4 posts tagged “rights”

ACLU: we are fast approaching a genuine surveillance society in the United States

Related to the my previous post Papers Please: This Is A Free Country?, check out what the ACLU is now up to!

The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the launch of a new "Surveillance Society Clock" to symbolize the reality that we are fast approaching a genuine surveillance society in the United States. The clock is set at six minutes before the "midnight" of a dark end to privacy. Also being released is a new report summarizing the state of privacy today and the video of a new piece about surveillance by spoken-word artists Steve Connell & Sekou (tha misfit).

"We are rapidly moving toward a future where our every move, our every transaction, our every communication is tracked and may be used against us," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project. "Too often that big picture is lost amid the stream of daily privacy stories. The Surveillance Clock is part of our efforts to keep people focused on that big picture and dramatize what’s happening to America."

Read more at ACLU.org

Your papers, please.

Papers Please: Arrested At Circuit City

I haven't seen any coverage of this story in the media, but then, I've not been watching the news much lately, so who knows? I wouldn't be surprised if the media turned a blind eye to this.

A 200-year-old building with historical ties to the Confederate retreat following the Battle of Gettysburg is being torn down, possibly to make room for a drug store and bank.

The former Stephey’s Tavern, once the home of Peter Rouzer, is slated to be demolished soon.

According to historical sources, Gen. Robert E. Lee stopped and dined at the tavern before addressing his troops on the tavern steps during the Confederates' retreat from Gettysburg in July 1863.

As both a libertarian and a lover of history, I have mixed feelings about things like this.  I believe in the right of a property owner to do as s/he will with her/his property.  Private property is one of the fundamental cogs on which the wheel of liberty turns.  However, it seems tragic to demolish this building. Unfortunately, in instances like what's happening with Stephey's Tavern, emotional attachments often over rule reason at the expense of personal freedom.  On what grounds does the historic significance of anything outweigh the rights of an individual?  What intrinsic value is added to a place if Lee stopped there to eat or if Washington slept there?   Where does the line get drawn?

Steve Pavlina offers 33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity.  If you like these, there's 33 more in volume two.

Extremism:  From the archives of The Raving Atheist, an exploration of the the importance of "what a person believes" vs "how that person believes".

Roger Scruton asks are we "Better off without religion?"

Where Do Rights Come From?  Steve Kanga questions whether rights are "natural, inalienable, God-given and self-evident" or man-made "social constructs".