"Gonzales was to discuss the roundup, code-named Operation Falcon III, at a news conference Thursday."

Not only does this Conference Report unfortunately drop the Empowerment amendment entirely, it adopts some incredible changes to the Insurrection Act, which would give the President more authority to declare martial law. Let me repeat: The National Guard Empowerment Act, which is designed to make it more likely for the National Guard to remain in State control, is dropped from this conference report in favor of provisions making it easier to usurp the Governors control and making it more likely that the President will take control of the Guard and the active military operating in the States.

The changes to the Insurrection Act will allow the President to use the military, including the National Guard, to carry out law enforcement activities without the consent of a governor. When the Insurrection Act is invoked posse comitatus does not apply. Using the military for law enforcement goes against one of the founding tenets of our democracy, and it is for that reason that the Insurrection Act has only been invoked on three — three — in recent history. The implications of changing the Act are enormous, but this change was just slipped in the defense bill as a rider with little study. Other congressional committees with jurisdiction over these matters had no chance to comment, let alone hold hearings on, these proposals.

If that is not frightening, I don't know what is.  But, this is not all.  All you have to do is add this up with the loss of habeas corpus in the Military Commissions Act, the Patriot Acts, eavesdropping, cameras cropping up all over the place (they are going to put 30 up here in my downtown), ect...  After a while you see a pattern emerging. 

And all of this brings me to this new report released by Privacy International.  The study ranked the US near the bottom in regard to privacy.  We are catagorized as an "extensive surveillance society".  You can read an analysis of the study here.

I guess you have to ask yourself, "When does it stop being paranoia and start being reality?"  I think the answer to that is that it already is the reality that we live in.  Now that we have that answer, the next question is, "What will the government have to do with these "tools" they have collected before the citizens of this country stand up and refuse to give any more of our rights away?"

Oh, and by the way, I know that I started this thread with a story about criminals, but the point is, could this be practice?  Will the next "operation" be rounding up actual criminals. or will it be to round up political dissidents?  Is it curious that they did this so close to the elections?  If there is a large group of protestors after the elections, protesting that there was voter fraud, could they be rounded up?  Couldn't Bush just call up the National Guard, without the governor's permission, and have them round up protestors?  Then, according to the new Military Commissions Act, couldn't a tribunal then declare them "enemy combatants" and send them to some undisclosed prison where they would not be allowed to petition a court as to their innocence because they no longer have habeas corpus? 

Will they do this?  Who knows.  The point is that they now have all the "tools" to be able to do this.  You know, all the "tools" they are always talking about needing to fight the "war on terrorism".  Those "tools", for the most part, are useless against terrorists.  But, they are very useful in controlling your own citizens.  Welcome to the "extensive surveillance society."