Feds aim for more data sharing by terrorist screeners
Ok, can the bush administration and their love for scaring the US citizens combined with their voracious appetite for spying information, be considered a single Anti-Christ?
Feds share the data mining love with the rest of the world.
I will stop with the government conspiracy stuff now as I’m scared that I might be construed as being a black helicopter nut job…
January 18th, 2006
I don’t think they can be considered a single thing any more than can the electorate that placed the Bush Administration into power. The easy, cynical answer is that people are lazy, stupid, and easily frightened. However, cynicism often paints with too broad a brush. Our system is corrupt, but I doubt any system will do much better because people tend to think in terms of their own unenlightened, short term interests. They also tend to act on those interests with greater effort than for others which may be better for a group or society. Such thinking and action tend to have a corrupting effect as those able to curry favor tend to do so.
I remember sitting at a community school board meeting years ago, looking at an almanac I’d just purchased. It listed political action committees, a hot topic at the time, by their size in dollars, members, and perceived influence. A couple of board members asked what I was reading and we fell into discussion about PACs. One woman in particular, a high ranking official with AARP, was particularly critical of PACs and the negative influence they wield in politics here. I pointed out to her that her beloved AARP was the largest and most influential PAC according to the book. She grew quite angry, huffed, and did not utter another syllable the rest of the meeting. Fascinating glimpse into how we perceive our own sacred cows versus those of others, I thought.
January 18th, 2006
I can remember receiving a high pressure sales pitch by a higher up in the company I work for. The pitch was for employee contributions to our companies PAC. The sales pitch itself was similar to the yearly pressure to contribute to the united way (I’m still trying to figure out how the United Way has managed to get every company I’ve ever worked for to pressure employees to give).
My coworkers seemed surprised that not only would I not contribute but also that I was quite vocal about the corporate PAC’s being a large part of the problem. Why should I endorse a program that puts the political objectives of my company above those of my countrymen?