NFL Stadiums Adopting New TSA-Like Restrictions

Well NFL fans, it was bound to happen sooner or later. get ready to welcome the TSA to your local NFL stadium! While the TSA will not actually screen you as you enter your local stadium this fall, NFL stadiums are adopting new strict rules which might as well have come from the controversial agency that has caused travelers to have nightmares!

Here is at least a partial list of items that you will no longer be ALLOWED to bring with you into YOUR stadium for the next over-priced NFL game you go to see:

• Purses larger than a clutch bag
• coolers
• briefcases
• backpacks
• fanny packs
• cinch bags
• seat cushions!
• luggage
• computer bags
• camera bags
• any bag larger than 12"x6"x12"(and made of clear plastic)

Says Jeffrey Miller, the NFL's chief security officer, "Our fans deserve to be in a safe and secure environment. Public safety is our top priority. This will make the job of checking items much more efficient and effective. We will be able to deliver a better and quicker experience at the gates and also provide a safer environment. We appreciate our fans' cooperation."

I truly doubt there is anyone out there who is a "fan" of NFL security! There certainly won't be after fans find out they can't bring in a seat cushion with them! We all know how comfortable those stadium seats are after all. On an up-note, you will still be allowed to bring in binoculars (so that you can see the game from your nose-bleed seats), cameras and smartphones.

Ghost In The Shirt!

     I swear we have a practical joking ghost in our house! For three weeks I've been looking for a particular favorite t-shirt I like to wear and have not been able to find it anywhere. I've done the laundry, and I mean all of our laundry at least three to four times over. I and my wife have both been looking for that shirt. I just did our laundry last night and threw the clothes in a basket that has been emptied out and re-filled several times. My wife grabbed the first shirt off the top of the pile of clothes and it was the shirt we haven't been able to find!

     I like a good joke just like the next guy,  but that shirt is my favorite for a hot day and I have really been wanting it. :-/

Obama Defends NSA Spying On American Citizens

     Here's a LINK to MercuryNews

     President Obama seems to think no American citizen should be upset that their government is spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to spy on their own. "For our own protection", no less. He goes on to say that the NSA only look at caller origination and the duration of the calls to route out terrorists. I'd like for someone to explain to me how looking only at those two things could possibly tell you who are terrorists. I seem to remember voting for a man who claimed he was all about constitutional rights, and making sure that those rights would be protected when he was installed in office...seems like Mr. Obama has forgotten those promises.

Senator Diane Feinstein on the NSA and Surveillance of American Citizens

What Is Race For The Cure Really Racing From?

     It's been reported earlier today on Fox News that the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure charity is pulling out of 7 cities in 2014, that's half the cities they are presently running their charity walks in. A spokesperson for the charity says that the cities they will no longer be doing charity walks in are Phoenix, Boston, Chicago, Tampa Bay, San Francisco and Washington. The cities the events will still be in are Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Michigan, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

     They site a 37% drop in participation in the cities they are leaving. It is unclear whether they are referring to the number of participants, or the amount of money raised. One has to wonder if there is really another reason they are leaving those cities though. The cities they are leaving are rather larger market cities than the ones they are staying in. I wonder if perhaps because of the Boston Marathon bombing incident, these larger cities have notified the charity that they will be required to help pay for broader security so that a similar incident doesn't happen during their event. Mind you, this is nothing but pure speculation on my part, but it seems like a probable scenario given the tighter budgets in most cities thanks to our economy and the increasing need for security during large events like this that span large areas and draw huge crowds.

Google Glass Bans Facial Recognition...What Good Is That?

   

     If you've been hiding under a rock for the last year and don't know what Google Glass is yet...Google it! Today, Google has announced that it is banning the development of facial recognition software apps for it's Google Glass hardware. They're doing this as a reaction to certain segments of the public which have decried Glass for it's privacy concerns. Banning facial recognition apps from the device will actually do more harm than good. All that means is that honest law abiding citizens who wouldn't use facial recognition software on Glass in a reprehensible or irresponsible way won't have access to it. Those who would use it in some way that would be morally or legally wrong will simply install that software on Glass through a hack.

     Gee, where have we heard of a scenario just like this before? Oh yeah, gun control. Gun control only keeps honest people from having guns, criminals will still get their hands on them. It's the same with banning facial recognition software, (which is everywhere already, most new computers bought today and a large number of smartphones come with facial recognition software pre-installed). There will be a hack out there allowing people to install facial recognition software onto Glass, and only hardcore geeks and those with criminal intent will install it. HERE'S a pair of glasses available for $75 that will secretly record video of anyone you're looking at, and I don't hear anyone making a big deal about them like they are Google Glass! Spy glasses like these have been available for several years, yet people are acting like Google is the first to ever do it, and they're taking all the heat for it.

     Every day you are probably being recorded by someone somewhere from the moment you step out of your home, particularly if you live in an urban area. See that guy who looks like he's trying to find something on his smartphone? There's a good chance he's really taking pictures of you, or recording video. How would you know? The days of privacy were nothing more than an illusion anyway. I can remember years before technology went digital all the ads in the back of magazines for spy cameras disguised as everyday objects like pens and tie clips. Who do you think were buying those things back then? Honest, everyday citizens? NO! it was pedophiles, rapists and perverts.

     Stop worrying about Google Glass and start thinking about the kind of empowerment that kind of technology can do for good in the right hands. Because whether you like it or not, that kind of technology is going to get into the wrong hands anyway!