Scientists worried by riot control ray gun (to be deployed in Iraq)

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20701808.htm

Scientists worried by riot control ray gun

LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - Scientists are questioning the safety of a Star Wars-style riot control ray gun due to be deployed in Iraq next year.

The Active Denial System weapon, classified as "less lethal" by the Pentagon, fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam at rioters to cause heating and intolerable pain in less than five seconds.

The idea is people caught in the beam will rapidly try to move out of it and therefore break up the crowd.

But New Scientist magazine reported on Wednesday that during tests carried out at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, participants playing the part of rioters were told to remove glasses and contact lenses to protect their eyes.


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And the Iraqi people are NOT guinea pigs for weapons testing!!!
Do scientists have ANY ethics? Now would be a good time to prove it.

No human being should be exposed to this.
The Pentagon has too much power and no one is at the helm who gives a damn!

this goes much deeper than Ethics.

If glasses and contacts could cause problems, it might be bad for people with pacemakers, pins in bones, and other various implants.

Yep, testing is definitely in order.

That's the ticket...

to try this thing out? It would be such an appropriate test. I would love to see their eyes bulging and the cords in their necks straining against the pain.

the mob - causing panic and stampedes. This is unbelievably stupid.

modern warfare is pure torture. frying people's eyes out is just too much fun to avoid, isn't it? video game culture rises to the very top... merciless fucks.

Not only are we occupying fucking infidels in a muslim country, now we'll be storm troopers from fucking outer space frying them with fucking ray guns.

This administration is utterly and completely fucking insane.

The article says that in other tests the subjects were told to empty their pockets of metal objects like coins to avoid hot spots developing on their skin.

Gee, and what other side effects might there be?

Point your ray gun at someone who needs killin', pull the trigger and wham! All the Soylent Green you need!

whoever said that was damn right...
It's bad enough that we are killing innocent people in Iraq that we now have to play spacemen and fry these people to death?

Geez, no wonder the term "Ugly American" has a new meaning.

Dee

in this country , when needed. One more way to control all of us. There are already some effective control weapons out there, as seen at the Wingnuts convention. But these will br "tested" in Iraq first, to see if they work effectively.

That provides such an effective barrier to microwave radiation...Got to get me a suit made out of that stuff for my next protest!

;-)

As is the radio transmissions from sattelites...They get reflected to the reciever by whatever satelite dishes are made out of, so surely there is a way to reflect microwave radiation as well.

with a conductive mesh. Since microwaves are 10 cm or so, they get blocked by the narrow mesh, tiny light waves make it through, which is why you can see. A similar method could be used to defeat this multimillion dollar boondoggle.

The eggheads at DARPA have been bragging about this thing for years now. The whole concept is ridiculous. I suspect that somebody embezzled a lot of money some time ago and they've been playing it off.

I think the scientists are just getting sick of hearing it and have decided to call the bluff.

then the wavelength is about 3mm. So the material needed would be quite different - would a very fine chain mail mesh work? It would also need to cover all the exposed skin. And face it, if you turn up to a demonstration dressed like that, they'll aim the plastic bullets right at you.

"And face it, if you turn up to a demonstration dressed like that, they'll aim the plastic bullets right at you."

Which begs the question, why wouldn't they just fire the rubber bullets at me anyway, or the fire hose or whatever to disperse me? Why use the microspace ray? I agree with the poster above, this sounds like a sham.

If you're one of a large crowd, they might aim at anyone; if you're someone who's come prepared against their magic ray, they'll decide you're a ringleader.

then deploy them in the US in 2008 right. Is that what I'm really reading here. Just a thought.

...would never allow it! Not here, not in Honduras, not in Nicaragua, and not in the States. He is a man of peace and Jesus-based morality, dontcha' know?

the "Jesus-based morality" is what scares the hell out of me.

Think this ought to get more than a little press? What the hell do we need to use it on Iraqis for? I thought they got their democracy...I thought they were now going to be happy and content and peaceful. PNACers got a little sump'n-sump'n planned for 2006 (to use as a justification for their "tests"?

I got my second amendment rights. I want one and I want it now! A mans got to defend himself and his property.
:sarcasm:

and deploy it to iraq!

...we just build the ultimate in terror tools.

Because it's considered "less lethal" I'm betting it's going to be overused/used irresponsibly, which will actually lead to an increase in the number of deaths and serious injuries in crowd control situations.

in the Fascist States of America.

Oh, but NOOOOOOOOOOOO, it can't happen HERE, we have a magic force field around America that keep these things out. Not.

against folks protesting against * and the dominionists. They will never in a million years use it against, say, "right-to-lifers" trying to stampede or bomb a women's health clinic.

it will still put you in a hole in ground.

LOL....

Your presence is requested in ze oval orifice.

move out of the way...

Weapon of MASS destruction.

with new real live weapons at Bush's disposal.

have been testing grounds for the Pentagon's new toys. Ever wonder where that missing 2.3 TRILLION went?

how even know it is on? silent, invisible.

people would just fold up or run in all directions.

He used the V2 bomb to kill Londoners.
=================
the answer to thread's re no. 1., is

NO.

some do not.

some do, of course.

but no more than the general population, and in my experience, the Engineering Dept. at my college had RW political cartoons on most every office door.

How about your Engineering Depts?

It breaks up the demonstration, and if people get hurt in the panic, they blame it on the demonstrators rather than the police.

This message brought to you by the Ministry of Newspeak...

The FDA has established microwave radiation exposure levels greater than 5mw/cm2 to be dangerous, but many medical experts disagree and think this level should be lowered. Independent studies have revealed levels much lower can cause:

Skin Cancer, Cataracts, Birth Defects in Pregnant Women, Temporary Sterility in Men, Interference with some Pacemakers, Decrease in Immune System Competency, Headaches and Dizziness, Blood Disorders, Central Nervous System Damage, Cardiovascular Problems, Increased Stress

http://home.cvc.org/microwaves/detecto.htm

It smells like pork.

Jeebus, this makes me sick.

Lisby

:scared:

and a little ray gun action in select hot spots

I am speechless!

our tax dollars at work.

It is not nearly as hard as you may think.

relief for the slave-like conditions under which they will live under the American Plutocracy...oh! and for the "subversives" who threaten the domestic order.

Yup, yup.

the guys with the RPG's will blow them right up. They'll have to mount them in tanks no, and even still.

metal will reflect Radio Frequency Radiation.

Hah, who's laughing now?

or have some nasty burns where there are sharp edges, but here's to hoping it doesn't do that. Better idea is a fine metal mesh at appropriate fineness, more than a microwave oven door, and make a net that is tented around the crowd, that would help a lot.

These could easily be converted for military use. With a can of spray adhesive and roll of aluminum foil you could have functional body armor in no time.

http://www.studiocreations.com/howto/stormtrooper/

DU 'em, torture 'em, then Ray gun 'em. After it's been proven that the Iraqi people did nothing to us - we do this? Can't you just feel the love building up for us in this world...then people say, "why do they hate us."

while those nasty muslims 'blow themselves up'-
we'll just microvave everyone in sight-

MY GOD- we are ignorant arrogant bastards.

So let me make sure I'm understanding this. To avoid hot spots and permanent damage, the test people were asked to remove glasses and buttons and change and stuff, right?

Ah, I see. So as long as this out of control mob is naked and has great vision, this will work just peachy.

:wtf:

has made us a fascist nation forever, these will be used more and more, I suspect, as people become poorer and hungrier.

hmmm, what does that sound like?????

The magazine said a vehicle-mounted version of the weapon named Sheriff was scheduled for service in Iraq in 2006 and that U.S. Marines and police were both working on portable versions.

to be used on US protesters?

Who the hell would volunteer to be a test subject for a freaking ray gun?

:wtf: