Thursday, December 07, 2006

BRITS NOW STAND COMPLETELY SURROUNDED...
The entire citizenry are now surrounded by nearly omnipresent surveillance by way of 4.2 million+ cameras in the streets of London, some of which now have microphones to eavesdrop on conversations and even speakers to shout back at individuals in an effort embarrass and correct behaviour. Not to mention a phasing in of face-scanning cameras and other monstrous technology. AND THAT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING...
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Registered Traveler Program Set to Go
READY or not — and some critics say not — the long-delayed Registered Traveler program is moving forward, with the single existing operator planning a succession of openings soon at four airports, while a competitor says it is about to join in...
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America's Robot Army
Already there are killing machines operating by remote control. Soon the machines will be able to kill on their own initiative. A new warfare is on its way

War is about to change, in terrifying ways. America's next wars, the ones the Pentagon is now planning, will be nothing like the conflicts that have gone before them.

In just a few years, US forces will be able to deal out death, not at the squeeze of a trigger or even the push of a button, but with no human intervention whatsoever. Many fighting soldiers - those GIs in tin hats who are dying two a day in Iraq - will be replaced by machines backed up by surveillance technology so penetrating and pervasive that it is referred to as 'military omniscience'. Any Americans involved will be less likely to carry rifles than PlayStation-style consoles and monitors that display simulated streetscapes of the kind familiar to players of Grand Theft Auto - and they may be miles from where the killing takes place.

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US Plans Lunar Outpost
NASA unveiled plans yesterday to set up a small and ultimately self-sustaining settlement of astronauts at the south pole of the moon sometime around 2020 -- the first step in an ambitious plan to resume manned exploration of the solar system.

The long-awaited proposal envisions initial stays of a week by four-person crews, followed by gradually longer visits until power and other supplies are in place to make a permanent presence possible by 2024.

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Word. One question: will the moon-people be able to pay for this development with money made from the mining of their resources?