Sally Jo - I can't imagine how much worse I'd feel if it was a home invasion. We just had a celebrated case in nearby Mont Vernon, NH where a home invasion turned into a brutal murder (by machete) of a mother and the near killing of her 11-year-old daughter - a miracle she survived. It's not for this thread, but I have personal connections to this case.

dklassen - I signed up for LifeLock's deluxe service this morning (a year's worth). They're getting me copies of all 3 agency reports on me and now I'm "flagged" in case anyone tries anything. They did NOT get my wallet so the credit/debit cards, etc, are safe.

graciegirl - My daughter's guilt is starting to fade a little because her friends (in Philly) are telling her that the NH plates may have been a more likely reason for targeting my car. Who knows the truth, but if it helps my daughter, I don't care.

cabo35 - I know exactly what you mean. And I don't consider you making light of this at all. Though it IS dangerous to bring 9/11 into the discussion, I know the point you're trying to make.

Warrantless wiretaps won't stop street crime. And the problem I had with the administration was that there was already a process in the works for emergency cases where you could quickly get an after-the-fact warrant.

Letting law enforcement agencies share data? My reaction to that was WHAT?? YOU MEAN IT'S NOT *ALREADY* LEGAL?

Before you think I had no connection or am out of touch with what 9/11 families think, I should, in the name of full disclosure, let you know that my cousin barely escaped with his life when he ignored the "all clear" notice to re-enter the 2nd tower - decided to go home instead and then the 2nd plane hit. We lost people from our office in one of the flights from Boston (man taking a family vacation to California). Survivors from our sister company who was hit hard (Cantor Fitzgerald was a Marsh McClennan subsidiary just as my company, Putnam Investments, was) came up to our not-completely-finished new office building because we had the space. Was weird seeing all those New York area license plates in the parking lot.

What made me mad about the Bush administration was the "we don't need warrants AT ALL" attitude.

I will not give up my liberty for security that the government cannot guarantee.

We do not need to throw out our freedoms. Your example of the "one hot wiretap" is classic. Under the old system, they could do just that - and retro-actively get a warrant from a court set up FOR EXACTLY THAT REASON.

For people who sound the clarion call about government intrusion and "marxist policies", I truly do not understand how they could POSSIBLY be in agreement with having the government look over their shoulder 24/7. Why don't we just put ALL phone calls through a government filter then - and maybe the government can then decide who was can and can't call? Why? Because we are innocent until proven guilty.

If you don't trust the government with your health care, why would you trust them to restrain themselves when it concerns your liberties?

When I found a gun in my house (my mother had one) I kept it for a while (legally) and then a few years later, for personal reasons, turned it into the police. While doing this, I was steadfastly ADAMANT in the right for any law-abiding citizen to own a gun. It was just that, at that time, it was not a good choice for me.

Yeah, I'm a "get tough on crime" kind of person. I felt violated by this and it's a hassle that I have to go through all this to make sure nothing else happens to me. But I don't want to be in a place where I'll have to submit to "your papers please".

In my case, cameras in the parking lot might have been sufficient but, after the fact, there's a much more interesting case study in how to properly and improperly handle these thefts.

I lost an Apple 120GB iPod and an Amazon Kindle (V2).

Amazon de-registered my Kindle and has processed refunds for the stuff the thieves tried to buy. Nobody can use my Kindle once the batteries run out.

Apple has my iPod registered. iTunes knows the serial number but only displays it when it's connected. There is no place on Apple's site for reporting a stolen iPod. What Apple SHOULD do is have a place where people can report it and, the next time someone tries to sync up with iTunes (since that's free software), turn the iPod into a brick. This would make iPods a much less attractive theft target.

Amazon - good. Apple - lacking.

And one thing I forgot... Props to the Philadephia Police Department for quickly responding. They were classic examples of what we want cops to be when we need them - professional and courteous. I knew they couldn't do anything, in all likelihood, but they completely understood that I needed a police report number for insurance purposes. ...and the insurance companies are thanking me for thinking about that before filing claims.