Another form of privacy withheld?

Photo credit: kevindean

The Obama administration, like many other government agencies, has managed to ruffle the feathers of many of its citizens. It turns out that they have been monitoring quite a few phone calls, not necessarily of suspected terrorists, but phone calls in general. In order to communicate with each other, the bad seed in our society must use some form of electronic media, a process that leaves themselves open for scrutiny.

Our beloved leader recently admitted that, to a certain extent, the accusations are true, but maybe not quite as shady as it has been made out to be. Americans are already upset about their rights being taken away, so this new form of the collection of what we consider as our personal data, has naturally left a very bad taste in our mouth.

 The explanation coming from the president is this, yes they are collecting phone numbers, but they are not listening to the conversations on those calls, unless the number reflects a questionable contact and a specific amount of time. Should the agency decide that there is more to the phone call that they need to be aware of, before listening, they will be required to get a warrant from a federal judge. Really?

Video Credit: AssociatedPress

I realize that we deserve our privacy and anyone caught listening in on our conversation could be considered as 'Big Brother' listening, but I suspect that this sort of invasion has been going on a whole lot longer than we would care to admit. What part of a satellite in the sky, or bugs in the line do we not understand? Big brother has been monitoring our conversations since the age of Watergate.

 On the other hand, they probably need to! It is difficult to please an American, only because we want to have our cake and eat it too, in other words, we want our government to protect us, but we are not prepared to be inconvenienced in order for them to succeed. It is time we wake up and smell the danger, it is true that we are losing a lot of our privacy on the phone and at the airports, but is it helping to keep us safer? Of course, some would suggest that this is nothing but a conspiracy to slowly strip us of any rights we have left!

The Act of War

Photo credit: Wikipedia

You might think that the United States has only been at war since September 11th, of course you would be wrong. Sadly, that was only the incident which triggered the long lasting event, now know as the war on terrorism!

Will this war on terror ever end, or are we doomed to continue this fight for generations to come. Frankly that will depend on who is in charge on the hill. If it is a Democrat we can expect a much scaled back approach to this confrontation.

History will show that a Democratic President will not be too keen on following in the footsteps of his Republican counterpart, especially when it comes to issues of war. Whatever the reason for their thought process, it seems that they are more inclined to make deeper cuts in military expenditure.

 When the country calls for change, the leadership will usually take that as a sign that they are on the right track. Frankly I suspect that many of our leaders go way too far in the direction of their party's beliefs, (far left or right) just to prove a point.

The future of this country (USA) will depend on the ability of BOTH party's being able to lose the extremism (the same one that Al Quaida has been used against us) and move their way of thinking to the center. Unfortunately, I am not sure that either side is ready to compromise and until that time comes, get ready for many more years of confrontation.

Making plans for the Summer

Photo Credit: Camp Chateaugay

As the summer gets into full swing, parents may be wondering what to do with their children, especially the ones who believe that their offspring might get into things that they don't want.

Children have a tendency to get bored if they are sitting around doing nothing, while some may even be inclined to spend their days in front of the television or ask for friends to come over and spend time with them.

Rather than leave your kids unattended at home, it may be a good idea to send them to NY Summer camps for kids, where they will have many things to keep them occupied and maybe even develop some new skills. 

Photo Credit: Camp Chateaugay

With the possibility of meeting new friends, with adult supervision, your children will be opening their hearts and minds to new opportunities, which will be by far an improvement from hanging around the house doing nothing.

This is the kind of opportunity where children can play games like baseball, tennis and basketball with others. They can spend time canoeing, kayaking or windsurfing, in an environment where the parents will at the very least become envious.

Some parents choose the summer school option in order to occupy the minds of their kids, but with a summer camp, the kids will also have the opportunity to learn new things, such as woodworking, ceramics, pottery and taking care of animals.

Summer camp is also a great opportunity for your kids to improve on their social skills, as responsible staff members work with kids on programs to help them get out of their shell.

Photo Credit: Camp Chateaugay

The experience that is derived from one of these summer camps will be far better than a week at Disneyland, especially since the activities are much more hands on.

By the time the kids are returned to the parents they will see a marked improvement in their behavior and will probably have to listen quietly as they talk about how good they did in archery, rock climbing and mountain biking.

So don't let your kids spend another boring summer by themselves, send them to summer camp, where they can boast to their friends that they got to go horseback riding during the summer.