I read the news every morning and I am very broad in the places I look. I try not to avoid any particular corner when digging around to see what is going on. I happened to be passing by zerohedge.com today and a headline caught my eyes: Congress Quietly Passed A Bill Allowing Warrantless Searches of Homes - Only 1% Opposed It. That to me seemed like a very huge deal. It is a direct violation of the Constitution, though in the past decades violating the Constitution is nothing new. Yet, surely other people would be talking about this. I was wrong. I looked all over the popular alternative sites where you would expect there to be an uproar over this. Silence. I looked at the left leaning alternative sites. Silence. I looked at the mainstream media. Silence. I cruised through the #news section on steemit.com. It seemed silent there as well.
That last one is something I at least could personally do something about.
For those of you that like to bash Trump. He signed this into law after congress passed it. For those of you that like to support Trump. He signed this into law after congress passed it. This is NOT a good thing. For me this is potentially the second very bad thing I've seen come from the Trump Administration. I have often defended Trump against the clear media bias, but I also point out when something is bad. This is bad. Yet, to keep it in perspective similar things happened under Bush/Cheney, and Obama/Biden. This is just a bad sign as it is more business as usual when it comes to raping the Constitution and stripping away the rights of the people.
I did notice a lot of news about racism, about Trump, and of course the daily deaths related to terrorism somewhere in the world, as well as the growing tensions every where. I also noticed a ton of news still about Taylor Swift's latest album, and of course a lot of talking about the boxing match between Mayweather and McGregor last night.
If you live in the United States ALL of those things pale besides the potential ramifications of this stealth bill. I've been bouncing this around in my head for an hour or so now. I'd like to take a stab at a fictional possible future we are pushing towards.
BEGIN FICTION
Tonight is the night, I think to myself. Tonight is going to be the big one. I have been waiting all week for this. I am sitting calmly in my easy chair in front of my 55" curved 8K High Definition television with my superb 9 point surround sound. I have my certified augmented reality glasses on to enhance the experience further. I am ready. I have my favorite beverage, and some snacks.
The sporting event. The Arena 2.0 event is about to begin. I can see the augmented reality peripheral vision fireworks starting to build up to let me know my show is about to start.
I hear someone walking behind me. WTF? flashes through my mind and irritation that the one hour event I have been waiting all week for is about to begin.
I look and see the uniforms. Again? They are searching my house again? I increase the augmented reality display to anti-disturbance mode so it can hopefully drown out some of this distraction.
"Stand up. We need to search the chair."
I comply. I'm hoping they don't have to... Too late, they turn off the 8K display and begin to take off the back panel.
"Can you guys be quick, the event was starting?"
"Are you failing to comply with the search? We can add your name to the list of subversive fascist nazi racist anti-feminist insurgents."
"No, that will be quite all right," I quickly reply though with the frequency of searches of late I often wonder if I am not already on such a list. Though I don't know why I would be. Other than my expenses for my teledildonics I actually rarely leave my house. I go to my computer to login and type my daily mandatory works so that I qualify for my UBI (Universal Basic Income) and I order my food from Amazon Foods which is delivered. How would I be a subversive?
The display eventually comes on and DAMN the event is already started. I missed 10 minutes at least! My entire week is ruined. I really wanted to see this game. I hear them leave. I see a little blinking red light from the upper corner of the 8K TV that I don't remember being there. Shrug, no big deal. I need to watch this event and salvage as much of the meaning of life as I can.
END FICTION
Is this where we are going? Is Taylor Swift, Mayweather vs McGregor, and being offended over statues more than a century old truly so important?
I often feel like I am at a really unpleasant magic act. It is not particularly entertaining. It increases stress, makes me tense, and makes me ready to assault the next person that calls me a racist.
Is that the goal? Are most of these things simply misdirection so we miss how they are actually putting the proverbial rabbit into the hat?
Are we so busy fighting among each other, and fixating on events like Taylor Swift and Sporting events that should have only minimal impact on our life, that we are giving them the moment of our collective distraction that they need to pass bills like this one?
I remember seeing this with the Patriot Act. I remember the bad mouthing of people that were acting slow on passing it. I remember the "do you support terrorism" type attitude that was used to brow beat Senators and Representatives into passing it. I remember that there was no way that ANY of them except perhaps those who were involved in writing it actually had time to read the bill they were approving. I remember that most of them approved it anyway.
That was a bad day. I fear we may look back at the passing of this particular bill as another such day. I hope this proves not to be the case, yet hope is in short supply these days.
Thank you for your time. At least maybe this was one more chance to get the passing of this bill to the attention of the population. I'm not exactly sure what to do about it, but it does seem like a very bad thing.
I will add one proviso and it IS an important one. This bill does at least appear to be geographically confined at the moment. It grants these search provisions within relation to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. It is limited at the moment. Will it remain that way? Past experience has shown these monsters once released tend to grow rather than die off.
Perhaps there is still time. We are aware of it when it is still a newborn bill.
Thank you for this post, I would not have heard about it otherwise. This is yet another example of the government slowly and methodically chipping away at our fundamental rights. Altering, amending, and repealing the last one hundred years of progress. To what end is not entirely clear, it appears as though "they", are attempting to gradually remove everything that makes the United States what it is - or more accurately put, what it was. The "something shiney over there" practice has worked time and again, and will most likely continue to work to distract the masses. Didn't you hear - 2-Pac is having a reunion tour via hologram from the island he has lived on since faking his death... Can't Wait...
Unfortunately I have very little doubt that what has happened in Washington (warrantless searches), will happen in the rest of the country as time goes on. The Patriot Act already gives the state authority to do pretty much as it pleases in regard to ignoring personal liberty. With the coming round of bills undoubtedly heading our way, I am afraid they will cement that authority even further.
Begin Fiction:
"Dam it", I scream out loud as the screen of my incredibly overpriced 8KTV flashes the familiar crimson red, signaling the state operated alert system has just been activated. "What now, are they trying to ruin my life... " are the only words I manage to get out before hearing why the event was interrupted... "Sam McFascist here reporting live from the scene" I can see what is on the ultra high definition screen but cant believe my eyes - The seven term "Peoples Party" president and all three of his clone cabinet members are being led from the Google statehouse in handcuffs and shackles. "What the Fu...", I again say out loud as the screen switches over to another unbelievable sight. Again the anchorman states, with the disbelief now obvious in his voice as well - or maybe because he came to the realization that his days are numbered also "All five hundred and twenty seven members of the Selection Bureau are here and now disbanded, awaiting investigations and pending charges". It was at that moment I came to realize, all the work has finally payed off. The late night secret meetings, the risk to friends and family if anyone found out, the drain on my meager finances, have all been worth it. Just then, as if on cue, my contact at Steemit hacked through the secure monitor network with just two words. "We Won"
End Fiction:
Wouldn't that be nice... Upvoted, followed and Resteemed... :)
Your welcome. Nice response. I gave you a big up vote for this comment due to the effort you put into it.
Thanks... This is a topic I am very passionate about and agree with you completely. (in itself very rare - i can't even agree with myself on most things)... Steem on... :)
baby monsters eventually grow up. better to kill them when young if you can
I woke up this morning and looked at the calendar......1984, .....Crap, Already!?
I'm starting to think Orwell's 1984 might end up being a more pleasant place than where we are actually heading.
I also see us visiting more of a 1984 and Idiocracy hybrid.
Isn't that a pleasant thought?
No...not really. :-( 😵
Thank you very much for posting this because this is the first time I've heard of it. You should have used a horror story tag. A real life horror story.
This is how they do it. Chipping away at our rights bit by bit. Rights supposedly guaranteed by the constitution. Tiny little precedents set so the courts can fall back on that bullshit instead of actually enforcing the constitution.
So much for Trump bringing change to Washington. I didn't really expect him to do that, but still this is disheartening.
There is not much news about it yet. Let's hope that some information comes out that explains why I shouldn't view it as a slippery slope and bad. I'll be watching.
There won't be much said on the news. This won't bring ratings. Like everything else the media is only about the money. They'll pass this off as a local event that doesn't affect everyone else. But that's exactly how the government strips us of our rights. Piece by piece.
Ok, I confess I didn't get past the first paragraph because I went to the zerohedge article to see what it said.
First I found that it is specifically about Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia agreeing upon the interstate metrorail line, so it's limited to these three jurisdictions.
Second, the wording about the warrantless entries is this:
“In performing its duties, the Commission, through its Board or designated employees or agents, may:Enter upon the WMATA Rail System and, upon reasonable notice and a finding by the chief executive officer that a need exists, upon any lands, waters, and premises adjacent to the WMATA Rail System, including, without limitation, property owned or occupied by the federal government, for the purpose of making inspections, investigations, examinations, and testing as the Commission may deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this MSC Compact, and such entry shall not be deemed a trespass.”
Including in the law is a limiting word. So the only properties that can be entered is any lands, waters, and premises adjacent to the rail line that are owned or occupied by the federal government.
This article talks about how including is limiting, even with the words without limitation http://www.adamsdrafting.com/including-without-limitation/
I don't think this means what the original author thought it meant. :)
Generally not a good idea to respond to something you didn't read. I covered those details at the end of the original post.
True, and you are a clever author, I appreciate the things you write. I didn't want to be arguing in my head about it. :(
Oh, I do make mistakes quite a bit. I did read the article though from Zerohedge so I knew it was limited in scope. Though unless the homes in question are homes of federal employees they "should" still require a warrant. Though it is hard to know what they will do with this. Seems like a dangerous precedent and/or slippery slope.
Just trying to help with the concern level a tad. :)
Yep. Thanks.
Though yeah, I get what you wrote. As I commented to others I simply hope it doesn't become a slippery slope situation.
I get your concern. I have PLENTY myself. But the key is in "including", not the geography. A private residence next to the metrorail that is not owned or occupied by the federal government can NOT be searched without a warrant according to this new law. (not even state gov is subject to this law)
and the camera, microphone, and recording device is already in your smart tv, but I'm sure you know that ;)
I have long prepared myself for such events. Apart from desiring to be an ex-pat, I keep a five-pound box of U.S.D.A. surplus "cheese food." (generic Velveeta) It sits in plain sight at room temperature.
I have been writing a series on the actual American history. The next part should frighten almost everyone and mark me as a cyber-terrorist. The Constitution was planned-tyranny. I go about documenting this fact. Still, the blog post will have no cat pictures, or Justin Bieber quotes, so it is not likely to be read. I can live with that. I just request when they break down my door, please don't taze me. I've had enough excitement in my lifetime.
Yeah I've up voted a number of your posts in that series. Keep it up.
Are you familiar with Ralph Epperson's work? As I recall he came to the same conclusion. I'll have to check out your work.
Ralph is one of the good guys. I got to speak with him over the phone and two people he referred me to were highly instrumental in my research additionally, especially the law (not mere procedure). I have about twelve hours of VCR tapes by him along with several books. Also, a late friend who was instrumental in defeating the Con-Con gave volumes of advice to Bill Still. (who I also got to speak with on the phone).
I take it that you don't think that you are going to be "raptured" out of this mess? :-)
Nope. I don't believe any organized religions. So no solace in retreating into such thoughts for me. I believe I need to take action on my own part whether it is making others think, or if it comes at me making decisions to defend myself and my family. :) That doesn't mean I don't consider a creator as possible. That is possible. I mean if this is all a simulation as in the simulation hypothesis, simulations are created. Yet, I don't believe the words written in books, revealed in visions, and that spring from speculations of people trying to interpret something they experienced. Speculations are possibilities, but that does not make them fact. :)
So I cannot really get behind any organized, revealed religion. I am equally fine being a Deist (there is a creator, now observe and use reason), or Atheism (it's always been here, now observe and use reason). :)
My view tends to be that what one believes is what one will experience (regardless of any "objective" reality if there is such a thing)
I think I'll go create a reality on my computer for awhile and slap some game characters around... hmm... Rimworld, or Total Warhammer? Choices choices...
Pretty well the only computer game I have ever played is crypto investing. I never even tried a social media until my crypto investments forced me to go on to steemit. Believe me, that has been a two-edged sword.
That has been a possibility I've considered for several decades as well. Kind of like a dream. What you expect to see after you die is the thing you may be likely to see.
It explains why so many different afterlife beliefs can be perceived as true. People who have near death experiences coming back and sharing their tales.
Yet even those things are simply elements inside of whatever this REALITY is. That we can simplify down to two possibilities. It either was created/initiated by something, or it has always existed. I believe it would be very difficult to prove/disprove either of those things.
Furthermore, if it was created. Who created the thing that created it? It becomes circular logic at that point and can be a path to madness. :)
EDIT: Basically for me if there is indeed some creator/catalyst then the entire thing becomes much like a Russian Nesting Doll for me. So my reality was created... that would imply that the thing that created it was in some kind of reality where they could create this one. So who created that reality?
The American constitution was a great decision making by president Trump and this action by people for the people is indeed a step forward for this great country, Feel free to drop your comments, Thanks.