Need to Know government

On Tuesday, a federal judge "threw out a lawsuit [filed by the ACLU] aimed at blocking AT&T Inc. from giving telephone records to the government for use in the war on terror."

Check out the last 4 paragraphs of the article. Not only is the government spying on us with the help of a private company, but the judge's memorandum about the relevant secret documents is also secret. It's very creepy and it's growing. From the latest Harper's Index:

Number of state laws enacted since September 2001 that restrict access to information: 616
Number that broaden access: 284

The ACLU has initiated a few suits regarding the NSA spying scandal. They've also been letting BellSouth know what they'll be getting into by merging with AT&T (which would make for the largest telecom in the country).