P.S. - until you stop ridiculing I will not even be opening your posts.

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Thanks for the laughs. I really needed them today. Laughter truly is the best medicine.

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.

I saw the posts for myself, no one "ran" to me. Note that all boards were reviewed for inappropriate posts.

Shelley this is not me doing this. Someone is just being stupid. I'm sick and tired of other people trying to post like it is me and it isn't.

the many lives that were saved by taking out these people? Or would you rather many more Americans be subjected to events like 9/11? How many people did we lose in one day on 9/11? Yet so many people want to cry and whine over how we should be nice to terrorists and treat them fairly. They would sooner cut our heads off than be civil but OMG...don't torture them to get information that might save American's lives. How horrible would that be? I have no problem with covert operations taking out dangerous people. In fact, it makes me feel safer knowing that these terrorists aren't going to hurt anyone anymore.

Our government under Obama is getting bigger and bigger and government is controlling more and more things and you are worried about Cheney giving orders to take out terrorists? I tell ya what....I felt a heck of a lot safer back then than I do now. The idea of government controlling what I do....is scary as heck and yet all you guys can focus on is how Bush and Cheney kept us safe after 9/11 but you turn it around to be a bad thing. You people are friggin amazing, you know that? What a load of crap.

recognizing "marriages" just because gay people declare this to be fair to them? I just think it is sad that something that has always been recognized legally should be undone just for a small group of people. If you want civil unions with benefits...fine. More power to you, but why can't you just leave us alone and let our marriages be like they have been for years? Why must we change to accomodate few people? Why must we always compromise and bend things to accomodate this increasingly secular world?

You can have abortions but you can't refuse to perform them. You can't pray in school or say anything about God in school so we don't offend the non-believers but by all means allow homosexuality be taught to young children as an acceptable thing even though not everyone feels that way......and as evident by the vote in CA...the majority doesn't agree with it!!! Now you want marriages to not be recognized legally because that isn't fair to gay people and for us to have marriages, we must first have a civil union and then get married by our pastor because it would make the gay community feel better. Do you not see a pattern here?