This writing was prompted by a short bit from the Washington Post.

Isn’t there this thing called the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution?

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

These acts by the Department of Homeland in-Security are blatant violations of the 4th Amendment.

For those of you unaware, if they take your iPod for example, and you cannot prove right then and there you legally own the albums the mp3s were ripped from or bought them from iTunes, you could be arrested for copyright infringement.

If they take your laptop away (they supposedly can), how do you know what they take off of your private effects? How do you know what they might plant?

Yes I know, all people are honest and wouldn’t do something bad like plant things. I’m just a conspiracy nut.

Also, “Just what do you have to hide?” To be honest, any damn thing I want. Everything from that hot night in STL (fictional) with my wife to the other one with me in a Speedo (ew).

I don’t commit crimes, unless you want to use the Patriot Act to accuse me of speaking out about how illegal it is according to the constitution. However, I am watching our liberties melt away, and the Prozac nation keeps letting it happen.

Thankfully, there are tools like Truecrypt that will allow you to encrypt files, operating systems, and even to have hidden operating systems that are un-detectable within a ‘dummy’ operating system.

Go check them out: www.truecrypt.org

There’s a great how-to here: http://cnettv.cnet.com/9742-1_53-50003244.html

We still need to fight the government’s tyranny, however this free product provides some great interim solutions.

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