police work, including into all sorts of fraud (here: insurance, identity, and wire).
  40. Re:Don't trust nonsense anti-govt rants ... by vux984 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He says the most dangerous criminals are government law enforcement agents.
    You say you need police, and that they are a necessary evil.

    Ok. So what's your disagreement with him exactly? He's not suggesting dismantling the police.

    However the trend of giving them ever expanding power to make it easier and more efficient to catch criminals only sets us up for an abusive and corrupt haven for criminals that is effectively untouchable. But recognizing that means we need to keep their power in check... not dismantle them altogether. Its patently obvious that we need law enforcement. The question is what should they be allowed to do, and how do we ensure they only do what is allowed.

  41. Re:Don't trust nonsense anti-govt rants ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 2, Insightful

    He says the most dangerous criminals are government law enforcement agents. You say you need police, and that they are a necessary evil. Ok. So what's your disagreement with him exactly?

    You mean beyond his being an idiot that thinks law enforcement agents are the most dangerous criminals? You do realize that the "evil" in "necessary evil" is figurative not literal, and that if there is anything evil it is the flaws in human nature that require large social units to have a professional policing force so that personal security is reasonably assured, and so that a stable social setting permitting art and commerce is established?

  42. Fascism is not about race by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 4, Interesting

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

    The important components are authoritarianism and unity with the state. This runs heavily contrary to the "freedom" ideals of the US Constitution. Racism is often involved, but usually as a means to promote unity (nothing unites a group like a common enemy, and racial groups are an easily identifiable target to build up into an enemy.)

    The current administration would appear to be using terrorists in a similar way. Terrorists have the advantage of not having any civil rights (since they were all legislated away), and not being a productive segment of the US economy (so it doesn't affect profits when you lock them up without trial). Since they are also stereotypically of a different (arabic) race and culture, they make a great fascist unifier because very few of the general populace actually understand them. If the terror attacks were actually genuine, the other advantage of using terrorists as a fascist unifier is that they are actually guilty of being dangerous, so the government doesn't have to make up stuff about them, it just has to make sure they have a high profile in the news.

    You can't get away with using ethnic groups common to the US, because the population is familiar with them and even respects them. How many people in New York have never visited a Jewish deli, for example? America prides itself on being a melting-pot, so if you want a target, you have to use a foreign one. Terrorist are ideal.

    Just exactly how many terrorists do you think are in Afghanistan? As a fraction of the population? Think that justifies occupying the country? How about Iraq?

  43. Re:republicansarefuckingfascists by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The modern Republican party is the result of Richard Nixon's conversion of old Southern Confederates from the Democratic party. This conversion was so successful that these Confederates now in fact form the Republican party base, and the party in turn has become a Confederate body.

    The idea of the Republicans as the party of corporatism and big business is true to a degree, but only by degree in comparison to the Democrats or any other modern political party. Corporate influence permeates our political landscape too completely to distinguish party boundaries. Instead the true distinction between the Republicans and the Democrats is that old Confederate streak in the former, by now faded and disintegrating in the latter.

    But in the GOP the stainless banner shines unsullied, albeit not in a public fashion. But it's a safe bet to assume that a great many in the Republican party hold the Confederate flag in no less reverence than they do the Stars and Stripes. Many have said that the Republicans are verging on, or have already committed, treason against their country. This may indeed be true, but only if that country was the old union. To a Confederate mind, their loyalty to the "true" United States is beyond question.

    The effect of all this has been the general regression of American society. Essentially your entire country is reverting back to the southern mindset, but one for the modern world of course. Slavery might not be on the cards, but racism, xenophobia, jingoism, militarism and of course social conservatism all are.

    The sad truth is there is little to nothing you can do to stop any of this. The American people have chosen this path. They vote for it, with ballots, feet and wallets. This isn't the result of some grand plan of Richard Nixon. He did not set any of this in motion. Rather he simply foresaw it, forty years ago, as he foresaw the rise of China and the end of the Gold Standard, and moved his party to a favorable position to take advantage of the inevitable flow of history.

    --
    May the Maths Be with you!
  44. Tip of the iceburg by HangingChad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    More on Ashcroft's Justice Dept

    And this is the Ashcroft who ended up quiting because he wouldn't go along with wholesale spying on the American public. If someone like Ashcroft turns out to be a hero, what kind of atrocities are going on behind the scenes? It's all legal as far as Alberto is concerned.

    What a horrible chapter in our nations history.

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  45. Easy to datamine by Z00L00K · · Score: 2, Interesting

    just set up an email account and publish the email address, pick all incoming spam and you get enough...

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  46. Re:Tag: republicans are... by Eunuchswear · · Score: 4, Funny

    Come off it, Republicans aren't facists, Mussolini made the trains run on time. When have this lot made anything work.

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  47. Just say no by zzmook · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As a DB Developer who works for marketing organizations I have to say that you should be VERY afraid of what both parties already know about you via legal channels - done for targeting of campaign funds. Add in easy, near-unlimited access! Say you have a hot-button district coming into an election year (and they already know it's a hot-button district ahead of everybody else because they have a monstrous data store that would be illegal for any other entity). Do you really think info for a nice police sting to that area, targeted to opposition voters/wrongdoers won't be executed to sway the balance? Politicization of non-political offices is a cornerstone of this administration. Another very crucial governmental function becoming too busy serving Washington to serve the people (that being law enforcement, from the CIA down to beat cops) is just be a side effect of this insidious effort. How about clarifying the ROL (Return On Legislation) for tax breaks and coming up with more misrepresetative numbers for bad policies and scare tactics? You want to throw better data at W(ashington) for those efforts? They want data more than they want crooks. This is the information age, people. Privacy has a cost, but so does the lack of it and that cost is our freedom.

  48. Re:What's that? by chucklinart · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You're right to a certain extent -- our own civic apathy certainly hasn't helped -- but it's not as simple as that. The "need to know" culture of the alphabet soup agencies opens up a barrel of worms. Un-elected people in covert scenarios use tools/resources that the civilian leadership itself fears.

  49. What we DO know by ukemike · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Up through the point where we have good documentation we know for a fact that the FBI always abuses whatever powers it has. Martin Luther King Jr. was surveilled and harassed. Later that approach was formalized in the COINTELPRO program. COINTELPRO was directed against the Black Panthers, the American Indian Movement, the Vietnam era peace movement. After COINTELPRO was officially stopped, the same tactics were used against people who protested/organized against Reagan's Central American Policies in the '80s. In the late '80s and early '90s the same tactics were used against the environmental movement. Now we have evidence that the FBI abused their National Security Letter powers.

    So is this NEW? No.

    Is it NEWS? Absolutely!

    This time we are learning about the abuses as they are happening instead of 20 years after the fact when the government is forced to declassify old documents. The excuse has always been, "well that was unfortunate, but we don't do that anymore." They can't use that excuse this time.

    --
    -- QED
  50. Re:Don't trust static entities. by neomunk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Here we are again, at police vs criminals, two MINORITY groups amongst our populous.

    I'll tell you how -I- see it, being a member of neither minority. (okay, maybe a little bit criminal, but less so than most of you, I tend to limit myself to 2 MPH over the speed limit, 5 on the freeway) I see it as which one of these groups offers me more trouble, and it's not looking good for law enforcement. They are bullies. You see that period on that sentence, it's there on purpose. Not all of them of course (the sample size is too large for that kind of homogeneity) but you'll find it the trend.

    Let me give you an example of the last encounter I've had with each group.

    Criminal: I was at a friend's housewarming party and a guy asked me if I wanted to buy a bag of weed. I said "No thanks, don't smoke." He apologized and walked away.

    Law Enforcement: I was sitting at my house and get a call from my sister (who lives with me) telling me that she's being pulled over right outside the house. I walk outside and immediately get told (not asked) to go back inside by this large policeman. I say nothing and stand there (in my front yard, at least 10 yards from the officer) and he gets louder, more intimidating "I said, get back in the house" to which I reply "If I go back in, I'm coming right back out with a video camera". Oh, he didn't like that at all, told me that if I did that "things will get bad" for my sister so now, not knowing what my sister did in the first place, I get a bit scared and defensive, send my wife in the house, (I hope he thought for the camera) but I'm not gonna let this large angry and threatening man (who for some reason seems very afraid of being recorded) handle my sister without supervision. So I stand on my porch (5 feet back from my original position) and watch while he stammers out something about how my sister shouldn't be driving through a particular neighborhood. Oh, so THAT'S what she was going to be in so much trouble about. Driving home from work taking the most efficient route, because she's not too scared to drive straight home instead of a 2 mile detour through a more 'pleasant' neighborhood. Yep, her "crime" was being in the ghetto while white at night.

    Spare me the "hero police" crap. Some of them CAN BE heros if the situation presents itself, but what profession could that not be said of? They are people, some are hero-stuff but honestly, most people are complete fucking turds who I would voluntarily give not one mote of authority over my life. Because some other complete fucking turd gave them a shiny trinket to pin to their shirt I'm supposed to think that they are somehow to be revered and that they automatically have my best interest at heart?

    I'm sorry, but as the old saying goes, I may have been born at night but it wasn't LAST night.

    This isn't Disneyland, hell Disneyland isn't even as Disneylandish as starry-eyed conservative hanky-grabbers like to think it is, with Andy Griffith walking the streets. Nowadays Barney Fyfe carries a couple full magazines to go with his loaded pistol, and Andy pulls over young women and intimidates them for driving through (not even stopping) through the wrong part of town.