Massachusetts Abandons Liberty

Massachusetts  -  The Birthplace of Liberty now has a love affair with Fascism.

A Frightened and Ball-less People
The State tracks your movements and then shares that data with the Federal Government . . . it's all for your "protection"


There is a certain amount of sick irony here.

Our Federalist Founding Fathers have been turning over in their graves a lot the last few years.  The people of Massachusetts fired the shot heard around the world.  They told the Crowned Heads of Europe to shove it.  We were free men and would bow down to no King. 


The newly adopted state seal of
Massachusetts

Fast forward to today.  The frightened, spineless and ball-less girly men of Massachusettes are dropping their pants and bending over for the new 1984 Big Brother Dictatorship.  They cry like little children to the all-powerful State, "Please take my Liberty and protect me from everyday life." 

But the march to 1984 is taking place everywhere with police scanners watching your car, 24 - 7 TV cameras recording your every move and ATM cards providing a record of the books you read, the movies you watch and the guns you purchase.

Civil libertarians are raising the alarm over the plans of Massachusetts to create a Big Brother database that could map drivers’ whereabouts with police cruiser-mounted scanners that capture thousands of license plates per hour — storing that information indefinitely where local cops, states, feds and prosecutors could access it as they choose reports the Boston Herald.

“What kind of a society are we creating here?” asked civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate, who along with the ACLU fears police abuse. “There comes a point where the surveillance is so pervasive and total that it’s a misnomer to call a society free any longer.”

The computerized scanners, known as Automatic License Plate Recognition devices, instantly check for police alerts, warrants, traffic violations and parking tickets, which cops say could be an invaluable tool in thwarting crime. The Executive Office of Public Safety has approved 27 grants totaling $500,000 to buy scanners for state police and 26 local departments. The purchases are on hold while state lawyers develop a policy for the use of a common state database all the scanners would feed.

MINORITY REPORT
The great Philip K. Dick saw frightening visions of an authoritarian
future.  His dreams of a 1984 world are coming to pass as the people abandon Liberty
in exchange for a nebulous promise of safety provided by the Master Ruling Class.   

People who haven’t committed a crime should not be tracked by Big Brother 

Some ALPR scanners already are deployed on Massachusetts roads. State police have two. Several cities use them for parking enforcement. Chelsea has four scanner-mounted cruisers.

EOPS spokesman Terrell Harris said the state wants the scanner information fed into the Public Safety Data Center, where local, state and federal authorities could access it.

“People who aren’t wanted for a crime, all of their information is stored in a database that is shared with another government agency,” the ACLU's Kade Crawford said. “The potential for abuse is very big. We don’t think people who haven’t committed a crime should be tracked by law enforcement.”

The two state police cruisers equipped with scanners patrol the metro Boston area, state police spokesman David Procopio said. He defended police use of the new technology.

Silverglate countered, “If you have cameras everywhere, of course you’re going to reduce the crime rate, but you’re not going to have a society worth preserving. To the American people, freedom means something. There is a line to draw in the sand, beyond which you don’t want the government poking its nose. This crosses the line.”



It was reported that the state of Massachusetts spent $1.7 million on these nifty new hats for the police.

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