Introduction: The horrific tragedies of September 11, 2001 changed the course of America's national security for decades to come. It took time for Americans to recover from the sadness, loss and confusion caused by the attacks. The American government knew that Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization that orchestrated the attacks, still posed an enormous threat to our nation's security. Statement of Understanding: In response to the events of September 11, the USA/Patriot Act was passed just six weeks later. The act outlined American surveillance laws, increasing domestic airport security measures, increasing subway or mass transit security in major U.S. cities, and increasing the government's ability to spy on its citizens. The act also From cell phone spying on millions of innocent civilians to increasing the number of speed cameras on the roadways, the federal government and local police departments should slow their progress to allow our government to become the shadow of our citizens' lives . It's difficult to make a trip to and from the grocery store without being watched by security cameras on the streets or buildings, without having your cell phone tracked by the FBI, or simply without having your license plate scanned by an interceptor's cameras of the police. The reality of America being “systematically transformed into a giant surveillance network” is steadily approaching (Michael para. The US government currently aims to include unmanned aerial drones as a component of law enforcement efforts at the national, state, and local levels ( Michael para 5) in a New York hospital, bathrooms are now monitored. Sensors indicate when employees enter and exit the bathroom. Cameras attached to the sinks monitor each employee's hands as they are washed (Stellpflug par 1). “Malley has instituted a tax on the amount of rain that falls on residents' properties. “The tax, imposed by the EPA and enforced locally, will be calculated through satellite surveillance of your property” (Boyle par 4). the absurdity expressed by each method gives way to more bizarre modes of surveillance. The more we lower our guard in the face of these invasions of privacy, the more numb we become to the Eye of Saruman. Each intrusive example of a method to gain more information about the nation also shows the lengths to which the U.S. government is willing to go to create a Petri dish of its own.