Let's Be Like Europe: And go even further in creating a surveillance state

As JD Tucille at Disloyal Opposition put together the story, Nicholas Sarkozy's France is only reluctantly backing down on the intrusive use of its universal surveillance and data mining tool EDVIGE, which would have helped the Gauls break into the Big Leagues of European democracies which spy on their citizens:

Sweden....

...where you can be criminally charged for blogging about domestic surveillance

The Netherlands....

...where cops can wire tap any phone at will as long as the crime they claim to be investigating carries more than a 3-year jail term

Italy....

...where the judges are actually essentially investigative prosecutors and approve their own wire taps

And, in fact, the whole bloody European Union is rapidly becoming a police state, as Statewatch reports:

In 2006 a Directive on the mandatory retention of all communications data across the EU was adopted. Service providers are obliged to keep and give agencies access to records of all phone-calls, mobile phone calls (and their location), faxes, e-mails and internet usage. This year most EU states that had not done so are implementing this at national level. In short, records of all communications by everyone in the EU are held and can be accessed by agencies in connection with “serious crime, as defined by each Member State in its national law” which varies from member states to member state or for suspicion of a “serious crime”.

Here's the statement from the Portuguese Council Presidency about where this is all headed:

Every object the individual uses, every transaction they make and almost everywhere they go will create a detailed digital record. This will generate a wealth of information for public security organisations, and create huge opportunities for more effective and productive public security efforts.

Yep, European liberal democracies: social concepts worth emulating.