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November 22, 2020 Keep It Private November 21, 2020 The Insomnia Song November 14, 2020 Career Announcement November 5, 2020 Early Voting Shock November 1, 2020 Before You Vote October 6, 2020 Excuses for Decisions September 25, 2020 Offense/Defense September 11, 2020 Address It! Say It! September 1, 2020 Child Predators |
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SITE UNDER RECONSTRUCTION November 21, 2020 Sidebars widened November 9, 2020 Sidebar colors changed September 1, 2020 Bio page updated August 18, 2020 Addition to Author Page August 11, 2020 Sidebar colors changed August 6, 2020 Election info added to Calendar July 28, 2020 Calendar revised |
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November 22, 2020
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First things first. I need to reemphasize that the "girl of my dreams" had absolutely nothing to do with my recent divorce. The two are completely separate, and any perceived connections are superficial, if they actually exist at all. Now, on with this blog. I'm sitting here with Billy Joel's My Life on repeat. The song's about a friend of the singer who gives up his job for an independent career as a stand-up comic. It's his life, and he doesn't care who says otherwise because he finally has a certain level of independence. If more people had this attitude, we'd be a lot better off. Instead, we're giving forty years of our lives to employers who benefit off the backs of hard-working Americans who can't make a living because we haven't seen a minimum wage increase in twelve years, despite prices skyrocketing from executive salaries continuing to go up. In other words, most typical workers don't have their own life and are more worried about what they have instead of what they need, and the bosses are taking advantage. I'd like to introduce a saying to this blog that I haven't put online before, a saying I'm very fond of. It's a piece of advice I've given people on occasion:
This applies to everything, from your employer to your overbearing parents, from the aggressive right-winger to the screaming progressive. At the same time, it must be noted that some people are in a position where they have no alternative, such as kids, the elderly, or the disabled. Example: During early voting, I was working outside the front door as greeter one evening. This was around 5pm. We had a line; not a long line, but enough so that I had to be watching everyone to make sure it stayed orderly during the pandemic. One of my tasks was to inform voters that all electronic devices were required to be turned off within one hundred feet of the polling room. (We measured it from the outside door, since the foyer was only about fifteen feet to the room.) We had one guy, plump, looked Hispanic in his early thirties, dark shirt and shorts. I said twice in his presence, "All electronic devices, including cellphones, must be turned off." Once I allowed him in, I thought that would be the last I saw of him until he came around the building after voting. Nope. A few minutes later, once the line had cleared, he came out the front door (where I was) with the Alternate Judge hot on his heels, a mean scowl on her face. As it turned out, as soon as he checked in to vote, he began snapping pictures with his cellphone right in front of one of the clerks. This is illegal for three reasons. First, the sanctity of the vote must be honored. It's possible for someone to use a photograph to intimidate a voter in the future. The Right of Privacy is being violated for the voter. Second, it's disruptive. Third, pictures of the equipment or the setup of the polling location can be used for destructive purposes. As it turns out, this was one of those guys who answered everything before you could even finish your first sentence. This is always a sign that someone isn't listening, and was also one of the key problems in my marriage. (Yes, this is why I chose this blog to address the issue above.) Remember: Frequent talking is nothing more than a defense mechanism designed to avoid hearing something you don't agree with. And this guy never . . . shut . . . up!!!!! He accused me of not telling him about the hundred foot law; it's even on display, and he claimed it wasn't. (He actually wasn't looking at anything, just staring straight ahead the whole time he was in line.) He accused the Alternate of not letting him vote. (Yes, he voted, and the Alternate made it clear she would let him, but not until after their talk.) And, yes, he threw the First Amendment into the argument. In matters of taking pictures or video in a public place, the First Amendment does not apply. The First Amendment right of Free Speech and Fourth Amendment Right of Privacy are then in conflict, which means one has to be suspended. As my law instructor taught us, your freedoms are absolute up to the point where others' freedoms are violated. If you don't take pictures, your free speech is reestablished when you leave the place. If you violate their privacy, their privacy is pointless after you leave, especially if you upload what you get. As a filmmaker, I have a thorough understanding of the law for recording video, and it's almost identical for still pictures. You can record whatever you want, as long as you're not violating anyone's privacy or recording anything that can be used against someone without their consent (which is where many of these online videos violate the law and deserve to be the subject of lawsuits). Before you upload any video, you must have the consent of every last person who appears in the video. And forget the "my phone" argument. The law still applies. What's so important about the Right of Privacy? Simple: Without it, we have none of our rights. It keeps others from charging in to see what we're doing and try to fix what they think is wrong. I don't want you to tell me it's all right Do right wingers understand this? HELLLLLL . . . NOOOOOO!!! To them, privacy means they're not physically there. Plus, they argue that the right of privacy is not specifically defined by the Constitution. Well, tough. Since 1974, the definition of privacy is defined in the United States, as based on the Fourth Amendment, has been to prevent people from:
Take note that you can consent to certain things that would otherwise violate the Right of Privacy. For example, you may not want anyone to know where you're going on vacation. But something may come up, so you tell one person and give them permission to tell anyone, just in case. And yes, you do have the Right of Privacy on the street. The exception is if you're participating in something that draws attention to yourself, such as a public demonstration or a yard sale. And, no, just because you're taking pictures of something that isn't protected by the Right of Privacy doesn't mean that they can willingly take your picture--unless you're also participating in a way that draws public attention to yourself. As I like to say, the Right of Privacy is integral to our freedoms. It stops anyone from finding out anything they can use to their advantage. It aids in enforcing laws concerning blackmail, certain sex crimes, revenge porn, and password stealing, among others. (It's actually illegal to know someone else's password to anything!) Now, I've done some things in the past I'm not proud of. But since I learned about the Right of Privacy, I've made some serious changes. But many of those around me haven't, and won't. (If you've been reading this blog, you understand why that led me to do the things I did.) And on this website, I've focused on my side of the story, for the most part, in dealing with anyone else. At least, since I restarted this blog in May. It's late. Burnt out. Gotta go, until next time . . . |
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