Would someone please return the US Constitution, we seem to have lost it.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that new Federal policy allows the US Constitution to be ignored- you know the minor bit about unreasonable search and seizure.
It would seem to me, that we should now disband our military, stop spending billions per fighter jet and just let China take over, in the way we’ve taken over Iraq and Afghanistan. Lady Liberty is now a farce- as is all that our idealistic founding fathers stood for.
The new reality is Osama Bin Laden, with 20 hijackers, 4 commercial airliners and some box cutters, have effectively taken away what was beautiful about America- with a little help from the morons we’ve bought to run this country. Eisenhower’s last remarks as president warned us of letting the “military industrial complex” run amok. Well, it has, and we’re losing the last of what truths we’ve held evident since 1776.
US Border Agency Says It Can Seize Laptops
U.S. agents now have the authority to seize and retain laptops indefinitely, according to a new policy detailed in documents…
Agam Shah, IDG News Service PC World
Saturday, August 2, 2008; 12:19 AM
Travelers beware: U.S. agents now have the authority to seize and retain laptops indefinitely, according to a new policy detailed in documents issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
As part of border search policy, government agents are now authorized to seize electronic devices and inspect documents in them, the document states. The electronic devices might include laptops, cell phones, portable music players or storage devices such as portable hard drives.
Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection will also be allowed to translate and share documents with other government agencies.
The DHS document, issued July 16, appears to state publicly a policy that has already existed. Laptops and electronic devices have been subject to search in the past, and travelers have reported not getting their devices back. The policy has drawn strong criticism from lawmakers and nonprofit groups, who charged that the searches were invasive and a violation of an individual’s privacy rights. Computers contain a vast amount of private information about family, finances and health, which could be easily copied and stored in government databases, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has complained.
The policy document states that being able to examine documents and electronic devices is crucial for “detecting information concerning terrorism, narcotics smuggling … contraband including child pornography, and … other import or export control laws.”
The new DHS policies allow customs agents to analyze the contents of laptops without any suspicion of wrongdoing, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold said in a statement.
“The policies that have been disclosed are truly alarming,” Feingold wrote.
The policy could blur the distinction between “search” and “seizure,” which could also allow DHS officials to steal personal documents from laptops it has retained, Feingold wrote.
US Border Agency Says It Can Seize Laptops – washingtonpost.com.
The joke about giving Iraq our Constitution because we aren’t using it anymore isn’t really a joke anymore.
Maybe we should just put jackboots on the DHS/TSA stormtroopers and do away with any pretense of “protecting us” for we have now witnessed the true enemy of freedom, and he is us.
Thoughts?
I wonder which sinsurance company will take advantage of this first. “For $5 more per month, all the personal property you travel with will be insured against seizure by your government!”
Un-fraking-real.