creepy 'security'

In yet another example of how the "security" industry is spawning some of the creepiest people and creating insecurity, we read of how some Homeland Security people are doing their damnedest to create a "Precrime" unit, like in Philip K. Dick's story Minority Report, except that instead of psychics, they want to use a machine.
http://www.techhive.com/article/241583/homeland_security_develops_a_pre_crime_detecting_machine.html

I can see it now. Someone who gets the 'flu or is unusually quiet because of some disappointment, or who decides to improve their behavior, or organises a secret party for a friend's birthday, will become a 'precrime' suspect. Only the most boring people would be safe, and then only until something unsettling happened to them.

If such a device ever came into use then the only way to be truly safe might be to never provide a baseline set of habits -- always eat and sleep at different times, constantly change your speech and other mannerisms. It would be weirdly stressful, though perhaps not as stressful as knowing this thing was constantly watching for any deviation from your norm.

USA becoming a third world country

It is so sad that a country that has been a shining light for justice and freedom has fallen so far. Steadily evil efforts are underway to incarcerate Julian Assange without trial.

Exposing high-level corruption has always been a dangerous, but essential job. If nobody will do this then corruption continues to fester and spread until everything rots. Julian Assange took extraordinary efforts, with the help of the editors of several top US and international newspapers, to only publish material that would not put the innocent in harm's way or compromise national security, focussing instead on exposing corruption and crimes against humanity. For this care the USA is seeking to have him obliterated.

They could adhere to their own laws but the government there has effectively chosen to become outlaws. They want to silence Julian Assange and protect the corrupt no matter what the cost to their own society.

As for the weak-willed, gutless wonders who run Australia... wake up! Julian Assange is an Australian citizen and is protected under our laws. What he did for Wikileaks was not illegal. Our prime minister needs to retract her lie. Our Attorney General has confirmed that it was not illegal.

We need to stop the witch-hunt. Punish the criminals who were exposed; don't punish the messenger who brought them to light! If Wikileaks documents were acted upon in the proper way the world might have been spared some of the devastation of the economic crash. Certainly a lot of harm in warzones could have been averted, and perhaps these fake wars could even have been brought to an end.

It is frustrating that USA is becoming a mere shadow of what was once a great society -- one that stood for justice. Now it is becoming a third world nation, with all the corruption and misuse of power that entails. Such a pity.

Watch the video and sign the petition: http://www.getup.org.au/free-speech

Try to fix what has been so badly broken.