An Orwellian World

I once had a pot-bellied pig that use to help my out in the garage.  She would hand me tools as I constructed one failure after another.  You see, I was trying to build a pig-proof way of making dog food available to the dogs but not the pig.  Her plan, I can see it now in hindsight, was to watch as I built the various devices so she could see the weak link.

She always won in the end which makes me think George Orwell's Animal Farm is not all that unlikely.

This brings us to his book 1984.  In this book, Big Brother knows everything.  I found this to be a scary yet unlikely scenario for any future.  At the time I read it, it seemed to be full of holes.

How could any entity track everyone?  They would need computers and such.  DONE

Why would we let them take control of us like that?  Certainly we would be able to see it coming and put a stop to it.

Or would we?

Over the last couple of years, I have been starting to see a scenario where Big Brother may someday become the lesser of two evils.

Terrorism the the problem.

If we truly want to stop all terrorism, then we need to know where everyone is at or what they are doing at all times.  This is probably not an absolute.  For example, maybe someone will invent an "evil detection chip" that we put in everyone's head.  If they get seriously evil, their head explodes or something.  Barring that type of breakthrough, as terrorism increases, so will surveillance as we try to catch the bad guys.  People will be encouraged to turn in their neighbors over smaller and smaller trifles as government lowers the threshold for what is considered subversive.

To be free of fear, we will need to imprison ourselves.

This is not the path I would choose.  In fact, I prefer to not react to terrorism other than to terrorize the terrorists. Bagging deodorant or removing shoes to get on an airplane?  Get real! I am in favor of cruel and unusual punishment when it comes to terrorism.  Let them be afraid.

The problem then becomes, "What is terrorism?"  If someone blows up a bridge, we call it a terrorist act.  Suppose they blow up a gas station.  Suppose they just rob a gas station.  Suppose they jaywalk.  I think it is hard to draw that subjective line and say, "Over there on that side, you are the terrorist."  Who knows, in they eyes of the Taliban, maybe we are the terrorists.

So, no cruel and unusual punishment until the bugs are worked out.

After that...let's get creative.

I really want to be the person that turns the other cheeks.  I actually prefer any alternative to what I am suggesting, so long as it works.  I would encourage a "hire a terrorist" program that would provide job retraining and put hope into lives that have no hope.  Fanatics are created by circumstances.  So let us create more positive circumstances.

Until then, I favor a more medieval solution.  I just hope someone can convince me otherwise.

j

Keystone Cops (AKA Department of Homeland Security)

The headline read "53 hours from smoking car to arrest."

Isn't it amazing how efficient our department of homeland security is?

Or did they just get lucky.

I'm thinking its the later.  Let's start at the beginning.  This guy becomes a citizen last year.  A terrorist made it all the way through the screening process to become a citizen.  I find it strange that my wife of five years is still waiting to get her green card.  Note the  following two examples:

1.  She was here on a visitor's visa when we decided to get married.  After five months here, we decided it would be nice if she could stay the rest of the year so we filed the appropriate form called "Request for an extended stay."  The request was turned down.  The reason?  "We have turned down your request for an extended stay because it appears that you want to extend your stay."  I am telling the absolute truth here.

2. After 2 years, we got a green card that was good for 18 months.  This is a temporary measure to make sure the marriage is real.  During that 18 months, we shuttled back and forth between Hungary and the United States.  She spent more of her time there and I spent most of my time here.  When it came time to apply for the permanent green card, another 18 months process, we were told that it would probably be turned down.  The reason, "We will probably turn down your request for your wife to live in the United States because she currently does not live in the United States."  Again, I am telling the truth.  They do prefer that she live with me since that is one way to prove the marriage is legitimate.   However, that is not the only way.  The officer said he had not doubt that we were really married but still...

So, my wife of 5 years cannot get a green card and yet a terrorist can get citizenship.

Anyway, at least they caught the Underpants bomber last Christmas.  Sure, they ignored the fact that his dad told them ahead of time the Who, What, When and Where.  Sure he was caught by a passenger and not the Department of Homeland Security.  I think the entire department was on Christmas break or something.  But in the end, he was caught and backs were patted all around.

Back to New York.  They found the guy using the vehicle VIN and a fingerprint.  This is 1940's technology, maybe older.  There was not database of New York suspected terrorist that helped.  None of the billions that we spent on this was employed.

Now, keep in mind, I am viewing this from the Cheap Seats.  They may have been all over this using their super secret Jack Bauer Utility Belts and such.  But I doubt it.  I think that if they had anything to brag about, they would do it.

Right now they are bragging that they caught the guy.  They are not saying much about how they found him and then lost track of him for a day. They are not talking about how the put him on the Do Not Fly list only to have that list ignored by airport security.

A day after a terrorist attack, a middle eastern man pays cash for a one-way ticket to Dubai from the city that was attacked.  His name is on the Do Not Fly list.  The airlines are told to check the list.  The airline actually claims that they reported the man but fail to mention they only did so after he was caught.  The only reason he was caught was the last line of defense - the manifest was sent (a routine event) to security and they were looking for that particular man.

This is Piss Poor Performance.  In my view, he should never have made it through the citizenship process.  As for the Christmas bomber, when he dropped his fly to light his underpants on fire, an agent should have popped out of his trousers.

We spend and spend on Homeland Security Theater and have nothing to show for it.

Don't tell me a lot is happening that I don't know about.  I once trusted the government.  I watched as they pointed out milk trucks in Iraq and told us they were mobile chemical plants.  It was all bullshit.

We spend and spend on Homeland Security Theater and then pretend we are safe.    Why not put that money to work elsewhere.  We will be just as safe.  We can still pretend.

That's my view...


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j