Unutterably Silly Airport security decisions?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Harmon

...the IRS is a very competent organization, for a government entity...

[nohmi2]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I'm one of the "have to fly for business" group. But I have some control over how often I fly, & I have reduced it to the bare (so to speak) minimum.

I agree that we need some degree of airport security because one nut job, Islamic or otherwise, can take out a lot of people. But the nekkid scans & groping does not seem to me to be worth the cost, much less the indignity, in terms of actually catching the bad guys.

TSA is organized around the principle that its employees are too stupid to make judgements. Therefore it does not allow them to distinguish between a pocketknife and a butter knife. It will permit 3 oz. of any liquid, however toxic, so long as it is in a 3 oz. container, but a 6 oz. tube of toothpaste which is half full is verboten. These scanners are simply the extension of the Our Employees Are Dumb principle. They will not improve security, but they will make sure that the employees don't need to think.

It's the same with electronics on the airplane. Assuming that somehow, a cellphone can crash the plane (is there an App for that?) why in the world should I have to turn off my Sony on takeoff & landing? It's because airlines treat their employees and customers as dopes who can't tell the difference between a phone and an ebook.

I do not plan to fly when I retire & have the time to drive, take the train, or take a ship. I guess I might have to fly for some funerals.

Frankly, I think that the airlines should be responsible for airplane security, not the government. TSA amounts to a subsidy for airplane travel. Why should the taxpayers pay for that?

Succinct and to the point.

Well said.

Cheers.

[kennyc]

And now:

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/11...ml?source=mypi

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I have seen news reports of a 12 year old child being patted down, a woman being required to remove a breast prothesis, and one woman having to pull down her panties. Invasive enough for you. Yeah, the kid might be smuggling a weapon, the woman might have had a prothesis full of nitroglycerin, and the other woman might have had something concealed inside but what were the chances of that? How many children fly? Are we going to have to pat them all down? How many breast cancer surviors fly? Will they all have to remove their prothseses? Will all women have to have to drop their panties? When and where will this insane paranoia end?

The sheeple who feel the intrusions to our privacy and the violations of our constitutional rights and freedoms need to wake up and smell the coffee. It looks lkike 1984 has finally arrived.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

I have seen news reports of a 12 year old child being patted down, a woman being required to remove a breast prothesis, and one woman having to pull down her panties. Invasive enough for you. Yeah, the kid might be smuggling a weapon, the woman might have had a prothesis full of nitroglycerin, and the other woman might have had something concealed inside but what were the chances of that? How many children fly? Are we going to have to pat them all down? How many breast cancer surviors fly? Will they all have to remove their prothseses? Will all women have to have to drop their panties? When and where will this insane paranoia end?

The sheeple who feel the intrusions to our privacy and the violations of our constitutional rights and freedoms need to wake up and smell the coffee. It looks lkike 1984 has finally arrived.

No, it arrived on the heels of 9/11 with the Patriot Act...we've been living with it for almost 10 years now, this is just the most recent turn...

[nohmi2]

Originally Posted by kennyc

And now:

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/11...ml?source=mypi

`



Attachment 61735

[kennyc]

Good one Nohmi2!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by kennyc

No, it arrived on the heels of 9/11 with the Patriot Act...we've been living with it for almost 10 years now, this is just the most recent turn...

You're absolutely correct. Once the wedge had been driven into our civil rights, the government just kept driving it deeper and deeper. When are the sheeple going to wake up and realize what's happening?

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

From before the current situation: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blog...-cartoons.html

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

You're absolutely correct. Once the wedge had been driven into our civil rights, the government just kept driving it deeper and deeper. When are the sheeple going to wake up and realize what's happening?

The interesting thing is that even those of us who realize it--can't do much about it because all of this is done by officials who are not elected. The Patriot Act was voted on by Congress (and no one ever bothered to actually cull a library to see what had been checked out or read. Interestingly enough maybe they figured that no one was actually READING books...or perhaps they just didn't know where the library was located. Reading doesn't seem high on the list of important activities by any government official.)

Also interesting is the growing list of "exemptions." Government official? Oh no problem--let's insert the class warfare deeper. Government officials already have better healthcare, better pensions and in most cases, better salaries. Now they don't have to deal with pat downs or other illegal searches. They're just better than the "masses" who vote for them.

[nohmi2]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Good one Nohmi2!

Ta ever so much, kind sir!

On the other hand, for some it does have it's perks!Attachment 61743

Cheers

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

The interesting thing is that even those of us who realize it--can't do much about it because all of this is done by officials who are not elected. The Patriot Act was voted on by Congress (and no one ever bothered to actually cull a library to see what had been checked out or read. Interestingly enough maybe they figured that no one was actually READING books...or perhaps they just didn't know where the library was located. Reading doesn't seem high on the list of important activities by any government official.)

Also interesting is the growing list of "exemptions." Government official? Oh no problem--let's insert the class warfare deeper. Government officials already have better healthcare, better pensions and in most cases, better salaries. Now they don't have to deal with pat downs or other illegal searches. They're just better than the "masses" who vote for them.

"Animal Farm" all over again.

[nohmi2]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

"Animal Farm" all over again.

As much as we can make jokes about this, I think that it's a case of "If I don't laugh, I'll cry."

Watch this little mite, and tell me that this won't stay with her for a long, long time.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by nohmi2

As much as we can make jokes about this, I think that it's a case of "If I don't laugh, I'll cry."

Watch this little mite, and tell me that this won't stay with her for a long, long time.

I haven't been joking. And had that been my child, no one would have fondled her like that unless they killed me first.

[harakiri]

like the made in U.S.A. part