Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Ever been a tourist?
Have you ever been a tourist, and taken pictures of your trip? Have an interest in architecture or large engineering projects? Perhaps like to draw or paint plein air? Or maybe you're a writer wanting to make notes about a particular location you want to use in a book or story?
Welcome to the Terror List:
Terror watch uses local eyes
Hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and even utility workers have been trained and recently dispatched as "Terrorism Liaison Officers" in Colorado and a handful of other states to hunt for "suspicious activity" — and are reporting their findings into secret government databases.It's a tactic intended to feed better data into terrorism early-warning systems and uncover intelligence that could help fight anti-U.S. forces. But the vague nature of the TLOs' mission, and their focus on reporting both legal and illegal activity, has generated objections from privacy advocates and civil libertarians.
* * *
Here are examples of specific behaviors that terrorism liaison officers deployed in Colorado and a handful of other states are told to watch for and report.
• Engages in suspected pre-operational surveillance (uses binoculars or cameras, takes measurements, draws diagrams, etc.)
• Appears to engage in counter-surveillance efforts (doubles back, changes appearance, drives evasively, etc.)
• Engages security personnel in questions focusing on sensitive subjects (security information, hours of operation, shift changes, what security cameras film, etc.)
• Takes pictures or video footage (with no apparent aesthetic value, for example, camera angles, security equipment, security personnel, traffic lights, building entrances, etc.)
• Draws diagrams or takes notes (building plans, location of security cameras or security personnel, security shift changes, notes of weak security points, etc.)
Depending on how someone wanted to perceive it, either my wife or I have done every single thing on that list on our vacations in this country and abroad. Yeah, even the 'counter-surveillance efforts' - in trying to find a given location in unfamiliar territory, we've often taken wrong turns or had to double back to a missed road. I'll talk to watchmen or cops, because they usually know the most about a particular location. My wife is an architect, so is interested in structures. I like big engineering projects. We use binoculars. I'll often make notes about places I think might fit in good with a story idea.
If I'm not already, I'll probably wind up on someone's terror watch list. Not because I am the slightest bit of a threat. Not because I am doing anything in the least bit illegal. Because of stupid, pointless paranoia.
Man, I can't wait for Friday to get here so we can celebrate living in the land of the free.
Jim Downey
(Via MeFi. Cross posted to Communion of Dreams.)
Bookmark/Search this post with:
And computer repair guys need PI licenses in Texas
Yep. Apparently it was a vaguely written law, but the The Department of Public Safety's Private Security Bureau intends to go after any computer repair person without a license - and their customers.
Yep, gotta be careful who you hire to de-sludge your computer after your idiot kid or elderly relative hits a popup and you're covered in spyware and porn.
The new world order scares me
and the key to resistance is communications.
Here's the public key. The e-mail is scott_mange at yahoo.com
Oh, and check the back of your computer...
http://www.keyghost.com/
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
mQGiBEes8QURBACv85hFEIyg4yUghpvn1yoT6IwBqNMLHxJNoj5piS2lsvgN4OOa
OHALvSkd47M2KlWHwZwGjAimbKMnGWK5NxyLqXdkRwuyZRbIFpqCzbIBo70kuJe0
B0fYQIYNJP+1pfD7syV+RNAVH+IEdlin2BSpTT04CC7SO/DnG+nKMGRh4wCgqvKB
CI5LcZiBEUGQVNLY0FHJcnUD/AkceCLS9WtzxO8/6U8tr6y9Z2e6iKg63MntWie2
qtX8MorZ0oOfcLGwrNt+vXxHQQmiQ1SQc90sH4z9M8Pi5JJD++4Bn53lnS8BqgvL
t1PBdaNG6A3yn/jWcKiRmWISq2JxAte+gig4Wl4xEfRE1gnfEG5/Cv79X/a5b/5H
+95iBACCelNmn01eFdX6fQj3W4vkl7UOckytZICgjLCcS1Vnt3GBBDaa+Aq9lHZY
zr8qIOg3Eq17Vx5zk6Uw6rwmyy0uPrwU8oslDjfYc13MYX9sGAmFa0LBtewGlRiv
1/ElmKQo1xmm0nbnRrZK/xLJVEfxOuKj2Cmo5ZhpJOfbrMTfjLQ8UC4gU2NvdHQg
TWFuZ2UgKENyZWF0ZWQgOCBGZWIuIDIwMDgpIDxzY290dF9tYW5nZUB5YWhvby5j
b20+iGAEExECACAFAkes8QUCGyMGCwkIBwMCBBUCCAMEFgIDAQIeAQIXgAAKCRDn
4wcq+GlI2BxkAKCBPA9GjlI9MIvcrb56YFf3pIuLuwCgiJSb+AYxA2sQWtuLBaj9
cg95p+S5Ag0ER6zxEBAIAJI/1K9Gyo/2ki0AkOa7DJS3cko1ibuR8PkRPoo8kLNO
+nBEkxYFToPtF16voE+owjxhWu2Q3IbcAovn0Mg2yQRcyCQ5ZqMaeFCk+LCMZXM+
bZ3ilg2XaMrNFVgjQhwsOWX52IhWRagtgbjMXprl9SYPzx6vLR84yfz7VeIUpOdx
0T1B/RkftPmJQjv16flLCvUwXFtoVFmPatlujhORma7+cXZNd5LDIgz5n9Yrrwv/
DJFQY6mjSf/8Ik1FytJ5CvXpISEX32/JqRkfDzbz/DcLMPnOGMT/445EDrverqOV
YTfx+yEa5VzTlYvJLjg0A2A6T4FV8QE34Av4miUpfh8AAwUH/3aJWY+XqeU0evGc
JAjbLhlaqD8sQF1A6Y6h7Ek1vP3V/Ws54Oaxkfhsp/GkaJq/ib0Kk1pPM4Bawu45
zfPsFNKzmYa+6UQP3/eZ2vRCR30Ji3AyyB1gI3o8D+bYXWRjrJW/uaXQWY2F5fR5
8pVSM9zOp2mt9TWaz5zPAnopzI/S0XUu/eqzVygy2l0eF2cQiccM8GzC3+rCbHOl
F/vpVHYvh4DlP/ndZYZ07zN4xrtKKdUZAl9NKZURTJggEk7FfSAQoXa8jaZvynxR
/H2CPlIcA1veLFdp5pwOmdv4R2MB5F1deQKvDDP1mflhWhQoZEHI5MCmTFuJ1ShW
9q3X5s6ISQQYEQIACQUCR6zxEAIbDAAKCRDn4wcq+GlI2MUXAJ45CxllcQp++6ca
3Q2pvwdRBnvevQCfSPkH52ZpCfBtYAv+bde7tnL4Hdo=
=MkSv
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
I always wondered . . .
Man, I always wondered what that thing was sticking out the back of my neck . . .
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
It IS scary...
Back in 2002, my wife and I went to visit some relatives in Washington D.C. Just as it was getting dark, we wound up in a lot near (I assume, but don't actually remember) Dulles Airport, where planes were taking off and landing about every 30 seconds. I hate flying, but thought that was pretty neat, and took about 20 minutes of video of these planes. It didn't even occur to me until a year or so ago how that might have looked to some vigilant hero who may have seen me.
That said, though, how would you tell the difference between someone innocently looking at structures and buildings and planes taking off and landing, and someone with more nefarious intentions? There ARE people who want to cause mayhem and harm, and some of them probably are here in the US. How do you balance the real need to protect, when you can, against terrorist activities and the privacy of innocent people? What would you suggest (and I ask this with all sincerity) that we do to ensure safety without infringing on rights?
Do you stop encouraging people to look for "suspicious" behavior altogether? Because it seems that it quickly becomes an "all-or-nothing" game. Someone said it makes us less safe if even innocent actions are deemed suspicious, but it seems to me if you ignore anything that COULD be suspicious because it's probably just an innocent person going innocently about their lives, that's not very safe either.
I don't know the answer. I would have been pissed if my family and I had been hassled just because I was videoing some planes, but I would have understood, and felt pretty damned stupid for not realizing how it could look.
Rob Miles
--
There are only 10 types of people in the world;
those who understand binary and those who don't.
Don't fall for the fear.
Rob, I'm not a security professional. But lots of people who are (I like this guy's site) say that this sort of mass surveillance (because that is what it is) accomplishes very little or nothing, except to raise the fear level of the general population. Like all the CCTV cameras in Britain - they make people feel like something is being done, but they are either placed wrong or monitored so poorly that the only purpose they serve is to help try and solve crimes *after the fact*.
Sure, police and intelligence agencies should be paying attention to information that suggests a real threat. But how much of that is really out there? How many terror attacks have we actually suffered? Altogether in our entire history as a nation we've had a total number of deaths due to terrorism as the number of people killed by cars in a couple of months, or in general murders in about half a year. In other words, from a public policy perspective it is more intelligent to use our cops to control speeding on the highways and to keep crime down than to allocate resources to stopping people from taking pictures.
Don't buy into the fear. It makes you stupid and distracts you from the government taking away your freedom.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Not falling, just wondering
I agree that more resources should be put into getting dumb-asses off the road, 'cause I gotta deal with those idiots every freakin' day.
Still, it seems like it leaves the authorities "damned if you do, damned if you don't". We'd be happy if we stopped getting put on no-fly lists because our names are similar to a "known" terrorist, and if we could take pictures of landmarks without fear, etc. But if an attack happened that results in a couple of hundred deaths, and it turns out that the perpetrators used names slightly altered from their known names, and were taking pictures of the target a couple of weeks in advance, then there would be all hell to pay for the people who ignored the warning signs.
I'm not trying to be disagreeable, I just really don't know where they should draw the line. The more privacy you have, the less safety you'll have, and vice-verse. Obviously, common sense should be applied (like not keeping a child from flying because of his name), but I wouldn't want the job of trying to strike the correct balance.
Rob Miles
--
There are only 10 types of people in the world;
those who understand binary and those who don't.
See my latest . . .
post, and you'll see another aspect of my feelings on the subject.
Yes, the more privacy people have, the less safe that we are. You know what? I am completely fine with that. Because I don't think that the government or anyone else can 'protect me' from every threat. I am going to die, no matter what, and I would rather be able to enjoy my life.
This is why I describe myself as a liberal libertarian. I don't hate all government. There are many things that only an entity such as a government can perform. But one of those is to oppress an entire population in the name of 'safety'.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Suspicion
I have what I call a "harmless idiot field" that hovers around me at all times. I have sort of a dopey half-smile built into my face, I'm little and gray bearded, and I've perfected a witless demeanor that causes even the eyes of security officers to slide off me. And it's all easy to maintain because most of the time I actually am a dopey, witless, harmless idiot. And most of the time, I really do want to live within the lines, and have no desire to hurt anybody. More than that, I actually want to see that good things happen to the people around me.
Yet in one of those imaginary conversations we all run through our heads at times, I fancy I might still someday have to tell a pushy security guard "If you can't tell I'm completely harmless just by looking at me, you're not very good at your job."
And won't THAT go over well?
My dad's a terrorist
When we went on family vacations, my dad would take lots of pictures of storefronts. He was an architect working for a firm that developed shopping malls and he liked to keep current on what all the shopping mall franchises used for their storefronts, so that he could line up pictures in his office to get an idea of how different stores would affect the overall aesthetic of a mall interior. At least, that is what I guessed he was doing. All I know is that we would come back from vacations with a couple rolls of film filled with shopping mall store fronts. He also liked doorways of old homes, so we'd get lot's of pictures of those as well.
Looking back, I guess I have to figure he was an operative for the PLO.
Monitors
Can we use binoculars to watch these suspicious activities? I don't want to get on the black list putting someone on the black list.
Things you can't look at
Like decrepitoldfool I find the world to be full of physical and mechanical things to look at and ponder. This mindset can get you into trouble very quickly. An example ... the ball filled "pools" to amuse kids at shopping centers and doctors offices. I was pondering the mechanical interaction of the kids and the balls one day (why don't they sink, can they burrow under the balls. etc.)when my wife was shopping. Suddenly mothers showed up pulling the kids out and casting frosty looks at me. There's lot of WTF here. But since then I've noted stories in the press of people collared for photographing their own kids on playgrounds.
As a contrast on my last trip to The Hague, nobody seemed to mind if I sat and sketched buildings or folks in parks except to offer comments like "Very nice!" after peering over my shoulder.
Wait... ANOTHER database?
Wait... ANOTHER database? Didn't they learn anything from the no fly list which included such noted terrorists as the author of Bush's Brain and a five year old?
How long until this database becomes political and pretty much useless?
As if tourism in this country hasn't suffered enough.
Oh, yeah!
"Terrorist" ... "tourist" -- They even sound the same! Oh noes!
When I was in DC not long back, I was careful to ASK whether I could take pictures, if there was anybody in uniform nearby. I realized I was already being a good little citizen.
The irony is this makes us less safe
If you define normal behavior as a threat, it's impossible to pick out real threats.
I'm just generally interested in stuff. If I take a picture of the supports of a bridge, it's because one of my personal fascinations is structural failures and how they happen. The thought of explaining that to some pin-headed DHS type scares me to death.
Post new comment