Under every passive liberal lies an active fascist.

As I recoiled in disappointment and mild horror after hearing about the camera in my school, I thought about the privacy in my life. It is waning. Along with the vast majority of this country, ECHELON scans my emails, faxes, instant messages, and the like for keywords. Invasion number one. Thanks to the Patriot Act, federal agents can get warrants and search my home without my consent and/or knowledge. Invasion number two. I’ll stop now, to avoid blowing a vein. When I think about the camera in my school, it reminds me of how my privacy is being invaded. I don’t think our schools should continue it. I’m not saying to eradicate locker searches, far from it, because any student who uses a locker should know that the school can search it at any given time. I am saying to inform students in writing that they are being videotaped, or use a device that makes it obvious a camera is present. At least that way, poor school behavior can be deterred, and the students can at least be shown a modicum of respect by warning them that they are being videotaped, and their privacy further invaded.

P.S., That title is relatively easy to prove, by employing simple logic.

P.P.S., I think I should note that in a twist of irony, the one person who is obligated to provide me with the least privacy gives me the most. That person? My parent. Think about that for a while.

We’d rather prosecute all of our criminals than have less criminals.

Well, for my first post of the new year, I’d like to reflect on recent events. Of course, I will also justify this title. My school (which will remain nameless, for ethical reasons), will be the primary focus of this post. It has inadvertently come to the attention of the students of my school that there is a camera on the premises, on one of the floors. With enough students complaining about it, it has become an issue “relevant” enough to eat the time that the members of the student government spend meeting every week. Of course, the camera is there to stay. Therefore, any discussion in favor of removing it is useless. Something that I think needs to be discussed is the deception. No, it is most likely that the secret camera would remain a secret, had nobody found out about it. Therein lies the issue. Rather than inform the students about the cameras, it was decided that they would be used to capture people doing bad things. That is basically the equivalent of the mayor of a large city telling its residents that they would rather focus on prosecuting every single criminal than reduce crime.
You wouldn’t vote for a mayoral candidate who is okay with keeping crime high, would you? Then maybe we should use the same tactic in our schools.