Steve Watson Infowars.net Tuesday, Aug 24th, 2010

Law enforcement agencies in Washington D.C. have begun to use technology that they say can predict when crimes will be committed and who will commit them, before they actually happen.

The Minority Report like pre-crime software has been developed by Richard Berk, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Previous incarnations of the software, already being used in Baltimore and Philadelphia were limited to predictions of murders by and among parolees and offenders on probation.

According to a report by ABC News, however, the latest version, to be implemented in Washington D.C., can predict other future crimes as well.

“When a person goes on probation or parole they are supervised by an officer. The question that officer has to answer is ‘what level of supervision do you provide?’” Berk told ABC News, intimating that the program could have a bearing on the length of sentences and/or bail amounts.

The technology sifts through a database of thousands of crimes and uses algorithms and different variables, such as geographical location, criminal records and ages of previous offenders, to come up with predictions of where, when, and how a crime could possibly be committed and by who.

The program operates without any direct evidence that a crime will be committed, it simply takes datasets and computes possibilities.

“People assume that if someone murdered then they will murder in the future,” Berk also states, “But what really matters is what that person did as a young individual. If they committed armed robbery at age 14 that’s a good predictor. If they committed the same crime at age 30, that doesn’t predict very much.”

Critics have urged that the program encourages categorizing individuals on a risk scale via computer mathematics, rather than on real life, and that monitoring those people based on such a premise is antithetic to a justice system founded on the premise of the presumption of innocence.

Other police departments and law agencies across the country have begun to look into and use similar predictive technologies.

The Memphis Police Department, for example uses a program called Operation Blue CRUSH, which uses predictive analytics developed by IBM.

Other forms of pre-crime technology in use or under development include surveillance cameras that can predict when a crime is about to occur and alert police, and even neurological brain scanners that can read people’s intentions before they act, thus detecting whether or not a person has “hostile intent”.

It is not too far fetched to imagine all these forms of the technology being used together in the future by law enforcement bodies.

The British government has previously debated introducing pre-crime laws in the name of fighting terrorism. The idea was that suspects would be put on trial using MI5 or MI6 intelligence of an expected terror attack. This would be enough to convict if found to be true “on the balance of probabilities”, rather than “beyond reasonable doubt”.

The government even has plans to collect lifelong records on all residents starting at the age of five, in order to screen for those who might be more likely to commit crimes in the future. Another disturbing possibility for such technology comes in the form of a financial alliance of sorts between Internet search engine giant Google and the investment arm of the CIA and the wider U.S. intelligence network.

Google and In-Q-Tel have recently injected a sum of up to $10 million each into a company called Recorded Future, which uses analytics to scour Twitter accounts, blogs and websites for all sorts of information, which is used to “assemble actual real-time dossiers on people.”

The company describes its analytics as “the ultimate tool for open-source intelligence” and says it can also “predict the future”.

Recorded Future takes in vast amounts of personal information such as employment changes, personal education and family relations. Promotional material also shows categories covering pretty much everything else, including entertainment, music and movie releases, as well as other innocuous things like patent filings and product recalls.

Those detached from any kind of moral reality will say “If you’ve got nothing to hide then what is the problem with being scanned for pre-crime? If it keeps us all safe from murderers, rapists and terrorists I’m all for it”.

How far towards a literal technological big brother police state will we slip before people wake up to the fact?

Face.com has produced technology that can identify individuals on social networking sites and online galleries by comparing their image against a known picture of them.

It means detailed profiles of individuals can be built up purely from online photographs and critics have said it could lead to exploitation by employers.

The software works be creating an algorithm of the face – a measurement of the arrangement of features including the eyes, nose and mouth.

The company says it is 90 per cent accurate when scanning typical images which appear on social networking sites. Face.com has previously limited the availability of the software over concerns about invasion of privacy.

But it has now released the Photo Finder software to developers building applications allowing people to search for anyone on the internet.

Gil Hirsch, chief executive of Face.com, told The Sunday Times: ‘We have launched a service that allows developers to take our facial recognition technology and apply it immediately to their own applications.

‘The technology is already being used by 5,000 developers. You can basically search for people in any photo. ‘You could search for family members on Flickr, in newspapers, or in videos on YouTube – but it would take a lot of processing power.’

The use of facial detection technology has only been used by the UK Border Agency.

Google has a tool – Picasa – which allows users to organise their photos by tagging matching faces and Facebook uses Photo Finder.

Supporters of the software, including the Red Cross, have said it could be used to track people lost in humanitarian disasters.

But there are strong concerns over the accuracy of the technology and its impact on privacy.

Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said: ‘I think this will make many people very uneasy.

‘The regulators have been hugely behind the curve of protecting people’s privacy on the internet. We need to push for much tighter international rules.’

The link below has many helpful articles in relation to credit counseling, financial recovery, etc. As you many know there are lots of credit counseling scams out there. Clearpoint is legit.

From website: ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions is an established, national non-profit organization that helps consumers obtain a clear perspective of their financial situation through counseling and education. Working closely with our clients, we help identify and resolve the source of their financial concerns. In order to provide the greatest convenience for our clients, we offer our services in person, via phone and through the Internet.

clearpointcreditcounselingsolutions[DOT]org

Submitted Link #1: http://www.clearpointfinancialsolutions.org/...

If a creditor sells a debt to a "junk debt buyer" (JDB), that does not create a new debt and does not restart the statute of limitations (SOL).

While laws vary by state, usually the only thing that restarts the SOL is making a payment or acknowledging the debt. A JDB may try to falsely claim a new payment was made, but that is illegal. Adding new fees and charges may also be illegal.

When a JDB or debt collector breaks the law, you can sue them and collect monetary damages.

If you are sued on an old debt, you will have to aggressively defend the case and raise the issue of the SOL being expired. If the court does not dismiss the case, that is an error, and the decision can be appealed.

Again, I would urge readers to go to creditinfocenter and debtorboards. These sites are devoted to debt and credit issues, and can cover them in far more detail than we can here. People are winning against debt collectors without going through bankruptcy. You can read about their victories on these sites.

Submitted Link #1: http://www.debtorboards.com...

I cannot recommend these devices, for the following reasons:

(1) They are illegal to use in most countries, including the USA, because they function by jamming the GPS signal: deliberately interfering with the GPS signal.

(2) Some of these devices, at least, are fraudulent: just a piece of wire connected to a cigarette lighter plug.

(3) There is always the risk, that by placing an internet order for an illegal device, you may draw the attention of the customs (douanes) or the police to yourself.

See the comments at the link below.

Submitted Link #1: http://www.gpsmagazine.com/comments/000282.php#com...

"This section shall not apply to any person or firm or corporation who constructs a building on land owned by that person, firm or corporation when such building is intended for use by that person, firm or corporation after completion."

"AFFIDAVIT

I,_______ hereby declare that I am purchasing a permit to build or erect a ­___________________ at ____________________________. I am the owner and occupant of the property and I will occupy the property for at least twelve (12) months after the Certificate of Occupancy has been issued by Buncombe County."

I appreciate the info you gave further down but you must understand this is not an attempt to avoid inspections or regs of the Building Department. This is solely to build a house on property owned by my LLC.

JJ - you answered YES to the questions so anything to add regarding your experience? Do you sign as manager of the LLC, or use nominee, or...? Thanks.

... You print the name of the LLC and then sign alongside, as either "owner" or "member." (I signed mine as "owner.")

By Austin Carr

We've all seen and obsessively referenced [1] Minority Report, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's dystopian future, where the public is tracked everywhere they go, from shopping malls to work to mass transit to the privacy of their own homes. The technology is here. I've seen it myself. It's seen me, too, and scanned my irises.

Biometrics R&D firm Global Rainmakers Inc. (GRI) announced today that it is rolling out its iris scanning technology to create what it calls "the most secure city in the world." In a partnership with Leon -- one of the largest cities in Mexico, with a population of more than a million -- GRI will fill the city with eye-scanners. That will help law enforcement revolutionize the way we live -- not to mention marketers.

"In the future, whether it's entering your home, opening your car, entering your workspace, getting a pharmacy prescription refilled, or having your medical records pulled up, everything will come off that unique key that is your iris," says Jeff Carter, CDO of Global Rainmakers [2]. Before coming to GRI, Carter headed a think tank partnership between Bank of America, Harvard, and MIT. "Every person, place, and thing on this planet will be connected [to the iris system] within the next 10 years," he says.

Leon is the first step. To implement the system, the city is creating a database of irises. Criminals will automatically be enrolled, their irises scanned once convicted. Law-abiding citizens will have the option to opt-in.

When these residents catch a train or bus, or take out money from an ATM, they will scan their irises, rather than swiping a metro or bank card. Police officers will monitor these scans and track the movements of watch-listed individuals. "Fraud, which is a $50 billion problem, will be completely eradicated," says Carter. Not even the "dead eyeballs" seen in Minority Report could trick the system, he says. "If you've been convicted of a crime, in essence, this will act as a digital scarlet letter. If you're a known shoplifter, for example, you won't be able to go into a store without being flagged. For others, boarding a plane will be impossible."

GRI's scanning devices are currently shipping to the city, where integration will begin with law enforcement facilities, security check-points, police stations, and detention areas. This first phase will cost less than $5 million. Phase II, which will roll out in the next three years, will focus more on commercial enterprises. Scanners will be placed in mass transit, medical centers and banks, among other public and private locations.

The devices range from large-scale scanners like the Hbox (shown in the airport-security prototype above), which can snap up to 50 people per minute in motion, to smaller scanners like the EyeSwipe and EyeSwipe Mini, which can capture the irises of between 15 to 30 people per minute.

I tested these devices at GRI's R&D facilities in New York City last week. It took less than a second for my irises to be scanned and registered in the company's database. Every time I went through the scanners after that--even when running through (because everybody runs, right, Tom Cruise?) my eyes were scanned and identified correctly. (You can see me getting scanned on the Hbox in the video below. "Welcome Austin," the robotic voice chimes.)

For such a Big Brother-esque system, why would any law-abiding resident ever volunteer to scan their irises into a public database, and sacrifice their privacy? GRI hopes that the immediate value the system creates will alleviate any concern. "There's a lot of convenience to this--you'll have nothing to carry except your eyes," says Carter, claiming that consumers will no longer be carded at bars and liquor stores. And he has a warning for those thinking of opting out: "When you get masses of people opting-in, opting out does not help. Opting out actually puts more of a flag on you than just being part of the system. We believe everyone will opt-in."

This vision of the future eerily matches Minority Report, and GRI knows it. "Minority Report is one possible outcome," admits Carter. "I don't think that's our company's aim, but I think what we're going to see is an enviroment well beyond what you see in that movie--minus the precogs, of course."

When I asked Carter whether he felt the film was intended as a dystopian view of the future of privacy, he pointed out that much of our private life is already tracked by telecoms and banks, not to mention Facebook [3]. "The banks already know more about what we do in our daily life--they know what we eat, where we go, what we purchase--our deepest secrets," he says. "We're not talking about anything different here--just a system that's good for all of us."

One potential benefit? Carter believes the system could be used to intermittently scan truck drivers on highways to make sure they haven't been on the road for too long.

GRI also predicts that iris scanners will help marketers. "Digital signage," for example, could enable advertisers to track behavior and emotion. "In ten years, you may just have one sensor that is literally able to identify hundreds of people in motion at a distance and determine their geo-location and their intent--you'll be able to see how many eyeballs looked at a billboard," Carter says. "You can start to track from the point a person is browsing on Google [4] and finds something they want to purchase, to the point they cross the threshold in a Target or Walmart and actually make the purchase. You start to see the entire life cycle of marketing."

So will we live the future under iris scanners and constant Big Brother monitoring? According to Carter, eye scanners will soon be so cost-effective--between $50-$100 each--that in the not-too-distant future we'll have "billions and billions of sensors" across the globe.

Goodbye 2010. Hello 1984.

Submitted Link #1: http://republicbroadcasting.org/?p=10319...

It would appear there are no complex wrinkles to doing this, and my reason for wanting to gift it is because money is so tight right now, due to a recent separation. It's tough just to part with $400 for a NM LLC right now.

Jack - have you had any experience with someone gifting a vehicle into a NM LLC in Washington state? Is there anything I might be missing, or is it as simple as it seems?

... No one has ever said it didn't work. Of course, it may be that no one has tried it in Washington.

While it may be an abuse of the legal system, it is not the same as throwing people in jail simply because they owe someone money. If these people had answered the summons, they might have avoided a judgment in the first place.

And, be very cautious about transferring assets before filing for bankruptcy. That could be considered fraud, which can carry criminal penalties.

There are exemptions in bankruptcy, and from a judgment. These vary by state. Google "Wyoming bankruptcy exemptions" and "Wyoming exemptions from a judgment." You don't lose everything you have in a bankruptcy (or a judgment), but in some states the exemptions are so stingy (because the laws have not been updated for decades) that what you are left is really not enough for the "fresh start" bankruptcy is supposed to provide.

Of special concern, in your situation, is the travel trailer you are living in. Would it be considered a dwelling (homestead), or a vehicle? And, how much is it (and your cars) worth? It is possible you would lose them in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

You can keep your property in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, but you have to pay the creditors, over a 3-5 year period, the same amount they would have received in a Chapter 7 liquidation. Depending on your state's exemptions, how much these assets are worth, and how much money you make at your jobs, a Chapter 13 may not be feasible.

Be wary of bankruptcy lawyers. They will undoubtedly try to push you into filing, even if that is not the best option for you. Because that is how they make money. You are the one at risk of becoming homeless, not them. Get second and third opinions, if you can get free initial consultations. And do a lot of research on bankruptcy on your own, to see if what the lawyers are telling you is correct. Lawyers are not infallible, and not all of them are honest and ethical, either.

You should look into debt settlement. You can probably settle these debts for 50%, maybe even less. But, do it yourself, rather than using a debt settlement company. Many of these companies are rip-offs.

If creditor harassment is an issue, there are ways to deal with that other than filing for bankruptcy. You do not have to talk to debt collectors.

I would recommend two websites that are dedicated to helping people with debt problems. They are filled with information you should study, and they have forums where you can ask questions. The first is creditinfocenter.com, and the second is debtorboards.com.

Also look into the e-books Debt Hope and Debtmanship.

Submitted Link #1: http://www.creditinfocenter.com...

The problem with not doing anything, is that the credit card folks and debt collection agencies will just add more surcharges and interest, and the $30,000 could easily turn into $60,000, then more and more.

I agree with Mr. Luna about visiting some bankruptcy attorneys for some free consultations.

I think that you could possibly do a Chapter 7. However, perhaps the free attorney consultations can help y'all with the "travel trailer and 2 vehicles", because if that is your only assets, perhaps they can be exempt. Generally, where a married couple files a joint petition, the exemptions may be doubled. And if that is your only assets, no money in the bank, I'm leaning towards a Chapter 7.

I'm not familiar with Wyoming law, but in some other states, people have been arrested for their debts. So, that's why I'm leaning towards filing for a Chapter 7. However, Chapter 7, even in your case, might take some planning, such as waiting to file until you transfer some assets, perhaps using Mr. Luna's method of LLCs and then waiting 6 months to file. There is nothing illegal with that. I transferred my 10 year old honda accord 7 months before filing to a LLC that I got from Rosie, and I didn't have any trouble at all with my bankruptcy earlier this year. Here are some links: (just google the headline and the name, like startribune, to find the actual link, which has been blocked for spam reasons)

In jail for being in debt startribune dot com

Debtor's Prison Back in Business moneyteachers dot org

I do not know nor recommend the attorney below. I am merely posting his site as a reference point. "Most free-and-clear property is protected from buy-back or turn over because it is "exempt."

arnoldlawoffices dot com

Again Miss Susan, I filed bankruptcy, and corporate America does it all the time. It's a legal right in the USA, and there is nothing wrong with filing, and it's just a myth that you will lose everything. Good luck!

Submitted Link #1: http://www.nolo.com/products/how-to-file-for-chapt...

Here is what I did: I had to change ISPs for work. I used anoter service I'd "fired" years ago Only option at the momenet. No contract, and cash payment when they showed up.

They had my old info (out-of-state DL), and the salesman said "We'll just use that." Then they wanted photo ID. I gave them an old college ID card. No questions asked.

When the tech showed up, I was again asked for ID, and I showed them the same old college ID. Good enough for him, and he took me at my word that I was not renting (which I'm not). They set things up within an hour or two.

The only problem is that I wanted a landline, and found my phone was published (even though I clearly stated that it was to be unpublished).

When I found this out, my phone was changed immediately--though it can still be search sites like "PeekYou." Not the whole number--but enough that someone willing to pay can find.

In the meantime, I have been stashing pre-paid cells. I see a black market there!

Anyway, that is how I dealt with things. So far, so good.