Tuesday, January 15, 2008

A quick note of two levels of nanny-state BS

First, from Britain:
Ministers are planning to implant "machine-readable" microchips under the skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of the electronic tagging scheme that would create more space in British jails.

Amid concerns about the security of existing tagging systems and prison overcrowding, the Ministry of Justice is investigating the use of satellite and radio-wave technology to monitor criminals.

But, instead of being contained in bracelets worn around the ankle, the tiny chips would be surgically inserted under the skin of offenders in the community, to help enforce home curfews. The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, as long as two grains of rice, are able to carry scanable personal information about individuals, including their identities, address and offending record.
Undoubtedly as a field test before admitting the idea issaying that safety and security demands all subjects have these injected.

The other is this idiotic 'code of responsibility' Bergen Community College demands of all students. Years ago, I heard someone on a radio show say something idiotic and then claim that the criticism of it was 'censorship'. Kids were in the truck with me and I explained that this is the United States, and that means two things:
I have the right to say what I think about what you say, it's freedom of speech, not censorship.
I have to acknowledge your right to speak your piece; that does not mean I have to respect you or your views.
Somebody needs to remind this campus idiotPresident Ryan of those things.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just wait and see how fast compulsory chips will be cloned.

My brother, who has blonde hair and blue eyes is recorded in the British immigration and passport computer as being a foot taller and black.

Only Britain could take so long to reach the sceptic tank

Keith

Anonymous said...

"The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, as long as two grains of rice"

With an antenna that small and no room for a power source, the scanning range will be only a few inches. This is no replacement for ankle bracelets that can be tracked by radio or the cell phone and GPS networks, it's just a convenience for parole officers too lazy to type a case code into their computer when an offender reports in to their office, or to remember what the criminals they are supposedly keeping tabs on look like. And of course, the ID function could be easily defeated by digging the thing out from under your skin, so someone else can wear it and report in for you. Even better (from the criminal viewpoint), when the police ask you about that bank robbery, you just say, "I was in the parole office at that time, just check their computer"...