[liberationtech] And right on cue, the flush our civil liberties down the toilet boys rear their ugly heads

[Julian Oliver]

..on Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 05:27:35PM -0700, Yosem Companys wrote:
> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren at vortex.com>
> 
> And right on cue, the flush our civil liberties down the toilet boys
> rear their ugly heads
> 
> "We Need More Cameras, and We Need Them Now"
> 
> http://j.mp/14A4fY1  (Slate)
> 
>    "Cities under the threat of terrorist attack should install networks of
>     cameras to monitor everything that happens at vulnerable urban
>     installations. Yes, you don't like to be watched. Neither do I. But of
>     all the measures we might consider to improve security in an age of
>     terrorism, installing surveillance cameras everywhere may be the best
>     choice. They're cheap, less intrusive than many physical security
>     systems, and-as will hopefully be the case with the Boston
>     bombing-they can be extremely effective at solving crimes."
> 
>  - - -
> 
> This kind of misguided and factually vacuous proposal is more
> dangerous to freedom than all the terrorism on the planet.
> 

... and at worst breeds violent frustration at home, as people feel increasingly
unable to engage elected civil administrators in transformative conversation
about these issues. People /feel/ threatened by impositions such as these for a
reason - I've had two conversations of the sort here in Buffalo within as many
days of arrival.  These locals feel their own government no longer defends their
basic human right to privacy (as if today's CISPA vote wasn't harsh enough).

Regardless, it's worth noting the U.S has seen steady decline of terrorism on
home soil since 1970. Curious that the general opinion is that terrorism is on
the rise here:

    http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/16/us/Decades-of-Decline-in-Attacks.html?ref=us&_r=0

Who knows how long that will last, given the increasing conscription to Al
Qaeda, or any armed resistance, as direct result of drone attacks on sovereign
soil abroad.  

Here's the case of Yemen alone, a country that (like Pakistan and Somalia) the
U.S isn't actually at war with: 

“These attacks are making people say, ‘We believe now that al-Qaeda is on the
right side,’ ” said businessman Salim al-Barakani, adding that his two brothers
— one a teacher, the other a cellphone repairman — were killed in a U.S. strike
in March."

    http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-05-29/world/35456187_1_aqap-drone-strikes-qaeda

You can call the Yemeni tribesmen referenced in the article 'terrorists' as a
result of their conscription. You can also call them very frustrated and
desperate people whose children are terrified of the U.S and can't sleep due to
the buzzing - and statistically inaccurate - killing machines flying above their
homes.

Cheers,

-- 
Julian Oliver
http://julianoliver.com
http://criticalengineering.org