How Can I Take the Necessary Steps If You Won't Give Back My Shoes?
"Have you ever lied to the authorities?" That's a question the Russian security service will begin asking passengers at Moscow's Domodedovo airport this summer, reports the Wash Times:
Millions of passengers traveling through Russia soon will have to take a lie detector test as part of new airport security measures that could eventually be applied throughout the country.
The machine asks four questions: The first is for full identity; the second, unnerving in its Soviet-style abruptness, demands: "Have you ever lied to the authorities?" It then asks whether either weapons or narcotics are being carried.
To cut delays, passengers will take the tests after taking off their shoes and putting baggage through the X-ray machines. He doesn't get his shoes back until he satisfactorily answers the questions.
Some clarification would be helpful here: Which authorities? Is there a statute of limitations? Do lies to third-grade schoolteachers about missing math homework count? No word on any of that, but an official reassures:
"We can understand that something like this could be uncomfortable for some passengers, but it is a necessary step."
