One night I was watching a movie with the GF at about one in the morning. Her house backed up into a large open field. We all of a sudden heard a very load helicopter hovering over the house. About 10 seconds later a black heli landed in her back yard and 4 men with swat type weapons jumped out. Another Heli landed alittle off behind it with more men. Needless to say it scared the crap out of us. As one of the helis took back off you could see it said “police” on it. I guess they were doing some sort of training.
So yes I believe in Black helicopters.
And I agree with what others have said in that I have lost faith with our government to do the correct thing. You have it right about your DNA being your most personal of information. The fact that the goverment has genetic materials worries me as they can justify whatever they feel they need to.
I’m curious why you are opposed to DNA samples being taken from guest workers? It’s a voluntary thing. If they don’t want their DNA taken, don’t come work in the US.
Personally I would oppose any requirement to take DNA samples from US citizens. My feeling is that if you want to live off the grid, you should have that right. It might be difficult to go through life without ever having a DNA sample, fingerprint, SSN, taxes or whatever, but you should be able to if you want to.
Me, I’m screwed. I’m in the military and have a secret clearance, so the Army has DNA, fingerprints, retinal scans, voice prints, and nearly a day to day accounting of my whereabouts for my entire life. But that’s price I have to pay to be the one monitoring folks like you from my black helicopter.
Oh, one more thing. Art Bell. He’s on our payroll.
What happens if they become US citizens? Does that mean their DNA becomes purged from the database? You do realize that unless you can be traced back to puritans we are all decendent from immigrants. Our parents, grandparent, whomever came over first, would have their DNA on file. That means part of our own.
I just don’t see how it would benefit the goverment any more to have their DNA. Because you (in the collective sense) can’t see a reason why not that doesn’t mean that doing it is OK.
I can’t argue that preventing crime is a bad thing but we are now talking about the right of our government to maintain a DNA database on people who have no connection with committing a crime.
I brought up in the other thread several cirumstances that were never addressed. What about short term programs such as teacher training where they earn pay in some form. Or, some kind of compensation. How about an exchange student who wants to work part time at a grocery store while here? EDIT TO ADD: Does this include all people who are paid by US companies regardless of whether they reside in the US or only those who live within the US borders?
We would be maintaining a database of DNA on non citizens simply because they earn a paycheck here. That isn’t a good enough reason.
**Example of misuse: If you are on a governement sponsored healthcare plan, it is conceivable they will have access to this DNA database. Genetic predispositions to disease could be used as a pre-existing condition. **
I don’t see that one. Private insurers are the ones who would deny you… if the gov covers everyone, then you’d be covered regardless.
There are black helicopters though. I once had a Top Secret EBI clearance… but I think they’ve lost track of me since then.
And I absolutely do not trust any entity to not abuse their power. I’ve seen a fair amount of it with the “probable cause” that police use. Pretty much anything can fit that description.
If they become US citizens, I would not oppose a provision to purge their record, but I’m of the belief that once you are in the gov’t database, you aren’t getting out regardless of what the policy is or the law says. Not because you don’t deserve to get out, or you shouldn’t be purged, just that someone, somewhere is gonna make a back-up and if someone wants to find it they will. Governments are insidious that way.
Everyone in the military has a DNA sample taken. We have no option to get it purged upon discharge. Perhaps that skews my perspective, but if I have to give one up, I don’t have a problem with a non-citizen coming to this country for school or work having the same requirement. If they don’t like it, they can go somewhere else.
I don’t think it is at movie level just because the logistics of super conspiracies are mind blowing but day to day the government is too involved with our lives and we willing let them in more everyday. We are hard wired to do this. We have evolved as a cooperative species so it’s in our DNA to mass together. Face it the US is not about freedom and liberty. It’s about safety and control.
There is a tendency to ascribe some mythical omnificence to our government, especially to its covert intelligence gathering and analysis capability.
Picture a very large office building filled with cubicles. The people in the cubicles like to play violins, ride bikes, go on picnics and play video games. They have children, cats, cars, families and apartments. They worry about their jobs, they celebrate birthdays.
That is the U.S. intelligence community. Regular people. Just like you and I. They get in traffic jams on the way to work. They kibbutz between cubicles and eat sandwiches at lunch. They even have a gift shop in their building a museum that highlights their successes and failures. There is even a day care center for chioldren on site. That is the U.S. intelligence community.
They do not have X-ray vision, experiment with LSD, and they are not clairvoyant. They do conduct covert intelligence gathering and analysis in the pursuit of countering percieved threats against U.S. citizens, and they do it with a degree of oversight unprecedented in history.
If you are a U.S. Citizen or Foreign National who is not involved in criminal or terrorist activity they simply are far too busy to fiddle with you.
And if that doesn’t work for you, put it this way: They can’t even locate a 6’2" tall geriatric nomadic fellow with an unkept beard, a penchant for video and a tendency to wear bath robes in an area the size of Michigan and Ohio even when using the combined might of the entire U.S. armed forces in the region. So, you and I are safe… Well, were safe at least from the CIA, the tall guy with the beard and the bath robe, that’s a problem…
Yeah, I don’t see it at the level of what we see in the movies, I’m a bit more realistic than that. I see it as has having more going on behind the curtain than we are aware of and likely care to think about.
They don’t give a crap about me but I haven’t found a cause to adopt that pisses them off enough. I also feel no need to give them my DNA because who knows what will be done with that information in 20 or 30 years. It is also on principle. They fundamentally have no right to it.
It isn’t what they will do today that worries me as much as what will happen in a couple decades as I’m not convinced we are getting more privacy and more freedoms over time but instead it is being chipped away at.
It isn’t what they will do today that worries me as much as what will happen in a couple decades as I’m not convinced we are getting more privacy and more freedoms over time but instead it is being chipped away at.
On lighter note you need to watch the movie** Brazil**(1985 Terry Gilliam)
Well, were safe at least from the CIA, the tall guy with the beard and the bath robe, that’s a problem…