Writing in the Houston Chronicle, Cragg Hines describes his frustrated efforts to find basic information about why the TSA can’t find the equipment they need to make airport screening actually effective: “Slepian points to a small Irvine, Calif., firm, HiEnergy Technologies, that has developed a chemical-detection system but has had difficulty getting the government and airports to even test its equipment.

Andrea McCauley, a TSA spokeswoman, denies her agency is fusty or too wedded to existing suppliers.

“I have to really dispute that,” McCauley said. “We have to be a flexible agency.”

But when I asked about equipment testing, McCauley referred me to TSA’s parent organization, Homeland Security, where a woman in the press office who would identify herself only as “Vogue,” firmly refused to comment, or offer up anyone who could, and insisted brusquely that I call McCauley back, which I didn’t.

It’s so comforting to know that this sort of quintessential buck-passing is alive and well even in the agencies responsible for a big chunk of our nation’s security.”

Security Leak

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