The New Terror Threat: Hippies? "Pentagon officials said [Wednesday] they had ordered a review of a program aimed at countering terrorist attacks that had compiled information about U.S. citizens, after reports that the database included information on peace protesters and others whose activities posed no threat and should not have been kept on file," according to _The Washington Post_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/14/AR2005121402528.html) . "Although officials defended the Pentagon's interest in gathering information about possible threats to military bases and troops, one senior official acknowledged that a preliminary review of the database indicated that it had not been correctly maintained. 'On the surface, it looks like things in the database that were determined not to be viable threats were never deleted but should have been,' the official said. 'You can also make the argument that these things should never have been put in the database in the first place until they were confirmed as threats.'" In "_Protecting Privacy in the Database Nation_ (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3141) ," Clyde Wayne Crews Jr., a Cato adjunct scholar, writes: "The most pressing threat to liberty is a compulsory database encompassing everyone. ...[I]nvoluntary data-mining would permit real-time monitoring of our whereabouts, movements and transactions. This is a Big Brother scenario, one of constant surveillance or harassment of citizens unrelated to addressing terrorist threats. Compulsory databases would undermine the many potential benefits of authentication technologies. If government is hell-bent on assembling and mining massive databases of our credit card purchases, car rentals, library books, airline ticket purchases, and so on, then banks, airlines, hotels, Internet service providers, and other private businesses we deal with have no choice but to routinely transfer our private information to the government against our wishes." A Morbidly Obese Health Bill "A contentious health and education spending bill squeaked through the House on its second try [Wednesday], but a broader Republican effort to cut some mandatory domestic programs continued to falter," reports _The Washington Post_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/14/AR20051214021 26.html) . "The $142.5 billion package, which would fund the departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Labor for fiscal 2006, was approved 215 to 213." In _Downsizing the Federal Government_ (http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&pid=1441277&method=search&t=&a=edwards&k=&aeid=120&adv=&pg) , Chris Edwards, the director of Cato's tax policy studies, provides policymakers with solutions to the growing federal budget mess, identifying more than 100 federal programs that should be terminated, transferred to the states, or privatized in order to balance the budget and save hundreds of billions of dollars. Edwards proposes a balanced reform package of cuts to entitlements, domestic programs, and excess defense spending. He argues that these cuts would not only eliminate the deficit, but also strengthen the economy, enlarge personal freedom, and leave a positive fiscal legacy for the next generation. Downsizing the Federal Government also discusses the systematic causes of wasteful spending, and it overflows with examples of federal programs that are obsolete and mismanaged. The PATRIOT Act Is Pro-Flu "A bipartisan group of lawmakers announced an agreement on Wednesday to restrict the sales of cold medicines that can be used to manufacture the illegal and highly addictive drug methamphetamine," _The New York Times_ (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/health/15meth.html?ei=5094&en=0f3ac3ccd7eefc2f&hp=&ex=113 4709200&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1134655576-tr/buDLy2bFIpmRofcSInQ) reports. "Under the proposal, Sudafed and similar medicines would have to be under lock and key in stores. Buyers would have to sign a sheet and show a driver's license. Purchases would be limited to one box a day and three boxes a month. The legislation is attached to the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act, which passed in the House on Wednesday but whose prospects in the Senate are uncertain." In "_Restricting Cold Medicine Won't Curb Meth Use_ (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3855) ," Cato policy analyst Radley Balko questions the proposed law's effectiveness, arguing that similar state laws limiting cold medicine sales "do little more than inconvenience cold and allergy sufferers. They also create yet another way for authorities to monitor and track our consumer habits. These laws also likely make common cold medicine more expensive for stores to stock and, therefore, more expensive for customers to buy. The registries and purchasing procedures will lead to longer lines at the pharmacy, particularly during cold and allergy season." Balko continues: "[E]ven the government's own data suggests that these laws won't work, and won't significantly curb the supply of meth or its use. In some ways, they'll likely only make the problem worse. They'll put recreational meth users into more frequent contact with smugglers and traffickers, likely sparking increases in black market violence. According to the DEA's own website, most of this country's meth comes not from garage laboratories in the Midwest, but from clandestine 'superlabs' in California and Mexico. These labs smuggle pseudoephedrine in bulk from Mexico and Canada and use it to manufacture street methempamphetamine, which they then distribute across the country. Cold and allergy medicine never enters the picture."
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