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This video should not be viewed by older women with bladder control issues. Trust me on this one.

Homeland Security opening private mail
Retired professor confused, angered when letter from abroad is opened

WASHINGTON - In the 50 years that Grant Goodman has known and corresponded with a colleague in the Philippines he never had any reason to suspect that their friendship was anything but spectacularly ordinary.

But now he believes that the relationship has somehow sparked the interest of the Department of Homeland Security and led the agency to place him under surveillance.

Last month Goodman, an 81-year-old retired University of Kansas history professor, received a letter from his friend in the Philippines that had been opened and resealed with a strip of dark green tape bearing the words �by Border Protection� and carrying the official Homeland Security seal.

�I had no idea (Homeland Security) would open personal letters,� Goodman told MSNBC.com in a phone interview. �That�s why I alerted the media. I thought it should be known publicly that this is going on,� he said. Goodman originally showed the letter to his own local newspaper, the Kansas-based Lawrence Journal-World.

�I was shocked and there was a certain degree of disbelief in the beginning,� Goodman said when he noticed the letter had been tampered with, adding that he felt his privacy had been invaded. �I think I must be under some kind of surveillance.�

Goodman is no stranger to mail snooping; as an officer during World War II he was responsible for reading all outgoing mail of the men in his command and censoring any passages that might provide clues as to his unit�s position. �But we didn�t do it as clumsily as they�ve done it, I can tell you that,� Goodman noted, with no small amount of irony in his voice. �Isn�t it funny that this doesn�t appear to be any kind of surreptitious effort here,� he said.

The letter comes from a retired Filipino history professor; Goodman declined to identify her. And although the Philippines is on the U.S. government�s radar screen as a potential spawning ground for Muslim-related terrorism, Goodman said his friend is a devout Catholic and not given to supporting such causes.

A spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection division said he couldn�t speak directly to Goodman�s case but acknowledged that the agency can, will and does open mail coming to U.S. citizens that originates from a foreign country whenever it�s deemed necessary.

�All mail originating outside the United States Customs territory that is to be delivered inside the U.S. Customs territory is subject to Customs examination,� says the CBP Web site. That includes personal correspondence. �All mail means �all mail,�� said John Mohan, a CBP spokesman, emphasizing the point.

�This process isn�t something we�re trying to hide,� Mohan said, noting the wording on the agency�s Web site. �We�ve had this authority since before the Department of Homeland Security was created,� Mohan said.

However, Mohan declined to outline what criteria are used to determine when a piece of personal correspondence should be opened, but said, �obviously it�s a security-related criteria.�

Mohan also declined to say how often or in what volume CBP might be opening mail. �All I can really say is that Customs and Border Protection does undertake [opening mail] when it is determined to be necessary,� he said.

This board is not moderated for niceness. Opinions are allowed, welcomed and encouraged. Difficult subject matter is expected. Disagree, argue, debate but do it without name-calling and without cursing, lewdness or childish tit-for-tat posting.

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This is a hot-topic board and we can have some lively debates and arguments without getting so personally insulting.

institution that does not follow our strict definitions of correctness. All or nothing thinking. For us or against us. Faux cult. True Believers.

Hubby was telling me last night that China's economy is now tanking because ours is. Factory workers over there were showing up for work only to find their business had closed because of lack of orders from the U.S. India may be next. You never know. I don't see it happening with MT but like I said, you just don't know. Did you see their work days? 6 days a week and something like 12 or 14 hours a day?

I hear lip service from Nobama/Maobama about cutting taxes to bring our businesses back but don't see him acting on it. He's a one-termer. Carter got us in a heap of trouble which Reagan (I know union employees aren't fond of him) had to get us out of. All Nobama is doing is having construction/building jobs sprout up here and there. And where does the money come from to pay for his multi-trillion dollar spending? You got it - us. Those jobs will eventually fizzle out, our country will be poorer and those people will once again be unemployed..

Dems coined the phrase Voodoo Economics for Reagan's Trickle Down Economics. Whether or not you liked the man, he did a world of good for this country. He did cut capital gains taxes and cut taxes for the rich. Trickle down 101: You cut taxes for the rich, they can afford to hire more employees, more often than not, at better wages. Unemployment is down. People go out and spend more money because they are employed and can afford to. During Reagan's terms in office, he cut taxes immensely yet the government took in more money. People would much rather spend their money the way they want than have the government take it and spend it.

Folks, we work for our government. Our government should be working for us. We should not live in fear of the IRS. I attended a TEA party on April 15 and will attend more such events. We should have a government for the people, of the people and by the people. The protest was very peaceful and guess what? Not a bit of litter was left to be found when it ended, like the disgrace that was left after the inauguration in Washington, DC.

We are getting so far away from a constitutional government, it's not funny. Actually, my opinion is that we are currently a socialist government. You know the next step after socialism? Communism.

I read the most recent list of who they consider a terrorist. Hoarding food? Um, yep. Better buy it now in case a depression hits. Glad I have a breadmaker. Wouldn't want to have to spend $50 on a loaf of bread. Buying lots of ammo? Sure, but then again, we do competition shooting. Guns? Yeah, we have our share, but variety is the spice of life (Hubby bought me a Macarov but I didn't care for the way it operated (too hard to load the mag), especially after the slide came back and sliced my thumb open 5 times, bad lacerations - my fault, was handling it wrong, so I got a Glock). My husband is an Iraqi war vet. That makes us both domestic terrorists. Yet neither one of us even has the heart to even discipline our dogs. We're both very gentle people. Of course if someone broke into our home, we would defened ourselves.

I'm sorry for the rant but I just don't see Nobama caring much about outsourcing. I really really really hope I am wrong and what he is doing for our country is the right thing but I truly resent being labeled a domestic terrorist because I see us headed for a depression and am stocking up on food, and my husband happened to be in the military during the Gulf war.

On a blog forum one should put one's own opinion, not what is posted on the internet. At least one should put it in one's own words.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062101837.html

Warning: On this first one there are some terrible pics, but I posted this for the text.

http://www.staticbrain.com/archive/pentagon-censors-soldiers-access-to-internet/

On this one, please note where he says *When you�re in an environment where you don�t have access to any information sources, independent or otherwise, all you can do is conjecture. We didn�t have any access to newspapers or the Internet. *

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-03-14/article/29458?headline=Iraq-Veteran-Speaks-Out-Against-War

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iVg2jiaBA1jwVfCdsisXI0FbZD0AD965BKCG0

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1200572509823&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

If you copy and paste the entire thing, you stand about a 12% chance of them actually reading it. So here is, ironically, what you get when you click on the word "REQUIRE."

It might be too many words for some, but the bottom line is that this is a choice, NOT a REQUIREMENT.

America Serves

"When you choose to serve -- whether it's your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood -- you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That's why it's called the American dream."

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation�s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.

Don't forget, he was po'd because the CIA and FBI did not work together and he was getting conflicting info from both sources, but tried to unravel which was true, or did you forget that, too?

WARNING about opening links some

America Serves