More surveillance skulduggery

America has practically become a command state. A phenomenon that's pretty much new to America in the past dozen years is the presence of surveillance cameras everywhere you turn (even though most of the technology for it existed for years before it became common). The country is basically a surveillance state where every move is watched.

The most aggravating growth has perhaps been in street cams that spy on public sidewalks. Touted as a method to deter crime, probably the only thing it's done is catch very minor crimes while driving major crimes into other areas.

Traffic light cams are another irritating development, because they provide a gaping opening for graft. A rash of traffic cam corruption has now been uncovered in Texas. Many cities in northern Texas have expanded the zone where traffic must stop at a red light - and not told anybody. It used to be there was what was called a stop line, which was right before a crosswalk. That was the line where cars had to stop. But now these cities have moved their stop lines back, without telling anyone, so the cameras automatically ticket motorists even though they're not doing anything wrong.

This is a direct violation of state law, which says the stop line is right before the crosswalk. Not 10 feet back. The Texas driver's manual clearly states this.

People have had little luck appealing rogue tickets, even after it became clear that their car wasn't even the one that was photographed. (Often the wrong car is ticketed because the license plate number isn't clear enough in the photo.) The system inevitably takes a "we're right/you're wrong" position in every matter. Folks would be even less successful ignoring the false tickets altogether: As part of the system's "gotcha!" attitude in which it does its damnedest to set innocent people up for trouble, folks end up getting hauled in for not paying a ticket that they don't even rightly owe.

One commentator says fascism is nothing more than governing without a system of checks and balances to keep the ruling regime in line. When the government has a policy of invariably backing itself up, with no chance for your side to be heard by anyone other than the source of your original grievance, that doesn't sound too much like checks and balances to us.

(Source: http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_163174229.html)