[Pops]

Is it just me or is this getting scary?

The Supreme Court is getting involved in an unusual freedom of information dispute over whether corporations may assert personal privacy interests to prevent the government from releasing documents about them.

The court on Tuesday agreed to a request from the Obama administration to take up a case involving claims made by telecommunications giant AT&T to keep secret the information gathered by the Federal Communications Commission during an investigation.

The administration wants the high court to rule that corporations may not claim a personal privacy exception contained in the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Link

[Ludi]

It got scary quite a while ago.

[gollum]

Corporations have the right to privacy, not the little people.

[Ludi]

People apparently want to give their rights away to corporations, since they seem to want a right-wing Supreme Court.

[gollum]

People apparently want to give their rights away to corporations, since they seem to want a right-wing Supreme Court.

Of course a liberal court would decide what guns I could have, or as the latest supreme court justice testified to, what food I could eat.......

[Ludi]

Can you point to a liberal Supreme Court decision limiting what food you can eat? I'm pretty sure there is no such thing. But maybe I'm just ignorant of laws regarding what food we can eat.

Please don't list decisions regarding what food can be sold.

Thanks.

[Ludi]

Why do Democratic and progressive gun owners never worry about liberal judges or Democratic legislators taking away their guns.......

[Pops]

Of course a liberal court would decide what guns I could have, or as the latest supreme court justice testified to, what food I could eat.......

I gotta say that is a textbook example of propaganda at its finest, tell us what you are going to do with all them guns when the corps have all the rights you do, complete legal protection for the people calling the shots plus a virtually unlimited budget to pursue whatever profit-motivated goal they set for themselves?

You gonna go all Rambo on 'em?

[Ludi]

Why do Republicans and conservatives never worry about ring-wing justices or Republican legislators giving away their rights to corporations?

[gollum]

Why do Republicans and conservatives never worry about ring-wing justices or Republican legislators giving away their rights to corporations?

Because the republican party is controled by big money.

[Ludi]

Why do Republicans and conservatives never worry about ring-wing justices or Republican legislators giving away their rights to corporations?

Because the republican party is controled by big money.

But you'd think Republican and conservative CITIZENS would worry about it.....


....but they never seem to. They just worry about their guns.......

[Timo]

............of the corporations, for the corporations, and by the corporations.

Or, ..........of Big Money, for Big Money, and by Big Money.

And lately it really seems............of the Republicans, for the Republicans, and by the Republicans.

Yup. One Party rule isn't too far off. Thanks to the PTB that we all live in America, and not China, or the USSR.

[hope_full]

Don't get me started on privacy issues. We sailed off the abyss when we ended up being subject to virtual strip searches at the airport. I flew out of Atlanta two weeks ago and "opted out" of the Whole Body Imager and was detained for 45 minutes and ended up being given an "enhanced pat down," which included being tested for explosive residue.

I was purposefully separated from my laptop. wallet and cell phone which were left unattended at the end of the conveyor belt throughout this ordeal. Despite my pleas to at least be able to SEE my items, I was told to remain still. I pointed out that other TSA agents were not watching my items and was told simply, "No one is going to steal your stuff."

Tell that to Mrs. Showalter: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/05/24/Woman-sues-TSA-over-lost-Rolex/UPI-82091274741464/

Further, did you see the article about the woman who was turned over to Law Enforcement because she had several sequential checks in her possession? TSA contacted her HUSBAND to report that she might be planning to flee. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/100960429.html?viewAll=y

We've crossed the rubicon (to coin a popular term)! The fourth amendment no longer applies in any transportation hub, such as AIRPORTS.

My point is, we have no privacy laws in this country. They're simply gone.

Hope_Full

[Sixstrings]

My point is, we have no privacy laws in this country. They're simply gone.

Hope_Full

And then there's the Internet.. it's scary to think what a fascist or communist totalitarian state could do with that power. Everything is now in place for Orwell's 1984.

[Timo]

Freedom and assured safety simply cannot coexist in the same place at the same time. Sorry, but RISK is the true cost of freedom.

[oowolf]

You and your so-called govt live to support corporations. You thought you were living for some other purpose?
It is a violation of the 13th amendment of the US Constitution to be forced to enter into a private contract by law--like being forced to buy "insurance".
But we all know in the real world, constitutions are written by dreamers, believed in by fools, and ignored by TPTB. Cynical but true.
Oh, I volunteer at a food bank, and we are now told we have to "card" EVERYONE who enters the building..i.e.: demand that they show photo "ID". (Of course, some of you know I have refused to carry any so-called "ID" for over 25 years.) This is all so Nazi-like and ridiculous, since, if you do a google search for "fake ID" you can obtain bogus ID's; you can get them from services like FakeIDMaster.com---not that moi would actually advocate doing any such thing.

[oowolf]

You may find the article "Its You vs Corporations" by Barry Ritholtz @ The Big Picture blog (ritholz.com/blog) interesting. It is also posted @ cryptogon.com

[Ludi]

Oh, I volunteer at a food bank, and we are now told we have to "card" EVERYONE who enters the building..i.e.: demand that they show photo "ID".

That's bizarre! I can't remember the last time I had to show anyone my ID. Under what authority does the food bank demand ID?

[Outcast_Searcher]

. . .(Of course, some of you know I have refused to carry any so-called "ID" for over 25 years.)

I admire your pluck and for standing up for principle, but I wonder how this works.

In my world, if a cop asks me for ID (like in a traffic accident, or even if I am just walking down the street at night, minding my own business) -- if I refuse, my understanding is the cop may throw me in jail (which I regard as a dangerous and inconvenient thing).

This is what puzzles me about the whole concern about cops asking suspected illegals for ID. If they can ask my european bred white middle class innocuous looking fanny for ID, why can't they ask a person they stop who looks like race "X" for an ID?

I'm honestly curious how you manage this, and whether you've been given any grief by cops about it (even if short of being thrown in jail).

[Outcast_Searcher]

Corporations have the right to privacy, not the little people.

How about unions? What I find maddeninly hypocritical is how much of the left wants to treat corporations like evil villians, but treat unions (which are politicially active and may be rich and powerful) like they're completely different.

A little consistency would be nice.