The least free places for speech in America are the most un-intuitive.
College campuses.
And: do people have a right not to be offended.
Watch the video:
Your thoughts following the video?
Yes:
The least understanding and tolerant individuals are those demanding the greatest amount of free speech — until it conflicts with theirs:
Leftists.
BZ
Things are about to change.
The BZ Blogroll has to change.
It has become too stagnant and I had become unwilling to look and link to new and exciting talent. People who don’t blog regularly as I do — well, I can’t have time for them. Life is too short.
Though I’m getting older, the political issues are morphing faster as are the changing and evolving technological realms — which have a massive effect on our lives. I, we, cannot afford to get kicked to the curb because we do not have time to become aware.
Thusly: the blogroll of The Usual Suspects is markedly changing later this week.
And I will be going back to personally introducing or deleting various blogs on my TUS blogroll.
Look for the change, and please visit those who will inhabit my new The Usual Suspects blogroll.
Excelsior!
BZ
And to the obvious detriment of actual Americans?
Clearly the Demorats and a number of Republicans are nuts.
From CNSNews.com:
by Penny Starr
(CNSNews.com) – Speaking at the United States Conference of Mayors on Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the approximately 11 million people who are in the country illegally have “earned the right to be citizens.”
“An earned path to citizenship for those currently present in this country is a matter of, in my view, homeland security to encourage people to come out from the shadows,” said Johnson, in what he remarked was one of his first public speeches since being confirmed as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief in December.
Really?
And just how have they earned that right? By doing nothing in order to earn a gold star pasted to their foreheads? By “showing up”? Their mere presence is a reason for excellence? Should we give T-ball holders to illegal Mexicans? Should we create a program designed to enhance “esteem” in illegal Mexicans?
Should borders mean nothing? Should law-breaking mean nothing? Because, if so, I can’t wait. I’d love to walk into a San Francisco Rolls-Royce dealer and take a new Phantom. Not because I can pay for one, but because I simply want one and, after all, laws don’t mean anything and my wants and emotions trump logic and budget. Don’t they?
Apparently so — to both Demorats and Old, Staid Country Club Republicans.
Here’s my challenge to DC and to Leftists and Progressives and Demorats and RINOs of the GOP:
Simply de-criminalize illegals of all shades and stripes. Remove the word illegal and remove immigration laws from the books. No more “detainees.” Certainly, check vehicles and various modes of transportation for illegal contraband and goods, but allow the vertical bipeds to enter entirely unhindered.
You talk some smack. Now walk the walk. Put your vote where you ass-music is.
Remove the laws. You don’t enforce them nor do you want to. So remove them.
Let anyone and everyone into the country.
Ball’s in your court.
Go.
BZ
Many police and sheriff departments throughout the nation are moving to body cams for their officers. Some units reside in glasses that are worn; some are located on the shoulder epaulets. Some clip to the front of the shirt.
Though not all agencies have aligned themselves with these units, and some agencies are struggling with the policies to attend their utilization, there is an excellent chance that if you now come in contact with a law enforcement officer these days — including officers on motors — you are either on a dashcam or a body cam, or both.
Now, there are two new cams becoming more popular with the public, the Narrative and the Autographer. From this article in the Wall Street Journal, the reviewer believes:
by Geoffrey A. Fowler
I’ve been snapping photos of everything in front of me for the last week. If we’ve passed, even for a moment, I probably have a picture of your face.
I’m not a spy, but I’ve been using gear you might associate with 007. New matchbook-size cameras that clip to your tie or shirt let you capture a day’s worth of encounters, then upload them to the Internet to be remembered forever.
Why on Earth would anybody want to do that? After trying out two devices that recently began shipping, the $279 Narrative Clip and $399 Autographer, I think the answer for many will be why wouldn’t you?
Allow me to reply. Why would you? If you’re a large chunk of a self-centered asshole, perhaps you would. The author readily admits: if I walked by you, I have you caught on my cam. It’s not a terribly unforeseen thing that your location and the time of your presence there could easily be determined. At best, creepy; at worst, I’m going to punch you in the face for recording me.
But there’s a cost to amassing so much photographic evidence. The tiny cameras made others uncomfortable when they found out they were being recorded. Some friends wouldn’t hug me; gossiping colleagues kept asking, “Is that thing on?” These devices upset a fundamental (though arguably flawed) assumption that even in public, you aren’t being recorded.
Makes you squirm, doesn’t it? One reason I wanted to review these cameras is that this kind of technology isn’t going away. “Always on” cameras are becoming popular in home electronics like the Xbox One and a new wave of streaming video security systems. Now you can buy cameras that attach to your wrist, ear, bike helmet and eyeglasses. They’re also fast becoming part of the uniforms of cops, soldiers and doctors.
Your thoughts?
Is this really where you want technology to go? Where we want our civilization to go?
I say: this isn’t my world. I once had actual privacy. I’d like to at least kid myself for a few more years that I have a partial semblance of privacy left.
Do you really want to live in a country where your every waking moment is watched, gauged, monitored, prone to greater regulations and enforcement, and subject to critical examination from now until the end of time?
I’m not a robot, I’m a human being.
The cops don’t have a choice.
You do.
BZ
From TruthRevolt.org:
The Pentagon is about to become much more accommodating to the religious needs of soldiers — whether Muslim, Wiccan, Christian or Jewish. NBC News obtained an early draft of the new Department of Defense instruction that states the military will make every effort to accommodate “individual expressions of sincerely held beliefs” (conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs) of service members. As part of these new rules the military will be adjusting the governing religious items and religion-based physical attributes that service members can maintain while in uniform — including beards, some religious tattoos, and turbans.
From the article by Jeff Dunetz (Yid With Lid):
Requests for religious accommodation can be denied when the “needs of mission accomplishment outweigh the needs of the service member,” the directive will explain.
Earlier this month, a major in the U.S. Army who is a Sikh American took his case to staffers on the Hill, explaining how he and other Sikhs should be able to serve in uniform and still maintain their religious beliefs, including wearing turbans and unshorn hair, including beards.
The new directive will explain that if the articles of faith or physical attributes interfere with the proper function of protective clothing and equipment, the request could be denied. For example, a beard or unshorn hair cannot interfere with gas masks or helmets.
Jewish service members can request permission to wear a yarmulke while in uniform. Muslim service members can request to wear a beard and carry prayer beads. Even Wiccan service members, those who practice “Magick,” can seek accommodation — the directive covers all religions recognized by the U.S. military.
The policy will also spell out that service members have the right to observe no religion at all.
What does the word “uniform” mean? Today, apparently not that much.
An excellent article about the issue is here, as well. Thanks AOW.
BZ