You may have seen some of the right leaning newspapers carry the news that up to 90% of the tents outside St Paul’s for the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest are empty at night.
The newspapers are making the point that these protesters aren’t trying, that they don’t really care and that the tents are just a nuisance tactic that should be removed.
The newspapers used a thermal imaging camera to scan the square in order to reveal heat sources inside the tents. On the surface it sounds like a really smart idea. It’s an effective way to see which tents are occupied and which are empty that does not involve disturbing anyone.
However, some of the Occupy London Stock Exchange group were surprised at the newspapers’ findings. They rented the same thermal imaging camera and tested it. Oh dear. It turns out that most of the time the camera couldn’t see inside the tents.
This surprises me. If a thermal camera can be used to see heat sources behind walls or find people in rubble then surely it would be able to see into a tent? Surely? The video, however, speaks for itself – it can’t.
In Pure Spirit
Are you surprised by this video?
What do you think? Are the protesters there at night or do they skive off home to warm houses? If the newspapers got it wrong – should they apologise?
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