Well, *just* being a dot-gov type in itself doesn't seem to have this effect. After all, Los Alamos wouldn't exist without government jobs, and it seems to have the same generally libertarian attitude as most of New Mexico does- up to and including the total embrace of home science. (One of the reasons we have as many security incidents as we do is that it doesn't make intuitive sense to the scientists to draw a sharp line between the lab and home.)
Being a dot-gov employee responsible for any kind of ENFORCEMENT, on the other hand...
I live in the town next to Marlboro, so this is particularly interesting to me.
For those who haven't seen it, there's another Massachusetts story to use as the "compare and contrast" test case. A month ago, a pervert molested a 4 year old boy in a public restroom. The kid's dad saw it, and punched the perv in the nose (dad is former marine).
Dad is arrested, and perv is let go on his own recognizance. Despite the perv not speaking any english.
Idiot town police chief is "shocked" when perv doesn't turn up for his court date (he skipped the country; back in Guatemala).
The quote of the year is Mass.Gov atty general Martha Coakley on Marine Dad's action: "We don't encourage self help."
Mr. Deeb has posted in the comments on the Home science under attack link. Make sure you remove all breakables before reading what he has to say. (Though part of his comments make it clear just how into the science he really is.)
I can see the .gov coming in and saying, "Hey, you wanna play with these chemicals, fine, but you have to store them properly and have adequate safety systems installed (vent hoods, disposal bins, etc.)." Call us when you get such things setup and we'll give you your stuff back.
However, I fail to see how his notes present a danger, and if he was doing research, I would sue for trade secret infringement.
Note:
All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost;
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If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>
JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-have-power-i-have-power.html (10 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
I don't know that Maryland isn't *ahead* of Massachusetts on nanny-statism. Maybe, maybe not. That one will probably go to the judges.
Well, *just* being a dot-gov type in itself doesn't seem to have this effect. After all, Los Alamos wouldn't exist without government jobs, and it seems to have the same generally libertarian attitude as most of New Mexico does- up to and including the total embrace of home science. (One of the reasons we have as many security incidents as we do is that it doesn't make intuitive sense to the scientists to draw a sharp line between the lab and home.)
Being a dot-gov employee responsible for any kind of ENFORCEMENT, on the other hand...
Being a dot-gov employee responsible for any kind of ENFORCEMENT, on the other hand...
Correct. Sorry if I was unclear on that. It's the people who hold enforcement powers over Joe and Jane Citizen who seem to be increasingly Stasi-like.
I live in the town next to Marlboro, so this is particularly interesting to me.
For those who haven't seen it, there's another Massachusetts story to use as the "compare and contrast" test case. A month ago, a pervert molested a 4 year old boy in a public restroom. The kid's dad saw it, and punched the perv in the nose (dad is former marine).
Dad is arrested, and perv is let go on his own recognizance. Despite the perv not speaking any english.
Idiot town police chief is "shocked" when perv doesn't turn up for his court date (he skipped the country; back in Guatemala).
The quote of the year is Mass.Gov atty general Martha Coakley on Marine Dad's action: "We don't encourage self help."
Ted, you have a link to that story? I'd love to archive THAT quote.
Lab notes mysteriously disappear? You have to wonder if there isn't some corporate lab where they will miraculously reappear.
I blogged about it, but got it from a series of sources:
http://thenaturaltruth.blogspot.com/2008/07/raynham-grocery-store-perv-no-show-in.html
http://tekmagej.blogspot.com/2008/07/mass-child-molester-gets-away.html
http://tekmagej.blogspot.com/2008/07/mass-moments.html
http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x390628325/Police-Child-groped-inside-Raynham-grocery-store
I compared the treatment of the perv with earlier idiocy where the Mass.Gov considered making spanking your kid illegal:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3924024
Sorry for the link-spam ... ;-)
Mr. Deeb has posted in the comments on the Home science under attack link. Make sure you remove all breakables before reading what he has to say. (Though part of his comments make it clear just how into the science he really is.)
Mr. Deeb's comments are going on as an addendum to that post, tonight. I've saved a copy just in case they disappear from the website.
I sincerely hope Mr. Deeb finds an attorney willing to sue on his behalf.
I can see the .gov coming in and saying, "Hey, you wanna play with these chemicals, fine, but you have to store them properly and have adequate safety systems installed (vent hoods, disposal bins, etc.)." Call us when you get such things setup and we'll give you your stuff back.
However, I fail to see how his notes present a danger, and if he was doing research, I would sue for trade secret infringement.
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>