Song for the Day (night)

Yes, I'm cheating by positing a video link and not writing a real post. I'm probably breaking some copyright, too. But I can't take a day off, because it becomes two and then three and then a week and then a month and then...

I am committed to not skipping a day; I'll confess to doing this again in the future. I apologize if you feel I'm pulling a bait and switch. But, at least you get to hear the greatest rock band do one of their songs instead of trying to justify reading anything I wrote.

A Different Lens

We are used to seeing pictures like the one below. We have nieces/nephews, sons/daughters that bring home and give us this type of artwork. Our parents can surely bring out one of OUR similar masterpieces from their scrapbook. To the untrained eye, it is often impossible to differentiate it from a piece of modern art selling for six figures at auction.

The twist on this child's artwork is that it belongs to my father. He was five and a half and mailed this to his Aunt Lydia. Of course, my grandmother addressed the envelope. 

It is often very difficult to place your parents in anything, but the adult-in-control paradigm (just as they can have difficultly in truly seeing you as an independent adult). It is such a rare treat to be given a reminder that they were also once a child.

Bad Day

    Today is going to be a rough day for me. Mayor Swearengin will have a large ground breaking ceremony and party on the Fulton Mall. For the past few years, I have worked with the Downtown Fresno Coalition to protect and save the Fulton Mall. (We never advocated for the status quo, but a fully restored and renovated mall.)

        This post is not a rehashing of the Fulton Mall argument. I have inflicted enough of my viewpoint on many of my friends. My purpose is more of a venting and confessional about my feelings, rather than an op-ed arguing a particular point of view.

        In addition to the depressing effect of seeing so many take such joy at destroying the Mall, I am overwhelmed with the self-doubt of what else could have been done. Was there one more email I could have sent, one more letter I could have written, one more person I could have talked to? It’s really hard not to think so, when put in those terms.

        To assuage such guilt, I do remind myself that my opponents had the support of numerous paid staff members both in and out of city hall. The area PBID that was formed and its primary purpose was to advocate for a street on Fulton. It’s hard for a volunteer group to fight opponents who have a full time staff. That the city made NO effort to find funding for our option is just the cherry on top.

        I have raced off at every opportunity to give my sound bit to any interested media. Again, it is hard to compete with an opponent that has a professional communications department and has told the false narrative enough times for people to assume its truth. I know I’ve reached a few people. When one of my friends compliments a recent appearance, I always have to make a quick decision whether they want to hear more of my viewpoint or are just paying me a compliment. In either case, I appreciate it.

        I honestly believe this wasn’t a lost cause from the start. The road proponents ran a brilliant campaign, but the result, initially, wasn’t a forgone conclusion. There is only a percentage of Fresnans that actually care about downtown and we were fighting over that same percentage. Many in that demographic would normally be adverse to a decrease in pedestrian and bicycle space, but the split hurt our side and our opponents did a better job of organizing.

        Where do I go from here? Well, first, I will attend their Nuremburg event and try to provide a sound bite to someone. We will continue our legal challenges, even more than an NFL game, you can never be sure of the outcome (OJ case, anyone?) I will hold the city accountable for the promised amenities and artwork restoration. I will continue to go downtown and do fun stuff, like I always have.

        Today will be bad, but tomorrow won’t be the same.

Apple is Right

        In the showdown between Apple and the FBI, the slippery slope of decoding one encrypted phone is taking center place. Apple insists that by writing the code to get the data out of one terrorist’s phone, ALL phones will be put in danger. The FBI insists it is just ONE phone and that security for the entire public demands it.

        This has triggered the debate between individual liberties versus the safety of society as a whole. Some argue that any freedom lost is too high a price to pay for personal security, while others argue that if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide and the danger from terrorists is greater than any privacy you might lose. But I believe there is an additional component to this dispute that is just as troubling: requiring private individual’s labor to create criminal evidence.

        Since create and fabricate are synonyms, let’s be clear that I am not talking about manufacturing false or fake evidence. I am also not talking about gathering existing evidence. It is not uncommon for a court to order a firm to turn over records to a party in a court proceeding. In this case, of course, there will be private individuals making copies, boxing up and delivering the requested material to demanding party. This is merely gathering evidence, a task that can be completed by anyone.

        Now specific civilians do work for law enforcement. Obviously, there are forensic technicians, clerical workers, dispatchers, etc., that are not sworn officers who do specific work for their department. And many mundane services can be contracted out like janitorial, vehicle maintenance, etc. One might argue that what is being demanded of Apple is no different than a civilian getting wired and doing something undercover. But, even in that case, it is often someone trading their cooperation for consideration for their own misbehavior and they have a choice to not cooperate and face the consequences.

        What Apple is being asked to do is far different. To comply with the FBI demand, Apple must require its employees, who have done nothing wrong and are not part of any criminal activity, to create a product (the decryption code) from their own skill set. This puts both the employer and the employee in a very difficult position. Does the employee have a right to refuse the work order for law enforcement? If an employee were being asked questions, they would have a right to an attorney and to refuse to answer. But can they be forced to do actual work? Can the employer force the employee to complete the work or be fired? Would the employer be exposed to an employee lawsuit? Would the employee be compensated if the employer is not?

        What of the precedent? The phone security for all phones is the first consideration in the slippery slope argument, but what of requiring labor? Suppose next time it is not a decryption code, but something genetically grown to help the FBI? A medical procedure? An Implant? What about just general labor for the common good? Not a paid CCC like during the depression, but a military style draft for anything and everything the government needed.

        Far-fetched? Most slippery slope arguments do take it to the extreme example for the biggest impact. And, in our capitalistic market society, the pressure to prevent the loss of all private government contracts would certainly be a prohibitive factor in such a scenario. But, imagine a very small, specialized business that produces something the FBI or some other agency finds itself needing in a modified form. Would they have the resources to fight an order in court? Would they survive a customer revolt because of the cooperation or non-cooperation? Probably not.

        Apple is a multi-billion dollar company with the resources to fight the government on this issue. Their fight is about more than just the security of the device we carry in our pocket, but what we do with our very lives. For all of us, they must win.