It's not often that I get the urge to criticize myself, but this has been one of those weeks.
The problem. The government spies on us. This is not "with cause" spying. This is just downright big brother type of stuff. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-08/nsas-boundless-informant-collects-3-billion-intelligence-pieces-us-computer-networks
Essentially all the government has to show is that you are responsible for any type of "terroristic" threat- that speech is not protected. Therefore you and anyone you contact are now eaves dropping targets. So when Kenny over at Knuckledraggin says, "Fuck Obama!" some government pinhead can say that Kenny has threatened the Prez and he is a potential terrorist. His communication and anyone reading it all become susceptible to eavesdropping or other intercepted speech. Farfetched? Not at all.
This is the NSA whistleblower. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance
I am a proud member of the disposable class. Translated more accurately, this means that I have nothing to lose while speaking my truth. In other words- I am liable to say anything I want at any moment.
That's why I started writing. What I didn't understand, and that's the naivete' of people like me, is that our society is so fractured and fragmented that we can't even agree on the basics. For instance, I assumed (incorrectly, obviously) that most people understood that the amendments to the Constitution were not fucking suggestions. They were placed there specifically- to avoid the death and destruction that would occur when some future governance tried to take them away. It was our job as citizens and patriots to protect them for future generations. We had a guardian role.
Not true. Most would be guardians are unaware of the assignment.
People all over the internet gave a collective sigh to our government this week- a government which accesses and seizes any communication that they so desire- and does not have to employ due process, procedure, nor do they even have to tell you that they seized your information. No receipt or inventory- not even a note from those people that take your money every month.
That government routinely breaks any law that applies to us- is not a mystery. What is a mystery to me is the non-chalance and apathy of an American people that seemingly do not care.
So on Thursday, I put together a petition which demands that the government stop violating our Constitutional rights. Our individual rights. After posting it at 10 or so places, and asking 200 friends on Facebook to sign it- the petition has garnered about 100 signatures. Less than 1% of my Facebook "friends" signed it. It was probably available to view by no less than 10,000 people. (By the way, Rand Paul introduced a bill on Friday in the Senate demanding the very same thing)
It's hard to rationalize that level of apathy and this is where my ability to scrutinize myself pays off. I get that some people don't like me, don't like my style, or think I am a whack a doo. I understand that some folks just aren't going to sign because they don't agree with me or even like me- or that they are too lazy. I'm ok with that. I also understand those people who say it's all a waste of time or they are afraid of disclosing some personal info that the government already has access to anyway.
But 99% of you?? Are you kidding me??
No wonder the government just bends us over the table. The government just takes our money and bribes us with it. Breaks any law they want. What's stopping them? The 99% of you who won't take the time to sign a petition?
If you won't even sign a harmless petition demanding basic Constitutional rights- why in the hell are members of the disposable class defending you? Why would one soldier put his boots on the ground anywhere to defend any of those 99%? Why indeed?
That's a damn good question- and I'm not sure I can answer it. Huffpo ran a media piece the other day where even the media was shocked at the apathy of people regarding the Patriot Act. Nobody cares.
This is what I know for sure. Nobody has ever increased their readership by ridiculing the people who read them. I understand that. I understand that I am not Tolstoy or Royko and that people are not required to agree with me like the statist writers on Huffington Post and their minions of "moderators."
But 99% of you?
One day in the future our people are going to need those rights that you are giving away today- and they won't have them. They'll be wage slaves who will eventually have to rebel and kill their leaders to get their freedom back. That's been the way of history and it rhymes- although I'll bet about 99% of folks don't think it can happen.
For me, I have to question my motives. If I know 99% of the people could care less- why am I or any other bloggers, writing publicly? What's the point? Are we simply vain? Do we think our opinions and thoughts matter more than anyone else's? Maybe I'm just dense. I'd probably be better off posting jokes, manly stuff, witty sayings, and porno. Like my friends Irish and Wirecutter. I go to their sites everyday and they get thousands of hits per day- maybe even 10,000 or more.
I used to have a friend who would always yell, "Give 'em what they want!" He's a very successful, rich, and retired salesman. Gave people what they wanted and screwed them out of a whole bunch of money. None of those customers of his ever seemed to care or complain. Most paid full bore sticker price, traded in their used car for chump change, and financed the purchase two or three points higher than any competitive interest rate. Somewhere in all of that insanity of giving what is yours away, there's a lesson for those of us who just don't get it.
Last chance and thank you if you do. https://www.change.org/petitions/the-united-states-government-the-national-security-agency-stop-the-routine-seizure-of-phone-records-without-cause-or-due-process
"Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one's thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down. They know its power. Thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, founded in injustice and wrong, are sure to tremble, if men are allowed to reason. ~ Frederick Douglass
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Saturday, June 8, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
I Have Now Seen Everything, I Am Prepared To Die
The transgender Navy Seal. With makeup and peace symbol earrings.
http://www.today.com/news/transgender-former-navy-seal-i-want-some-happiness-6C10239554
http://www.today.com/news/transgender-former-navy-seal-i-want-some-happiness-6C10239554
Victor Hanson Nails It
Every once in awhile, I read something by an author that absolutely nails a subject. This piece about President Obama truly captures the essence of the man in a way that many of us accept as true and for statists- is difficult to ignore.
Enjoy. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/350388/obamas-ethical-gymnastics-victor-davis-hanson
Enjoy. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/350388/obamas-ethical-gymnastics-victor-davis-hanson
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Tired of the Government Routinely Violating Your Constitutional Rights? Please Sign This Petition*Updated
For the record, nothing worth accomplishing ever occurred because someone was nice or expressed apathy. Tragically, this country is overcome with that mentality.
So when the story broke that the (government) has been randomly and arbitrarily and in secret- seizing millions of personal and private phone records with the complicity of Verizon...I nearly had an aneurysm. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/06/nsa-verizon-phone-records-white-house_n_3395423.html?ir=Politics
Any lawyer or cop- knows how difficult it is to obtain a search warrant and then defend it. In Idaho, a wiretap warrant is nearly impossible to get. You have to show that you have no other methods of acquiring information or evidence before a judge will issue a wiretap order.
It is the ultimate intrusion into your privacy.
For days, I have been reading the comments written by the leftists, statists, and the sheep of this country who think that perhaps the government is justified in seizing millions of records. They take pity on the poor old government saying that it will have it's work cut out for it sorting through all of the things that they have seized. Some say that Bush started all of this- as though somehow Obama's administration is compelled to continue to keep violating our fourth amendment rights.
I could care less who or what is to blame for allowing this. I want the routine violation of my rights to stop. I am a Verizon customer, I have standing, and I did not authorize the release of my information to anyone.
This is a video of Obama on "wireless wiretapping" It is only a minute long but it quite clearly demonstrates what kind of a man occupies the White House.
Please sign this petition and forward it to everyone you know. The constitution is not a suggestion. It's time that the government starts respecting citizen rights. https://www.change.org/petitions/the-united-states-government-the-national-security-agency-stop-the-routine-seizure-of-phone-records-without-cause-or-due-process
So when the story broke that the (government) has been randomly and arbitrarily and in secret- seizing millions of personal and private phone records with the complicity of Verizon...I nearly had an aneurysm. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/06/nsa-verizon-phone-records-white-house_n_3395423.html?ir=Politics
Any lawyer or cop- knows how difficult it is to obtain a search warrant and then defend it. In Idaho, a wiretap warrant is nearly impossible to get. You have to show that you have no other methods of acquiring information or evidence before a judge will issue a wiretap order.
It is the ultimate intrusion into your privacy.
For days, I have been reading the comments written by the leftists, statists, and the sheep of this country who think that perhaps the government is justified in seizing millions of records. They take pity on the poor old government saying that it will have it's work cut out for it sorting through all of the things that they have seized. Some say that Bush started all of this- as though somehow Obama's administration is compelled to continue to keep violating our fourth amendment rights.
I could care less who or what is to blame for allowing this. I want the routine violation of my rights to stop. I am a Verizon customer, I have standing, and I did not authorize the release of my information to anyone.
This is a video of Obama on "wireless wiretapping" It is only a minute long but it quite clearly demonstrates what kind of a man occupies the White House.
Please sign this petition and forward it to everyone you know. The constitution is not a suggestion. It's time that the government starts respecting citizen rights. https://www.change.org/petitions/the-united-states-government-the-national-security-agency-stop-the-routine-seizure-of-phone-records-without-cause-or-due-process
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