Tag: 1984 was a Warning not a Blueprint

I Saw Something So I’m Saying Something

The Department of Motherland Homeland Security has been ramping up their If You See Something, Say Something (IYSSSS) campaign. While I’ve heard of advertisements IYSSSS advertisements being placed on buses in New York but I was unaware of the Twin Cities Metro Transit buses doing the same. To my surprise this is what I saw when leaving the gun show on Saturday morning (click to embiggen):

I apologize for the shitty nature of the photograph but I had to take it with my iPhone camera while at a stop light. While there was no time for actual photography skills I hope that the images can at least be recognized through my dust covered windshield (I fucking hate road construction, it makes keeping a clean vehicle impossible).

These advertisements are like the Big Brother is Watching You posters from 1984 except far more frightening as they’re real. Make no mistake, these advertisements are the product of your tax dollars being spent to incite fear in the populace. The goal of this fear is to maintain the peoples’ obedience while the government continues to grab for far more expansive powers and continue the American people down the road to serfdom.

This country is scaring the shit out of me more and more every day. The fact that the government can spend taxpayer money on fear mongering such as this without causing much in the way of civil unrest isn’t a good sign for days to come. Just remember when this country turns into a complete tyrannical dictatorship there were a few of us trying to warn everybody.

Big Brother in Minneapolis

An alternative title I was considering for this post was The Redistribution of Crime. The Minneapolis police department have started fielding temporary surveillance cameras which they claim will cause criminal activity to go elsewhere:

The portable cameras, more than the fixed ones, seem to make criminals take notice, he said.

“They behave similar to the way they behave if they saw a cop standing on the corner,” he said.

The combination of video and lights disperses unruly crowds quickly, he said. That helped during the University of Minnesota’s Spring Jam, and the cameras have been used at everything from the Uptown Art Fair to the Basilica Block Party and a festival at the LynLake neighborhood this summer, he said.

Note that no claims of preventing crime have been made regarding these mobile cameras. The intended goal appears to be move criminals from area to another area that isn’t currently covered by one of these portable cameras. Considering the astronomical cost of these units I would personally want a bit more than redistributing crime to different parts of the city:

“They’re awesome,” said Rugel, who keeps a board in his office that lists the locations of each of the portable cameras. Rugel said the city has had at least one unit since the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in 2007, but had purchased six more this spring. They cost about $29,000 apiece, according to city records.

At $29,000 a-fucking-piece these things should be able to apprehend criminals and make me breakfast in the morning. According to the Minneapolis website the salary for a new officer ranges between $45,539 and $50,207. The city currently owns seven of these $29,000 cameras costing them a total of $203,000. Had that money been spent to hire new officers the city of Minneapolis could have had four more hands on deck (obviously this excludes the cost of benefits but the cost of the cameras also excludes maintenance). I would argue that a trained police officer is going to be a far more effective tool then a camera. Whereas cameras can only record criminal acts police officers at least have a chance of stopping a crime and are far more useful in the traditional police duty of cleaning up after the criminal.

It should go without saying how Orwellian these cameras are. As the article states deploying surveillance cameras on public streets is perfectly legal. The important issue to note though is that a camera on public property can see what’s happening on private property. I’ll let Bruce Schneier explain the need for privacy and why you should be concerned about these mobile cameras being deployed on your street:

Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we’re doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance.

[…]

For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness. We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, constantly fearful that — either now or in the uncertain future — patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and innocent acts. We lose our individuality, because everything we do is observable and recordable.

Just because an activity is legal now doesn’t mean it will be legal tomorrow. In addition to that it’s not unheard of for authorities to prosecute somebody for an activity they did before it became illegal. And even if one isn’t prosecuted for a previously legal but current illegal activity public ostracizing is a real threat. The concern about any surveillance isn’t so much the present but the future.

Personally if one of these cameras are ever deployed near my residence I will use my rather entertaining laser to blind the device while it looks towards my dwelling. While it may be legal for the police to deploy the camera on a public street I in no way consent to these devices looking into my domicile. If they don’t want the camera to be blinded then they can kindly point it elsewhere.

Presidential Newspeak

It’s good to see Obama’s campaign going all Orwellian before things have even started to really heat up. The Obama campaign as started AttackWatch to suppress any criticism of the president:

Join Attack Wire—and help stop the attacks on the President before they start.

When another unfounded attack surfaces, we’ll arm you with the truth so you can share the facts with your friends and family.

Are those mean grumpy old Republicans saying nasty things about your precious Obama? Never fear! Attack Wire will send you reassuring e-mails filled with doublespeak the facts that will explain how Obama was actually in the right. Instead of having to critically think and come to your own conclusions you’ll be able to mindlessly parrot sound bytes sent to you by Obama’s campaign.

This should make it much easier for those supporting another four years of hope and change without actually having any evidence demonstrating Obama ever brought hope or change to the country during his presidency.

On a side note if you’re looking for some comedy gold I suggest you go to Twitter and do a search on #attackwatch. Thanks to that hash tag I’m learning that there are some extremely funny people on the Internet. I’m also learning that this AttackWatch idea may not have been the most well thought out plan.

The Real Reason for the PATRIOT Act

Although our government claims that the PATRIOT Act is necessary to fight terrorism it’s more apparent every day that terrorism is the secondary consideration of this legislation:

So how has the Patriot Act fared as a defense against terrorism? The act has been used in 1,618 drug cases and only 15 terrorism cases.

So the PATRIOT Act has been used ~107 times more often to fight the war on drugs than the war on terror (I wonder if they can use it to fight the war on illiteracy or the war on poverty). This demonstrates that the PATRIOT Act isn’t seen as a last ditch piece of legislation to be used sparingly against only the most dangerous enemies of America. It’s obvious that this legislation was meant to be an all encompassing tool used to fight any and all crime.

In the eyes of the government civil rights too often get in the way of their agents enforcing laws against behaviors decreed illegal because some politician needed to manufacture something for the American people to fear in order to justify yet another expansion of government power.

Department of Homeland Security Gives Warning About Nothing

The Department of Motherland Homeland security has issued a warning:

The US Department of Homeland Security is warning of a “credible threat” […]

Yeah the threat is called the Department of Homeland Security and it’s directly attacking our liberties every day. At least that’s what I’m assuming the warning is over because those in government aren’t saying:

Giving no specific details, a statement said: “It’s accurate that there is specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information.”

This warning isn’t credible as it’s the government issuing it. Unless we’re just supposed to trust the lying bastards that something may happen… perhaps… possibly. With how much lying they’ve done so far how are we supposed to take them seriously on anything, especially when they don’t provide any evidence.

The real terrorists are already here working in the government. Since the attacks on September 11th, 2011 the civil rights Americans are supposed to enjoy have been eroded to a point of nonexistence. Everything you do that the government disapproves of is labeled terroristic activity and your name is tossed onto a secret list if you’re caught partaking in one of these unapproved activities (or if they just feel like tossing your name on because it’s a secret list and us serfs aren’t privy to information regarding how one gets placed on the list).

Instead of constantly trying to drum up fear it would be far more efficient if our government simply started a war with Eastasia and made every American participate in Two Minutes Hate on a daily basis.

If This is Our Family I Want a Divorce

It appears as through the Obama administration is really ramping up the use of the phrase “federal family.” Everybody’s favorite federal agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has decided that we’re now all part of one big fucked up federal family:

“Under the direction of President Obama and Secretary Janet Napolitano, the entire federal family is leaning forward to support our state, tribal and territorial partners along the East Coast,” a FEMA news release declared Friday as Irene churned toward landfall.

The G-word — “government” — has been nearly banished, with FEMA instead referring to federal, state and local “partners” as well as “offices” and “personnel.”

“’Government’ is such a dirty word right now,” says Florida State University communication professor Davis Houck. “Part of what the federal government does and any elected official does is change the terms of the language game into terms that are favorable to them.”

“Family” can evoke favorable thoughts of motherhood and security.

Although I’m glad that government is starting to get such a bad image attached to it I don’t think renaming it “family” is going to help improve that image. The government’s image is poor because what they’ve done has been nothing but an endless series of bad decisions.

Honestly if my family was forcefully stealing from other people, killing neighbors outside of self-defense, making life difficult for productive members of the family to alleviate the pain of unproductive members, and constantly trying to control family members by enacting new rules regulating every form of behavior and thought I’d want a divorce. Of course the last time members of the federal family tried to file for divorce they were subjected to constant physical beatings until they finally submitted and withdrew their filings.

Terrorism in the United States Since 9/11

Bruce Schneier points out an analysis of attempted terrorist attacks since 9/11. I think Schneier’s summary explains everything:

So few of them are actually real, and so many of them were created or otherwise facilitated by law enforcement.

Most cases of so-called terrorism involve government agents finding gullible people, egging them on to perform an act of terrorism, and then enabling those people by providing knowledge and materials required to perform the act of terror which has usually devised by the government agent. They aren’t keeping us safe, they’re creating the problem.

What the Hell is Wrong With Britain

Uncle is asking what is wrong with Britain and I want to know the same thing:

London schoolchildren are eligible for 125,000 Olympic tickets but these will not include any featuring guns, as Games organisers and City Hall fear a backlash from the anti-gun lobby.

What the fuck? The Olympics are fucking televised more heavily than almost any sporting event on the planet, the kids can watch these shooting sports at home but won’t be allowed to go to the actual event? Where the Hell is the sense in that? What the Hell is wrong with Britain? This makes no sense whatsoever… wait, I see what’s going on here:

Georgina Geikie, 26, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and Olympic pistol hopeful, said she was “horrified”, adding: “This is a chance for children to look at guns in a different way. They are taking away the opportunity for the sport to blossom. How do we educate people that it is a sport if they cannot watch it?”

The Olympics portray firearms in a positive light which would be a direct conflict to the state’s stance that guns are evil spawns of Satan. Seeing such an event may make children realize that guns aren’t actually evil devices forged in the fires of Hell but simple tools which can be used for good things. This type of thinking could then lead to the kids, after growing up, eventually lobbying to restore firearms rights in Great Britain which would lead to the serfs arming themselves and thus not being as easy for the state to control.

This is disgusting statism at its highest.

If Something Doesn’t Work Try Again Harder

Some time ago news came forth that London’s ever pervasive closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras weren’t working out so well. The bottom line is CCTV cameras were only able to solve one crime for every 1,000 cameras which put the cost of solving those few crimes at roughly £20,000 each.

If you have an overly expensive technology that’s proven ineffective what would you do? Well if it were either you or me making the decision we’d likely stop further development on the technology, dump it, and find something more effective. Unfortunately for the citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) their government isn’t us and therefore are going to spend more money on trying harder with CCTV cameras:

CCTV that can automatically monitor criminal behaviour and track suspects is being developed by UK scientists.

Researchers at Kingston University have created a system that uses artificial intelligence to recognise specific types of behaviour, such as someone holding a gun.

The technology is capable of following a person across multiple cameras.

The motto of government is, “If something isn’t working for you try again only harder.” I’m still waiting for the day when the UK government decides to put cameras into the homes of every citizen under its rule.

It’s Official I’m a Domestic Terrorist According to the FBI

I hate not knowing something. For instance I’m pretty sure I’m on several secret government watch lists but being those lists are secret the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) refuses to tell me. Thankfully Oath Keepers was able to obtain a list [PDF] published by the Colorado FBI that describes what behavior identifies a terrorist. Let’s see how many items I hit on this thing.

Provides identification that is inconsistent or suspect demands identify “privacy”

I’m emphasizing the parts of the selected bullet points that relates to me. One thing I do demand is privacy and part of that means I’m none to willing to provide my identification unless I absolutely have to.

Insists on paying with cash or uses credit card(s) in different name(s)

I love paying for things using Federal Reserve notes, it makes me feel all shady and terroristy.

Makes suspicious comments regarding anti-US, radical theology vague or cryptic warnings that suggest or appear to endorse the use of violence in support of a cause

Although the non-bolded section doesn’t apply to me at all I do make many comments that could be considered anti-US… government. As agents of the government wrote this list it’s likely they consider any speech critical of the federal government as falling under the first part of this bullet point.

Makes bulk purchases of items to include:

I’ll just say yes to this entire section without actually stating the things I make bulk purchases of. I would like to meet the person who makes bulk purchases of night vision devices, because the last time I checked night vision devices were expensive.

Four of the bullet points on this list relate to me which almost ensures that I’m on a government watch list. Woohoo I’m important enough that the government is going to keep a continuous eye on me instead of worrying about violent individuals! I feel so special.