The New York Taxi Workers Alliance freaked out about plans to install GPS devices in cabs, because they would be used to spy on Muslims.

Fear and paranoia are driving the taxi strike planned for tomorrow and Thursday, industry sources said yesterday.

The global-positioning systems being installed in all 13,000 cabs will be used to target and spy on Muslims, according to pro-strike literature being distributed by members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, the group behind the two-day walkout.

Federal judge Richard M. Berman gives this episode of the never-ending grievance theater a bad review: NYC cabbies lose court battle over GPS.

NEW YORK - A federal judge refused Friday to block a new city rule that requires taxi drivers to install global positioning systems and credit card machines in their cabs by Monday.

The drivers argue that the city overstepped its authority and acted unconstitutionally when it mandated the units. Their lawsuit also claims GPS will give away trade secrets by disclosing the cabbies’ driving patterns, which they say give them a competitive edge.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman refused to block the rule from taking effect, saying the use of the technology to improve taxi service appeared to outweigh drivers’ privacy rights. He urged the two sides to negotiate and set the next hearing for Oct. 10. …

Berman said that on the limited amount of evidence he had viewed so far, it did not appear the drivers would succeed in claims that the city acted improperly, caused them “severe and debilitating economic harm” and prevented them from earning their livelihood.

At an earlier hearing on Wednesday, Berman had expressed skepticism toward the drivers’ arguments, saying, “It’s not a Mona Lisa painting. It’s a car.”

(Hat tip: Jihad Watch.)