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."

I will admit that saying Isn't really the right one. But that being said Football Season Starts this weekend. Yes some would say preseason doesn't count and maybe they are correct. If you get NFL Network then on Saturday you can watch the Hall of Fame inductions and speeches. I'm sure after the fact you will be able to see them on other sports shows and maybe it will be on line. Then on Sunday at 8pm on NBC the first real Preseason game The Hall of Fame Game is on. It will be the Colts vs. (my) Washington Redskins. I have no idea how long any of the starters will play or if they will at all, but it is the HOF Game they should play them all. I think it is good that Art Monk (former redskin) is being inducted. I think this game will conflict with the X games but maybe not I'll have to double check the times. I have real trouble watching presaeason football games, but that being said I like watching the Big Time ones like HOF and what ever the call the one from Japan or where ever they have it. I have not done any free Fantasy leagues yet but I may, summer isn't over yet but Football is here.

A little bit an update: last night during the X games (another great night of it, it really was pretty good) I saw that the Hall of Fame inductions will be on ESPN at 6pm.

For fans of sports there are a lot of them the current one that comes to mind is out door soccer yes Toronto has a team, and outdoor Lacrosse comes to mind quickly. There are plenty of sports that are not on TV and that unless your city or area has a team no one cares about. Every 4 years there are the Olympics. It used to be the the winter and summer games where on the the same year. I like that they made them 2 years apart. The interesting thing is The Olympics is all ways on a leap year (summer games). I think having to only wait two years between summer and winter is better for the people watching and it is also better for people who compete. Hey what if you want to compete in both for different events, it has happened but I don't remember who. Yes there has been a lot of hype and adds and product tie ins for this Olympic games and even some (in Canada) for the winter games coming up. I won't lie and say I know all the events but there are some winter and maybe one summer event that was first part of The X Games. I have to admit that the X games are not the only Action Sport event. But currently the are the best known well maybe not maybe the Dew Action Sports tour is up there, not sure if they still have the Gravity Games but that was right up there, but it just wasn't as prestigous. The X games (on tv at least) Start on Thursday aka The day before Friday and take place all weekend. Watching them should be a fun time. Expn.com has more info on the games and the times and when they are on. I myself have never used espn360.com but I know that through that site you can watch video and I assume the games live as they happen, but not sure. So for those of you who are sports fans it could be a fun weekend of sports. One thing that I like about these types of sports is the risk factor and with some of them it is really high. Plus a sport where you are not part of a team is nice to see. All the sports are not about look at me a can do what no one else can do and land with out dying, hey it takes a lot of practice to get these tricks down and some of them look amazing. It helps if the ramps are set up so that when the camera catches the trick a city or arena or something is in the background.

Peterazzi is safe and was helped by a few people and he thanks you. He still isn't sure what new equipment to get and has to do some research still. He is hopeful to make a choice and get what he needs by the time the fair starts but who knows. The Garden walk Photos will be a bit delayed but he homes that anyone who went had a good time and maybe has some photos they may wind up posting. The reason for the delay is now that he uses film for a bit, the place that he would get it developed is having some problems of its own. Peterazzi is glad that he made it some places he never made it last year. On of those streets he finds odd called Cary. It isn't that the name is odd it is that he has gone past it and with knowing someone named Carey and with knowing people who live in Cary, NC he doesn't know why he didn't notice that name before. That being said he is very happy he got to see those nice houses and gardens up close. Around that same area he was very impressed that this one little area had there own flags that said Rabin Terrace on there homes. He also went to the Johnson park area and that was very nice. He also thought there where a lot of nice places on North Pearl and doesn't remember ever being on that st or Park st. prior to yesterday. Hopefully with some luck he can have pictures made and put on a disc and post them and hopes every one had a great weekend.

I will admit I'm not film student but I still like documentaries anyway. Of course a lot of it , ok most of it has to do with the subject matter. As interesting as they can be sometimes I think it is important to remember a couple of things. Even though they are true accounts they can be greatly edited in a way that proves a point instead of being a true reflection, and there isn't much of a way to know if this was done or not. The other factor is what effect does the camera have. And what I mean by that is some people will act differently when filmed. Maybe they will do things that they wouldn't normaly or maybe they will be more out there and act for the camera it is really hard to know. The other one problem is if you see them on say TV they can kinda be a little behind or seem like things where from years ago. With out going to film school I don't know how long it takes to fix them up and get permission to show everyones faces and doing all the editing but that adds time. Then I would assume to get on HBO or TV people have to see one at screenings and then somehow unless it is shot for that network itself to air on TV off course. But I'm sure it adds time from when it is finished to when it is on TV.

I have seen 3 recently and sorry I can't remember all the names of them. There was one that was pretty interesting on High School debate teams. That one really gave a lot of information about how people debate and this one black team was trying to change the way people debate. Most of teams where using the high speed talking so you can say more in you're time. I wish I could explain it better.

The one about Heidi Fliess was pretty interesting. I reason I wanted to see it was because I wanted to find out if she got the Stud Ranch open. That is correct she was trying to open up a Brothel where women would come and have sex with men. By the time they stopped filming she still had not be approved part of the problem was that the state or county or what ever stopped taking aplications due to some FBI investagation into corruption. So the movie wound up being more about her and this former madam she lived next to who had all these birds (the bright cool ones).

The most recent was a Fredrick Douglas High School, in the inner city of Baltimore. From what I could see it didn't really have a message. It wasn't only about the school but also about "no child left behind". Yes they did show the out of control kids. But they also showed the good kids like Basketball team, Band, and debaters. It pointed out that one of the problems that the school has had is all the white kids (maybe they didn't say it that way) and non poor blacks moving out and to the suburbs. It was really was pretty interesting to see how often discipline had to come before teaching and it was pretty interesting. The part that was weird was this one kid in the school looked just like "Snoop" from the show "The Wire" and they did show a little bit of Baltimore that some people who watched "Homicide life on the street" and "The Wire" it might look like some place you have seen (not sure how much of that city they really filmed in, for those two shows). The Principal went with someone else to someones house to see why she didn't show up to school, I had no idea they still did that. They had some history about the school also, it almost sounded like desegration hurt the school, but I won't go that far, but it sure did look like a case of separate and not equal to me. I don't want to home in on the gloom because there was a lot of good also.

I'm not sure what the documentary was about last night but I'll look into it. I don't want summer to end but there are some up coming shows that look really good. On of those is a Vampire show on HBO that has all kinds of off shots on the web. Lets see Tru Blood is synthatic blood, then there is a dating site, blood copy is like a news site about vampires I can't remember them all but that is interesting. I'm looking forward for the shows I like to come back like Heroes and The Terminator. That brings up one of the reasons why I like "I survived a Japanese Game Show". Yes it is a game show/reality show. But it is more then that. The winning team gets to do something fun in Japan say visit a fish Market or go to a spa or something then the losing team has to do something not fun like give Rikshaw rides, or plant Rice or something so it isn't only the game you do get to see a little bit about the country.