I Wanna Be Less Secure
I Wanna Be Less Secure Dept.
Okay, this a completely off-topic rant, but if you don't like it, get your own site. >;^)
George Carlin has said that airport security is an elaborate and ultimately futile game designed to make rich white people feel safe. Anyone who has flown in the last year will probably agree that we've gone a bit overboard. I ran into security snafus both outbound and inbound on my recent trip to Microsoft, and in both cases I have no idea what security was looking for.
On the way out to Redmond, flying out of Denver, I was stupid. I put my PDA through the scanner, but I forgot to take my earbud headphones out of my pocket. That and my Rockport shoes were more than enough to get me barricaded in a little glass box like so much veal, waiting to be wanded. The wand got confused by my belt buckle, and I ended up standing there shoeless and unbelted, feeling like a convict on suicide-watch.
On the way back, I thought I'd learned my lesson. I had all my metal items transferred to my backpack and I took my shoes off ahead of time and put them through the x-ray machine too. I made it through with nary a beep and aside from the delay to put my shoes back on, I went along my way.
Two hours later, I get to the front of the boarding line only to be yanked out and go through the whole rigamarole I went through in Denver (from now on I think I'm going to travel in sweats and fuzzy slippers, it couldn't be more embarrassing that the convict bit, and will save valuable wand time) with the extra added bonus of watching the federal drone paw through my carefully packed gear, almost tearing apart my T-Mobile box until I clued her in that it opened on the side.
Folks, this is re-frickin'-diculous. Are we really such scared little lemmings that we'll put up with any indignity or inconvenience in exchange for the illusion of safety? I mean let's face it. Bin Laden isn't an idiot. While we're busy welding the barn door shut - when the horse is in the next county by now - he's thinking of other ways to hurt us. If there are more terrorist attacks planned on the US, they won't be on airplanes.
Getting back, however tangentally, to ebooks, this is just like oppressive, draconian DRM that hassles paying customers while not even slowing down professional theives. Get over it.
So Ashcroft, et al., lay off the rest of us, will ya? Every time you oppress an honest citizen, you make all of us a little less free.
Okay, this a completely off-topic rant, but if you don't like it, get your own site. >;^)
George Carlin has said that airport security is an elaborate and ultimately futile game designed to make rich white people feel safe. Anyone who has flown in the last year will probably agree that we've gone a bit overboard. I ran into security snafus both outbound and inbound on my recent trip to Microsoft, and in both cases I have no idea what security was looking for.
On the way out to Redmond, flying out of Denver, I was stupid. I put my PDA through the scanner, but I forgot to take my earbud headphones out of my pocket. That and my Rockport shoes were more than enough to get me barricaded in a little glass box like so much veal, waiting to be wanded. The wand got confused by my belt buckle, and I ended up standing there shoeless and unbelted, feeling like a convict on suicide-watch.
On the way back, I thought I'd learned my lesson. I had all my metal items transferred to my backpack and I took my shoes off ahead of time and put them through the x-ray machine too. I made it through with nary a beep and aside from the delay to put my shoes back on, I went along my way.
Two hours later, I get to the front of the boarding line only to be yanked out and go through the whole rigamarole I went through in Denver (from now on I think I'm going to travel in sweats and fuzzy slippers, it couldn't be more embarrassing that the convict bit, and will save valuable wand time) with the extra added bonus of watching the federal drone paw through my carefully packed gear, almost tearing apart my T-Mobile box until I clued her in that it opened on the side.
Folks, this is re-frickin'-diculous. Are we really such scared little lemmings that we'll put up with any indignity or inconvenience in exchange for the illusion of safety? I mean let's face it. Bin Laden isn't an idiot. While we're busy welding the barn door shut - when the horse is in the next county by now - he's thinking of other ways to hurt us. If there are more terrorist attacks planned on the US, they won't be on airplanes.
Getting back, however tangentally, to ebooks, this is just like oppressive, draconian DRM that hassles paying customers while not even slowing down professional theives. Get over it.
So Ashcroft, et al., lay off the rest of us, will ya? Every time you oppress an honest citizen, you make all of us a little less free.
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