It doesn't look like real security

As any traveller to the US will testify the paperwork and all the security measures now in place in order to "protect" those Americans from terrorists are in some respects laughable. Fingers-prints and facial-photos, however many number of times, even within days, one enters the US. etc. etc.

Now this news in the IHT on pretty basic security measures makes the whole exercise seem more than a tad ludicrous:

"The federal takeover of the checking of passenger names against terrorist watch lists, a top priority for aviation officials since the 2001 terrorist attacks, is not expected to be complete until 2010, more than five years behind schedule, a top Department of Homeland Security official has acknowledged.

The delay in the timetable is the latest setback in a long-promised program intended to enhance aviation safety, while reducing the number of passengers mistakenly identified as possible terrorists."

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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