With our Washington Overlords tirelessly at work fundamentally changing America into a European-style social democracy, it makes sense to stay on top of what's going on over there. Right?
In Britain for example, the government has employed surveillance cameras that monitor public conversations in order to "anticipate anti-social behaviour and violence." Welcome to the world of Precrime Police.
Surveillance system monitors conversations
The technology, called Sigard, monitors movements and speech to detect signs of threatening behaviour.
Its designers claim the system can anticipate anti-social behaviour and violence by analysing the information picked up its sensors.
They say alerts are then sent to police, nightclub bouncers or shop security staff, which allow them to nip trouble in the bud before arguments spiral into violence.
The devices are designed to distinguish between distress calls, threatening behaviour and general shouting.
Dylan Sharpe, from Big Brother Watch, said: "There can be no justification for giving councils or the police the capability to listen in on private conversations.
"There is enormous potential for abuse, or a misheard word, causing unnecessary harm with this sort of intrusive and overbearing surveillance."
They claim the surveillance system is no longer in use, and was only used during a 6-month trial period. But who really knows? It should never have been used in the first place. Besides, how can anyone trust their government these days? After all, here in the "land of the free," U.S. Marshals just delivered a felony indictment for sending an email to a Senator.
In other surveillance news ...
Back home here in the United States, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is now blocking websites with "controversial opinion" on TSA computers.
TSA to Block "Controversial Opinion" on the Web
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is blocking certain websites from the federal agency's computers, including halting access by staffers to any Internet pages that contain a "controversial opinion," according to an internal email obtained by CBS News.
It states that as of July 1, TSA employees will no longer be allowed to access five categories of websites that have been deemed "inappropriate for government access."
The email does not specify how the TSA will determine if a website expresses a "controversial opinion."
There is also no explanation as to why controversial opinions are being blocked ...
The lesson here is obvious. The government doesn't want you reading anything that questions and/or contradicts "official opinion," especially now that they've been caught with their pants down, unable to deliver on all their promises. Perhaps this is the real reason behind the "Internet Kill Switch."
And don't forget about Cass Sunstein's desire for "cognitive infiltration" of conspiracy groups, which not only violates our right to free speech, but makes you wonder how the government defines conspiracy in the first place. Do they think your Tea Party is a conspiracy group, or worse, a bunch of terrorists? Hey, they've already sent a SWAT team dressed in full riot gear to a Tea Party. Who knows what's going on?
America turns more authoritarian by the day.
UPDATE:
[...] Surveillance Monitors Conversations [...]
[...] Found via Classic Liberal [...]