Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
-attributed to Benjamin Franklin
I shared that Homeland Security had searched my stuff for 3 1/2 hours at the Portland Airport. I was trying to follow up on this before I shared more, but after sending a letter to them a while back, I still haven't heard back anything. Searching my stuff is fine, for 3 1/2 hours, and grilling me also okay- they have a job to do. And they did it with kindness. But searching through my computer, despite my repeatedly asking for it's return, not so much. Turns out that when I got the computer back, I happened to notice a number of emails were opened. (I always leave them unread.) And the most recent files were not files that I had opened in a long time. Some were clearly private, such as those marked "Journal". Not only was I not asked for permission to read those files, I was not even informed that Homeland had done so. I'd be the last to say there is an inherent "right to privacy" as enshrined in Roe v. Wade. But I should still have the choice to decide what to divulge, at least, when no warrent is present. Evidently, the new laws of this nation of freedom mean that the government can now search your laptop and anything on your possession- as you go through an airport, you give up the rights to all civil liberties that were supposedly enshrined in the constitution. It would appear that even a Fortune 500 executive's laptop could be searched, and corporate secrets discovered. (I don't refer to oil company executives, of course.) I've yet to hear any explanation from the government about this, or even a justification.
I remember when I had freedom once, back in Morocco. Hopefully I won't disappear in the next 24 hours after posting this. Better mirror this site now.
I shared that Homeland Security had searched my stuff for 3 1/2 hours at the Portland Airport. I was trying to follow up on this before I shared more, but after sending a letter to them a while back, I still haven't heard back anything. Searching my stuff is fine, for 3 1/2 hours, and grilling me also okay- they have a job to do. And they did it with kindness. But searching through my computer, despite my repeatedly asking for it's return, not so much. Turns out that when I got the computer back, I happened to notice a number of emails were opened. (I always leave them unread.) And the most recent files were not files that I had opened in a long time. Some were clearly private, such as those marked "Journal". Not only was I not asked for permission to read those files, I was not even informed that Homeland had done so. I'd be the last to say there is an inherent "right to privacy" as enshrined in Roe v. Wade. But I should still have the choice to decide what to divulge, at least, when no warrent is present. Evidently, the new laws of this nation of freedom mean that the government can now search your laptop and anything on your possession- as you go through an airport, you give up the rights to all civil liberties that were supposedly enshrined in the constitution. It would appear that even a Fortune 500 executive's laptop could be searched, and corporate secrets discovered. (I don't refer to oil company executives, of course.) I've yet to hear any explanation from the government about this, or even a justification.
I remember when I had freedom once, back in Morocco. Hopefully I won't disappear in the next 24 hours after posting this. Better mirror this site now.
Comments
I look forward to hearing what kind of short-term employment snaps into place for you.
On the other hand, at least they let you in ;)
;-)