Grand Haven residents are much closer to living in a digital prison than they realize. Most of the infrastructure is already in place. The only thing necessary to place residents into this prison is a few policy changes. When are you not being watched or recorded? I bet you think nobody is watching you when you are safe in your home, but if you have an Alexa, an Apple Watch, a step-counter, a door-bell camera, or a school-issued device, let me assure you, you are never alone. It used to be that the purpose of surveillance was to watch what your adversaries were doing. Today, various private and public entities attempt to surveil our entire population around the clock, whether we want it or not.
In a recent article, we discussed how Grand Haven Area Public School (GHAPS) voters enabled the district to provide students with devices that could spy on them in their homes when they approved the technology bond. Another article, US schools gave kids laptops during the pandemic. Then they spied on them, further explains how devices given to students during the pandemic “were being used to monitor students, even combing through private chats, emails and documents all in the name of protecting them. [] Thousands of school districts across the United States have installed surveillance software on school-provided devices to monitor their students’ online interactions. If a student emails or chats with another student saying they’ve been thinking of hurting themselves or that there is trouble at home, an AI bot or a human moderator watching over the messages in real time can send an alert. [] Teachers have direct access to the screens of their students, even after school hours are over.” Part of the proposed bond funds which were on the November 2023 ballot in Grand Haven would have enabled the district to continue this overreaching, invasive program, but this is not the only way Grand Haven residents are being surveilled.
Cameras lining US 31 were installed in the name of keeping us safe. There are at least five located along US31 between Robbins Road and Jackson Street. These cameras record information like how many times your vehicle passes through town and at what times of day. Cameras also span the waterfront from the pier to Jackson Street. In 2007, Grand Haven received $125,623 from the US Department of Homeland Security as part of the Infrastructure Protection Program. According to the article Grand Haven Port Bids for High-Tech Security and Surveillance, “The six cameras would be connected to recording devices at the Central Dispatch center in downtown Grand Haven,” and stretch “high-speed cable lines and cameras down the waterfront to the bridge over U.S. 31.” The article also referred to former City Manager Pat McGinnis. “McGinnis said the cameras are not a case of "Big Brother" invading the privacy of beach-goers. It's a matter of keeping the people safe. [] We've talked about better surveillance of our commercial port for a long time," McGinnis said. "We have international traffic here. This would give us a good record of exactly who, what, where and when things happen."
Surveillance of American citizens is continually increasing. Security cameras fill big box stores, and data collection devices such as watches and step monitors can even tell when you are masturbating or having sex. Doorbell cameras record when you come and go and who visits you. Alexa records everything you say and filters it through artificial intelligence.
Perhaps you think you are free from surveillance inside your vehicle? Well think again. According to the article, It’s Official: Cars Are the Worst Product Category We Have Ever Reviewed for Privacy, “While we worried that our doorbells and watches that connect to the internet might be spying on us, car brands quietly entered the data business by turning their vehicles into powerful data-gobbling machines. Machines with all those brag-worthy bells and whistles, have an unmatched power to watch, listen, and collect information about what you do and where you go in your car. [] They can collect super intimate information about you -- from your medical information, your genetic information, to your “sex life” (seriously), to how fast you drive, where you drive, and what songs you play in your car -- in huge quantities. They then use it to invent more data about you through “inferences” about things like your intelligence, abilities, and interests.”
In a podcast titled It Begins, Russell Brand talked about the New York City Police Department using drones to watch over Americans during Labor Day Weekend, and how government surveillance always starts with promises of safety, but then progresses. For example, the DNA database began with sex offenders, but then expanded to including just about everyone. He refers to the Department of Homeland Security, the same agency that installed cameras in Grand Haven, “have refined their surveillance operations by including detection of sentiment and emotion, by using AI powered software,” and then talks about ways this technology could be misused in the future.
In another podcast, Aman Jabbi – The Final Lockdown – Street Lights That KILL in Smart Cities, CBDC, Digital ID, a Silicon Valley camera expert, explains how surveillance is being used to track Americans everywhere they go, and how this technology is being used to control behavior. A sort of digital prison is being developed. “Social scoring has already started. Our carbon tracking has already started. [] London is ranked number three in the world for numbers of cameras per capita. So, the infrastructure is in place, and is expanding. [] It will all be sold under the pretext of safety and security of the people. [] This is much worse than surveillance, this is data collection. Everything you do will be logged, and tracked, and analyzed, and then it will be used as a feedback loop to change your behavior and compliance.” This is already happening in West Michigan with energy rates. Several people have changed their behavior to do activities that require excess electricity at times of the day when the rates are lower.
Aman Jabbi spoke more about digital identities. “How is that digital identity going to be authenticated? To your face. To unlock access; and your face, and your digital identity will be linked to a new type of currency which is the Central Banking Digital Currency (CBDC). And it will have a combination of water and carbon scoring for you, and carbon credits. It will have social scoring, and your medical status based on vaccines and jabs, and other medical things that they want you to have. [] If you don’t comply, your currency becomes lower and lower.”
In Grand Haven, the Sustainability and Energy Commission received $107,000 in grants and donations to hire a consultant to develop a Community Energy Plan which will, “help monitor and analyze current energy usage in the area, set goals and timelines to reduce the production of greenhouse gasses, and inform and educate community members and officials about how to reduce their contributions to energy waste and changing climate.” In addition, “the plan will inform policymakers about state-of-the-art practices for improving energy efficiency and reducing energy costs.” The grants and donations to the Sustainability and Energy Commission for doing this study came from;
Grand Haven Community Foundation
City of Grand Haven
City of Ferrysburg
Loutit Foundation
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy
Under the guise of making cities both environmentally friendly and convenient for citizens, the concept of 15-Minute Cities promises that all essential services will be found within a short walk or bicycle ride.
While that may sound like a noble idea, Oxford, England has made a lot of headway in creating a 15-Minute City dystopia in the name of climate crisis. Per the documentation of its planners, residents will have to apply for special permits that allow travel from one zone of the city to another, and even if they receive permits, they are limited to 100 trips per year. Closer to home, both Cleveland, OH and Cedar Rapids, IA are in the process of implementing their visions of 15-Minute Cities.
If you don’t know what a 15-Minute City is, be sure to watch this video or click on one of the links below.
According to the video WEF Official Admits ’15-Minute Cities’ Will Imprison Humanity in ‘Forever Lockdowns’, “The infrastructure is already in place to put us into a 15-Minute City. All that is necessary is a change in legislation.”
What would happen if you were limited to ten passes down Beacon Blvd, three trips over the bridge, and four passes outside the 15-minute zone per week? How would your life change? If you violated the “rules”, your bank account could be frozen, or you may be forced to pay excessive fees and tolls. In Grand Haven and around the world we are a few small steps away from having our freedoms greatly reduced. The cameras, data collection, and other monitoring systems are already in place. Is that how you want to live?