WASHINGTON, May 29 — As part of a sweeping effort to transform the F.B.I. into a domestic
terrorism prevention agency, Attorney General John Ashcroft has decided to relax restrictions on
the bureau's ability to conduct domestic spying in counterterrorism operations, senior government
officials said today. Among other changes, the new guidelines let agents search Web sites and
online chat rooms for evidence of terrorists' planning or other criminal activities, the officials said
These new guidelines say to the American people that you no longer have to be doing something
wrong in order to get that F.B.I. knock at your door,

If you have nothing to hide, then you should be damn happy that they are planning on "invading" your privacy-this is a little price to pay to hopefully help prevent more 9/11's, etc. The price of freedom!
I think we should shut down our borders for about 5 years and round up all the folks that are here illegally and ship them back to their native lands! Charlie

Rick, Well, as far as I know, any agency/person/etc...can knock on your door. The question is do you have to let them in? Would you invite the feds in? Or would you ask for a search warrant? Hmmm...since you were in the military, the gov owns all of your info already, probably has your dna on file too. Do you have a driver's license? If you do here in Calif you gave them your thumb print...they don't need to knock at your door, they're already in your house! Get off your computer now! They're watching! See that little black circle on your monitor? That's the camera!!!! I'd turn off your electricity and phone too! You can run, but you can't hide!

e: when i was in the military, they didn't have dna. we had snafu, and wasserman tests, and see you next trip from the plane to ground control and back. guess what the radio code initials were. just because one is paranoid doesn't mean they are nmot out to get you. i've seen x-files, and ashcroft looks like cancer man, name changed to smoking man for no reason other than the influence of cigarette makers. ps, toby can read your post this time. happy beanie day.

🙂 Hi Toby! My daughter has been working full time and planning to attend 2 proms, so she really hasn't had a chance yet to email you...sorry! Give her some more time! Rick, I gathered you weren't in the service recently LOL! I just wouldn't doubt that somehow, somewhere, your blood, urine and whatever else samples from back in the day are locked up somewhere just waiting for you to screw up. I bet you go the the VA hospital like my dad does...if you do, there you go! They gotcha!

I think someone may have dug up J.Edgar! The "if you don't have anything to hide" arguement does not hold water Charlie! That's what the fascists always say right before they start kicking down your front door. If someone is breaking the law, use investigative techniques and due process to arrest and prosecute them. I am not concerned that arab men were rounded up and questioned. I am concerned that many of them are still in custody without it being proved that they have broken a law! They do that kind of stuff in South America! We need more freedom not less. If my life is at risk enjoying said freedom, so be it! More freedom, not less!

Was he (J Edgar ) in a nightie when they dug him up? LOL JonR

Ummm....there's not right to privacy once information is committed to the internet. Feds snoop in chat rooms and intercept email at the routers? No kidding!

Remember who invented this technology!

Privacy? Since when is the internet your own personal information capsule? It's a PUBLIC domain. If someone uses the words "bomb" and that triggers someone to look into it, so what? And what facist movement is our government trying to achieve doggy? If you equate being killed by a terrorist as a price for freedom, then your view is different than mine. The Feds are not asking to peek into your bedroom. They intend on being too busy finding the Muslim Freaks that threaten our very being. And I think that's a good place to start.

tailgator: like they found the loneguman, oswald.

Please disregard what I stated in my previous reply. What I meant to say was I thought Clayton Moore was the lone gunman. JonR

no clayton, moore and durante were a vaudville act in the 30's. jimmy went on to sucess and always looked out for one of the partners. i don't remember whuch one but i believe the other one had either died or moved on to something else. clayton moore is the grandfather of the green hornet, until he died and became "was."

Tailgater, are you being disingenuous? I was using the fascists as an illustrative example. The nazis did the same thing, kicking down doors, rounding up jews to save the "true" germans. I guess your feeling on the matter depends on which side of the door you are on. In our society it is hard for law enforcement to gain permission to kick down said door. I like it that way. I agree that "profiling" in this case, makes complete sense. I don't buy that we should willingly give up freedoms so we can be "safe". Isn't it a bit of a coincidence that the area we are currently conducting military operations in is also where Chevron and others want to run a big oil pipeline. I know, 9/11. Yes, something needed to be done. But what the hell is going on now? Lastly, and this is slightly off subject. The people seeking to be in charge are often type A personalities who think their way is the best way and we all better get on board pretty damn quick or there will be hell to pay. I am always skeptical when someone in government assures me that something is for my own good or in my best interests. You should be too!

Doggy, so now you're suggesting that our military efforts in the sand are due to petroleum rather than terrorism. No wonder you're so paranoid about "Big Brother". I'm a big boy and have nothing to hide. Apparently that's not the case with you. To each his own, I guess.

tailgater ---you don't think this is about oil?---you need to read a little more.---if they didn't have oil, they would be nomadic tribes riding camels along the trade routes. notice i said nothing nasty about you at all. nothing personal---just a suggestion.--by the way xrundog is correct and you don't know your ass from a hole in the ground.

Well tailgater, we have chased the terrorists out of Afghanistan. Are they in Kazakhstan? Uzbekistan? The Military of several countries are conducting ops out of these places. Again coincidentally, the pipeline will be going right through there. The big oil boys are as happy as pigs in s**t. It could not be going better if the US military were on their payroll. I am sure GW will have a great job later on. I'm not paranoid! It's just that everyone is out to get me! 😃

It is not about oil, if that were the only reason the USA were involved in the Middle East, then we could simply disolve any relationships with Isreal and get all the oil and have the Arabs, etc all of a sudden being completely chummy with us! It is not about oil, it is about 9/11 and other terrorist activities that we finally have a President with enough balls to do something about it and move to do away with Terroist! Oil is simply a bi product of this, it is not the driving force, 2,000 plus dead Americans were the driving force behind our efforts in the middle east! Charlie

Rick, whether they be oil mongers or nomadic tribes wandering aimlessly in the wind driven sand, we are in a military retaliation for 9-11. If those efforts get extended for other reasons, be they political or oil related, so be it. We are not dealing with civil peoples. We are at a heightened state of awareness. Freedoms are infringed upon as a RESULT of these beasts. To belittle our efforts as simply a power-move to boost fossil fuels is not only incorrect, it is blatently idiotic. Now excuse me whilst I wipe my hole in the ground and flush the toilet...

I heartily agree that 9/11 is the impetus for current military ops. There are opportunists in government that are taking advantage of the existing situation to further their own agenda. That's MY point. Wether that is good or bad depends on how you feel about the agenda. I saw Ashcroft on a morning news show today. He explained that nothing is being changed legally or constitutionally. The FBI is merely updating it's own regulations and operating protocols. Having worked in the military beaurocracy for many years, I understand these things need to be reviewed, changed or regularly updated. You have to keep up with new technology. FBI on the internet? It's a public forum. Can't see anything improper there.