Jan. 24, 2007 - 21:24 MST

DEEP SIX IT -- ALWAYS

Rather than fix things to be copasetic I guess it is easier and probably more profitable, one way or another, to just kill it and let it lie.

Two articles in today's The Rocky Mountain News

Both by Alan Gathright of that paper detail what happened to two bills in our state legislature. Both articles quoted in part. The first one:

INATTENTIVE DRIVERS LUCK OUT

House panel kills bill that targeted cell users, diners

"People who drive while talking on their cell phones, applying makeup, reading a newspaper or chewing on a chicken leg got a break Tuesday when lawmakers snuffed a bill that would have stiffened penalties for driving while distracted."

"The house transportation committee voted 10-3 against the bill."

"Many members complained that the measure would require police to make difficult "judgement calls" about whether a moving violation occurred because the driver was truly distracted by some activity, potentially clogging courts with irate motorists."

"Libertarian Party official Richard Randall called the bill "nanny statist" and a "paternalistic absurdity" saying it could criminalize "such common activities as eating a snack or drinking coffee while driving."

End quote on that one.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Seems to me that the transportation committee and Libertarian party member Richard Randall all could possibly be suspected of doing the very things the bill was trying to control.

Lord a mercy, all the years I drove while being a smoker, I remember taking great precautions when lighting up and stubbing out cigarettes. I never drank or ate while driving. I think now how lucky I was and others in the same traffic I was that no accident occurred because of my inattention to driving. I had trained myself to avoid looking at some one I was talking to and would ask that a tenditious subject be postponed until we were where we could sit and talk outside the car.

I have had too many close calls caused by drivers on their cell phones, combing their hair or looking over at their passengers while talking.

If it were up to me, I would make it a criminal offense if someone was observed to be doing any of those things while driving. Cell phone rings ? Pull over safely and answer it, talk and then get back into the traffic. If the caller hangs up - - - tough.

Those things are foolish and dangerous and have been known to cause people to have accidents. Hard to prove anything if the accident is not witnessed, but aren't most things hard to prove if not witnessed ?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next article by the same writer is another bit of wryness. Quoted here in part:

LAWMAKER KILLS HER BILL ON CHIP IMPLANTS

"A lawmaker on Tuesday killed her bill to ban forced microchip implantation in humans after it became the butt of jokes and editorial criticism."

I haven't done the background work to get people prepared for the concept," Rep. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton, said after withdrawing House Bill 1081."

But Hodge, who carried the legislation at the request of the Adams County library director, who feared forced microchipping could be used in the federal government's war on terror, said she still believes the legislation is warranted."

"Her bill would have made it a misdemeanor if, for example, an employer required workers to have the tiny glass capsules implanted under the skin so their movements could be tracked by security door scanners at work."

"But it would have allowed the encoded gadgets to be voluntarily implanted in Alzheimer's and other medical conditions."

"Last May, Wisconsin became the first state to ban forced implantation of the chips on humans, and at least 17 other states have introduced or are considering RFID bills." (RFID = radio frequency identification device)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Further quotes, "Hodge's legislation left some pols laughing, "Is this a problem ? Do we have gangs of post-apocalyptic Terminator-style cyborgs roaming the streets of Colorado implanting citizens with microchips?" Rob Fairbank, a former representative turned political consultant, wisecracked in an e-mail to political pals." "The Rocky also editorialized against the bill, saying that oppressive chip-implantation "is not yet a real issue in Colorado."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That's just here in Colorado, and from what I read similar attitudes are exhibited in others of our states.

Looking at it calmly, those RIFDs have been implanted in animals for many years, much information can be stored on them (Much like the information contained in the black strip on the backs of our driver's licenses) - - - that's a given.

So what can a person do to avoid being forcibly implanted by some arm of Homeland Security or other government arm ? Puts me in mind of the Nazis, it does.

Like many other things, action is often taken too late to do any good.

So the snickering snackering pols laugh, may they be the first to have microchips implanted and may we John Q. Public be on the monitors to see where they go and what they do with the time they are supposed to be legislating.

It is often a puzzle as to why there are great efforts, when something good comes up, to DEEP SIX IT - - ALWAYS. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Blog