If I saw one police car yesterday, I saw a hundred. We were driving up from the Bay Area and it appeared that every couple of miles on 101 there was a cop sitting and watching or actually in the process of harassing or arresting someone or worse. The same was true in Ukiah, 253, and Boonville and the 128. Even though I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I had that uncomfortable feeling that I was going to get in trouble any minute. Know what I mean?
It feels like there’s somebody always watching. It’s the age of surveillance. Surveillance comes from the French and it means, watching over. I wish it were that benign. For we watch over our grandchildren when they are close to the waters’ edge or climbing on the monkey bars. I certainly wouldn’t say they are under surveillance, but I’m not in France. Surveillance is huge business right now. There are thousands of cameras mounted in cities and towns all over country. In the UK there are more cameras than there are citizens. In fact, George Orwells’ house is surrounded by 32 cameras, Don’t you just love the irony. He’s dead, but still, big brother is watching
Yes, They are watching us, but not with the benevolent eyes of grandmothers, but with the prying, invasive eyes of officials waiting to detain, question and invade our privacy. We have practically given them carte blanche to do this in the form of our social networking. We generously divulge our family’s faces, habits, whereabouts in our innocence and belief that only our friends are being informed, but in our heart of hearts we know, this is public space and whatever we post is permanent, indelible ink.
According to wikipedia, they are listening as well. Remember "Hepting v. AT&T . This was United States class action lawsuit filed in 2006 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) AT&T, in which the EFF alleged that AT&T permitted and assisted the National Security Agency (NSA) in unlawfully monitoring the communications of the AT&T customers, businesses and third parties whose communications were routed through AT&T's network, as well as telephone calls routed via the Internet". But the case was dismissed and to this day if ATT and the NSA consider us suspects they have warantless access to our daytime and nocturnal transmissions.
In the beginning of our democracy we were protected by the Bill of rights and the 4th amendment which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. But this lofty ideal has been whittled away ever so diligently by our previous presidents, and the current one has done nothing to restore privacy in any way.
Privacy is a thing of the past especially at airport security. Not only does the TSA rifle through our sex toys, prescriptions and valuables in our luggage, but now they have the right to look through our clothes, under our underwear and even through our skin. At this point we still have the option to opt out, but that gets you a public molestation which is humiliating and ineffective.
Take me for instance. I have an extremely large bosom. And although I’ve been felt up a number of times by TSA agents, they never really get under my breasts. Let’s assume it’s modesty, or perhaps ignorance about how much storage space is available to me. I know that if I want to smuggle a small child on the plane I could.
But here’s my point; Flying in a plane, Using a social network, or texting on a cell phone is a choice that some of us make in spite of the risk. But when it comes to installation smart meters it appears we have no choice. It is the intention of PGE as an agent of the PUC with the help of a company known as Wellington to install smart meters against the will of the people in California and in our case in direct violation of the decision of the Mendocino Board of Supervisors to Ban these meters. In fact it is also in violation of the Precautionary principle that as a county we also put into effect especially when it comes to health threats, the kind that have been documented in coordination with the installation of electronic meters.
These meters are designed to hook up with our smart appliances. Yes, the ones that I bought thinking I was being responsible and more energy efficient. Yet, it was all a precursor to this. Smart Meters use A remote electromagnetic frequency that zaps our nervous system and watches over our appliances and electric usage, reporting back to PG&E information about our private lives
On the other hand with all our nifty devices we are watching them too. We are recording, downloading, sharing, organizing and getting our communities and attorneys in gear.
Just watch us.
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