On Ayn Rand on Racism

I'm not clicking these links anymore. Every time you click on them, that new Google-powered/government-controlled database in Utah (a 100,000 sq. ft. digital library) fires up and records it. Heck, the damn thing is probably recording this post right now.

Ed, you've over 10,000 posts detailing much of your own views on certain subjects. I'm sure they don't consider you one of the enlightened, racially sensitive types (let alone a facist). What's one more click?

As for me, I don't expect to be on any gov. privilege lists. Not since writing the Puppy Parable. For that, I am damned.

Sincerely,
Yours truly

Post 161

Friday, March 15, 2013 - 12:01am

I am definately on someone's Shyte list! I got pulled over for a mild speeding ticket a couple of years ago. The officer approached my passenger side hand on gun. Up here in Canada that is not normal procedure(as far as I remember). Oddly he never did give me a ticket.. Made me kind of think to myself " okkkk wtf was that about?"

Post 162

Friday, March 15, 2013 - 3:13pm

Kyle,

I agree with you and also think that many if not most others would, too. But there is an old saying from some king or philosopher of days gone by. I can't remember the exact wording, but here is a paraphrase:

"Give me 6 posts submitted to an online discussion forum by an honest man, and in them I will find something with which to hang him."

Well, that's close, anyways. It's called 'perception management' (i.e., lying; character assassination) and it is the kind of thing that has ruined several public people recently. To integrate this dynamic with my situation: If they get me, it will be because they were able to misrepresent/mischaracterize me. If you take my 10,000 posts and divide by 6 (in order to estimate my personal level of risk), then ... well ... then I'm pretty much screwed.

:-(

Recent examples of perception management are available from NPR: Officials in the Far East denying the existence of pollution (Sorry, I can't remember if it was PM-25 particulate matter in the air in Beijing or if it was radiation in Japan!) and then even going so far as to deny to reporters that certain people accountable for the mess even truly exist! Imagine if you are a reporter trying to get the scoop on a government failure, and you have the name of an official and you go and try to interview him ... and you are told he doesn't even truly exist! The other case is the CIA refusal to admit that there is truly a drone program.

I guess the lesson is that, if you say that something doesn't exist, it truly doesn't exist (because words are that powerful).

:-)

Ed

Post 163

Friday, March 15, 2013 - 9:30pm

I only clicked the link to see if it was spam. Wasn't spam, so I sent it through without even reading it. It might be Brad. He's that obsessive.

Post 164

Saturday, March 16, 2013 - 4:20am

Kyle,

I found the actual quote:

If you give me six sentences written by the most innocent of men, I will find something in them with which to hang him.

--Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642)

Apparently, the good Cardinal said this before the advent of the internet, but the dynamics should still hold.

:-)

Ed

Post 165

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - 11:59pm

Jules, that officer pulled you over, because you look dangerous! I was pulled over while walking. It took five cop cars to do it. I was that threatening. Yup, just walking down the street. They said I looked like a knife wielding psycho. They wanted to make sure that I didn't have a knife. Seriously.

On another occasion, I was stopped, again while walking. Five cops jumped out and surrounded me. At the time I was carrying a duffle bag, which they searched carefully, not finding what they were looking for. Then they asked me to empty my pockets. When they didn't find what they wanted -- probably drugs -- they were really pissed. Fortunately, they left without planting anything on me.

What ever happened to the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure? The Fourth Amendment is a dead letter. Hey, the Constitution is a dead letter! It means nothing anymore. Of course, when you're dealing with the police, you had better be careful not to object to what they're doing. Wait until they're gone, get the number of the patrol car, and if you're serious about it, make a complaint the next day.

The men in blue are not always your friends.

Post 166

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - 8:16pm

Jules,

As I said before, you look like The Punisher, only more bad-ass.

William,

A knife-wielding psycho, eh? That's good comedy. I have a hard time imagining you as a knife-wielding psycho. As I said, good comedy.

They were pissed? That inspired a terrifying thought.

Do they actually have incentive to arrest someone with a knife? Is it illegal to carry a knife?

Not object? Yes, that is probably the best thing to do in those kind of situations. But you're screwed if they do more than check a duffle bag.

Imagine not objecting to a "pat down" or any other serious invasion of privacy.

Post 167

Thursday, March 21, 2013 - 5:26pm

Never consent to any kind of search without a warrant, Bill.

http://youtu.be/3kVX6NIPzB0

Post 168

Thursday, March 21, 2013 - 7:37pm

It wasn't a matter of consent, Teresa. They were on me like I was Charles Manson. Oh, sure, I could have invoked my rights by demanding a search warrant, but you've got to understand that you're dealing with a monopoly of force here and with the cops, some of whom have been known to make life very difficult for you if you resist their search efforts even legitimately. You're in a no-win situation. They could easily have claimed to have found something. Yes, I suppose it could be thrown out because they didn't have a warrant, but in the meantime I'm spending a night behind bars before it's resolved. Our system is so corrupt nowadays, you don't know what's likely to happen.

Sure, I was mugged by the cops but not much worse for the wear. They were gone in five minutes and I avoided being taken in for questioning. So, it was the path of least resistance.

Kyle, the other time I was stopped it was that they thought I resembled a guy on a rampage with a knife, or so they said. I guess it's a good thing I didn't have a knife on me. :-/

P.S. I did see the video, Teresa. So thanks for that. A good point the attorney made is that if you consent to a search and they find something that you didn't expect, well, you've consented to it, so you can't then object. I was walking, had very little for them to search, and didn't have anything that could have gotten me in trouble, fortunately. But I'll remember the attorney's advice the next time I'm stopped for walking while on a public street.

(Edited by William Dwyer on 3/21, 10:14pm)

Post 169

Friday, March 22, 2013 - 7:09pm

Bastards. I wish you had someone with you armed with a camera. There's a large movement encouraging people to simply record all encounters with police. That's your right, too.

Post 170

Friday, March 22, 2013 - 8:42pm

Of course there are good cops and bad cops, and I'd guess that in most cities, most of the cops are good guys, but the way cops view the world has steadily been changing over in the 30 to 40 years.

Local law enforcement feel like they are under siege. They feel unappreciated by the populace, manipulated by politicians, lied to by everyone they talk to, liable to be shot dead by some machine gun wielding gang banger on meth, and on the best days still end up dealing with urban scum.

They have developed an us versus them attitude towards the rest of the world.

I'm not trying to argue in their favor - not at all. We are becoming ever more a statist nation and one of the symptoms/side-effects is the attitude cops have towards the world and their diminishing respect shown citizens, no presumption of innocence, and ignoring of constitutional rights. They are also become far more militarized and insular. All of these things are really bad for us, for them, and in terms of the purpose they are supposed to serve. They are supposed to be the front line in fighting criminal violations of individual rights.

The progressive agenda is progressing at an ever increasing rate and I suspect we will be seeing more and more symptoms of increasing statism as time goes on.

Post 171

Friday, March 22, 2013 - 9:27pm