Monday 16 July 2012

spectral analysis

It is rather hard to imagine any reasonable person thinking that the cadet line of the American Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, is doing anything laudable or advisable, excepting perhaps the airlines themselves, since all the complaints and furor directed towards the TSA detract from their own faults and price-gouging—them and maybe the research firms that would have liked to have peddled this sort equipment to dismantled NASA. Still, I find it incredible after effectively delivering the expectation that one will be subjected to bad touches and a potentially dangerous yet ineffective dose of radiation that virtually strips ones clothes—not to mention being subjugated to all sorts of ridicule—all in the name of security theatre and the suspension of disbelief, the brain-trust of the organization thinks it advisable pursuing the opportunity to blast, indiscriminately, passengers with an ion cannon to answer long abiding mysteries, like the general mood and stress level of the average frequent and infrequent flier. Surely scanning crowds and queues for the chemical detritus that is the manifestation of how much they’re cowed and frustrated will yield some false positives, despite any number of field-tests for fine-tuning that probably won’t stop with the airport terminal. Anyway, this sales pitch rings hollow, like the bulk of theatrics and schemes that the government buys into.