Conference hydra::dejavu

1914.0. "The Number of the Beast - putting people behind bars ?" by FIXER::BELL (Leaving just a memory) Tue Feb 08 1994 12:29

  There appears to be a glitch in this conference in note 1576 after .39 or
  thereabouts [ oops ? >:-)> ] so sorry if this is a duplicate.

  To re-introduce the subject, .37 presented an interesting perspective on
  "The Number of the Beast" :

1576.37 :

> The Mark of the Beast, which is the number 666 in the Greek, is already fully
> in use all over the planet.  We are so used to it that we don't even notice
> it.  It is already so prevalent that it would be difficult not to use it in
> any one day. The passage that mentions this number in the book of Revelations
> also says of it that nothing can be bought or sold except it has the mark ...
> ... <Heavy edit to get to the bottom of the note> ...
> The Mark of the Beast is on every product that is bought or sold. Wouldn't it
> be convenient to have a cashless global society and have people do business
> with a similar personal identification number mark that is encoded on their
> right hand so it won't get lost !

  ... which came to mind when reading the following in a completely different
  conference ...

> ...
> And, finally, for years you've seen bar-coded merchandise; you may have seen
> some airports bar-code your luggage.  Well, if you're traveling to Manchester,
> UK, they're going to start to bar-code YOU!
> ...
> UK - Manchester Airport Starts Bar Coding Passengers
>  
> MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, 1994 FEB 2 (NB) -- Manchester Airport has revealed it is
> testing out the bar-coding of passengers and their luggage throughout the
> airport in a bid to increase security.
> 
> The bottom line for the British Airport Authority (BAA), which runs the
> airport on behalf of the British Government, is to improve security at the
> airport, in an attempt to avert the threat of terrorism.
> 
> The passenger will also benefit, officials with the BAA claim, since their
> luggage can now be tracked very easily, making its location within the
> airport system easy to follow.
> 
> As soon as a passenger checks in his luggage and/or themselves, both their
> tickets and luggage are bar coded. Laser scanners log the location of the
> passengers as they pass through the various airport formalities, while their
> luggage is similar tracked on to the aircraft.
> 
> This bar coding tracking system allows the airport authorities to quickly
> identify a problem where a passenger has not reached the boarding gate, yet
> his/her luggage is on the aircraft. Furthermore, as a gate gets ready for
> final boarding, the computer system can backtrack down the boarding system
> to stop potential problems, before the plane needs to take off.

  If this is perceived to be an effective anti-terrorist activity, I wonder
  how long it will take to become established elsewhere ?  I also wonder to
  what extreme this principle will be taken ... ?

  BTW, I _did_ read some of the rebuttals in the subsequent notes but only
  a few struck me as pertinent points - none of which however would rule out
  this scenario (IMHO).  Bear in mind the number of times that you are given
  a bar-coded identification of some sort (eg., on your blood donor card,
  hospital records, library ticket, ...) : how long before some of these are
  combined "in the interests of efficiency" to personalise (or de-personalise)
  your identification as a single number ?

  Just an odd thought for old-time's sake :-)

  Frank

    
    Hm...for a minute there, I thought I was in the C-Notes conference or
    something.  (;^)
    
    Frank, part of the glitch is that .40 is set hidden.  (Jamie had made a 
    wisecrack that could be viewed as slightly offensive - particularly to 
    the note that it referenced.  Included something about spitting his 
    coffee out on his keyboard.  (;^)  Usual thing.)
    
    .39 appears to be deleted altogether.
    
    The rest of the notes in the string look OK.
    
    Cindy

    I could not take the idea seriously and so I assumed that someone was
    making a concerted effort to wind us up. My opinion has in no way
    changed as a doubt that anyone as rabidly paranoid as that could
    function rationally in society.

    Jamie.

    
    Jamie, I concur.
    
    Cindy