I first heard that phrasing by Glenn Beck. Then I noticed it several times in several different Fox sNooze segments. Then in some of the tea-party speeches. (I sometimes like to get ALL perspectives, first-hand.

Sooo … whatever happened to the phrase that USED to be the mainstay of American political advocacy – demanding “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, as it IS stated in the Declaration of Independence?

Why are so many on the Raght systematically abandoning that long-standing declaration, subtly replacing it with this new formulation with its property preoccupation?

Hmmmm??? [Spread the word - or the question!]

–jim; Jim Warren, open-govt & tech-civlib advocate & sometime columnist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Warren

justjim36 on twitter | Jim Warren on Facebook

This is a first-draft proposal for a ballot initiative, stated for my home-state, but equally applicable to other states:

In the State of Washington, corporations are not people,
and a corporation is not a person, and corporations have
no rights other than those enacted by legislation,
explicitly stating that they are rights for corporations.

It’s brief, easy for anyone to read and understand, and would seem to be “obvious”. Please let me know if you’re interested in pursuing such a ballot measure in ANY state.

[Note: There are numerous organizations and websites already concerned with fighting judicially-invented corporate personhood, but I don't know of any efforts in any state to address this problem via statewide ballot initiative.]

–jim; Jim Warren, open-govt & tech-civlib advocate & sometime columnist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Warren

justjim36 on twitter | Jim Warren on Facebook

Every private health-insurance policy has page after page of
limits and rationing.  Every for-profit “health” insurance conglomerate
absolutely DOES have what are, operationally, too-often “death
panels” (and panel-specified policies that guarantee bankruptcy for too many of their
policy-holders).

Internal administrative panels composed of cost-control managers,
actuaries and even some non-practicing physicians, unilaterally
decide which treatments will remain unfunded, which pharmaceuticals
will remain unapproved, which pre-existing conditions will be
prohibited from having any coverage at all, which continuing
illnesses will have their coverage denied after their first occurrence,
which claims will be denied based on intentionally-vague fine-print,
etc.

Politicians and advocates who favor redressing these major threats to
life, health and family security, should be emphasizing these
current, profit-driven threats, aggressively pursued by these massive,
all-powerful conglomerates.

Has America become too cowardly to defend its citizens against aggressors?

This is a “war” against illness!  American citizens are far more
threatened by invading bacteria, illness attacks, etc., than by any
threat from terrorists (much less unreliable enemies like “Communist”
bogeymen).

–jim; tech-civlib & open-govt advocate & sometime columnist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Warren

justjim36 on twitter  |  Jim Warren on Facebook

He felt it was necessary in order to assure that traditional 18th Century constitutional civil liberties would remain protected against modern technological threats.

On March 26, 1991, Professor Tribe (now a Obama administration advisor), in his keynote address at the First Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy (Burlingame, California), proposed the following to be the 27th Amendment:

“This Constitution’s protections for the freedoms of speech, press, petition, and assembly, and its protections against unreasonable searches and seizures and the deprivation of life, liberty or property without due process of law shall be construed as fully applicable without regard to the technological method or medium through which information content is generated, stored, altered, transmitted or controlled.”

He proposal and its rationale was later published in The Humanist, Sep/Oct 1991, pp.15-20,39

I just submitted a proposal urging that this finally be implemented – at least by statute and regulation if not by Constitutional Amendment – via the Obama administration’s http://change.gov/page/s/techagenda .

If enough people advocate the same and pass the word to all their friends, perhaps someone in the new administration might actually give it serious consideration.

–jim; Jim Warren; jwarren@well.com
founder & Chair, First Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy
Hansville WA ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Warren