Lest we become complacent and believe King George has forgotten about us in the hooplah surrounding SCHIP or the mad rush to cover Blackwater's ass, Information Week brings an update to remind us all that taming the seething throngs of rabid libruls is still high on the pResidents agenda.
Futuristic "non-lethal" crowd control devices have been the stuff of Discovery Channel shows for armchair generals going on several years now. And any moonbat worth their tinfoil can rattle off the secret project code names of a good dozen devices aimed at pacifying the "terrorists". Most of us generally shrug and laugh it off figuring such ideas will stay in the realm of Star Wars, padding contractors pockets, until we're old and grey. But according to Raytheon, the Silent Guardian system is now a go.
For those who may not know about Silent Guardian and similar focused beam or directed energy weapons, a little primer. These weapons project millimeter waves (or extremely high frequency waves) at crowds or individuals to cause extremely unpleasant feelings. These waves are of a shorter wavelength (higher frequency) than microwaves but longer wavelength than x-rays. This is thought to limit the effects of the radiation. It is claimed that no lasting side effects occur in those subjected to such weapons. Subjects are said to feel their skin become instantly, painfully super hot, but not sustain blistering or burning normally associated with radiation exposure.
The Air Force is also working on a version of such a weapon that they call ADS or Active Denial System.
From Information Week: U.S. Unveils New 'Wave of Agony' Ray Gun
Traveling at the speed of light, the Silent Guardian's focused beam of "millimeter-wave" energy produces an intolerable burning sensation, "causing the targeted individuals to instinctively flee or take cover." Because it only penetrates the skin to 1/64th of an inch, the beam causes no lasting damage (other than the psychological sort).
And we all know how Rethuglicans and the Bush Administration feel about psychological damage. Just ask any of our troops who have been diagnosed with PTSD.
Part of the Directed Energy Solutions program at Raytheon (which has requested that journalists not describe it as a "ray gun"), a tabletop version of the Silent Guardian was tested recently by Michael Hanlon, a reporter with the U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail. "This machine has the ability to inflict limitless, unbearable pain," Hanlon reported after momentarily feeling the beam on a fingertip. The "wave of agony" it unleashes has a range of more than 250 meters.
"I have been in front of the full-sized system and, believe me, you just run. You don't have time to think about it, you just run," Raytheon executive George Svitak told Hanlon.
Sounds like a fun time.
Hanlon's account of his experience with Silent Guardian demo
"Where do I put my finger? There ... OK? Nothing's happening ... is it on?"
"Yes, it's on. Move your finger a bit closer."
"Er ... ow! OW!" Not good. I try again. "OWWW!" I pull my hand away sharpish. My finger is throbbing, but seems undamaged.
I was told people can take it for a second, maximum. No way, not for a wimp like me.
I try it again. It is a bit like touching a red-hot wire, but there is no heat, only the sensation of heat. There is no burn mark or blister.
Its makers claim this infernal machine is the modern face of warfare. It has a nice, friendly sounding name, Silent Guardian.
I am told not to call it a ray-gun, though that is precisely what it is (the term "pain gun" is maybe better, but I suppose they would like that even less).
Does this remind anyone else of Dune? Are we all just days away from the Reverend Mothers of the Bene Gesserit testing our loyalties to the Neo-Con agenda?
There are more questions: in tests, volunteers have been asked to remove spectacles and contact lenses before being microwaved. Does this imply these rays are not as harmless as Raytheon insists?
What happens when someone with a weak heart is zapped?
And, perhaps most worryingly, what if deployment of Silent Guardian causes mass panic, leaving some people unable to flee in the melee? Will they just be stuck there roasting?
Our only hope is that Cheney wants a test zap.
Perhaps the most alarming prospect is that such machines would make efficient torture instruments.
They are quick, clean, cheap, easy to use and, most importantly, leave no marks. What would happen if they fell into the hands of unscrupulous nations where torture is not unknown?
The agony the Raytheon gun inflicts is probably equal to anything in a torture chamber - these waves are tuned to a frequency exactly designed to stimulate the pain nerves.
I couldn't hold my finger next to the device for more than a fraction of a second. I could make the pain stop, but what if my finger had been strapped to the machine?
Dr John Wood, a biologist at UCL and an expert in the way the brain perceives pain, is horrified by the new pain weapons.
"They are so obviously useful as torture instruments," he says.
"It is ethically dubious to say they are useful for crowd control when they will obviously be used by unscrupulous people for torture."
Oh, I'm sure they'll be used for crowd control alright. Which crowds they'll be used on is what bothers me.
And forget about "unscrupulous nations" that might get their hands on it. How about the unscrupulous nation that built it? How soon before we these devices outside of Rethuglican debates? Or near the "free speech zones" when Bush is in town?
From Raytheon: Silent Guardian Protection System
Various commercial and military applications include law enforcement, checkpoint security, facility protection, force protection and peacekeeping missions.
Commercial? What, like putting those lazy union strikers back to work?
The system is available now and ready for action.
Oh joy. Can I get one for xmass?
Just because it seems entirely too appropriate to me in this diary...
"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain."