Incident: Last night I was e-mailing to my friend in Bangkok, Thailand and she was feeling a little stress, as we all do, about the hassels of visiting guest etc. and thought she’d put them on a plane to S’pore and think something would happen to it and would solve her stress problem. It was a simple act of venting frustration and meant as a joke. I wrote back saying that she should go for the vacation value and get rid of the stress. I knew that Bali was one of her most favorite spots and therefore in the same line of thought sent this:

She sent another and I responded with a short good Nite note and went to sleep. This morning I check messages and found the warning that message was delayed, Problems? With the receiver or something and started wonder why? I had received them before from some other connection in Thailand, but never on this line. It then dawned on me, that much like the Key Search words we use day to day on the Internet search engines, that the words of Hi-jacked, TWA etc. may cause a trigger somewhere and hold all messages until reviewed. The immediate thought of the apartment door being busted open and hundreds of armed Government officials running in and taking me away started me thinking, why not???

Thoughts: Why not indeed. Under the current umbrella of the bombing at the Olympics, the tragic destruction of the Flt 880 off New York and the current rash of airport security and security awareness, why couldn’t it be a possibility. I’ve seen the results of the Security Guard (SG) at the Olympics (sorry forgot his name) and that he is now planning to sue various agencies for his harassment. Why wouldn’t they be able to search out e-mail (knowing that e-mail is considered non-secure) with key words and then take a closer look. Although I don’t think it is right in doing that, if it’ll save a life then I guess it is tolerable as long as everyone knows about it, which would defeat the purpose. No criminal would publish plans in the newspaper so why use the e-mail. I’m also aware that some criminals aren’t gifted and might, but in the same breath that some are gifted and wouldn’t. If they weren’t so smart they’d easily be caught. The point I’m trying to make is that how far do aggressive security measures go and at what expense. The poor SG has probably (if in fact innocent) undergone a grueling life time since the incident. If he is innocent then I would be a little upset and demand retribution also. If there is no accountibility then why not just ‘round up the usual suspects, throw ‘em jail and sort it out later. I, also, would be absolutely livid if the officials are using SG as a scape goat until something else happens under the guise of "We’ll hang on to this one until we can find something else." Either poop or get off the pot… Go ahead and gather whatever evidence you want but stop harassing the SG and let him get on with his life. If in fact he is found NOT to be the guilty person then the Agencies need to pay for the harassment, render a formal apology in the papers (where they so proudly proclaimed he was under investigation) and be criticized for trying to make the headlines with the capture of the innocent under the umbrella of Public Relations of the Olympic Games. They have destroyed whatever life the SG had and IF innocent then must be held accountable. The recent increase in security because of these two incidents the Olympics and TWA (currently held belief is that the cause is leaning toward a mechanical, not terrorists, problem) might be leading to the surrender of the individuals rights to a fair trial, weather in court or in public eye. As it stands, as of today 9-25-96 the bombing at the Olympics has not been solved, the suspect has yet to be linked to sight (maybe later he will, but as of now?) and the TWA would be just a sad mechanical failure. So what has taken place under the guise of terrorist activity? Airport security (admittedly much needed) and who knows whatever else is being upgraded because of the focus of the two unrelated incidents. I just heard that the bomb squad this morning blew up a child’s red lunch box and that peanut butter and jelly were all over the place. They couldn’t know that it wasn’t a bomb and I commend them for observing it and taking appropriate action but how long does it have to left in a spot to become suspect?? Are we going to be looking over our shoulders all the time if someone forgets something and it’s bigger than a lunch box?

Conclusion: Bust’n down the door? I don’t think so. But why would that thought be even considered. This is free country, civil rights, free speech as compared to others, and yet the thought did cross my mind. Are we, as free people, willing to give up are personal privacy under the guise of Security Measures? I agree to the security checks at the airports, and the investigations of Suspicious or matching profiles, but when I have to watch what I say or write and will be inconvenienced by it until I can prove myself innocent, not them proving me guilty, I wonder what the difference is between the USA and some third world despot. Like the Macarthy hearings in the early ‘50s,I think that we have to be careful and not have to lock our selves up in the closet nor worry about the words we use out of fear from others…. Paranoia?…. I hope that’s all it is…..