Better Than X-Ray Specs
When the use of back-scatter x-ray machines became more widespread, I knew there would be privacy problems. Some minimum-wage security guy was going to see the outline of someone's body through their clothes and have a Beavis & Butthead reaction to that physical form....
A $6 Billion Fiasco
A number with three commas in it is a big number, particularly when you're talking about money. So when you hear that the US has spent $6,000,000,000 training the Afghan police force, you'd think we ought to be getting a pretty good return on that investment, and that...
Detecting Bogus Detectors
Over the weekend, British authorities arrested Jim McCormick for fraud -- the kind of fraud that put lives at risk. McCormick sold bomb-detecting equipment to security forces in Iraq, to the tune of $85 million. The problem is that his devices were useless. They were...
Capitol Hill Vacancies
As Chris Dodd was announcing that he won't run for re-election for the US Senate seat from Connecticut that he's held for 30 years, I was talking on KIRO/Seattle with Josh Kraushaar of Politico about the implications of that decision (and a similar one from Sen. Byron...
Miranda & Terrorists
Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder appeared on the Sunday morning talk shows and indicated a change of course in the Obama administration's policy regarding reading Miranda warnings to suspected terrorists like Faisal Shahzad, who confessed to planting the...
Constitutional Lawlessness
Tonight on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow ripped apart Republicans -- Senators Susan Collins, Lindsay Graham, and Mitch McConnell -- who have been attacking the Obama administration for its handling of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the attempted Christmas day undie-bomber. As...
Airport Insecurity
Two quick airport notes as I begin my trip home from Biloxi. Delta charges passengers $25 for each checked bag, but on their regional jets, which are too small for most carry-ons to fit in the overhead compartment, they offer “planeside valet,” where you gate-check...
Schneier On Security
Bruce Schneier, an aviation security expert, joined me on KIRO/Seattle this morning to talk about the still-changing response to the failed attempt to blow up Northwest 253 on Christmas. We talked about whether the full body scanners now being deployed worldwide will...