Cutting to the Totalitarian Chase

As our esteemed legislators consider ways in which to dictate business practices (including a bill that would put a minimum duration on coupons), warn Rhode Island students that the flattering and charming seamen whom they meet at weddings may deceive and murder them, and ensure healthier diets, I can't help but wonder whether we oughtn't cut to the chase and send emissaries over to London in order to get us up to speed with the United Kingdom's methods:

In the UK there is approximately one surveillance camera for every 14 people and issues of invading civil liberties surround ever new development in our surveillance society.

... There is still some way to go before a "smart camera" can tell the difference between details such as a handshake and a punch, but Velastin believes they are not too far away.

"At the moment you can't get a camera that can do that, not in a meaningful way, but this is something we are working towards. In three to five years we hope to have a program that would identify from your walk whether or not you are carrying a gun," he told CNN.

Perhaps in five to seven years, these programs will be able to discern whether citizens have been consuming artificial trans fats by the way they lick their lips.