And Such

[hermeticalchemy]

Bill Nye booed for saying that the Moon reflects the light of the Sun. I agree with oinu that these people deserve a firm curb stomping. Bill Nye is better than you!

And thanks to sheta_kaey for these articles:
The Eternal Value of Privacy. Self-explanatory.
Papers Please: Arrested At A Circuit City. Arrested for believing that customers shouldn't be treated

Comments

[ysidro]

Ah, the Circuit City thing involves a common mistake. There's no law stating they can search your bags, because they are a private entity without specific government protections (as opposed to airlines and the USPS.)

Certainly this doesn't seem to be an arrestable offense, unless their policy was clearly posted. At that point one can do business under their policy or take it elsewhere.

So now the question is: Does Circuit City post their receipt and bag check policy where it is clearly visible upon entry?

I'm not certain, but I'm willing to be they do.

Frankly, while I empathize with this man I don't think he has a legal leg to stand on. The best that can happen is he can get them to drop charges and have them post policy if it isn't already posted.

Why don't people pick their battles? This is a silly anti-authoritarian grade school level stunt. There are far more important things to protest than a private company wanting to make sure you actually bought your damn game and power strip.

[hermeticalchemy]

There are two points I must make in disagreement with you

[ysidro]

Actually, No. 2 is pretty close to my point. You don't like the way they act? Go shop somewhere else. Vote with your dollars. They won't change unless their bottom line is threatened. All creatures react to their food source being threatened and corporations survive on money.

Acting like a four year old on the other hand, won't do anyting except piss some people off, get blogged, and maybe get on the local evening news. Maybe.

[hermeticalchemy]

While I think that we agree on the essence, I must strongly disagree with your prejudice to dismiss one's dislike of complying with absurd policies out of hand as "acting like a four year old." Is civil disobedience "acting like a four year old" too?

Also, I'd like to point out that pissing people off seems to be the only way to get anybody's attention and get anything done. Love it or hate it, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. That, in fact, is the very foundation of peaceful civil disobedience. A machine cannot fix itself from the inside as much as it may need it.

I'm not placing this man or his actions on a pedestal with the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr. or Aung San Suu Kyi or anything. I just think that he was doing what he thought he had to do in the moment to defend his own right to not being treated like a sex offender on a playground at recess.

[tlttlotd]

Bill Nye is better than all of us.