There was some cheering on the Intertubz when the TSA announced it was removing those infamous Rape-o-scanners from airports.
Okay, muted cheering. Very. Muted. Cheering.
Europe banned the Rape-o-Scans earlier this year and this was just the TSA’s belated acknowledgement of what everybody else already knew: that the x-ray scanners are potentially dangerous, ludicrously prone to false alerts, and offensive as all get out.
Um, well, not exactly. They say it’s solely because the machines were slowing up their probing, poking, and stealing.
So, did they send them back to Rapiscan and demand a refund? Is anybody investigating Michael Chertoff’s lobbying company for bamboozling the taxpayers?
Naw, don’t be silly. The TSA is just moving the Rape-o-Scanners to smaller airports. I mean, after all, who gives a damn if the hicks from the sticks get radiated? And no doubt bored TSA agents in those -ville sort of places need the laughs they’ll get from peeping at less-than-toned rural bodies.
Oh yeah, and city airports will still use snoopy millimeter-wave machines. Whose health impact is still an unknown.
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But of course, that’s just business as usual. If you really. And I mean really. Really, truly, as in this will turn your stomach. Want to see why it’s never time to rejoice about the TSA or its Big Daddy, the DHS, appearing to do something good, it’s because you know they’re always up to something like this at the same time:
Via Wendy, comes the news that …
A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc. website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers (video also shown below).
This bracelet would:
- Take the place of an airline boarding pass
- Contain personal information about the traveler
- Be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage
- Shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes
The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to, would be worn by every traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.” Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if the passenger got out of line.
Granted, it’s just a gleam in some “security” official’s eye at the moment. But any government that would even consider regarding all people in this light is one that’s already dead and deserves to be buried. At the crossroads. At midnight. With a stake through its heart.
Oh I think they should go with it. Offer it for frequent flyers first. Yeah it’s a good idea to test out these dog collars, I mean bracelets. Then the rest if us would truly know how far gone our society is. If people line up for it then we’re screwed.
“If people line up for it then we’re screwed.”
Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of, Richard.
If they pursue this further they’ll probably do exactly what you’re thinking — offer it first as a quick and easy thing for the most “privileged” flyers. Sell everybody on its convenience — “Hey, look, you’ll never lose your luggage again!”
The first five or six times people die from the shocks, people will be upset, but the media will report only that terrorists or other criminals were stopped. The first five or six times people are shocked when they’ve done nothing at all … well, that’ll just be the usual “isolated incidents” and after “safety improvements” all will be well.
Oh yeah, they’d find ways to make it so plausible. We’ll just be expected to forget the very implications of the thing, the very concept …
“Shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes”
I have only one thing to say about this: MOOooooooo!
Hmmm….Just how big is the battery on these things? Delivering a debilitating shock to a person through an extremity seems like it would take a _lot_ of energy. The comparison to dog training collars is not appropriate. The shock they deliver is no worse than a static shock you’d get off of a door knob. It is a psychological training device. Also placing an insulating material between the bracelet and one’s arm seems likely to minimize or eliminate the threat. Are there any EEs on the list who could shed some light on the energy requirements and the likelihood of being able to package it in a bracelet? My BS meter is pegged.
Here you go, seems like they could put the equilivent of a AA battery in a bracelet, maybe even a AAA battery. They would only need to “drop” you long enough to pile onto you. Maybe even do BS things like “teach you a lesson”. Remember one of those stun gun things would not be much larger than a thick bracelet would be. The logistics would probably be a nightmare, but Hey, what do they care as long they have a job, right?
How long before employers start mandating that their employees start wearing these at work?
If you don’t like it, go find another job.
Of course, when alll employers engage in this practice….
But any government that would even consider regarding all people in this light is one that’s already dead and deserves to be buried. At the crossroads. At midnight. With a stake through its heart.
Not just any government. Any individual, too.
You’re really worried that people will line up for this, Claire? And yet you still object to the use of the term “sheeple”? Might want to rethink that . . . .
Oh, and back to the first topic in this post, the “retirement” of the scanners. Last week I flew to a business conference on the west coast. In my local (small-town) airport I not only went through one of those invasive scanners but also had my hands wiped with some sort of chemical (to test for explosives residue, I presume). Coming back, through a major-city airport, none of the above. So I guess you’re right that they’re simply relocating them to the smaller airports. Less chance here of accidentally angering a celebrity or important politician, I suppose.
No need for electric bracelets. Just configure airliner passenger seats with lock bars like rollercoaster rides. Everyone sits down, bars come down and lock in place as aircraft pull away from the gate. The retract when pulling up to the gat at their destination. Depends are available for purchase at vendors along the departures concourse.
Only one problem, the seats are arranged for maximum amount of passengers so they can pack us in like sardines for maximum profits. Not much room for more than the basic restraints. Now bracelets on the other hand…..