America's Scary Future

As I was reading an article in the Christian Science Monitor concerning Chinas crackdown on free speech and privacy I couldn't help but think of our own administrations tight control over information and the widening scope of information gathered under the patriot act. A short excerpt from the article reads
"In recent years, the state has introduced sophisticated software that can track and block dissent. In the weeks after Chinas' former premier, Zhao Ziyang, died in January, almost all references to him in cyberspace were deleted. In April, the government disabled college Internet message boards - often used by students and alumni to speak freely and to communicate with Chinese living overseas. This week's declaration requiring Internet registry to operate on the Web will also give officials another tool for control."

Sound familiar? As our own President is lobbying for the renewal of the patriot act, including provisions which permit secret warrants for "books, records, papers, documents and other items" from businesses, hospitals and "other organizations" (whatever the f**k that means) it seems these "security provisions" from China might be coming to a computer near you. Bush urged lawmakers to disregard "unfair criticisms of this important good law" (that boys a good talker) and renew the privacy crushing Patriot Act ... thou doth protest too much Bush.