The service life of CFBs and regular bulbs makes me suspicious. CFBs do not last much longer than incandescent bulbs used to. I've had 2 of 12 burn out over a year or so despite the 5 year promise on the box. Incandescent bulbs used to be that good and halogen incandescent bulbs still last longer than CFBs. Ask yourself when the last time you changed your car headlights was.
There are big quality differences between manufacturers. I converted much of my home lighting to CFBs when they first appeared several years ago; all of the GE or Philips bulbs are still burning 6-7 years later (including a couple I've left on continuously), whereas all of the 'Feit Electric' bulbs (a brand sold at Costco in my state) burned out within a year or so.
Yea, same here. I have 2 problems with TFA. One is where they say CFLs have only been on the market for several years. I bought my first CFL about 20 years ago. Yet the first one I had to replace I replaced 3 or 4 years ago. The next one was replaced last year. The second problem is it does not say anything about the mercury released from burning coal to generate electricity. By using CFLs the mercury not emitted from coal fired power plants is more than the mercury in the bulbs.
Now, I don't need to name any terrorist organization that has done more damage then a government. We give consent to the government to do some of the things they do.
I didn't give consent, unless you mean by not opposing it enough means giving consent. Actually when Bush ran when 2000 instead of voting for whom I wanted as president I specifically voted against Bush. I didn't want Gore as president either but I thought he'd be less bad than Bush, so when it came tyme to vote I selected Gore. But as far as I'm concerned that was a wasted vote and in 2004 Michael Badnarik got my vote. Though I disagree with some of his positions late last year and early this year I was supporting Ron Paul, now I'm watching to see who the Libertarian candidates are.
Oh, also "our" government supported some of those terrorists. And other bad guys. Up until his invasion of Kuwait the US supported Saddam. Former president Bush, Sr, even argued before congress that trade sanctions against Iraq would hurt US trade as Reagan 's VP. And that was while Saddam was using WMDs. The US also supported al Quada and the Taliban, while they were fighting the Soviets, the US helped arm and finance them. Then Secretary of Defense Cheney even patted Saddam on the back. As late as 2001 President Bush supported the Taliban. For instance Bush gave them $43 million in May 2001, yet it was Clinton who targeted al Quada training camps being protected by the Taliban. This was even after the Taliban blew up those Buddhist statues.
There is a record of everything he does for the most part. You can't classify something or declassify it without paperwork to let the other offices know about it's classification. Think about the logistics of the situation. When you classify something, you don't just block access to it, you also stop employees from discussing it with other people and so on.
And those who work in the admin work for the president or an underling. Then when the president leaves they leave as well.
Efficient government means they are out of your way
Efficient government means efficient government not government out of the way.
Small government is a myth. You can't both have security, good roads, and clean neighborhoods unless the government is involved.
I don't want "security", I want liberty, and those who do will neither have it nor liberty. Most roads can be done locally. Because it isn't like that now the feds can hold road funding over state governments, "implement Real ID or we'll cut your highway funding." And clean neighborhoods are the responsibility of those living there not of government, except maybe fining those who litter. If a neighborhood isn't willing and active enough to clean their own area then it's their fault it's dirty and or messy. I don't litter myself but I do pick up others' litter. Heck I smoke yet I don't even throw my cigarette butts on the ground, instead I empty any tobacco left in the grass, which adds a little nutrient to the grass, and pocket the filter until I can toss them in the trash. And talking about trash, I reduce what I throw away as much as possible and instead try to reuse and recycle as much as I can. For instance when I go out I always take one of my backpacks with me, and in them I have cloth bags I can reuse for years. Compared to the trash I throw away, I put out for recycling a lot more. And I'd recycle more and throw away less but even though half of what I do trash is recyclable recycling won't accept it all. And though I rent an apartment in a big city I still try to grow as much of my own food as I can, I love gardening. Last year I grew a few tomatoes and tomatillos, a couple of broccolis and cauliflowers, some squash, and a bunch of peppers. Now, I'm just waiting for it to get warm enough, we've still got snow on the ground, then I'll clear more area for my garden. The surplus I can either share with neighbors or I can preserve it, though I don't have a dehydrator I have the equipment for canning including a pressure canner.
Do we still need 6 disparate divisions of armed forces (Army, Navy, Marines, AF, Coast Guard, National Guard) when it could all be combined and save a TON of money? Why is it still seperated? Tradition... mostly.
That doesn't go far enough, what I'd like to see is a small professional military core supplemented by a citizens military, perhaps like Switzerland's. As for the Marines, my nephew's one in Iraq, it is the president's private army. The president can do things with them and the navy he, and maybe soon she (though not Hillary), can't do with the other military branches without congressional approval. This has been done since Thomas Jefferson was president. He sent the marines to the Barbary coast, Morocco and Tripoli among other places, to fight against the Barbary pirates in the Med. A hundred year later Teddy Roosevelt did the same.
Bush is going to be in office just around a year longer. His replacement isn't likely to want any abuses if present tied to their record and can really easily change the way things are. If you can't see that or the dificulty in purpetuating the abuses if they are happening, then you can continue to live in fear and ignor reality.
It seems to me it's you who are ignoring reality, though I do admit to fear, fear of government. Can you name 1 terrorist organization that has done more damage than government?
As I said, the government does a fantastic job of eventually telling on itself. You wouldn't have known about any of that if it didn't.
It wasn't the government who told about the forced sterilization of Native American Indian Women, it was the women themselves who told. A Masters student in history put it all together after talking to others who were sterilized.
Not only that but Bush reclassified a lot of documents Clinton released, and you really believe everyone will find out what the Bush admin does?
You act like he will be in office hiding all these abuses forever and no one will ever find out for sure.
Except Bush doesn't have to record everything he does, and if it's not recorded how will his replacement know?
And people didn't like it when President Lincoln had an income tax of up to 5%. They accepted it only because the Civil War had to be paid for.
Yup. It was sold as a purely temporary thing.
That's part of the problem with government, government rarely ever does something temporarily. Take farm subsidies, they are only supposed to be used when farmers are having a tough tyme. However year after year agricultural businesses get billions of dollars in subsidies. And a lot of that money farmers don't see. For instance Archer Daniels Midland Corporation (ADM) receives billions as does Cargill.
just because it isn't Constitutional doesn't mean it isn't law - take Washington D.C.'s forbidding the sale of handguns, which is also viewed as unconstitutional
DC's handgun ban is in front of the USSC now. Though it won't really have much of an effect, unless they say the 2nd Amendment applies to individuals which I hope they do, I'm hoping the Justices strike it down.
I really dislike national security directives, because they are essentially secret laws written by one person - the President. For all I know, Bush could have a law making it a felony to post about national security directives on forums and they're running up my tab before they haul me in to lock me in solitary for the rest of my days.
One of the things that bothers me most about the Bush admin is all the secrecy. It's my opinions that if the citizens knew everything the admin was doing there's be large riots in the streets and demonstrations around 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
The GP was pointing out the slippery slope and a legal "wedge" that could be used if the pentagon staged a coup
If the Pentagon tried to overthrow the government in a coup I believe it would a cannon shot across the bow in starting a civil war. And not just military against civilians, but in the military as well. I don't know if you have but I served in the US Army and I along with a bunch of others I knew while in fully supported democracy. Now, I have a nephew in the Marines, stationed in Iraq, who fully supports Bush. That is he did when he joined, at the age of 17. If the Pentagon tried a coup Fragging, assassinating unpopular officers, would be more popular than it was in Viet Nam. Though this tyme popularity wouldn't as much a deciding factor.
Well, if Guiness polls you about beer, you have a point. But if the University of East Saskachewan polls you about beer, then it's probably genuine research. A university can't risk its reputation on bogus polls, while a corporation must.
Yea, I remember back in the '70s Pepsi having those "taste tests" asking people to try drinking from 2 cups, one with Coke and the other Pepsi. I always told them I preferred the coke, "this one is Coke and this is Pepsi, I prefer Coke". But then Coke changed it's recipe and had one of the tests. When I tried the new recipe I told them if I wanted to drink Pepsi, that's what it tasted like to me, that's what I'd drink and not the new Coke. Later Coke came out with Coke Classic but it wasn't the same.
Falcon
Oh, something many people don't know is that Coke was originally made from the same plant as cocaine.
In fact, the President has the power to create any law instantly, at least until Congress knocks it down. NSA warrantless wiretaps on US citizens are a perfect example of this, because the NSA charter forbid them from operating in the United States until President Bush signed a national security directive giving them this power. Any executive order (EO) is instantly law, just as if it were passed by both the House and Senate.
Except an executive order like the NSA warrantless wiretap authorization isn't Constitutional.
I thought the summary did a pretty good job of trying not to sway anyone. You know -- when summary said the article didn't cite a relevent poll, and then the summary itself didn't cite a relevent poll.
It seems that the government does a fantastic job of eventually telling on itself. There is really no reason to not trust what they have said on this issue.
BS! The US government has a history of doing horrible things, some of which have taken many years before coming out. For instance did you know that it was government policy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to forcibly Native American Indian women? This went on for many years. Or that the military used Blacks to do medical experiments on diseases like syphilis in Tuskegee which lasted 40 years, and only ended when it came to light what was being done? Not only that but Bush reclassified a lot of documents Clinton released, and you really believe everyone will find out what the Bush admin does?
This actually gets us MORE protection, not less, as they can be more efficient with their time and resources.
Ah, government efficiency. You may want efficient government but not me. I want a small and limited government that is inefficient, I want government to get out of citizens' way.
Government efficiency leads to fascism. However the USA's Founding Fathers created an inefficient government.
1) FBI or some other agency suspects someone of something, and documents the suspicion, then files for a warrent.
That has existed from the founding of the USA, ever read the 4th Amendment? Law enforcement is required to get a court issued warrant.
3) if deemed a "dire emergency" they can enter the property, arrest citezens, or collect physical evidence, consistent with the scope of any warrent filed, wether approved yet or not.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act set up the FISA court which "rubber stamps" admin requests for search warrants. Heck the FBI can file for a warrant 48 hours after the FBI puts a wiretap in place or conducts a search.
They need to be able to snoop.
Are there needs to be a system of checks and balances, And there is, just get a court issued warrant. But the Bush admin fills no need to follow the Constitution of the USA.
If you are doing something illegal, it matters not how you are discovered, only that you are.
Ah, an advocate of torture.
Knowing who I call and how often is no more private information than who I send postal mail to.
They may know who you send mail to but they don't know who I send it to. I don't put my return address on my mail and I always drop it in a mail box on the street or at the post office. And no it's not because I'm paranoid, those I write to already have my address and if I drop an envelope in a public mailbox I know it will arrive at the post office. I've lost mail when I left it for the mailman to pick up.
I also approve of scanning of random e-mail messages sent in and out of the country, and also all e-mail sent to/from known terorist associated addresses (names added to a list with a judges approval).
Who gets to decide who's a terrorist? Many innocent people are still on the Do Not Fly list and have no way getting their name off it.
People who are paranoid about the FBI reading their secret love letters to their boyfriend and then the FBI telling their husband should have no fear. We'll make it illegal for the FBI to collect and store any information noo associated with known criminals or terrorists, and make it illegal for them to collect and store information about non-violent or minor crimes unless a warrent was issued and approved for local law enforcement.
And how will a victim know?
Reading your post you sound like you trust government, but many others don't. Fact is is government have killed way more people or violated their rights than have all of the terrorist in history. your chance of being killed by a terrorist is minuscule. As Benjamin Franklin said "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Or as Thomas Jefferson said "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
"Trust us, it's working, after all, we haven't had an attack since 9/11, have we?" (Someone needs to educate the average American about the concept of 'correlation != 'causation'.)
It's even worse than that, as warrantless wiretapping started in February 2001 [theregister.co.uk], *before* 9/11, and did nothing to stop that attack.
And Bill Clinton wanted the same powers when he was in office. The republicans were against it then but now that a republican is in the White House, they're happy to give the president the power they refused to give to Clinton.
As for measures against actual Communists and they sympathizers, I have no problem with that. In the context of the Cold War, there was no reason to protect Communists at all.
So, like Bush, you only believe in democracy if it's your type of democracy?
The US anti-Red measures were so mild as to be trivial.
Unless you were one of them targeted. While the red baiting under McCarthy wasn't as bad as groups had under Hitler and Stalin, to say it was trivial is an understatement.
It is entirely possible for the vast majority of people to look past what the extremist and Bush Bashers are claiming and look at the official accounts and happenings and come to a completely different conclusion.
Ah, that's the key, "official accounts", though isn't it? Who knows what's bad has been done? If something makes the watchers look bad they aren't likely to announce it.
It is quite possible some powerful people decided to destroy Spitzer because of his crusade against the thieves on Wall Street who have been quite obviously stealing this country in to poverty.
Spitzer was a hypocrite period. Yes, he went after Wall Street but he also went after prostitution. Having said that while I believe he hasn't gotten his just due, a public flogging or whipping would be more appropriate, I don't like what was used to catch him. As you say elsewhere he was caught because of his financial transactions, no financial institution should be reporting any transaction to the government.
"The Bourne Supremacy" or which ever the second one was.
The "Bourne Supremacy" was the second movie in the Bourne series though the third made. The first one, "The Bourne Identity" was made in 1988 then remade in 2002.
He said it was good
I don't recall whether it was the "Bourne Identity" or the "Bourne Supremacy" I watched but after I read all of the books I was disappointed with the movie.
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The service life of CFBs and regular bulbs makes me suspicious. CFBs do not last much longer than incandescent bulbs used to. I've had 2 of 12 burn out over a year or so despite the 5 year promise on the box. Incandescent bulbs used to be that good and halogen incandescent bulbs still last longer than CFBs. Ask yourself when the last time you changed your car headlights was.
There are big quality differences between manufacturers. I converted much of my home lighting to CFBs when they first appeared several years ago; all of the GE or Philips bulbs are still burning 6-7 years later (including a couple I've left on continuously), whereas all of the 'Feit Electric' bulbs (a brand sold at Costco in my state) burned out within a year or so.
Yea, same here. I have 2 problems with TFA. One is where they say CFLs have only been on the market for several years. I bought my first CFL about 20 years ago. Yet the first one I had to replace I replaced 3 or 4 years ago. The next one was replaced last year. The second problem is it does not say anything about the mercury released from burning coal to generate electricity. By using CFLs the mercury not emitted from coal fired power plants is more than the mercury in the bulbs.
FalconNow, I don't need to name any terrorist organization that has done more damage then a government. We give consent to the government to do some of the things they do.
I didn't give consent, unless you mean by not opposing it enough means giving consent. Actually when Bush ran when 2000 instead of voting for whom I wanted as president I specifically voted against Bush. I didn't want Gore as president either but I thought he'd be less bad than Bush, so when it came tyme to vote I selected Gore. But as far as I'm concerned that was a wasted vote and in 2004 Michael Badnarik got my vote. Though I disagree with some of his positions late last year and early this year I was supporting Ron Paul, now I'm watching to see who the Libertarian candidates are.
Oh, also "our" government supported some of those terrorists. And other bad guys. Up until his invasion of Kuwait the US supported Saddam. Former president Bush, Sr, even argued before congress that trade sanctions against Iraq would hurt US trade as Reagan 's VP. And that was while Saddam was using WMDs. The US also supported al Quada and the Taliban, while they were fighting the Soviets, the US helped arm and finance them. Then Secretary of Defense Cheney even patted Saddam on the back. As late as 2001 President Bush supported the Taliban. For instance Bush gave them $43 million in May 2001, yet it was Clinton who targeted al Quada training camps being protected by the Taliban. This was even after the Taliban blew up those Buddhist statues.
FalconThere is a record of everything he does for the most part. You can't classify something or declassify it without paperwork to let the other offices know about it's classification. Think about the logistics of the situation. When you classify something, you don't just block access to it, you also stop employees from discussing it with other people and so on.
And those who work in the admin work for the president or an underling. Then when the president leaves they leave as well.
FalconYour conclusion is wrong in the ways that I spelled out in the rest of the paragraph you quoted. I can't debate with you, you refuse to read.
You refuse to debate because your debating skills are too low.
To jog your memory, I believe we were discussing just how many "Baby Bells" AT&T owned...
Yes, and out of the 22 baby bells ATT only owns 11 now.
FalconEfficient government means they are out of your way
Efficient government means efficient government not government out of the way.
Small government is a myth. You can't both have security, good roads, and clean neighborhoods unless the government is involved.
I don't want "security", I want liberty, and those who do will neither have it nor liberty. Most roads can be done locally. Because it isn't like that now the feds can hold road funding over state governments, "implement Real ID or we'll cut your highway funding." And clean neighborhoods are the responsibility of those living there not of government, except maybe fining those who litter. If a neighborhood isn't willing and active enough to clean their own area then it's their fault it's dirty and or messy. I don't litter myself but I do pick up others' litter. Heck I smoke yet I don't even throw my cigarette butts on the ground, instead I empty any tobacco left in the grass, which adds a little nutrient to the grass, and pocket the filter until I can toss them in the trash. And talking about trash, I reduce what I throw away as much as possible and instead try to reuse and recycle as much as I can. For instance when I go out I always take one of my backpacks with me, and in them I have cloth bags I can reuse for years. Compared to the trash I throw away, I put out for recycling a lot more. And I'd recycle more and throw away less but even though half of what I do trash is recyclable recycling won't accept it all. And though I rent an apartment in a big city I still try to grow as much of my own food as I can, I love gardening. Last year I grew a few tomatoes and tomatillos, a couple of broccolis and cauliflowers, some squash, and a bunch of peppers. Now, I'm just waiting for it to get warm enough, we've still got snow on the ground, then I'll clear more area for my garden. The surplus I can either share with neighbors or I can preserve it, though I don't have a dehydrator I have the equipment for canning including a pressure canner.
Do we still need 6 disparate divisions of armed forces (Army, Navy, Marines, AF, Coast Guard, National Guard) when it could all be combined and save a TON of money? Why is it still seperated? Tradition... mostly.
That doesn't go far enough, what I'd like to see is a small professional military core supplemented by a citizens military, perhaps like Switzerland's. As for the Marines, my nephew's one in Iraq, it is the president's private army. The president can do things with them and the navy he, and maybe soon she (though not Hillary), can't do with the other military branches without congressional approval. This has been done since Thomas Jefferson was president. He sent the marines to the Barbary coast, Morocco and Tripoli among other places, to fight against the Barbary pirates in the Med. A hundred year later Teddy Roosevelt did the same.
FalconBush is going to be in office just around a year longer. His replacement isn't likely to want any abuses if present tied to their record and can really easily change the way things are. If you can't see that or the dificulty in purpetuating the abuses if they are happening, then you can continue to live in fear and ignor reality.
It seems to me it's you who are ignoring reality, though I do admit to fear, fear of government. Can you name 1 terrorist organization that has done more damage than government?
FalconAs I said, the government does a fantastic job of eventually telling on itself. You wouldn't have known about any of that if it didn't.
It wasn't the government who told about the forced sterilization of Native American Indian Women, it was the women themselves who told. A Masters student in history put it all together after talking to others who were sterilized.
Not only that but Bush reclassified a lot of documents Clinton released, and you really believe everyone will find out what the Bush admin does?
You act like he will be in office hiding all these abuses forever and no one will ever find out for sure.
Except Bush doesn't have to record everything he does, and if it's not recorded how will his replacement know?
FalconAnd people didn't like it when President Lincoln had an income tax of up to 5%. They accepted it only because the Civil War had to be paid for.
Yup. It was sold as a purely temporary thing.
That's part of the problem with government, government rarely ever does something temporarily. Take farm subsidies, they are only supposed to be used when farmers are having a tough tyme. However year after year agricultural businesses get billions of dollars in subsidies. And a lot of that money farmers don't see. For instance Archer Daniels Midland Corporation (ADM) receives billions as does Cargill.
Falconjust because it isn't Constitutional doesn't mean it isn't law - take Washington D.C.'s forbidding the sale of handguns, which is also viewed as unconstitutional
DC's handgun ban is in front of the USSC now. Though it won't really have much of an effect, unless they say the 2nd Amendment applies to individuals which I hope they do, I'm hoping the Justices strike it down.
I really dislike national security directives, because they are essentially secret laws written by one person - the President. For all I know, Bush could have a law making it a felony to post about national security directives on forums and they're running up my tab before they haul me in to lock me in solitary for the rest of my days.
One of the things that bothers me most about the Bush admin is all the secrecy. It's my opinions that if the citizens knew everything the admin was doing there's be large riots in the streets and demonstrations around 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
FalconThe GP was pointing out the slippery slope and a legal "wedge" that could be used if the pentagon staged a coup
If the Pentagon tried to overthrow the government in a coup I believe it would a cannon shot across the bow in starting a civil war. And not just military against civilians, but in the military as well. I don't know if you have but I served in the US Army and I along with a bunch of others I knew while in fully supported democracy. Now, I have a nephew in the Marines, stationed in Iraq, who fully supports Bush. That is he did when he joined, at the age of 17. If the Pentagon tried a coup Fragging, assassinating unpopular officers, would be more popular than it was in Viet Nam. Though this tyme popularity wouldn't as much a deciding factor.
with instead of against the POTUS
I'm wondering if you're referring to President Andrew Jackson's comment when the USSC and Chief Justice Marshall made a ruling against Jackson. Jackson said of the ruling "The Supreme Court has made it's decision, now let them enforce it."
FalconWell, if Guiness polls you about beer, you have a point. But if the University of East Saskachewan polls you about beer, then it's probably genuine research. A university can't risk its reputation on bogus polls, while a corporation must.
Yea, I remember back in the '70s Pepsi having those "taste tests" asking people to try drinking from 2 cups, one with Coke and the other Pepsi. I always told them I preferred the coke, "this one is Coke and this is Pepsi, I prefer Coke". But then Coke changed it's recipe and had one of the tests. When I tried the new recipe I told them if I wanted to drink Pepsi, that's what it tasted like to me, that's what I'd drink and not the new Coke. Later Coke came out with Coke Classic but it wasn't the same.
Falcon
Oh, something many people don't know is that Coke was originally made from the same plant as cocaine.Yeah, well, you're just another commie, so what do you know. ; )
When your friend says that just ask him, or her, if "Being free from government is communistic? Or is it the America way?"
FalconIn fact, the President has the power to create any law instantly, at least until Congress knocks it down. NSA warrantless wiretaps on US citizens are a perfect example of this, because the NSA charter forbid them from operating in the United States until President Bush signed a national security directive giving them this power. Any executive order (EO) is instantly law, just as if it were passed by both the House and Senate.
Except an executive order like the NSA warrantless wiretap authorization isn't Constitutional.
FalconI thought the summary did a pretty good job of trying not to sway anyone. You know -- when summary said the article didn't cite a relevent poll, and then the summary itself didn't cite a relevent poll.
Except the Salon article did cite relevant polls such as the Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University poll, CNN/USA Today Gallup poll, and a CBS poll[pdf]. Time on the other hand does not list one poll.
FalconIt seems that the government does a fantastic job of eventually telling on itself. There is really no reason to not trust what they have said on this issue.
BS! The US government has a history of doing horrible things, some of which have taken many years before coming out. For instance did you know that it was government policy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to forcibly Native American Indian women? This went on for many years. Or that the military used Blacks to do medical experiments on diseases like syphilis in Tuskegee which lasted 40 years, and only ended when it came to light what was being done? Not only that but Bush reclassified a lot of documents Clinton released, and you really believe everyone will find out what the Bush admin does?
FalconPeople work three months out of the year to pay their income taxes.
Not anymore. In 2008 Tax Freedom Day in the USA is 15 April, 4 1/2 months into the year.
The revolution started because the taxation got to a whopping 3%!
And people didn't like it when President Lincoln had an income tax of up to 5%. They accepted it only because the Civil War had to be paid for.
FalconJust because it is not wrong yet? You don't mind registering every weapon you have, because you're allowed to have it?
I do mind.
I know you have one! It's registered!
That's why I oppose registering firearms.
Would you mind registering your TV set? Why not, it ain't illegal to have one.
I don't know how it works but in Britain there's a tax on TVs, I think all households have to pay a yearly tax on every TV in the house.
FalconThis actually gets us MORE protection, not less, as they can be more efficient with their time and resources.
Ah, government efficiency. You may want efficient government but not me. I want a small and limited government that is inefficient, I want government to get out of citizens' way.
Government efficiency leads to fascism. However the USA's Founding Fathers created an inefficient government.
Falcon1) FBI or some other agency suspects someone of something, and documents the suspicion, then files for a warrent.
That has existed from the founding of the USA, ever read the 4th Amendment? Law enforcement is required to get a court issued warrant.
3) if deemed a "dire emergency" they can enter the property, arrest citezens, or collect physical evidence, consistent with the scope of any warrent filed, wether approved yet or not.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act set up the FISA court which "rubber stamps" admin requests for search warrants. Heck the FBI can file for a warrant 48 hours after the FBI puts a wiretap in place or conducts a search.
They need to be able to snoop.
Are there needs to be a system of checks and balances, And there is, just get a court issued warrant. But the Bush admin fills no need to follow the Constitution of the USA.
If you are doing something illegal, it matters not how you are discovered, only that you are.
Ah, an advocate of torture.
Knowing who I call and how often is no more private information than who I send postal mail to.
They may know who you send mail to but they don't know who I send it to. I don't put my return address on my mail and I always drop it in a mail box on the street or at the post office. And no it's not because I'm paranoid, those I write to already have my address and if I drop an envelope in a public mailbox I know it will arrive at the post office. I've lost mail when I left it for the mailman to pick up.
I also approve of scanning of random e-mail messages sent in and out of the country, and also all e-mail sent to/from known terorist associated addresses (names added to a list with a judges approval).
Who gets to decide who's a terrorist? Many innocent people are still on the Do Not Fly list and have no way getting their name off it.
People who are paranoid about the FBI reading their secret love letters to their boyfriend and then the FBI telling their husband should have no fear. We'll make it illegal for the FBI to collect and store any information noo associated with known criminals or terrorists, and make it illegal for them to collect and store information about non-violent or minor crimes unless a warrent was issued and approved for local law enforcement.
And how will a victim know?
Reading your post you sound like you trust government, but many others don't. Fact is is government have killed way more people or violated their rights than have all of the terrorist in history. your chance of being killed by a terrorist is minuscule. As Benjamin Franklin said "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Or as Thomas Jefferson said "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
Falcon"Trust us, it's working, after all, we haven't had an attack since 9/11, have we?" (Someone needs to educate the average American about the concept of 'correlation != 'causation'.)
It's even worse than that, as warrantless wiretapping started in February 2001 [theregister.co.uk], *before* 9/11, and did nothing to stop that attack.
And Bill Clinton wanted the same powers when he was in office. The republicans were against it then but now that a republican is in the White House, they're happy to give the president the power they refused to give to Clinton.
FalconAs for measures against actual Communists and they sympathizers, I have no problem with that. In the context of the Cold War, there was no reason to protect Communists at all.
So, like Bush, you only believe in democracy if it's your type of democracy?
The US anti-Red measures were so mild as to be trivial.
Unless you were one of them targeted. While the red baiting under McCarthy wasn't as bad as groups had under Hitler and Stalin, to say it was trivial is an understatement.
FalconI don't favor a fair playing field for cultural enemies in the war with Isl..."terrorists" and am fine with it turning into a dirty war
In other words you don't believe in being any better than they are?
FalconIt is entirely possible for the vast majority of people to look past what the extremist and Bush Bashers are claiming and look at the official accounts and happenings and come to a completely different conclusion.
Ah, that's the key, "official accounts", though isn't it? Who knows what's bad has been done? If something makes the watchers look bad they aren't likely to announce it.
FalconIt is quite possible some powerful people decided to destroy Spitzer because of his crusade against the thieves on Wall Street who have been quite obviously stealing this country in to poverty.
Spitzer was a hypocrite period. Yes, he went after Wall Street but he also went after prostitution. Having said that while I believe he hasn't gotten his just due, a public flogging or whipping would be more appropriate, I don't like what was used to catch him. As you say elsewhere he was caught because of his financial transactions, no financial institution should be reporting any transaction to the government.
Falcon"The Bourne Supremacy" or which ever the second one was.
The "Bourne Supremacy" was the second movie in the Bourne series though the third made. The first one, "The Bourne Identity" was made in 1988 then remade in 2002.
He said it was good
I don't recall whether it was the "Bourne Identity" or the "Bourne Supremacy" I watched but after I read all of the books I was disappointed with the movie.
Falcon