Wednesday, April 04, 2007

 

Control Freaks Attack

Psychophil started my little brain thinking about control freaks. He posted about Belgium imposing a tax on barbequing to fight global warming. I have serious doubts about barbequing's contribution to global warming but putting a stop to the religious idiocy of global warmingists seems to be a daunting tasks. There's also a incredible twist:
The local authorities plan to monitor compliance with the new tax legislation from helicopters, whose thermal sensors will detect burning grills. Now I wonder, how much CO2 does a helicopter engine put out? How many grills would have to be be lit to exceed the emissions of these helicopters during their tax flights?
Helicopters vs. grills? Looks more like a government money grab and needless intrusion into individuals privacy.

But, in England, intruding into privacy in order to control peoples every action has become an art form. CCTVs that talk to people are being installed across England.
Talking" closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras which allow operators to shout at people behaving badly are to be installed across England, the government announced Wednesday.

The scheme lets local council workers in a control centre monitor pictures from the cameras and talk to them if they feel they are doing something wrong.

The cameras were piloted in Middlesbrough, north-east England, where they have been used to reprimand vandals and litter bugs, but now loudspeakers are being fitted to cameras in another 20 areas.

Britain has some 4.2 million CCTV cameras and the government's privacy watchdog, Information Commissioner Richard Thomas, warned last year that the nation risks "sleep-walking into a surveillance society".
For anyone who has read Vonnegut's "Player Piano" this rings familiar. At 80,000 square miles, Britain is about half the area of California. 4.2 million CCTV cameras! That's surveillance! And, now the cameras can nag you like your Mum. A real nanny state.

Just wait and see how much the red light cameras proliferate in the U.S.

The other day, DrHelen posted on how overprotecting our kids is reaching epidemic proportions. One link I really enjoyed reading was a "Psychology Today" article, "A Nation Wimps.

One of the underlying themes of all this was the control freak parents. The desire to control their children's experiences and environment is so strong that it is, well, uncontrollable.

Global warming alarmists literally believe they can control the entire world climate. Of course, this begins with controlling you and me while they fly around in Gulfstream jets and drive SUVs.

All this makes me wonder how long it will be until We will be trapped in a Brave New World like the one described in 1984.

At least we'll all be equal. Although, some will be more equal than others.

One characteristic I've noticed about control freaks in my observation: the control freaks themselves most often are out of control in their own lives. There seems to be a similarity to obsessive-compulsive disorder in that the control freak tries to establish some modicum of "control" by controlling others while they, themselves, remain out of control.

Being controlled by others is the antithesis of the American ideals of liberty and freedom. Being controlled by those who are out of control themselves is a recipe of disaster.

Comments:
i know its scary, did u know that around george orwells house, there are over 200 cctv camera's

http://tinyurl.com/3xm9ao

On the wall outside his former residence - flat number 27B - where Orwell lived until his death in 1950, an historical plaque commemorates the anti-authoritarian author. And within 200 yards of the flat, there are 32 CCTV cameras, scanning every move.

Orwell's view of the tree-filled gardens outside the flat is under 24-hour surveillance from two cameras perched on traffic lights.

The flat's rear windows are constantly viewed from two more security cameras outside a conference centre in Canonbury Place.

In a lane, just off the square, close to Orwell's favourite pub, the Compton Arms, a camera at the rear of a car dealership records every person entering or leaving the pub.

Within a 200-yard radius of the flat, there are another 28 CCTV cameras, together with hundreds of private, remote-controlled security cameras used to scrutinise visitors to homes, shops and offices.

The message is reminiscent of a 1949 poster to mark the launch of Orwell's 1984: 'Big Brother is Watching You'.

In the Shriji grocery store in Canonbury Place, three cameras focus on every person in the shop. Owner Minesh Amin explained: 'They are for our security and safety. Without them, people would steal from the shop. Although this is a nice area, there are always bad people who cause trouble by stealing.'

Three doors away, in the dry-cleaning shop run by Malik Zafar, are another two CCTV cameras.

'I need to know who is coming into my shop,' explained Mr Zafar, who spent £400 on his security system.

According to the latest studies, Britain has a staggering 4.2million CCTV cameras - one for every 14 people in the country - and 20 per cent of cameras globally. It has been calculated that each person is caught on camera an average of 300 times daily.

20% of the cameras, yet only 1% of the population.

of course it wont stop crime, kids will be dring others to see how often they can get the camera to speak to them.

and this is one of the democracies, someone mentioned we are going over to digital tv, all terrestrial tv is going to be turned off.

so you have a country with digital tv, cameras that talk and shout and call the police on you. very 1984 isnt it..
 
It's hard to fathom that many cameras. I'm sure there are more here in the U.S. than we realize. I'm much more disturbed by the government cameras than the ones in private businesses, but still...
 
its cheaper than hiring actual policemen, another story had 1 in 48 policemen actually went out on the beat. and people wonder why i am so pro freedom.
 
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