Sunday, August 07, 2016
Monday, June 27, 2011
Obama Send Jobs to Brazil while Unemployment Soars
America has clearly been in an economic downturn for a while now. We obviously need more jobs at home, and we have spent TRILLIONS bailing out our own industries at home. So why would we send jobs building planes for our military to Brazil?
During a recent visit to Brazil in March, President Obama expressed his desire to become a “major customer” of Brazilian oil, and still remains opposed to drilling here, in America, to supply American needs. He categorically denies permits to Americans to drill in the Gulf of Mexico, but will give foreign permits to Brazil to drill. Is our own soil not good enough to drill on? Is gas not expensive enough? Where will the madness end?
Additionally, Obama seems to forget that our unemployment rate is hovering at about 10%. That’s right, folks, 1 in 10 Americans doesn’t have a job. So of course, it makes perfect sense for our President, who is supposed to be stimulating our economy, to send our jobs overseas. Is every American job expendable? Why is Obama sending our jobs overseas, to foreign nations?
We are now in a ‘green energy contract’ with Brazil, known as Memorandum of Understanding to Advance the Cooperation on Biofuels (MoU). They also expanded this to include aviation fuels, which is also another tie to Brazil, which can be problematic because of the issues regarding our aviation defense contracts, outlined below.
The U.S. Air Force is considering bids for aircraft to serve as counterinsurgency fighters and trainers for foreign partners. The plane in question is the Hawker Beechcraft AT-6, a light attack plane used widely by the American Military, VS the Embraer Super Tucano. Both planes are comparable, in cost and performance. It’s important that we look at the risk associated with a relationship of a country like Brazil that if awarded this contact, could possibly start supplying to Iraq and Afghanistan.
To put this whole matter in laymen’s terms, it basically comes down to a national security issue. If we buy planes from Embraer, we're putting the military in a situation where the government of Brazil can literally ground part of our air force by cutting off the parts if they so choose. That's especially relevant given that Brazil is not supporting us in Libya. They called for cease-fire just hours after Obama left the country. If Embraer were to get the contract, the government Brazil could more than tut-tut us, they could actually cut off parts we'd need for an American military aircraft in order to pressure us to accede to their will.
Then there's the jobs issue. Giving Hawker Beechcraft the contract would create 1400 jobs in America, while giving Embraer the contract would create 50 jobs in America and the rest in Brazil. I believe in free trade and not a protectionist, so I don't think that's a decisive factor. However, when we're talking about two comparatively priced planes that are going to be used for military purposes that should make us reluctant to get the plane outside of the US anyway, I don't think those jobs are completely irrelevant.
There’s also a secondary issue. The Hawker Beechcraft AT-6 would allow for roughly 95% of both the male and female potential pilot population with weights as low as 103 pounds and as high as 245 pounds to safely fly the aircraft. The old standards to which the Brazilian aircraft complies will prohibit 18% of military males and 81% of military females from safely ejecting from the aircraft in an emergency. This is both a national safety and security issue. Our military is voluntarily serving and protecting us is at risk. We are voluntarily placing jobs in a country with a track record of anti-American sentiment. We are entrusting these people with our defense.
Please take this issue to your proper representatives and let’s keep jobs in AMERICA!
During a recent visit to Brazil in March, President Obama expressed his desire to become a “major customer” of Brazilian oil, and still remains opposed to drilling here, in America, to supply American needs. He categorically denies permits to Americans to drill in the Gulf of Mexico, but will give foreign permits to Brazil to drill. Is our own soil not good enough to drill on? Is gas not expensive enough? Where will the madness end?
Additionally, Obama seems to forget that our unemployment rate is hovering at about 10%. That’s right, folks, 1 in 10 Americans doesn’t have a job. So of course, it makes perfect sense for our President, who is supposed to be stimulating our economy, to send our jobs overseas. Is every American job expendable? Why is Obama sending our jobs overseas, to foreign nations?
We are now in a ‘green energy contract’ with Brazil, known as Memorandum of Understanding to Advance the Cooperation on Biofuels (MoU). They also expanded this to include aviation fuels, which is also another tie to Brazil, which can be problematic because of the issues regarding our aviation defense contracts, outlined below.
The U.S. Air Force is considering bids for aircraft to serve as counterinsurgency fighters and trainers for foreign partners. The plane in question is the Hawker Beechcraft AT-6, a light attack plane used widely by the American Military, VS the Embraer Super Tucano. Both planes are comparable, in cost and performance. It’s important that we look at the risk associated with a relationship of a country like Brazil that if awarded this contact, could possibly start supplying to Iraq and Afghanistan.
To put this whole matter in laymen’s terms, it basically comes down to a national security issue. If we buy planes from Embraer, we're putting the military in a situation where the government of Brazil can literally ground part of our air force by cutting off the parts if they so choose. That's especially relevant given that Brazil is not supporting us in Libya. They called for cease-fire just hours after Obama left the country. If Embraer were to get the contract, the government Brazil could more than tut-tut us, they could actually cut off parts we'd need for an American military aircraft in order to pressure us to accede to their will.
Then there's the jobs issue. Giving Hawker Beechcraft the contract would create 1400 jobs in America, while giving Embraer the contract would create 50 jobs in America and the rest in Brazil. I believe in free trade and not a protectionist, so I don't think that's a decisive factor. However, when we're talking about two comparatively priced planes that are going to be used for military purposes that should make us reluctant to get the plane outside of the US anyway, I don't think those jobs are completely irrelevant.
There’s also a secondary issue. The Hawker Beechcraft AT-6 would allow for roughly 95% of both the male and female potential pilot population with weights as low as 103 pounds and as high as 245 pounds to safely fly the aircraft. The old standards to which the Brazilian aircraft complies will prohibit 18% of military males and 81% of military females from safely ejecting from the aircraft in an emergency. This is both a national safety and security issue. Our military is voluntarily serving and protecting us is at risk. We are voluntarily placing jobs in a country with a track record of anti-American sentiment. We are entrusting these people with our defense.
Please take this issue to your proper representatives and let’s keep jobs in AMERICA!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
MISSING!!!! Please Be On The Lookout
I am looking for some radio airchecks to put together for myself so I am listening to The PES. The episode I am listening to now has the topic of Wal Mart. Remember when PARD said they were not an anti-WalMart group? Remember when they said they would be here for the long haul? Remember when they said they would have input on all sorts of local development issues?
I haven't heard from PARD in ages. Would someone help me look for them?
I haven't heard from PARD in ages. Would someone help me look for them?
Friday, May 06, 2011
DOUBLE DIP RECESSION IN WA STATE CONFIRMED!
Washington State Continues to Falter!
There was more national bad news from the US Department of Labor Friday Morning with the Obama U3 number going to 9% (that’s the percentage of the workforce collecting unemployment benefits) and the U6 number climbing to 17.8% (that’s the percentage of the workforce that is unemployed!). Even though hiring perked up some, the economy lost a net 190,000 jobs in April: NOT GOOD NEWS.
The latest numbers in Washington State has the U3 number at 9.7% or 340,330 and the U6 number at 599,963 which is the actual number of people unemployed in Washington State. Again a number of people left the workforce and gave up trying to find a job: 2,430. Snohomish County is still having a major problem with employment coming in at 10.1% for U3 and 18.4% for the U6 number. That means 70,157 people remain unemployed in SNO County.
Realtytrac’s March numbers were stunning with regard to State and County wide foreclosures. March foreclosures added 3,613 new defaults/foreclosures bringing the statewide total year to year to 35,049 foreclosures. King County led the foreclosure parade with 1,392 and Seattle was hit hard with another 490 foreclosures. For those of you who read the bogus, male bovine excrement story in Friday’s Seattle Times, I had a roll in the floor laugh at their expense: Link
Over the commercial real estate side of the fence the CBA or the Commercial Brokers Association in Washington State now has over 19,000 listings for rent, lease or sale: AN ALL TIME RECORD.
With regard to the billions in deficits that the State Legislature if fiddling around with in Olympia the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council has issued a report that is gloomy to say the least. Meaning: the state cannot count on sales tax revenue to fill up almost 6 Billion in deficits; instead they will have to cut more spending. With the idiot Democrats in control down in the SWAMP (Olympia) that does not sound like a very likely scenario.
Editor’s note: The State of Idaho business licensing department over at Coeur d'Alene has had to add more personnel to handle the increasing numbers of business in the Spokane area who are leaving the Evergreen State.
Seasonal Adjusted Numbers for those of you who read my blogs you know that these numbers that the Washington State Department of Employment Security and the US Department of Labor issue to the leftist press are nothing short of a manipulated LIE! The Seasonal adjusted numbers have no basis in reality!
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Dennis Kucinich To Represent Washington?
Oh goodie! Jim McDermott and Dennis Kucinich. We'll have to shut down all the space-based mind control weapons research.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich is rumored to be considering a run for Congress from Washington State. On Monday, Kucinich spokesman Nathan White did not deny that Kucinich is considering the move.
“He fully intends to remain in Congress; he just doesn’t know in what district he will run,” White wrote in an email, linking to an article about a recent visit by the congressman to Bainbridge Island, Washington.
The eight-term Ohio Democrat faces difficult prospects for re-election if Republican-led redistricting dilutes his tenuous base of support in northern Ohio.
If Kucinich sought election in Washington, he would first need to establish residency in the state. According to Brian Zylstra of the Washington Secretary of State’s office, the requirements to run do not preclude such a candidacy.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Congressman Doc Hastings Speaks To Yakima County Republicans
The Yakima County Republican Central Committee held its annual Lincoln Day Dinner this past Friday night. Here is a video of Congressman Doc Hastings speech:
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Burglary and Stealing is Okay in Her Book
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. County Sheriff's Office was involved in a shooting this weekend. A 25-year old was shot and killed as he rammed the deputy's patrol cars.
The article went on to say this man was arrested 14 times in the last 7 years from crimes such as theft, burglary, possession of stolen property, drug offenses, eluding police, and reckless driving.
A friend of his has a quotation saying the typically things, and not not so typical thing:
1) she said "[he] was not a bad guy"
2) she said "It doesn't seem right that they shot him"
both of which are always said by the friends and family of someone who dies while trying to hurt or kill someone else...
But this is one thing I wouldn't ever want my friends to say about me:
3) "He just liked stealing cars and having fun."
Really, you say it like stealing other peoples' possession is no big deal.
Sure people get loans and pay hundreds of dollars every month to have a car, but stealing it, that ain't no thing. Car owner's shouldn't be so selfish to lock the door of their cars.
The article went on to say this man was arrested 14 times in the last 7 years from crimes such as theft, burglary, possession of stolen property, drug offenses, eluding police, and reckless driving.
A friend of his has a quotation saying the typically things, and not not so typical thing:
1) she said "[he] was not a bad guy"
2) she said "It doesn't seem right that they shot him"
both of which are always said by the friends and family of someone who dies while trying to hurt or kill someone else...
But this is one thing I wouldn't ever want my friends to say about me:
3) "He just liked stealing cars and having fun."
Really, you say it like stealing other peoples' possession is no big deal.
Sure people get loans and pay hundreds of dollars every month to have a car, but stealing it, that ain't no thing. Car owner's shouldn't be so selfish to lock the door of their cars.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
WASHINGTON STATE’S ECONOMY IN PERIL!
LATEST NUMBERS SUPPORT A DOUBLE DIP RECESSION
Employment: According to the Washington State Employment Security Department we lost 50,540 jobs in this state in January. The Evergreen State’s unemployment rate went up to 9.7% (the U3 number, or those who are collecting unemployment benefits). That means that 338,910 folks are on the U3 roles and that includes 15,910 new claims that have been filed, SO FAR! In addition the U6 number or the TOTAL number of folks who are unemployed or marginally employed increased to 642,880 as Washington’s U6 percentage rose to a record 18.4% in January. Particularly disturbing with these numbers is the fact the 64,930 folks dropped out of the work force around the state, because most of them have given up trying to find a job. Snohomish County was hit particularly hard with a new U3 number of 10.1% or 38,090 collecting benefits and a U6 number of 69,392!
For those of you who follow my blogs you know that I have said that the indications are that Washington is in a double dip recession. This is very bad news for the State Legislature awaiting news from the Department of Revenue about to issue its revenue forecast for the remainder of the year. With this many job losses, the news is not expected to be good. That means that the 6.8 Billion dollar deficit “can” the Democrats seek to “kick down the road” over into the next fiscal year on 7/1 may end up being a lot more than that figure.
In the all important housing market here in Washington, things are bleak to say the least. The latest RealtyTrac numbers are stark. 4,981 new home foreclosures and a total of 37,207 since this recession began. That depresses not just the sale of housing but also the value or homes on the market. With a large number or ARM’s about to be re-set over the next 60 days and with even more mortgages about to go “under water”, that will impact future foreclosures amongst many who are currently in default.
In conclusion, we are lagging the rest of the country, still struggling with what is being referred to as a “modest recovery”. Many analysts conclude that the three states on the West Coast are all suffering a double dip recession to include Oregon and California. Alan Greenspan has commented on the problems with the nation’s economy and his candid assessment is not very positive.
For those of you who follow my blogs you know that I have said that the indications are that Washington is in a double dip recession. This is very bad news for the State Legislature awaiting news from the Department of Revenue about to issue its revenue forecast for the remainder of the year. With this many job losses, the news is not expected to be good. That means that the 6.8 Billion dollar deficit “can” the Democrats seek to “kick down the road” over into the next fiscal year on 7/1 may end up being a lot more than that figure.
In the all important housing market here in Washington, things are bleak to say the least. The latest RealtyTrac numbers are stark. 4,981 new home foreclosures and a total of 37,207 since this recession began. That depresses not just the sale of housing but also the value or homes on the market. With a large number or ARM’s about to be re-set over the next 60 days and with even more mortgages about to go “under water”, that will impact future foreclosures amongst many who are currently in default.
In conclusion, we are lagging the rest of the country, still struggling with what is being referred to as a “modest recovery”. Many analysts conclude that the three states on the West Coast are all suffering a double dip recession to include Oregon and California. Alan Greenspan has commented on the problems with the nation’s economy and his candid assessment is not very positive.
Monday, March 07, 2011
Sign Holders
I saw a festively plump (as Cartman would say) female holding a sign at the end of the SR520 ramp that connects to 148th Ave in Bellevue. The sign was brand new and written on a large piece of poster board. It had big bubble letters filling in with a rainbow of colors. It was asking for handouts. Anything will help the sign concluded.
After turning on to 148th I came to the 24th Street intersection. There were two more people holding signs. They were advertisements for local businesses. Whenever I am in this part of the state I regularly see people standing on the corners holding signs for local businesses.
I know some look down upon such activities, but I think it is great. They are attempting to make their own way -- willing to take a job rather than begging for a handout.
On a side note many areas around Seattle and Spokane have lots of people who beg for money. It seems harder and harder to find an off ramp where people are not begging for money. The only reason why people keep coming back is because they are making money.
Look at their sign. It is folded up and reused day after day. One of the biggest scams is begging for money because they need gas money or are stranded. It is pretty lucky for them they happened to have a sign they could hold up at a freeway off ramp. Those who give money are suckers who do nothing to help the situation.
After turning on to 148th I came to the 24th Street intersection. There were two more people holding signs. They were advertisements for local businesses. Whenever I am in this part of the state I regularly see people standing on the corners holding signs for local businesses.
I know some look down upon such activities, but I think it is great. They are attempting to make their own way -- willing to take a job rather than begging for a handout.
On a side note many areas around Seattle and Spokane have lots of people who beg for money. It seems harder and harder to find an off ramp where people are not begging for money. The only reason why people keep coming back is because they are making money.
Look at their sign. It is folded up and reused day after day. One of the biggest scams is begging for money because they need gas money or are stranded. It is pretty lucky for them they happened to have a sign they could hold up at a freeway off ramp. Those who give money are suckers who do nothing to help the situation.
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Watching our Liberties Exit Stage Left
Introduction
I am concerned over video justice whether it is red-light cameras, speed enforcement cameras, or video taping public areas for viewing by law enforcement. The idea of using technology to keep an ever watchful eye on American citizens wrong. Don't misunderstand my intentions, I am not against using technology to help a law enforcement officer do his duty, I am against technology in place of law enforcement officers. I am all for getting a warrant to legally do surveillance of a criminal suspect. I am all for police officers having video camera's in their police cars. I am against the continuous recording of public places on the off-chance it might catch a citizen doing something illegal.
I wrote two columns for the Daily News. Both columns are limited in the number of words allowed. I am posting both columns here in their original unabridged format. As it turns out both columns were written in March. The first in 2009 and the second in 2011.
In my second column I included several quotations from the OPC Guidelines for the Use of Video Surveillance of Public Places by Police and Law Enforcement Authorities. I like a lot of what it says.
Other links:
Washington State Constitution
Protests Against Surveillance Cameras
Ineffectiveness of Surveillance Cameras
Photo Radar Scam
Column #1: Daily News, March 2009.
In October of 2008 the Daily News reported about placing video surveillance cameras in several locations around Pullman. If the cameras are installed we will watch our civil liberties exit stage left.
The proposal seems benign; however, it is anything but. We are told the video would only be recorded and saved for three to four days. The cameras, we are told, would not be monitored. This proposal brings to mind a quotation from Fakediploma.com in an article titled “Washington State Citizens Against National ID”.
Don’t mistake this proposal to be on the same level as video cameras in banks, convenience stores, and various other private businesses. The difference between the cameras the city wants to install and those in the above locations are great. The cameras would be on public streets. They would be controlled by the government.
I should be able to drive down the road, in a free country, without being monitored by my government. Our government was set up with the consent of those governed not the other way around.
Many people I have talked to believe that there is nothing wrong with putting surveillance cameras on Greek Row. But that is just the start. Mayor Johnson was even quoted as saying “this would just be the start”. As more funds are available more cameras can be installed. Soon they will be put into my neighborhood and your neighborhood.
Can we really believe that once the cameras are installed that they will never be monitored? According to an article in the Daily Evergreen, Mayor Johnson said the cameras would not be monitored, but only reviewed when a crime happened to try to identify those who committed the crime. But in the Daily News article it was pointed out the cameras could be viewed live the police in their patrol cars.
How long before the city decided that on major weekends the cameras should have someone watching them and dispatching police to suspicious activities? It probably would not be very long after that point of time that we have someone to monitor the cameras on all weekends. At some point, no doubt, there would be a call to expand the coverage of live monitoring of the cameras to include the whole week. We would need to hire some people to watch the cameras to report suspicious activities to the police. Your privacy would soon be in question.
The big issue with the government monitoring the cameras and possessing the cameras and recordings is that, unlike a convenience store, the government has the ability to impose sanctions on people. Those sanctions can be anything ranging from fines to jail time.
What happens when someone uses the freedom of information act to request copies of recordings? What if those recordings show something that you did, which was not criminal in nature, but one that was personal and embarrassing in nature? Could that cause damage to ones reputation?
During the arson fire it was pointed out we might have seen a car pass through the cameras and we could have had a possible suspect. What if you were the suspect? You will have to prove yourself innocent or risk being arrested. No alibi? That’s a problem. The police grill you as to why you were driving at three o’clock in the morning? This is a free country and you should be able to move around as you wish, no suspicion raised and no alibi’s needed.
The loss of personal liberties in the name of safety is not a fair trade off.
Scott McDonald, in the article “Uncle Sam Has All your Numbers“ poses a great point. The focus of the debate must be on liberty and freedom. The question must be: Does the government have any right, whatsoever, to maintain cameras focused on free citizens? The answer is “NO!”
Column #2: Daily News, March 2011.
Imagine, if you will, this utopia. It is a place where there are no guns. Everyone has free food, health care, and a place to live. No one is forced to hold down a job. Everyone is safe from crime and there are cameras to watch every move that someone makes. Those cameras are monitored 24/7. Want to live there? We have such a place right here in Whitman County. It is called jail. Sure you are secure, but you surely don’t have any personal liberties.
Unfortunately, the idea of placing government-run video cameras around the city of Pullman has resurfaced. Mayor Glenn Johnson and Police Chief Jenkins both support this issue. I disagree with the government running broad reaching video surveillance against its free citizens.
A number of people who don't see a problem with video cameras bring up two points over and over. One point being that stores and banks use video how is this any different. I argue the difference between the bank and the government is the government has a direct ability to abridge freedom. Point number two revolves around the idea that if you are not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to hide.
Government monitoring its citizens via video cameras is not about hiding things; it is about our rights explicitly spelled out in the state Constitution. Article 1 Section 7 says in part "No person shall be disturbed in his private affairs... without authority of law". Just because someone enters a public space doesn't mean he forfeits his expectation of privacy. One cannot be searched just because he is in public.
An article discussing guidelines for the use of video surveillance by law enforcement in public places exists on the Website for the Office of Privacy Commissioner (OPC) of Canada.
Human's change their behavior when they are being watched. Whether it is seeing a police car and letting off the accelerator when driving down the street or stifling one's own speech when someone approaches. These changes, as noted by the Website, started a business where people can buy faux cameras to make people change their behavior. The OPC's Website continues "For these reasons, there is good reason to believe that video surveillance of public places by the police or other law enforcement authorities has a chilling effect on behaviour—and by extension on rights and freedoms."
My last column came out in March of 2009. In those two years Pullman has neither become more dangerous nor crime ridden. Pullman still has issues with crime, as does every city, but we are not anywhere to the point where the movements of the citizens should be captured on video. "The problem to be addressed by video surveillance must be pressing and substantial, of sufficient importance to warrant overriding the right of innocent individuals to be free from surveillance in a public place." (OPA Website)
One person posed a question to me asking how it is different when a police officer is in public watching people and a video camera is in a public place watching people. The police officer is looking for a criminal activity taking place when he sees none he moves along. At some point in the future he will check back upon the area. A video camera on the other hand is constantly recording all citizens no matter what they are doing.
I would like to close with a final concept as written by the OPC. "Video surveillance of public places nonetheless presents a challenge to privacy, to freedom of movement and freedom of association, all rights we take for granted in Canada [and America]. This is especially true when the surveillance is conducted by police or other law enforcement authorities."
Please stop by http://palousitics.blogspot.com/ where you can read my previous column and this column both unabridged due to the limitation of space.
I am concerned over video justice whether it is red-light cameras, speed enforcement cameras, or video taping public areas for viewing by law enforcement. The idea of using technology to keep an ever watchful eye on American citizens wrong. Don't misunderstand my intentions, I am not against using technology to help a law enforcement officer do his duty, I am against technology in place of law enforcement officers. I am all for getting a warrant to legally do surveillance of a criminal suspect. I am all for police officers having video camera's in their police cars. I am against the continuous recording of public places on the off-chance it might catch a citizen doing something illegal.
I wrote two columns for the Daily News. Both columns are limited in the number of words allowed. I am posting both columns here in their original unabridged format. As it turns out both columns were written in March. The first in 2009 and the second in 2011.
In my second column I included several quotations from the OPC Guidelines for the Use of Video Surveillance of Public Places by Police and Law Enforcement Authorities. I like a lot of what it says.
Other links:
Washington State Constitution
Protests Against Surveillance Cameras
Ineffectiveness of Surveillance Cameras
Photo Radar Scam
Column #1: Daily News, March 2009.
In October of 2008 the Daily News reported about placing video surveillance cameras in several locations around Pullman. If the cameras are installed we will watch our civil liberties exit stage left.
The proposal seems benign; however, it is anything but. We are told the video would only be recorded and saved for three to four days. The cameras, we are told, would not be monitored. This proposal brings to mind a quotation from Fakediploma.com in an article titled “Washington State Citizens Against National ID”.
Under the guise of safety and security you are asked to give up your most personal information to the government’s safekeeping. Using the governments favorite phrase ‘…the need to know’, we don’t feel the government has - the need to know - such personal information. The fundamental right to privacy is asked to give way in order to achieve the illusion of security.
Don’t mistake this proposal to be on the same level as video cameras in banks, convenience stores, and various other private businesses. The difference between the cameras the city wants to install and those in the above locations are great. The cameras would be on public streets. They would be controlled by the government.
I should be able to drive down the road, in a free country, without being monitored by my government. Our government was set up with the consent of those governed not the other way around.
Many people I have talked to believe that there is nothing wrong with putting surveillance cameras on Greek Row. But that is just the start. Mayor Johnson was even quoted as saying “this would just be the start”. As more funds are available more cameras can be installed. Soon they will be put into my neighborhood and your neighborhood.
Can we really believe that once the cameras are installed that they will never be monitored? According to an article in the Daily Evergreen, Mayor Johnson said the cameras would not be monitored, but only reviewed when a crime happened to try to identify those who committed the crime. But in the Daily News article it was pointed out the cameras could be viewed live the police in their patrol cars.
How long before the city decided that on major weekends the cameras should have someone watching them and dispatching police to suspicious activities? It probably would not be very long after that point of time that we have someone to monitor the cameras on all weekends. At some point, no doubt, there would be a call to expand the coverage of live monitoring of the cameras to include the whole week. We would need to hire some people to watch the cameras to report suspicious activities to the police. Your privacy would soon be in question.
The big issue with the government monitoring the cameras and possessing the cameras and recordings is that, unlike a convenience store, the government has the ability to impose sanctions on people. Those sanctions can be anything ranging from fines to jail time.
What happens when someone uses the freedom of information act to request copies of recordings? What if those recordings show something that you did, which was not criminal in nature, but one that was personal and embarrassing in nature? Could that cause damage to ones reputation?
During the arson fire it was pointed out we might have seen a car pass through the cameras and we could have had a possible suspect. What if you were the suspect? You will have to prove yourself innocent or risk being arrested. No alibi? That’s a problem. The police grill you as to why you were driving at three o’clock in the morning? This is a free country and you should be able to move around as you wish, no suspicion raised and no alibi’s needed.
The loss of personal liberties in the name of safety is not a fair trade off.
Scott McDonald, in the article “Uncle Sam Has All your Numbers“ poses a great point. The focus of the debate must be on liberty and freedom. The question must be: Does the government have any right, whatsoever, to maintain cameras focused on free citizens? The answer is “NO!”
Column #2: Daily News, March 2011.
Imagine, if you will, this utopia. It is a place where there are no guns. Everyone has free food, health care, and a place to live. No one is forced to hold down a job. Everyone is safe from crime and there are cameras to watch every move that someone makes. Those cameras are monitored 24/7. Want to live there? We have such a place right here in Whitman County. It is called jail. Sure you are secure, but you surely don’t have any personal liberties.
Unfortunately, the idea of placing government-run video cameras around the city of Pullman has resurfaced. Mayor Glenn Johnson and Police Chief Jenkins both support this issue. I disagree with the government running broad reaching video surveillance against its free citizens.
A number of people who don't see a problem with video cameras bring up two points over and over. One point being that stores and banks use video how is this any different. I argue the difference between the bank and the government is the government has a direct ability to abridge freedom. Point number two revolves around the idea that if you are not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to hide.
Government monitoring its citizens via video cameras is not about hiding things; it is about our rights explicitly spelled out in the state Constitution. Article 1 Section 7 says in part "No person shall be disturbed in his private affairs... without authority of law". Just because someone enters a public space doesn't mean he forfeits his expectation of privacy. One cannot be searched just because he is in public.
An article discussing guidelines for the use of video surveillance by law enforcement in public places exists on the Website for the Office of Privacy Commissioner (OPC) of Canada.
"Video surveillance of public places subjects everyone to scrutiny, regardless of whether they have done anything to arouse suspicion. At the very least it circumscribes, if it does not eradicate outright, the expectation of privacy and anonymity that we have as we go about our daily business.
The medium’s very nature allows law enforcement to observe and monitor the movements of a large number of persons, the vast number of whom are law-abiding citizens, where there are no reasonable grounds to be capturing a record of their activities."
Human's change their behavior when they are being watched. Whether it is seeing a police car and letting off the accelerator when driving down the street or stifling one's own speech when someone approaches. These changes, as noted by the Website, started a business where people can buy faux cameras to make people change their behavior. The OPC's Website continues "For these reasons, there is good reason to believe that video surveillance of public places by the police or other law enforcement authorities has a chilling effect on behaviour—and by extension on rights and freedoms."
My last column came out in March of 2009. In those two years Pullman has neither become more dangerous nor crime ridden. Pullman still has issues with crime, as does every city, but we are not anywhere to the point where the movements of the citizens should be captured on video. "The problem to be addressed by video surveillance must be pressing and substantial, of sufficient importance to warrant overriding the right of innocent individuals to be free from surveillance in a public place." (OPA Website)
One person posed a question to me asking how it is different when a police officer is in public watching people and a video camera is in a public place watching people. The police officer is looking for a criminal activity taking place when he sees none he moves along. At some point in the future he will check back upon the area. A video camera on the other hand is constantly recording all citizens no matter what they are doing.
I would like to close with a final concept as written by the OPC. "Video surveillance of public places nonetheless presents a challenge to privacy, to freedom of movement and freedom of association, all rights we take for granted in Canada [and America]. This is especially true when the surveillance is conducted by police or other law enforcement authorities."
Please stop by http://palousitics.blogspot.com/ where you can read my previous column and this column both unabridged due to the limitation of space.
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