George Orwell Was Right: Spy Cameras See Britons' Every Move

[Jcrowley]

George Orwell Was Right: Spy Cameras See Britons' Every Move
By Nick Allen

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- It's Saturday night in Middlesbrough, England, and drunken university students are celebrating the start of the school year, known as Freshers' Week.

One picks up a traffic cone and runs down the street. Suddenly, a disembodied voice booms out from above:
``You in the black jacket! Yes, you! Put it back!'' The confused student obeys as his friends look bewildered.

``People are shocked when they hear the cameras talk, but when they see everyone else looking at them, they feel a twinge of conscience and comply,'' said Mike Clark, a spokesman for Middlesbrough Council who recounted the incident. The city has placed speakers in its cameras, allowing operators to chastise miscreants who drop coffee cups, ride bicycles too fast or fight outside bars.

Almost 70 years after George Orwell created the all-seeing dictator Big Brother in the novel ``1984,'' Britons are being watched as never before. About 4.2 million spy cameras film each citizen 300 times a day, and police have built the world's largest DNA database. Prime Minister Tony Blair said all Britons should carry biometric identification cards to help fight the war on terror.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=avL4PSqZrcj4&refer=home

[Redstone]

1. And you can never DARE break the speed limit there, either. They have THOUSANDS

of automatic ticket-dispensing radar cameraas on the roads.

You think we got Big Brother here? We got nothing compared with England.

I guess a government CAN frighten people into giving up their rights.

Redstone

[TomInTib]

3. While considering a motion to put cameras in our little Town...

we found out that the average American is caught on surveillance cameras 39 times per day.

That, my friend, is scary enough.

[Redstone]

4. So did your town vote the cameras down, or not?

Best of wishes for the holidays for you and yours, my friend.

Redstone

[TomInTib]

5. Chunked that fucker right out the window.

But we do have a camera on our unbelievable fountain.

Man, you oughta see it. Nothing like it in the Anywhere.

I will send you a link when I can find it.

And that was really great of you to offer that matching pledge thing.

Have a wonderful Christmas with your Family, Redstone. Cherish each and every bit of Everything.

Tom

[Redstone]

6. Just being able to wake up every morning is a miracle. You know that, I'm sure of it.

I am grateful every day. and I never miss the opportunity to tell Mrs R and the boys that it's good to see them that day.

So MANY ways I could have missed being able to do so.

We'll meet some day, and maybe pick, certainly grin.

Redstone

[Igel]

8. This it?

(I cringe every time I try to touch any remotely HTML-like on this board.)

From:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88834211%40N00/sets/72157594368894759/

[TomInTib]

12. That's it. But it doesn't even come close..

The fountain is this great spillover basin and those stainless steel forms are sails that slowly turn.
It is called "Coming About".

And it is set in a beautiful plaza.

The fountain is in memory of the one and only Edward Galland Zelinsky.

My house is just barely up-and-to-the-left of that pic. San Francisco Bay is directly to the right. We look directly across the Bay to San Francisco.

That was a cool find, igil.

Merry Christmas.

Tom

[silverweb]

2. So much for ever visiting England.

One upon a time, I wanted to visit. Not any more.

They've gone far beyond the absurd. I guarantee that tourism in England will suffer as a result of this idiocy.

It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for the British proles to fight back.

[mr blur]

16. Yet we have a free press here,

which is not afraid to criticise the government, we are not ruled by religious loonies and are allowed to be atheists and proud of it, we are not afraid of gay people getting married, don't pretend that our nation exists by some kind of divine decree, don't think we have the right to completely fuck the rest of the world up, have nationalised health care free to all when needed, don't think that 18-year-olds are old enough to die in wars but not to drink alcohol...

I would be wary of criticising what you don't understand when so many of your countrymen are so willing to hand over their civil rights in return for having their "freedom" protected by a bunch of lying millionaire extreme right-wing warmongering bastards.

[silverweb]

17. In no way am I defending our own criminal government.

And I do apologize if I seemed to be condemning your whole system. Obviously, there are still some advantages coexisting for the moment with serious flaws in both our governments.

There are few people who hate our current administration and its crimes against humanity more than I do, so my comments were in no way an attempt to justify them.

[Beelzebud]

7. And yet, many "liberals" here at DU think this type of crap is GOOD.

[EdwardM]

9. They better not bring this shit over here.

The day that a camera starts giving me orders when crossing the street, is the day I leave the country.

[eagler]

13. Not if they take away your passport.

nt

[Doctor Venmkan]

10. Guess one part of the Dr. Who finale was NOT fiction....

When the woman at Torchwood hacked into the London police systems to use the security cameras to catch a glimpse of the TARDIS....!

"Big Brother is watching, but don't worry, it's for your own good..." *sigh*

[MadHound]

11. A sneak peek of what is coming our way

The only reason that we're not as blanketed with cameras like England is our larger size. But given time, this too will be our fate. Our actions are becoming ever more monitored, from our calls to our conversations to our movement. And as our privacy drains away, the sheep chorus bleat out "What do you have to worry about if you have nothing to hide"

[genie_weenie]

14. Hooray The State Triumphs! Now if

we could only get religions to pay taxes. Can't wait for the day here at home!

[BlackVelvet04]

15. I've often wondered if

between blair and bush blair isn't actually the more dangerous of the two. I'm not too sure that he isn't one of the people that influences george instead of vice versa.