The UK's first police remote control helicopter has taken off.

Merseyside police are using the "spy drone", fitted with CCTV cameras, mainly for tackling anti-social behaviour and public disorder.

Fortunately, arguments about the impact of total surveillance on the health of a society based on conjecture, extrapolation, and references to decades old novels and historical precident will no longer be needed, as the U.K. will soon become a total surveillance society, in which every citizen is always watched while outdoors.

This is really ripe for research. What effects of this that are visible yet? Who is studying it? Are legal behaviors also deterred? Are the systems abused? Are people aware that they are being watched? What impact is all of this having on the quality of life in England?

I recall a frustrating moment in Canada recently where I was driving a car in an area where the speed limit was suddenly decreased by 20 klicks on the downhill slope of a divided, multi-lane highway monitored by speed cameras, and as I slowed down I met an intersection, monitored by red light cameras, and just as I reached it the light turned yellow. I was faced with the choice of:

1. Slamming the on the breaks, potentially causing a rear end collision.
2. Slamming on the gas, potentially tripping the speed camera.
3. Continuing at my given pace, potentially tripping the red light camera.

I was happy that the state was looking out for my interests. A certain kind of submission set in. I knew I was a criminal, and whatever fate befell me I certainly deserved. I slammed on the gas.

BBC NEWS | England | Merseyside | Pilotless police drone takes off

Stencil that has gone up all over Alanta...

Flickr Photo Download: pwn your city

The agency that runs the Texas state juvenile prison system said it will release 226 inmates after a review found their sentences were improperly extended.Advocates for Texas Youth Commission inmates and their families have complained that sentences are often extended inconsistently or in retaliation for filing grievances.

Turns out, the authorities are a bunch of corrupt fucking assholes. Whodathunk?

Juveniles' sentences called improper; Texas to free 226 - CNN.com

MemeStreams isn't successful as a business is because all you fucking nerds intimidate people. We've heard this from multiple sources. So, if you're out there, and you're intimidated, fuck you. Post. Post what you know. Post what matters to you. Post what makes your life interesting. Post things that have nothing to do with computers or law or any of the shit that we talk about. Post what you do for a living. Post what you do for fun. Post what burns your soul. If you were as dumb as you think you are you wouldn't be here. Don't let these fucking nerds intimidate you. I'll bet you could kick their asses anyway.

Just do it. Post. Post now. Don't be a wimp. Do it.

Conceived by Brian Eno as "visual music", his latest artwork, 77 Million Paintings is a constantly evolving sound and imagescape which continues his exploration into light as an artist's medium and the aesthetic possibilities of "generative software".

Its a DVD and the idea is you could leave it running on a flat panel all the time like a screen saver.

77 Million Paintings By Brian Eno

I didn't read this in detail. Only skimmed it. This observation, connected with an anecdote about the skill of his campaign managers, is quite interesting.

Clearly, at least to some degree, the "consent of the governed" was becoming a commodity to be purchased by the highest bidder. To the extent that money and the clever use of electronic mass media could be used to manipulate the outcome of elections, the role of reason began to diminish.

Its comforting when such control exists in the hands of men like Gore that they are willing to admit it and furthermore see it as a bad thing. I wish, however, that I shared his optimism about the present:

Now, broadband interconnection is supporting decentralized processes that reinvigorate democracy. We can see it happening before our eyes: As a society, we are getting smarter. Networked democracy is taking hold. You can feel it.

I don't feel it. Our politics has become deeply partisan. Few people are willing to maintain a healthy disengagement from identification with one of the ruling parties. They use the network to seek out information that confirms their prejudices, true or not. There are minor ways in which this helps. I can access legislation being considered, and I can speak out. But there are major ways in which it doesn't help. People do not know how to think critically. They don't really seek truth. They seek social validation. The truth is rarely the most comfortable option. It has a tendency to challenge you.

Book Excerpt: The Assault on Reason by Al Gore

The vote on a resolution of no confidence, to be sponsored by Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Dianne Feinstein of California, could come as early as next week, Democrats said. Such votes of censure or condemnation are uncommon, although a handful were held in the 19th century, Congressional historians say. In 1886, the Senate adopted such a resolution against President Grover Cleveland’s attorney general, A. H. Garland, because he had refused to provide documents concerning the firing of a federal prosecutor.

The researcher who dug this up gets a cookie!

Senate Democrats Plan a Resolution on Gonzales - New York Times

I learned today that SonicWall filters MemeStreams under the category "Hacking/Proxy Avoidance." While these are certainly topics that have been discussed here, Slashdot is not banned under this category, nor is Security Focus, from which live exploits can be downloaded for most disclosed vulnerabilities.

BlueCoat also filters MemeStreams as "unavailable;Hacking;Forum/Bulletin Boards." I have no idea what "unavailable" means. I agree with the "Forum/Bulletin Board" categorization, but again the "Hacking" category raises questions. It only makes sense if its applied consistently. I don't have access to a BlueCoat proxy to check.

Have you seen MemeStreams banned by a web filter? Do you know the vendor and category?

A Cobb County jury is deciding if a mother of three should spend time in prison for lying about where her family lived.

Prosecutors said Jeanine Echols repeatedly lied just so she could place her children in Marietta city schools.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a lie is a lie, and our law says when you lie to the government you have commited a crime," said assistant district attorney Grady Moore.

But Echols defense attorney called the 16 felony charges overkill.

5 years per count = 80 years

For enrolling her kids in the wrong school district.

WTF is the matter with these people?! Fortunately, the jury refused to find her guilty.

Mom Facing Prison Time For Lying - News Story - WSB Atlanta

k wrote:
I want some pro-lifers who share the aforementioned mindset to square that opinion with the universal Republican tenet of personal responsibility and a federal government that provides little to no entitlement programs.

Sure, but this is why you mostly can't be a real partisan while thinking. There are plenty of fundamental contradictions on the left too (we support civil liberties but hold hearings on video game violence and offensive lyrics in rock music).

The issue is that the Republicans are a big tent with multiple conflicting interests. They've rounded up the Christian vote by being anti-abortion and anti-gay. However, they're also anti-tax and anti-welfare and anti-entitlement. Those positions are often inconsistent.

Some DO look at this from a perspective of abortion is murder so you can't do that and no we're not going to pay for medical care, life is tough, deal with it. We can force you to pay to keep Terri Shivo on life support but we will not pay for it ourselves. Not our problem. We're here to keep you from doing things that we think are immoral, and thats it. You are otherwise on your own.

However, I don't really think this perspective is widely held outside of the "I think what AM radio tells me to" crowd. Most of the anti-tax/anti-welfare/anti-entitlement people don't really care about abortion or gay rights or whatever. They just don't care either way. Its not important enough to them to let it impact their vote. They care about economic liberty, and whatever they have to have to get it, thats OK with them.

On the other hand, most of the Christian right is not really as callous as their present issue portfolio and recent leaders like Falwell would have you beleive. There are a large number of evangelicals who see the obsenity/abortion/gay morality push as insignificant in comparison to other issues such as peace and welfare for the poor which are clearly Christian values and clearly not served by the Republicans. This is actually causing some significant strategic problems for the Republicans as some Evangelicals are shifting left. While they won't get the hard bible thumping from the left and mostly have to give up on fighting sodomy, they get some of their social welfare stuff, and they get people who are more than willing to censor the media and are also willing to work on abortion reduction, which some of them view as strategically smart if less absolutist. They also get to be a bit more pacifist, which suits them better.

If there is a sudden "reformation" in the ranks of conservative christians you may see a dramatic do-see-do occur on the order of magnitude of the dixiecrat shift from the 30's, in which Rebublicans become more Libertarian and take on some of the social freedom elements of the left while Democrats become more socialist and take on the values conservative elements of the right. The real question is, who would end up winning elections in that scenario?

RE: Republican Presidential Candiates on Torture