A Nation of Wiretapping Hosers
Ever since the McKenzie Brothers disappeared from North American collective unconscious, Canada needs to refresh our memories every once in a while about just what weenies Great White Northeners can be.
From Canada's own Neil Hrab comes this story straight out of Ottawa:
Canada's police chiefs propose a surcharge of about 25 cents on monthly telephone and Internet bills to cover the cost of tapping into the communications of terrorists and other criminals.
The suggestion is intended to resolve a standoff between police forces and telecommunications companies over who should foot the expense of providing investigators with access to phone calls and e-mail messages.
Whole thing here. Sadly, of course, as one of the sources in the story says, taxpayers pay one way or another in the end. Perhaps it's the brazen nature of the proposal that's so unseemly.
Read about Gordon Lightfoot here, Anne Murray here, and Rush here.
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Wow, two anti-Canadian posts in one day! But seriously... of course the taxpayer foots the bill. I suspect the same applies in the US. The only thing "brazen" about this is publicly admitting that someone has to pay for it, rather than hiding it in yet another obscure fee tacked onto our phone bill.
The McKenzie brothers were badasses actually. Indeed, one of them even put out a raging fire with his dick.
See? Exceesive consumption of beer CAN have an up side. SCTV rules! Guy Caballero for president!!!
I didn't think Canada even HAD terrorists and criminals. LOL.
Hehehehehe ....
But you left out a link to THE GREAT ONE,
as the Canadians call him, with a hint of
reverence. That would be Wayne Gretzky,
of course.
Eh.
Jeff
Only $.25 a call. That is a bargin in any country. The McKenzie brothers would call it the "hozer fee".
I saw Rush last Saturday night. They rocked!
Rush has rocked this whole summer and for the last 30 years! I've published a recent piece on Rush and libertarianism in an issue of the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies that is available online (PDF) here:
http://it.stlawu.edu/shor/Rush/JARS.pdf
I'll be seein' 'em again this Saturday in Montreal.
Are we sure that the punchline for all of this was that it would also serve as a legal cover for any wiretap or email monitoring operation that went ahead without a warrant? After all, you knowingly paid the fee to have your line tapped, right?
"... to cover the cost of tapping into the communications of terrorists and other criminals."
Sounds fair to me: if they're only wire-tapping the criminals, then only the criminals pay the surcharge, right?
😉