Loss of Privacy

Johnathan Oxer, technical director of Internet Vision Technologies, has taken DIY to the extreme, wiring nearly all of his home with RFID tags and linking most everything to a network.

Under a new proposal, the UK wants to implant RFID chips under the skin of thousands of offenders so that they can free up more space in British prisons.  If the proposal becomes the law, the RFID chips will be used for home detention, enforcing punishment, and tracking sex offenders once released from prison.

There are several studies questioning the long-term use of RFID chips under the skin, which state that they can cause cancer in lab mice, but they are still being recommended for medical purposes.

Forgery is possible, which is another problem that these governments haven’t even begun to tackle.  RFID chips can also be swapped, erased, removed, destroyed, and lost.  Tampering with them is very easy.

Concerns run the gamut from invading the privacy of prisoners to the slippery slope of “what happens when everyone is required to have an implantable chip under their skin?”  Once it is acceptable for prisoners to wear the tags, whether they are inside or outside prison walls, the gradual step toward mandatory requirement for all citizens will happen.  The last time something similar happened, we chided, scolded, and abhorred the Nazis for tattooing Jews to keep track of them.

Wicked Lasers has introduced what they call The Torch.  It’s a 4100 lumen flashlight that can, literally, set things on fire.

The 4100-lumen flashlight is being considered for the Guiness Book of World Records, and can ignite paper, light cigarettes, melt plastic, and even fry an egg — but only has a fifteen minute battery life.

Combine this with the Department of Homeland Security’s pukelight and you’ve got yourself one hell of a party.

Last month, twelve different Florida school districts passed resolutions against the teaching of evolution in their schools.

Oscar Howard Jr., superintendent of Taylor County’s School District, and Danny Lundy, vice chairman of the School Board, spoke in accents from that other Florida. ‘’We’re opposed to teaching evolution as a fact,’’ Howard said, adding that his School Board and 11 others have passed resolutions against the imposition of evolution in the school curriculum.

After seeing this happen, do people really wonder why America is falling behind in science compared to the rest of the world?  The growing anti-intellectualism and influence of religious leaders is leading America to lose its competitive edge and respect world-wide.

In learning the Scientific Method, students are taught to gather evidence through observation, as well as using empirical and measurable evidence that is then subject to the principles of reasoning.  Evolution is a fact based on empirical evidence that evolution does happen and continues to happen today.  Evolution, in fact, describes a part of the observable universe into a coherent, logical conclusion.  It uses predictive tools to explain the changes over time.

Evolution happens every single day.  Each new strain of the flu is evolution in action.  Each new breed of dog is evolution in action.

If you want to teach creationism in schools, fine.  Go ahead.  But you can’t throw out the facts of science and evolution as well.  Removing a large portion of science to further your own agenda only creates hostile students and students who cannot think for themselves, instead letting the curriculum decide what they should think.

After years of ignoring their illegal immigration problems, the EU has finally decided to copy America’s border security measures by fingerprinting all entries and exits from all visitors to the EU.

The measures would ensure more secure borders and prevent visitors from illegally entering Europe, or overstaying the three-month stay given to tourists and EU visa holders, Franco Frattini said.

And how does the EU propose to do this?  At best, they can state that a person has overstayed their visit.  Good luck actually finding the person.

“The electronic register should include viable biometric identifiers,” Frattini told reporters during two-day talks of EU justice and interior ministers. He said visitors overstaying their welcome were “the No. 1″ cause of illegal immigration.

Uh, duh?!  What a great insight.  Illegals come from people overstaying their welcome.    Also, by requiring biometrics, the database they store them in will not be guaranteed safe and a country could circumvent their own laws by asking the EU for a copy of their database.

In reality, what this plan is, is a clear cut case of retaliation against the United States for its actions against EU allies.  It is also frightening in its possible privacy violations.

Such a data system, modeled after one adopted by the U.S., would store 19 pieces of sensitive passenger data for 13 years, including e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and payment details of flight tickets.

Nice.  More databases.  Less security.  More harassment.  On the upside, maybe I’ll get some entertaining telemarketing calls from The Netherlands now.