Homeland Security opening private mail

MSNBC ^ | Jan. 36 2006 | Brock N. Meeks

[blogblogginaway]

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.

[blogblogginaway]

My guess is DHS has their reasons.

[coconutt2000]

Homeland Security has its own intelligence gathering arm?

[Revelation 911]

My guess is DHS has their reasons.

My guess is that nobody will blink an eye until it's thier mail that gets opened

oh, and that .380 ruger security six you have in your nightstand, .....DHS deems it a threat to the civilian populace

how'd they find out about it?

that neat little speedloader you bought from cabelas mail order

[Khurkris]

One one hand I am somewhat indignant that this could occur in the specific situation described. One the other hand the fact that it was so obviously marked as having been opened and by what group does lessen my concern.

I also think that this was rather clumsily done by no-n*t, ensconced beaurocratic toadies who don't have a clue as to what they are supposed to be doing, much less the skills to do it.

[coconutt2000]

I wonder if his emails go anything like this:

DEAR MARCO,

EVERYTHING GOES AS PLANNED HERE IN USA. DELIVERY OF PARTS ON
SCHEDULE. ASSEMBLY OF DEVICES NEARLY COMPLETE.

HASAM SAYS PARTY SHOULD BE BLAST. LIKE DYING AND GOING TO
HEAVEN.

TELL POPS TO SEND MORE MONEY. EVERYTHING COSTS MORE THAN
EXPECTED.

ADOPTED FAMILY HERE IN USA GROWING. BRANCHING OUT IN NEW
CITIES. BUSINESS IS GREAT.

REGARDS,
POLO

PS - DEATH TO THE INFIDELS!!!

[AmishDude]

University of Kansas, huh? Interesting...

And he just happens to be a mail snooper in WWII? What a coincidence!

I love all of his conjectures: That DHS is monitoring him personally. Hmmm. BTW, an important passage for those who don't click to the article:

“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.

[WTSand]

“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.

Yippee,another non-story.

[keat]

The international letter mail I receive via UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS, etc. is routinely opened and resealed.

Everything that comes into this country is subject to customs inspection. If this guy is 81 years old, one would assume he is aware of this. Just stirring up crap.

It does seem strange that you can't correspond to a person without the presumption of privacy but it is and has nearly always been a price we pay for security.

I know it is not relevant, but I bet anything the parties on both side of this story are leftists.

[freeangel]

"ALL MAIL"

'Imagine they are getting pretty tired of CitiBank adverts by now.

[ChefKeith]

That is why when I fly I always put a note in my checked luggage for the Totally Stupid A$$holes that they need to be looking at the islamosheetheads and not rooting in the stuff I'm taking to Mom.

After all they are nice enough to leave me a little note after they break into my luggage.

[LadyDoc]

They have been doing this for years...

It's not about terrorism...

They inspect packages and thick letters to see if they contain contraband...money (Cash), drugs, pornography...

It is usually random...

[Texas Eagle]

Fine with me. All I get is junk mail anyway. I just wish they'd throw that crap away instead of forwarding it all to me.

[af_vet_rr]

It does seem strange that you can't correspond to a person without the presumption of privacy but it is and has nearly always been a price we pay for security.

Why would you presume to have any kind of privacy in regards to something that leaves your house or workplace and travels to another location through a system setup and monitored by the government (even if the USPS isn't directly managed by the government)

I'm not taking a stand one way or another, I'm just saying that you should never assume anything is private in regards to something that leaves your sight while being transferred to somebody else, whether it's mail that travels through the USPS or whether it's email. You shouldn't even assume your cell phone calls are private, as a lot of people are finding out.

No, I'm not a tinfoiler either, I just know that the government has been opening mail for God knows how many decades, and I know that email is not as private as people assume it is, and I know that you or I or anybody else can easily acquire phone records (even though it's not the actual conversation, just knowing who people call can reveal a lot).

[Boundless]

> I know it is not relevant, but I bet anything the
> parties on both side of this story are leftists.

The guy is in the Peoples Republic of Lawrence KS,
the bluest part of this otherwise red state,
so odds are better than even.

This is a non-story (just like Echelon)
"All mail" is subject to inspection. The odds of a random
just finally caught up with this chap.

If he were really under surveillance, I strongly suspect
that DHS/Customs/FBI would NOT have left obvious evidence
of mail inspection.

[blogblogginaway]

It is ironic, isn't it? Goodman used to earn a living opening other people's mail and has written about it.


America’s Japan $24.95

The First Year, 1945–1946
Grant K. Goodman
ISBN 0823225151
176 pages
Cloth
Publication date: 10/1/2005



“This book entices like a rare gem. Second Lieutenant Grant K. Goodman, then 21, was honest, brilliant, energetic, and, above all, enamored of a great cause: the democratization of Japan.”
—Rinjiro Sodei, Hosei University

“America’s Japan is a rare and insightful working-level view of the Occupation informed by Goodman’s lifelong career of scholarship and involvement with East Asia.”
—Ronald H. Spector, The George Washington University and author of Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan

One of the few non-Japanese Americans trained to read, write, and speak Japanese, Princeton undergraduate Grant Goodman had a privileged position during World War II. As an Army lieutenant, Goodman served in the Philippines at the close of the war and in Tokyo as an intelligence officer on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff. Goodman translated thousands of letters, interviews, and other documents by Japanese citizens of all kinds, and came to know, as few Americans could, the “hearts and minds” of a defeated people as they moved slowly to democracy.

This book is a not only a fascinating personal chronicle of Grant Goodman’s unique experience in Japan. Moving deftly between his role as an Army officer gathering essential information and as a young scholar fascinated by Japanese culture, he provides a vividly drawn portrait of daily life in occupied Tokyo.

Here he looks back at signal events: Japan’s responses to occupation, the writing of the new constitution and the de-deification of the Emperor, the International Military Tribunal and the issue of Japanese war crimes, reactions by ordinary Japanese to American occupiers, and much more. September 2, 2005, marks the 50th anniversary of the Japanese surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri. First published in Japanese in 1986, America’s Japan is not only superb history. It is also a timely reminder of the realities of war and the responsibilities of victors and vanquished alike.

---

Grant K. Goodman is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Kansas. The author or editor of many books and articles, he was influential in establishing Japanese studies in the United States.

http://www.nyupress.org/product_info.php?products_id=4696

[PAR35]

After all they are nice enough to leave me a little note after they break into my luggage.

I don't mind them looking in my luggage. What I do mind is the zip ties that they use to seal it afterwards. They are a pain to remove, since you can't carry anything that will cut them in your carryon.

Hey TSA folks - if I wanted my luggage locked, I'd put a lock on it. No locks should = no zip ties.

[lawdude]

I once worked for a military electronics manufacturing company. In my position, I had a Top Secret clearance.

I am also an amateur radio operator. I would send contact confirmation (QSL) cards to and receive them from Communist countries. Many were opened. Who cares.

[Mike Darancette]

Sounds like the legend of the college student who got the Mao Little Red Book.

[DainBramage]

Dear Ben Laden,

I am so tired of the bushes that the are here in the country I have decided to kill them in my yard.

I am also planning to set off some bombs in my basement to be rid of the bugs and dem rats.

I went to the zoo and saw the seals and other marine members. I will send you pictures.

I gotta go... I smell the bombs going off...hope I dont kill half the city of New York!!Har Har Har

Joe TenKiller
Mena, Arkansas

[Sarajevo]

What I do mind is the zip ties that they use to seal it afterwards.

Thye gave you zip ties? Lucky you. The last time I traveled, I gave them zip ties to secure my bags, and they never put them on. Instead, my bags were left open for all to go through.