Third Maryland Jurisdiction Forced To Refund Illegal Photo Tickets

"These camera housings are now empty because the State Highway Administration noticed that the automated ticketing machine located on Berry Road had been posted 275 feet before the school zone for Daniel of Saint Thomas Jenifer Elementary School begins. The state agency notified the sheriff who agreed to cancel and around 4000 tickets, refunding any fines that have been paid because ticketing site did not meet legal standards. The photo ticketing setback in Charles County will take a serious chunk out of the $2,013,000 revenue the county expected to generate by allowing the contractor to issue 35,000 tickets." Continue reading

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Driver’s License Renewal Gets Complicated

"From what I can tell, many of these problems trace back to the National Drivers Registry (NDR) Every state submits information to the NDR about drivers who have had the driver’s license suspended, revoked or who have been convicted of serious traffic violations. When a person applies for a driver’s license or renewal at the DMV, the person’s name and other identifying information such as date of birth, license number or social security number, is checked to see if they show up on the National Drivers Registry. If there is a match, he or she has to clear the problem up before a driver’s license can be issued." Continue reading

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TSA: Ask the Fed for Relief…From the Fed?

"Compared to NSA’s confiscation of U.S. citizens’ phone records, however, Americans can take some comfort that TSA’s PreCheck program is voluntary—at least for now. Yet in the past, government experimentation has oft become permanent policy, which, in this case, would then require every American to undergo fingerprinting and a background check to be eligible to fly commercially. In other words, as government’s thirst for security mounts, its 'no-fly' list, which includes names of suspected terrorists, could eventually be replaced by an 'OK to fly' list. Do you think this scenario is outlandish and would never happen?" Continue reading

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Human-to-Rat, Brain-to-Brain Control Achieved By Neuro Scientists

"Obviously, this latter possibility would need to be effected through an explicit arrangement and agreement between two consenting humans (and not a human animal pairing, which would seem to be highly unethical, to say the least). But of course, beyond the interpersonal sphere, there is the societal sphere and the need of some societies to control their citizens. BBI is essentially mind-control, and, while there are many good and even miraculous possibilities from this technology in the not-too-distant future, if it were to come under the exclusive control of an authoritarian or autocratic government, our brave new world could easily become Orwellian." Continue reading

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1974 PSA Warned of High Tech Surveillance State for Behavior Control

"The clip below is of a public service message warning the public on the growing use of technology and surveillance by government and corporations (though who can really tell the difference these days) to control our lives. Sure, you say. We know all about that. Snowden has conclusively shown us with leaked documentation what our government is doing to us. Ah. But the film was not made last week or even last decade; it was filmed in 1974. Watch and listen. No, really listen. This message isn’t just to warn us about the coming technological surveillance state itself, but how its construct is to be used as a form of behavioral control on a mass scale." Continue reading

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Australian Safety Official Seeks Refund Of 987 Speed Camera Tickets

"On June 30, electronic speed limit signs were used to reduce the speed limit to 80km/h (50 MPH) and then once again to 40km/h (25 MPH) through a construction zone in front of the tunnel. Drivers were tricked into thinking after the end of the highway work zone, the limit would have returned to 80km/h or 100km/h. They may also have been unable to see the electronic speed limit signs, distracted by traffic merging from three lanes to one. 269 vehicle owners received serious penalties that included a license suspension, plus fines of up to $722 (which rises to $1660 for heavy vehicles). Another 718 received fines of up to $289 each." Continue reading

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Google: Motorola’s tattoos could replace passwords

"Motorola's senior vice president of advance research, Regina Dugan, a former head of the US Pentagon's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, demonstrated the silicon-based technology that uses bendable electronic circuits. Initially designed for medical purposes, Motorola hopes the ‘Biostamps’ could now be used for consumer authentication purposes. Motorola is also investigating the Proteus Digital Health pill. Its computer chip is powered by a battery using the acid in a user’s stomach. The pill creates a unique signal that can be picked up by devices outside the body and which could be used to verify a user’s identity." Continue reading

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ATS Settles PlatePass Rental Car Ticketing Lawsuit

"Plaintiffs in the suit complained that under ATS' PlatePass program, for example, $10.75 was automatically billed from their credit card to cover a 75 cent toll. The $11 million payment comes on top of the $4.2 million that ATS will pay to red light camera ticket recipients in New Jersey as part of a settlement for illegally issuing tickets at intersections where the yellow signal timing was not justified. Ticket recipients in that case began receiving post cards this week. The settlement agreement leaves it between ATS and Hertz to decide whether 'one or both' companies should pay the refunds." Continue reading

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California’s first mobile Amber Alert shocks strangers

"FEMA sends out Amber Alerts from cell towers in locations near the abduction. The alerts can pop up on new phones with Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) capabilities, or phones that get the corresponding software update. It’s a voluntary system, and participating wireless companies were required to add WEA services to their phones by April 7, 2012. Californians were angry and confused about the Amber Alert, scared by an alarming phone notification they didn’t know they had. The reaction mirrors New Yorkers’ response a few weeks ago, when the first New York City mobile Amber Alert woke people up at 4 in the morning." Continue reading

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Immigration Reform — The Time for Free Trade

"During the 19th century, tariffs and other barriers restricted international trade in goods and services. However, for the most part, labor was free to enter or leave the United States. Following World War I, the federal government enacted a series of laws restricting immigration. The interwar years also witnessed significant restrictions on trade in goods and services. Market forces are necessary to coordinate the international labor market as well. Increasing the number of H-1B visa's or temporary work permits is a small step in the right direction but governments can no better plan the international labor market than the Soviets could plan their markets." Continue reading

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