Saturday, October 13, 2007

Big Brother Is Watching You

Within a few years the US citizen will be monitored day and night through one form or another. If you own a car the state will know where you are at all times, how fast you went to get there and who else was there at the same time. A new surveillance system was quietly rolled out and is being put to various uses to control the public. For those who want to catch criminals it is a boon, to the average citizen, not so much.
The spread of the cameras means that authorities, at least in some fashion, have more information about where people go in their daily lives, whether to work or school or a hospital.
It is such a small jump before they are installed on residential streets, in the malls, and at the grocery store. Voilà, instant Stepford country.

What the heck is this guy saying? Some of it made sense but never having run into these idioms before made it a confusing read. The English language hardly makes sense as it is but he seems to be talking about sports fans and the love they have for their preferred sport. The image that sprung to mind was of Green Bay Packers fans with their shirts off, skin painted in the appropriate colors and snow swirling around the stadium.
My suspicion is we're more likely to see the tonsils of a certain kind of roaring patriot who would be on the terraces with his shirt off if he weren't on the pitch with it on, while a more thoughtful performer who gets stick in the changing room for doing Sudoku will keep his dentist's talent from the cameras.
ABC News did a story about the differences between a $5,000 bottle of perfume and a $13 one. After much explanation that has nothing to do with the question, they finally get around to comparing the two. There were differences in the lab but the people on the street preferred the $13 one and ABC doesn't bother to tell us why and then goes on to say that luckily one could buy a good quality perfume for between $50 and $100. Why would someone want to do that if most people preferred the $13 version? Have these people ever taken a logic class?

1 comment:

  1. It doesn't seem to me that the state of affairs as they are in this country have any chance of lasting much longer. The society is a few ticks from imploding, and it isn't showing any signs of veering off that path.

    When the electric grid cracks, and the Government defaults, all the security cameras they set up will turn utterly worthless.

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