Check this article out:
The US Department of Homeland Security wants to implement scanning technology at airports which will attempt to determine if you pose a security risk by analysing “behavourial and physiological cues” . The author of the article above argues that it won’t be likely to work, but I’m more concerned with the fact that the US government thinks that it can work and is likely to implement it anyways, warts and all.
By the way, following the best of cheesy US Government acronyms, this one is called FAST (“Future Attribute Screening Technology”)
Is the US trying to everything that it possibly can to make it the least desirable country to visit possible…?
The key here is physiological cues. This is a country which still has an almost reverential belief in lie detectors even though none of their courts allow results as evidence in a trial.
@Don Pomodoro —
Is the US trying to everything that it possibly can to make it the least desirable country to visit possible…? Obviously, YES!
Thanks for yet another great idea from Homeland Security. Good god.
How quick can we say “mind police”? No mention of the potential manufacturing companies that stand to profit the most.
It’s always frightening when the imaginings of such writers as Philip K. Dick’s dystopian “Minority Report” are coming to pass.
the Israeli`s use behavior observation to assist in the screening process, however it is only as good aa the people doing it. Reliance on technology with untrained and unreliable staff will simply multiply the number of false positives.
Between this and Tweet boy’s experience, anyone who has ever uttered or even thought anything disparaging toward the US would be anxious enough to set off alarms! Does the US government detest tourists?
This is a violation of the 1st Amendment. Everybody has the right to express their opinion. I have an American friend who has 180/120 hypertension and fidgets all the time if he doesn’t have his meds. Would that cause him to be flagged as a terrorist? “Not guilty! I just am always feeling nervous dude!” I have never been to Israel but I think I could convince their security that I just want to see where Jesus lived. I’m sure he wouldn’t need some computer program to verify that.
The last time I was in the US, I was stopped by TSA. I had made a mistake. After about 10 minutes a senior officer came and looked in my carryons and we agreed that I would have to check some tools and stuff I had purchased at Radio Shack into checked baggage. No problem, thank you for not arresting me man, I’m not a terrorist.
However, during the inspection, his “assistant” a 20-something African-American girl danced around, waved her plump fanny at me and chanted some rap-lyrics like “you’re going down, you’re going to get it”. She did not do any work, she was just a hang-about-nuisance. I am a bit of a redneck, own lots of guns, am somewhat old-fashioned, but I have lots of African friends (as well as plenty of black girlfriends past and present— platonic and otherwise), but I didn’t appreciate that girlie waving her fanny in my general direction because I forgot to put my Radio Shack tools in the cargo-bay-bound bag. I was petrified. Most of my African friends would have had words with her or worse — immediately.
I do not trust the US government; I think they are blind and stupid. I hope that the senior TSA officer at least had some words with the girlie afterwards (he was a nice black gentleman late 40’s or early 50s who probably liked to read unlike his girlie underling whose life was MTV-centric I suppose). I was happy that the TSA hired a guy like that, he knew his stuff but did not go overboard. That honest African man was probably a better choice for president than Obama: he was a nice honest and firm guy doing his job correctly. The girlie however…. I hope she was fired if she didn’t shape up. I really wanted to hit and/or scream at that woman (a nice ass-kicking would have been fitting and the target would not have been difficult to hit), but I just said nothing and gave her superior the thousand-yard-stare. God bless you girlie, I hope you learned something since then. I hope your superior was duly promoted, I’d let him look in my suitcase anytime if he had probable cause.
That story was from about 10 years ago. I have not ever set foot in the USA since.
Decades ago, I carried lockback knives onto planes. Security did not care, you just had to hand them the knife before going through the metal detector, they looked at you to see if you were a weirdo or not and they gave it back “not going to hijack the plane?” …. “no man, I will use this to stab hijackers who try anything, otherwise it’s just a tool for opening peanut bags”. I was even so armed in Europe, the worst the authorities ever did to me was ask me to put my knife in an envelope and send it via checked baggage. Usually I just showed them my US passport and asked them nicely to leave me alone, that in my state everybody carried a knife as a tool and a shotgun in their pickup (I left my shotgun at home, dude). Unfortunately, by 9-11 times, the rules were changed. If everybody had had a lockblade or a baseball bat on those flights, I don’t think the terrorists would have been able to boxcutter their way into the cockpit. 2nd amendment. Why didn’t the government remember the 2nd amendment? Perhaps pistols are too dangerous on planes (puncture of fuselage), but a knife or a stick?
At least now, when anybody goes bizarre on a plane, passengers and crew do not hesitate to grab the person because of what happened in 2001. What happens if the Pre-Crime Prevention computer program blocks a somewhat violent person from boarding and it is just that person who would fight a terrorist, kick ass, and save lives?
Justice is blind, some may say. But when lawmakers go blind and behave like a heard of sheep, things go fowl. God bless the United States.
@JDTomas, what a round of emotions I felt just reading your comment-from laughter to tears to solemness. Like so many on Brock you do an exceptional job of putting into words what many hold in their hearts. God bless you all.
@bubblebustin I hope you and all of our friends at IBS will tolerate my forgoing rant. I am so angry about everything that is going on that I can barely sleep. Thanks to all of you for your friendship and your writings. It is good to have all of you. I have not and perhaps will never see any of you, but you are all my friends. We come from all walks of life, but we are united by one thing: getting Unca Sam off our backs.
If one suffers from hypertension and fidgits, he has the right to express his opinion “my blood pressure is killing me” the man wants to say as he shakes his legs on the plane. That doesn’t mean he is a terrorist.
As to “I’m sure he wouldn’t need some computer program to verify that.” I meant the security agent, not Jesus.
@JDTomas, I am angry a lot of the time too and have regular bouts of Tourette’s syndrome. I don’t know if the ranting helps, but I find sarcasm does for me. I told my doctor about the situation the other day while he was taking my BP and it went through the roof! Now I’m on a monitor and trying not to get myself worked up too much. It would be a real pity if the IRS were to take a life on top of everything else they’re doing. We all need our venting and it is a blessing that we have so many here who understand the predicament we are in and can offer constructive advice. Renunciations seem to be getting a lot of press. Pity, that ultimate price need be paid to finally get heard. 🙁
I am having BP problems too. Probably thanks to Unca Sam.
@JDTomas, sorry to hear that.
This week’s Economist reports that the US government is planning to start advertising the country as a tourist destination. As is well known, the US has lost out in the competition to attract tourists. Here’s a relevant excerpt from the article and the link to the full article below:
“America may seem to have no need to advertise. It is the
second-most-visited country in the world (after France). But the
campaign is long overdue. Between 2000 and 2010 America’s share of
spending on global travel fell by a third, from 17.2% to 11.6%.
According to McKinsey Global Institute, the consultancy’s research arm,
global long-haul travel increased by 31% in the decade to 2009 while
foreign visitors to America (excluding from Canada and Mexico) dropped
by 2m, to 24m. McKinsey calculates that if its market share had been
retained, the United States would have had 67m additional visits and
$214 billion in extra revenue over that period.
Some of the blame for the decline in numbers can be attributed to
harsh security put in place after the terrorist attacks of 2001. Surly
immigration officials do little to enhance America’s claim to be a
welcoming country.”
http://www.economist.com/node/21557782
Sadly, one of the reasons is the cost of healthcare if something happens when they’re on vacation here. It becomes harder to find travel insurance that would cover all accidents cost that can incur while vacationing in the US. When you know that a mere broken arm cost over $10k to get treated, you might think twice before choosing the US as your destination.
“The Secret Government Rulebook For Labeling You a Terrorist”
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/article/2014/07/23/blacklisted/
I was reading that this morning notamused! It’s really quite horrifying when you start going through all those documents. This one included. It takes some time to do but, everyone should take a look at what’s posted in the released docs over at the Intercept. The power point presentation alone was a shocker, controlling online conversations with operatives? Because you know we wouldn’t want people thinking freely for themselves.
@AtticusinCanada
“Horrifying” is the right word, absolutely. You’d think after all that has been made public during the last year, the potential to shock people would have diminished. Not so. This simply isn’t how free, democratic societies with a functioning judicial system work. On the contrary, this is how totalitarian regimes work.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1227228-2013-watchlist-guidance.html
OTW = “One Time Waiver”. As the original article points out, if you take them up on their offer, you could end up trapped in the US: