Posted by Jeff from LTU-207-73-68-181.LTU.EDU (207.73.68.181) on Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 2:02PM :
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Zillamon51
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99 posts
Little Godzilla
Re: So hard to believe its been almost a year... ( 17:56:07 Tue Sep 10 2002 )
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Every time tragedy strikes, Our Benevolent Government shamelessly uses the unfortunate incident to perpetuate its own power. This is done in the guise of promoting "safety and security" (which is never accomplished) and results in loss of liberty to law-abiding citizens.
After the Oklahoma City bombing, there was a huge push to pass sweeping "anti-terrorism" legislation. This would have effectively abolished the right to keep and bear arms (which, whether you like it or not, is a Constitutional right of all Americans). The purchase and possession of everything from guns to fertilizer and electrical wire would have been regulated to the point of criminilization. The clerks at your local hardware and feed store would serve as government snitches. "Tough new criminal sentencing" standards would make a felon out of every adolescent boy who ever blew up a mailbox with a pipe bomb. Speaking out against Big Brother at that time not only got you branded as a "dangerous anti-government radical," but authorized the government to investigate you for exercising the free speech that said government is supposed to protect.
After the Columbine school shooting, our schools were run more like prisons than institutions of learning. Students' book bags and clothing were subject to arbitrary searches, metal detectors were installed at the entrances, and security cameras were installed in hallways and classrooms. Classroom doors were rigged with automatic locking mechanisms, so a whole school could be 'locked down' (just like a prison) in the event of an emergency. "Zero-tolerance" policies make a felon out of any kid carrying anything from a pocket knife to a metal spoon. 'Goth' kids and loners are automatic criminal suspects, whose work may subject them to anything from mandatory counseling to expulsion to criminal arrest. (It's a good thing I graduated from high school many years ago; my horror-themed art and writing projects, as well as my stubborn refusal to sheepishly follow inane and invasive 'security' policies would have gotten me into BIG trouble). In my school district now, drug-sniffing police dogs are brought in to search the halls and lockers on a regular basis, and a kid caught smoking in the bathroom is no longer merely given detention, he/she is sent before the local magistrare! All of these measures serve one grand purpose: To acclimate American youth to life in a police state. Which leads us to...
9/11/01. America gets kicked in the nuts, and it hurts. Even if all of the anti-terror legislation proposed after OKC had been passed, it would have done nothing to prevent this. Those who forget are doomed to repeat, so here comes a whole new batch of laws and regulations which will affect law-abiding citizens more than any international terrorist. Digital security cameras linked to computers equipped with face-mapping and recognition software are installed at the site of the Super Bowl. No criminals are caught. Regardless, Florida (the state lorded over by Dubya's mini-me, er, brother) likes the idea and proposes such cameras be put in many public places. Personal email is routinely monitored by the government. Using keywords such as "Allah" or "bomb" in your electronic communication puts you under suspicion (I guess Toho are no longer the only ones monitoring this board, sorry Aaron ). The government now wants everyone to carry a national I.D. card. A single swipe can quickly access not only your criminal record, but also your travel record, medical history, financial information, and library/video rentals. Better get that copy of Catcher In The Rye while you can. The checking of such cards will not only be routine at airports, but also at state and city borders, and probably random checkpoints and even the point-of-sale of certain items. Is this any different than the Nazi's demanding papers? Of course, speaking out against any of this gets you labeled as an unpatriotic kook, and possible terrorist.
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"...'Live people ignore the strange and unusual.' I myself am strange and unusual." --Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), Beetlejuice (1988)
-- Jeff
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