Town Considers Drone Hunting Licenes

The Colorado town of Deer Trail, pop. 548, is considering an ordinance that would allow people to pay $25 for a license to shoot down drones in the town limits. The Mayor, Frank Fields, says the ordinance is, "kind of real, kind of tongue-and-cheek."

It is intended, in part, to raise awareness of the potential for abuse of drones by federal, state and local authorities. It is also a potential fund raiser for the town.

“We need business, we need money,” Fields said. The mayor is considering holding drone hunting events if the new ordinance passes.

Source:
CBS Denver, Ordinance Would Allow For Drone Hunting In Deer Trail, August 5, 2013.

I Have Nothing to Hide

"I have nothing to hide. Why should I care if the NSA has my phone records?”

This post is a prompt for others to craft story lines that explain "why" people should care about the FBI & NSA mass data collection and storage programs exposed by Edward Snowden and others. Here are a few rough sketches as examples. I don't even touch on political dissent. Hopefully similar stories can be produced in more compelling videos by someone with such talents.

Financial Executive:  Joe, an executive with a major Wall Street firm, has been known to take long lunches on occasion. What he has done those few times is his own business; he even has an 'agreement' with his wife about it. But his own business is about to become the business of a lot of other people. 

You see, the FBI is investigating one of Joe's colleagues, Tom, with whom Joe likes to have an occasional drink and plays golf. Tom has caught the FBI's attention and Joe is about to be identified in a 'suspicious activity report' (SAR). You see, Tom has also taken similar long lunches; that's how Joe learned about the lunch-time stress relievers if you will. 

The FBI is going to be making visits to other people who know Joe and ask them some... embarrassing questions. Joe will probably keep his job as a result of all of this, but his lunchtime exploits will no longer simply be his own business. 

A Simple Gardener:  Carl is a gardener for well-to-do people. Two of Carl's clients are under investigation by the FBI. One of the clients under investigation, Mr. Elliot, has been kind enough to allow Carl and his family use the family beach house. Carl is well read and Mr. Elliot enjoys conversations with Carl, so their communications are more frequent than would be expected for a gardener/client relationship. Carl's son has taken an interest in the Elliot's daughter, they occasionally exchange text messages, and though they aren't exactly 'friends' they are certainly acquainted. This raises the FBI's interest.

The FBI looks into Carl's records and takes a look at his son's records too. Carl's son has not been very care about what he says in texts and emails. Apparently, Carl's son has a few skeletons in his closet that are now about to make his life, and Carl's life, miserable. Most people think that small-time marijuana sales isn't a big deal; Carl's son sells just enough so that he gets his own for free. Carl is about to spend tens-of-thousands of dollars on lawyer bills. 

You get the idea... just because you think you don't have anything to hide, you might be surprised.