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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...