Life imitates art, or what Babylon 5 taught me....

[alfreda89]

In this case? Security as theater. Most Americans, if they see something they feel is suspicious or people who look dangerous, will report that to a security guard or police officer. They don't need this at all. Ergo -- theater.

Do we need to be paranoid yet? (About this? Probably not. Otherwise? Heck, yes....)

Some links:

1. Walmart Partners with U.S. Department of Homeland Security ...

"6 Dec 2010 ... Everyone has a role to play in keeping themselves
and their communities safe."
walmartstores.com/pressroom/news/10493.aspx

2. Wal-Mart joins Homeland Security terror fight - U.S. news ...

"7 Dec 2010 ... To expand its anti-terrorism campaign, the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security has partnered with Wal-Mart,
bringing its 'If You See ..."
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40552073/ns/us_news-security/

3. Walmart Shoppers: Homeland Security Wants You : NPR

"11 Dec 2010 ... Starting this week, Walmart shoppers will be
treated to a short video from Homeland Security chief Janet
Napolitano, urging them to report ..."
www.npr.org/2010/12/11/131991345/wal-mart-shoppers-homeland-security-wants-you

Comments

[originalkitsune.livejournal.com]

another reason to NOT shop walmart.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

I almost never shop there -- my parents want to go there occasionally. But I don't like how they treat their employees, part of why I switched from Sam's Club to Costco. Costco pays a living wage, at least.

[originalkitsune.livejournal.com]

exactly. I hate shopping at walmart but there's not much alternative if you have to finish a project and it's 2 am. :/
I like Costco's policy of a living wage. If i didn't work PT at REI, I'd work there if i could. Everytime i go into Costco it's a zoo, but that's proof that if you build more equitable system, people will still shop there.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

That's my impression, too. I was thinking of applying there, but don't know if my hands are up to their workload, yet. The bumps are still painful if they get hit, or when I open jars, etc. At least I CAN open jars. Not sure I can do a cash register, or typing all day...a possible hitch.

I suggested the gelatin to a friend with progressive back pain who used to be very active and has a demanding job. Only a week, and pain progress already! Another Kit Kure!

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

When I see things like this, I think of the Gestaatspolizei and the Motherland, but I also think of the Night Watch.

Authoritarianism is a creeping curse. It hooks people with fear and controls them with ignorance and manufactured threats.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

I think of the Motherland, too, and Nightwatch. The bullet point version is the bumper sticker: I love my country, but I fear my government.

[morfin.livejournal.com]

Sign up for the Nightwatch today!

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

They're not paying very well, if TSA is any indicator. And eventually, you gonna choose sides....

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Great icon!

JMS read copiously in his youth -- everything from history to philosophy and folklore. He knows that history, if not read carefully, repeats itself (partly because we're a hierarchical species with the instinct to dominate and to cooperate. Those instincts fight constantly, depending on the gene mix.)

He's a good storyteller. He paid attention to what he read, and what's around him. There may be another civil war in our lifetimes, over keeping the constitution or remaking it into what a lot of people today think -- or want -- the constitution to be. Are you ready for it? We may have to move -- I think we'll be constitutionalists, not revisionists.

Writers read, digest, remember. It's why they look prescient.