Total Budget-less Awareness

Total Information Awareness, a Pentagon program that uses personal information in an attempt to stop domestic terrorism before it happens, was dealt a halting blow by a Congressional committee, as reported in the New York Times.

In Washington, as is in every conceivable corner of the Earth, the best way to stop anything is to take away its funding; that's exactly what the joint committee did, and it put the clampdown on a program headed-up by former Iran-Contra perpetrator, Adm. John Poindexter (Ret.).

This is good news (for now) for many of us in fear that many of our individual rights and freedoms--post 9/11--had "open season" declared upon them. It's good news that the committee approved this agreement in conference with very little opposition amongst the political parties. It's good news for now because there are a few scenarios which could derail the optimisim made possible by this decision, and it's here in this New York Times article.