1) With Regards To Many Of Those Who Are Infuriated About Christa Dias Winning Her Suit Against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati:
(Note: For a very brief, but covers the basics, article about the case, you can go to this report.)
To many of those who are furious that Christa Dias won her case against the archdiocese of Cincinnati, I point out the following:
1) This is not a violation of freedom of religion. It has long been law that federal and state laws still apply to religious organizations. They are obligated to obey them.
2) Neither she, nor the Archdiocese, argued at all that her sexuality was relevant to her dismissal. The display of homophobia and bigotry by many had been vile.
3) To those arguing that she violated her contract, I make two points.
a) She is not a Catholic, artificial insemination was not mentioned by name in the contract, and her interpretation of what it meant is a completely logical one.
b) The entire issue of ANY employer thinking they have the right to control the private life of its employees is, bluntly, disgusting. You want to talk about 1984? That's something that Big Brother would smack his lips at.
4) Her argument that this sort of action punishes women while men get off the hook is entirely sound.
5) Finally, I point out that this is a dangerous slope for the diocese to have set off on at all. If you want to truly make such actions "fair," then it must require doctors record, pharmacy records, grocery bills, itemized statements, online doing bills, and more, to make every effort to identify any teacher who might be using any form of birth control in any capacity. Once identified, all such teachers would then be fired.
Suddenly seeing, some of you, the incredibly serious and dangerous issues at hand?
I hope so.
Why Snowden Is Not The New Ellsberg
You can have whatever opinion you want about the leaks about data mining itself, but there are SEVERE problems in many areas with Snowden's actions. (And I'm not talking about him being melodramatic, as the Washington Post described his behavior in their interviews.)
First: Snowden says he is not running from justice, but rather wants the courts and "the people of Hong Kong" to decide his fate.
Ellsberg did not run to another country. He was tried in the United States. Snowden's desire to have the people of Hong Kong, rather than the people of the United States, decide his fate is seriously problematic and questionable. It's hard to argue otherwise than that, on some level, he IS running from justice and trial.
Additionally, it becomes harder to say Snowden is not a traitor now that he says that the US has hacked Chinese computers and stolen information. This issue has become two-fold, now, and is not JUST about the phone data collection. Snowden shared government secrets about actions taken against China while, gee, in a Chinese Territory--and Beijing, of all places, is the one that can block an extradition attempt by the United States, even if Hong Kong agrees.
I am not commenting on the information that was leaked itself. I'm commenting on Snowden's behavior. He potentially could have come out of this looking like Ellsberg did after the trial with the Pentagon Papers.
He won't be able to do that now. He's released information in an attempt to block extradition; he has refused to be judged in the United States. He ran.
I'm not calling him a hero, and I'm not calling him a traitor, though I have and I do again point out that it's harder to argue he's NOT a traitor since he leaked information about the US hacking Chinese computers.
I AM calling him a liar with regard to what he's doing, when it comes to him saying he's not trying to avoid justice.
I'm also calling him a coward who, now that he has leaked information, is leaking more in an attempt to save his own skin.
I believe the data mining by the US violates civil rights. I agree with Franklin's statement that those who give up a little liberty for temporary security deserve neither.
But I have a hard time with anyone who says that Snowden is a hero and ignores the facts I've tried to point out here.
If you are brave enough to leak information that you feel needs to be leaked, I applaud you. But accept the consequences. And don't leak more to other countries simply to save your own skin--because then your reasons stated for leaking the original data becomes highly questionable.
And it leads people, like me, to form the conclusion that whatever else Snowden might be, he is also a self-serving coward who wants to save his own skin more than anything else, and he doesn't care what he has to do in the process.
(Note: For a very brief, but covers the basics, article about the case, you can go to this report.)
To many of those who are furious that Christa Dias won her case against the archdiocese of Cincinnati, I point out the following:
1) This is not a violation of freedom of religion. It has long been law that federal and state laws still apply to religious organizations. They are obligated to obey them.
2) Neither she, nor the Archdiocese, argued at all that her sexuality was relevant to her dismissal. The display of homophobia and bigotry by many had been vile.
3) To those arguing that she violated her contract, I make two points.
a) She is not a Catholic, artificial insemination was not mentioned by name in the contract, and her interpretation of what it meant is a completely logical one.
b) The entire issue of ANY employer thinking they have the right to control the private life of its employees is, bluntly, disgusting. You want to talk about 1984? That's something that Big Brother would smack his lips at.
4) Her argument that this sort of action punishes women while men get off the hook is entirely sound.
5) Finally, I point out that this is a dangerous slope for the diocese to have set off on at all. If you want to truly make such actions "fair," then it must require doctors record, pharmacy records, grocery bills, itemized statements, online doing bills, and more, to make every effort to identify any teacher who might be using any form of birth control in any capacity. Once identified, all such teachers would then be fired.
Suddenly seeing, some of you, the incredibly serious and dangerous issues at hand?
I hope so.
Why Snowden Is Not The New Ellsberg
You can have whatever opinion you want about the leaks about data mining itself, but there are SEVERE problems in many areas with Snowden's actions. (And I'm not talking about him being melodramatic, as the Washington Post described his behavior in their interviews.)
First: Snowden says he is not running from justice, but rather wants the courts and "the people of Hong Kong" to decide his fate.
Ellsberg did not run to another country. He was tried in the United States. Snowden's desire to have the people of Hong Kong, rather than the people of the United States, decide his fate is seriously problematic and questionable. It's hard to argue otherwise than that, on some level, he IS running from justice and trial.
Additionally, it becomes harder to say Snowden is not a traitor now that he says that the US has hacked Chinese computers and stolen information. This issue has become two-fold, now, and is not JUST about the phone data collection. Snowden shared government secrets about actions taken against China while, gee, in a Chinese Territory--and Beijing, of all places, is the one that can block an extradition attempt by the United States, even if Hong Kong agrees.
I am not commenting on the information that was leaked itself. I'm commenting on Snowden's behavior. He potentially could have come out of this looking like Ellsberg did after the trial with the Pentagon Papers.
He won't be able to do that now. He's released information in an attempt to block extradition; he has refused to be judged in the United States. He ran.
I'm not calling him a hero, and I'm not calling him a traitor, though I have and I do again point out that it's harder to argue he's NOT a traitor since he leaked information about the US hacking Chinese computers.
I AM calling him a liar with regard to what he's doing, when it comes to him saying he's not trying to avoid justice.
I'm also calling him a coward who, now that he has leaked information, is leaking more in an attempt to save his own skin.
I believe the data mining by the US violates civil rights. I agree with Franklin's statement that those who give up a little liberty for temporary security deserve neither.
But I have a hard time with anyone who says that Snowden is a hero and ignores the facts I've tried to point out here.
If you are brave enough to leak information that you feel needs to be leaked, I applaud you. But accept the consequences. And don't leak more to other countries simply to save your own skin--because then your reasons stated for leaking the original data becomes highly questionable.
And it leads people, like me, to form the conclusion that whatever else Snowden might be, he is also a self-serving coward who wants to save his own skin more than anything else, and he doesn't care what he has to do in the process.
comment