Up the wattage i say
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12154117
Up the wattage i say
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12154117
LOL, oh the hypocrisy!!! LOL
http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...ety-pl-edition.
This space for rent.
yes... it is ok for law enforcement to blind people (even pirates)
and in what sense is it more humane to blind someone than to kill him? who decides on that?
and if one looks deeper into this, these pirates are actually just teenagers with guns and to the biggest percent are blackmailed; their families being kept hostages by the real pirates on dry land (the real ones will never be found hijacking boats). At least this is the story in somalia, as told by many military officers that have been on nato missions there
so, no captain hook or jolly roger flags, just some starved kids with @k47s
yes, shine a lazor upon them, just for kicks
the real question is... will it pop balloons? will it light matches???
i have no photo editing software here at work, but can somebody photoshop a pic of "pirates of the carribean" with OD-6 safety goggles please????
Last edited by LaNeK779; 01-11-2011 at 00:56. Reason: added an idea
"its called character briggs..."
....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...
LOL that picture is epic.
back to topic:
I think this is sick.
Now those pirates are off course not worth a penny for all their trouble, but blinding them sounds pointless.
If they want to prevent pirates they should just shoot a hole in their boat or kill them.
The whole blinding part, I don't get it.
After they are blinded... then what?
have them seem nothing, they get blinded, fall of their boat and don't see whats happening and they die?
What better way of having a person suffer to first make him blind and then leave him for suffering or to commit suicide, or even he might not ever find a way back.
My opinion: want to get rid of them? Just shoot them down.
The rest of the pirates will think a second time after they are aware of it happening.
Pirates often cause alot more casualities, then it would be if you shoot them down.
*Correction:
"these pirates are actually just teenagers with guns and to the biggest percent are blackmailed; their families being kept hostages by the real pirates on dry land (the real ones will never be found hijacking boats). At least this is the story in somalia, as told by many military officers that have been on nato missions there."
You got a point there, but even though it sounds cruel... it's one way or the other*
You can either give them the ability to cause casualities on board and also provide the money that these pirates need to keep on doing this.
Or you can indeed be cruel and take them down, and hopefully those pirates will run out of money for weapons or any of those things.*
Last edited by masterpj; 01-11-2011 at 02:00.
or you can provide the means to their countries for sustainable economic growth (and not at loanshark interest rates) so that none will have to resort to piracy, or criminal acts.
those pirates will not run out of money, as the "developed countries" look the other way when they are trafficing drugs. and this money is always accepted by the "developed countries" when these pirates want to buy more weapons
i am not trying to make this a "heavy" conversation, it is not the forum for this. i am just trying to see further than what's presented by the reporters, and approach a different side of the coin. so, nothing personnal with anybody (especially as good willed and enthusiastic as you, masterpj). and in no way do i approve or justify piracy and other criminal acts that endanger life and property
it is just the double-faced civilised world...
Last edited by LaNeK779; 01-11-2011 at 02:53. Reason: removed some stuff, not the place for it here :)
"its called character briggs..."
Temporarily blinding them won't do anything. They'll spend all that money and the pirates will buy laser goggles.
If they really want to stop the pirate problem then they should use the military (isn't the US still technically at war with Somalia?) and set up ships as thye did in World War II that are civillian ships with hidden gun emplacments behind drop down container sides and shoot the pirates. If they really wanted to stop them then on soemthing the size of a container ship they could put an Apache helicopter gun ship on a landing pad in the middle of stacked containers and then launch it after the pirates to eliminate them following an attack.
Merely capturing them isn't going to do anything.
Look how piracy was eliminated in the eighteen hundred, by hanging them from trees! ... and it worked!
and i can't understand this temporary blindness. for all i know, the damage to the retina etc is irrepairable...
if they have found a super powerfull, temp-blinding laser, maybe it is good news for audience scanning, too ???
(just joking of course)
"its called character briggs..."
I agree with that
First of all: Thanks
And Im not expecting anyone on PL to really support piracy, especially not this kind of piracy.
Sadly yes
and even when they would offer financial support the biggest question of all often will be: "will it really help?"
I think it's one of those problems that simply doesn't have a solution.
The money often ends at the wrong persons.
Actually, it's illegal for law enforcement to blind people. It's also against the Geneva convention. Blinding weapons are expressly forbidden. (There are exceptions for devices like range-finders, which are not designed to blind people but *can* blind them under some circumstances, as well as for weapons that cause blindness along with other trauma, such as an atomic bomb or napalm.) So long as permanent blindness is not the primary purpose of the weapon, it is allowed.
This device does not "blind" people. It temporarily impairs their vision. Ever look at the sun for a few seconds? What happened when you looked away? Couldn't see a thing, right? Same idea here.
The technical term is "flash-blindness", but it's not permanent. There is no damage to the retina. Anyone that has been momentarily "blinded" by the flashlamp of a camera understands what this is like.
The only difference here is that by using a laser they can deliver that same flash of bright light to a target over a mile away. (By greatly expanding the initial beam, they drastically lower the divergence, and the irradiance. So the beam isn't powerful enough to cause permanent blindness, but it also maintains more or less the same irradiance as the beam travels because it doesn't spread out very much.)
These devices have been in use for some time now by law enforcement and the military.
If this device caused permanent blindness, I would agree that it would be horrible, and very close to killing them. But that's not what it does.and in what sense is it more humane to blind someone than to kill him? who decides on that?
No, not for kicks. To prevent the conflict from escalating into something worse. Because the next step is armed conflict, and people die that way. Better if they can be warned off with a dazzler.yes, shine a lazor upon them, just for kicks
I doubt it. If they're so poor that they have to resort to piracy, do you really think they'll be able to afford laser goggles? What makes you think they'll even know which goggles to buy? Sure, you and I understand the problem, but the average Somalian pirate is not a laser expert...
This is a problem for two reasons. One, it leads to more death, while using a dazzler is a non-lethal way to prevent them from attacking the ship. Two, the US only has so many ships. They can't be everywhere at once. So by equipping cargo ships with a dazzler like this, they can protect themselves (somewhat).If they really want to stop the pirate problem then they should use the military (isn't the US still technically at war with Somalia?) and set up ships as thye did in World War II that are civillian ships with hidden gun emplacments behind drop down container sides and shoot the pirates.
It's not a perfect solution, but it's safer than trying to arm the crew of the cargo ship with rocket launchers...
As explained above, it doesn't damage the retina anymore than looking at a bright flashbulb on a camera would. The beam is spread out to lower the irradiance. Also, the extreme distance spoils the spatial coherence. So you're not talking about a diffraction-limited spot by the time it's focused on the retina. Even so, it's still incredibly bright, which leaves an after-image for several seconds and completely spoils their night vision. Then they have to try to find the ship again...
Adam