This and That
Adoucette said:
I just don't find a single polite letter left on her car threatening.
You keep repeating,
insisting on, the adjective, "polite", without addressing the fact that others might disagree. As I noted,
as dumb pick-up lines go, that note is full of them.
I would like to know what is so
polite about cheap pick-up lines.
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Steampunk said:
She volunteered directly and indirectly. Indirectly, because we've all agreed in this democracy that speeding is not ok and those who speed need to fork over their identity. Directly, because she did speed, and she knew she'd be giving up her anonymity this way. By choice, she made this a personal situation.
Astounding.
The intent behind privacy when it comes to dmv records is to keep what is hidden hidden. But, if it's publically available, you cannot violate what is already public. It's the information that is private that makes the crime, not the process of using a record. The record doesn't represent private information, becauses the information is public by her own choice. If you are only concerned with rules, you may miss the substance on which a rule was based. If that substance is not there, then the rule is baseless. At times, circumstance can bring exceptions to many things.
You don't really understand the DPPA, do you?
If what you say is correct, then the DPPA is a useless, extraneous law.
When you hand over your ID at the club entrance, it is not so the bouncer can find you later and hit on you.
When you fill out your name and address on an insurance form, it's not so the underwriter can devise cheap pick-up lines.
When you give your driver's license to a cop who has pulled you over for a traffic infraction, it is a matter of state business, not personal.
Becuase the situation is between two humans, there is no way to avoid it becoming personal. That is something we give up when we decide to interact with each other. If you want pure formality, a computer AI program may give you this.
Does the word "professionalism" mean anything to you?
Only in romantic comedies to people get jobs specifically to hit on people.
I want people to have the right to ask a person out in such situations, one because this is a normal thing for huamsn and no one can prove there is harm or a threat.
So it really is about being able to hit on people?
I think anyone who wants to make it crime, is someone who is a person who imposes there sense of morality on others and by result becomes a criminal because they will punish the innocent.
Asking someone out is not a crime. Using information attained in state business in order to hit on someone is the problem here.
Seriously, if Collins had seen her a couple days later in the mall, and asked her out while she was waiting in line for a pretzel, or something, we would probably never have heard of it, and if we did, it would just be something to laugh at for its roco stupidity.
That you cannot separate professional responsibility from personal desire is your own issue. Indeed, it seems a vital reason why you are not able to look at the question of the law alleged to be violated.
"No harm, no foul," is, in the first place, subjective insofar as where Collins and, apparently, many others are puzzled as to the notion of harm in this situation. To another, of course, is the practical implication.
For instance, speeding; it is, after all, a central question as you've framed it. According to the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, speeding killed 10,951 people in 2009, accounting for 31% of traffic crash fatalities that year. But if we apply the "no harm, no foul" standard, then why ticket anyone for speeding until they run into something as a result of excessive speed?
By your logic, it doesn't matter if Ms. Paredes was breaking the law; Officer Collins should not have stopped her. You know—no harm, no foul.
Which kind of undermines your whole, "She was asking for it," argument.
Our culture takes a hit if they win, because we become a bunch of stiffs. It's disgusting. Let people be people.
So ... the idea of professional responsibility degrades our culture?
Or ... people don't have enough opportunities to hit on one another?
I would counter with the proposition that if we are, culturally, so desperate for dates that we have to break laws or sack professional responsibility in order to find someone to ask out, we've already done the damage.
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Notes:
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Q&A: Speed and speed limits". May, 2011. IIHS.org. January 7, 2012. http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/speed_limits.html