By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)
You know the world is heading in a strange direction when you see yourself on Fox News. Believe or not, my viewers have reported to me that Fox News use clips of my commentary in a piece about the Obama birther issue. Is this the point where I should get paranoid about who's watching me?
Watch the video here...
Superhero Capes for Jobless
And when should I stop taking America seriously? How about when a Job Center starts having out superhero capes to the unemployed. Unfortunately, this happened in Orlando, Florida when some idiot thought it would be good public relations to spend 14,000 dollars to hand out 6,000 superhero capes to the unemployed. The PR stint included a goofy cartoon character called 'Dr. Evil Unemployment.' Supposedly, the jobless workers were to be uplifted by the gimmick and work to "vanquish" Dr. Evil Unemployment. If this isn't a "Let them eat cake" moment, then I would like to see Marie Antoinette do better. I can't figure out which is worse, the stupidity of the person who pitched the idea or the foolishness of the person who approved it. With $14,000, they could have bought young jobless workers ties, dress shoes and suits for a job interview.
Read more...
They're Watching Us
Let's get back to the paranoia theme. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Apple and Google have been secretly gathering data about cellphone users. They have been gathering information about users locations from the Android smartphone. And you wonder why I don't like cellphones. Actually, I hate the idea of signing a contract. Read more...
Nevertheless, I'm seeing a disturbing trend in America. Police departments and the Department of Homeland Security are opening violating the U.S. Constitution. For example, Michigan State Police are using 'extraction devices' to illegally extract cellphone data (videos, photos, texts, etc) from motorist they pull over. And they're doing this without a warrant. Read more...
"The Michigan State Police later issued a statement saying that it only uses the data-extraction devices after obtaining a search warrant or consent from a cell phone's owner."
We'll see if this is true when the ACLU takes their asses to court. In the meanwhile, I wouldn't offer the police any access your information. I don't mind being on Fox News. I'm more disturbed by the fact that some many of my viewers were watching the channel in the first place. What offends my sensibilities is Google and Apple providing information about the location of its users in a manner that could be exploited by the federal government. If the federal government has people working inside of these organizations, then it could be using the companies as proxies in a domestic spy program. Maybe I'm jumping the gun, but it seems clear that state and federal governments have no problem violating our privacy rights. I should note that they is absoltuely no evidence that Google or Apple are being used by the government, but they should take action to address this concern.
Are you concerned about these trends?
Being worried/concerned is definitely an option. But at least you are getting the message across!
ReplyDeleteYet another reason why I will not get a smartphone.
ReplyDeleteI suspected that smartphones were being used to monitor its users, but now we know that Google and Apple are actively collecting data.
ReplyDelete