sevesteen.com

Bruce Schneier has another good article on security and terror--He says that security is a sort of tax. Like Doolittle's raid on Tokyo, the direct effects of 9-11 were not as significant as America's reaction to it. Many of the changes to our laws (The Patriot act, TSA's airport security rules, Real ID, photography as a suspicious activity) make our society much less free, and bring it closer to the society of our enemies. So what do we do about it? There is no easy solution, but a good start is to require outside auditing of public security measures, to determine both effectiveness and value. By value, I mean not just money, but also time and rights? Is it worthwhile to spend 150 man-years to save one life? The TSA shouldn't be deciding if the TSA's policies are effective. Some of these audits should be made by someone with experience in that field, but outside the government.