Can What We Know Hurt Us?

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If you want to know if any toxic wastes dumps are near where you might soon buy a home, you can no longer find out. If you want to know just what is really being done to keep nuclear power plants safe, you can no longer find out. If you are interested in the design and construction of dams, you probably will not be able to get any information about them from the government any more. If you want to visit the reading rooms provided by many government agencies, such as the IRS, you now must make an appointment, and you will be chaperoned. The public's access to information is being systematically restricted in the name of preventing terrorism -- even though officials acknowledge that there are very few examples of terrorists actually using public records to glean sensitive information.