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Crowdsourcing Big Brother In Lancaster, PA
sehlat writes "From the Los Angeles Times comes word that in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 165 public surveillance cameras are being set up to be monitored by a 'non profit coalition' of volunteers. The usual suspects, including 'the innocent have nothing to fear' are being trotted out to justify this, and the following quote at the end of the article deserves mention: 'But Jack Bauer, owner of the city's largest beer and soft drink distributor, calls the network "a great thing." His store hasn't been robbed, he said, since four cameras went up nearby. "There's nothing wrong with instilling fear," he said.'"
You're against seat belt laws? I can probably spew a little bit of 'anti seat belt rhetoric' -
"I should have the right to risk my own life, it doesn't affect anyone else"
"I would wear a seat belt anyway, so why have a law"
Aside from protecting the driver from himself...
If I hit you with my car, and you fly out of your windshield and splatter somewhere- I'll feel pretty bad. Maybe i'll go into therapy for it. If it was my fault, I'd probably feel worse. I really don't need that on my conscience...
I don't want to sound all 'think of the children' but these laws also motivate ignorant/stupid parents to force their children to 'buckle up' for safety (or fear of getting another ticket). I am glad my parents instilled in me the habit of buckling up...
Why would anyone be against red light cameras?
All you have to do is not drive like a jackass and you have nothing to worry about.
Before I mention this, I should indicate that I am not opposed to cameras in public places. Any yahoo can wield a video camera and record your actions when you are in public. Hell, private investigators make a living off of it. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy when in public. In most communities, I believe that the crime deterrence/solving potential of such devices outweighs the risk of abuse (especially since they only record your public actions anyway). So you want to go to an adult book store - disguise yourself, or buy online.
So you want to commit a crime? Wear a mask before entering a monitored area. So what's the point of the cameras if they are so easily circumvented? Well, lets see. Abductions - we now know that some child was abducted by a man in a mask rather than just ran away. Or that 5 car pile-up, we now have better evidence of who was at fault. That hit and tun? On tape (the driver didn't plan it, so they were more likely to be driving their own vehicle and not wearing a disguise). And so on.
And lastly, if you don't like it? Take action. The ammo is cheap enough you don't even need all that great an aim, and the masks look cool.
I do like the idea of opening up the feeds to the public, but the obvious downside to that is that it could be used by "terrorists" to organize city wide attacks. Not that wireless Internet and some camera enabled laptops are much different, but the improved vantage, lack of need to physically expose yourself to public observation, and reduced cost to the criminal (one computer and Internet connection as opposed to several) does reduce the "barrier to entry" for the potential criminal. But again, I think that the benefit outweighs the risk here too.
I should post anonymously because by disagreeing with the rabid anarchists here, even though I am being civil and reasonable, I'm sure to be modded into oblivion, but I am willing to be associated with my beliefs. I may not (as mentioned elsewhere) be an activist standing up for them, but I won't hide them.
Oh, was that my outside voice?
How can a seat belt become life-threatening in a accident in a parking lot at 20 kph, which is a common situation that seat belts save lives in?
Not only that, how can people be trapped by their seat belts? You unclip it, get it out of your way, and get out of the car. Unless the centre of the car is so badly distorted that you are unlikely to be any shape to unclip the belt anyway, of course...