Jul 11, 2013

A Sinking Feeling





You ever get the strange feeling that we are all spinning around in a toilet bowl to eventually get flushed down the hole, out of sight, out of mind? I do. Whenever I read or hear news items concerning the ever-increasing threats to our privacy & safety, I get that sinking feeling that this will not end well - people will realize too late that the terrain has changed & that they are now the enemy. Of course, we will continue to hear the usual drivel aimed at inciting & perpetuating fear, suspicion & hatred all in the name of  some vague "national security" claim. Don't get me wrong: there are real enemies out there. What bothers me is the noose that has been flung around the whole world making us all guilty until proven innocent. And there is some serious money to be made by this sickening enterprise & in the end, down the hole we go. 

In case you are not keeping track of all the fancy contraptions that are now part of "intelligence-gathering" game, here are a few that have some disturbing potential:

(1) X37B Space Plane - On December 11th, 2012, the US Air Force launched this wickedly flexible, undetectable robotic space plane that can stay in orbit for over a year. Since this is a highly classified asset, many speculate that it’s almost certainly a weaponized spy plane or, at least, a testbed for space surveillance gear and a launch platform for miniature spy satellites. There is a growing concern that with the launch of this craft, the military is prepping up for a crisis - real or imagined.

(2) X-47B Unmanned Combat Drone - The Navy announced on Wednesday (7/10/13) that it has successfully landed a X-47B on a carrier for the first time. This beast is not only equipped with the weapons of a fighter jet, but can fly itself on a pre-defined course while correcting for mistakes and weather - no human at the controls! I see nothing but countless innocents being shredded as unavoidable "collateral damage" in pursuit of a handful of combatants.

(3) Google Glass - In 1999, Sun CEO Scott McNealy said: “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." The dipshit was prophetic. This latest device by Google is a pair of glasses with a built-in audio/video chip that captures content in real-time which to me is every stalkers dream come true. When the price of this wearable device goes down, you will hear louder and louder cries of privacy invasions /breaches of confidentiality. Spy technology in the hands of the general population is asking for trouble & really - do we need yet another destructive distraction especially in the hands of the young & disturbed? Again, the powers that be are only too happy to see this device mass-marketed as it makes it that much easier to collect data on folks.

(4) Smartphones That Can See Through Walls - Using WiFi to “see through walls” and track people when they’re moving could be a new feature on your next smartphone - yet another tool in a growing field of spy technology. A couple of years ago, Researchers at MIT's Lincoln Lab  built a radar system that can penetrate walls/roofs enough to give an "instantaneous picture of the activity on the other side." Now we're getting a commercial version to make spies of us all!  Again, this shit will not end well. The US Constitution may as well be parceled out as toilet tissue like this.

I can go on and on about this - and I didn't even mention PRISM & other invasive schemes. We all want peace & security, but is this the best way to achieve these ends? The US has become a madhouse run by sociopaths with deep pockets and deeper disdain for justice & democracy.  The global surveillance industry is estimated at $5 billion a year, so as I mentioned before, there is mountains of money to be made. The capabilities of surveillance technology have grown hugely in the past decade – in the hands of a repressive or imperial powers, this technology muffles free speech, quashes dissent and places politically-engaged citizens at the mercy of ruling powers as effectively as guns and bombs, if not more so. Surveillance technology can range from malware which infects a target computer to record every keystroke, to systems for tapping undersea fibre-optic cables in order to monitor the communications of entire populations. In countries where detention without trial, torture and extra-judicial killings are commonplace, these technologies imperil the lives of every activist and dissident fighting for decency, dignity and justice.

(Ah yes.....this strange, sinking feeling..I hope it goes away...)


OneLove


:::MME:::





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