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Today’s Big Story

Somebody’s Watching You

License plate cameras stir debate

Technology is good thing, right? And the latest advancements in technology have helped police solve crimes faster, safer and less expensively than ever before. So why is it causing such a backlash? Well, it’s a personal security question. And right now, that questions revolves around license plate readers. The cameras are now more high-tech and widespread than ever.

While license plate readers have been around for decades, CBS News reports that the cameras now capture not just license plates, but vast troves of information that's fed it into a national database, where it can be combined with other surveillance to develop detailed travel patterns of millions of people.

Matthew Guariglia, senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said ALPRs don’t only track criminals—they track everyone. A license plate number links to your registration, which links to your DMV file, which has your photo and home address, he said.

Lee Schmidt, a retired veteran, wanted to know more about the license plate cameras tracking him in Norfolk, Virginia, where he lives. So he sued with a co-plaintiff and a legal nonprofit and got an answer: 176 cameras across the city logged his location 526 times between Feb. 19 and July 2, according to a recent court filing. That’s about four times per day.

“It’s a crazy high number. It was shocking,” Schmidt told NBC News. “The creepiness level just went straight up.”The cameras are operated by Flock Safety, a company that has grown swiftly in recent years and now bills itself as “the largest public-private safety network” in the country. Founded in 2017, Flock offers a wide range of data-generating surveillance equipment, including drones, audio gunshot detectors and body-worn video cameras for police officers, which can then be combined with the company’s software products that include everything from searchable databases to real-time maps.

Surveillance has become near-omnipresent in America. In fact, the U.S. has the largest number of surveillance cameras per person in the world. (I would’ve thought that’d be China.) And with more awareness and understanding of technology, citizens are starting to ask more questions about what and who is watching.

Trump Notches Up the Censorship

The administration faces hurdles in targeting left-wing groups, experts say

As ABC’s indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! continues, Kimmel’s fellow late-night hosts took to their own monologues to mock the Trump administration on Thursday evening. Jon Stewart made a rare Thursday appearance for an “all-new government-approved Daily Show,” while Seth Meyers merely pointed out that “Trump promised to end government censorship and bring back free speech, and he's doing the opposite.”

But the president isn’t backing down an inch. President Donald Trump on Thursday floated the possibility that TV broadcasters could lose their federal licenses over what he perceives as negative coverage of him. Trump also said of evening shows on network TV: “All they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that. They’re an arm of the Democrat Party.” Of course, Trump has a long history of weaponizing litigation, either real or threatened—from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal to the Lincoln Project to any author who uses anonymous sources in their work—knowing that the threat of endless legal fees and MAGA outrage is often enough to make corporations cave.

However, a White House vow to dismantle left-wing organizations may be easier issued than implemented, according to experts. Trump declared that he had designated antifa as a “major terrorist organization,” but it’s not clear whether the announcement carries any legal significance. According to NBC News, Trump made a similar proclamation about antifa during his first term in office, and former Attorney General William Barr asked the FBI to develop a strategy to investigate left-wing organizations. That led the FBI to enlist members of the far-right group the Proud Boys as confidential human sources, some of whom later entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

It’s Fat Bear Week

The brawny bruins are ready to battle for the title

It’s the end of a very strange week, so why not share some strange, yet surprisingly funny news: Did you know it was Fat Bear Week? Amid everything going on, the brawny bruins on the Alaska Peninsula are ready to brawl it out to see which will win this year's fattest bear title in the wildly popular annual contest.

The contest, which began in 2014, is meant to showcase the resiliency of the brown bears—which pack on the pounds each fall to survive the harsh winter by gorging on salmon at Brooks River in the remote Katmai National Park and Preserve. And you get to help decide who gets the top spot. People can watch the bears on livestream cameras and vote. This year's sockeye run has been abundant, so voters can expect some especially corpulent contestants.

The 12 bear finalists, which will be announced on Monday, will be featured in the single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. All voting is done online at www.fatbearweek.org, with the winner declared Sept. 30th. And honestly, I’m more interested in following this than any sport or current political quagmire at the moment.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Black Rabbit‘ + a Boulevardier Cocktail

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