If we lose our civil liberties

If we lose the civil liberties that we possess in this country I believe we will be no better off than the citizens of the countries which we hope to defend ourselves against. Our civil liberties define us as a great nation and a leader of nations. If the government is able to deny us our right of privacy, search us or spy on us or hold without due process then we have lost the freedoms which our founding fathers have left us as an inheritance.
One of the areas where these rights have been jeopardized by the USA Patriot Act and President Bush's domestic spying program is in the use wire tapping which clearly violates our rights to privacy if conducted on citizens of the United States. This is what I would call a big “if” though. The founding fathers anticipated this type of violation which is why they put safeguards into the law which provides that there be probably cause and a warrant. This is the same sort of safeguards which apply to other acquisition of evidence.
The acquisition of evidence is referred to as search and seizure and there are laws that apply, which protect us from the authorities by providing grounds for reasonable search and seizure. These laws provide us with rights as citizens and in general require law enforcement agents to obtain a search warrant by presenting a case before a magistrate prior to invading our privacy. The big “if” that I referred to previously is a reference to what I consider to be a condition upon which these rights apply and that condition is the citizenship of the individual.
Rights are granted to citizens by the constitution which is based on the authority of the government of the United States over its citizens. In order to extend these rights out over a broader umbrella of human kind it would be necessary to call upon greater authority for implementation which I am sure could be argued, but it is outside the scope of this article. It has been represented to us that our government, as declared by the Bush White House is using the authority of the USA Patriot Act to spy on foreign threats. This is the line, but I don’t know if I am convinced.
Another area that I wouldn’t want to see the rights of the citizens violated is detaining without what is called a “writ of habeas corpus” this has happened in the past during World War II with the incarceration of the Japanese Americans and it was a mistake then and I believe it would be a mistake now.
In the wake of September Eleventh I find myself fearing government more that the radical extremist of the Middle East. George bush defining the attacks as an act of war which created a situation where he had more power than he would have had if he had simple declared it as a national emergency. Since then we have involved ourselves in a war where we probably had no business and we are running up a debt which I can’t even imagine.
In review I believe that it is important to distinguish between civil liberties as applied to citizens of our country and civil liberties as applied to non-citizen enemies of the state. I don’t think it is realistic to conduct our operations overseas under the same policies as our domestic operations; however I also believe that we should adhere to their standards. As they say when in Rome do as the Romans.

Graci-isms

Last week we went to Silverwood. Silverwood is a theme park in Athol Idaho. At silverwood we all started out on the wild water raft ride which got us all wet then moved on to the log ride.
First time on the log ride Graci was pretty scared and when we got off the lady told her to ride in the front next time and it wouldn't be so scary so she took her word for it. The next time down Graci rode in the front and I didn't even realize how scared she was till I looked at the pictures but one thing I do know, she had this to say about it “I don't want to go on this ride again....Ever.” -Graci

Follow the link (click on the image) and then you can find the magnifier above and on the right then drag the image down to look at Graci's face. :)

Tonight I am BBQing

Tonight I am BBQing outside at my house. It has been a long and cold spring so far and I sure think it is nice to be outside. Smoke in my eyes and all. This is the first time out and by the time I got the briquettes lit I had a big hot dog eaten and I pretty much wasn't hungry
I used my barbi to burn brush last fall and didn't reallize how much damage I did till I used it again. The handle on the lid is burned off and the temper is gone from the lower grate holder.
I guess I need a burn barrow.

Alone in the living room

My lining room doesn't seem like a living room at all tonight. First I got after Graci because she turned the heat up to 90° then again because she left dishes on the floor.
Next Elise walked by the end on the couch and kicked a couple of dishes which were on the floor where Jennie had been camping out playing on a laptop. I told Elise to pick them up and take them to the kitchen and then gave her a hard time about not responding with a cheerful OK dad. She said she would have done it anyway! Elise was on her way over over to look over Ami's shoulder as she looked up a classmate on "My Space", I suppose.
Next Ami and Elise started talking softly and laughing about who-ever it was that Ami had looked up and I heard them say something that I though sounded interesting. So, Stupid me, I asked them about what they where talking about and Elise (politely) told me she was talking to Ami, which I took very badly.
I felt like I was being treated like an outsider. I got mad at Ami and Elise and told them to go to there rooms, which is the equivalent of a little kid taking his toys and going home and not wanting to play any more. Only thing, I was at home and I was sending them away.
I'm far to sensitive, I guess that is partly because I am the only male in the house and feel left out anyway.
Kirsten suddenly made herself scarce, she was going to watch a show that we had taped the night before and I had agreed that she could go ahead and watch.
Now I am down to Jennie sitting on the other end of the couch and me setting in my chair and I am upset and figuring that I had made everybody mad mow and I might as well finish the job so I told her to get off the laptop and go to bed....
Now, here I am sitting in my chair in a big living room, all by my self.