*scratches head* Uhh...I'm trying to sift through all the patriotic stuff and hero this and hero that and trying to figure out what you're trying to say and how it was cogent to my misgivings about the ATA.
Basically, you agree with that Anti Terrorism Act as it stands, and see nothing wrong with government agents entering your home or your neighbour's home forcefully (i.e. possibly destroying your door, your furniture etc. ) and without a search warrant, because a suspected terrorist (Actually just a School Teacher from Kindustan) happened to buy something from a store that your cousin Ed in Alabama owns? And once its made law, Pierre..how will you 'deal' with it? Try to repeal the law at that point? Should Americans give up their constitutionally assured freedoms in a knee jerk reaction to these terrorist attacks? An Intelligence agency that is awarded BILLIONS of dollars a year was unable to prevent (that's not entirely unforgivable) , and actually had no clue about this attack (that's something else entirely..) that was supposedly planned more than a year in advance, even though its powers were expanded in 1998 through laws that were passed to improve its ability to fight terrorist threats. And the answer now is to further increase the power of these agencies by removing the oversight of the Judiciary and making these Agencies a law unto themselves? And when it happens again then what? Mandate that every home in America be bugged and have surveillance cameras installed? Where does it stop, Pierre? Why was it that when suggestions were made to the FAA that security was totally lax at American Airports..why was their response that it wasn't cost effective to implement stricter security procedures? *********** [ http://www.msnbc.com/news/635520.asp ] "In the very last meeting I had as inspector general with the FAA on July 3, 1996, they said that the cost of Pan Am 103 was $3 billion and if we had to make airports completely safe at that time they guessed-and they probably absolutely guessed-that it would cost $10 billion. They figured we might have another Pan Am 103, but it still wasn't worth the cost of the heightened levels of security." [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/americas/2001/america_attacked/new sid_1574000/1574326.stm ] And here is another enlightening piece, and why I seriously doubt further expanding and trampling people's rights is what is needed. ( And PLEASE if you are going to respond, at least read the article this time. ;-) ) ******************** Is it more laws that are needed? Would more laws and less personal freedom have changed the situation described above? *Police wiretap powers would be expanded, and the utility of the FBI's Carnivore surveillance system increased. Any U.S. attorney or state attorney general could order the installation of the FBI's Carnivore Net-surveillance system in emergency situations without obtaining a court order first. *Voicemail messages would be easier for law enforcement investigators to obtain. A search warrant would be required, instead of a wiretap order that brings with it a higher level of court scrutiny. *Wiretapping would become easier. Currently, police are required to perform "normal investigative procedures" before tapping, a requirement that would no longer apply. *The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a law that created a secret court to approve spy investigations, would be broadened and made more powerful. These same provisions have been pushed time and time again by special interest groups and have never gotten past Congress. So the 'ATA' isn't some Miracle Solution carefully crafted as a response to September 11th. It is just a slight rewording and rewriting of laws that various groups have tried to get past Congress, and which have been shelved because they were unconstitutional or would give Law Enforcement agencies too much power. And if you read the articles above, you might get the picture that what's needed is not less rights for people in America, but perhaps there needs to be a shift in thinking from within these agencies themselves, starting with the FAA. But sadly no one is putting any policies or plans before congress to deal with this. They are just trying to further their own political and moral agendas. I'm sure that the majority of Americans are not willing to buy into the hype and have their minds so numbed by the tragedy of this event to allow this or any other government to bend and break the constitution that America was founded on. Because if that happens brotherman then them terrorists win, and heaven help the rest of the "Free Western World" that the majority of us live in, and which like it or not America and its way of life, leads. -Gel ---- Original Message ----- From: "Pierre Demester" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > There use to be a time - when everyone did what it took - to get the job > done. > > I personally believe people (in this Country) have lost focus with the rest > of the world... most of us believe America - is the world. > > Before September 11th - we cared more about the World Series... or World > Champions. Keeping in mind that world (again)... is within the borders of > our own country. > > I seriously doubt the government will enter a persons' home - without a > reasonable amount of information leading to a potential arrest. > > If a case appears that the government did in fact - stretch the word > "reasonable"... we will have to deal with that situation at that time - and > immediately. > > Until then, if we have something that we are so concerned about - that we > have to hide it... maybe they should look. > > I sincerely missed the days when hero's were real - and not someone who > could get paid a million dollars to hit a ball. They are not hero's - they > are someone who we pay a million dollars to hit a frigg'n ball. > > The hero's in this event are the ones who risked their lives to save others. > > The hero's of tomorrow - will be the ones who guide this great nation back > to peace. > > The hero's of the future - will be the ones who keep us in peace... by > always keeping an eye on the ones who want to take our peace away. > > Although by tragic circumstances - I'm glad the real hero's are back. > > Pierre ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
