Big Brother Is Watching Out For You (Wizbang)

I'm no big fan of government surveillance as a general rule (I think that "red light cameras are highly improper, and ought to be illegal, for example), but I'm starting to see that there are times when such things are very valuable.

Dashboard cameras in police cars, for example. I think that police officers have no "right to privacy" when they are on duty and carrying out their jobs. We're paying them, they're acting in our names, we have a right to see just what they do and how they do it.

And then we have this.

In the Bad Old Days, the Soviet Union had its Iron Curtain to hide behind, to conceal its heinous crimes against its captive peoples. There are a lot of strange things we don't know about going on in Communist China, but thanks to Google Earth, we know that they have built a building in the shape of an aircraft carrier on a pond, and recreated the terrain of a portion of a disputed border.

We tore down the Iron Curtain. Now technology is helping us go after the Bamboo Curtain.

Sunlight is, indeed, the great disinfectant. And these eyes in the sky are shining the light on all sorts of things dictators would like to keep dark.

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Comments (13)

Shall we resume, jim?... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by kim | September 29, 2007 12:04 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)

kim:

Shall we resume, jim?
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Posted on September 29, 2007 12:04

"Sunlight is, indeed, the g... (Below threshold)

2. Posted by Semanticleo | September 29, 2007 12:07 PM | Score: -2 (4 votes cast)

Semanticleo:

"Sunlight is, indeed, the great disinfectant. And these eyes in the sky are shining the light on all sorts of things dictators would like to keep dark."

Can we get those cameras trained on Blackwater HQ?

Posted on September 29, 2007 12:07

We'd be remiss if they were... (Below threshold)

3. Posted by kim | September 29, 2007 12:31 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)

We'd be remiss if they weren't, Cleo.
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Posted on September 29, 2007 12:31

In fact, with Google Earth,... (Below threshold)

4. Posted by kim | September 29, 2007 12:32 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

In fact, with Google Earth, you can take a look. Be my guest. Er, someone's guest.
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Posted on September 29, 2007 12:32

> we know that they have... (Below threshold)

5. Posted by Arthur | September 29, 2007 2:42 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Arthur:

> we know that they have built a building in the shape of an aircraft carrier on a pond, and recreated the terrain of a portion of a disputed border.

These are both interesting but only the 2nd is of military use. You might think having a model of CVN to practice attack runs would be handy but if you're going to attack a USN CVN from a aircraft you'll launch a missile(s) LONG before you get close enough to see it.

Ref the duplicated terrain. If it was my job to defend it (the original area), I'd be reinforcing that area!

Posted on September 29, 2007 14:42

Another added benefit of th... (Below threshold)

6. Posted by Jim Addison | September 29, 2007 3:14 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)

Jim Addison:

Another added benefit of these satellites is they discourage fat people from nude sunbathing.

That helps all of mankind.

Posted on September 29, 2007 15:14

Another shibboleth bites th... (Below threshold)

7. Posted by kim | September 29, 2007 3:40 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Another shibboleth bites the dust. Obesity, since 1980 is from Bio WMD. You think I'm joking.

Well, that should probably be a lower case 'w' in weapon.
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Posted on September 29, 2007 15:40

Since it's a metaphorical '... (Below threshold)

8. Posted by kim | September 29, 2007 3:43 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Since it's a metaphorical 'weapon'. Unless you equate 'Big Brother' with a deity, then it might deserve capitalization in that regard. Weak is Woden widout his woe upon.
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Posted on September 29, 2007 15:43

Big brother is watching ove... (Below threshold)

9. Posted by Spurwing Plover | September 29, 2007 9:02 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Spurwing Plover:

Big brother is watching over us from cradle to grave

Posted on September 29, 2007 21:02

Nice article about privacy ... (Below threshold)

10. Posted by kim | September 30, 2007 9:31 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Nice article about privacy in the OpinionJournal, today.
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Posted on September 30, 2007 09:31

WaPo too, on surveillance a... (Below threshold)

11. Posted by kim | September 30, 2007 10:02 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

WaPo too, on surveillance and the politicking surrounding the August FISA compromise.
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Posted on September 30, 2007 10:02

Buy a Chinese scooter, step... (Below threshold)

12. Posted by Sorta OT | September 30, 2007 12:43 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Sorta OT:

Buy a Chinese scooter, step on a peasant's neck.

Posted on September 30, 2007 12:43

Buy a gallon of ethanol, st... (Below threshold)

13. Posted by kim | September 30, 2007 1:56 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)

Buy a gallon of ethanol, starve a dozen children.
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Posted on September 30, 2007 13:56

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