kmcguffee

I prefer Dos Equis. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

No I haven't forgotten what the Bill of Rights is for. I work within the limits of the BoR every day. You just sit in a classroom and debate its issues in a sterile environment. What I see 99% of the time is people doing illegal things and using the BoR as a curtain to hide their illegal ectivities. Admiral Poindexter has no and would have no access to your credit card information. Your information would only become available to agents of the government if you come under investigation due to suspicious activities. Right now, if I want your credit card bill I just have to get a Grand Jury Subpoena from the court. That requires about 4-5 days of waiting and no proof on my part (only an investigative need). Then I have to send that GJS to your credit card company and they have about 10-20 days to respond with the information. How is this system protecting your privacy from the government? It is not. It is only slowing down the investigative process and wasting my time. The new system would allow me to access the information without the paperwork but would still require an investigative need. This system would not allow me to read your e-mails or listen in on your phone calls, or search your house. Those still require a search warrant which requires at least "probable cause" to get authorization. The best thing that could help terrorism investigations would be to authorize Administrative Subpoenas like they use in drug cases. That slows the process down considerably but still not as fast as this proposed system would allow. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

Great post. It seems really simple when read but very hard to practice in reality. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

That was extremely informative. You are hereby designated "Official Dropzone.com Computer Geek" or ODCG for short. Anyway, I still see this as a screening process and not an investigation. A person (special agent) will still have to take the information that the computer provides and conduct further investigation to determine if there is enough evidence to prosecute. Until an agent looks at the personal information of someone to determine if a law has been broken, an investigation has not occurred. You might have some innocent people investigated with this process but you have that now. The purpose of an investigation is to collect evidence to determine if they are guilty or innocent. "Beyond a resonable doubt" is the standard for conviction not investigation. The investigation standard is much lower. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

The problem with the Patriot was that it was not designed to shoot missiles. It was an anti-aircraft missile defense system. They were actually surprised that it did hit the missiles. Its problem was that it hit the missile but didn't destroy the warheads. They separated from the explosion and then exploded on the ground. As for the missile defense system, I would like read both sides of the argument before I make a decision. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

Thought provoking. You must respond more often. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

I agree with you. I just don't see how we are ever going to get a resolution like that passed. France and Germany won't even support the current "new" resolution and it falls short of that type of direct language. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

That is funny. You don't need a search warrant to get those right now. You need a subpoena which, if you know the process, is a joke anyway. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

You and I seem to have a different understanding of the word "investigate". A computer cannot investigate anyone. The decision to investigate will still be left up to an individual "garden-variety government employee" (of which, I am a member). Right now, I can go online and get your social security number, current address, date of birth, driver's license number, and numerous other personal items from a commercial database. I only have slightly more access to information that the general public can get at this same database. All that you have to do is sign up for it and pay a monthly fee. All of this information is coming from public sources that you gave the information to. By your definition we are already investigating everyone in the US. So there is not really a big change. You'll just add in financial transactions which don't require that much to get right now anyway. It will just cut through the administrative BS that we have to go through right now. The operator of the computer will not be the one who decides to investigate. They do not have the authority under Federal Law. Only an 1811 series special agent of the government can investigate violations of federal law. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

So what is he going to do if the US decides to go? Is he going to say "oops........I was just kidding, I don't want to go now". If what you say is true then he is in a very bad position right now. If he pulls out right when the US goes in he will lose a tremendous amount of support by being labeled wishy washy. I really don't think he is that naive. If a war happens and it turns out well, his people will back him. If things turn out bad then they won't. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

Profiling is taken seriously, but it is not the only technique law enforcement uses to catch terrorists. We're able to think a little bit for ourselves. The media blew profiling waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy out of proportion. I assume you are talking about racial profiling though. Not just profiling in general. Law enforcement, as a whole, never considered racial profiling a realistic option, only the media did. Now country profiling, that is a different story. Some people equate country profiling with racial profiling but that is not exactly true. Even when we target a specific country as a 'high threat' country, it is not the only factor in the equation (I use equation very loosely). "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

I'll jump up to 20mph if the winds are fairly steady. If it gets gusty I might not jump above 15mph. I'm scared of my canopy collapsing low to the ground due to a gust. It happenned to someone at the DZ Saturday in gusty conditions right when she started to flair. Luckily only bruises resulted. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

There seems to be a lot of information posted on here about the failure of the war on terror. I thought this article might give a little info on the successes. Notice, there are a lot of non-Arab terrorists being arrested. There are terrorists from the right (White supremacists, radical Christian groups) and from the left (environmentalists, animal rights). Terrorism is an equal opportunity business! My favorite is the guy who is a member of a white supremacist group who has a black father and a white mother. Talk about inner turmoil. http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/22/domestic.terrorists.ap/index.html I'm not trying to start a debate or troll. It is just FYI. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

No, I understand how it is planned to work. It gives you access to the information. It does not mean that you will actually investigate everybody. We do not have the manpower to investigate everybody in the US. Even if the information is available we do not have the manpower to analyze all of it. Please show me numbers that support your accusations at the Federal level. I don't think you will find that they suuport your theory. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

200 dollars for passing go in monopoly. I'm really bored tonight. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

Maybe 15 months on a D? marketing calendar Edited to add Nope, I think it is here http://www.koordinatoren.com/kultur/viser/fifteen_men.html "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

21 Dots on a Dice "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

His spot was dead on though! "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

Yeah, that makes sense........if we investigate every single person in the US. We don't. We only investigate people who are suspected of being involved in something illegal. BTW, whip out the numbers and show that our justice system is less than 98% accurate on guilty verdicts. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

So, do you think you can answer a question without being a complete smartass...............Dr? "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

What do the Poles have to do with it? "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

I don't get harrassed at all. Most people seem to be fascinated by it. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

I know that it lasted with many Americans. I work with guys who quit high paying jobs and took law enforcement jobs because of 9/11. Not just one or two either. We are getting new ones daily. Law enforcement is not going to be able to stop terrorist attacks from occurring with the present immigration and privacy laws. Period. Someone needs to decide: are we going to take a terrorist attack on our soil every now and then in order to maintain our privacy, or are we going to sacrifice our privacy to stop the terrorist attacks. Other crimes are already starting to rise because of the focus on terrorism. The process must be made quicker and more efficient for law enforcement or we must accept the inevitability of more attacks. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

Chicago has either the largest or second largest population of Iraqi immigrants in the nation. Are you sure that is not contributing to their thought process? "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

I'm not a fan of either's political agenda so I think we should apply it to both sides. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin