"A tax on the honest"

If the library's still acquiring any books at all, it's to be hoped that this will be one of them: Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World (Bruce Schneier). This is the Economist review that caught our eye. The review mentions the idiocy of having identification checks at front desks. Having been employed at an entertainment mecca and at two outfits with misleading names that serve as big-time attractions for loonies, I completely agree. All three of these outfits were visited daily by VIPs who expected to be recognized. Some would be recognized by anyone; others were big frogs in their own small, though of course very important, ponds. Even the unbalanced were often members of families or constituencies or an entourage trailing a VIP and not to be ignored or given less than full deference. And of course harmless members of the general public have never expected to run a gantlet unless visiting someplace more important than those.