Real Life Phillip K Dick novel?

You havent hijacked that plane, or bombed that school, or opened fire on innocent victims in public. You havent knocked ice cream out of a kids hand, or passed gas in line at the bank and blamed it on an old lady. You havent even swatted a fly before.

But your level of potential "malintent" says that you might.
Remember "Minority Report"? Starring that religious fanatic nut case, as a cop who hunts down criminals right before they commit a crime?

Half-baked Homeland Security is spending millions to develop sensors capable of detecting a person's level of 'malintent' as a counterterrorism tool.

Full article here-without satire.

Now, I dont want anyone with the intent to harm getting on a plane/bus/donkey led caravan with me. But if standing in line to get through security doesnt make you slightly homicidal, then youve probably reached Nirvana, and shouldnt be flying anyway. You can astrally project yourself to Vegas.

These guys, have been awarded money from DHS (a lofty 2.6 million) and a one year testing period, to develop technology that "scans" you for bad intentions. Our security checkpoints arent enough. Theres terror out there for god's sake! Sometimes its in your shoes, sometimes your bag, but ALWAYS in your intentions.

But wait! Dont get upset yet. So far, they are only monitoring heart rates, heat scans, eye movement., music taste, kindness to animals, likeness to Lady GaGa....you know, that kind of stuff.
That's just invasive, and subject to false positive and being wrongfully detained-but NSA doesnt make mistakes like that.
The government wouldnt support something THAT stupid, guys.
The project will also include blood pressure, gait (gait? Huh?), facial expressions and breathing sensors.
Like I said, dont get upset. You are paying for it through your taxes, right now. It will not cost you a dime in 2012 or so, when it is possibly implemented.

It will not be limited to airports, which is frickin fantastic. Because state fairs, childrens birthdays, Wayne Newton tribute band concerts, and Twilight Fan club Whining Fiestas, can be potentially monitored also. Thankfully, the vampires attending the Twilight club are not subject to the scan, due to lack of body heat.

Also, vampires do not have a Fourth Ammendment Right. Because..duh...they're dead and immortal, which is why they are here to stay. However, as a human, you might be offended by the chance of this scan maybe...slightly ignoring that Fourth Ammendment right? The rights plainly states some blah blah about having seizures when you get searched, or if you are a clown/transvestite/birdwatcher...I dont know, something like that. Who cares, because the malintent scan will not cause epilepsy or sexual confusion, we can be assured.

I hope this makes everyone feel safer. I feel safe. The chances of me still smuggling a kilo of dope on a plane are about the same, but I wont have to deal with anyone in a sweaty, nervously, skittishly, bad mood......or any clowns.

Excellent!

Really? this doesnt make anyone mad?

Lol you made me laugh at least 5 times. I have to give you a S&F for that alone.

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So basically, what they are doing is setting up a system of scans that determines whether or not you have good intentions.

Hmmm. I might have to be careful with my cuss word thoughts while I'm being talked down to by a security worker that makes less than I do. But wait! What there's a 4th amendment? It says they can't search and seizure without proper cause? Hmm I guess that X-Ray vision (aka virtual strip search) security system wasn't enough eh?

This isn't only for airports? Oh no I might go to the corner store (where there are already security cameras) and get a soda! I must be a terrorist. I listen to bands like Slipknot and Pantera and sometime I'll see a band that I like in concert.... I must be ebil.. Good thing they have these fancy new constitutional right bastardization scans to keep an eye on my ebil intentions.

Hope they don't put them on any major freeways, a lot of people will be going down for "Anger Issues". Those people must be terrorists too!

I think ATS needs a little satire with it's ultra-serious discussions.
I will continue to post this way. You guys are way too serious.

Nice post bud. Made me laugh.

I think this is a wonderful idea. It has my full support.

In the days of my boyhood, travel by aeroplane was a civilized and somewhat expensive pastime, restricted to people of quality. How we enjoyed flying off on our holidays to some exciting destination! Ah, the romance, the comfort, the reassuring sense that one's fellow-travellers, wherever in the world they might hail from, were always the right sort of people! As for the staff, aloft as well as on the ground, one always found them competent, well-spoken and correctly deferential.

All that, lamentably, has vanished. Air travel has turned into a bus service for the great unwashed. They flood the departure gates and transit lounges of the airports of the world, overflow their squalid economy-class pens and make our journeys hideous with their squalling infants, odiferous eructations and bleeping electronic toys. As if that were not enough, the worst malcontents among them actually let off bombs inside the aeroplane, killing not only themselves (which would be perfectly acceptable) but also their fellow-travellers (something upon which polite society rightly frowns).

But at last, it seems, help is at hand. Americans (who enjoy most inequitable society in the developed world, for all their glib talk of egalitarianism) have come up with a marvellous way to reclaim the skies for the Best People.

Originally posted by InertiaZero
They are... monitoring... eye movement, music taste... gait, facial expressions and breathing...

That is to say, they will monitor those personal characteristics which identify the hoi polloi even when they have disguised themselves by bathing and dressing in real clothes. Doubtless these excellent monitors will be programmed to identify shamblers, gapers, armpit-scratchers and mouth-breathers, who will no longer be allowed to mix with civilized folk at 36,000 feet.

I thoroughly approve. If there is any way in which I may be of assistance (even to the extent of contributing my mite to the research budget), I should be happy to oblige.

[edit on 9/1/10 by Astyanax]

I think they should be allowed to develop it, personally. But not for use on the citizens. I think we should use it on our politicians. Wouldnt it be nice to screen them for "malintent" during the election process? It might make it possible for us to actually get someone into office that wasnt intent on violating us without lubricant for a change.

"a remote cardiovascular and respiratory sensor" to measure "heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration rate, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia," a "remote eye tracker" that "uses a camera and processing software to track the position and gaze of the eyes (and, in some instances, the entire head)," "thermal cameras that provide detailed information on the changes in the thermal properties of the skin in the face," and "a high resolution video that allows for highly detailed images of the face and body … and an audio system for analyzing human voice for pitch change."

Jeez, nobody'll be able to beat that system DHS are like a kid squealing at a mouse. Now...what could possibly cause the symptoms described above? Hmmm...let's think.....

Had a bad day? Fight with your partner? Busted!

Late for your flight? Cab driver an asshole? Busted!

Turned on thinking about last night? Busted!

Caught a cold? Hungover? Busted!

Is it me or does this idea seem like a clunker?

Honestly, I was hoping for something more like VALIS. Airport security = The Black Iron Prison?

reply to post by Solasis


I had abandoned this thread...wow, people posted.

Isnt it ironic that right after I posted this story, someone tried to blow up an airplane?

Weird. But I guess the info in this thread is irrelevant if they are just going to strip-search you now with the scanners. Think about what they would be like if they combined the technology...