Sure would be interesting to know what people are thinking before flying!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100108/...ity_the_future

The criminalization of thought will be expanding if the paranoid Chicken Littles of the world get their way. Might as well declare the Bill of Rights dead?

People are free to continue to believe in the superstition of profiling -- including on the basis of biometric indicators -- as an "effective" security measure, but what they are not freely acknowledging is that false positives will be a major problem, will create more haystacks in which to lose needles and will -- like has already been the case even with polygraphs -- still be evaded.

As usual, there is always some party or another interested in selling expensive "servicing" equipment and sign up servicing and training contracts. Wasting money in the name of "security" seems ever more routine.

This isn't totally new. A few years ago, Domodedovo Airport in Moscow had plans to introduce what they called a "truth detector." (How that differs from a lie detector, I don't know.)

It was a phone booth-type apparatus, in which the passenger answered questions, and the modulation of his or her voice was analyzed.

Needless to say, this would be fraught with far too many problems. We've al heard the arguments about the difficulties with polygraph tests, and the same criticisms apply for a "truth detector" or "mind reader."

I'm wondering if Miss Cleo might be available to assist at screening checkpoints.

The funny thing is that this isn't the stupidest security system I've come across. The worst was a Nixon-era suggestion of including syringes of incapacitating, paralytic medications into each seat. The captain could trigger a switch, thereby chemically paralyzing the passengers. This would raise some concerns for me, particularly about passengers maintaining their own airways.

I'm sure that we'll be hearing about similar brilliant suggestions for high tech security over the next few weeks. I'm clenching my teeth, hoping for some common sense to return one day.

for a minute there, i thought the thread title was referring to spot

You know, you could make a 99.999 999 9% accurate air-terrorism thought detector with a two-headed coin. It will perform better in any practical measure than the purveyors of this wishful-thinking machinery will sell to our professional paranoids at TSA.

The easiest way around this is to plant items in unsecured checked luggage.

I wonder if the Scientology E-meter would do this. They claim wonders for it.

MisterNice

They could've used this in EWR the other day. If they put the TSO in it, they would've found out he was gonna walk away from his post, thus averting a terminal dump.

Or twisting one's moustache...

They don't need machines, they just need to hire The Amazing Kreskin.

"Sir, you are being pulled out of line because of your impure thoughts about TSA and the Guvamint......you will need retraining..."

That was my thought, also. I wonder if they will confuse me vitriol for the organization with the intent to do something bad.

Mike

Welcome to the Department of Precrime.

Bingo!!