Wednesday, May 17, 2006

 

You can't make this stuff up!

We found out this week that our phone calls are being tracked. And the guy who leaked the original story on NSA warrantless wiretaps promises a more revelations this week.

But this "pilot program" to test raw sewage to determine the number of people using drugs is right out of Kafka. According the the Washington Post article:

If government studies are a reliable guide, about 25,000 residents of Fairfax County -- 2.5 percent of its population -- have used cocaine in the past year. The same data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health suggest that about 9,000 have partaken within the past 30 days.

Those estimates, based on personal and computer-assisted interviews, rely almost completely on the candor of the respondents. The Bush administration, hoping to someday broaden the government's knowledge of illegal drug use, is probing the mysteries of Fairfax's sewage for a clearer picture.


The news from the "Decider" just gets more bizarre every day. It would be funny if it weren't an indication that this administration weren't throwing Fourth Amendment down the same sewer their latest pilot project is focused on.

How did Jon Stewart miss this one?
Comments:
I'm pretty certain it's been established that the government can search your trash, but I don't know if probable cause is required.

Sounds like that could be a precedent for tapping into other household, uh, discards...
 
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