Good News

There really isn't any good news this week. The Supremes in their infinite wisdom trashed the Voting Rights Act. If i was President Obama i would send a bill to Congress today with the replacement plan the court said Congress needs to vote upon to protect blacks and other minorities in places where discrimination still exists. When that bill hits Congress and the Republicans vote against it the entire nation will know why those justices yesterday trashed the Voting Rights Act.

Oh maybe there is some good news...President Obama yesterday said he is ordering the EPA to set standards for emissions from power producing plants and to expand renewable energy projects on public land. Maybe the VI could tap into the later by immediately presenting ideas for renewable energy projects here. We could become a test model showing the nation how an island municipality can become energy independent through the use of renewable resources.

Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has introduced legislation that would force consideration of the FISA act two years earlier to 2015. It would also restrict NSA's collection of data from phones... again starting in 2015. I'm not thrilled about this but at least its a first step.

If you haven't already re-read the fourth amendment it pretty plainly lays out its intent.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

But..... and this is a big but....... court cases since the amendment was enacted have changed the scope and meaning of the above. Courts have been chipping away at protections guaranteed by the fourth so that today we find ourselves the enemy instead of civilians of a democratic society.

Today everything you put on line goes into a big data dump and is suspect. According to some interpretations once you hit send, post or talk on a cell phone you have lost your right to privacy. You don't own your content any more, you don't control it and the government and corporations working together and separately can do what ever the hell they want with it.

Maybe that's where we should start...making new laws about what we own and what we don't.

The good news is your government will protect you against terrorists. i'm sure all those at the Boston Marathon that died or were maimed are really grateful that our surveillance network is scooping up data on all of us instead of focusing on the job at hand.

Gore Vidal used to say, quite often, that the United States has two governments. There is the public, "show" government, designed to convince the gullible that this is a democracy; and there is the real government, the one that exists in the shadows, cloaked in secrecy, doing the work of the monied class, and the people be damned. i wonder what he would say today.

People forget that this nation was founded by traitors. King George passed the laws they rebelled against. Today we have become cowed by the propaganda machine that pumps out articles saying you are naive if you didn't already know you were being watched. Accept it sucker its been going on so long you can't protest any more. It's approved, its legal.

Don't ever doubt the power of an individual who lives by a set of moral values that impels him or her to fight for everyone to create change, even when the odds of success are against them. Remember, just because something is legal it doesn't make it right.

See Ya Next Week.