1984 Anyone?
 

The U.S. Government is certainly taking an Orwellian turn:
[quote:f7e85]BBC Washington correspondent Justin Webb reports on a Pentagon project looking into ways of monitoring everything everyone does, as part of its war against terror.

In the film Minority Report, Tom Cruise heads a futuristic police team who have the technology to spot people who intend to commit serious crimes before the crime itself takes place.
The premise might seem far-fetched but it could be closer than we think.

In the Pentagon in Washington, a team is working on plans to collect as much information about every single aspect of everyone in America as they can.

This includes everything from doctor's records to bank deposits, e-mail to travel tickets, phone conversations to magazine subscriptions.

The reason, according to the Under Secretary of Defense Pete Aldridge, is to catch people intending to carry out terrorist crimes.

"The bottom line is that this is an important research project to determine the feasibility of using certain transactions and events to discover and respond to terrorists before they act."

Willing public

Backers of the project, known as Total Information Awareness, admit that it sounds Orwellian.


This is a technology-intensive approach that assumes if you have enough data you can produce clear conclusions

Mark Rotenberg, Epic
A reluctant supporter of the Pentagon's plans is Frank Gaffney, a former assistant defence secretary.

He says that it would only take one more terrorist attack and public support is assured.

"At that point there will not only be a willingness to submit to those sorts of infringement but a demand that they be infringed upon in the hope of trying to protect us."

"If there were no war on terror, this is not something that we would want to do."

Not everyone though is convinced, particularly since the man heading the Pentagon team has a dubious past.

Hi-tech doubts

Total Information Awareness is the baby of Admiral John Poindexter.


As an adviser to former President Reagan, he sold arms to Iran and using the money to fund the Nicaraguan contras.

Most opponents, though, focus on the wider question of what Admiral Poindexter is trying to achieve and how likely it is to fail.

Mark Rotenberg monitors government attempts at surveillance and snooping. He believes hi-tech solutions are often the ones with the highest rate of failure.

"This is a technology-intensive approach that assumes if you have enough data you can produce clear conclusions," he said.

"We went through a period of time recently in Washington with the sniper attacks when everyone was looking for a white truck.

"We could have had a computer database running profiles of every white truck owner in the country to try to decide which of them was the sniper. In fact, the answer was that none of them were."

The white van was found to be a false lead in the infamous Washington sniper case.

In the film Minority Report things go horribly wrong with the system.

Many in Washington are predicting that this real-life scheme, if it ever got off the ground, would lead to hi-tech chaos and failure.

[/quote:f7e85]
ed: [/b]

Good thing I don't live in the states or I might have to cut back on my daily intake of porn.

They might have thought i was a virtual pimp or something.

I hear THAT, dude.


Zone

I totally disagree with this, as do alot conservitives, i come on do they really need to know what kind of porn billy-jean the hick looks at? or if a grandma has a corn on her foot? this Admiral John Poindexter is the wrong man for any job.

WTF? That sucks...I'd be afraid if I were an American.

So much for privacy ed:

i'm glad i'm not a terrorist

hake:

Not gonna happen.

[quote="SW-14":84861]hake:

Not gonna happen.[/quote:84861]

Yeah I dont think its got a chance.

Yep here we go again sacrificing our personal freedoms for sercurity. Makes me sick. Its only a mater of time before the Tanks and Nat. Guard start rolling down our streets.

Can anyone say "marshall law".

don't worry argon, they won't have any ammo evil:

[quote="Pfc.Green":86fc5][quote="SW-14":86fc5]hake:

Not gonna happen.[/quote:86fc5]

Yeah I dont think its got a chance.[/quote:86fc5]

you sound like you think this isnt already operating.
FYI few bad apples that got their arse kicked out on the street over the whole Iran contra scandle got put back in business to run this. and yeah its already up and running.

That system can never work.

if i was a terrorist and knew my emails were being looked at and telephone convos were being recorded, i would simply arrange to meet my terrorist partners in person.
One can hardly be arrested for saying "see you down the pub at 6pm" thats really going to point the finger at me being a terrorist.
or talk in code. "i miss you honey! hope we can be together soon and ill give my love"

miss = hate
honey = americans
hope = united
together = victorious
give = detonate
love = bomb.

Why doesnt the government simply assume everyone is guilty of something - and lock them up. then only after an extensive degree of interogation and that officials are satisfied a person is innocent they can be released. hake:

......wtf bunny? eek:

[quote="Captain Bunny":46204]or talk in code. "i miss you honey! hope we can be together soon and ill give my love"

miss = hate
honey = americans
hope = united
together = victorious
give = detonate
love = bomb.

[/quote:46204]
Translation: ''I hate you americans! United we can be victorious soon and ill detonate my bomb.''



???

"i hate you americans! united we can be victorious soon and i'll detonate my bomb."

Is what he said.

[quote=Vance1]Translation: ''I hate you americans! United we can be victorious soon and ill detonate my bomb.''



???[/quote:954ba]

Yeah - taking into account that most of the little terrorist guys dont speak english very well, they mess up their scentence structure...
no? forget it. oOo:

[quote="SW-14":7b520]hake:

Not gonna happen.[/quote:7b520]


I also agree. This will never fly.

probably 99.8% of the american population disagree with this

[quote="Capt. John Miller":07297]So much for privacy ed:[/quote:07297]

im glad im up here in Canada biggrin:

Yea, its stupid. Where are those whiners when ya need em?

I just downloaded 1984 a week ago and should start reading it soon biggrin:

1984 was great...best book I've read in school along with Animal Farm...both by Orwell

Ever watch animal farm? LOL. A revolution led by a giant pig who looks alot like Butters.

there are like 3 versions...

It will happen, and is in the process of happening. We now have the Homeland Defense Department'. Supposedly this is in place for the safety of the Amerincan public.... dream on,,, It is a pseudo Faciast oragnaizantion that will be used to track and arrest any that disagree with those in power. Being a citizen of this country is no protection. The righte of the average american will slowly vanish.,,, those who speak out will be silenced..... We will turn into a 4 caste society, the poor caste, the wroking caste, the government caste, and the elite caste.... there will be no utopia. Most will live like sheep so the elite can live like kings...step out of line and you will become a threat to this country, a terrorist............
Of course I hope I'm wrong, but as long as Cheney/Bush and their cronies are in power we can expect the worst.

i saw the movie 1984. isnt it about what the future will be like if the nazis had won the war? it was a long time ago

its if the communists had taken over. They have banners of someone that looks like stalin everywhere and say big brother is always waching because they havethese camera things that moniter everything. there is no privacy.

oh, anyways that movie was wierd. kinda like soemthing kubrick would make.

Half of me tells me this is a terrible violation of the freedom of America that so many lives have lost for the other half tells me that this will prevent the death of thousands of Americans.

[quote:f6cb1]the other half tells me that this will prevent the death of thousands of Americans. [/quote:f6cb1]

You amuse me if you truly believe that "Homeland Security" will change
something... ANYTHING... other than strip you of more rights and freedoms.
It in NO WAY will stop terrorists from doing what they want if even ECHELON
and other supposed security measures and intelligence couldn't figure 9/11
out before it happened. Like I said, either your security systems are a joke
or they let 9/11 happen... and if they did, ask yourself why: you might find
a very surprising answer.

you can download books? what the fuck? there is a library...

Its not about either the Nazis or Stalinists. Its a depiction of what life would be like under a totalitarian regime. For the movie, the makers used computers to meld together the faces of a number of totalitarian world leaders, including Hitler, Stalin, and Ayatollah Kohmeini.

Its an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

As for the policy changes the Bush Administration would like to implement, dont be too complacent in thinking that *it will never fly.* I'm sure many people would not have believed that the Red Scare, and McCarthyism would have flied either, right? But in those days, if your neighbor didnt like you, all they had to do was report you to the government, and life got pretty sucky for you.

99.8% of Americans may disagree with such a policy, but what percent knows about it? 1%? oOo:

Exactly where do you draw the line, thats the million dollar question.
We gotta stop pissing people off and imposing our views on the world, but I also agree people like Sadam does not need chemical, bio, and nuclear weapons either.
I have seen the power of chemistry first hand, and its not pretty...well sometimes it is when you know what you are doing.

LOL, like when you make colourful bubbles.....Soooo pretty.... happy:

...or when you have a potassium fire, that ignites a whole stile of THF (tetrahydrofuran, about as explosive as ether),explodes, and gives you 3rd degree burns and puts you in the hospital for 3 months, to have the skin taken from your legs and ass, and put on your hands and face. oOo:

Can you imagine what a chemical, bio, or nuclear weapon would do in the hands of a the wrong person?

[quote:540c3]...or when you have a potassium fire, that ignites a whole stile of THF (tetrahydrofuran, about as explosive as ether),explodes, and gives you 3rd degree burns and puts you in the hospital for 3 months, to have the skin taken from your legs and ass, and put on your hands and face. [/quote:540c3]

I was replying to this:

[quote:540c3]...well sometimes it is when you know what you are doing. [/quote:540c3]

....And I wasn't serious. hake:

I C