Nothing new around these parts. I hear the bus loads are coming in to protest something. Must be a joke. Surely Corey isn’t passing another Resolution.
And to all those who seem to think that moonhowlings.com has something going on with AZ, we are NOT the news. It seems to be that on-going reading comprehension problem that is causing rumors.
Enjoy the week.
This doctor in Illinois says that the tea party people are fat and could stand to benefit from HC reform.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YpHHAglRBo&feature=player_embedded
They could certainly use the exercise, bwahaha!
ACLU blasts national ID card proposal
Published: April 30, 2010 at 9:28 AM
WASHINGTON, April 30 (UPI) — Civil liberties advocates decried a Democratic proposal that would require all workers in the United States to carry an ID card with biometric identifiers.
Senate Democratic leaders Thursday revealed an outline to reform U.S. immigration laws, including a proposal requiring workers to carry a national card with biometric data, such as fingerprints, within six years.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/04/30/ACLU-blasts-national-ID-card-proposal/UPI-96821272634097/
I tell y’a man, we are headed for a police state! I wonder what the teabaggers think about this?
If you had to carry a miniature version of your 1040 tax form, what would be the difference? It’s a single little card for crying out loud! The ACLU knows that with a national ID card all would be forced to at least prove they were US citizens, and their lawyers would be powerless to do anything about it. How does that equate to a police state? You drive around with a unique tag on your car that police can use to help identify the owner at a great distance now. Paranoia, or do you have something to hide?
I wouldn’t mind doing that, SA, but I have heard here many other people would.
Why would I want to carry a biometric id with me 24/7? So that the government can spy on me? So that they know which bedroom of my house my spouse and I are in? So that they know which section of the video store I’m in? So that the cops can demand my papers because they don’t like the way I look?
We worked very, very hard for the freedoms we enjoy in this country and we ought not to be surrendering them so easily.
Observations:
– Difficult to read this morning’s N&M through all the mud splatters from
the ads of the two candidates for Mayor of Dumfries. Yep, this is
certain to do wonders for the image of the town.
Today’s editorial is right – there are no bad choices in the contested
race for the Manassas School Board and NOT a good one for Mayor of
Dumfries.
– Manassas Park is slated to bring forth a $1.65 tax rate tomorrow
which will be the highest of any jurisdiction in Virginia, but with
almost zero public discussion. The papers and blogs were full of
the budget struggles/compromises/ hard decisions in Manassas and
PWC, but zip in MP.
@PR,
Thanks for the warning. I have ignored the races because it doesn’t have to do with me. I guess I should leap here here at the last minute. Thanks for the warning.
SA, mind uploading your 1040, your biometric data, your name, age, sex, height, weight, medical record, financial records, and any other data most people believe is sensitive?
After all, what are you trying to hide?
You mention a vehicle tag as your example but driving is a privledge granted by the state – not a right. What about people who take metro? Should they have more privacy rights because they use mass transit?
Why do we need to get ourselves closer to ‘Minority Report’?
Breaking news. Looks like this a good start, and more arrest(s) to follow.
D.C. woman arrested in connection with Brian Betts killing; Police searching for others
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/montgomery/post.html
I’d rather they ID me by my fingerprint. I know I would forget to carry a damn card around all the time.
Besides, it’s harder to cut off my finger than it is to steal a card.
Chris, no death penalty in DC. Or was it Maryland? Where was his house?
I wouldn’t mind a national ID, I actually never leave home without some sort of ID. I’m surprised so many people do, what if you were to ever get pulled over on your way to the store, or get carded for buying a beer?
As for a national ID card being used to “know which bedroom of my house my spouse and I are in? So that they know which section of the video store I’m in” is not based in reality.
Besides, if you were so worried about your freedoms and privacy then why no complaints about the White House keeping any and all records from car dealerships who participated in the Cash for Clunkers? Why no complaints about the White House asking neighbors to report their neighbors who said bad things about HCR like we were in old communist Russia?
Better yet, I still have yet to hear someone from the left complain about Obama extending the Bush Patriot Act. Why is that?
http://rawstory.com/2010/02/obama-patriot-act-year-privacy-protections/
It would cost a fortune for everyone to have a biometric ID card. It would take years to bring the country up to speed. This isn’t done overnight.
Frankly, a national id card would be a hell of a lot more intrusive than anything in the Patriot Act.
Yeah, we liberals all have this wild and crazy idea that the federal government should keep its nose out of our personal business.
Starry, like healthcare? 😉
Moon, my friend Brian lived in Montgomery Co., and of course “The Free State” doesn’t have the death penalty. Shame on them for NOT having the death penalty.
I agree with Poor Richard. I went to two school board candidates forums and I wish they could add 2 more spots to the board in addition to the three being filled.
MP’s tax rate is high, but aren’t they paying for their green schools and other things that not only brought them up to speed but made them a model?
SEAN HANNITY WILL BE DOING A BOOK SIGNING ON SATURDAY, MAY 8th AT BARNES & NOBLE, TYSON’S CORNER, VIENNA, VIRGINIA AT 9 AM.
Sean will be signing Conservative Victory. Get there early!
and what is wrong with having a ‘Work Card’ – or something to identify you with being able to work. If it is done properly, you biometrics would be on the card, and not in some central database. If your card and the biometrics match – you can work for the company. If your card and biometrics do not match, come back when they do.
The issue right now, is that it is tooo easy to get around an I-9 form – and the powers that be do not want to change that. They also want to raise your fears to prevent a work card from coming in, as it would change the status quo, and heaven forbid if that were to happen, maybe even people would not work for cash…..
Thanks for the Hannity heads up, I will have to avoid Tysons over the weekend.
e – Sean Hannity, huh?
Would I be arrested if I kicked him in the shins and kneed him, I wonder?
e- FYI
If you want another book signing: New Gringrich will be at the Reston Barnes & Noble Sunday May 23 at 4:30. “To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine”.
Them strong words. Me thinks Newt is thinking of the presidency. This morally upstanding, freshly baptized into the Catholic church (any number of marriages allowed), American should be considered for the office. At least I think HE thinks so.
Do you believe that the government doesn’t already know most everything about you? You must not pay taxes. Like I said before, your tax forms tell more about you than any small amount of personal info on a small ID card. Think of the info on your drivers license alone. It’s too late, they know where you live!
Punchak, you make some excellent points. Newt probably is considering running. He is definitely Mr. Make-over, morals and all.
@Chris
Something still smells funny about this. If he was talking to one of these folks on a “sex chat line”–what does that mean? I don’t wish to speak ill of the dead, but somethin’ ain’t right. Did he let these folks in and, if so, why? Sex or drugs–you pick.
@George S. Harris
I really don’t want to pick. Murder always has a funny smell about it. I still can’t believe one of schoolmates has been murdered. 🙁
Problem, Reaction, Solution – Ready for Your Biometric ID Card, America?
2010 03 31
Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, believes that keeping biometric information out of a centralized database is “the biggest challenge.” Otherwise, she says, the prospect of having millions of fingerprints on hand would be too tempting for the government not to abuse. In their op-ed, the Senators said the information would be stored only on the card.
Although the card is being presented as existing solely for determining employment eligibility, “it will be almost impossible to say that this wealth of information is there, but you can only use it for this purpose,” Coney says. “Privacy is pretty much hinged on the notion that if you collect data for one purpose, you can’t use it for another.” Calabrese expresses worries that this ID will become a “central identity document” that one will need in order to travel, vote or perhaps own a gun, which Melmed calls “mission creep.”
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1974927,00.html
@George S. Harris
I don’t think it matters. Sex or drugs or anything else doesn’t mean a person should be murdered. It could be former students who went to see him also.
Many people from Manassas loved and adored their classmate and that is what they are dealing with…empty loss.
I must have missed this, related to biometric id cards.
Virginia delegates pass bill banning chip implants as ‘mark of the beast’
By Daniel Tencer
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 — 3:58 pm
Concerns over privacy have aligned with apocalyptic Biblical prophecy in a proposed Virginia law that limits the use of microchip implants on humans because of a lawmaker’s concern that the chips will prove to be the Antichrist’s “mark of the beast.”
On Wednesday, Virginia’s House of Delegates passed a bill that forbids companies from forcing their employees to be implanted with tracking devices, a move likely to be applauded by civil libertarians.
http://rawstory.com/2010/02/virginia-passes-law-banning-chip-implants-mark-beast/
What a shame that Brian Betts, who was so beloved by his co-workers and students, should end up dead. Chatting on the internet is not illegal. If it does involve his sexuality, more the shame that he can’t live openly and not be judged and feels compelled to live in the “dark”. Do we blame women who are murdered by someone they knew, a sexual predator?
Everybody enjoying watching their 401(k)s this morning? Notice how the PIGS are starting to get more attention after the announcement of the 110 billion Euro bailout attempt? (Don’t forget to figure out how much you as an American just paid to try to bail out Greece.) The DJIA has taken a 400 point haircut over Greece in just the past two weeks. Just wait until Portugal and Spain hit. Spain is both “too big to fail” and “too big to bail out” with a GDP 6x that of Greece. That’s going to leave a mark and the US economy is too fragile to absorb it. We’ll be very lucky indeed to get by with only a double dipper recession.
I think I’m going to go back in lurker mode around here since I can’t seem to get any conversation started about these issues despite repeated attempts. As I said during my previous sign off, there’s just too much attention being paid to trivialities here and not enough attention being paid to important things.
The funny part is that someday some people around here will have to admit to that they were too busy debating lapel pins with topless women on them to pay attention to something that is going to cost you tens of thousands of dollars. (Hundreds of thousands of dollars if you are under 30 or are a HWI.) I’m not calling out anybody in particular here, I’m just saying that there are dozens of comments about a lapel pin and nobody wants to talk about a major fiscal crisis.
And just remember, when it happens in California in a few more years, don’t ever say you weren’t warned.
While we are looking at it, those of you who do not think we pay enough in taxes – in order to in-volentarilly transfer more to others might consider that bad Bush – bad Bush —-
” Tax increases are only supposed to affect those earning more than $250,000, right? However, if Congress does not pass further legislation this year, everyone will see their tax bracket and effective tax rates increase. For the “average” middle income married employee (consider a dual income family), your top tax bracket could go from 25% to 31% next year simply due to the rollback of the Bush-era tax cuts. That, however, doesn’t tell the whole story. Folks do not pay 28% federal tax on all of their income – only on the income above $137,300. The first $16,750 of income has taxes calculated at 10%, the next $51,250 of income pays a tax rate of 15%, the next $69,300 has taxes paid at 25%, and finally, everything above $137,300 has tax calculated at 28%. The average of these taxes provides your effective tax rate, which in this case is 20.22%. If Congress does not act to prevent the Bush tax cuts from reverting to the 2000 tax tables, a couple earning $150,000 in adjusted gross income in 2011, will have an effective tax rate of 25.08%—a 24% increase! They will pay an additional $7,294 in taxes.” Oh and for you retired – its not my problem sitting in my home taking some of those transfers folks, in addition, “taxes will increase in several areas such as the capital gains tax increasing from 15% to 20% and the Medicare tax being applied to investments in certain areas. ” If you have capital gains in your non-IRA brokerage accounts, you may want to consider whether liquidating some stocks and mutual funds makes sense while the capital gains tax rate is still at 15%.”
That is sure to stimulate the economy.
.
Here’s the latest from WTOP…Robbery was the motive in Brian’s murder. What POS’s!!
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1948270
What a horrible waste!
I got the information on the garden bricks if you want it.
Formerly, I did talk to you about it. I would be glad to do a page on the european situation. However, I don’t have the background information to do it. If you would like to write up a thread, I will gladly post it as a guest contribution.
I feel certain it was I who was called out. There are all sorts of disasters looming on the horizon. We have an ecological disaster of epic proportion. We have a terrorist who has been apprehended. We have a problem with illegal immigration that threatens to expode this country. Europe has an unstabile economy and the Chinese own our debt, therefore they own us.
Let me know if you want to do a guest thread. I think it is important.
@PWC Taxpayer
I don’t see how selling off stock is going to stimulate the economy. The question is where to put the money. Bonds are not a safe bet these days.
@formerly,
I don’t see all comments. I try to monitor the blog during the day but I often miss things. I also occassionally work. You need to notify me if there is something that needs posting.
Since we’re talking about ID cards….Here’s the Jews in the Attic test.
http://www.joehuffman.org/freedom/jewsintheattic.htm
What do you think?
Moon,
If I left you with the impression that I was calling you out, then I owe you an apology. That was not my intention. Actually, I was calling out no one in particular, but voicing my frustration with the general lack of interest these issues get (both here and in the larger press.) compared to more “red meat” stories. And, as you pointed out, you have responded to some of my postings on the subject so I certainly don’t want to give you the impression I was criticizing you.
I’ll give some serious though to doing a guest thread. I’d need to clear it with some people but I *might* even try to drop my anonymity. I’m certainly no celebrity, but perhaps if people knew my background it might give it some additional gravitas, compared to a random anonymous person on the Internet. If I decide to do it, I’ll send you an email to coordinate logistics.
Great. I wish you would consider doing it. I think it is all something we need to hear. I admit to being a neophyte. I listen to one person, who I will share with you if you email me.
Thanks for considering.
Meanwhile, where is the safest place to put assets? The past 2 days in the stock market plus last week got my attention.
As always, I cannot give specific investment advice and nothing I say should be construed as a recommendation for or against a particular investment or type of investment.
With that said, the main question is what happens on May 19th. Greece has debt service due on the 19th and cannot meet it’s obligations without the bailout announced last week. The problem is that the political support for the bailout in the rest of the EU, particularly Germany, is sagging as many believe the Greek government is unable or unwilling to enforce the austerity cuts that were part of the quid pro quo of the bailout. If the bailout falls apart, the situation in Greece will get far worse and will almost certainly lead to a default or assumption by the ECB.
I would recommend talking with your financial planner about how likely the current bailout plan is to pass and be implemented and what the potential impact to your portfolio would be if it does not. There are some safe havens, but a lot of them have gotten expensive as the PIGS saga started to unfold. There are likely to be some short term havens in a typical flight to safety, but many people, myself included, think that the typical havens in a flight to safety are at best short term investments because the traditional havens are far riskier now than they have traditionally been. (And to avoid being cryptic, I’m talking about dollar based investments here.)
The reason safe havens so tricky these days is that ultimately, Greece is just a symptom of a much bigger problem. If I end up doing a guest posting, the major theme of it will be the crisis of confidence that the bond markets have developed in the ability of indebted nations (including the US) to summon the political will to enact meaningful economic austerity measures. The bond markets are watching Greece to gauge what will happen in the other PIGS and eventually England, and the US as they all move closer to their individual days of reckoning. Needless to say, the initial results from Greece are not encouraging.
This has the potential to a very big deal. (Greece is has less than 5% of the total debt of the seriously indebted nations that are at risk of credit downgrades.) So far this week $1.2 trillion in capital was erased and 3 people died. Sadly, both numbers are going to go up before this mess is over.
About that $1.2 trillion in capital losses. I don’t have new numbers, but this afternoon was at least a $3 trillion dollar haircut, possibly closer to $5.
I hope this will start to wake the world (and the US in particular) up. This is a very big deal.