Shadow Government "Money" Supply Growth from ShadowStats

Chart of U.S. Money Supply Growth

25 March, 2013

You WILL Be "Safe", If They Have To Kill You

You knew it would come to this.  It always does.  It always will. 

It's in their nature.  In their DNA.  Like bacteria, adapting to antibiotics (more like viri/antivirals, given the way they reproduce), "they" (liberals; progressives, etc., and their "bearded" fellows, "law and order" types) just keep coming.

On CameraFraud's blog, at http://camerafraud.wordpress.com/tag/american-traffic-solutions/, one can see what can be accomplished by undaunted, unyielding Freedom activists. In a period of 18 months, "approximately 1,700 volunteers" took on the "red light cameras"; and won.  The network of Redflex spy cameras installed  by Janet Napolitano (yes,  that Janet Napolitano) on Arizona interstates and highways came down.  Jan Brewer canceled the state’s contract with Redflex, one of the two biggest surveillance - sorry, "safety" companies in the business.

But "Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar" wasn't able to get an initiative on the ballot, to ban the rest of Redflex and American Traffic Solutions’ (the other pickpocket - oops) automated ticketing machines.   In fact, an Arizona "lawmaker" has teamed up with an ATS lobbyist to stage a Transportation Committee hearing "so ridiculous that audible laughing could be heard ".

Whatever must "they" do to keep ATS in business keep us safe in Arizona?

Cue: "The National Coalition for Safer Roads".  Thwarted in their "stated mission ... to 'save lives and protect communities by demonstrating how red light safety cameras can improve driver behavior'", NACSAR (no, they're not calling National Coalition for Safer Roads that, yet, but it's probably too good to pass up) "announced ... a new study that contends the cameras can catch criminals guilty of infractions far greater than rolling through a red light.”
 http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/03/red-light-cameras-stop-crime/

As wired.com introduced the story, "One way to catch criminals is by giving police departments access to red-light camera footage even when a traffic violation isn’t involved". 

According to the (what'd they call it?  OH YEAH!) "study" FUNDED BY AMERICAN TRAFFIC SOLUTIONS!!!, 46 percent of red-light camera footage requested by 172 local police departments between 2011 and 2012 was "used in collision investigations" (guess how many "rear-enders" from people tryng to avoid a red-light ticket; c'mon), while "5 percent were used in homicide investigations and 10 percent were used in burglary cases."
(OK, a "homicide" can occur anywhere, buy "burglaries"?  Where the hell are they pointing these cameras?)

Quoting one paragraph direcly from Wired (and claiming fair use under 17 U.S.C. § 107):

“Red-light safety cameras bring many benefits to communities — on and off the road,” said National Coalition for Safer Roads executive director David Kelly, a former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration acting administrator under President George W. Bush. “These cameras are proving to be a useful tool in helping police solve crimes and often times putting guilty criminals behind bars.”
 
So, there you have it!  All of those who just won't stop until they "protect" us to death (liberals; progressives, etc.), or throw us in jail for refusing their "protection" ("their" "bearded" fellows, "law and order" types), like the common cold, will just keep on. keeping us "safe".
 
For a price.


07 March, 2013

Can You Hear Me Now?


DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (hey Wired!  it's an acronym, not a name), wants to record, transcribe, and archive every conversation you ever have

For those who really don't know what DARPA is (please join us in the 21st century!), think SciFi's "Eureka".  DARPA (ultimately, that means YOU) funds some crazy ideas, not unlike "Eureka"'s genii.  You almost certainly own something that originated from DARPA research.

Turns out that DARPA has, and has had for awhile, an interest in text-to-speech analysis, programs, and machines.  As contemplated in the Wired.com link, below, "Imagine living in a world where every errant utterance you make is preserved forever."

Now, DARPA has awarded a $300,000 award for a new project, called “Blending Crowdsourcing with Automation for Fast, Cheap, and Accurate Analysis of Spontaneous Speech”, similar to EARS (Effective Affordable Reusable Speech-to-text), an earlier DARPA project.

As you read the article linked below, think about these quotes: "make conversational speech more accessible, more part of our permanent record"; "capture all these conversations and make use of them".  Those are from the grant recipient.

EARS was described by the Congressional Research Service  as focusing on speech picked up from broadcasts and telephone conversations, “as well as extract clues about the identity of speakers” for “the military, intelligence and law enforcement communities.”  Those "clues" won't be needed if people record themselves.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/03/darpa-speech/

No Kidding

The headline reads as if it actually announces something, well, new; "newsy"; worthy of note.

But "Banks urge judge to throw out Libor lawsuits" is far from new; "newsy"; worthy of note.

No more so than the revelation that "the banks" (aka "TBTF"; Too Big To Fail) had "manipulated" LIBOR (the London InterBank Overnight Rate), which, as many Americans have learned, rather painfully, was used to "reset" mortgage payments.

It IS funny, though.  If the "news" agency quoted him right, one of "the banks"'s attorneys admitted deceiving investors.

Take a look:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/05/us-bankslibor-lawsuits-idUSBRE9241C220130305