Xah Lee's Unixism

[jmfbahciv at aol.com]

In article <1549.748T655T9283520 at kltpzyxm.invalid>,
   "Charlie Gibbs" <cgibbs at kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:
>In article <opsd2vlvy7pqzri1 at mjolner.upc.no>, john.thingstad at chello.no
>(John Thingstad) writes:
>
>>On Thu, 09 Sep 04 13:12:17 GMT, <jmfbahciv at aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I really want to know.  People keep saying this but never say which
>>> freedoms have been lost.
>>
>>Since this is somewhat related to computer programming and AI I will
>>reply.
>>
>>The US has started a initiative to integrate all information about
>>people in the USA into a central database.
>
>Not just people in the USA.
>
>>This includes confidential information like your medical files.
>
><snip>
>
>>The main challenge in computing is sieving through the amount of data.
>>Politically it is to pressure the foreign governments to wave their
>>privacy protection acts and allow unlimited access to information to
>>a foreign power.
>
>It's been revealed that here in British Columbia (that part of
>Canada on the Pacific coast for those of you who are geographically
>challenged), management of medical information has been farmed out
>to a subsidiary of a U.S. corporation.

I'll bet one of your pennies that the subsidiary has farmed it
back out of the country.

> ..  According to the Patriot Act,
>the U.S. government is entitled to access these files, and anyone -
>American or Canadian - who so much as mentions that they're doing it
>can be thrown into a U.S. jail.

[emoticon daydreams about certain talking heads getting caught]

>
>>Don't know what you think of this but it scares the hell out of me!
>
>Me too.

Sure.  But the whole thing becomes moot if western civ is gone.
There are other things getting put into law and custom by 
politicians that are even scarier but there won't be any chance
of rectifying rabid Republican brain damage if there isn't
any civ left.

/BAH


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