You check in at the airline ticket counter. But instead of a boarding pass, you get shackled with an electronic bracelet which tracks your every move, contains all your personal information, and can shock you senseless. This vision of the future of air security is being floated around the Department of Homeland Security’s research and development office.
According to a video promoting the so-called EMD Safety Bracelet, all airline passengers would be required to wear it “until they disembark the flight at their destination.”
The device, in addition to storing all of your sensitive personal information and tracking you with GPS, would allow someone to activate it remotely and immobilize the wearer for several minutes. This is EMD, or electro-muscular disruption.
And the Department of Homeland Security is interested in buying them.
According to a letter from Paul S. Ruwaldt of the DHS Science and Technology Directorate, the department is interested in using them to control illegal immigrants as well as “prisoner transportation, detainee control and . . . to improve air security, on passenger planes.”
Would every paying airline passenger flying on a commercial airplane be mandated to wear one of these devices? I cringe at the thought. Not only could it be used as a physical restraining device, but also as a method of interrogation, according to the same aforementioned letter from Mr. Ruwaldt.
Would you let them put one of those on your wrist? Would you allow the airline employees, which would be mandated by the government, to place such a bracelet on any member of your family?
Why are tax dollars being spent on something like this? Is this a police state or is it America? — Washington Times
While you’re celebrating your paid day off work today, government officials are hard at work looking for new and innovative ways to take away your freedom. You thought they were protecting your freedom?
Here’s what will happen if these things ever get used on airplanes. First, a lot of people will simply refuse to fly. Who can blame them? A lot more will refuse to fly when the first reports of how these things get used surface. One “unruly” passenger starts making noise on the plane and the crew, who have this nice shock collar device, aren’t going to spend a few minutes looking up which of the 87 passengers he is, especially if they “feel threatened.” They’re just going to shock everyone on the plane. Including you and your kids.
But, you asked for security and gave up your freedom for it, and now you’re going to get it.
(Via)
Update: DHS spokesman John Verrico denies that these bracelets will be used for air passengers. See his full statement below.
(2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)
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Tropical WeatherLast week, in the wake of another uptick in the official unemployment rate, the administration continued to claim that their economic policies were working, just not fast enough. Not only does the administration have a funny way of ending a war, but now they claim their economic policies are successful. For whom, I wonder?
Gardner Goldsmith teams up with Brett Veinotte, of the excellent School Sucks Project and the School Sucks podcast. Gard and Brett discuss the impetus of the series and project, and why public education must be stopped.
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Bob
Jul 04, 2008
Don’t worry about it. Most of the airlines are going to be broke soon. The airlines that will be left won’t have the extra money needed to buy doggy shock collars. They will be so desperate for passengers, they won’t dream of risking the bad press that would go along with a system like this.
The government just has it’s head up it’s butt again.
Ray
Jul 04, 2008
Hey how about using these things for the TSA agents. Every time an agent is rude or an idiot they get a shock. Oh yeah I forgot that would mean that they would be going off continuously. ;-)
ShortWoman
Jul 04, 2008
Some days, it feels like “they” are trying to prevent us from traveling at all….
dar
Jul 04, 2008
-You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,alas,there’s more to come:
‘Air Square is the ultimate pre-flight safety
instructional video,
but not quite politically correct. ‘
08 Min 07 Sec …
Jul 05, 2008
Shocking « Darkblog
Jul 05, 2008
Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!
Jason
Jul 05, 2008
This country has already become a police state, we can fight it at the ballot box in the next elections, we can vote out the reps and bring the dems in. what other choice do we have?
Ray
Jul 05, 2008
The problem is that the democrats are at least as bad. The police state goals are definitely different, but the democrats are at least as into the police state thing.
nikolai
Jul 06, 2008
I’m still waiting to hear when the million man march on D.C. will be… anyone?
Cliff
Jul 06, 2008
So much can go wrong with electronics. This bracelet idea is horrible from so many angles. Malfunctions and abject idiocy aside, I would think anyone with the right frequencies could take over the bracelets.
420
Jul 06, 2008
Here’s a better idea, one to support direct democracy: electric shock bracelets for politicians. If your elected official doesn’t vote the way you’ve urged him to, call or e-mail in you vote to zap ‘em. Tally the votes, and if your representative voted against 50% or more of his constituents…zzzZZAP!
Michael Hampton
Jul 06, 2008
I think they made a mistake in the Declaration of Independence. It should have read, “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the unanimous consent of the governed.”
bd
Jul 06, 2008
Wouldn’t the terrorist simply place the bracelet in a faraday cage, or cut it off? Or maybe he would bring his own radio transmitter and use it to subdue the passengers. These are just a few ideas I came up with whilst sitting comfortable on my ass surfing the net, i’m sure a religiously motivated suicidal zealot terrorist militant could come up with something better.
Bunker
Jul 06, 2008
bd: presumably if the bracelet stops checking in with the Mothership, the software lets the operators know the identity of the person in the plane who unbellyfeels the principles of homesec, and several guards will be dispatched to deal with him/her.
In an age where everyone is connected (and tracked), trying to disconnect is a revolutionary act.
Bunker
Jul 06, 2008
Re: Bob:
Of course the airlines are insolvent. That’s what agencies like the TSA and Homeland Security are for… to funnel unlimited taxpayer dollars to favored contractors – there is nothing special about this technology, any techno-geek could invent something like it or better, I guarantee you there is a 10,000%+ markup – in cases where private sector companies can’t be bullied into buying the wampum, either because they are broke, or politically favored themselves.
Mike
Jul 06, 2008
It’s already bad enough at the airport, with the new body scanners, and the TSA searching laptops and iPods for illegal files and confiscating them at their leisure. I’ve already decided I’m not going to fly anymore.
Sedekka Islam
Jul 07, 2008
Hell why don’t they just lock us up. You know the American government should buy a dictionary and look up the word FREEDOM. They have stolen this once beautiful way of life from us. And I’m in Australia. Make no mistake about this. Everything the American government do our government cowtails to them. I don’t know if you heard but in the 60’s the American Military were going to drop Sarin on Australian citizens. In OUR COUNTRY!!! Without the approval or knowledge of us. The citizens of this country. No offence but there is something seriously wrong with the idiots who run America.
Anonymous
Jul 07, 2008
The lying facist scumbags are going to keep taking and taking and taking until there is no more to take or the people finally stand up and say enough! The new world order trash will continue to brainwash the sheeple with their Osama terrorism propaganda scare tactics. Since so many people are so blind, they will just go along with it. How many people like being treated like criminals by the TSA? People must wake up and figure out what the real meaning of freedom is and what we have to do to take this country back and restore constitutional republican government.
Roland
Jul 07, 2008
Over my dead body, or theirs.
Anonymous
Jul 07, 2008
Anyone know how this would cooperate with the overly sensitive metal detectors you have to walk through?
A faraday cage is a good idea, but probably hard to implement. For anyone who doesn’t know, an electric charge (like a lightning bolt or taser spark) will not pass through a metal cage. The major problem I see is putting an inconspicuous faraday cage on your wrist or the device without letting it contact your wrist.
An easier option would be to take a piece of wire and short circuit the EMD contacts. Assuming the device doesn’t pierce your skin, electrical tape or something similar should be easy to hide and enough to prevent contact or at least enough of a limit on the 18-24 watts typical of an EMD. If you just want the easy way out, make sure it’s a little extra loose and slide a rubber bracelet underneath.
Another option would be to listen and catch the line “Reinforced cockpit doors should be installed in all planes by sometime in 2003.” The company is still around and publicly traded, but it’s not on any stock market. The product is not listed under any of the product pages on their website, but the website only has 1-2% of their product line. The product could have just disappeared as a failed concept. It could also be that the government is buying truckloads of the product to implement after the next big scare, or that the DHS wants options for moving to an openly police state. In an effort to raise conspiracy hype (and consequently kill the product), I’m making the claim that this is the mark of the Beast.
If anyone is interested, the company’s stock price fell today from 7 cents a share to 5 cents a share, and Google Finance’s history shows an all time high of 15 cents a share in late 2006. Google Finance has no financial data for the company other than stock price.
Nathan
Jul 07, 2008
First of all, the promotional video was made before 2003. It was a proposed use by the company. DHS, in the letter written in the latter part of 2006 at the latest, did not indicate an interest in using this technology for all airline passengers. The primary interest was for immigration issues and border security.
The mention of a “conceivable use” for passenger flights did not come anywhere close to an acknowledgment that DHS wants to use this system for anyone who flies. If anything, it seems to me that they may be interested in using this technology for the control of unruly passengers as a method to restrain them once they have been overcome.
DHS is stupid, but I can’t possibly believe they’re this stupid.
Scott
Jul 07, 2008
“This country has already become a police state, we can fight it at the ballot box in the next elections, we can vote out the reps and bring the dems in. what other choice do we have?”
The “dems” are already in. They have a majority in both houses, and things are only getting worse. Things will only start to get better when people realize that the solution is never the “other” party we are being handed. The solution is to hold all politicians accountable for Constitutional violations. Both “parties” are guilty. Vote in representatives who have no loyalty to either crime family.
Scott
Jul 07, 2008
“presumably if the bracelet stops checking in with the Mothership, the software lets the operators know the identity of the person in the plane who unbellyfeels the principles of homesec, and several guards will be dispatched to deal with him/her.”
I sincerely doubt there will be several guards on every flight. There’s a reason only very few flights have even one air marshal aboard.
As for disabling the bracelet, a “terrorist” would simply have to cut it off at the very moment he intends to begin his takeover of the flight. At that point, it would not matter that he ever had it on at all.
Jul 07, 2008
Electric shock for air passengers
George W. Bush
Jul 08, 2008
Who needs boxcutters? A real terrorist could hack into the bracelet controls and threatens to electrocute a whole plane full of passengers unless his demands are met.
John Verrico
Jul 08, 2008
Shocking, but False
Sometimes it just amazes me how these stories evolve. Let me start off by saying that the Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate nor TSA have been pursuing shock bracelets for airline passengers as alleged by the Washington Times Blog.
This allegation stemmed from a misleading video posted on the Lamberd Website which depicts an ID bracelet that would contain identifying information as well as the ability to stun the wearer. The company claims to connect use of such a device to DHS and TSA, but no discussions between these agencies has ever taken place.
This all originated from a meeting held two years ago with a private company representative (not Lamberd) who proposed bracelet technology in response to the TSA’s desire to find less-than-lethal means to detain an apprehended suspect.
The bracelet was never intended to replace boarding passes, contain ID information or be worn by all passengers as asserted in the Lamberd video and discussed in the Washington Times Blog.
The hypothetical use of the bracelet would have been for transporting already apprehended prisoners and detainees at prisons and border patrol facilities, and DHS was looking to see if there were potential air travel applications for apprehended suspects.
This concept was never funded or supported by the DHS or TSA and hasn’t even been discussed for two years. The letter circulating throughout the blogosphere from Paul Ruwaldt was not addressed to Lamberd and merely states the DHS was interested in learning more about the technology. Neither side followed up.
DHS/TSA does NOT support the asserted use and has not pursued the development of such technology.
Shawn
Jul 08, 2008
The link for mr Ruwaldt above has his phone # and email. i strongly suggest everyone take the time to tell him what a wonderful idea this is.
Shawn
Jul 08, 2008
As for Mr Verrico above (obvious plant) I would have to state that if there is any technology that is possible to control people, especially en masse, you can be the DHS will be very interested.
People control is what they do. Dont forget, Video camera monitoring was initially only used in high security environments and was touted as only being applicable to those same situations…Have you been to the UK lately?
What starts with criminals will eventually be applied to all. Does not the Masonic book “Morals and Dogma” (required reading for any higher level cabinet position) preach that the “will of the people is like the rough stone” and that it needs to be “harnessed and tempered” into sokmething more “useful and maleable”?
Wake up people!
Enoch
Jul 09, 2008
A simple slip of plastic or hard fabric will interrupt the contact with the skin rendering it as useless as a hospital bracelet. For those of yo who think we are in a police state – You haven’t seen or been in one! And we need to replace ALL politicians with “Statesmen”/”Stateswomen” and get rid of the professional politico.
Bob
Jul 09, 2008
Wake up people! Bzzzzzzzzzzzztttt!
Enoch
Jul 09, 2008
Shawn, The “morals and Dogma” of the Scottish Rite Shriner’s also states that the Lucifer Doctrine WILL be followed. And you know who Lucifer is I trust. And NO the upper cabinet members are not all Masons. There are no Women Masons and Condi Rice deflates you theory.
Michael Hampton
Jul 09, 2008
Some people will never be shaken from their beliefs, no matter how provably false.
As for John Verrico, I can’t say whether he’s a “plant,” but I can say that he is indeed a spokesman at the Department of Homeland Security.
Blubby
Jul 11, 2008
Rest assured, the people will NEVER tolerate such an invasion. We have history to prove it.
Back in the 1970s, I remember people discussing the expansion of the security checks in airports.
In those days, all you did was pass through the x-ray/metal detector machine. Pilots and stewardesses did not go through this procedure. Relatives could see their loved-ones depart at the gate.
The “conspiracy theorists” of those days speculated travel in the future would require frisking and other electronic/computer methods of screening passengers. They [wrongfully] speculated that all passengers will need “yer paperths.”
The “older” folks in that discussion responded with: We’re in America…Americans would NEVER tolerate that #%&# !!!
Oh the folly of those “liberal-hippies.” Probably too much marijwana.
As you can plainly see, this would never happen in America. We have precedent. The Amerikans sttod their ground and refused to have implemented the Nazi-like travel measures we see in the third-world dictatorships.
So, relax folks. Air travel is unintrusive and fun!
Art
Jul 12, 2008
So, turning on your iPod at the wrong time might crash the airplane’s electronic systems. I wonder if the shock treatment bracelets generate any EMI (electromagnetic interference).
Mark Greco
Jul 22, 2008
Hey Mr. Verrico. Go eat a dick, you lying piece of shit PR phuck. You really think anyone here is going to buy what you’re selling?
The CIA already has my fingerprints, even though I’ve never been arrested for anything, because Crime Dog McGruff came in my school to fingerprint all the kids “just in case” we ever got kidnapped. Fast-forward 20 years and I have yet to hear of ONE SINGLE CASE that a child’s fingerprints have aided in finding a missing child. How, do you propose, would one go about finding a missing child with their fingerprints anyhow, Mr. Verrico?
Man, my parents were stupid…..
Yeah… I already assume I’m on your list of 1,000,000 terror suspects living in the US. I’m sure that list is growing everyday. Won’t it be scary for you when you’re the minority?
Shawn-Earnest
Jul 22, 2008
LOL, Yeah… I hit on the nice female employees and the next thing is a shock… Cool, I want one!
gurv07728
Jul 29, 2008
Blubby | July 11, 2008 4:45 pm
Rest assured, the people will NEVER tolerate such an invasion. We have history to prove it.
Back in the 1970s, I remember people discussing the expansion of the security checks in airports.
In those days, all you did was pass through the x-ray/metal detector machine. Pilots and stewardesses did not go through this procedure. Relatives could see their loved-ones depart at the gate.
The “conspiracy theorists” of those days speculated travel in the future would require frisking and other electronic/computer methods of screening passengers. They [wrongfully] speculated that all passengers will need “yer paperths.”
The “older” folks in that discussion responded with: We’re in America…Americans would NEVER tolerate that #%&# !!!
Oh the folly of those “liberal-hippies.” Probably too much marijwana.
As you can plainly see, this would never happen in America. We have precedent. The Amerikans sttod their ground and refused to have implemented the Nazi-like travel measures we see in the third-world dictatorships.
So, relax folks. Air travel is unintrusive and fun!
_____________________________________________________________
Are you nuts or just stupid, everything mentioned here does exist today and we the stupid Americans let it all happen. Why, because we have become a nation of scared little sheep!! I don’t remember reading in either the Declaration or Constitution (I came from a school that actually made you read them and tested you on them like all American schools should) that you are garanteed to die of old age. The constitution does state that you have a right to the pursuit of happiness, not longevity. If that was the case how does GWB or any president compensate those who have died young in our armed forces? The USA is becomming more drconian that Russia or I might even venture to say than North Korea or Iran!!
gurv07728
Jul 29, 2008
The USA is the HUB OF THE AXIS OF EVIL!!!!
Bob
Jul 30, 2008
I believe Blubby was being sarcastic, gurvO. Blubby might be nuts maybe, but probably not stupid. Sarcastic people are usually fairly intelligent.
Michael Hampton
Aug 02, 2008
Here’s an update:
Lamperd Less Lethal claims it has removed the letter from Paul Ruwaldt from its web site after DHS asked them to. It seems that Ruwaldt was receiving “threatening phone calls at home,” according to the Washington Times.
But a simple click or two reveals the letter is still on their web site and accessible.
Aug 08, 2008
DHS official gets death threats over shock bracelet letter - Homeland Stupidity
aybee
Jan 19, 2009
“One “unruly” passenger starts making noise on the plane and the crew, who have this nice shock collar device, aren’t going to spend a few minutes looking up which of the 87 passengers he is, especially if they “feel threatened.” They’re just going to shock everyone on the plane. Including you and your kids.”
you did a good enough job just announcing the proposed plans. No need for unruly speculation.
Kitsune-sama
Apr 05, 2009
Hmmm….
I’m just surprised @ how stupid the fedgov is. Eventualy, people will be pissed off so often, that it’ill come to a head(like a zit) and then one day it’ill pop. It may just pop on tax day. As the pus comes out the lower 48 will plunge into chaos. Then comes the blood, as civil war breaks out. And eventually the blood platelets will form a clot as a new(hopefully confederate system)government with an extremely lesser amount of power over its people is formed. Eventually skin will grow back as our old politicians are deported to Northern Sudan and subsequently sold into slavery for practicly doing the same to us.
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“Remember, Remember the fifth of november…”~V
Feb 24, 2010
Survival Acres Blog » More Tyranny