I've been a nervous flyer for years. I loved it when I was a child, but as an adult flying is one hassle after another, from complicated security regulations to cramped seats. I flew recently, and at the security gate I showed them my ticket and ID(not 5 feet from the metal detector), had it signed, then put it into my purse (I asked and the attendant said I didn't need ID again, so I assumed it was okay to stash both the ticket and ID - foolish me), put my purse on the x-ray belt, and walked to the metal detector - only to be turned back because I didn't have my ticket with me when I walked through the detector. It was in my bag, which was coming out of the x-ray machine. I reached for my bag, but they wouldn't let me simply grab the ticket and show the ticket to them, they sent me back and handed me the purse, I removed my ticket and went through the detector again, then they put my bag through x-ray again. As if I could have slipped a weapon into my purse with 5 security agents watching.

But I'm willing to put up with this nonsense for the convenience of not having to drive a week to get where I'm going and back. Poorly paid pilots make me wonder it it's worth it all all. I want my pilots to be paid obscene sums of money. I want them to be able to retire young, before their reflexes fade, and to be replaced by incredibly competent and experienced co-pilots who are in the field because they not only love flying but also know that they can make a good living at it. I don't want my pilot to be somebody who is there because he can't get a job elsewhere. I don't want my pilot to be tired because he (or she, actually) has to work 2 jobs to make ends meet. I know that computers do a lot of the work on airplanes nowadays, but I don't want to have to depend on a computer - I want the best people available to back up that computer.

How far are airlines willing to go in nickle and diming the airline industry to death? We know about the visible things - like cattle car seating and no free meals. We know about miserable customer service. We've had reports of shoddy maintenance, poorly paid pilots and attendants, airplanes being flown past their planned lifespan, an antiquated ATC system with poorly paid attendants. I tend to assume that airlines will take every step to ensure our safety, even if only to avoid the cost in lost revenue in the event of a crash. But... what if they simply aren't thinking about the long term costs? What if they are so focused on the "bottom line" that nobody is paying attention to the fact that people's lives are being endangered?

Litigation is a factor for some companies, but every company needs to deal with quality control. How much does a broken stapler costs a company? How about a computer that needs constant maintenace? A copier? What about furniture that needs to be replaced after 10 years insted of lasting 20? Phones that need to be replaced after 2 years instead of 3? Cheap goods cost businesses money in replacement costs, lost productivity, and maintenance expenses.

Of course Plan B must increase sex between older men and young girls. The only reason that older men don't have sex with young girls is that they are afraid the girls will get pregnant, which means that the older men will be exposed and end up in jail for child molestation, or at least statuatory rape. If we allow adult men to buy Plan B, then they will be free to have sex with young girls all they want, because all they have to do is to force her to take Plan B immediatly afterwards.

Apparently, the right thinks that older men don't know how to use condoms. And that young girls who are pregnant are all going to expose their lovers/molestors to prosecution by admitting who they are. And that everybody involved has missed the reality that Plan B is not 100% effective. Other than a few details, the right has an iron clad case that Plan B leads to child molestation.

If abortion is simply a medical procedure, then there can be no moral issues about abortion because of reasons that matter only to the mother. I'd rather see a female foetus aborted than see a newborn baby girl murdered, or see a girl sold into servitude (or worse) because her family can't afford to raise her.

That said... there are better ways of encouraging women to carry daughters to term and not kill them after they're born. Start by banning dowry's, or at least limiting them to some reasonable portion of the parent's income. And enforcing the law. It doesn't do much good if you don't enforce the law. And, while you're at it, give girls better options so that they aren't dependent on marriage for security. If families with girls know that the girl doesn't have to marry to have a life, they will be more inclined to stay "stuff it" to a suitor who comes to the door with his hands out.

It's not okay to act on it in any way. There will always be people in the world whom you find attractive and who are unavailable. Sometimes they are married, or subordinates, or young people... or simply unavailable sexually. It doesn't matter. In one of my favorite movie lines, Katherine Hepburn in "The African Queen" says "Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above." It's okay to feel inappropriate feelings, but please follow Mr. Tennis's advice and don't even acknowledge them to your step-son.