Like the calvary rushing to the aid of the wrong troops, four Republican senators who had earlier declared battle against the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping have now proposed to give the surveillance program five years of near-bulletproof protection.

The new measure by Mike DeWine of Ohio, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia Snowe of Maine would significantly expand the administration’s power to intercept U.S. citizens’ international phone calls and e-mails without obtaining a warrant — even when they have not been implicated in any crime. It also would let the surveillance continue with much less oversight than Congress demanded in previous laws.

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Drivers rushing to and from Highway 101 on Millbrae Avenue should brace for an onslaught of traffic tickets about to be doled out by new red light cameras the City Council is expected to install.

If approved at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the red light cameras will be erected at the city’s largest intersection, where Millbrae Avenue, Rollins Road and Highway 101 meet.

The city estimates it will make about $1.3 million a year by adding five cameras at the intersection. Each red light ticket carries a fine of $271 and the city receives about $147 of that. The city estimates the cameras will catch about 10 violators a day and take in a total of $1,764,000 a year. It will cost $318,000 a year to maintain the cameras and $100,000 to hire a police officer to be manage the program. The $100,000 will pay the officer’s salary and benefits.

If approved Tuesday, Millbrae will be one of many Peninsula cities opting for red light cameras. Last year, the city of San Mateo approved cameras at some of its most dangerous intersections. San Mateo police will not disclose which intersections the cameras are at, but previously said Hillsdale Boulevard and Saratoga Drive had 31 red light violations in a two-hour time frame during an informal study conducted in 2003.

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The Montgomery City Council voted down Mayor Bobby Bright’s proposal to use cameras to monitor red lights on some city streets Tuesday.

Under Bright’s proposal, the cameras would take pictures of a violator’s license plate and the red light at selected intersections in the city. The photograph would be sent to the vehicle’s owner, along with a citation

The mayor said Tuesday he will continue to work to get the proposal passed.

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Drivers talking on mobile phones or failing to wear seatbelts could find themselves tracked down through a widened use of road surveillance cameras, under proposals due to be floated in parliament tomorrow. The plans would form part of a major expansion of camera surveillance which critics say is already transforming Britain into the most watched country in the world.

Now, this is currently happening in the UK and not in the US. Not yet, at least. I wanted to show how a simple mechanism, to stop people from running red-lights, is now turning into a full blown ‘camera cop’. Giving up just a tiny bit of your freedom now can result in loosing it completely, down the road.

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt sparked debate with his recent proposal to install surveillance cameras downtown, at apartment complexes and even at some private homes to combat crime. But cameras already are rolling all over the city: at rail stations, schools, malls, highways, banks and convenience stores.

“In a big city, it’s increasingly hard to go throughout the day without being captured on many surveillance cameras,” Daniel Solove, a law professor at George Washington University who specializes in privacy issues, wrote via e-mail.

Pedestrians on Main Street had mixed feelings this week about the potential for cameras keeping an eye on them.

“I think it’s a great idea to cut down on the crime,” said a man who identified himself as S. Walter and said he has been mugged three times in the past two years. “I don’t mind them watching me at all.”

Others said downtown isn’t the best place to use police surveillance.

“What crime? This is businesspeople out here,” said Tiffany King, who works in the area.

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