It turns out the Gubment can now open your mail whenever it feels like. All you people out there who thought a black plastic covering or brown paper over your porno mags would keep the postmaster from knowing that you were reading in your leisure time(Maybe Leisure time is all the time for some of you), can now rest assured: They know what you’re reading. Time to be paranoid.
That and all those European Absinthe Businesses trying to sell you the green fairy via snail mail delivery, may wanna start using Fed Ex.
From Donklephant This is another of Dubya's signing Statements.
The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection.
This means, they can open your mail whenever they want. Remeber all the conservative outrage when Janet Reno wanted to do the samething with email? I do.
In Kazakhstan This was just a fact of life. Your care packages from home or letters from friends routinely were opened before they got to you. Probably half the candy and other goodies from home were commandeered by some guy in a post office in Almaty. If cash was ever sent it never got there. I used to laugh it off as just another sign of an insecure government which doesn’t trust it’s own people.
Now why the heck would Bush want the government to be going through your mail?
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