The Political Thread

[The Legendary Shark]

I used to know a security guard who worked alone at nights in a small security office serving a large factory. He had remote control of about four CCTV cameras and would delight in showing me how two of them could be used to peer into the bedroom windows of neighbouring domestic houses.

I agree that CCTV is indeed a useful tool but, like all tools, it can be misused. It is the practice of misuse that needs to be protected against, not use of the technology itself. The same could be said of ID cards, they could play a very useful role in emergency situations such as medical crises, for example, but take them too far and you get checkpoints, restricted travel and an erosion of privacy.

Of course, this is a simple observation and can be applied to any tool. A screwdriver is an extremely useful thing, but in the wrong circumstances can easily kill. Money, too, is a tool (and how many of you just knew I was going to bring it up?) and, when misused, causes untold misery, deprivation and death. Money is like water, we all need it and we all need to keep the supply flowing according to the immediate needs of society. Returning control of that flow to the hands of our elected officials at the Treasury would drastically reduce the opportunities for misuse.

When a technology such as CCTV first appears, it takes some time for it to integrate into society. Infrastructure, legislation, operation and public attitude all take time to adjust. Experiences from all sides are examined, debated and acted upon and eventually - if we're lucky - enough compromises are reached for CCTV to become just another thing we have. That's what I love about this country - we're always arguing, but that's a good thing. Arguments open the mind to new possibilities and highlight obvious, and not so obvious, truths and lies that eventually lead us to a better understanding and informed decisions. This works on all levels of society from the family group to the workplace to government, everybody is working towards what they believe to be "good." Admittedly, this is also one of our biggest weaknesses - we don't all believe the same things are good.

Still, those security cameras I mentioned at the start, there was an argument over those. One of the neighbours of the factory noticed that a camera was looking into private bedrooms and, for a while, things got very nasty. In the end, shields were fitted to the offending cameras, limiting their field of view only to the factory. The guard kept his job, but it was a damn close run thing.

[House of Usher]

I currently work in an office where there is CCTV everywhere for security reasons. So long as it's used only for security purposes I don't mind; anything else speaks of low levels of trust.

I have in the past worked for a retail outlet and a charity where CCTV was used to spy on employees and monitor how they work, which I found very intrusive. Working in a record shop I was called to the manager's office and told I had spent too long advising one customer, although it was legitimate for the manager to waste time snooping on staff instead of coming onto the shop floor and helping out during a busy period.

When I worked in a residential hostel, the manager there trawled through a whole week's worth of CCTV footage to check that hourly security patrols were being conducted, because he was trying to get something on me. What he found was that I was the only member of staff who had done their share of patrols and everyone else was slacking. No action was taken against the others who weren't pulling their weight because he was pally with all of them. You don't spy on your staff unless you have a suspicion of serious wrongdoing or you have warned them that you are going to be checking up on whether they're doing the job properly or not. You don't just set a trap on a whim and see if they fall into it.

[vzzbux]

On the subject of CCTV. When I was stationed (censored due to the official secrets act).

oh how we all laughed.







V

[Peter Wolf]

I dont like the idea of being constantly under surveillance but at the same time i am totally oblivious to CCTV cameras in actuality so in that sense i dont find them intrusive simply because i ignore them.

Of course, this is a simple observation and can be applied to any tool. A screwdriver is an extremely useful thing, but in the wrong circumstances can easily kill. Money, too, is a tool (and how many of you just knew I was going to bring it up?) and, when misused, causes untold misery, deprivation and death. Money is like water, we all need it and we all need to keep the supply flowing according to the immediate needs of society. Returning control of that flow to the hands of our elected officials at the Treasury would drastically reduce the opportunities for misuse.

Thats very very true about misuse.Rather like power that is given to elected officials who misuse it.

Its the same thing as the saying "Money is the root of all evil"

No its not.

Its people or certain types of people who are the root of all evil.Money is just an inanimate object like a screwdriver that can be misused and its an ignorant and misguided statement.I mean you wouldnt say a screwdriver is evil despite the fact it could be used as an offensive weapon.

*

No mention in that article of scrapping the DNA database which was curious as that should either be scrapped or it should be subject to very strict guidelines and checks and balances which at present it is not.

For example why is the DNA of Babies being stored on it without the parents consent or even knowledge ?

A perfect example of misuse by the state.

[Dandontdare]

Its the same thing as the saying "Money is the root of all evil"

This doesn't affect your point but..... [ENGAGE PEDANT MODE] this is one of those often misquoted phrases - it should be "the pursuit of money is the root of all evil", a subtle but important difference. [DISENGAGE PEDANT MODE]

[The Legendary Shark]

I always thought it was "love of money is at the root of all evil." Same difference, though. And, looking around, never has it been so apparent.

[Dandontdare]

I always thought it was "love of money is at the root of all evil." Same difference, though. And, looking around, never has it been so apparent.

DAMMIT! Nothing worse than trying to be a pedantic smartarse and then being proved wrong. 

You're absolutely right:
Timothy 6:10 (King James Version):
    For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

I'll go and flog myself thoroughly.

[Roger Godpleton]

Money is great.

[The Legendary Shark]

Thus began the Great Pedant War of 2010... (Although, technically, it started much earlier. Or much later, depending on the pedant you ask.)

[M.I.K.]

Well, technically... it can't be a war if it starts with one of the parties involved realising that they're in the wrong.

[The Legendary Shark]

I fight for my right to be wrong.

[Peter Wolf]

Well, I guess most of you know what I think.

If the government created its own money instead of letting the banks do it at interest, we could afford to give everyone free broadband for life.

Thats right.

All the countries in the G8 and the G20 dont have any control over their own central banks as they gave up control or ownership of them when they signed up.

Heres what someone else has to say about in reply to a question of who owns and controls the central bank of Canada:
"Actually in Canada.... up untill the 1970/80's the Debt was held almost at zero because the people of Canada publically own the Bank of Canada, and back then , it was the only Bank responsible for the printing of new dollars....however....
A stipulation of Canada being part of the "G7″countries was, Canada would have to stop using the Publically owned Bank of Canada, and sub out the printing of Canada's Dollars to the International Monetary Fund at interest...
60% of Canada's paper money, is printed in Germany, by the same company who print Canadian Tire money...
The Bank of Canada still Print.... but they have to pay the IMF a steep fee for every bill they press...
Hence, When it comes to pay off the Canadian debt today, there is not enough in circulation to pay it as each dollar made adds to the debt...."

This is why whenever the G8 or G20 meet up to decide which way the economy is going to go behind closed doors they have to have very tight security and the LRAD sound weapons are wheeled out to disperse the peasents who they are bleeding dry.

Outrageous isnt it ?

[The Legendary Shark]

No, it's not outrageous - it's murderous.

This is the system that keeps Africa starving, the system that creates child slave labour, the system that makes clean drinking water too expensive for Brazilians and ensures our own pensioners have the unenviable winter's choice of buying food or heat, but not both.

I have emailed politicians about this, and the few who reply simply talk about government spending, unable or unwilling to grasp the fact that it makes no difference whatsoever how a government spends its money if that money is made of debt to begin with.

I emailed the Treasury with the simple question, "can you please explain to me why my government borrows money instead of creating it?" According to the automatically generated "read receipts," my email was read by two different people, neither of whom thought it was worth responding to the legitimate questions of a concerned electorate (i.e., me).

If our governments can fix this, they will make life better for virtually everyone. If they can't fix it, they don't deserve to represent us and our interests. If they don't want to fix it, they should stand trial for accessory to fraud and, possibly, economic treason.

I know I get on peoples' nerves banging on about this, but in my view it is one of the most important problems facing humanity today, probably even more urgent than climate change. It's certainly easier to fix than climate change, all it requires is the stroke of a pen. And wouldn't we all love to be a part of the generation that abolished poverty? Wouldn't that just be so cool?

[Matt Timson]

For what it's worth, you're not getting on my nerves. Which is, in itself, no small feat.

I don't believe that it's a case of if the world economy will collapse, but rather when. Call me a paid up member of the tinfoil hat club if you will, but I think that the policy makers know this, but that they're not worried because they know full well that when it happens, they, for the most part, will own everything that you currently own.

[The Legendary Shark]

Exactly. Hence the rumblings about a World Central Bank (privately owned, of course) that will do for the world what the Federal Reserve did for the USA: Ruin it.