Face Police coming to US Airports...

Newsweek: "Specially trained security personnel" will be watching passengers for "micro-expressions" that will reveal treacherous agendas and insidious intentions at airports around the country. These agents, who may literally hold your fate in their hands have been given a lofty, Orwellian name: 'Behavior Detection Officers.'"

"So while TSA employees are confiscating our scissors and water bottles, they’re going to secretly be staring at us, looking for some telltale sign of terrorist intent in a grimace, a sigh, a crinkled nose"


Creepy, yes. But probably more effective than strip searching toddlers based on inaccurate name matches from a super-duper-secret watchlist, or taking our water away. Can we just be free and get on with it? Take our chances? Not be anal probed OR terrorized?

US Military rolling out new drones with anti-crowd tech

The Register: "The US military has taken another step forward with its research into 'non-lethal crowd control systems' after reaching back into the disco era for inspiration.

The US Army is looking to deploy a powerful strobe searchlight mounted in a pilotless drone aircraft. The strobe is intended to cause 'immobilisation to all those within the beam'.

Earlier this year the US Marines tested a vehicle-mounted directed microwave cooker which is intended to lightly grill the outer skin layer of troublemakers, causing an 'intense burning sensation' which is nonetheless harmless – or anyway, less harmful than other things which the US Marines might do."


...does make you wonder what they're anticipating.. A crowd abroad, or at home?

File under "WTF?"

Chron.com: "WASHINGTON - Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before they are used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.

Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions in the international community over any possible safety concerns, said Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne.

'If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation,' said Wynne."


There's so much wrong with this one, I'm not even sure where to begin...

US Citizens more likely to die at the hands of law enforcement than terrorists...

Wired News:: "Al-Qaida's attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center killed 2,976 people, and the country recoiled in horror as we witnessed the death of thousands of Americans when the towers fell.

In the five years since that shattering day, the government has spent billions on anti-terrorism projects, instituted a color-coded alert system that has never been green, banned fingernail clippers and water bottles from airplanes, launched a pre-emptive war on false pretenses, and advised citizens to stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting.

But despite the never-ending litany of warnings and endless stories of half-baked plots foiled, how likely are you, statistically speaking, to die from a terrorist attack?"


Fascinating return to rational thought... Victims of terror aren't the actual targets. We are. Live, love, laugh, and their power dissapears. The handy reference guide above (courtesy Wired) illustrating number of deaths per cause over the past 11 years should help put things back in perspective... How to win against terrorists? Simple. Don't be terrorized.