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Climate Change? Nahhh ...

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Riptide, Oct 23, 2015.

Page 222 of 352
  1. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Azrael, Jan 17, 2023
    #2653
    BTExpress likes this.
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    None of those things are comparable.

    EZPass: Nobody is forcing you to put EZ Pass in your car.

    Leaded gas: The comparable thing would be forcing everyone to put a government-controlled monitoring device in their car on the rationale that you are going to use it to make certain they don't use leaded gasoline. As I said in my first post, outlaw internal combustion engines if there is a legitimate regulatory reason. But no, you don't get control over my property with a Big Brother monitoring device to try to enforce how I use it.

    The "will of the voters" does not supercede my civil rights. If the will of the voters was to install cameras in my home on some rationale that they are going to be used to stop me from doing something that others have deemed bad, it's an example of an Orwellian type of society, not a case for how representative government works.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jan 17, 2023
    #2654
    Azrael likes this.
  3. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    No, but the state takes a picture of my (government issued) license plate as I pass. I'm participating in that government toll system irrespective of my willingness to do so, as a condition of using the highway or bridge or tunnel.

    And your annual state inspection puts a government-controlled monitoring system in your car once a year to control your use of unleaded gasoline and catalytic converters as a condition of operating your private car on public roads.
     
    Azrael, Jan 17, 2023
    #2655
  4. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    It would not. "Innocent until proven guilty" and all that. The assumption that every driver is driving intoxicated unless they prove otherwise violates one of the basic tenets our country was founded upon.
     
    2muchcoffeeman, Jan 17, 2023
    #2656
    Batman and Azrael like this.
  5. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Because my (now departed) Lexus was made before 1996, emissions inspections weren't required. And when it turned 30 in 2020, it was considered antique and wasn't even required to pass a safety inspection (which never really made sense).
     
    BTExpress, Jan 17, 2023
    #2657
  6. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Yes.

    But we still allow "sobriety checkpoints" in lots of place.
     
    Azrael, Jan 17, 2023
    #2658
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    They are an abomination.

    They also toe a fine line, as they have been allowed.

    Even with the mistake of allowing them, if they do the "Have you been drinking?" I don't have to answer them, and there isn't a thing they can do about my refusal.

    And if they detain me or try to do a physical search, they have violated my constitutional rights.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jan 17, 2023
    #2659
    2muchcoffeeman and Azrael like this.
  8. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Ditto 'stop and frisk.'

    The 4th Amendment carveouts for these things always favor the cops (the difference between 'reasonable suspicion' and 'probable cause,' for example) and trample individual rights.

    That said, our society makes collective decisions based on risk, the price of which is often independence.
     
    Azrael, Jan 17, 2023
    #2660
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I thought to ask you how you felt about stop and frisk.

    Civil liberties can't be subject to carve outs and exceptions. It doesn't matter if the masses wants to create an exception to a right when it comes to such and such. The tyranny of the majority is the reason you want those rights guaranteed.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jan 17, 2023
    #2661
  10. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    The states that use it are sure trying. They've either restricted non-EZ Pass lanes on toll roads — some of which are very difficult to avoid to get anywhere — or charge premiums and fines for not using it. There are 20 toll booths on a freeway, one allows cash payments, and if you go through an EZ Pass lane without a tag they hit you with a fine.
    It's been a few years since we drove down to the Keys, but I remember trying to navigate the toll roads through South Florida in a rental car was a nightmare because of the EZ Pass stuff.
     
    Batman, Jan 17, 2023
    #2662
  11. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    There’s a $6 toll in Maryland (right after the Tydings Bridge) where they removed every single booth. And if you don’t use EZ Pass, you get billed for $16.

    If you don’t have an EZ Pass, there is literally no way for you to pay the toll and avoid the fine.
     
    MisterCreosote, Jan 17, 2023
    #2663
  12. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I don't know that spot in Maryland, but in other places I am familiar with, you are not paying a "fine" if you don't have an EZ-Pass, you are paying the cash toll. I realize that is semantics, but that is how they justify it, I am sure.

    EZ-Pass holders get discounts on the cash tolls. Sometimes it depends on which EZ-Pass you have (who issued it).
     
    The Big Ragu, Jan 17, 2023
    #2664
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