"You think you've private lives, Think nothing of the kind, There is no true escape, I'm watching all the time."--Judas Priest

“Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds.”
~John Perry Barlow

With all of the media frenzy surrounding the George Zimmerman acquittal, and the endless (and constantly repetitive) debate from writers, political activists, protesters, and typical attention seekers, there is a story that has been slowly unfolding that has been largely ignored by the general public.  Ignoring this story is a mistake because it directly affects us all.

The story begins with a young man, and high school drop out, who worked at the Central Intelligence Agency, and later as a consultant for the National Security Administration (NSA).

This man is Edward Snowden. As if from a spy movie, Snowden is currently being chased around the globe by the U.S. government for the alleged crime of espionage and theft of government property.

Why should Snowden’s story be of concern to us?

To begin with, he was able to access a voluminous amount of records containing confidential information regarding individuals and entities throughout the world. These records are of consequence because they were obtained by the NSA via spying activities. One high school drop out with high level governmental access and computer skills was able to get this information.  How easy is it for anyone else, who has similar access, to obtain classified information?

Snowden’s release of the information he obtained caused chaos, and embarrassment by the U.S. government because very personal and confidential information was obtained about individuals around the world. Finding out that a foreign government has personal and detailed information about individuals worldwide, without exception, always causes great concern by the governments of other nations.

Snowden has exposed explicit and far reaching details that have led the U.S. to conduct a massive, international manhunt.  It is pretty clear, that Snowden will never live in the U.S. as a free man again.

 Snowden indicates that what he shockingly discovered is that even ordinary citizens who are not doing anything “wrong,” are being “watched and recorded.” According to Snowden, there has been a massive effort by the NSA to track phone calls and emails of virtually all Americans.

Not just suspected terrorists and criminals are being watched by the U.S. government, as an average U.S. citizen would reasonably think, but information is being obtained and stored about “average citizens” like you and I. As an example, Snowden leaked documents to The Guardian and The Washington Post showing that the U.S. stores data on essentially every call made on U.S. soil.  Further, the U.S. government has access to the servers of nine major Internet companies through a classified program called “Prism.” Complete access to internet communications by literally everyone is not a problem at all for the NSA.

Snowden told the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom that he has access to the full rosters of everyone working at the NSA, the entire intelligence community and undercover assets around the world.  “I can’t in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they are secretly building.”

Further disclosures, according the New York Daily News, also indicate that British Intelligence is involved in similar data gatherings as well as U.S. hacking of computers in Hong Kong and China.

Interestingly, several Latin American countries have offered to allow Snowden to live in their countries and grant political asylum. Why these countries, like Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, and Nicaragua for example, agree to offer asylum is not exactly certain---other than Snowden has information regarding intelligence gathering that is extremely troubling and of concern to these countries.

The obstacle that Snowden has is that none of these Latin American countries can be reached by direct commercial flight from Moscow; thus, Snowden is at risk that his plane will be forced down by fighter jets if his flight path crosses the airspace of a country willing to help extradite him to the U.S.

Snowden’s series of leaks to The Guardian and The Washington Post triggered an ongoing debate about the tradeoff between personal privacy and national security. The U.S. government’s response is that Snowden committed espionage and must be immediately brought to justice in the United States.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) blasted Russian President Vladimir Putting, accusing him of “sticking a finger” in America’s eye by allowing Snowden to land in Moscow.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) scoffed at Snowden’s claim of being a rights crusader. “The freedom trail is not exactly China-Russia-Cuba-Venezuela, so I hope we’ll chase him to the ends of the Earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there’ll be consequences if they harbor this guy.”

While there are those who agree with the espionage charges brought against Snowden, there are also a great many who believe that Snowden is a hero for shining light on what may be considered grand scale illegal activity by the United States with the excuse of protecting U.S. Citizens.

At the beginning of the U.S. chase for Snowden, he traveled to Hong Kong. The U.S. formally asked Hong Kong authorities to arrest Snowden on charges of theft of government property and two violations of the Espionage Act.

The Hong Kong government explained that due to a technicality, it would not turn over Snowden because the U.S. request “did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law.” This denial of the U.S. request, most believe, is a direct result of Snowden’s disclosures of U.S. spying activities in China, which China’s Xinhua News Agency indicates has “put Washington in a really awkward situation.”

After leaving Hong Kong, Snowden traveled to Moscow, Russia.

He is currently located at the Moscow Airport and is not subject to extradition by the United States due to a technical law cited by the Russians that prohibits the extradition of persons while they are at the airport.  As of today, it has been reported that Snowden is seeking asylum in Moscow, and by all accounts, much to the aggravation of the United States, it looks like he is going to get it.  The U.S. Department of Justice has indicated that it will not torture or execute Snowden if he is returned to the U.S. Notwithstanding this announcement; Russia does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.

Whether you consider Snowden a hero for exposing the magnitude of information gathering that is occurring on everyday people, who have not been accused or suspected of any crime; or, you consider Snowden a traitor for sharing secretive information with the world, there are two questions that I repeatedly asked myself while researching the Snowden story: 1) how is it that easy for a U.S. citizen to get top secret confidential information about international spying and intelligence gathering; and 2) does the ends justify the means in every situation, especially when the right to privacy is without a doubt being disregarded?

A Gallup poll conducted June 10-11, 2013 showed 44 percent of Americans thought it was right for Snowden to share the information with the press while 42 percent thought it was wrong. A USA Today/Pew Research poll conducted June 12-16, 2013 found that 49 percent thought the release of the information served the public interest while 44 percent thought it harmed it.

As the polls referenced above show, there are compelling arguments on all sides whether Snowden is a hero or traitor. What matters most is how much of the right to privacy granted to every citizen of the U.S. ultimately matters to a citizen, versus how much a citizen believes that loss of privacy ultimately makes the world a safer place to live.

~Leonardo G. Renaud

Kicked to the Curb: Blood In Blood Out

  

One of the cruelest things that you can do to another person

 is pretend you care about them more than you really do.

~Doug Coupland

We have all seen the television shows and news programs talking about Jodi Arias and the horrendous murder for which she was convicted.  Her actions caused shock and disbelief that a person, who looks small, meek and mild, can exhibit such savagery to such an extent that those who investigated the murder of her boyfriend (many of whom are jaded, experienced murder investigators) were floored by the gore they found.

It was a bloody, bizarre, and horrific scene. I am not going to rehash all of the facts of this case, as we have all been inundated ad nauseam with information since her case began. We all know that this was an awful case, and now the decision is being made whether Arias lives or dies.

These types of criminal acts by spurned lovers are not unique and have no doubt existed from the very beginning of time when people started to cheat on each other, thereby making their mate want to kill them. There are not too many original stories about spouses or loved ones murdering those who reject or cheat on them.

Having heard so much about Arias these past months, has caused me to do a little research regarding strange lover’s “revenge” acts.  It is interesting to me to imagine if anyone I know were in the same position, whether they could slip into such a blind rage, that they become set on the singular and murderous purpose of making someone pay very dearly.

The Pamper Wearing  Astronaut

Immediately following astronaut, William Oefelein's, divorce, he and Lisa Nowak (another astronaut who flew a mission in the space shuttle Discovery) became involved with each other. Their love affair lasted two years.  The relationship grew stale for Oefelein and he decided to dump Novwak. 

This turned out to be a big mistake.

Oefelein started a relationship with Colleen Shipman, who was working as an engineer with the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.

Enraged because she was dumped for a new lover, Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando, Florida. She packed latex gloves, a black wig, a BB pistol and ammunition, pepper spray, a hooded tan trench coat, a 2-pound drilling hammer, black gloves, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags, approximately $585 in cash, her computer, an 8-inch (20 cm) Gerber folding knife and several other items before driving the 900 miles (1,400 km) to Florida. As a further convenience, she brought a pair of diapers so that her road trip would not have the annoyance of bathroom breaks.

Upon arriving in Florida, Nowak went to the Orlando International Airport. She waited for about an hour in the baggage claim area, and then proceeded to the airport parking lot. She located and aggressively confronted Shipman, who had just arrived from Houston.

Nowak slapped Shipman’s car window and tried to open the door. Shipman rolled down the window a couple of inches after which Nowak sprayed pepper spray into her face and car.

Nowak was subsequently arrested at Orlando International Airport on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence.

Nowak entered a guilty plea to lesser charges. She was sentenced to a year's probation and the two days already served in jail, with no additional jail time.

She does not fly space shuttles anymore.

The Deadly Dentist

David Lynn Harris was an orthodontist who owned a chain of dental offices along with his wife, Clara Suarez Harris. The chain was very successful, and the couple was able to afford an upscale home and expensive lifestyle. By all accounts, they lived a wonderful, happy, and  luxurious life.

Turns out, David’s marriage was neither happy nor wonderful. He started cheating on his wife.

Clara, who was nobody’s fool, hired a private detective agency to spy on her husband.  The agency notified Clara that her husband was at a hotel with his mistress.

In a rage, Clara went to the hotel to confront her husband. She attacked her husband's mistress. When hotel employees escorted Clara to her Mercedes-Benz, she was very unsatisfied.  She took her anger out on her husband.

When David and his mistress came out of the hotel, Clara struck down her husband in the parking lot as her teenage stepdaughter sat in the passenger seat.  Clara ran over her husband three times. David was pronounced dead at the scene, and Clara was charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years.

Clara’s first parole review was 2013. It was denied. Her case will come up for parole review again in 2015.

What is the moral, if any, to the above stories? Before you make a decision regarding a spouse or loved one, you absolutely must ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?” The second question you should ask is “What would my mother think if I told her about this?”

Feel free to insert Buddha, God, Allah, Confucius, etc. for the words “Jesus,” or “Mother” if that works better for you. Also, listen very carefully to the answer you get when you ask yourself these questions.  If you do not listen, or play deaf, you may find yourself looking down the barrel of a gun or otherwise facing the murderous wrath of a person whom you thought you knew.  Things can be summed up with a saying my divorce attorney friends often tell me, “You never really get to know someone, until you dump them.”  Proceed cautiously.

~ Leonardo G. Renaud

WILL SNOOP DOG BE STAYING IN AMERICA?

"I now have absolute proof that smoking even one marijuana cigarette is equal in brain damage to being on Bikini Island during an H-bomb blast"

~Ronald Reagan

"I never understood that line. The point was to inhale. That was the point."  When asked, "Unlike other presidents, did you inhale?'’

                   

                                                         ~ Barack Obama

As an update to the status of marijuana laws in the states that are playing a major role in the legal and tax implications of legalized marijuana (Denver, Washington and California), there is new information since my original post. Please note, as with all of my posts, I do not promote one lifestyle over another. I am simply providing information that I find socially, legally, and politically interesting while updating my blog posts, and which I firmly believe will soon have significant impact.

Denver at the Forefront

Denver has become a national model in how it regulates medical-marijuana dispensaries and grow facilities. Now, 207 dispensaries operate in the city — slightly more than the number of liquor stores. And as of April 30, more than half of the 107,262 Colorado patients who possess a valid registry ID card for medical marijuana live in the Denver area with 17,969 or 17 percent living in Denver County.

In 2012 there were $130 million in gross sales of medical marijuana that generated $4.6 million in sales tax revenue for Denver, up from $1.8 million in 2010.

City leaders have been waiting since November for the state to craft its rules so they can begin building a municipal framework for how sales will be regulated in Denver.

Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law six bills for how the state will regulate and tax recreational marijuana.

Jeremy P. Meyer, The Denver Post

Washington, Major Taxes to be Collected

The state of Washington estimates it will generate as much as $1.9 billion in additional revenue in five years due to the legalization of marijuana.

The federal legalization of marijuana would offer a large new revenue stream, according to research from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.

"We don’t know the size of the marijuana market right now, and we certainly don’t know what would happen to the price and the demand for marijuana under different levels of legalization," Carl Davis, senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy told The Huffington Post. "But we do know that legalization would lead to a positive revenue impact on the income and sales tax side."

According to a 2010 study from Cato, legalizing marijuana would generate $8.7 billion in federal and state tax revenue annually.

Caroline Fairchild, The Huffington Post

California Losing its Buzz?

In a unanimous decision last week, the California Supreme Court ruled that cities and counties can prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries... The state's highest court found that two state laws, the Compassionate Use Act and the Medical Marijuana Program, do not preempt the ability of localities to use zoning laws to ban pot shops. The Compassionate Use Act was enacted via the ballot initiative process in 1996. The Medical Marijuana Program is a companion piece of legislation passed by the legislature in 2003.

The court ruled that the California Constitution gives localities so-called "police powers" under which they can legislate for the health, safety, and welfare of their jurisdictions. The court found that under those powers, localities have the authority to prohibit pot shops because the state statutes did not explicitly or implicitly prevent localities from imposing those prohibitions.

Jessica Levinson, Ballot Brief

Conclusion

In conclusion, although I do not espouse one position over another as stated above, I did find out some information that is food for thought and a good starting point for those who have interest in doing their own research.

Inmates incarcerated on marijuana-related charges cost U.S. prisons $1 billion annually according to a 2007 study;

Enforcing marijuana prohibitions costs taxpayers 41.8 billion per year;

Marijuana is California’s most valuable cash crop;

Illegal marijuana is a 36 billion dollar industry;

One-third of Americans think that legalizing marijuana would boost the economy;

Economists estimated in 2010 that legal marijuana could be a 45 to 100 billion

Dollar industry;

More than 60 percent of states agree with taxing marijuana to generate revenues;

As of July 2011, the city of Denver had more marijuana dispensaries than Starbuck’s franchises.

Jeffrey Miron and Katherine Waldock, The Huffington Post

Based on the foregoing, let’s see how our federal law enforcement agencies decide to deal with the fact that state laws permitting the sale and taxation of recreational marijuana are in direct conflict with Federal drug laws? Given the potential billions of tax revenues, I have a feeling that Tommy Chong is not going to have to move to Amsterdam anytime soon.

~Leonardo G. Renaud