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| Science & Technology |
| DHS to launch SAR database - What's next, green biscuits? |
| 2010-10-14 |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #12 Pappy, I learned years ago that you can justify anything by saying it is done for purposes of safety. At some point, the voice of reason has to intercede and point out that whatever it is, it is not working, so it should be discontinued. A superb example of this are some of the Patriot Act waivers to the 4th Amendment. Since they were passed, well over 99.9% of the time, they have been used for "ordinary" purposes, not terrorism. Now since they both violate the 4th Amendment, and diminish our liberties, *and* they do nothing for their anti-terrorism purpose, reason suggests they should be scrubbed. They do not protect us, they oppress us. Now, the two big arguments for retaining them are first, that sometime they *might* be useful against terrorism; and since they are being used against ordinary crime and potential crime, that we should keep them anyway. Sorry, the loss of liberty is far too great, just so that policemen don't have to follow the rules. The damage done to our society is worse, in the long term, than most anything terrorists might have done. In truth, since about the time of prohibition, the erosion of our civil liberties has been frightening. Remember it was not too long ago that anybody could fly in a plane, anonymously. Wiretapping could only be done with a warrant. The police couldn't seize your property just because of some unrelated alleged crime. We surrendered a hell of a lot of liberties during prohibition, during the war on drugs, and during the War on Terror. And once gone, it's likely that we will never get them back, so long as the government stands. And yet they demand more. Always more. Because unless they are in control, absolute, total control, they say the chaos of the world will destroy us. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-10-14 22:33 |
| #11 Conversely, how many of you are gonna bleat that "the guvmint shoulda done sumptin' beforehand" when the next attack occurs? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-10-14 21:19 |
| #10 PSA from Snuggly, the Security Bear. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-10-14 20:20 |
| #9 Fusion centers collect incident data from police agencies in a region (burglaries, robberies, traffic accidents, etc.). All this is (mostly) public information that appear in newspapers as daily "police reports" or "police blotters". Suspicious incident is something like "Gasoline tanker truck stolen". |
| Posted by: DMFD 2010-10-14 20:17 |
| #8 Unfortunately, the American security apparat has become dominated by an unholy trinity of phobia - an intense fear of lack of control, along with extraordinary paranoia, and voyeurism. Each of these three manifests itself in bizarre ways, but together they become intolerable. To understand the psychologies behind them, it helps to have a clear understanding of how they manifest in examples of their pathological extremes in individuals. The phobic often becomes an agoraphobic, terrified of leaving his domicile, because he only has a sense of any control with "his stuff". Everything outside his door is threatening chaos. He feels threatened by the world. This overlaps into the realm of the severe paranoid, whose emphasis is less on his ability to control, than that everyone is out to get him. He finds less solace in his home, because it forms no barrier to keep the menace out. Finally, the voyeur figures in, because they obsessively try to keep track of everyone and everything around them. They have a sense of security in their recordings and records, dossiers, databases, etc., that they can control other people back. Importantly, since each of these pathologies are open ended, they can only be stopped with a firm dose of unyielding realism--something they intensely oppose. In this case, someone will have to take charge of the American police and intelligence agencies, and set very strict limits on them. From there, private organizations and corporations will also have to be restrained from this sort of thing as well--whatever their motivations. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-10-14 18:18 |
| #7 Great news, brother!! |
| Posted by: Winston Smith 2010-10-14 13:32 |
| #6 Can corrupt and surrealistic Washington nightmares be reported? I forget who, but one blogger said if this went live he would report Obama. Can you imagine about 300,000 people putting Obama in reports? |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2010-10-14 11:44 |
| #5 Can corrupt and surrealistic Washington nightmares be reported? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-10-14 10:47 |
| #4 Soon, harvesting organs from prisoners for use by the general populace. What, already? Okay then, harvesting organs from people in detention and who might soon be prisoners for use by a 'special subset' of the populace. What, already being done? Really? Okay then, harvesting organs from ... ah, never mind, I can't keep up. Future Obamacare preview. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2010-10-14 09:29 |
| #3 fusion centers are dedicated intel sharing between DHS and LEO. |
| Posted by: newc 2010-10-14 09:28 |
| #2 "Don't just suspect your friends--Turn them in!" --from any number dystopian sci-fi films and storys. Satire and parody simply cannot keep up. |
| Posted by: nGuard 2010-10-14 08:15 |
| #1 Homeland Security will launch its suspicious activity report database to connect the dots. Citizens are encouraged to spy on and report suspicious activity of neighbors. I think we should all report the rampant anti-american and outright RACIST activities at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC. over the past couple years. The Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI) states some of its successes such as, "The continued priority to safeguard the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of our nation’s residents (including the assurances that not only is information shared appropriately with authorized personnel but that the information that is exchanged is “quality” information)." According to NSI overview (pdf), tips will go through a vetting process by a fusion center. fusion center == new name for Acorn? And who the hell would be 'Authorized Personal'? The new Black Panther's Party? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-10-14 00:58 |