Britain: Talking CCTV Cameras In Camden To Be Turned Off
February 7th, 2012They need to load the ED209 voice on that thing.
Via: Telegraph:
Pressure group Big Brother Watch had said that the cameras, which automatically warn everyone they see to leave, were only acceptable in a ‘in a police state’.
In a statement issued this afternoon, Camden Council claimed that the camera’s pre-recorded American message should never have been turned on in the first place.
“All flash cameras have the capacity to deliver voice messages when activated but in this instance it appears that voice messages were inadvertently activated when the camera batteries were replaced four to five weeks ago. We do not want to stop residents from enjoying their open spaces and communal areas and under no circumstances would we want voice messages to be used in areas where they may be disturbed. The voice messages will be deactivated as soon as possible,” the council said.
The cameras, in the Walker House estate near London’s St Pancras, were installed in September. An American voice warned users to leave, including residents and legitimate visitors. The pre-recorded message says: “Stop, this is a restricted area and your photograph is being taken. It will be sent for processing if you don’t leave the area now.”
Government Motors: OK Go – Needing/Getting
February 7th, 2012The managerial state has assumed responsibility for looking after everything from the incomes of the middle class to the profitability of large corporations to industrial advancement. This system . . . is . . . an economic order that harks back to Bismarck in the late nineteenth century and Mussolini in the twentieth: corporatism.
—Corporatism Is Not the Free Market
Needing/Getting?
Crappy car company needed a taxpayer funded bailout. Crappy car company got a taxpayer funded bailout.
It’s unfortunate, however, that GM will never make a car that’s as good as OK Go’s music video.
Via: OK Go:
Quantitative Easing Revisited: You’ve Just Crossed Over Into the Bernanke Zone
February 7th, 2012Via: Omid Malekan:
Major Obama Donors Are Tied to Pepe Cardona, Mexican Fugitive
February 7th, 2012So, Cardona is the Obama regime’s version of Jack Abramoff? Something like that. Fuggetaboutit.
Via: New York Times:
Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama’s re-election campaign.
The casino owner, Juan Jose Rojas Cardona, known as Pepe, jumped bail in Iowa in 1994 and disappeared, and has since been linked to violence and corruption in Mexico. A State Department cable in 2009 said he was suspected of orchestrating the assassination of a business rival and making illegal campaign donations to Mexican officials.
When The New York Times asked the Obama campaign early Monday about the Cardonas, officials said they were unaware of the brother in Mexico. Later in the day, the campaign said it was refunding the money raised by the family, which totaled more than $200,000.
Dimitri Christakis – Media and Children
February 6th, 2012Via: TEDxRainier:
Egypt Will Prosecute 19 Americans on Charges Related to Financing of Resistance Groups
February 6th, 2012Via: New York Times:
Egypt’s military-led government said Sunday that it would put 19 Americans and two dozen others on trial in a politically charged criminal investigation into the foreign financing of nonprofit groups that has shaken the 30-year alliance between the United States and Egypt.
Bill Gates Backs Climate Scientists Lobbying for Large-Scale Geoengineering
February 6th, 2012Via: Guardian:
A small group of leading climate scientists, financially supported by billionaires including Bill Gates, are lobbying governments and international bodies to back experiments into manipulating the climate on a global scale to avoid catastrophic climate change.
The scientists, who advocate geoengineering methods such as spraying millions of tonnes of reflective particles of sulphur dioxide 30 miles above earth, argue that a “plan B” for climate change will be needed if the UN and politicians cannot agree to making the necessary cuts in greenhouse gases, and say the US government and others should pay for a major programme of international research.
Solar geoengineering techniques are highly controversial: while some climate scientists believe they may prove a quick and relatively cheap way to slow global warming, others fear that when conducted in the upper atmosphere, they could irrevocably alter rainfall patterns and interfere with the earth’s climate.
Geoengineering is opposed by many environmentalists, who say the technology could undermine efforts to reduce emissions, and by developing countries who fear it could be used as a weapon or by rich countries to their advantage. In 2010, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity declared a moratorium on experiments in the sea and space, except for small-scale scientific studies.
Oakland: Single Traffic Camera Generates More Than $3 Million a Year for City
February 6th, 2012Via: San Francisco Chronicle:
California has the most expensive red-light camera tickets in the world – the fine is so steep that one camera in Oakland generates more than $3 million a year – and a Fremont man is launching a protest group to do something about that.
…
Anyone in California snapped violating a red light pays a fine of $480, and according to the traffic-watch site TheNewspaper.com, no other jurisdiction anywhere has a tab that high. The second-highest fine in the United States is $250, and it is usually more like $100.
Australia: No Opt-Out Rule for Airport Body Scanners
February 6th, 2012Via: ABC:
Civil libertarians are worried by proposed legislation meaning passengers will not be able to opt out of undergoing full body scans at Australian airports.
The Federal Government will introduce legislation this week so the technology can be rolled out in all of Australia’s international airports.
The move follows a trial in Sydney and Melbourne.
Except for travellers with serious medical conditions, all passengers will have to go through the scanners if asked by airport staff.
Civil Liberties Australia director Tim Vines says the scanners will amount to an unnecessary digital strip search of citizens who want to travel.
He says passengers should be allowed to request a pat-down.
“In the European Union, where they do allow these types of scanners, they have issued a directive that says governments must provide citizens with an option to opt out,” he said.
“We think that, as in the US and in Europe, people should have the option of opting for pat-downs rather than having to go through the digital strip search of the full body scan.”
They Just Love That Eye Symbolism
February 6th, 2012Ah, Madonna. At least she’s consistent.
Madonna, 1980s?
Below is a picture from the Stupor Bowl half time show.
Vigilant Citizen‘s head will explode when he sees the video of this.
Via: Daily Mail:
I dare you to look at this with a pair of They Live sunglasses
—
Research Credit: PF
