The Un-Patriot Act

[denauli]

Quote from the Associated Press:
The Bush administration, seeking to revive an online pornography law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, has subpoenaed Google Inc. for details on what its users have been looking for through its popular search engine.
Google has refused to comply with the subpoena, issued last year, for a broad range of material from its databases, including a request for 1 million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period, lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department said in papers filed Wednesday in federal court in San Jose.

I just want to say two things.
One, I think that the Bush administration (and the Republican Party in general) is going way too far in its efforts to mandate morality. This is but one of several news articles I have read about this request for Google records. All of them officially explained the request as a means to evaluate how easy it is for children to view pornography online, but what do you think the government is going to do with all of the search requests that don't involve pornographic material? What happened to the Constitutional protection from unlawful search and seizure, and the right to privacy that goes with it? As someone once asked, who polices the police?

Which brings me to my second point. Do you think that this is just the rambling of a conspiracy theorist? Then take a minute to think about the various things that you have searched for on the Internet in the past year. Even if you've only been searching for stuck or freeze material, how do you think the government views the fetish community? Those records, if turned over, can be traced right to your home and if you think you're safe just because you don't use Google think again. Yahoo received the same subpoena that Google did, only they didn't even hesitate to turn over their records.

[spudz03]

Ah dude you stole my thunder, was going to post pretty much the same thing. Hate to admit you probably did a better job. Even though I don't think that politics and religion belong here stuff like this is serious business, business which big brother should keep his crooked nose out of.

Still you can't blame the whole thing on the Republicans there are plenty of Democrats who quietly support this too only they're not talking about it. When the tables turn this November (believe me they will) you can bet they won't change a thing.

By the way although Google refused, Yahoo, Microsoft and America Online complied, turned over search records of potentially millions of people to the FBI this morning.

The system needs an enema, think for yourselves folks vote independent. Me I'm a Libertarian.

[denauli]

I come from a family of staunch Republicans, so much so that they would be furious with me if they ever found out that I have voted for Democratic candidates in the past. I tend to vote on the individual's credentials, not what party they belong to. I used to respect the Republican Party back in the Reagan era, but ever since George Bush senior took office I have gradually lost respect for them.
I hold Republicans primarily responsible for things like this simply because these actions are obviously driven by a religious agenda. Statistically speaking, those individuals who go to church every week are most likely to be Republican. Those who do not or go less frequently are more likely to be Democrat. That fact was brought up by several political analysts during the last Presidential election.

[spudz03]

denauli said:

I come from a family of staunch Republicans, so much so that they would be furious with me if they ever found out that I have voted for Democratic candidates in the past. I tend to vote on the individual's credentials, not what party they belong to. I used to respect the Republican Party back in the Reagan era, but ever since George Bush senior took office I have gradually lost respect for them.
I hold Republicans primarily responsible for things like this simply because these actions are obviously driven by a religious agenda. Statistically speaking, those individuals who go to church every week are most likely to be Republican. Those who do not or go less frequently are more likely to be Democrat. That fact was brought up by several political analysts during the last Presidential election.

Kind of funny but you're right again, most of my family are union Democrats but my father voted for Reagan. I'll admit the man scared the hell out of me when first elected, just out of high school I was, everyone, just about everyone I knew thought he was going to reinstate the draft and go to war with the Soviet Union. He had his faults but all and all as politicians go he did well, so did the rest of America...well for the most part anyway.

Always thought George Bush Sr. was a might arrogant even though he did fight bravely in WWII. Won't say anything about his sons though, won't even go there.

My folks, my father in particular always thought of me as a redneck, strange, I have long hair, get high love hunting and the outdoors but then again so does Ted Nugent.

What really scares me is why do they let things get so crazy before stepping in. The Internet is a great thing but you gotta admit there's a lot of crap out there. When I was a kid if you wanted to find out something stupid like how to build a bomb or other destructive device you had to buy some off the wall right wing wack job magazine like Soldier of Fortune then mail in the order form along with a money order. After a few weeks you get your copy of The Antichrist's Cookbook or The Turner Diaries.

Now you can simply find stuff like that on line. Freedom of speech is one thing instructions on how to build bombs is another. By the way in the Antichrist's Cookbook they suggest the best place to test one of the more nasty devices is a gay bar but they caution you to "be sure to swish in and out so you're not noticed". Cool isn't it, just the right sort of reading for some troubled angry adolescents. Yes I knew someone who bought a copy BUT that was a long time ago.

OK there has to be a sensible way to take care of business, the pedophiles can easily be caught by using sting operations. In my home state they just recently they nabbed a quite a few including a fireman and a school teacher with a rigged chat room, from time to time they nail clergymen too.

There are other ways to deal with this situation but what they're doing right now isn't it. In fact it's WRONG flat out wrong.

[carskyavenue]

Yeah I would have to agree,it certainly takes 'big brother' to new levels alright.It makes you wonder what the politicians will come up with next to 'help' their constituents....

One day there will be a President or Prime Minister who will REALLY remember and appreciate who it is that puts their bums on the seats in office!

[spudz03]

carskyavenue said:

Yeah I would have to agree,it certainly takes 'big brother' to new levels alright.It makes you wonder what the politicians will come up with next to 'help' their constituents....

One day there will be a President or Prime Minister who will REALLY remember and appreciate who it is that puts their bums on the seats in office!

In a way you're right but you also missed the point. I read about this in the Los Angeles Times a very liberal newspaper. They didn't seem to mind in fact they mentioned that on the INTERNET you can find just about anything from recipes for apple pie to sites which give detailed instructions on how to make bombs out of simple house hold chemicals.

I got a wack job conspiracy theory for you, my version of the chaos theory. Both Republicans and Democrats seem to work against each other but really to me it's like they're working toward the same goal which is more government control in our lives.

Example: illegal immigration. Republicans business owners love the cheap labor, they keep wages down, property owners like the fact they drive rents up, this I know for a fact. Many apartment owners pack them into rental units intended for only a fraction of the occupation. Take a one bedroom unit my my neighborhood. They usually charge a basic price of say 600 dollars a month for one person, 700 for two and 100 dollars extra for each additional person. The result you have 2,000 people living in an apartment building designed for only say 300 people. This results in trash piling up and parking and crime problems for surrounding neighborhoods.

Now the Democrats denounce any efforts toward immigration reforms as racist mainly because the sons and daughters of illegal immigrants who now are citizens by birth tend to vote Democratic. They also use the fact that schools are over crowded and hospital facilities are overloaded NOT because of all those people who shouldn't be here in the first place but solely because Republicans are too cheap on taxes and domestic programs.

Gun control is an other issue. We have over 22, 000 different laws on the subject mainly preventive punishment, laws targeted at those with criminal histories. Now we all know for a fact criminals don't give a rat's butt about the law.

Example: Several years back I started out in "property management" by owing the owner of a residential hotel some back rent, in exchange he allowed me to work it off. Did well, before I knew it I got a free room in exchange for doing the dirty jobs that the owner and his family didn't want to or were too scared do themselves, this included dealing with some real lowlifes.

Met several people just out of prison. One man stands out because he sort of became a friend of mine while he lived there. The dude just finished pulling 14 months for a drug conviction. He had 3 things on his mind, first getting high, second "getting strapped" (finding a weapon) and third getting back into business (finding a good connection).

The fact that he could be get a mandatory prison sentences for illegal possession of a firearm didn't even register in his mind, been avoiding the law since he was a little kid. Can't really do much about those people, they're a lost cause.

Here's an example of something we can change: Seen 3 jokers get busted in the parking lot of one of the building I currently manage. They were smoking dope, drinking in public and blasting their car stereo without a care in the world. Someone called the cops after all it was almost 2 a.m.

I stayed out of it. Learned that from the hotel, try and be cool and give them a warning might work, but with these sorts most likely they'll tell me get lost or worse. Now if someone else ends up calling the cops later on, I'll be the one who gets blamed, don't want my name in someone's hit book, they were local gang bangers, seen them around before. I'm not paid enough to mess with them.

The cops found two semi automatic handguns in the car along with a small quantity of marijuana. All 3 were arrested. I figured that would be the last we'll see of them. WRONG. Heard through the grapevine one dude they kept because of a probation violation, the other 2 were released the next morning. They had no warrants or anything serious enough on their records to prevent them from possessing firearms. Although the weapons weren't registered to them they weren't stolen either.

Possession of an unregistered handgun is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine and perhaps some jail time, not any real deterrents to the sort of people who brag that "they could do a year while standing on their heads". However the guns were confiscated so the cops were happy because they took 2 more guns off the street. Spit in the ocean as far as I'm concerned, won't take them long to locate more.

Maybe those dudes weren't out looking for trouble only partying BUT I freaking guarantee if someone from a rival gang showed up there'd have been a firefight. Hell whose to say that on their way home they wouldn't have pulled a drive by. Maybe they had some "business" to take care of and were waiting for some more of their friends to show up.

Why don't they pass simple laws to deal with the problem. Example: illegal possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime (in this case drinking in public and smoking marijuana) 5 years mandatory, end of story. Brandishing a firearm 10 years mandatory, end of story. Shooting at someone 20 years mandatory, injuring someone LIFE without parole, killing someone DEATH, no appeals no bull crap, lethal injection within 1 week of sentencing!! I guess it's too simple.

No what they want is for things to get so freaking screwed up and crazy, the people so sick and tired of the chaos and carnage they'll give up their rights as Americans in exchange for "security". Sorry about the rant folks but this seeing and dealing with this sort of crap on almost a daily basis is starting to get to me.


www.city-journal.org/html/14_1_the_illegal_alien.html

www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1437539/posts