Oh my God, this is ridiculous...and scary. It's ridiculous in the way that all that time and effort could definitely be spent going after more pressing issues. And it's scary that there doesn't seem to be logic in what those intelligence agencies (intelligent, my arse, if you hear this) or federal investigators come up with. For all I know it could happen to all of us at some point if we open our mouths too much. And how does that fit into a system that has the right to freedom of speech as a central focus in its constitution? Not likely.

I'm not based in the US, but I have a pessimistic view that it might be the same in Europe. A friend of mine has been actively campaigning against a new law that allows for personal information being encoded on passports/IDs and he's been approached by well meaning people cautioning him to keep a lower profile for fear of raising too much interest in his person. It shouldn't be this way. I'd rather have a system that encourages people to think critically and make their views public, opening up discussions. But I guess governments and their executive organs shy away from this because they NEED secrets...it puts them in a position of power.

*raises a glass to all the hard working journalists in the world* here's to you, guys and gals! Please keep up the good work of dragging the truth out for everyone to see.

Silke