The NSA scandal has people from both sides calling for the head of Eric Snowden. We keep hearing the program is keeping us safe, with no specifics as to why. The politicians are mostly standing behind our out of control government and quasi-independent corporations that now make up the backbone of an increasingly totalitarian society. For all the hope and change promised by Obama, things seem desperately the same as his idiot predecessor. Instead of tackling the major issues like offshoring, job wage declines and high unemployment, we have been subjected to fake scandal after fake scandal and when one actually does appear, the GOP stands behind the president knowing full well their butts are on the line too.
If you believe we live in a free society you are living on another planet because we are falling apart and fast. The government is tracking us 24/7, compiling information about every habit we have, where we go, who we see and nobody bats an eyelash. I have nothing to hide is the common claim. Everyone has something to hide and if that info gets out, you could be in a lot of trouble. Something as mundane as a Social Security number could fall into the wrong hands under this program and your life could be upended. Way too many people have access to this information being gathered. Think what would have happened if Snowden had decided to steal information rather than expose it. The ramifications could have been catastrophic in that scenario.
In NJ, a recent bill is being looked at that would confiscate the cell phone of anyone involved in a accident, regardless of whether it was in use or not. I have no problem with an officer having the ability to look at whether the phone was in use at the time of the accident but that's as far as I am willing to go. Stealing the phone for up to three months, as the bill suggests, is way out of line. What are the people supposed to do for the three months they do not have a phone, especially if they were not on it at the time? How does that not violate the rights we have as US citizens?
And then there is increasing reach of corporations who want to know EVERYTHING about their potential employees. They want to drug test. They want a background check. They even want a credit check in some places. Now comes this bit of info that is going way too far. Seems like some companies now want your entire medical history, as if they were your doctor. Tell me that doesn't seem like a reach to you? This would be a tool to let them discriminate against anyone who may diabetic, pregnant or prone to sickness, all illegal by the way. Fabricut, Inc. and the Founders Pavillion were doing just that before a class action lawsuit demanded they stop. This is due to a law passed in 2009 that stopped this practice. It is good to see that Congress did one thing right over the past few years.
Free speech is under attack where people are being fired for posting comments on social media. Waitresses who complain about lousy tippers or employees who bitch about corporate stupidity are being fired for doing nothing more than exposing the truth. Mind you that these truths these companies do not want exposed is too bad and that is the price of freedom. Firing these people is a real douche move and one I hope leads to lawsuits.
The most recent attack on the first amendment took place in Georgia, which isn't that much of a shock considering the state. Bus driver, Johnny Cook was doing his route when a child said he was hungry because his food card was forty cents short and as result he hadn't eaten that day. Cook was rightfully upset that some poor kid went hungry over forty freaking cents and posted this on Facebook:
"This child is already on reduced lunch [program] and we can't let him eat. Are you kidding me? I'm certian [sic.] there was leftover food thrown away today. But kids were turned away because they didn't have .40 on there [sic.] account. As a tax payer [sic.], I would much rather feed a child than throw it away. I would rather feed a child than to give food stamps to a crack head [sic.]."
This comment got him fired. Are you fucking kidding me? Here is a guy writing about a hungry kid due to a stupid school policy and they fire him. Genius. Way to teach kids about the first amendment in a supposed free society. His site has attracted other children to come forward about how they were hungry too because they meal cards do not have enough money on it, a direct response to cost cutting by an insane Republican party. This is what you are voting for people, starving children. Feel good about yourself now? Georgia is a fucked up southern state where getting fired is par for the course. This same state got a waitress at Chili's fired for commenting on the stupidity of cops in the area and a teacher who was fired for posting a picture of herself drinking at a British pub. Do we have no protections anymore? How easy is it to fire anyone nowadays? Too easy by far and the death of our unions have exacerbated the problem. We need workers' rights and we need them now and if the Tea Party doesn't like that idea they can go sit and spin because I am tired of all the dictator-like policies being passed as the expense of the average worker. If we do not stand up soon for what we believe in, there will not be a country left. We need a few hundred thousand people to go to the Washington Mall and refuse to leave until things change drastically. And if they come with guns blazing, know that the next civil war has started and we will have no choice but to fight back. The alternative is to live as a slave. Your choice.
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