Jan. 18, 2007 - 19:13 MST

SLIPPERY SLOPES ?

Am I paranoid ? I don't think so, suspicious ? Yer damn right. What is being tried here in the way of prevention I think should be used nationwide. An article by Alan Gathright of The Rocky Mountain News in that paper, this morning, makes its point quite nicely, I think, quoted here in full:

BILL WOULD NIP CHIPS IN HUMANS

"For years, people have been implanting tiny microchips under their pet's skin so that if Rover's collar slips off, there's still a way to find him if he wanders away."

"Now a state lawmaker has added a twist to that concept with a bill that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone to require two-legged critters to have a microchip implanted under their skin."

"Under the bill, employers could not track worker's movements, for example."

"Rep. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton, said she introduced House bill 1082 as a "proactive measure" at the urging of Adams County's head librarian. He fears that "microchipping" people could become the next Big Brother tactic of a federal government whose use of WARRANTLESS TELEPHONE EAVESDROPPING and the Patriot Act in the war on terror has alarmed civil libertarians."

"The bill is cracking up some Capitol pols."

"Is this a problem ? Do we have gangs of post-apocalyptic, Terminator style cyborgs roaming the streets of Colorado implanting citizens with microchips ?" wisecracked Rob Fairbank, a former-representative-turned-political-consultant, in an e-mail to statehouse pals."

"One of my legislator friends said, 'If we can't implant microchips on people, how will we know whn the black helicopters arrive ?' joked Fairbank, a Littleton Republican."

"Michael Sawyer isn't laughing."

"He's the library director for the Rangeview Library District in Adams County who urged Hodge to nip the microchipping in the bud."

"I think it is a very scary thing," Sawyer said Wednesday. "I have been very concerned about the direction our government is going. I see the secret courts and I see the Patriot Act and the advocating of putting microchips in people."

Sawyer was referring to Tommy Thompson, the former Wisconsin governor and Bush administration Health and Human Services secretary, who became an advocate of the implants after joining the board of device maker VeriChip Corp."

"Supporters like Thompson say implanting the rice-grain-size gadgets in patients could allow doctors to quickly retrieve vital information from someone who has dementia, or is unconscious or unable to speak during medical emergencies."

"The tiny glass capsule, called a radio frequency identification device or RFID, can be injected into the upper arm or hand and sits passively until it's read by a scanner."

"The fear is that employers could use the chips to track workers as they pass through security-door scanners -- like internal versions of the electronic pass-keys many employees use to get around the office."

"In fact, the president of Colombia suggested using implants to track migrant workers entering the U.S. And a Wisconsin lawmaker unsuccessfully pushed for using them to track sex offenders -- or kids "at the direction of their parents," according to a Wisconsin legislative report."

"Last May Wisconsin became the first state to ban forced implantation of the chips on humans, imposing a $10,000 fine for each day of violation. At least 17 other states have introduced or are considering microchip implant laws."

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How soon will someone come up with an international "passport chip" to be implanted in everyone on earth ? And what guarantee will we have that privacy invasive information will NOT be contained therein ? Does anyone have any conception of just how much data can be installed on one of those "rice-grain microchips ?

We now have video-cams mounted at intersections to nail red-light runners, which I think is good. What I don't like is what I have read of video-cams being installed on various streets to keep a big brother eye on privated citizens. Damn if I want to be subjected to, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera," everytime I walk down the street. And what gun happy arm of the law sitting monitoring those web-cam displays will decide that "those palookas over on "G" Street look like they're up to sumpin'," and send out the squad cars ? And what are the chances that I will be one of those "Palookas" ?

There are already so many bits of personal information on each one of us in the records of so many businesses and agencies that it is mind boggling to begin with.

I think we all should fight tooth and nail to avoid being implanted and wired for sound, and for the later improvement of electronic technology, being "wired for thought."

For a long time the push was for national drivers licenses with the black strip containing pertinent information on the carrier that the carrier has no idea of what is on that little black strip. Those little black strips one day can hang us all I fear.

Getting to the point that Big Brother is becoming too much of a Big Bother. I wonder ? Was one of those nanochips put in me along with my flu-shot this fall ? Naah, they wouldn't do that, would they ? Brrrrr, makes me shiver, it does.

Seems as if we are going to be hemmed in with surveillance of all kinds from all directions without much justification at all.

Perhaps we are at the point of not only being ruled over, but soon to be over-ruled. How far down are we on those SLIPPERY SLOPES ? . . . . . . . . .

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