Letters to the Editor
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security theater of the absurd
now playing at a concourse near you...
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The form of the thing, not its nature, is what matters.
This past Monday at MKE, I saw a woman and her single under-three-ounce liquid-or-gel container turned away from a security checkpoint because she had neglected to buy it its own quart-sized baggie. Reason is not the operating principle here!
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Car keys.
Everyone carries a set, some people more than one.
And do you remember Al Roker, in 2001, shortly after flights resumed post-9/11, having his clippers (?) confiscated, then going to the airport shop - past security - and buying a new set?
It's not about screening weapons, it's about making people tractable through a combination of fear and inconvenience. And it seems to be working, quite well, actually.
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The ideology behind the senseless airport "security" requirements
Patrick Smith is right on. But the big winners in the airport security game aren't just the vendors to the "security-industrial complex" selling hardware and ZipLoc bags. They are right-wing politicians, beginning with Dick Cheney, whose very political existence is based on fostering a supine, unquestioning public paranoically fearful of a vague, faceless "terror."
We get our "security booster" every time we fly. No need in this country for totalitarian-state "Leader" posters on walls and public places. The smiling TSA guy at the screening point, taking away your too-large tube of toothpaste or extra deodorant, delivers the message far better, directly and in person.
Jonathan Scoll
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Question on Belts
If I were as cool as I like to think I am, I would have started a company to make men's belts with plastic-yet-okay-looking buckles, buckles that would not set off metal detectors, so that men would not have to remove their belts in airports.
[That was a long sentence!]
Is anybody making such belts? Can you tell me where to get them? Or should I ramp up the Plasto-Securo-Belt Corp?
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Not hopefull for improvements in security process
No politician or bureaucrat will ever make any improvements in the whole security system, no matter how logical. There is one simple reason - cover their backsides. No one wants to be the one who "reduced" security measures if ever something else happens - no matter what the actual incident may be.
Also - airlines wont complain too much I think as long as the stupid "ID" requirement is in force - it lets them get away with a lot of crazy pricing rather than leave it to the market.
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Doing nothing is, alas, rational
The question of why people don't complain about security is an interesting one.
There is, of course, no upside at all to complaining to the screeners. They've decided what they're going to make you do. If you're lucky, the only thing you'll get for your trouble is a lost argument, and if you're not, you'll get the full security treatment and maybe miss your plane or worse.
I've talked to several people about complaining to TSA over the years, and the general consensus is that it's likely to be similar to the airport situation - at best it's pointless and at worst you end up on a list that you'd rather did not include you. (And my own personal experience with Homeland Security in general is that they are inflexible and unimaginative, not a good combination all around.)
Then there's Congress. Leaving aside the obvious disincentive for politicians to advocate loosened security, most people aren't mad enough by the time they get home to go to the trouble of complaining. If they were, then it's possible something would get done, but it's just not that likely.
And, by the way, I am fascinated to see that airports are still at "orange," well over a year after the London arrests. I have a hard time believing that there's been a continuous threat that significant for every airport in the country. But then again, I shouldn't be surprised, considering that the official explanation of the 3 ounce, 1 quart bag rule is that it's calibrated carefully based on calculations about noxious chemicals and their potential effects. I managed to laugh instead of crying, but it was a close call.
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And the winners are...
... the vendors of overpriced drinks made of sugar and colored water on the other side of the checkpoint.
Personally I am just waiting for someone to discover a bomb that can be disguised as a woman's brassiere.
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My favorite (?) security line story
Heard in a European airport, by an agonized traveler to the US speaking to a security guard: "It's not a gel, it's Camembert!"
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Of course you have to be wearing your pilot's uniform to skip the shoe inspection
If you're not in uniform, the people in line can't see that you're a pilot. If a person dressed as a civilian doesn't have to take off their shoes, it doesn't seem fair. In security theater, you only get to play the part that you're in costume for.
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it could have been worse
At least Richard Reid had explosive footwear. Imagine if he had been discovered with an explosive rectal suppository....
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It's worse that that
I am involved in the design of airport terminals and have met regularly with TSA officials with regard to design of security and security checkpoints. The approach these guys take is unbelieveable. They continually ask for the expediture of funds for security requirements they cannot justify. They can quote in detail specifications for "devisiture tables" yet require a phone call to headquarters for any minor modifications. No independent thought is allowed. Because they pay so poorly they have a serious problem with theft and want us to buy camera systems that would allow them to catch they petty theives they've hired becuase they're hiring practices are horrid. Many of these TSA managers are law enforcement wannbes and could not get hired by real law enforcement so they are now protecting us form ourselves by making sure you only have three ounces of gel when you take that carry-on aboard. They abuse authority so often it's a joke. They culture of fear and lies promgated by the Bush administration is focused in this sub agency of the DHS and it's out of control.
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Bear Stone
I have a stone for sale. It wards off bears. As proof, I offer that I haven't been attacked by a bear since I have started carrying this stone. It must be working.
Unfortunately it seems the voting public is still thinking with their emotional brain. This is the same brain that tells you that an SUV is a safer vehicle to crash in than a sports car, since it is much bigger, that children need government provided health care, because the big mean corporate jerks won't provide it, and metal detectors will stop terrorist plots dead in their tracks, since all terrorists go right on through the front gate at the airport.