Thank you for the links, Randy. Everything I've read about the Patriot Act does not concern me but I'll take another look at it. I'm still of the belief that it is for going after dangerous terrorists in the U.S. who have and have been planning to harm us for years and not for some whim of some "aristocracy" to go after all Americans.
> More recently, LA cops shot rubber bullets and attacked with clubs protesters at the > Democratic convention last year, and arbitrarily arrested and detained > 600 people, some just passersby. Where did you read this? I was RIGHT THERE almost the entire time and have the photographs documenting most of it. The police for almost an HOUR requested repeatedly that the crowd disperse before they went in. Most people left the area as requested. I stayed until almost the last minute. I did not see anywhere near 600 people still hanging around. The reports I heard were that only around 10-25 people were shot with rubber bullets. The last I saw them they were climbing over the protective fences to get onto Staples Center property. By the way, these people were NOT Democratic party supporters nor were they Republican protesters. They were rag-tag groups of organizations I'd never heard of before, but they were all anti-Democrat and protesting the Democrats convention. Maybe you would know better which groups they were. They seemed to be some of those enviro-radical groups and the "free Mumia" crowd. Would you rather they'd stormed the convention at Staples Center while the Gores and Clintons were in the house? I frankly do not understand all the concern over the loss of reproductive rights. They are protected by the highest law of the land and I cannot conceive how any group can overturn that law. On the other hand, I believe that people have a right to speak of their beliefs based on their religion. Just because they speak up against it does not mean they can overturn the law. It is certainly not only the Christian right who are pro-life. There are a large number of Christian left who believe the same. Their religion comes before their political party. There are also Jews and other religions who believe abortion is taking a life. They don't like their tax dollars going to fund abortions, particularly in other countries. I think they have a right to their opinion. I personally think it is an individual decision and that government should be out of it completely. Kakki
