I am trying to tone down

Yes, i know i have been extremely paranoid in my last couple of posts. For that I apologize, from the bottom of my heart. So in response i am trying to stop sounding so paranoid. But this story hits FAR too close to home for me to take lightly:

Firefighters taking new role as anti-terrorist eyes of the US government


"Firefighters in major U.S. cities are being trained to take on a new role as lookouts for terrorism, raising concerns of eroding their standing as trusted American icons and infringing on people's privacy.
Unlike police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel need no warrants to enter hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings each year, which puts them in position to spot behavior that could indicate terror activity or planning.
There are fears, however, that they could lose the faith of a skeptical public by becoming the eyes of the government, looking for suspicious items like building blueprints or bomb-making manuals or materials."

And the paragraph that caught my eye:

"The Homeland Security Department is testing a program with the New York City fire department to share intelligence information so firefighters are better prepared when they respond to emergency calls. Homeland Security also trains the New York City fire service how to identify material or behavior that may indicate terrorist activities. If it is successful, the government intends to expand the program to other major metropolitan areas.As part of the program, which started last December, Homeland Security gave secret clearances to nine New York fire chiefs, according to reports obtained by The Associated Press"

the entire article may be read here : http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/24/america/NA-GEN-US-Firefighters-Terrorists.php?page=1

Now see here, I appreciate what our brave men and women in uniform are doing for us, but i just don't want to see them becoming goverment watchdogs is all.

for fear of sounding paranoid, i have no more to say.

Silence is never golden....
May-Leigh Soreux