So Tuesday is the next Camera test. Well Maybe Wends. with the downloading is more important since I know the Camera takes good out side pictures. I'm thinking of maybe taking some Black and Whites we shall see. I just hope there is no rain cause I don't feel like losing Camera #2. There are things that I do need to see like how it capatures things that are moving. For example There are these monkeys that ride some other animal I have to see those. Then I think at noon there is some kind of Budweiser horse pull that should be cool. Then at Night Testament, Dio's form of Black Sabeth and Motorhead. Plus I want to see the butter scupture. So the hopefully it is a nice day and the pictures come out well we shall see two days after today.

I will be the first to admit that I don't know how exactly sponsership of the Olympics works on the money end of it. I know for the companies they do have tie ins. For example McDonalds does have stuff on bags and cups and in Canada they have mascot glasses and not sure what else. Coke is another big time Olympic Partner and they have cans from different countries and all kinds of adds for this years Olympics. on there product. Since I have been a kid it seems like Mc Donald's and Coke have been part of the Olympics. I myself prefer the taste of there two biggest rivals in Pepsi and Burger King. I think that there are a lot of people who prefer those two brands taste wise. That being said I think Coke and MCD are a better fit. They are both what I call "Classic Brands" They have that Old Time history to them. There are pictures and video of Rey Crock and his Hamburger Place. The same thing could be said with Coke it was around and had the Cocaine taken out before anyone thought of Pepsi. I have also seen a few Budweiser Ads where they say they are a Supporter but they must not be a big one since they don't use the Olympic Rings. They are again an Old Time or at least I assume they are beer. That is right they are a beer and have all ways been a beer. Granted I could not tell you what makes a beer and a Lager different. That being said they have been a beer and are a beer. Unless they Changed how it is made then they are still a Beer. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about they put Lager in there ads now. They have even redone the add where the Dog trains the horse but now Lager is added, what horse shit. I'm an American I want a fucking beer, not some fucking weird lager shit (I don't like beer really). But it is all about not beeing true to who they are they are a beer don't try to be fancy when you are not. Like remember when coke changed there formula and everyone got pissed so they soled the new stuff As Coke and the old formula as Coca Cola Classic. Bud is a beer so stay that way.

There are so many ways to watch the Olympics. First of all you have CBC. Then you have NBC and MSNBC and USA has some coverage and then you have the internet. I Just watched the end of a Handball game live that was pretty cool, wish I caught it sooner. Then CNBC has some events also, I have to admit It is a bit overwhelming. But we shall see what we can see, I gotta go get some food for the house and see what sports I can catch, beach VB is always fun to watch, the women add fun to it also.

First of all (e:Jim) put a great link to Pictures from the opening of the Olympics in the chat. I saw some nice ones on Yahoo but they were not as bold or anywhere near as big this article was on Yahoo's news page and it kinda runs down what all ready happened that being said I still want to see it tonight and see how things look.

China opens its long-sought Olympics spectacularly

By DAVID CRARY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 2 minutes ago

BEIJING - China didn't just walk onto the world stage. It soared over it. At last playing its long-sought role as Olympic host, China opened the Summer Games in spectacular fashion Friday with an extravaganza of fireworks and pageantry dramatizing its ascendance as a global power.


Disasters, environmental problems and human-rights disputes preceded the games, and questions abound about how they will unfold. But for an evening, at least for the 91,000 people packed into the new National Stadium, it was an interlude of fervor and magic - capped by the spellbinding sight of a skywalking, torchbearing gymnast floating around the stadium's top rim before sending a torrent of fire upward to light the Olympic flame.

Scores of world leaders were on hand, and the potential TV audience was 4 billion worldwide for what was certainly the costliest and probably the largest opening ceremony in Olympic history.

The centerpiece was the parade of athletes, climaxing with the entry of the 639-strong Chinese team. Its flag-bearer was basketball idol Yao Ming, accompanied by 9-year-old schoolboy Lin Hao, a survivor of May's devastating earthquake in Sichuan province.

A chanting, flag-waving crowd gave a thunderous welcome, and erupted again a few moments later when President Hu Jintao declared the games open.

President Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin were among the glittering roster of notables who endured heat and humidity to watch China make this bold declaration that it had arrived. Bush, rebuked by China after he raised human-rights concerns this week, is the first U.S. president to attend an Olympics on foreign soil.

Already an economic powerhouse, China is given a good chance of overtaking the U.S. atop the gold-medal standings with its legions of athletes trained intensely since childhood. One dramatic showdown will be in women's gymnastics, where the U.S. and Chinese teams are co-favorites; in the pool, Chinese divers and U.S. swimmers are expected to dominate.

The run-up to the games had powerful story lines - China investing $40 billion to build Olympic infrastructure, reeling from the Sichuan earthquake, struggling right through Friday to diminish the stubborn smog that enveloped the stadium, known as the Bird's Nest. China's detentions of political activists, its crackdown on uprisings in Tibet and its economic ties to Sudan - home of the war-torn Darfur region - fueled persistent criticisms from human rights groups and calls for an Olympic boycott.

Second-guessed for awarding the games to Beijing seven years ago, the International Olympic Committee stood firmly by its decision. It was time, the committee said, to bring the games to the homeland of 1.3 billion people, a fifth of humanity.

"For a long time, China has dreamed of opening its doors and inviting the world's athletes to Beijing for the Olympic Games," IOC president Jacques Rogge said in his speech. "Tonight, that dream comes true."

Rogge mentioned the earthquake, saying the world was moved "by the great courage and solidarity of the Chinese people." And he exhorted the assembled athletes, as role models for the world's youth, to "reject doping and cheating."

The story presented in Friday's pageantry sought to distill 5,000 years of Chinese history - featuring everything from the Great Wall to opera puppets to astronauts, and highlighting achievements in art, music and science. Roughly 15,000 people were in the cast and crew, all under the direction of Zhang Yimou, whose early films often ran afoul of government censors for their blunt portrayals of China's problems.

He produced some majestic and ethereal imagery. At the start, 2,008 drummers beat out a pulsating rhythm with their hands. Later, a huge, translucent globe emerged from the stadium floor, and acrobats floated magically around it to the accompaniment of the games' theme song, "One World, One Dream."

It ended sensationally, when China's first Olympic superstar, former triple gymnastics gold medalist Li Ning, was hoisted by wires to the top of the stadium, circled the circumference as though he were spacewalking and then touched the torch to a thin pipe, setting off a spiral of flame to ignite the mammoth, scroll-shaped cauldron overlooking Beijing.

Li, now 44, whose six medals total at Los Angeles in 1984 signaled China's intention to be a sports powerhouse, admitted to being nervous about "the best memory of my life."

"This is a glorious but also huge task for anyone," he said. "I should never let the dream of all the Chinese people down. That was why I was nervous."

Li had trained for his part for a month. "The biggest problem is the wind," he said. "Every time I must balance myself in the air and hold the torch as close to the cauldron gas outlet. But every time the wind blew in different directions."

There were no such problems Friday, and when it was over, Li basked in his success. "That moment," he proclaimed, "means China is standing side by side with the rest of the world."

The show's script steered clear of modern politics - there were no references to Chairman Mao and the class struggle, nor to the more recent conflicts and controversies.

A record 204 delegations paraded their athletes through the stadium - superstars such as tennis great Roger Federer and basketball's Kobe Bryant, as well as plucky underdogs from Iraq, Afghanistan and other embattled lands. The nations marched not in the traditional alphabetical order but in a sequence based on the number of strokes it takes to write their names in Chinese. The exceptions were Greece, birthplace of the Olympics, which was given its traditional place at the start, and the Chinese team, which lined up last.

The U.S. team - second-largest after China's with nearly 600 members - was welcomed loudly, with many in the crowd recognizing Bryant and other basketball stars who brought up the rear. Bush rose from his VIP seat to wave at the athletes, nattily dressed in white trousers, blue blazers, red-white-and-blue-striped ties and white caps.

"It was a breathtaking experience walking into the stadium," said Oganna Nnamani, a volleyball player from Bloomington, Ill. "I am thankful to be part of this moment."

"This is the biggest stage," said LeBron James, who hopes to lead the U.S. basketball team to a gold medal.

Among the flag-bearers were basketball stars Dirk Nowitzki of Germany and Manu Ginobili of Argentina, and South African swimmer Nathalie Du Toit, who lost her lower left leg in an accident and made history by qualifying for both the able-bodied games and the Paralympics.

The American flag-bearer was 1,500-meter runner Lopez Lomong, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who spent a decade of his youth in a refugee camp in Kenya. He's a member of the Team Darfur coalition, representing athletes opposed to China's support for Sudan. On Friday he avoided any criticism and said the Chinese "have been great putting all these things together."

Abroad, human rights activists were less generous.

"The Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee have wasted a historic opportunity to use the Beijing Games to make real progress on human rights in China," said Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch.

Few Olympics-related disturbances were reported in China. But in Katmandu, Nepal, hundreds of Tibetan exiles demonstrated outside the Chinese embassy, demanding an end to what they say is Beijing's brutal rule. In Turkey, an anti-China protester set himself on fire.

By all indications, the Chinese have overwhelmingly embraced the games, buying up tickets at a record pace, volunteering by the thousands for Olympic duties, nursing expectations of triumphs by their home team.

To their eyes, the omens were good. The ceremony began at 8 p.m. on the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008 - auspicious in a country where eight is the luckiest number.

I Am kinda worndering how often they will break into it, and if they show an add for say 2 minutes will they pick up in the spot that they left off or will they be 2 minutes further along. I think CBC will reshow it also and show other stuff to. Let the games begin oh yeah they all ready have.

So last night on ABC I saw an interesting show about china, it was something like China Inside Out.
The link leads to a page about the show and seems to cover it. It was interesting to see how entangled the US and China both need each other. There was some Olympic tie in but it was mostly interviews and some of the deals china has going with other parts of the world and some history stuff. If I understood correctly one thing they did was lend Angola a lot of money. China gets paid back in Oil, What a great idea. Then the money they lend them is used for infrosturcure (supposidly) then the companies that build things are Chinese. I found it very interesting.

Olympics Website:
No Idea if this will be on TV but Handball but it is different than the other schedulle

Also I wanted to add that if you are not watching anything tonight you can watch a Preview show on CBC at 9pm. Also if you are free in the morning and not at night you can watch the opening Ceramonies live on cbc at about 7am as opposed to at night when it will be rebroadcast.

I'm really looking forward to seeing these games. I know That it being in China seems like a bad Idea and maybe it is. But the reality is that maybe these games will help china change, time will only tell. I'm not going to let the fact that it is from china stop me from watching. The one thing I wonder is how much cultural stuff they will show. It would be nice to get a little bit of education with the sports.

First of all (e:Joshua)'s blog with link to the Olympics article is very good. Here is a story for you Soccer Fans about the fact that Soccer has all ready started at the Games. Yes NBC will be covering a lot of the games live but I think people should also remember that CBC will also have coverage of the games. Even though they often talk about there country in the past there coverage has been much better. One year NBC would show one Music Performance and CBC showed the entire show live. I'm not saying they will be better this year but it is a way to get a different perspective. The Article in the Box's page:

CBC's Olympic Page:

CBC Sports:

NBC's Olympic Page



[box]

Canada's Olympic soccer team takes opener over Argentina

The Canadian women's soccer team won its debut Wednesday at the 2008 Beijing Games, defeating Argentina 2-1 in Group E action at Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium.

Defender Candace Chapman, of Ajax, Ont., gave Canada its first goal in the 27th minute, while Oakville, Ont., native Kara Lang added the winner with a great header off a free kick in the 72nd minute.

Ludmila Manicler scored the lone goal for Argentina in the 85th minute.

"The team was very pumped up and ready to play, but it was mixed with emotions," Canada's head coach Even Pellerud told the Canadian Soccer Association's official website. "The team settled down after the first goal and then we dominated clearly. Overall, we would have preferred a higher-skilled game, but Argentina preferred to keep the tempo down."

"They were tough conditions: the heat was 35 degrees and there was high humidity," said Pellerud. "We should have determined the final result much earlier, but our finishing was not great."

The win also came at a price for the Canadian team. Forward Melissa Tancredi, who scored four goals in April's Olympic qualifying tournament, left the field on a stretcher in the 19th minute after she appeared to suffer a leg injury in a collision with Argentine defender Gabriela Chavez.

She returned to the field less than three minutes later, but was eventually forced to leave in the 42nd minute.

Soccer is the only sport starting play before the Olympic opening ceremonies on Friday. The top two teams in each of the three Olympic groups advance to the quarter-finals, with the next two best teams squeezing into contention.
Sinclair misses early opportunity

Canada slowly built some early pressure which led to some early scoring chances.

Tancredi narrowly missed a goal off a corner kick by sending a header over the bar in the 16th minute.

Christine Sinclair, who leads Canada with 93 goals in international competition, unleashed a shot on target in the 26th minute, but it was tipped out of bounds by goalkeeper Vanina Correa.

Chapman put Canada on the board a minute later as she joined play in the Argentine zone and hit a potent, low volley from more than 30 yards out that sailed through a crowd and skipped just inside the left post.

"When we started, we had a lot of nerves," Chapman said. "The goal was big for us. It's always frustrating when your pressuring the ball and it doesn't go into the net."

Lang appeared to score Canada's second goal in the 33rd minute with a sliding shot in the penalty box, but she was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed.

After halftime, Sinclair nearly struck again in the 59th minute as she slipped behind the Argentine defenders and deflected a ball off her shin to the left of Correa and out of bounds.

It wasn't until the 72nd minute that Lang helped cushion the Canadian lead. Rhian Wilkinson's free kick from just outside the box found the head of Lang, who redirected it to the left of Correa from 10 yards out for a 2-0 Canadian advantage.
Canada almost pads lead

Jodi-Ann Robinson nearly put Canada up 3-0 in the 77th minute after she deflected a pass from Sinclair past Correa, but the slow-rolling ball was cleared by Maria Quinones just before it crossed the line.

Argentina briefly swung momentum the other way after Canada failed to clear the ball from its own end in the 85th minute.

A perfect pass went to the foot of Manicler in the box, and she buried a high shot past Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod for Argentina's only goal.

Canada now faces host team China on Saturday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 6:45 a.m. ET).

On the men's side, there are eight matches on Thursday. The Canadian men's national team won't be at Beijing because the team failed to qualify.
Brazil, Germany tie to open Group F

In other women's play Wednesday, gold-medal contenders Brazil and Germany played to a scoreless draw in the Group F round-robin opener.

Brazil's Marta, the FIFA player of the year, was effectively contained by the Germans, but they failed to capitalize on their chances.

Germany's best opportunity came in the 23rd minute when Sandra Smisek hit the crossbar with a header. For Brazil, Renata Costa's header hit the post in the 63rd minute.

It was the first match between the teams since last year's World Cup final, when Germany came out on top for its second consecutive world title.

Neither country's women's team, however, has won an Olympic gold medal.

Germany finished with bronze in Sydney and Athens, while Brazil earned silver in Athens.
Japan rallies for draw with New Zealand

In the opening match of Group G play, Japan needed a pair of second-half goals to salvage a 2-2 draw with New Zealand.

Midfielder Kirsty Yallop scored New Zealand's first goal ever at the Olympics as she tapped in a cross in the 33rd minute, while forward Amber Hearn doubled the New Zealand lead after converting a penalty just after halftime.

But Aya Miyama converted a penalty kick of her own in the 72nd minute to pull Japan to within one before she found Homare Sawa for a brilliant goal in the 86th minute.

Sawa jumped up and knocked Miyama's curling free kick with her right foot just inside the near post to level the score.
[/box]

For (e:ladycroft) and others. One sport that I have seen and want to see a lot more of during the Olympics is Handball. I don't mean the kind that you play on a Raquet ball court.



The Rules
[box] Rules

Touching
A player may stop, catch, throw, bounce or strike the ball in any manner and in any direction, using hands, fists, arms, head, body, thighs or knees. However, a player may not intentionally touch the ball with any part of the body below the knee. The ball is almost always played with the hands.

Possession
A player in possession of the ball may stand stationary for only three seconds before shooting, passing or dribbling. A player may not touch the ball more than once, unless it has touched the ground, touched another player, or bounced off a goal post (in other words, a player can't pass to himself/herself).

Dribbling
Players typically advance the ball down the court by passing it between each other. A player in possession of the ball may not take more than three steps without shooting, passing or dribbling the ball. In handball, dribbling typically involves bouncing the ball and catching it (a slight variation on dribbling in basketball).

Goalkeeping
Only the goalkeeper may dive for and trap the ball when it is stationary or rolling on the ground in the goal area. Once the goalkeeper leaves the goal area, s/he must adhere to the rules for other players. Other players may dive for a bouncing ball and tap it or throw it quickly to a teammate, but they cannot trap the ball with their feet.

Defense
Defensive players may not hold, hit, push or trip an offensive player. Among the tactics a defensive player may use to gain control of the ball are using the flat part of the hand to knock the ball away from the offensive player, and obstructing the opponent with the body, whether or not the player has the ball. It is forbidden to snatch the ball with one or both hands or violently strike or slap the ball from an opponent's hands. Offensive players may set basketball-style picks in order to shield a teammate from a defensive player.

Goal Area
Only the goalkeeper is permitted to enter the goal area, and the other players are not allowed to touch the ball when it is on the ground in the goal area.

Yellow Cards
In case of excessive roughness or unsportsmanlike conduct, a player is warned by the referee and shown a yellow card, as in soccer. The next infraction, the player will have to sit out two minutes, and his/her team must play short-handed. A second such penalty on the same player results in another two-minute suspension, and a third means a red card and the player is disqualified from the game. His/Her team must play the next two minutes short-handed before being able to substitute. Punishments are normally given incrementally, but particularly severe violations may lead to immediate two-minute suspensions or disqualifications. After a team receives three yellow cards, subsequent violations must result in two-minute penalties.

Start
The game starts with a throw-off from the center of the court after the referee's whistle. The team taking the throw-off must be on its own half of the court, and the opponents must be at least three meters (9 feet, 10 inches) from the thrower. The thrower tries to throw the ball to a member of his/her own team. A goal may be scored directly from a throw-off. The throw-off occurs after every goal and is often taken quickly. To allow for faster play, after a goal is scored, the game can resume before all opponents are back on their side of the court (the team taking the throw-off, however, must still be on its own half).

Fouls
If the player committing a foul is on the team not in possession of the ball, the referee may allow the play to continue until the offensive team scores a goal, loses possession or the action stops for other circumstances such as a free throw. This prevents an offensive advantage from being lost due to an undesired stoppage of play. Depending on the severity of a foul, a free throw or penalty throw can be awarded.

Out of bounds
If the entire ball passes across the sideline, the team that last touched the ball loses possession and the other team is awarded a throw-in.

Substitutions
There is no limit on substitutions, which can be made during the action, as in hockey, or during a time out. During play, the athlete entering the game must wait until the player s/he is replacing has completely cleared the playing field. Faulty substitutions are punished by a two-minute suspension for the offending player.
Copyright 2008 NBC Universal. All rights reserved. Any use, reproduction, modification, distribution, display or performance of this material without NBC Universal's prior written consent is prohibited.
[/box]

I think I have barrowed way to much all ready. With out seeing handball it is hard to describe. But if you like Basketball or indoor lacrosse or both you will like it.

I will admit I don't think having the games in China was a good idea. But maybe things will work out better in the end. I'm sure not going to not watch sports because they are there. Hopefully I'll watch as much of them as I mean to and not miss the stuff I want to see. On a side note only 2 more years till the winter games and lots of Hockey.

So I'm only about a week late but here are some random Pictures from the Buffalo garden walk.














































































































Well if I doubled any I'm sorry. The thing with pictures is that they only show part of it. Like for example there was a tree covered in leaves or maybe moss that isn't really showable. It is hard to get a grasp of how big a garden is, you can't here the water also you might see a waterfall but in a picture it is hard to see. Well hope you enjoyed them and they weren't to boaring if you want to see more of them.



and the other series of pictures

So I'm getting ready for the Olympics to start soon and the Erie County Fair. They have this one thing I have to see I think it is Monkey as Jocky's on dogs but the reason for this post is I'm going to try and post some pictures here and on webshots at sort of the same time and see what happens. Only a week late Garden Walk Part 1 the random Highlights.












































































I'm not used to having small preview pictures that upload on here faster then the full size pictures for webshots kinda interesting hope no one is board yet well if so then there are other blogs to read.


































































Well to any one who made it all the way to the bottom Congratulations and if this wasn't enough for you then you can see all of part 1 on my webshots page. I hope everyone that went last weekend had a good time. I hope that this weekend has been good to you so far. I did get to listen to and see some of the two Redskins enter the HOF last night as I watched the X games. And tonight I get to go get more pictures after the X games and Before Football.

Well it looks like the Peterazzi rides again. Went with a Camera that seems nice but isn't to costly, it would have been nice to get a giant zoom but the cool pix 18 is fine. Now the tough part is how to remember how to do everything and then to test it out at parties or a party or in some one else's place. There are a bunch of different shooting modes. Also Today there may be some Garden Walk pictures going up we shall see, I'm supposed to be getting the discs today, hopefully some of them are ready. It is to bad they couldn't put them all on one disc it seems like there should be a way to oh well.

Here is a test picture that might show up lets see.

Missing Image ;(

As I thought way to big so lets try a cropped picture of that same picture.


There is still lots of things to learn and software stuff to learn also, but so far the software is better then the Kodak stuff, that might get fixed, it would be nice to have a back up just in case, although it would be the second time it would be the back so who knows we shall see.

Why people hate us I'm not sure. I have heard they hate our freedom and that we do what we want but not sure if that is true. Yes 911 did change everything, but not how we think. Yes 911 was bad but it wasn't the first attack on American Soil. That was the 2nd attack on The Trade center remember when there where those explosions and they wanted the building to collapse and it didn't work. But about the Oklahoma City Bombing oh that doesn't count cause he is an American. I don't know if this is true but some Expert on tv said that the trade centers where made strong enough to support a plane, so in theory that means if the second plane didn't hit the building wouldn't have given in. If this is true then was the 2nd plane just chance or did someone know that and if they did know that how did they find out. It does make you wonder. I'm not going to say that the government had it planed or that they let it happen but maybe they knew it might happen and thought if it happens great we will have more control over the people. In any even it has lead to lot s of Paronia and people giving up there rights to feel safer. I understand that is a natural feeling but I think it is the wrong thing to do. Maybe it is just me but wasn't the Consituiton (part of it at least) Supposed to protect us and keep our freedoms well what I read about on line seems like it breaks all Americans and anyone coming to our countries freedom. It sounds to me like illegal search and sezuire to me. It could also be envassion of privacy. Yes when ever you cross the boarder if you act guilty you can be checked but based on this they could check everyone and I say it is illegal and needs to go here is the story. I didn't write this it was in the Buffalo News.

New policy allows agents to seize your laptop, iPod or cell phone at the border
By Jerry Zremski NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
Updated: 08/02/08 9:41 AM

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The policy allowing the confiscation of cell phones, computers and other gadgets has been made public.


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WASHINGTON - Federal agents can confiscate your laptop, cell phone or iPod at the border without suspicion of wrongdoing under a recently disclosed U.S. government policy that's provoking outrage from business travelers and civil libertarians.

"If you don't want information on your laptop to be seen by the U. S. government, don't bring it across the border," Susan Gurley, executive director of the Association for Corporate Travel Executives, said on Friday. "We cannot warn people enough."

Gurley's group worries that the government can seize or copy electronic information without just cause when Americans return from overseas - and that sensitive corporate secrets could fall into the wrong hands as a result.

But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which published the policy July 16 after lawmakers asked that it be made public, insisted the broad authority to conduct searches on electronic equipment is necessary to root out terrorists and child pornographers.

"The danger is legitimate," said Amy Kudwa, a department spokeswoman, who noted that the confiscation of electronic devices in pursuit of wrongdoers affects only "a very small population."

Under the policy, "officers may detain documents and electronic devices, or copies thereof, for a reasonable period of time to perform a thorough border search. The search may take place on-site or at an off-site location."

If, after the review, investigators find no reason to keep any of the information they retrieve from electronic devices, they have to destroy it, the policy says. But it offers no specifics for how long agents have to review information and return laptops and other electronic devices to their owners.

The policy - available at www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel/admissability/search_authority.ctt/search_authority.pdf - affects all international travelers when they return to the United States not only at land borders but also on overseas flights.

Kudwa said she didn't know how long the policy has been in effect, but it has raised questions in the travel industry for 18 months.

In a recent survey of its members, Gurley's business travel group found that 44 percent of respondents had changed their corporate travel policies because of possible border searches.

Only three of the 100 respondents said an electronic device belonging to their company had been seized at the border this year.

But the business travelers still expressed widespread fears; 72 percent said they worried that data seized by the U. S. government was at risk of being compromised.

"We have reduced travel significantly to almost zero" in response to the policy, another respondent said. "We no longer trust U. S. territory to be secure."

The policy doesn't apply just to business travelers, either.

"This policy is especially difficult for people who live near the border and travel back and forth for business or pleasure," said Greg Nojeim, general counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "Now they have to think about purchasing a clean laptop just so the government can take it for a few days without damaging their business or revealing personal details about their lives. And that's just what some travelers are doing."

The New York Civil Liberties Union and Muslim Advocates, a San Francisco-based group, said they worry that travelers of Arab or South Asian descent may be particularly vulnerable to unwarranted searches.

A federal appeals court, nevertheless, recently upheld the policy, which the government describes as necessary and harmless.

"During border inspections of laptops, [Customs and Border Protection] officers have found violent jihadist material, information about cyanide and nuclear material, video clips of Improvised Explosive Devices, pictures of high-level al-Qaida officials, and other material associated with people seeking to do harm to our country," Jayson Ahern, deputy commissioner, says on the Customs and Border Protection Web site. "Border searches also have uncovered intellectual property rights violations and child pornography."

Although the policy allows searches "absent individualized suspicion," agents actually conduct inspections only when they have some reason to believe that the devices should be examined, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a recent USA Today opinion piece.

And Jim Phillips, president of the Lewiston-based Canadian/ American Border Trade Alliance, said he has not heard any complaints about the policy from people who frequently cross the border.

In Congress, however, complaints are growing.

Sen. Russell D. Feingold, DWis., called the policy "truly alarming" and added, "I am more convinced than ever that legislation is needed in order to protect law-abiding Americans from this gross violation of privacy."

Feingold said he plans to introduce such legislation soon, and Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, said he would consider pushing the bill in the House.

"I would call this an outrageous obliteration of civil liberties," Higgins said of the policy.

Chertoff, however, warned that legislation limiting the searches could cause a "dangerous, chilling effect" that would deter border agents from making searches they ought to make.

"We cannot abandon our responsibility to inspect what enters the U. S. just because the information is on an electronic device," he said in his USA Today commentary. "To do so would open a dangerous window for terrorists and criminals to exploit our borders in new and unacceptable ways."