Shhh! Part 6: a footnote

From the Boston Globe for July 28:

London - A British civil liberties group Wednesday named a U.S. program to fingerprint foreign visitors as the year's most menacing project.

The so-called U.S.-VISIT program took the dubious honor at the Big Brother Awards, presented by London-based watchdog Privacy International to individuals and organizations "that have done the most to invade personal privacy in Britain."

The group said it took the unusual step of giving the award to a U.S. initiative because the "offensive and invasive" plan "has been undertaken with little or no debate or scrutiny."

Starting in September, most foreign nationals will be required to be fingerprinted and photographed before entering the United States. ...

The Big Brother Awards - named in honor of the ominous, all-seeing ruler in George Orwell's "1984" - are presented annually in more than a dozen countries. ...

The winners weren't expected to attend the ceremony to receive their trophies, in the shape of a golden boot stamping on a human head.

Gee, why not? Some winners of the Ig-nobels come to get theirs.