“I don’t think that’s the best use of our technology. The hype got way ahead of the capabilities.”
Bernard Bailey of Viisage, admitting his company’s face-recognition technology should not have been installed at US airports to catch terrorists (The Boston Globe, 30 August)
“It is clear the US authorities did little or nothing to pre-empt the events of 9/11… at least 11 countries provided advance warning.”
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Former UK environment minister Michael Meacher suggesting the Bush administration allowed the attacks to happen in order to justify invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq (The Guardian, London, 6 September)
“Monstrously offensive.”
Response to Meacher’s allegations by the US government (The Sunday Times, London, 7 September)
“The United States has a 19th-century railroad system.”
Richard Silver, executive director of the Rail Passenger Association of California, on plans for Japanese bullet trains to link San Francisco and San Diego (San Francisco Chronicle, 7 September)
“Why should any ecstasy user believe scientists after this?”
Jon Cole of The University of Liverpool, UK, after a US team retracted a study linking the drug with Parkinson’s disease (The Independent on Sunday, 7 September)
“The [US] grid has grown so complex no one understands it. That makes it perfect for congressional hearings.”
Science and technology commentator, Robert Park (What’s New online newsletter, 5 September)
