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Soundbites

“I don’t think that’s the best use of our technology. The hype got way ahead of the capabilities.â€

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.â€

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.â€

Response to Meacher’s allegations by the US government (The Sunday Times, London, 7 September)

“The United States has a 19th-century railroad system.â€

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?â€

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.â€

Science and technology commentator, Robert Park (What’s New online newsletter, 5 September)