Emergent Chaos

"The State Department seems to be putting down the purple Kool-Aid and looking at the serious problem this technology presents," said Mr. Scannell, who runs an Internet site called RFIDKills.com; the first part of the name stands for radio frequency identification chips. "But no matter how much stuff you layer on the technology, it is still inappropriate."

So says the New York Times, in "Bowing to Critics, U.S. to Alter Design of Electronic Passports." So raise a glass and celebrate victory!

(Of course, these programs have a bad habit of coming back if we stop watching closely.)