Security Systems

Does anyone else wonder what we are getting for the huge sums of money spent on security? Are we any safer for the increased travel delays and hardships?

Remember the “virtual fence” on the US/Mexico border? You are supposed to forget it. A cool billion was spent on the scheme and it was quietly shelved.


Has TSA made us any safer? Turns out even their most expensive machines can be beaten without too much trouble.

How about this recent article about a stranded jet ski driver who walked past all the JFK security and never set off an alarm. He wasn’t even trying to beat security.

Bombs blew up in Iraq’s Green Zone. Gate crashers drop in on Presidential parties. Kids board airplanes without even having a ticket. Nuclear plants fail the most basic of security tests. Facial recognition scanners can be avoided in a myriad of ways.

It’s almost like we don’t know how to do security. That is not the case.

Bombs do not blow up on EL AL (Israeli airlines) planes. If they can do it, being a prestigious target, then anyone could do it.

A Vietnam Vet told me a story of two bases. The US base had rolls and rolls of barbed wire, mines, and machine gun towers. Stuff was stolen from there all the time. Right next door was a Turkish base. It had only one narrow strand of wire to mark off the base. Nothing was every stolen. Trespassers were shot and their heads put on a spike. That put a damper on petty theft.

Now are skies are going to be full of drone aircraft. How effective will those be? Judging from past performance, not very. How effective have security cameras been to prevent crime? Will putting the camera up in the air be any better?

None of this stuff is really about security. It’s about big paychecks for security firms and defense contractors. They are very effective at feeding at the government till.

-Sixbears