Will the 'Private Sector' Jump?
November 29, 2004
8:29 a.m., MT
Music: Wargasm, by L7
Catching up on some news this morning ... and in their typical fine fashion, GovExec (short for Government Executive) wins top prize for nauseating me first, fastest, and best. Another one from the "oldie but still scary" dept: Pentagon official: We need new security technologies. Lead paragraph:

For the nation's security agencies to realize their vision of a secure America extending well beyond its borders, the private sector must deliver an array of new and existing security technologies, a top Defense Department official said Tuesday. [Emphasis mine]

The first question that popped into my mind is What private sector? With so much public funding theft-obtained handouts going to research and development at universities as well as corporations, the only private sector that's possibly left is composed of small businesses doing work that the thought police doesn't (yet) view as important, and those who are blood-money refuseniks. Given how much funding payola Homeland Security is tossing around, all bets are off on how quickly the enablers will provide what the gov is asking for.

But then the phrase that I put in bold above snagged me, so I read on. Have barf bags at the ready:

McHale, whose office bridges the gap between Defense and the Homeland Security Department, said the vision is to push the U.S. borders out, using the country's technological advantage to "shape the battle space" and keep terrorists off balance. Protecting the nation requires identifying terrorist threats well before they reach U.S. ports, he said.

I suppose that means that those of us who cherish liberty -- the "domestic terrorists" -- are going to find our movements outside the country increasingly watched, if not further restricted, too.

Time to get or renew your travel permission slips, folks, before they get chipped, if you want to keep open the option of leaving the U.S. before the gates are slammed shut.

[Musical note: if you aren't familiar with the song, here's the lyrics to Wargasm, from Wow Lyrics. The entire album that this song is from, Bricks are Heavy, is good.]

Sunni