Governments can't always find new and creative ways to lose your personal information, try as they might. So when they can't, they resort to the tried and true. Here are three incidents where government displayed at least some creativity while putting you at risk.
With each presidential election the candidates seem more proscribed and the selection process more truncated. Inner party poopers, talking heads and big money try to seal the deal before the ink is dry on the last guy. This time the dumb beats loudest for Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. Hillary and Rudy are more alike than they're different.
Most Americans, not knowing any better, think "universal health care" is a really good idea. Unfortunately, there is no such thing. To see exactly what American universal health care will look like, one needs look no farther than the smaller version of universal health care which already exists.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) drew a crowd of 150 supporters to Pembroke, N.H., late Saturday night to support his potential bid for the Republican Presidential nomination. The fundraising reception, organized by a supporter and held at a private home, raised over $14,000 for Paul's campaign.
"We're being warned on television about people going through your identity documents and so forth," Bevan Bullock, a British pensioner, told the BBC. "The government are now giving them out willy-nilly."
We learned over the last week that hackers and thieves have made off with thousands of individuals' most sensitive personal information from government and government-related sources.
You still think your personal information is safe in the hands of the government? Think again. Every time they come up with a way to keep your information secure, they also come up with a more creative -- or more stupid -- way to lose it. And now, the government can lose your personal information even if you never gave it to them.
There are actually a few things the government is good at. Misusing, abusing and especially losing your personal information rank high on the list. Sometimes they don't even bother losing it; they just put it up on the Internet for anyone to download. Here are a few incidents from last week in which government lost, had stolen and gave away your personal information.
Local police departments are outfitting themselves with the latest in military gear they'd never be able to afford themselves. But they aren't paying a dime for their shiny new and slightly used helicopters and tanks. You are.
The rite of custom brings us together at a defining hour -- when decisions are hard and courage is needed. We enter the year 2007 with large endeavors underway, and others that are ours to begin. In all of this, much is asked of us. We must have the will to face difficult challenges and determined enemies -- and the wisdom to face them together.
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works license.
Video published by this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling+ license.
Bad Behavior has blocked 4532 access attempts in the last 7 days.
