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Houston Police Chief Wants Cameras in Homes
An anonymous reader writes "In one of the most blatant and frightening statements made on privacy, the Associated Press reports that Houston's police chief wants surveillance cameras in apartment buildings and even private homes. Chief Harold Hurtt wants building permits to require cameras in shopping malls and large apartment complexes. He also wants them in private homes if the homeowner has called the police repeatedly. So, if you're in Houston, don't call the cops too much, or they might install a camera the next time they show up. And what does Hurtt have to say about privacy concerns? 'I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?'"
i should have spent less time on editing...
sum.zero
hah... I found some 8 mil film of my Grandma taken way back in the fifties... woo was she the hottie then... pushing up the daisies now though.
Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
> if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it
Let's apply this to the government first. If you aren't hidding anything, then
1. Why do you insist on executive priviledge to cover up your conversations with Enron, G.W. Bush?
2. Why did you not let UN observers in Abu Ghraib to make sure that prisioners were not being tortured, Bush administration and Congress?
3. Why did you black out whole sections of government documents detailing how the U.S. army trains terrorists in Ft. Benning, GA under the formmally called School of the Americas?
4. Why did you rename the School of Americas to the the "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation" after millions started protesting the trainig of terrorists on U.S. soil using U.S. tax dollars?
5. Why does every member of the Bush adminstration refuse to answer Congress's questions when subpenoed? This is contempt of Congress, which is very much like contempt of court.
6. Why were the audio recordings of Richard Nixon's conversations prior to Watergate "accidentally", repeatedly overwritten?
7. Why were thousands of people, including a German citizen, moved to former Soviet secret prisions across eastern Europe by the U.S. and British armies?
8. Why are there closed sessions of Congress? Isn't Congress a public institution responsible for public policy and composed of public offices filled by public figures elected by the public and funded with public tax dollars? Where do you get private from that?
9. Why aren't there camera in the Oval Office to record all conversations and actions regarding public policy? You got something to hide, Mr. President?
I could go on forever. We need to reverse the privacy expectations of government agencies with those of private citizens. Government should have no right to privacy, whereas private citizens should.
Still not convinced? Consider this... Adolph Hitler and Stalin each killed more people than all the criminals and terrorists in all of human history put together. Statisically, you would be better off with tyrant insurance than with criminal insurance.
Not enough, yet? How foolish are you? Ok, then thing about this. Would it be okay with you if
1. The names, ages, photographs, and school name/address of your children were published on the Internet where anyone could view them?
2. If your credit report, social security number, bank account information was freely available to anyone?
3. If RFID tags were implanted in you and your entire family (already proposed by law makers) and your movements were tracked and recorded continuously?
4. If your 14-year-old daughter is strip-searched, forced to take an enema, and made to crap in front of security guards when she departs a plane? This has happened to a 30-some-year-old woman who was a U.S. citizen and committed no crime. And it was done long BEFORE 9/11. It can be done to you completely at the discretion of any security agent at an airport. And they are immune to prosecution when they abuse this power. Although I can't see how it can be used without being abused, myself.
If you are not convinced now, then please leave America and go to China. You'll find that its government shares your philosophy a lot more than we do.
In recent times a lot of signals have painted a very bleak pattern of the US society, or at least it's government (which one would expect reflects it's society as a whole to some extent). Signs include the following.
.. erh .. were vague when giving power to congress, so .. well .. it's OK for congress to extend copyright forever, essentially making the power shift limitless to the culture vultures. And .. yeah, we're doing it also as a way of providing better incentives for european artists to come to the US and get a copyright here instead of 'over there'. (120 years instead of, what 110?) The system will also become more harmonized if we extend the protection, so it's closer to certain parts of the EU (contradictory statement) terms which that b*stard's employer lobbied/threatened/bullied/forced upon those countries! So, this really isn't something the supreme court should interfere with, 'kaaay? .. so .. stay out of the way will you? And they did!
1. Total failure of the copyright system and it's governing mechanics.
Just listened to the Eldred v. Ashcroft case and was horrified at the blatant arguments more or less swallowed by the supreme court. The government basically stating:
Yes, we know the founding fathers stipulated the protection of copyright and patents should have limits, but they
American copyright law colapsed at that instant. Unfortunately the government will continue pushing a colapsed copyright system and failed software patent system on the rest of the world or else, trade sanctions or just as likely, bombing or invasion.
2. Utter failure of the software patent system. Slashdot has had numerous examples about this, but when you start patenting mathematics and business processes, your at the end of the rope. I just had a great idea, I'll patent the process of payment in exchange for goods or services. Why not also throw in the concept of adding numbers together (I'll not call it addition or summing though, would be too intuitive). That way, Congress can be proud of me that I've really furthered Science and Useful Arts!
3. Re-election of the most dangerous person in the world (family trait?). A gung-ho short person with hyrbis (or some other mental illness). A person whose favorite hobbies include shooting barrels at the farm, shooting missiles at and bombing other countries and generally starting wars and causing global instability. A very very risky position with that person in a house which alledgedly has buttons to nuclear warheads!
4. Alientation of most all countries due to very hostile foreign policies to most countries. One can only assume that the only thing holding together the "allied forces" (The US, Bangladesh and Wales?) is the threat of retaliation to the other (two?) nations if they don't dance to the tune of this mad piper.
5. The country's conversion to a full blown police state is soon completed. The reactions on this board was a token to that effect. Most people simply making snyde comments. I guess the sentiment has gone from "Don't touch our guns! We need them to overthrow the government should the need arise" (200 years ago) to a few years ago "Write your congressman" to todays attitude "yeah, yeah, stupid idea, but who really cares".
Ok, some of the above are written with a flair of satire (which few will likely pick up on), but the overall theme is feedback I've received when travelling various countries of the EU for the past 6 months. It might seem a bit harsh but in general, people are bit upset at the US foreign policy and not very at ease with GWB as the leader of the "The Free World". Now I realize some people will probably take offense and mod this to the bottom of the troll stack, but it's just a reflection of sentiments from an area outside of the NA.