There is apparently an ex post-facto law in place that says nobody is to come within some number of miles of a government official with any camera or recording device -- even for personal use -- without permission. That kind of press management went by another name in the old days...censorship and intimidation, and it was only practiced by totalitarian regimes that we all pointed to and said "See? That's why we fight for freedom everywhere, so that doesn't happen.”

With a stroke of Bush's pen, Tom Ridge, the eerie fairy from Erie, Pennsylvania who brought America the color-coded national warning system will now head the new Department of Homeland Security involving the merging of $40 billion in budgets from a broad swath of well-protected bureaucratic turf. Welcome to the biggest virtual, centralized grand database ever. Records show your chip has not been implanted under your skin yet. Your retina pattern, please.

So lessee, now the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches are dominated by the GOP/Conservative wing of the statist bird. While the left wing of the same bird contributes to reductions of freedoms as much as the right, sometimes they bicker over trivia...like which freedoms should be eliminated first...and slow enacting of stupid legislation to a crawl (a good thing). Now there will be a smooth, fast ride into whatever vision of the future 'ol Dub and the masters on the other end of that hand up his ass have. Excuse me while I play "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC.

Tear gas and pepper gas aren't enough it seems to stop those pesky protesters. Now they want to narc 'em to sleep/stupor too. Unfortunately Valium has a few side effects and can cause serious problems up to and including death to children, old people and people who have alcohol in their systems. This might be enough of a cross section in a general crowd control situation that deaths due to it would no doubt occur. Also since it is dispersed in air, different people will be inhaling different levels of it, and places with high exposure could also be high death zones.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently created what they call "a new intelligence infrastructure to allow these agencies to share information and collaborate effectively, and new information technology aimed at exposing terrorists and their activities and support systems." The new Information Awareness Office has eyes for you!