It seems they wouldn't be the first to try psychics, if so. Looks like interest in psychics dates back to the 80's even.
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpsychicfed.html "Over a period of more than 20 years, the CIA and Pentagon spent approximately $20 million to study and employ numerous "psychics." They were supposed to help track down terrorists, find hostages, help anti-drug activities, etc. Experiments were conducted on precognition, clairvoyance, and remote viewing." [EMAIL PROTECTED] ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) @ Wed, Aug 15, 2007 at 11:46:59AM -0400 wrote : > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:46:59 -0400 > X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 12.0 > Subject: [funsec] New airport agents check for danger in fliers' facial > expressions > > I would rather see the TSA hired 500 psychics to root out the evil doers at > the airport....... > > Richard > > http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/18923.html > > New airport agents check for danger in fliers' facial expressions > By Kaitlin Dirrig | McClatchy Newspapers > > WASHINGTON - Next time you go to the airport, there may be more eyes on you > than you notice. > > Specially trained security personnel are watching body language and facial > cues of passengers for signs of bad intentions. The watcher could be the > attendant who hands you the tray for your laptop or the one standing behind > the ticket-checker. Or the one next to the curbside baggage attendant. > > They're called Behavior Detection Officers, and they're part of several > recent security upgrades, Transportation Security Administrator Kip Hawley > told an aviation industry group in Washington last month. He described them > as "a wonderful tool to be able to identify and do risk management prior to > somebody coming into the airport or approaching the crowded checkpoint." > > The officers are working in more than a dozen airports already, according to > Paul Ekman, a former professor at the University of California at San > Francisco who has advised Hawley's agency on the program. Amy Kudwa, a TSA > public affairs specialist, said the agency hopes to have 500 behavior > detection officers in place by the end of 2008. > > Kudwa described the effort, which began as a pilot program in 2006, as "very > successful" at identifying suspicious airline passengers. She said it had > netted drug carriers, illegal immigrants and terrorism suspects. She > wouldn't say more. > > At the heart of the new screening system is a theory that when people try to > conceal their emotions, they reveal their feelings in flashes that Ekman, a > pioneer in the field, calls "micro-expressions." Fear and disgust are the > key ones, he said, because they're associated with deception. > > Behavior detection officers work in pairs. Typically, one officer sizes up > passengers openly while the other seems to be performing a routine security > duty. A passenger who arouses suspicion, whether by micro-expressions, > social interaction or body language gets subtle but more serious scrutiny. > > A behavior specialist may decide to move in to help the suspicious passenger > recover belongings that have passed through the baggage X-ray. Or he may ask > where the traveler's going. If more alarms go off, officers will "refer" the > person to law enforcement officials for further questioning. > > The strategy is based on a time-tested and successful Israeli model, but in > the United States, the scrutiny is much less invasive, Ekman said. American > officers receive 16 hours of training - far less than their Israeli > counterparts_ because U.S. officials want to be less intrusive. > > The use of "micro-expressions" to identify hidden emotions began nearly 30 > years ago when Ekman and colleague Maureen O'Sullivan began studying > videotapes of people telling lies. When they slowed down the videotapes, > they noticed distinct facial movements and began to catalogue them. They > were flickers of expression that lasted no more than a fraction of a second. > > The Department of Homeland Security hopes to dramatically enhance such > security practices. > > Jay M. Cohen, undersecretary of Homeland Security for Science and > Technology, said in May that he wants to automate passenger screening by > using videocams and computers to measure and analyze heart rate, > respiration, body temperature and verbal responses as well as facial > micro-expressions. > > Homeland Security is seeking proposals from scientists to develop such > technology. The deadline for submissions is Aug. 31. > > The system also would be used for port security, special-event screening and > other security screening tasks. > > It faces high hurdles, however. > > Different cultures express themselves differently. Expressions and body > language are easy to misread, and no one's catalogued them all. Ekman notes > that each culture has its own specific body language, but that little has > been done to study each individually in order to incorporate them in a > surveillance program. > > In addition, automation won't be easy, especially for the multiple variables > a computer needs to size up people. Ekman thinks people can do it better. > "And it's going to be hard to get machines that are as accurate as trained > human beings," Ekman said. > > Finally, the extensive data-gathering of passengers' personal information > will raise civil-liberties concerns. "If you discover that someone is at > risk for heart disease, what happens to that information?" Ekman asked. "How > can we be certain that it's not sold to third parties?" > > Whether mass-automated security screening will ever be effective is unclear. > In Cohen's PowerPoint slide accompanying his aviation industry presentation > was this slogan: "Every truly great accomplishment is at first impossible." > > > _______________________________________________ > Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. > https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec > Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list. -- Joshua Anderson Senior Admin @ FreeDNS.afraid.org Now servicing 321,736 members and 36,834 domains. Currently processing 784 DNS queries per second. _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
