Civil Liberties Conference 2009

I went to the keynote adress: Civil Liberties and 9/11 presented by Mel Thoresen. A good portion of this presentation was on the ten steps to facism. Mr. Thoresen explained each step and how it related to what has happened in America since September 11th. Some of the facts presented were a little shocking. One of those being an example of the fourth step towards facisim: surveilence of ordinary citizens. AT&T actually records messages sent to and from regular citizen through there network. It shouldn't be right for the government to be able to keep tabs on everything a person says. Yes it may be a form of protection against terrorism, but Americans should not be spied on like they are the ones commiting the crime. Overall I thought the presentation was very interesting and informative. I left knowing the importance of keeping our civil liberties intact by defending them.

Myspace and Facebook

Some people think that teens shouldn't use Myspace, Facebook, or any other social network because there are people who are going to take advantage over them. I think that social networking is safe as long as you're not stupid about it. Staying away from the creeps is easy: don't add people you don't know. To keeps teens safe on the internet, parents should tell their kids about the creepy pedophiles and keep an eye on who they are talking to. Other then that I don't think any other actions need to be taken. As long as the teen is being safe on the internet, parents shouldn't restrict them to not having a myspace or facebook.