Privacy and Anonymity...Gone Forever?

Back in the good old days, one had reasonable expectations of both. One's own home was supposed to be a fortress of privacy...expectation of anonymity was nil because your name was on the mailbox at the curb. On the other side of the coin was public anonymity...expectation of privacy is nil because HELLO...YOU'RE OUTSIDE WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE YOU.

One of the facets of a police state (total control in the name of public safety) is to remove both. One of the primary Constitutional protections of the 4th Amendment is to prevent the capital "s" State from invading that sole bastion of privacy unless authorities can provide "prima facie" evidence to a judge that criminal activity is occurring.

Another facet of a police state is to know where every citizen is, and question why they are there. The surveillance state, with it's cameras anywhere and everywhere, have used the excuse of public safety to pursue and inject bio-metric and facial recognition software into every facet of our lives. They say the average Briton is photographed some 6,000 to 10,000 times PER DAY, without their permission.

I should say, without their EXPLICIT permission...but the citizens have given that power implicitly to the authorities by allowing surveillance laws to go unchalleneged. Our elected officials tell us that it is for our own safety, to make it easier to catch criminals and as a deterrent to crime. However, as more and more activities are criminalized, more and more everyday citizens are getting caught up in this web of "protection by deception". Ayn Rand warned that in order to keep the populace-at-large "under control", EVERYDAY BEHAVIOR must have some criminal implication, with fear of arrest weighing first and foremost on everyone's mind at every moment.

The advent of the internet bought about an entirely new and extreme "threat" to the powers-that-be...an entirely new form of privacy AND anonymity in one little box. We are in a new generation whether everything that is said, filmed, photographed or typed is now "out there" FOREVER. Once you turn this little box on, you are "on the record" permanently and indelibly.

Bumblin Biden strikes again...

Our "esteemed" Veep's latest verbal contribution to the class warfare rhetoric..."They just don't get us..." makes about as much sense as a bicycle lane in a shipping channel. Contextually, his "they" refers to Republicans specifically, but Conservatives in general, while his "us" refers to Democrats and liberals.

Well, lo and behold, even a stopped clock is right twice a day (which is a far better batting average than the Veepster is sporting), but in his cluelessness, he hit upon the truth. You're right, Joe, we DON'T get you. I mean, how easy is it to wrap your brain around the idea that a supposedly-devout Catholic supports pre-natal murder and forced acceptance of aberrant behavior? I have difficulty grasping the concept that you are all about the middle-class, while forcing more and more into poverty.

Yes, Joe, those of us with half a brain DON'T GET IT. Pardon US if we don't bother trying and just keep pointing out the lunacy of liberalism.

The Reginald Denny lesson...

During the 1992 LA riots, Mr. Denny was yanked from his truck in the middle of an intersection by a group of black men. They set upon him and smashed a cinderblock (seen in the photo right below the gas tank) into his face, leaving him for dead, and DANCED and CHEERED.

Why? Because he was white.

Reginald Denny, after many painful surgeries and months of rehabilitation, went to the jail where his assailants were serving time and FORGAVE them to their faces.

Reverend Jackson and the rest of the Black Community would be better served by teaching their children THIS lesson.

Understanding The Power of Prejudice

First off, a disclaimer...I do not use, and have no tolerance for those who use, the terms "racism" or "racist". This comes from a long-held belief imparted upon me by my mother in my early childhood, that there is only one race--the human race. Any perception or misperception of differences between those of different skin color, based solely upon skin color, is prejudicial in nature and based on upbringing and experience.

The prejudicial mindset is actually a mental time-saving and survival mechanism built into the human brain. It saves us from having to repeatedly burn ourselves touching hot ovens by subconsciously "pre-judging" them to be a source of pain, and we learn to check them first. By the same token, interactions with people teach us over time to "pre-judge" them, based on appearance, behavior and yes, skin color.

Prejudicial behavior is developed over time and embedded into our sub-conscious. Any prejudice is either reinforced or attenuated as experience is gained. When a positive experience occurs, we tend to migrate towards those situations or people, to subconsciously seek out those experiences. Likewise, a negative outcome reinforces the subconscious to "steer" us away from those situations or people that led to the negative experience.

What is a natural human behavior has become that which is all too frequently, and all too mistakenly, called "racism". It is only once it is understood that it can be intellectually addressed and put to positive use within society.

To Sheriff Paul Babeu...

Sheriff Babeu,

It is with a heavy heart and a hole in my soul as I write this. I am definitely no bastion of morality, but You, sir, are in a position that REQUIRES....no, a position that DEMANDS it.

I like to think that I choose wisely in those who I admire...you are the third one that has let me down. The first was astronaut and Senator John Glenn, and the second was former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. That's some pretty heady company you keep, Sheriff, at least in my mind.

How does one recognize the so-called heroism of a firefighter who rescues people from a fire that he started? How does one cheer the accomplishmenhts of a beautiful, accomplished singer and actress like Whitney Houston who donated many of her millions to charity, but spent the majority of it on drugs? You can't deny the good that one does, but you also can't ignore the harm that one causes!

Sheriff, you have LIED...to your constituents, your compadres, and the citizens of America...those like me, who stood with you because of who you told us you were...not who you turned out to be.

The Contraceptive Kerfluffle...

This latest revelation threaded deep within the bloated Socialist monstrosity called OBAMACARE is just another Progressive sleight-of-hand to keep your focus away from the real issue. Today, during a 5-minute interview, I heard HHS Director Kathleen Sebelius refer to the contraceptive mandate as an "important women's health provision" SIX times.

"Repeat the lie often enough and they will believe it." - Adolf Hitler

Remember the President's words about not wanting his daughters to be "punished with a baby for making a mistake"? The issues surrounding abortion, birth control, RU-486 (morning after pill) and Planned Parenthood have nothing to do with women's reproductive rights, women's health or even casual sex. It *IS* all about Population Control or Sustainable Development or whatever innocuous-sounding term the total-government Progressives are using these days to mask their Communist agenda for a New World Order.

"The only difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is time." - Ayn Rand

Losing Freedom

Sometimes it is as blatant as ratcheting click-click-click of handcuffs painfully pinning your hands behind your back…the echoing, metallic clang of a jail cell door slamming shut behind you…or your President signing into law a National Defense Authorization Act with murky language giving Government unprecedented power to arrest and detain American citizens on American soil without due process.
More often, though, it is something as innocent-looking and innocuous as a car’s seat belts or a bicycle helmet…a NO RIGHT TURN ON RED sign…or your President signing into law something as noble-sounding as the Patient Affordable Care Act.
There are all kinds of analogies for it…camel’s nose under the tent flap and frog-in-the-pot-syndrome are two that immediately come to mind. It is the insidious slow and creeping erosion of liberty that isn’t noticeable on a minute-by-minute basis, but when you look at the BEFORE and AFTER pictures it becomes readily apparent...“HOW THE HELL DID WE MISS THAT?”
A lawyer and politician himself, Daniel Webster (1782-1852) warned us long ago that “…our destruction, should it come at all, will be from…the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing.”
Warnings like this are prevalent throughout the writings of the wisest of men throughout time. Webster recognized that in governance, “good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority…[the] strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures.” Webster also stated that “[it] is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions.” Good intentions are the lifeblood of the liberal mindset, highlighted by the illogical fallacy that what benefits one, by extension, must benefit all.
The problem lies in the power paradigm…local, state and national governments don’t EARN the money that they spend. Rather, it is TAKEN from the citizens that they are supposed to serve. The old adage of absolute power corrupting absolutely begins to take form.
Another of Webster’s observations points out that “[there] are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.” The combination of this “do-gooder” mentality coupled with the power to take what it needs from the populace is a dangerous mixture.
George Washington knew from experience that “government is like fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” Once government gets involved in any affairs, however peripherally, it NEVER leaves and only involves itself further.