Aa
LA authorities plan to use heat-beam ray in jail
Wow, this is strange!
By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer – 10 mins ago
LOS ANGELES – A device designed to control unruly inmates by blasting them with a beam of intense energy that causes a burning sensation is drawing heat from civil rights groups who fear it could cause serious injury and is "tantamount to torture."
The mechanism, known as an "Assault Intervention Device," is a stripped-down version of a military gadget that sends highly focused beams of energy at people and makes them feel as though they are burning. The Los Angeles County sheriff's department plans to install the device by Labor Day, making it the first time in the world the technology has been deployed in such a capacity.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California criticized Sheriff Lee Baca's decision in a letter sent Thursday, saying that the technology amounts to a ray gun at a county jail. The 4-feet-tall weapon, which looks like a cross between a robot and a satellite radar, will be mounted on the ceiling and can swivel.
It is remotely controlled by an operator in a separate room who lines up targets with a joystick.
The ACLU said the weapon was "tantamount to torture," noting that early military versions resulted in five airmen suffering lasting burns. It requested a meeting with Baca, who declined the invitation.
The sheriff unveiled the device last week and said it would be installed in the dorm of a jail in north Los Angeles County. It is far less powerful than the military version and has various safeguards in place, including a three-second limit to each beam of heat.
The natural response when blasted — to leap out the way — would be helpful in bringing difficult inmates under control and quelling riots, the sheriff said.
But the sheriff was creating a dangerous environment with "a weapon that can cause serious injury that is being put into a place where there is a long history of abuse of prisoners," ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg said. "That is a toxic combination."
Cmdr. Bob Osborne, who oversees technology for the sheriff's department, said the concerns were unfounded. He said he stood in front of the beam more than 50 times and that it never caused any sort of lasting damage.
"The neat thing with this device is you experience pain but you are not injured by it," Osborne said. "It doesn't injure your skin, the beam doesn't have the power to do that."
He said the device would be a more humane way of dealing with jail disturbances. Unlike hitting inmates with batons or deploying tear gas, a shot from the beam has no aftereffects, he said.
The device was made specifically for the sheriff's department by Raytheon Missile Systems. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said its $750,000 cost was paid for by a Department of Justice technology grant.
After a six-month trial, the sheriff will determine if the device is effective and if it should be deployed in other jails.
"When this pilot program is done, the realistic hope is it will accomplish not only what the sheriff's department wants but what the ACLU wants, which is to save lives harmlessly," Whitmore said.
A Raytheon spokesman on Thursday referred questions to the sheriff's department, but provided a fact sheet describing how the device only penetrates skin to a depth 1/64 of an inch. The military's version of the device can shoot a beam more than 800 feet but the sheriff's department model has a maximum range of 85 feet.
Angelica Arias, an attorney with the county's Office of Independent Review, which monitors the sheriff's department, said only deputies with special training would be able to use the device and a video would be automatically recorded each time it is operated.
"Based on the level of scrutiny the department has put on itself and its training, it doesn't appear there would be too much wiggle room for misuse," Arias said.
By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer – 10 mins ago
LOS ANGELES – A device designed to control unruly inmates by blasting them with a beam of intense energy that causes a burning sensation is drawing heat from civil rights groups who fear it could cause serious injury and is "tantamount to torture."
The mechanism, known as an "Assault Intervention Device," is a stripped-down version of a military gadget that sends highly focused beams of energy at people and makes them feel as though they are burning. The Los Angeles County sheriff's department plans to install the device by Labor Day, making it the first time in the world the technology has been deployed in such a capacity.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California criticized Sheriff Lee Baca's decision in a letter sent Thursday, saying that the technology amounts to a ray gun at a county jail. The 4-feet-tall weapon, which looks like a cross between a robot and a satellite radar, will be mounted on the ceiling and can swivel.
It is remotely controlled by an operator in a separate room who lines up targets with a joystick.
The ACLU said the weapon was "tantamount to torture," noting that early military versions resulted in five airmen suffering lasting burns. It requested a meeting with Baca, who declined the invitation.
The sheriff unveiled the device last week and said it would be installed in the dorm of a jail in north Los Angeles County. It is far less powerful than the military version and has various safeguards in place, including a three-second limit to each beam of heat.
The natural response when blasted — to leap out the way — would be helpful in bringing difficult inmates under control and quelling riots, the sheriff said.
But the sheriff was creating a dangerous environment with "a weapon that can cause serious injury that is being put into a place where there is a long history of abuse of prisoners," ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg said. "That is a toxic combination."
Cmdr. Bob Osborne, who oversees technology for the sheriff's department, said the concerns were unfounded. He said he stood in front of the beam more than 50 times and that it never caused any sort of lasting damage.
"The neat thing with this device is you experience pain but you are not injured by it," Osborne said. "It doesn't injure your skin, the beam doesn't have the power to do that."
He said the device would be a more humane way of dealing with jail disturbances. Unlike hitting inmates with batons or deploying tear gas, a shot from the beam has no aftereffects, he said.
The device was made specifically for the sheriff's department by Raytheon Missile Systems. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said its $750,000 cost was paid for by a Department of Justice technology grant.
After a six-month trial, the sheriff will determine if the device is effective and if it should be deployed in other jails.
"When this pilot program is done, the realistic hope is it will accomplish not only what the sheriff's department wants but what the ACLU wants, which is to save lives harmlessly," Whitmore said.
A Raytheon spokesman on Thursday referred questions to the sheriff's department, but provided a fact sheet describing how the device only penetrates skin to a depth 1/64 of an inch. The military's version of the device can shoot a beam more than 800 feet but the sheriff's department model has a maximum range of 85 feet.
Angelica Arias, an attorney with the county's Office of Independent Review, which monitors the sheriff's department, said only deputies with special training would be able to use the device and a video would be automatically recorded each time it is operated.
"Based on the level of scrutiny the department has put on itself and its training, it doesn't appear there would be too much wiggle room for misuse," Arias said.
Hmm. FlyingSheep would not only decrease violence in jails, it would make for a much fitter prison population. They've been saying prisons are big business... now I see the commercial possibilities...
Hi Kathy
Let us know how the flying thing goes, you could have enormous commercial possibilities also if it works out!
"Bill --- Emily seems to have you on the fast track. Better watch out!"
So far we have only seen Bill1954 turn to bill1954, when it turns to ill1954 we know it's time to worry!
Let us know how the flying thing goes, you could have enormous commercial possibilities also if it works out!
"Bill --- Emily seems to have you on the fast track. Better watch out!"
So far we have only seen Bill1954 turn to bill1954, when it turns to ill1954 we know it's time to worry!
"My all time favorite! I've been trying to find this one for ages.... Haven't come across it since 1980 or so."
For some reason flguy's comment brought me to that flying sheep memory, one of my favorites too!
- Dave
For some reason flguy's comment brought me to that flying sheep memory, one of my favorites too!
- Dave
Bill --- Emily seems to have you on the fast track. Better watch out!
Dave -- that piece of machinery is pretty dang strange. What kind of humans are we anyway??? Think I will climb in a tree and try to fly. what does it all mean anyway?
bean
ps goof -- you certainly have the weird thead radar. Don't know how you zone in on them all the time. Ah there have been some fine ones thru the years.
Dave -- that piece of machinery is pretty dang strange. What kind of humans are we anyway??? Think I will climb in a tree and try to fly. what does it all mean anyway?
bean
ps goof -- you certainly have the weird thead radar. Don't know how you zone in on them all the time. Ah there have been some fine ones thru the years.
Whooooaaahaaaaahaaaa......... Thanks soooo much.
My all time favorite! I've been trying to find this one for ages.... Haven't come across it since 1980 or so.
Do you know if it only exists in audio or also on video
My all time favorite! I've been trying to find this one for ages.... Haven't come across it since 1980 or so.
Do you know if it only exists in audio or also on video
Monty Python, Flying Sheep
(A tourist approaches a shepherd. The sounds of sheep and the outdoors are heard.)
Tourist (Terry Jones: Good afternoon.
Shepherd (Graham Chapman): Afternoon
Tourist: Ah, lovely day isn't it?
Shepherd: Ar, 'tis that.
Tourist: Are you here on holiday or...?
Shepherd: Nope, I live 'ere.
Tourist: Oh, jolly good. I say, those ARE sheep aren't they?
Shepherd: Yeh.
Tourist: Yes yes, I though so. Only, why are they up in the trees?
Shepherd: A fair question and one that in recent weeks 'as been much on my mind. It's my considered opinion that they're nestin'.
Tourist: Nesting?
Shepherd: Aye.
Tourist: Like birds?
Shepherd: Exactly. Birds is the key to the whole problem. It's my belief that these sheep are laborin' under the misapprehension that they're birds. Observe their behavior. Take for a start the sheeps' tendency to 'op about the field on their back legs. Now witness their attmpts to fly from tree to tree. Notice that they do not so much fly as... plummet. (Baaa baaa... flap flap... thud.) Observe for example that ewe in that oak tree. She is clearly trying to teach her lamb to fly. (baaaaa... thud) Talk about the blind leading the blind.
Tourist: Yes, but why do they think they're birds?
Shepherd: Another fair question. One thing is for sure, the sheep is not a creature of the air. They have enormous difficulty in the comparatively simple act of perchin'. (Baaa baaa... flap flap... thud.) As you see. As for flight its body is totally unadapted to the problems of aviation. Trouble is, sheep are very dim. Once they get an idea in their 'eads, there's no shiftin' it.
Tourist: But where did they get the idea from?
Shepherd: From Harold. He's that sheep over there under the elm. He's that most dangerous of animals, a clever sheep. He's the ring leader. He has realized that a sheep's life consists of standin' around for a few months and then bein' eaten. And that's a depressing prospect for an ambitious sheep. He's patently hit on the idea of escape.
Tourist: Well why don't you just get rid of Harold?
Shepherd: Because of the enormous commercial possibilities should he succeed.
Voice Over (Eric Idle): And what exacdy are the commercial possibilities of ovine aviation?
(A tourist approaches a shepherd. The sounds of sheep and the outdoors are heard.)
Tourist (Terry Jones: Good afternoon.
Shepherd (Graham Chapman): Afternoon
Tourist: Ah, lovely day isn't it?
Shepherd: Ar, 'tis that.
Tourist: Are you here on holiday or...?
Shepherd: Nope, I live 'ere.
Tourist: Oh, jolly good. I say, those ARE sheep aren't they?
Shepherd: Yeh.
Tourist: Yes yes, I though so. Only, why are they up in the trees?
Shepherd: A fair question and one that in recent weeks 'as been much on my mind. It's my considered opinion that they're nestin'.
Tourist: Nesting?
Shepherd: Aye.
Tourist: Like birds?
Shepherd: Exactly. Birds is the key to the whole problem. It's my belief that these sheep are laborin' under the misapprehension that they're birds. Observe their behavior. Take for a start the sheeps' tendency to 'op about the field on their back legs. Now witness their attmpts to fly from tree to tree. Notice that they do not so much fly as... plummet. (Baaa baaa... flap flap... thud.) Observe for example that ewe in that oak tree. She is clearly trying to teach her lamb to fly. (baaaaa... thud) Talk about the blind leading the blind.
Tourist: Yes, but why do they think they're birds?
Shepherd: Another fair question. One thing is for sure, the sheep is not a creature of the air. They have enormous difficulty in the comparatively simple act of perchin'. (Baaa baaa... flap flap... thud.) As you see. As for flight its body is totally unadapted to the problems of aviation. Trouble is, sheep are very dim. Once they get an idea in their 'eads, there's no shiftin' it.
Tourist: But where did they get the idea from?
Shepherd: From Harold. He's that sheep over there under the elm. He's that most dangerous of animals, a clever sheep. He's the ring leader. He has realized that a sheep's life consists of standin' around for a few months and then bein' eaten. And that's a depressing prospect for an ambitious sheep. He's patently hit on the idea of escape.
Tourist: Well why don't you just get rid of Harold?
Shepherd: Because of the enormous commercial possibilities should he succeed.
Voice Over (Eric Idle): And what exacdy are the commercial possibilities of ovine aviation?
"... controlled by an operator in a separate room who lines up targets with a joystick."
I used to line up targets with a joystick. That was a long time ago. Now l just read about Bill's alphabetic viagra escapades.
I used to line up targets with a joystick. That was a long time ago. Now l just read about Bill's alphabetic viagra escapades.
Bemused that in no time at all, this post has led me to inadvertantly visualize a new-fangled 4-foot tall robot-like moderator named Em whose winking arrival causes members to dive under desks and behave as if a bomb drill were happening in order to save their heads and other body parts from being beamed down. (Unless, of course, all of a sudden you find you've been upper-cased, in which case she might have actually beamed you up.)
That really brought back memories. I remember the bomb drills in elementary school where they had us sit on the hall floor against the wall with in that tucked position. Yes you are right, that will probably come in handy after all these years!
Remember the public services announcements from when our generation was young?
In case of a attack dive under your desk, or kitchen table or throw your biclcle down in the middle of the street and cover your head.
Now you can put those psa's to use.
Donna
In case of a attack dive under your desk, or kitchen table or throw your biclcle down in the middle of the street and cover your head.
Now you can put those psa's to use.
Donna
As long as she doesn’t focus that thing on any particular part of my anatomy, Dave.
Come to think of it, maybe that’s what she used to shrink my Big B! Yikes! Cut it out, now Em :o)!
Bill
Come to think of it, maybe that’s what she used to shrink my Big B! Yikes! Cut it out, now Em :o)!
Bill
Behave yourself, I hear Emily has the beam pointed at your house! Keep the doggie inside!
Amazing that some idiot would subject themselves to that thing, still I would have liked to have seen it! It sound's quite entertaining in a weird kind of way
Didn't the big B in Bill turn into a little b a while ago? Uh-oh maybe it was a practice shot we're gonna get taken out one letter at a time.
Donna
Donna
Rumor has it Emily called Ratheon and placed an order for one of their virtual units to use on posters; no more deleting threads any more now; just zap ‘em.
Bill
Bill
Saw some anchor guy on the news forget which channel, stand in front of the device and get zapped. He said it felt getting a cigarette pushed into his back.
Think the military will set one up behind my counter at work for all the rude and unruly customers that come through my line?
Donna
Think the military will set one up behind my counter at work for all the rude and unruly customers that come through my line?
Donna
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis Social Community
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
