Surveillance

When Andy Ginther unveiled his infrastructure capital improvement plan for 2018 last week he failed to mention how it would enable the police to hear and see everything you see and do on any street in the city. While the only direct surveillance cost listed in the promotional material is $1 million to be spent on a gunfire detection system the amount is much greater. An additional $5 million for police is hidden in the electricity budget for 2018 with an additional $1.7 million to be spent on yet more capital improvements by FY 2022.

Google loves to tout it's “Don’t Be Evil” motto. Which is why it got itself into an internal revolt this week when 3,100 employees signed a letter to it's CEO Sundar Pichai objecting to Google's participation in Project Maven, which is an AI program using recognition software applied to surveillance footage for the Department of Defense.

Yesterday, April 3rd, The president tweeted about a new, controversial and possibly unconstitutional plan. There was also an avalanche of stories about teenagers snorting condoms. Both are tales of immature minds doing dangerous things as both can be expected to try to do. One of is worthy of logistical examination because it effects innocent people and the other is the hand of the mighty god Darwin in action.

Robert Muller's investigation moves slowly forward, getting guilty pleas and closing in ever so slowly on Donald Trump. In all the allegations, many crimes have been uncovered, and many more will be. Muller, even with his ability to compel testimony and seize documents, has yet to uncover actually effective Russian interference with the 2016 General Election. He is also not the only one with eyes on the events.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the man who investigated civil rights workers for registering voters, finally joined the cabinet level damage control effort for his boss 48 hours after Trump muttered something stupid about violence “on many sides” twice in his semi-coherent belated press conference in the wake of the Charlottesville attack. Decoding what Sessions meant by his words and placing it in context of other cabinet level officials paints a very grim picture. Sessions intends to use violence by the right to repress political opposition to the President and his party.

A Roomba is one of the cutest things the internet put a cat on. This article was delayed by an endless parade of cat playing with roomba videos, dog barking a roomba videos, and plain old cat videos because the author likes cats. Beneath the feline powered viral marketing campaign there is a hidden agenda and that agenda is as bad for you and your privacy as feeding a gremlin after dark or making bed from living tribbles.

Officer Zach Rosen shot Henry Green dead in cold blood on his own street last year. He was not indicted and the city and county cared little, waiting as long as they could and refusing to meet with his family. This year Zach Rosen was seen on video running from out of frame to kick a suspect in the head while he was held down by another officer. He got no punishment whatsoever until the video went viral. Then he got a short with pay suspension.

“Subject to paragraph (3), the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or a designee of the Director (whose rank shall be no lower than Assistant Special Agent in Charge) may make an application for an order requiring the production of any tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a United States person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely