Today’s POV blog

The world watched with bated breath as a boy named Falcon Heene floated aimlessly for more than two hours across the Colorado landscape trapped inside a weather balloon. The real surprise came once the craft set down and the child was not onboard. Falcon, the youngest of three Heene children, was later found hiding in a box in the attic of the garage.

With the media in full frenzy, the Heenes appeared the next day on Larry King Live, where Falcon responded to his father and said, “You guys said we did this for the show.”

While the Heenes adamantly deny the charges that this was all a publicity hoax, a number of events have come to light that have prompted the authorities to seek charges. Robert Thomas, a former associate of Richard Henne, stated today in a Gawker interview that he helped plan a number of possible scenarios as a method for promoting the Heenes for a reality TV show. The plan in which Richard was most interested was that of a flying saucer.

At concern now is the massive state and federal resources that were spent following the balloon in fear that the child would fall from the craft —helicopters, rescue parties, and even manpower that may have been kept from actual emergencies – all for what now has the appearance of a publicity stunt by a family addicted to the limelight.

Richard and Mayumi Heene face possible felony charges including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and making a false report to police. The felony charges carry a maximum sentence of six years’ imprisonment and a $500,000 fine. They may also risk having their children removed by child-protective services.

Phamatech Inc., is now distributing a rapid-results, diagnostic, at-home drug test. In a CVS Pharmacy commercial, they are promoting this testing kit for use on your children.

Phamatech claims they are in support of a drug-free America, but perhaps a more common use will turn out to be when someone who is using drugs wants to ensure for themselves that their urine is clean before an impending, mandated drug test.

In an upper-class neighborhood in Washington, the city council has had cameras installed at intersections that monitor every vehicle coming into the city. It’s not without warning, however, there are also signs posted telling you that you are being videotaped.

According to the Seattle Times article, these cameras capture all license-plate numbers in a crime-prevention measure that one council member says “outweighs concern over privacy.”

Within seconds of entering Medina, the license-plate number is run through a database and if a hit surfaces for a felony, the information is transmitted instantaneously to police who take immediate action. The captured information of every person entering the city isn’t verified and discarded, it’s stored for 60 days — even if you turn out to be a law-abiding citizen just out for a Sunday drive. Archiving the data allows police an opportunity for a second look if a crime occurs anytime within 60 days of your visit.

Doug Honig, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, said such a system smacks of privacy violations. “Government shouldn’t be keeping records of people’s comings and goings when they haven’t done anything wrong,” he said. “By actions like this, we’re moving closer and closer to a surveillance society.”

Wired.com has posted a story that a Mexican company — Solusat – has begun a microchip-tracking service purportedly for tracking children at risk for kidnapping. This new device is about the size of a grain of rice and is injected beneath the skin. The VeriChip transmits a radio signal so that authorities can easily find the child (or as it’s currently used, cattle).

With the endorsement of Mexico’s National Foundation of Investigations of Robbed and Missing Children, Carlos Altamirano, Solusat’s associate general director, said there are “projects on the table, but one form of finding (children) is by putting scanners in strategic locations where a search is being conducted.” This might include walk-through scanners in malls, bus stations, and other key locations.

Some officials are concerned about the safety of a child that has been “chipped.” After all, won’t the kidnapper simply cut out the device?

Lauren Weinstein, creator of the Privacy Forum, also has warned that chipping children and others with a LoJack-type device to track their movements could violate their civil liberties.

The VeriChip manufacturer, Applied Digital Solutions, has indicated that it plans to roll out the chip and tracking service in other countries, including the US.