Quote:
Originally Posted by acidzebra
I would have to disagree - while there is a lot of publicly-available information about me, all of it is information that I choose to make public. With massive bribes and power you might dig a little deeper, but even that will only get you so far. Privacy is very much alive, but I agree that we must guard it fiercely, lest it disappear or be taken from us. And it is much harder to regain once lost. Which is why I argue that you should not give it up so easily for the feeling/illusion of security.
Also, I don't think you send any money to the Netherlands, but I might be wrong. We don't need handouts-with-an-agenda (or without, for that matter), and if the dollar keeps heading south, you might need ours in the future. Looking at the USD vs EUR for the last few years, whoever runs your country has much to account for (click on the 5-year view). |
Hey .... George Bush is a moron. Oh, what .... you expected me to say something different?? Do I agree with EVERYTHING the Republican Right has done in the past eight years .... ??? .... HELL NO!!
I'll let you in on a little secret. Those song lyrics about "land of the free?" They have to do with .... are you ready for this ... free speech. They do not mean (and I do mean emphatically NOT) that everyone in this country is free to do whatever the hell they want. Get real.
And, another point that probably should be made, even if it is off topic, there are times that the United States has treated large numbers of its citizenry in a manner that is beyond shameful. You want a real shock ... read up on the experiments at the Tuskeegee Institute. That will knock your socks off. The United States is far from perfect .... we are a VERY diverse group of something like 270,000,000 people, and who knows how many cultures, who for the most part try very hard to get along together. Sometimes we fail miserably. Sometimes we do pretty damn well. It is at those times that I am proud to be an American ... not so much at the other times.
I happen to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal. That's my personal stance ... I happen to like that social and political view and I'm sticking with it. Even speaking as a social liberal, I see the need for appropriate searches at the border. I'm amazed that in the post 9/11 paranoia (justified or not) that the policy is as sanely written as it is.
So, there you have it. I would be so pleased (and somewhat amazed actually) if people posting would stop using words like "confiscation" ... or "unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant" ... when those terms and concepts simply do not apply to border searches. They just DON'T.
Simply because you (or any other poster .... US Citizen or not) decides to say that they do .... doesn't mean they actually do.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people who have had absolutely no legal education and don't happen to live in the US are suddenly Constitutional scholars on the internet. Good freaking grief.
