I just read the this article on CNN.com and it scared the shit out of me.
http://www.cnn.com/...
"Brain fingerprinting" technology now exists, and voice analysis technology is in place in the Moscow airport and one other unnamed airport. We're getting to a place where government authorities are intruding on our thoughts. Frankly, I'm scared. More below the fold.
I read the CNN article and began to wonder how this technology differentiates between what I consider ordinary stress and "terrorist intention" stress. I have a LOT or "ordinary" stress. I suffer from depression. I have a teenager. I will be facing college costs for my kid in a year and a half. I was recently laid off. My husband's job is related to an area of the economy that has taken a hit. My refrigerator is making a funny noise. My sister is a sanctimonious twit. My best friend's boyfriend is a dickhead and is unkind to her. My dog is fat and I could stand to lose a few too. I am having a bad hair day. The holidays are loaded with stress inducers. All that being said, I am not a terrorist but I do have some pent up anger, so how will the government read my brain scan when I arrive at check in at the airport?
I am scared to death of the government reading my thoughts, or even getting a scan that shows that I have nasty thoughts. For example, it's illegal to threaten the president or vice president. Stuff like that gets you a visit from the secret service and a stay at St. Elizabeth's with John Hinckley. But what if you secretly wish ill of George Bush? What if you truly despise Dick Cheney even if you never say anything about it? What if you your favorite daydream is seeing Alberto Gonzales bent over with a copy of the Fourth Amendment shoved up his ass? I'm just speaking hypothetically, of course.
When I arrive at an airport, I am already stressed. The thought of eight hours in a tin can stresses me even more. If I'm in coach, I harbor nasty thoughts toward the check in clerk who refused to let me use my miles to upgrade because my ticket wasn't the right "class", and I am seething with class resentment at the people in first. My feelings may be irrational at worst or merely unjustifed at best, and I certainly don't act on them. They are not even the ruling feelings of my brain. They are the subconscious detrius that floats around in the back of my head when I am frustrated and uncomfortable. Like most people, I don't act out. I acquiesce to the indignities of air travel because I want to get from point A to point B without getting arrested, and the bottom line is, it's not really worth it to act out. It doesn't help the situation. Also, I know the situation is temporary, tarmac delays notwithstanding.
My other concern is that fact that once this technology is available, you know it won't stay at the airport. It will be on the street, in the mall, at school, in the supermarket, etc. There will be no place we can go where we will ever have real privacy again, except our homes and maybe, if they hold out, our places of worship.