How would feel if you knew

that every move you made, every second of every day, could be tracked

and recorded? More importantly, do you really understand the potential

significance of this capability?

Two recent news items prove

that this is closer to being a reality than many people might think, especially

if they connect the dots. The technology is obviously here; it's just

a matter of how it's applied.

First we have the new Information

Awareness Office, now bunkered in the Pentagon and headed by John Poindexter,

the former admiral identified more than a decade ago with the Iran-Contra

affair. The mission of his department is supposed to be a key ingredient

in the war against terrorism, and it could very well be just that, but

it will also be much more.

Simply put, this office will

eventually be able to keep track of every credit card purchase you make,

every medical prescription you fill, every time you fill up your tank

and pay at the pump, every time you drive your car through the toll booth

and use your "easy-pay" scanner, and any other electronic transaction

you make. Of course, you're not a terrorist, but that determination cannot

be made for certain until all of this information is sifted through.

Poindexter has been given a

$200 million budget with the capability to create dossiers on 300 million

Americans. Even more valuable is the possibility that the new federal

homeland security legislation could give him the authorization to proceed

without worrying too much about privacy laws. Has all of this got your

attention yet?

Anyone who has read or heard

anything about this in the past week has no doubt also been bombarded

with various Orwellian references, as scenes from the novel "1984"

spring to mind. Will this help our government identify and eliminate serious

threats to our safety, or will it lead to the creation of a police state?

While we chew on that, here's

another technological leap to deal with. The VeriChip, introduced to the

public several months ago, is a radio-frequency identification chip that

can be implanted underneath the skin. Applied Digital Solutions, the company

that makes the VeriChip, wants to make it available to the general public.

A seminar was convened last

week in Washington to discuss the pros and cons of using such devices

on humans. Among the questions raised are possible applications of this

technology, under what circumstances to use the chip, what information

could be collected and by whom.

It would be very easy to come

up with a hundred good reasons to use the VeriChip. You could locate lost

or kidnapped children, track soldiers behind enemy lines, and essentially

find anyone, anywhere (if Tom Hanks had one of these, "Cast Away"

would have been a very short movie). On an even more practical note, you

could wave your arm over the scanner at the grocery store's checkout counter.

A paramedic could scan your unconscious body and know immediately what

serious medical conditions you might have.

How about using it to track

parolees and convicted criminals on probation? What if the government

decided to require implants for certain types of work to make security

tighter? It doesn't take a genius to see how far this could go and how

quickly it could get there, especially if a terrorism-conscious government

grants exceptional latitude in applications with national security implications.

Now, use just a little bit

of imagination and put these two scenarios together. The United States

has a gigantic database to compile information on everyone in the country.

This information is constantly updated as citizens use electronic transactions

for every facet of their lives, with tiny radio chips implanted in their

arms. Regardless of whether anyone thinks this will actually happen, there

is no doubt that the technology is in place, and the more threats to our

safety and our way of life that surface, the more acceptable these kinds

of measures will become.

One more thing: While you consider

all of this, take a look at the 13th chapter of Revelation. Maybe these

aren't such new ideas after all.

[Monroe Roark's Web address

is www.mroark.com.]