THREAD: The official narrative of how Luigi Mangione was apprehended doesn’t add up. Evidence suggests a deeper surveillance operation involving real-time facial recognition technology. Let’s delve into the inconsistencies and explore the implications. 🧵
Considering Mangione’s efforts to conceal his identity, it’s improbable that a fast-food employee could identify him based solely on limited public images. We’re talking about a high-pressure, fast-paced environment where employees process hundreds of customers daily.
But what if the real key to his capture wasn’t human recognition at all? I’ll bet you didn’t know McDonald’s kiosk cameras have facial recognition technology: pointjupiter.com/work/mcdonalds/
Given the integration of this technology, it’s not unlikely that federal agencies can access these systems for surveillance with real-time facial recognition across multiple venues. The NSA and other agencies already have a track record of using private surveillance networks.
Admitting the feds are running real-time facial recognition surveillance across the country would spark outrage. Instead, they sell a more "believable" narrative that a heroic employee saved the day.
If this is true, it means federal agencies have access to live camera feeds in private businesses, and they’re using AI to scan and identify individuals in real time. Surveillance isn’t limited to fugitives – it could extend to anyone, anywhere.
This has massive implications for privacy and civil liberties. If McDonald’s can be used as a hub for mass surveillance, what about other chains? Grocery stores? Gas stations? The infrastructure is already there.
Kroger has faced scrutiny for using facial recognition tech too – and it’s even more dystopian. Not only are they scanning faces, but they’re linking that data to shopping profiles and potentially altering prices in real time based on your data. aclu.org/news/privacy-t…
This isn’t just about marketing – it’s surveillance capitalism on steroids. Corporations are turning our faces into data points to manipulate our spending, while the government secretly piggybacks off that infrastructure to track civilians.
We should demand transparency. If facial recognition is being used at this scale, we have a right to know. How much data are these companies collecting? Who else has access to this data, such as third parties and law enforcement? How are these technologies regulated, if at all?
We’re at a crossroads. If we don’t push back now, this kind of tech will become the norm. Surveillance will be baked into every facet of our lives, from shopping to dining to simply walking down the street.
The Mangione case and Kroger’s practices show us the future: a world where our faces are not just tracked but exploited, both by corporations seeking profit and governments seeking control.
We need transparency and accountability: Clear limits on the use of facial recognition tech, protections against price manipulation based on profiling, and strong oversight of government access to private surveillance networks.
This isn’t just a McDonald’s or Kroger issue – it’s a systemic shift. Facial recognition is becoming the foundation of a surveillance economy, and we must demand better protections now.
Anyway, not to increase the dystopia of it all but feel free to buy a t-shirt while you're here: yesyoureracist.myshopify.com
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I can suspend disbelief for an invisible jet and a cheetah lady and a magic crystal that grants everyone's wishes, but expecting me to believe Gal Gadot would save a Muslim child? 🤨
Thread on the end of #TheMandalorian Chapter 14 and what it says about the restoration of liberal democracy under the New Republic (no major plot spoilers, but you should probably watch the episode first)
So I went through and translated some of the New Republic prison records that recently-appointed Marshal Cara Dune looks through when Mando visits her at the end of Chapter 14, and one thing that stood out was how shockingly steep some of the prison sentences were.
35 years for stealing a landspeeder. 45 years for smuggling. 30 years for forgery. 25 years for hacking! These are draconian sentences, even compared to the American penal system.
Funny how people act like it's so shocking and awful when poor people in faraway countries turn to terrorism just because an occupying army destroyed their homes and killed their family, but when they watch Star Wars they still recognize that Luke Skywalker is the good guy
I mean you can literally see Luke go from "But I just wanted to go to Toshe Station to pick up some power converters" to "I'm going to kill every Imperial I see" in the space of about five seconds -- you think that same thing doesn't happen every single day in the real world?
The Empire explicitly portrayed the Rebellion as terrorists, as seen in this in-universe propaganda poster
There's cucked, and then there's "spend all day tweeting about a country you've never even visited to ingratiate yourself with people who would genocide you without a second thought if they got the chance" cucked
Like, say what you will about the kapos but at least they didn't have much of a choice
Have yet to see a single Biden cabinet pick being floated who isn't a complete slap in the face to progressives -- shoutout to everyone who said we could push him left after the election
From now on anybody who responds to criticism of Biden with "At least he's better than Trump!!!" is getting blocked, because I'm so tired of explaining that that is completely beside the point. We need a president who is actually GOOD, not just "comparatively better than Trump."
If we keep up this "one step forward, two steps back" routine that Democrats have been doing for the last 40 years or so, the only thing that's going to happen is we keep moving backward. It's time to hold politicians accountable and make them understand they work for US.
Revenge of the Sith is actually good in that it accurately depicts how society can be willingly led into fascism through conspiracy theories about "elites" and the use of ethnic scapegoating to explain economic oppression of the masses, and how liberalism is powerless to stop it
At the very beginning of the prequels, Lucas tells us who the villains are: Capitalists. Economic monopolies backed up by police power, with the liberal gov't unable to do anything. We also see the phenomenal wealth disparity of the so-called "republic," including open slavery.
Palpatine plays both sides, arguing for stronger leadership and executive power while secretly orchestrating the Clone Wars to push the Republic into chaos and militarization. But none of this would be possible if the failures of liberalism hadn't created the right conditions.