Well, I guess it was that time of year. Now with bonus political rant!

[lassarina]

Just before Halloween, I came to the determination that I required a new car. I got myself a pretty little Corolla with 82,000 miles (his name is Boco.) Yesterday, I sold Perdhro. Today, I overnighted the tags, registration, bank draft, and bill of sale to my mother. I feel oddly regretful. Perdhro was behaving very nicely yesterday when I

Comments

[shanaqui]

...As usually happens, I got distracted halfway through my rant, lost steam, and am now slightly boggled. Where I was going was basically this. I think that far too many of our rights have been slowly fenced in, in a gradually tightening structure that is nothing big or major at a time - but it does add up, doesn't it?

I know this feeling. I was aghast to learn that every time I visit Lisa or she visits me, come 2009, we may (read: the government's intention is that we) have to answer thirty-eight questions about who bought our tickets, when, how long we're staying for, who we're staying with, how to contact us... I'm almost resolved to, despite the language barrier, move to Belgium instead of her moving here. :|

[lassarina]

How foolish and ridiculous.

[shanaqui]

It's not even thirty-eight questions that you can reasonably be expected to know the answers to off by heart. I'm not sure it'll count when they ask what number is on your ticket and you say "hang on, let me look".

Mind you, my Grampy did that when a policeman asked what registration plate the bike he was riding had (because they suspected he'd stolen it). He got off, walked around to look, read it out, and said, "I thought bobbies were supposed to be able to see past the ends of their own noses?". He could've proved it was his own bike in a million ways, but he never saw any sense in memorising their registration plates. xD

[lassarina]

Yeah, a lot of those are things I'd definitely have to look up.

Your gramps is brilliant. XD

[herod_the_nut]

When I used to fly home for holidays, I'd get pulled aside a lot because I almost never checked baggage. Now I take a train. I like trains. Choo-choo.

I just felt I'd share how much better choo-choos are.

As you were.

[lassarina]

Unfortuanately, home is so far away that I can't really take a train =/ It takes like 16 hours! *boggle*

[herod_the_nut]

If you ever have extra time when going home (not likely, with your job, I know, but still) you should give it a try. It's nifty.

[katmillia]

Every Christmas while I was dating Marc I would fly one-way to Houston for Christmas break and we would drive back together, and I went through every screening process EVERY single time. Haha I think it's just something they do with people traveling alone with one-way tickets. I never really had a problem with it- but I guess some people might?

[lassarina]

I just...I don't know. I feel like the government really ought not be reading my email, listening to my cell phone conversations, etc. - and they can do it anytime without even a WARRANT, which is what drives me crazy.

[katmillia]

Well all they did was put me through airport security, and I think you are signing up for that when you travel anyway knowing everything that happened on the airlines. I don't think they should be reading my email but when did they do that in my airport check??

[lassarina]

How much safer does it really make us? I shouldn't have to sign up to have some TSA perv rummage through my underwear EVERY TIME I fly (I swear to you I have flown only once in the past two years and NOT gotten a TSA flyer of O HAI WE CHECKED UR STUFF in my checked baggage). I can't lock my damn suitcase to keep people out of it so everything I want to take with me that has ANY damn value at all ahs to be in my carry on baggage and that's a bitch. Also, it's not so much JUST airports or JUST email, it's the collective weight of these things.

[secretsquirrel2]

Benjamin Franklin said "those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither."

With all due respect to Mr. Franklin. That's an asinine statement. You have to give up liberty for security. Liberty without security is meaningless. If liberty, in the strictest sense, what was ultimately important we would have no government at all. The libertarian argument for the minimal government is built around giving up liberty for security and they are the ones who value liberty most of all!

mean, I applied for car insurance - not a car loan, merely insurance - and they checked my credit rating. I call shenanigans!Credit rating often factors into insurance rates now. Some bean counter found a correlation between credit rating and accident rates. I find this out a few years back when I got a big boost in my insurance rating. Thats what I get for being young and not having much established credit yet

[lassarina]

Your points in counter-argument are much better thought-out and reasoned than mine. Thank you for taking the time to point these things out :) Mostly I just flail pointlessly about whatever has irritated me at the moment, so I'm always pleased to get well-thought-out counterpoints that make me stop and think.

[secretsquirrel2]

How to make a better world politically occupies the majority of my studies so I'd hope my arguments are thought out and reasoned!

[katmillia]

You already hit what I was going to mention about credit ratings and insurance. I'm pretty sure it's almost standard to check the credit rating now... just because it factors into payments and whether or not you're reliable or something.