That's right, keep smiling and keep your teeth as white as possible, "at all times," in fact you should always wear your best suit of cloths or dress. "Why" you ask.....the answer is relatively easy to answer, you are being shot on camera more and more in today's increasingly complicated world. If you use the growing number of miles in America's toll roads, every time you drive through a toll booth, your picture is being taken. Now the possibility of a small camera being installed in your car, where the camera can be pointed either out, or inward is a distinct possibility.
Think about a governmental camera in your car for a minute, possibly located in the windshield mounted E.Z. pass transponder that makes it so much easier to navigate toll road travel. If you don't know about toll road driving, and the pre-paid system, let me fill you in. It's really quite simple, you mount an almost cigarette sized device on the inside of your windshield and when you go through a tool plaza, a signal is sent from the booth to your car which registers that your car drove through the plaza and your account is billed whatever the toll charge is.
Your toll account, either a minimum amount in your bank, or directly to your credit card pays the toll. Neat, efficient, no muss and no fuss, just the way we Americans like to transact our business. Of course there can be problems with over billing, minimum balances, administration charges, or getting a human on the phone to discuss whatever problem you might have.
I can remember my Mother telling me one time to "always wear clean underwear, because you never know when you might get into an accident, and there always might be the chance that medical assistance might have to remove your trousers." Sound advice that I followed until I decided to discontinue wearing underwear. I am proud to report that my Mother's advice eventually drove me to quite wearing, or buying underwear, "thanks Mom."
Of course whether I do or don't wear underpants is not the reason for this blog, there's a much more sinister reason, and it could effect millions of Americans. The "meat" of today's blog is surveillance, surveillance by local or federal authorities, "big brother," the "eye in the sky," or the "George Orwellian" thinking agencies within the government.
Now I realize that some of this thinking, or statements issued, or enacted restraints on travel, identity tracking, or safety searches are necessary for our own safety, but "come on" camera's in my car, pointed at me, my dog, my wife and whoever is riding with me, no way, no how, that's going to dam far, I pick my nose.....doesn't everybody?
I bring the possibility of "dash cams" because an Austrian company, Kapsch TrafficCom AG applied for a filed a patent on technology to add multi-function mini-cameras to their toll transponder gadgets. There are more then 20 million transponders in United States vehicles today, with more just around the corner.
Cameras are in use today, throughout major cities to keep track of all sorts of civilian activity, from street corner crime, to law enforcement of HOV and HOT lanes, "high occupancy lanes or toll lanes." This all seems either like a good law enforcement move, or a tool that could be used to raise the legal amount of toll income.
However it doesn't take a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon to figure out that local, state and federal agencies could easily use these devices to keep tabs on us all. I wonder at what point we citizens will begin to question exactly how far we will allow are privacy rights to be taken away. At the present time, we can be tracked by our cell phones, even if there turned off.
Why does this bother me, well a statement I heard the other day on Law and Order SUV can some up my fear, "the cops work for the D.A's office," and we all know how screwed up those two departments can be.
But just in case, I'm going to keep my teeth brushed, wear better cloths and I won't touch certain areas of my body, or for that matter, my wife's, "have a nice day."
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