When Groping the Public Is For Your Protection

Fascists believe that a nation is an organic community that requires strong leadership, singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong (Wikipedia)

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” (attributed to Sinclair Lewis - 1935).

What I find ironic, if not a tad depressing, is that the very same people that will not leave their guns at home are the very same people that are supporting the draconian security procedures now in use by the TSA. And in both cases the rally cry is the same. "It protects us from the bad guys."

Since September 11, 2001, more American rights have been eroded, especially the perception of being innocent until proven guilty than at almost any other time in history. Forget for the moment that more people die every year in car crashes than have died in all terror related airplane incidents since the Write Brothers invented the thing. Forget that there is still no requirement to scan every piece of baggage and package that goes onto an aircraft. If you are are going to fly as a passenger on an aircraft, you are assumed to be up to no good. A potential criminal. Someone who is going to kill everyone around you.

Since September 11, 2001, the bogeyman of the Muslim terrorist has been manufactured, packaged, and sold to the American people like the hottest Christmas toy and with few exceptions, it has been purchased and believed without question, rational discussion or thought.

The American psyche seems to need a bogeyman. Initially it was the Government of King George III. Over time it has ranged from as simple as the Russians to as complex as illegal aliens. But the idea of a terrorist, especially on an airplane, seems to have taken all level of sanity and civility from people. And that is a very disheartening thing in a nation that used to praise civil liberties above all else.

The Myth of Sisyphys, or the Great Amercian Election Game

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Pretty appropriate for Election Day 2010 here in the Excited States of America where the same old bums are arguing that they know better than the current bums.

Yeah, yeah, I have heard the rhetoric. We are done with socialism (oh really?), the current crop of deadbeats are responsible for high debt (forget for the moment that Reagan did more damage to the US budget than any president before and until Bush II), and on and on and on.

The real issue is the amazing shortness of memory. The amazing ability for the average, and not so average American to ignore the real issues and succumb to the rhetoric without applying any thought.

Changing the make up of the House of Representatives is a nice feel good measure that your voice is heard. Forgetting that those same representatives are not beholden to you the voter, but to the machines (and funds) that got them elected in the first place. It will not get you a new job. It will not turn the economy around. It will not automatically make it rain money. But it could have some very chilling effects that most people are overlooking.

A Republican house will likely overturn many of the valuable social programs that are preventing large numbers of Americans from dropping into abject poverty. The counter argument from my libertarian friends is that it isn't the government's job to keep them out of poverty. Fair enough. So what does the well educated, hardworking individual who has been out of work for more than six months do? Really? What do they do? The societal safety net that existed in the 1920s is gone. Many would argue it was pretty much gone by the 1920s. But what are they supposed to do? Congress cannot force companies to hire, and there has been very little hiring going on in the last 18 months. Most people are down to bare bones with high debt and many are trying to work, with little success. So just what are they supposed to do?

A Republican house has been trying, for generations, to tell the average, and not so average American who they can and cannot sleep with. With the backing of the even more right-wing tea party, it is likely that this time, should they win, that they might actually get the ability to enforce this view. At risk is a woman's right to chose, the rights of union between those of the same sex and raft of other rights and privileges that have been gained over the last generation.

And then there is the continuing myth that soldiers are dying in Afghanistan to protect our way of life. Right. Spin that one a little faster, because so far I am not seeing a lot of improvement in my way of life since soldiers were sent to Afghanistan and Iraq almost ten years ago. I have seen an increase in the federal deficit, although not on the official books. I have seen a degradation of my civil rights, in the form of increased security at borders and airports, and I have seen a lot of good men and women come back in steel boxes. All to protect my way of life? Death, cost, and degradation is not my way of life, nor is it the American Way of Life.

So today is the beginning of the next election cycle. Vote carefully. The devil you know could very well be better than the devil you do not.

And So It Begins.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport will begin using full-body scanners within three weeks to check people traveling to the United States, after consultations with U.S. authorities, the Dutch interior minister said on Wednesday. (Reuters)

And so, it begins. In The Netherlands, you will be strip searched, via full-body scanner if you are coming to the United States. In Canada, you can only take one very small carry-on on board. Domestically, the use of full-body scanners have not been implemented yet but expect that as soon as the money is found, they will be, and privacy issues will go out the already large window that has been .... oh, who am I kidding. There has never been an implied position of privacy where security is concerned. Security is far more important than any pretension of privacy. Now all we need are a few good telepaths...

The Beginning Of The End Of Air Travel?

ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) - An attempted terrorist attack on a Christmas Day flight began with a pop and a puff of smoke - sending passengers scrambling to tackle a Nigerian man who claimed to be acting on orders from al-Qaida to blow up the airliner, officials and travelers said. (WTOP)

Before we start bashing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which you know I have very little trouble doing, we need to look at some facts:

1) The flight originated in Amsterdam. That is in Europe for the average, geographically challenged American, and they follow a different security regime than the TSA follows here in the United States. I would normally have said it is more stringent and in reality it probably is.

2) This nut job carried an explosive in a small quantity through a checkpoint. In actuality he could probably have carried it through a US checkpoint just as easily as they screen for metal and large concentrations of explosives, which does not sound like what he was carrying

3) It does not take even the most inventive mind to circumvent the security procedures. It is pointless to point out how silly the 3oz rule is and how easy it is to circumvent if you really want to. Similarly, it is easy, if you are willing to go down with the aircraft, to bring down an airplane with the basic tools on board. Again, I do not need to go into details - any good search of the web and a couple of episodes of Mythbusters can tell you all you need to know.

Now, if we follow the bouncing ball, I am afraid it goes to some pretty ugly places. To start with, if you are flying to anywhere over the next 48-72 hours, I would tell you to expect worse security procedures than you have seen since they banned liquids at the checkpoints. If you normally allow two hours for security, you might want to make that four hours. And if you are traveling with inexperienced travelers, might I suggest the train?

What is more depressing about this breach, is not that it happened. TSA has been dinged for security breaches almost weekly it would seem by the GAO and the Congress and their own Inspector General, but that it happened on a plane, coming into the United States and it made the press, so now not only does TSA have to do something about it in the way of making sure it never happens again, but so does every other security agency in the Western world. And what do you think they are going to do to prevent this sort of thing from happening again?

If past history is any indication, it cannot be anything that the traveling public will consider positive.

- Following September 11, 2001, the Federal Government decided that the minimum wage, minimally screened private security screeners at the Nation's airports were not doing a good enough job, so they were replaced with a brand new bureaucracy of minimum wage, minimally screened federal employees. Forget for the moment that the hijackers were, up until the moment of the actual attack not violating any provisions of the security checkpoints. Forget for the moment that in the late 1980s it had been recommended by the NTSB and the FAA that all cockpits be locked from take-off until landing and the recommendations where never implemented. But hey, it improved security so it must be a good thing!

- For Reed, the shoe bomber they took away our shoes. Now we have to remove them and send them through the x-ray machine. Not a real problem if you are in good shape and wear slip-ons when you travel (and frankly, can you afford not to be spry and wear slip-ons to travel anymore?). If you are slightly infirm, the process of getting out of your shoes and back into them can cause backups. But hey, it improved security so it must be a good thing!

- For the liquid bombers, in the UK they actually went so far as to ban carry-on baggage for a short period of time, but the end result was that you could no longer carry liquid of more than three ounces per bottle per gallon bag through the check point. Of course, this also resulted in higher food prices behind security for the vendors and the now irreversible checked bag fee that you could go so far as to claim is sexist because most men can travel with a tube of toothpaste and some shaving cream and call it done while most women cannot travel with less than three ounces of anything, and since most premium manufactures have not made travel sized bottles, women are kind of in a bind. But hey, it improved security so it must be a good thing!

- Lately, they have introduced back-scatter x-ray technology at some airports. These are the x-ray machines that essentially render you naked for a group of observers in a back room somewhere and verify that you are not carrying some sort of unknown powder strapped to your leg. Of course, these devices have a number of people upset, especially those who are concerned about their modesty, among other things, and those that are wondering, with good reason what happens to the images afterwords. While TSA assures us they are not going to keep them, anyone who believes this should read up on what the State Department is currently doing with those who snooped on passport applications of celebrities and other famous people. How much for a back scatter picture of Angelina Jolie? But hey, it improves security so it must be a good thing!

So where do we go from here? Assuming the US federal government can find a couple of billion dollars, and the companies that make back scatter machines can churn them out fast enough, that is a very good question. But here are some scenarios.

Ban it all: This is perhaps the most extreme form of response, but I am not discounting that it is being discussed at some levels. This is the Aeroflot model if you will. All passengers will be prohibited from taking anything on board the aircraft, including but not limited to personal clothing. You will be forced to strip down to bare skin, put on some sort of modesty covering and proceed to the waiting airplane. You will be allowed, in fact, enforced, to carry your identification with you, but everything else, wallet, jewelery, pants, hats, and shoes will go via some other mode. Do not expect to receive them at the end of your journey. And do not expect the airlines to start feeding you again either.

Ban Carry On: It is more likely that you will be forced to undergo some form of invasive examination, like a backscatter with a follow up cavity search, but you will be allowed to wear your own clothes onto the plane. You will not be permitted any carry on however. While this is a likely scenario, it is also the death knell of the airline business. The majority of money made by airlines is in business travel, and business travelers, not permitted to take laptops and roller bags will not travel. And let's face it, there are things I would not entrust to the goons who load the planes either and would only take by carry on. If that privilege was taken away, I would be looking for other ways to travel, or I just would not do it. Imagine what would happen to places like Hawaii who rely on the airplane for their tourists? Or Alaska?

Tighter Screening: I cannot imagine how much tighter the screening can get. Really. It is about as impersonal as it can get. It has become so arduous to travel by air that I refuse to do it unless I am being paid to. It is not worth the pain and suffering, the constant waiting and the scoping as if I were a criminal and the person searching me was the good guy. Based on the IG reports from TSA, you would not let the screeners at most airports look after your children, much lest trust them to pick out the good guy from the bad guy.

You cannot kill an ism Terrorism is as old as man and will continue as long as there is a cause to fight for and people to fight for it. Sadly, while the world has shrunk to the point that data can circumnavigate the globe in a matter of seconds, it will be decades, if ever, before the human population is able to travel freely from point to point like they used to. And that is the sad result.

UPDATE: I had forgotten about the stay in your seat rule, since it was only enacted when flying in or out of National Airport here in DC, but even then it was thirty minutes on either end...not an hour.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Some airlines are telling passengers that new security regulations prohibit them from leaving their seats beginning an hour before landing.(AP)

TORONTO — New restrictions on U.S.-bound flights are causing "very significant" delays and headaches for travelers at Canada's busiest airport Sunday...Among the stricter regulations are passengers are to have nothing on the lap and no moving around the flight cabin in the final hour before landing and only one carry-on is bag allowed.CP 24

New Security Rules Could Limit In-Flight Laptop Time December 26th, 2009 | by Adam Ostrow49 Airplane WiFi might be getting more prevalent on planes, but the amount of time you’re actually allowed to use your laptop and take advantage of it might be about to take a significant hit....The TSA has not posted specific new guidelines publicly yet, writing only that they are “working closely with federal, state and local law enforcement on additional security measures, as well as our international partners on enhanced security at airports and on flights.”

However, it appears that at least one of those measures involves no personal belongings on one’s lap in the last hour of flight, as a statement on Air Canada’s website reads:

“New rules imposed by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration also limit on-board activities by customers and crew in U.S. airspace that may adversely impact on-board service. Among other things, during the final hour of flight customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps.” Mashable

Let's be clear here. So far, these new rules are for those poor souls traveling into the United States from other countries. If you are coming in from Europe or the Far East, saying in your seat for the last hour of the flight, while annoying, is not that much of a hardship. You have already had your work time and the battery on your laptop is already dead. But from countries like Canada and Mexico, it will but a significant crimp in traveling. I have already heard comments from travelers with children who are rethinking their trips to American destinations. Let's face it - if you have kids under the age of 18, keeping them in their seats is a full time occupation. Keeping them in their seats and not allowing them to have anything in their lap for more than half the flight is a non-starter. And remember, keeping them in their seat means not letting them go to the bathroom. There are many in the traveling public that are over the age of 18 that cannot be held to that rule, much less newly potty trained toddlers.

The point here is this. If these rules go into effect, it will not improve safety one little bit, and will make an already arduous travel experience that more difficult, which will have people start rethinking how they spend their vacation dollars and where they spend them. Look at what the slumping economy and the fall out from the Wall Street Fat Cats did to Las Vegas. Now start looking at places like Orlando and Anaheim. Do you think Disney and Universal Studios theme parks can survive if people will not travel to visit them? And that is the sort of traffic that is easy to gauge. This will impact business travel, convention travel, which is already hurting as anyone who has been to a convention lately can tell you, and casual travel.

I can only begin to wonder how many phones are ringing this morning with the following dialogue:

"Hello, your favorite tourist destination."
"Hello, this is Bill Smith, I want to cancel my reservation for the week of the 12th."
"Certainly Mr. Smith, can we reschedule that for you?"
"No, thank you."
"Alright and why are you canceling your reservation?"
"Because I don't feel like putting up with the airline security."

If you think I am kidding, keep an eye on the attendance records for Disney World over the next few months, and listen to the deals being offered by the Chamber of Commerce in places like Washington, DC, Honolulu Hi, Los Angeles, Ca, and San Diego, Ca. I do not think it will take long to register.

Meanwhile, at TSA Headquarters...

MacBook Air Stumps TSA: The suspiciously thin, port-free laptop sends airport security into a tizzy, until cooler heads prevail. Maybe it's time for some tech briefings at the TSA, no? (Yahoo News)

The web is abuzz this morning about TSA's technical fumble. Now granted, I would not want to buy a MacBook Air, but it would seem that someone at TSA would be responsible for notifying agents about the latest and greatest tech on the market...or at the very least you would think that someone had gone through airport security with one of them by now. Nope. Seems our friends at the TSA are on the job. I will resist the term keystone kops...too late. And what do they mean by "TSA approved?" Since when do devices taken on an airplane have to be "approved" by the TSA...or is that their way of saying, it isn't on our disapproved list (surely a shorter way I guess).