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DeathevokatioN

‘Big brother’ lamp posts can hear, see and bark ‘Obey!’ at you

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Was there any doubt after watching the Republican GOP debates, or watching the NDAA get signed, or seeing Bush's "War on Terror" that America was turning into a police state?

article:
America welcomes a new brand of smart street lightning systems: energy-efficient, long-lasting, complete with LED screens to show ads. They can also spy on citizens in a way George Orwell would not have imagined in his worst nightmare.

­With a price tag of $3,000+ apiece, according to an ABC report, the street lights are now being rolled out in Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh, and may soon mushroom all across the country.

Part of the Intellistreets systems made by the company Illuminating Concepts, they have a number of “homeland security applications” attached.

Each has a microprocessor “essentially similar to an iPhone,” capable of wireless communication. Each can capture images and count people for the police through a digital camera, record conversations of passers-by and even give voice commands thanks to a built-in speaker.

Ron Harwood, president and founder of Illuminating Concepts, says he eyed the creation of such a system after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Hurricane Katrina disaster. He is “working with Homeland Security” to deliver his dream of making people “more informed and safer.”

“The system represents Big Brother on steroids,” commented the website InfoWars.com, which sees Intellistreets as a major threat to privacy.

http://www.rt.com/news/big-brother-street-lamps-286/

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Who the hell would want screens on a lamp? Forget the big-brother crap; they're doing that anyway. He should be shot for putting screens on everything.

The article said "street lightning systems." Too bad that's not what they're building. Sounds more fun.

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What Alio said... wtf... screens on lamps?

Maybe Americans will have a war on street lamps next. :p

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Nothing new there. IIRC, British surveillance cameras are also being paired with speakers, mostly to harass litter bugs and jaywalkers at the moment though as the sheeple become accustomed to obeying disembodied voices they'll probably start filling more mainstream policing roles.

Probably just a matter of time before remote-controlled tazers are added to deal with the selectively deaf - or 40oz. ;-)

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I don't know what aggravates me more: The lamp posts, or the fact that the article has to say "Like an iPhone" in order to make people understand that the lamp posts have a processor.

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Mr. Freeze said:

I don't know what aggravates me more: The lamp posts, or the fact that the article has to say "Like an iPhone" in order to make people understand that the lamp posts have a processor.


Definitely the iPhone getup for me.

Anyways, this is no different that any security surveillance on private property; they're just putting these on public, "government owned" sidewalks and streets in cities. Or better known as public locations, where cops can just post up on a street corner themselves and do the same thing. I don't see how anyone's privacy is compromised here.

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Rayzik said:

Anyways, this is no different that any security surveillance on private property; they're just putting these on public, "government owned" sidewalks and streets in cities. Or better known as public locations, where cops can just post up on a street corner themselves and do the same thing. I don't see how anyone's privacy is compromised here.


This.

Not to mention that it can't be too hard to just ignore those things anyways. Why would you want to break the law right in front of those things anyways?

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In the downtown area of my city, there are street signs which read, "Richmond police cameras are recording you 24 hours a day". The cameras might not be in street lamps, but they do the same job. The official story is that they help solve graffiti cases, but who knows what else they are used for.

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Csonicgo said:

Dude's a troll. Nothing more.


For a mere troll, he sure has predicted quite a few major world events.

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Do you guys honestly have a problem with this? I mean I'm not seriously going to ask if you ever walked alone in the city at night, because I'm pretty sure I know what the answer is. But there a lot of places in the city where if you got the shit kicked out of you no one would know. What could you possibly be doing outside on the street under a lamppost that if someone were watching you would make you feel like your privacy is being invaded?

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His videos are like the simpsons- some are great, some suck; that one you embedded doesn't at all epitomize/represent the overall quality of others when he gets in a zone spewing information warfare against corruption, pulling data points/quotes/dates/historical examples out of his head with a seemingly photographic memory. He can think and talk impromptu faster/better than I can tediously write/rewrite something. The main risk is he could be controlled opposition. But nobody really knows who else is a fed/cia etc, so it makes sense to judge people by their actions/past behavior and he appears quite anti-corruption. His political connections and memetic power make him more than a mere troll, whatever that means, or charlatan I suspect. If I was a charlatan in his shoes, I would have taken the money and disappeared long ago but he keeps firing. Basically I think there's a real and sophisticated political agenda backing him, but not 100% sure what. Tyranny is a real and horrible threat and recurring theme; hitler/north korea/caligula. Seems corruption snowballs until the worst of the worst get in power because they're socio/psychopaths willing to do things good people wouldn't do to obtain it. The human brain is sort of a weapon, and instead of fighting with antlers for mates or whatever, we use our brains to dominate/subjugate others and now this plays out on a social unit the size of a country instead of a little hunting/gathering tribe. Even preemptive information weapons/media fired against potential tyranny seems socially healthy, maybe even if some of that information is pure trolling with little truth/evidence. But the probability of dying from terrorism seems lower than dying from bee stings/etc, yet its been used as an excuse to remove everyone's liberties: NDAA/patriot act/restricting the internet with SOPA/CISPS/whatever/predator drones/etc. Chris Hedges mentions 'inverted totalitarianism' "Inverted totalitarianism, unlike classical totalitarianism, does not revolve around a demagogue or charismatic leader. It finds expression in the anonymity of the corporate state." And the leaders seem to be corporate, maybe especially banks since the same bank lobbyists back all presidents except maybe ron paul, with no allegiance to any state, people who want to remove liberties so everyone can be their foxconn-like slaves.
"The commodification of human beings was accompanied by the commodification of the natural world, and unfettered corporations exploit both until exhaustion or collapse,"
"we have created a kind of global oligarchic elite which is super national – it owes no loyalty to any particular country. It has reduced the working class within the US, within the developing world to a level of an almost subsistence existence. It tells workers they have to be competitive in the global marketplace which means they have to be competitive with switched up workers in Bangladesh or prison labor in China."
But Chris Hedges seems to be a global warming supporter (michio kaku too) so maybe they're shills trying to steer a revolution toward global warming 'carbon taxes', though I'm not sure if that's a big scam or not.
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty"

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40oz said:

What could you possibly be doing outside on the street under a lamppost that if someone were watching you would make you feel like your privacy is being invaded?

Peeing on buildings.

Drinking beer/wine.

Maybe even loitering...

Also, illegal merchants would be easier to catch.

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Vordakk said:

For a mere troll, he sure has predicted quite a few major world events.

Please. According to him, we should be living in fema concentration camps under dictator for life bush with rfid chips being forcibly implanted into us...well for the 10% of us that haven't been killed off by biological attacks.

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40oz said:

What could you possibly be doing outside on the street under a lamppost that if someone were watching you would make you feel like your privacy is being invaded?

Re-enacting that one moment of The Exorcist.

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40oz said:

What could you possibly be doing outside on the street under a lamppost that if someone were watching you would make you feel like your privacy is being invaded?


Living in the country that, I believe, has the highest number of CCTV cameras per head of population in the world (UK), I'm afraid it's the "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about" mentality that allowed it to happen.

I have nothing to hide, but I don't want them looking anyway. Indeed, I have nothing to hide, so they shouldn't be looking. :P

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Nothing to hide? What about freaking passwords or PIN codes? They're private, like keys to your home.

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Everybody has things to hide and everybody with the power to watch all the time finds a reason to watch and police what they shouldn't. It's also a fantastic waste of money. Since when does surveillance make a society better?

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40oz said:

Do you guys honestly have a problem with this? I mean I'm not seriously going to ask if you ever walked alone in the city at night, because I'm pretty sure I know what the answer is. But there a lot of places in the city where if you got the shit kicked out of you no one would know. What could you possibly be doing outside on the street under a lamppost that if someone were watching you would make you feel like your privacy is being invaded?

If you live in the city you'll realize there is no way you can set up cameras on light fixtures and buildings without catching a glimpse into your window.

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Is your house made of glass? what did you do with your curtains? I don't think %3,000 pieces of equipment were necessary for peeping toms.

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Vordakk said:

For a mere troll, he sure has predicted quite a few major world events.

He predicts a lot of shit. Even a broken clock is right twice every sixteen years.

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40oz said:

Is your house made of glass? what did you do with your curtains? I don't think %3,000 pieces of equipment were necessary for peeping toms.

I don't care who sees my cock, the point of the matter is the government is using tools to monitor me without reason or warrant. You are opening your doors to be policed without suspect, or the danger of being easily incriminated or exploited if outspoken.

Don't give power if you don't want it turned back on you. I don't live by the "if you've done nothing, you've got nothing to hide" mentality; that's not freedom.

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And exactly how is this different than having a network of human informants and snitches, including even your neighbour and newspaper boy keeping an eye for "suspicious activities"? The latter is a tried and true formula in all kinds of dictatorships or authoritarian governments, and nobody compained about their existence because they were more preoccupied with staying below everybody's radar all the time, no time for activism.

And once again I note that this (and the rest of the shit we see today) would be never done in the "Cold War": becaue then the "Free World" would be no different than the "Evil Empire" it was supposed to antagonize.

Wagi said:

Even a broken clock is right twice every sixteen years.


Wasn't that twice a day? :-p

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40oz said:

Do you guys honestly have a problem with this? I mean I'm not seriously going to ask if you ever walked alone in the city at night, because I'm pretty sure I know what the answer is. But there a lot of places in the city where if you got the shit kicked out of you no one would know. What could you possibly be doing outside on the street under a lamppost that if someone were watching you would make you feel like your privacy is being invaded?


See, now this is exactly the attitudes the government want you to have.

If you believe in the New World Order theories, you will see that those in power are making life more difficult, so that people will accept loss of freedoms in return for security against war, civil unrest and poverty. At least that is the theory. And yet, we have more war, civil unrest and poverty now than (arguably) ever before.

If you read about 'moderate' dictatorships, you will find that people are allowed to do whatever they want in private, and in return for these 'freedoms', they must stay entirely out of the 'public' arena. (ie, no criticism of the government is permitted, no agitation, no protests.) This is the new deal that governments are increasingly striking with their people. Be rich, comfortable and happy (if you can) and in return, leave the ruling to to the rulers. Singapore is a prime example of this: A wealthy, liberal, relatively western culture, where government control is pretty much absolute. They do have elections there, but virtually every opposition member has spent time in jail for 'anti government attitudes' and 'misuse of the people's wealth' amongst many other things. Areas that vote for opposition parties have their public services and budgets massively reduced, if not outright cut entirely. China is becoming increasingly like this too, as they come to understand that a relatively 'free' people will create a better economy than an oppressed people. The U.S. sort of proves this rule in reverse. As people's public liberties are eroded, it is having an increasing effect on the economy.

gggmork said:

Alex Jones stuff.


I don't mind some alex jones. Even if you think he is a total kook, I will take a few kooks if it helps keep the government honest, rather than a million 'normal' people who keep silence, and allow those in power to do as they wish.

gggmork said:

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty"


OH. FUCK. YES.

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Maes said:

Wasn't that twice a day? :-p

More like 400 years, if the clock also has a calendar function.

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GreyGhost said:

More like 400 years, if the clock also has a calendar function.


Well, the original problem implies an analog clock with just time dials for it to make sense. Even the assumption of a calendar implies e.g. that it has no year digits that would make the solution even more complex. A broken digital clock would be just an empty display.

It's kinda like the Light Bulb Problem: the proposed solution makes assumptions on the type of bulbs and their physical properties. If you take those away, the solution would make no sense.

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Its a straw man to attack stuff like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c6HsiixFS8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6r-LIy9jdw
in order to debunk 'conspiracy theories' as a whole. Such obviously kookie stuff might even be manufactured deliberately by someone with an agenda to associate conspiracy theories with craziness.

If you don't have time to sift through hours of Alex Jones, here are some short pieces from today's show, for example, showing the more sophisticated thought process involved and how he just streams this stuff from his consciousness impromptu. Maybe I'm easily impressed because I can't remember the last fucking sentence in a conversation, let alone string a bunch together into a coherent point in real time without the visual aid and artificial memory of written words.

6:30 to I forget:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXPB51yKLTM&feature=plcp

3:30 to maybe 9 or so:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFzGogF-uL4&feature=plcp

I didn't really search for the best of the best, just some of the more interesting rants from today's show. But I'm only on part 3 so far.

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