Is this what a Police State looks like?

[Jack Weber]

I went to car shows with my dad when I was a kid. And with my special guy when I grew up.

-k

Cool...

I go to car shows now...

My wife hates them...She does'nt get "it"...

I'm also into racing...Dirt mostly...She does'nt get "that",either...

[Michael Hardner]

So much drift in this thread that it needs a warning label...

[Rick]

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/12/27/from-planes-to-trains-tsa-expands-spot-searches-to-union-station/

Yeah as long as they are not groping you, people are ok with it. It starts with a presence in the Airports, then body scanners, then invasive pat downs. It's started on the streets in some areas as well.

So in this thread we post everything we see around us about information, control and how it's all being used against the general population. We have TSA in the airports and now on the streets and in stadiums, soon to be in malls and now making their presence known at the train stations.

We have smartphones with back door access by the companies and governments. We have warrentless wiretapping. We have indefinite detainment. We have have cameras all over the place, we also have this coming to a street near you as well http://intellistreets.com/ . And now with the recent passing of the NDAA in the US, we can see martial law happening in an instant.

It's almost impossible to know where to begin. But all this is not about combating terrorism or to keep you safe. It's impossible to keep anything you have private anymore.

Thoughts?

Thoughts?

Soon to be policed too.

[Guest American Woman]

Is this what a Police State looks like?

No. Not even close.

Thoughts?

My thoughts are that you must have no idea of what an actual "police state" is; what life is like for people living in a police state.

[Rick]

No. Not even close.

My thoughts are that you must have no idea of what an actual "police state" is; what life is like for people living in a police state.

Ron Paul thinks you`re wrong.

GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul warned that the National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by Congress this month, will accelerate the country’s “slip into tyranny” and virtually assures “our descent into totalitarianism.”

“The founders wanted to set a high bar for the government to overcome in order to deprive an individual of life or liberty,” Paul, the libertarian congressman, said Monday in a weekly phone message to supporters. “To lower that bar is to endanger everyone. When the bar is low enough to include political enemies, our descent into totalitarianism is virtually assured. The Patriot Act, as bad as its violations against the Fourth Amendment was, was just one step down the slippery slope. The recently passed National Defense Authorization Act continues that slip into tyranny, and in fact, accelerates it significantly.”

[Guest American Woman]

Ron Paul thinks you`re wrong.

And I think Ron Paul is wrong - about so many things.

[Michael Hardner]

My thoughts are that you must have no idea of what an actual "police state" is; what life is like for people living in a police state.

Thank you for a breath of sanity here.

[Rick]

Thank you for a breath of sanity here.

Micheal, I hope you were being sarcastic...

Because if you really agree with that statement then you clearly haven't travelled within the U.S. by land any time recently.

There's more Dept of Homeland Security patrol vehicles on the roads than you could imagine.

[cybercoma]

Cool...

I go to car shows now...

My wife hates them...She does'nt get "it"...

I'm also into racing...Dirt mostly...She does'nt get "that",either...

I miss dirt tracks, since I moved to the Maritimes.

[cybercoma]

One thing about these increased security measures is that they never go backwards. Security measures don't ever seem to be relaxed at any point. So the next time some sort of security breach happens, they'll just ratchet it up to the next level.

[Michael Hardner]

Micheal, I hope you were being sarcastic...

Because if you really agree with that statement then you clearly haven't travelled within the U.S. by land any time recently.

There's more Dept of Homeland Security patrol vehicles on the roads than you could imagine.

I travel to the US about twice a year.

I don't agree that more patrol vehicles on the road indicate a police state.

What is happening ? We have been waiting for this crackdown of fascism for 10 years now and it hasn't happened yet IMO. I think that certain media people (Alex Jones for example) try to make a name for themselves by making extreme statements.

[Guest Manny]

We have been waiting for this crackdown of fascism for 10 years now and it hasn't happened yet IMO. I think that certain media people (Alex Jones for example) try to make a name for themselves by making extreme statements.

But if we didn't have such vigilance and criticism, what do you think would happen. We would only have ourselves to blame.

It's like those who say "never again".

[Rick]

I travel to the US about twice a year.

I don't agree that more patrol vehicles on the road indicate a police state.

What is happening ? We have been waiting for this crackdown of fascism for 10 years now and it hasn't happened yet IMO. I think that certain media people (Alex Jones for example) try to make a name for themselves by making extreme statements.

You have something in common with Neville Chamberlain then...the inability to see what a fascist/police state looks like before it's too late.

Really, you should get out more and open your eyes to what is going on down there.

[eyeball]

My thoughts are that you must have no idea of what an actual "police state" is; what life is like for people living in a police state.

Apparently frogs don't recognize a slowly warming pot of water for what it is either.

[eyeball]

As for knowing what a fully realized police state looks like...

It occurred to me the other day that North Korea could probably build a booming tourist industry around their police state. I bet lots of people would happily pay to get away from it all in a police state for a few weeks.

Think about the potential for reality shows...a NK version of Big Brother could have contestants wire-tapping one another and ratting each other out to the state. I'm surprised F.A.G. hasn't approached them with the idea.

[Shady]

Thank you for a breath of sanity here.

You as well.

It's truely frightening how many free and privileged people we having deluded in thinking we live in some kind of police state.

[Michael Hardner]

You have something in common with Neville Chamberlain then...the inability to see what a fascist/police state looks like before it's too late.

Really, you should get out more and open your eyes to what is going on down there.

Can you give me some examples ? I'll offer a counter example: the Occupy and Tea Party protests of 2011. No police state would allow such protests to happen in the first place.

[Shady]

Can you give me some examples ? I'll offer a counter example: the Occupy and Tea Party protests of 2011. No police state would allow such protests to happen in the first place.

Exactly. Nor would we be allowed to post about said police state on the internet. Maybe the delusion of them living in a police state adds a little excitment to their boring lives?

[sharkman]

I travel to the US about twice a year.

I don't agree that more patrol vehicles on the road indicate a police state.

What is happening ? We have been waiting for this crackdown of fascism for 10 years now and it hasn't happened yet IMO. I think that certain media people (Alex Jones for example) try to make a name for themselves by making extreme statements.

I go down there about as much, and can't agree with the thread premise. However, there is a crime problem that keeps growing. I've said it before, but when the morals of a nation are in decline then the people are less inclined to monitor, or 'police' their own actions. You can never hire enough police to do the job of ethical citizens.

[monty16]

Good luck but the only solution is to stop killing them over there so they won't need to kill you over here. You Americans knew that anyway didn't you? We Canadians know it and that's why the majority of us oppose our presense in Afghanistan. It's just that the political right Harper and his cronies don't.

[sharkman]

Uh, this thread is not about terrorism. But there are plenty of those threads, I'm sure you can find one to your liking.

[Guest Manny]

I'll offer a counter example: the Occupy and Tea Party protests of 2011. No police state would allow such protests to happen in the first place.

I don't think your example is very good. We heard a bit about the protesters getting pepper sprayed in the face, and there were mass arrests and people were shot in the head. Off the mainstream media of course, so if that's all you believe then you might think it's all about hugs and kisses. You think they would ever show us how the system deprives peaceful protesters of their right to public protest? Of course not. Once they became more than a slight irritant, they were encircled by riot police, beaten with clubs, kicked to the ground and taken away.

"No police state would allow such protests to happen..."

[GostHacked]

Predator drones are not just for the military anymore.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2073248/Local-cops-used-Predator-drone-arrest-North-Dakota-farm-family-stealing-6-cows.html

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/10/nation/la-na-drone-arrest-20111211

As the unmanned aircraft circled 2 miles overhead the next morning, sophisticated sensors under the nose helped pinpoint the three suspects and showed they were unarmed. Police rushed in and made the first known arrests of U.S. citizens with help from a Predator, the spy drone that has helped revolutionize modern warfare.

But that was just the start. Local police say they have used two unarmed Predators based at Grand Forks Air Force Base to fly at least two dozen surveillance flights since June. The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration have used Predators for other domestic investigations, officials said.

"We don't use [drones] on every call out," said Bill Macki, head of the police SWAT team in Grand Forks. "If we have something in town like an apartment complex, we don't call them."

Eventually they will be used in town and on apartment complexes. But people thought the use of drones over US cities was a crazy idea and would never happen. Here we are.

Interesting point in the article.

The drones belong to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which operates eight Predators on the country's northern and southwestern borders to search for illegal immigrants and smugglers. The previously unreported use of its drones to assist local, state and federal law enforcement has occurred without any public acknowledgment or debate.

If it's not in the news it's not happening right?

[Shady]

Eventually they will be used in town and on apartment complexes.

You mean just like police helicopters?

[Shady]

We heard a bit about the protesters getting pepper sprayed

Yep, 0.00001 percent of protesters.

and there were mass arrests

Yep, 0.00001 percent of protesters.

and people were shot in the head.

Yep, 0.00000000001 percent of protesters, and not by the police. In fact most of the shootings were from the protesters themselves.

You guys are really grasping now.