Why would you assume that a nonlethal weapons like this is designed primarily for torture? There are a thousand low tech methods, dating back centuries, to torture you. Most are far more effectively than making a long distance puke ray, for crying out loud. This technology is being designed to give the police or military an alternative to putting a bullet in your head when you and your anarchist buddies are out smashing windows and burning buildings.  Are you honestly advocating that the government stick with lethal force as the only way to control rioting mobs?

Truthdig has a frontpage article today about conservative distrust of the government, but it is the posts on here that make it sound like the leftists are the most paranoid. 

Some on this board will apparently bitch about any response the police could use to respond to rioters.  If the cops shoot rioters, they are ‘murderers’, if they use nonlethal weapons, they are ‘torturers’, if they revert to old fashioned batons and riot sticks, it is ‘police brutality’. Of course when the riotters throw rocks and firebombs at police, it is “free speech”. I guess the only acceptable thing to the left would be for police to stay at the station and not respond at all while the rioting mobs run loose, destroy property and attack people at will.

Sondra, you’ve never heard of pepper spray, stun guns, etc?

You can educate yourself on nonlethal weapons here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlethal_weapon

Dear lemoc,

There was a time, when I believed “republican” stood for conservative values. You know, small federal government. Hard work. Caring about others. Saving as much as you could. States rights and the people’s voice. Allowing free expression and most important free choice.

Pledging allegiance to the flag which wasn’t under God, but stood for Liberty and Justice for all. Understanding E Pluribus Unum was the National Motto and it didn’t mean In God We Trust.

Supporting my sons as each in turn decided to give a portion of their life in military service. You know giving back.

Valuing the lessons learned in Civics classes. Learning and understanding the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence. Standing proud as I watched my kids and grandkids take an oath to Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States against ALL enemies both foreign and domestic. And knowing they understood what that meant.

Their was a time when I rejoiced as across the country “Christian” Indian Schools were closed and children were allowed once more to be raised by their parents. Watched the Japanese farmer come back to his farm across the street, after the missing years. Wondering if he would ever stop and chat with me as he had once. Wondering how anyone could hate another because they didn’t have the same color skin, or go to the same church. Learning to recognize and then love the gay people in my life. Waiting for the outrage from the pulpit as I watched so many of my values turned on their ear.

There was a time when I believed the obvious wrongs would right themselves, but that was when I was young and dumb and republican. Somewhere along the way I realized that party does not exist anymore.

I am legion. We are millions. We like to think we’re Independents, but independent folk by their very nature have trouble coming together organizing a position and candidate we can all agree with. So until that day, should it ever come, we go where the light shines brightest, which last November was on the democrats.

Does that make us lefties?
No righties, because the republican party has just gone all wrong.
Guess that makes them wrongies.

Meanwhile I like to think of me and mine as conservative liberals, because that is what we are. The small pocket who still place saving over debt. People over stuff and freedom over repression, which is why more and more disillusioned republicans will join us.

It isn’t about complete control. That’s what the republican party has come to stand for. It’s about restoring values and Constitutional government. It’s about having honest leaders who honor their oath. Its about going back as many generations as it takes and cleaning house, exposing corruption, no matter which party.

Its about recognizing as long as we look the other way someone will try to steal from us. Its about regaining the self-respect and initiative to stop looking the other way and restoring honesty to our government, our institutions, our corporations and ourselves. And then never forgetting it requires constant effort.

We can never again look the other way.

That sound you hear is not crickets chirping, it’s the distant roar of the approaching train that’s bringing change.

Look out both party’s!

See us coming? Climb on board or get off the track!

Wow, I woulda thought that Leftopians could relax a little, having gotten halfway to THE objective: owning it all (Wash DC).  You’re burning up a lot of energy (adding to Earth’s temperature)with your over-the-top hatred for All Things Not Utopian.  You’ll have it all in a coupla years, then you can show us how it’s done by State Worshippers.  By the way, what HAVE you gotten done since you got both House and Senate?

Crickets chirping.

This idea of such a thing sounds perfectly Orwellian in its implications.  Big Brother can see and hear us without our knowledge, apparently now they’re working on ways to torture us that way too.  But is anyone really all that surprised given the current group of people occupying the White House?

There is no such thing as a “non lethal weapon”
People! C’mon!!!!!!!!!!! Spare me!
“non lethal weapon” MY A**!

Lovely. Just recently news of a weapon that makes ones body feel like it is ablaze. Is this cause for celebration? In an administration that has worked deligently to enshrine torture and assasination as rights of the Presidency even at home, can anyone doubt that the “you feel like you are on fire, but aren’t weapon” (not to mention the puke weapon) won’t be used to torture people? History says that arrogant, greedy and nasty people left without supervision or punishment for crossing the line of humanity into torture, will “Surprise?” think nothing of using torture to get what they want or to pass the time of day.

At this point getting Bush/Cheney out of office is not enough, unless the basic protections of our Bill of Rights are restated strongly and charges and punishment dealt out to all who cooperated and participated in these crimes against our LAWS, without this, the precident has been set and the future will only get worse.

That this Administration has largely been wished upon this country by Fundamentlist Christians who make much of morality and responsibility for others, but give themselves a pass to torture and interfer in others lives and call it democracy. What liars they are.

We can only hope that amid all the billions of dollars spent by the Defense Department on questionable projects, maybe some small amount of good research might emerge.

Maybe there is reason to believe that this might be the case for a few DoD research programs, even for the ones that seem “far out.”

The three articles referenced below take a look at some other interesting DoD research activities recently in the news:

- - -

“Navy dolphins may be deployed: Did secret ESP research involve them?”

Steve Hammons
American Chronicle
February 14, 2007

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle. asp?articleID=20708

- - -

“Navy SEAL officer’s report on ‘remote viewing’ urges ‘transcendent’ intelligence”

Steve Hammons
American Chronicle
December 26, 2006

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle. asp?articleID=18354

- - -

“U.S. defense research agency sponsors ‘mind-blowing’ studies to regrow human limbs”

Steve Hammons
American Chronicle
October 10, 2006

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle. asp?articleID=14652

Quy Tran, no, the weapons Hussein used against the Kurds and Iran were WMDs, used to kill mass amounts of people. . What this article concerns is less-than-lethal weapons. These can be used to incapacitate an enemy, whether it be enemy troops or a crowd of rioting civilians, without killing or even permanently injuring them.

Anytime the US military is pursuing the means to do it’s job while killing fewer people, we should see it as a good thing.

Or, or, you could call it the ‘defense’ industry gone runaway, the kinder, gentler global Potemkin village…

“Invocon claims they have already held the “first known demonstration” of this technology. You gotta wonder who that lucky employee was.”

Well, how’s this for an hypothesis?

Somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the area where I live began being plagued by a “Bug” all the doctors have seen and labeled as such. It hit without warning caused vomiting, shooting from bowel to chest pains that came sharply and left suddenly only to return again and again. There was dizziness, disorientation, earache, headache, sometimes diarrhea, virtually no fever and, usually in less than twenty four hours apparent recovery. Except for the normal exhaustion one would expect from such an occurrence.

Whatever it was, it obviously built no natural immunity and returned a week or two later to spread again, through the family, daycare, school, like a wildfire.

The kids, particularly the younger ones seemed to get it the easiest which led us to blame school for the quick spread of the bug. But in my family it began in the preschoolers.

Typically, when it was at it’s worse, a phone-call to the doctors office was received with the answer, “If it doesn’t go away in a few days, call back.” And, “We’re seeing a lot of this, not sure what it is, not serious, seems to go away pretty quickly. Just something going around.”

But, because it has made the rounds several times, kids are weakened and now picking up Influenza, the bug the doctors can identify with a culture. So ... well you can see where I’m going with this, right?

Before you label me a conspiracy nut, think about this. Our kids were sitting ducks when the U.S. was testing the first nuclear bombs. Does anyone know who was running data on those kids to see how they were affected? Does anyone seriously believe someone wasn’t?

How many other examples of citizens, particularly children being used as guinea pigs could we come up with if we really tried? After all, they are the perfect target. Likely untouched by disease that would cloud the results. Completely innocent so not likely to see an ulterior motive behind their strange illness. And most likely able to bounce back quickly without long-term adverse effect.

So how’s that for an hypothesis? The Bug that came for Christmas and stayed for Valentines Day. And nobody ever was quite sure what it was ... although the doctors started to refer to it as a “flu-like bug.” Cant identify it other than to say it’s just going around, and around ...

Interesting that the majority of adults in these kids lives didn’t get it. And, as the real flu moves in, the “flu-like bug” the one with NO fever, seems to have disappeared. I hope.

OK, call me paranoid. Someone notable said a while back, “If you read the news and you’re not paranoid, you’re not paying attention.”

The Navy was perplexed that dolfins were beaching themselves.  They were doing sonar tests underwater
. . . “sound & position (relative to gravity) are converted into messages” (ECHO-location)
“Interuption of these processes causes disorientation and confusion” >> > < ~~~~* * !?

Wow . . .  blaring (Blairing) harsh sounds into prisoners’ cells has been deemed effective in disorienting detainees enough that they will hang themselves in their cells.  What other torture methods can the neo-himmlers
concoct in the name of “Military Research” . . . in this case specifically, Naval Military Research.

Isn’t it nice to know our tax dollars are being spent on solving real problems?

I could have saved them millions, just the voice of either Bush or Cheney have the very same effect on me.

Could we count this ones as chemical weapons as President Hussein used several years ago ?
If “YES”, who will be hanged as Hussein ?