Saturday, August 30, 2014

You won't be able to buy or sell without the mark of the . . .

By Douglas V. Gibbs

It won't hurt a bit, and it's good for the community.  It's just a little loss of freedom for a whole bunch of security.  Technology is your friend, and the government can be trusted with such power.

George Orwell suggested we would get there by 1984.  We're a little late, but Big Brother has arrived.

The Bible suggested the mark would be on the back of your hand, or on your forehead.  The mark turns out not to be a mark, so much, as it is a chip.  A microchip.  Under your skin, where nobody will be the wiser.

They are called RFID, which are microchips that use short-range radio frequency identification signals to transmit your identity as you pass through a scanner designed to pick up the signal.  No need to stand in line, anymore.  Have your entire financial record on a chip inserted under your skin, and then let the scanners deduct the funds for the groceries you bought as you wheel them out the door.  What could go wrong?

Don't worry, you can trust them to be accurate, safe, and secure.  The government did such a good job with the Obamacare website, so this should be easy to establish safely and securely.

Microchip implants already exist, and we've been using them for sometime. . . just not on people.  We've been tagging pets, and animals released back into the wild, for a while now.  People are next.  We don't want you escaping your backyard without the government knowing about it, you know.

The dangers are being hidden by all of the claims of how being tagged like a released sea lion or dolphin can be good for you.  For soldiers and journalists in war zones, an implant could be the difference between life and death. A tracker could also help law enforcement quickly locate a kidnapped child.  Accused domestic terrorists, and citizens that dare to speak out against government control could be located and apprehended quickly and easily, as well.  Heck, add a taser inside one of those suckers, and they could shutdown an entire population with the push of a button.  No more Ferguson riots.  Wouldn't that be nice?



Then, all the government would have to do is go in with a large broom and dustpan, and sweep up all of those anti-government domestic terrorists without having to fire a single shot.

So, let's see, disarm us with gun control laws so that we can't fight back, and then tag us like animals.  Yep, Orwell would be proud.

Supporters of tagging people say that having a chip in you is much less intrusive than other ID systems.  You know, like that absolutely intrusive method of having an ID card in your wallet?  In fact, I hear that having an ID card in your wallet is racist, especially when it comes to voting.  Tagging people like animals, however, is not dehumanizing at all.

It's not like they will follow our every move, or anything, right?



The government only has the best of intentions, after all.  They said so.

There have been people who volunteered to use microchips for opening the door of an apartment as a personalized ID using your arm. It could be used to track criminals targeted for patrol who might wander into a restricted area.

Besides, there are limitations to what the government can do with these things, so be assured, you are totally safe from the government tracking your every move.  The government would never lie about such a thing, would they?

Safe and secure.  They tell us so right up front:  "Implants are normally useful only at short ranges – as you walk through a portal or close to a transponder. So using chip implants to track people would require an infrastructure of transponders scattered around a city that read their identity in public buildings and street corners."

And that would be so hard to do. It's not like we have a nationwide network of transponders for anything, nor could we ever.  Technologically, we just aren't capable of such a thing.

Oh, wait, my cell phone is ringing.  Hang on a second.

People could unlock their homes or cars (and so could the government), gain access to a building (so could the government), pass through an airport and even unlock their laptops without using a phone or watch (and so could the government). A pin code could be used to activate the chip – or to deactivate it to maintain privacy - a pin number that would be stored safely and securely in the government's system of servers and computer networks where nothing would ever be lost or compromised.  Just ask Lois Lerner.

And best of all, these chips are easy to install and remove, and, because they are implanted under the skin, and are completely unobtrusive. The chips, which could be the size of a thumbnail, could be injected into an arm or a hand (or the forehead?).

Think about the wondrous advantages of sticking chips in our children.  The government-run schools could take attendance in the classroom much easier, and know where the children are if they aren't in class (and make sure parents aren't keeping their children out of class for any unauthorized reasons).  But don't worry, they won't use GPS, we are told.  The skin would block the signal.  It's not like technology can solve such a problem anytime soon, so don't worry, the government won't track you, or follow you, or know your every move.  The government is benevolent, after all.  Scout's honor.

Police could track cars and read data without needing to scan license plates, too!  And, at a hospital, administrators could locate a doctor without having to rely on a pager, and make sure you are signed into government health care so that they can decide if you deserve treatment, or not.

Reading the article I used as a reference for this, it turns out the dangers of these microchips are addressed at the end of the article.  That's an old trick used by journalism.  List the bad stuff last, because usually the reader doesn't make it halfway through the article, anyway.  After all, in this age of technology, all we care about are headlines, texting, gaming, instant information, and for government to do all the work because we are just too busy with distractions to care about the details.

Regarding the chips, according to the Fox News article, there are concerns about the wrong people accessing personal information and tracking you via the chips.  But as we've seen with the government in the past, that should be of no concern.  After all, it's not like the Obamacare website is a hacker's paradise, or anything.

Oh, wait.  Uh, okay, so the government's record is sketchy.  But we can trust the overlords who consider themselves the ruling elite, right?

It's not like they wish to usurp the Constitution, or compromise your God-given rights. . . right?

But, if government can't be trusted, or if the criminal element can figure out a way to take advantage of this technology, here is what we could be in for:

Potential abuses could include hacking into the infrastructure and stealing your identity, or invading your privacy and knowing your driving habits. There are questions about how long a felon would have to use a tracking implant. And, an implant, which has to be small and not use battery power -- might not be as secure as a heavily encrypted smartphone.  Using chip implants to locate abducted children could actually have the opposite effect, as well.  Though a microchip would make a missing person easier to rescue, kidnappers want ransoms, not dead bodies. The most dangerous time for victims is during rescue attempts or when the kidnappers think the police are closing in.  As for having a device inside your body, it could be used to track us in ways we may not even have thought of. . . yet.  This kind of potential government intrusion into our lives, and privacy, goes way beyond the concerns over privacy issues like warrantless wiretaps, or anything else the Patriot Act was able to dish out.  In the end, the government wants to take away a little more liberty, a few more freedoms, in the name of security, and convenience.  But how do we have liberty if we are tagged like animals, and are tracked like criminals.

But don't worry, the microchips will bring you "Peace and Safety."

2For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;… 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Is there a microchip implant in your future? - Fox News

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