Biometrics

Below I posted about some VIP's complaining about security at airports, and Mary Beard's comment on "biometry".

StrategyPage has more here on how it works in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Instapundit has a link to the simplistic border security on those embarking from ferries.

A BORDER FIASCO: “All but the most cursory checks were abandoned on passengers on British-registered coaches as they arrived at Dover, Britain’s biggest port. Instead of passports being scanned electronically, border guards checked that the picture matched the holder. It means they were not cross-checked to a computer database to establish if the holder was a wanted terrorist, criminal or immigration offender. The policy was in place for four years after being introduced when Labour was in power, but never disclosed to Parliament.”

we get our passports checked here at entry, but we also get fingerprints etc checked if we want to stay more than two weeks, meaning that terrorists have two weeks to disappear.

As for "fingerprints": all it takes is sticky tape and a false fingerprint for places using electronic fingerprinting that have busy inspectors who don't check the hands.