‘Chipping’ of Humans No Longer the Stuff of Novels; Use of RFIDs Becoming Commonplace in America
More and more, George Orwell’s 1984 becoming reality—babies, students, elderly being ‘chipped’. By Mike Finch Issue # 28 & 29, July 14 & 21, 2008 Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs) are finding their way into and onto humans in many ways. There are several ways government and commercial entities are looking to profit through impressive ID and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies. Verichip Corp. successfully marketed “Hugs” Infant Protection System to hospitals in 2005. Since then, infants at many major hospitals receive ankle bracelets something like what many people on probation are currently required to use. The ankle bracelets were marketed as a remedy for hospital infant abduction. When a child is removed from the infant care area of the hospital, an alarm sounds. About 230 infants are abducted every year from U.S. hospitals. The Hugs system saved one child in 2005. This may be a good idea, but it lays the groundwork for later RFID tagging on children and elderly for “safety reasons.” Some unverified Internet sources report that U.S. and European governments have plans to implant RFIDs in every newborn instead of using ankle bracelets. A Rhode Island school plans to electronically track the movements of students using Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID). Microchips will be attached to the students’ backpacks next year. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other civil liberties groups say the RFID chips are an invasion of privacy. “Encouraging the placement of RFIDs on young children, even in this limited and questionable context, can only have the unintended effect of acclimating them to being monitored by the government in other contexts and wherever they go, as if it were perfectly normal and appropriate,” the ACLU said. The RFID chips will be accessed via satellites through tiny GPS systems within the chips. The school will be able to follow the children anywhere. It is likely, though, that young people will just choose to leave their backpacks at school when they do not want to be followed. School officials may then contend for further invasion of privacy, and require RFIDs to be worn on clothing, or possibly injected. In 2007, about 200 Alzheimer’s patients were implanted with non-GPS RFIDs in a market test done by Verichip. The devices held medical information that could be scanned with a special reader. Many more Alzheimer’s patients and people suffering with dementia have been implanted since the 2007 pilot program. Soon after the market testing by Verichip, sample RFIDs were handed out at the Alzheimer’s Community Care 2007 Educational Conference. In a 2007 Fox News report Verichip offered free RFID tagging for any interested party that wanted to tag an elderly parent. Currently Verichip is reported to charge about $200 for the implant. The United Kingdom has concrete plans to implant RFID chips into prison populations. Other nations have been reported to use RFIDs on prisoners, including Sweden and several South American nations. The initial plans are to inject prisoners with RFIDs that can be read by a scanner, with limited access and limited amounts of information. UK Officials said they will soon implant chips with GPS capabilities to monitor a prisoner’s location at any given time. IBM recently applied for a patent regarding a system that would not only place RFIDs on all clothing items, but also track those items of clothing on a global scale. The patent implies that all clothing sold would have “globally unique” RFID tags in them in the future. The information would primarily be used for marketing purposes, but the government could also use such technology. “The exact identity of the person or certain characteristics about the person can be determined [through the use of this technology],” the patent said. “This information is used to monitor the movement of the person through the store or other areas . . . tracking information can be used to provide targeted advertising and to improve existing store systems and tracking systems.” The RFID information could easily be used with credit card information for identification. The power and scope of the proposed database would certainly have civil rights implications. Goodyear began using RFIDs in tires in 2003, and all other major tire manufacturers have tested, or are using, RFIDs in tires to prevent tire counterfeiting, reports RFID Update, an industry RFID website. The RFIDs could easily be used to track tires anywhere in the country by private or government interests. Plans are underway for a global tire recognition program, all in the name of stopping tire counterfeiting. Hitachi created an RFID chip that is smaller than a grain of sand. The 002-inch-by-.002-inch chip can be imbedded in paper, and could be used to track just about anything. The chips do not have GPS capability, but can store a 38-digit number that can be read by a hand held scanner. This chip is 60 times smaller than the first generation Hitachi micro-RFID. The former smallest of the small, the Mu-chip, measures in at .4 millimeters by .4 millimeters and could fit on the tip of a pencil. The Mu-chip is already used to track and identify items and prevent forgery of concert tickets. “Invisible tracking brings to mind science-fiction- inspired uses, or even abuses, such as unknowingly getting sprinkled with smart-tag powder for Big Brother-like monitoring,” Associated Press said. The prediction that microchips will be able to interface with nerves and implanted in the brain in the next 30 years was recently put forth by a UK government think tank. The microchips predicted would be able to give sensory input, allow a sort of mind-to-mind communication (like an implanted cell phone) and allow direct to the brain marketing. This Orwellian prediction opens the door for direct mind control in true 1984 fashion. http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/_chipping__of_humans_143_.html ~~~ UK Report Predicts Brain Implants, Revolution By Mike Finch A British defense think tank predicts possible “key risks and shocks” for the future in a recently released report. The report predicts microchip brain implants, flash-bombs, Marxist middle-class revolutionaries, extreme globalization and more, all likely within 30 years. The “source document for the development of UK Defense Policy” was created by the Development, Concepts and Doctrines Centre (DCDC), and will be used to “shape the UK’s future defense requirements” until 2036, according to the report. The report lumps predictions into four categories: things that will happen (according to the report, more than 95 percent likely, or “near certainty”), things that are likely/probable (more than 60 percent likely), things that may/possibly happen (more than 10 percent likely) and things that are unlikely/improbable (less than 10 percent likely). Water scarcity will be a major issue, U.S. economic crisis is likely, a pandemic may happen, and the global financial system may fail; these are just a few of the predictions of the report. Several predictions are more futuristic. “Many commentators anchor themselves in the familiar present and, exploiting the latest fashion and a series of telling anecdotes, merely tell people what is already happening,” Admiral C. J. Parry said. “Much of what we have to say, with regard to both continuities and discontinuities, does not have a conclusion or ending, happy or otherwise, because, self evidently, the future has not happened yet.” Much of the report sounds like science fiction, but according to the DCDC, science fiction that very possibly may become reality. A “hot topic” in the report is the “scramble for space.” The report claims that space programs will continue to increase, with many smaller nations entering the fray. The larger nations including Russia, the U.S. and China are the few that will send manned crafts deeper into space to search for resources. This “will raise jurisdictional, ownership and competitive rights issues.” Artificial intelligence is referred to several times in the report, and is “likely to be employed to manage knowledge and support decision making across government and commercial sectors.” Genetic modification, “nanobots” and stem-cell therapies are predicted to create an “increase in human life span” and an improvement in quality of life, though they could also lead to a range of threats including bio-warfare and human rights violations. Electromagnetic pulse weapons will probably be created before 2035. These weapons might be able to wipe out all electronic devices in a given area without casualties. Perhaps one of the strangest predictions in the report consists of microchips that could be connected to brains, allowing for “synthetic sensory perception beamed directly to the user’s senses.” This technology could be used to download any amount of information, and could be used for communication, allowing for a sort of computer-aided telepathy. The dramatic increase in technology gives rise to several “doomsday scenarios,” though the likelihood of any given scenario is not commented on in the report. Genetic modification, disease and artificial intelligence are some of the possible causes of doomsday scenarios other than nuclear weapons. Doomsday scenarios are just a footnote to the many threats outlined in the report. The increase of Islamic revolutionary groups, along with the rise of other militant groups from the disenfranchised younger generation, are two potentialities referred to several times in the report as high-level threats. The possibility of middle-class Marxist revolutions caused by growing gaps between the middle class and the super rich also could create a threat, as well as the increase of rigid belief systems as a backlash to the moral relativism prevalent in the world. Population explosion in less developed countries and dramatic urbanization will “exacerbate” social tensions, creating threatening circumstances, especially in poorer regions around the world including Africa and Asia. All of these threats are in addition to the common prediction that the atmosphere will continue to increase in temperature causing a cacophony of catastrophic problems from melting ice caps to destroyed ecosystems for fish. With all these strange and possibly dire threats and predictions the report curiously concludes, “The world would be better or, at least, no worse in the future than it is today.” http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/UK_govt_report_070208.html
