SITCIOT - Stick It to Click It or Ticket

An excellent letter was featured in Maine’s newspapers yesterday. It appears to be written by one newspaper editor, complaing of the actions of another paper. Its always hard to tell, since many online newspapers do not clearly say what area they cover and make it awfully hard for one to find out. It seems that unless you live there or know the media outlets, you’ll be left guessing.

Anyhow, here is the piece in its entirety:

Passage of seat-belt law tyrannical, at best
Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinal, 04/11/2008

I don’t know who censors opinion at the Morning Sentinel, but it’s clear that someone does; John Christie, no doubt.

This letter is addressed to him. The seat-belt law was passed in robotic-like unison by 49 of the 50 states. Democracy in action? They acted under threat and for pay, as you well know. A functionary at the U.S. Department of Transportation informed the states: “Do this or else.”

“If you do what I, as an unelected hireling, tell you to do, you will receive millions.”

Tell me, why is that not as tyrannical, as unconstitutional, as un-American as it gets? Given that, why do you not print letters that point that out? Think that kind of censorship of legitimate opinion has anything to do with the turn away from the media?

Now you may argue that fascist or not, the law is needed and saves lives. That last would not stand up in a 101 class in statistics. The validation of even one small statistic is a tedious, painstaking task. Ask the people who put together the SATs how much goes into the least of the questions. Each finding must be validated by closely monitored control groups.

Control groups must replicate every aspect of a crash before they can conclude that the failure to wear seatbelts can be blamed. Such control situations are obviously impossible to establish; therefore, conclusions worth their salt are not available, all shouts of anguish to the contrary.

Victor Lister
Athens

A new Australian seatbelt law will make it mandatory for parents to restrain all children under the age of six months in a rear-facing infant capsule. Children up to four will need to be restrained in an approved forward-facing child seat. And children aged between four and seven must be restrained in an approved booster seat. Interesting how seatbelt laws cover so many other things, like child seats.

Apparently, governments know no bounds when forcing people to wear a seatbelt. The latest one is seatbelt non-wearers could be terrorists. Air travelers bound for Israel are now being required by Israeli aviation security officials to fasten their seatbelts at least 30 minutes prior to landing. Of course, this rule would suggest that those who fail to do so are terrorists.

Apparently, the word terrorism has lost its punch, if that’s all it takes to be a terrorist, then there is a good chance that we are all terrorists in our own little ways. We here at SITCIOT never thought we’d see a day when not wearing a seatbelt would constitute terrorism.