Just Wait Until You Read The Distributor's
Explanation...
The idea is something out of
Orwell's 1984: requiring all airline passengers to wear
identifying bracelets, containing personal information and a GPS
tracking chip to monitor their movements. And, oh yeah, one more
thing: any flight crew member would be able to immobilize wearers
by simply pointing a laser device in their general direction.
And, yes, it's apparently real. The Washington Times reports the
US Department of Homeland Security is interested in the technology,
that carries the most innocuous of names: The Electronic ID
Bracelet.
The bracelet -- in development for several years, and
distributed by a Canadian company called Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc.,
more on them in a minute -- would take the place of an airline
boarding pass. An RFID chip on the bracelet would contain
information about the wearer, and any luggage in their possession.
A government-funded GPS system would monitor where the bracelet is
at all times, giving security agents the ability to follow suspects
(and everyone else) around the airport, and on the plane.
The bracelet -- similar in concept to the wristbands hospital
patients are issued -- would be worn by every traveler "until they
disembark the flight at their destination."
Which, hopefully, you would... unless you get stunned by another
feature on the bracelet: an Electro-Muscular Disruption (EMD)
sensor, similar in function to a police Taser. According to a
promotional video on YouTube, the bracelet would be able to
completely immobilize the wearer for several minutes... enough time
to subdue a potential hijacker, or the guy in 34C who wanted the
WHOLE can of Coca-Cola.
If this sounds like alarmist propaganda, or something you'd hear
on late night radio, then don't take our word (or the Times') for
it. Read what Paul S. Ruwaldt of the Science and Technology
Directorate, office of Research and Development at the Department
of Homeland Security, had to say about it.
"To make it clear, we [the federal government] are interested in
. . . the immobilizing security bracelet, and look forward to
receiving a written proposal," Ruwaldt wrote in a letter to the
bracelet's distributor, obtained by the Times. "It is conceivable
to envision a use to improve air security, on passenger
planes."
Still not convinced? We don't blame you... but here's what
Lamperd Less Lethal Inc. had to say in response to the Times'
story.
"We wish to clear up
any misconceptions regarding the EMD Safety Bracelet for Airline
Security," the company wrote in an email comment, since posted on
the Lamperd website. "The bracelets remain inactive until a
hijacking situation has been identified. At such time a designated
crew member will activate the bracelets making them capable of
delivering the punitive measure -- but only to those that need to
be restrained."
Activation of the bracelets' "stun" setting would be performed
in one of two ways. A plane's crew could activate anyone's
bracelet, by way of a grid screen installed onboard the aircraft.
Flight attendants would also be able to activate a passenger's
bracelet "by simply pointing the laser at the bracelet -- that
laser dot only needs to be within 10 inches of the bracelet to
activate it"... so, hopefully, you're not sitting too close to the
alleged perpetrator.
"We believe that all passengers will welcome deliverance from a
hijacking, as will the families, carriers, insurance providers
etc," the company adds. "The F-16 on the wing-tip is not to
reassure the passengers during a hijacking, but rather to shoot
them down."
Good grief. There's literally nothing we can say to top
that...
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