Airport insanity

[Tyler Durden]

First of all, the guy is a major dumbass...

>My profile is radically different from all those who killed nearly 3,000 of
>my countrymen on September 11, 2001. My "holy book" of choice is the Bible.
>My race is Caucasian. I am a loyal, taxpaying, patriotic, evil-hating,
>English-as-first-language, natural-born American. If profiling were
>allowed, I wouldn't be the one filling out government forms to prove I'm
>not a terrorist. The other guys would.

I'm thinking that the state-of-the-art on Cypherpunks is such that no real 
comment here is necessary.


>The arbitrariness of all of this makes me think the "security" system isn't
>very secure and that it is all a sham created by politicians to fool the
>public into believing they are protecting us. Meanwhile, millions cross our
>borders illegally, including untold numbers from countries that hate us.

This is precisely why Al-Qaeda sent 19 (or probably more) true-believers. 
Even if TSA lowers the odds, all you have to do is roll the dice many more 
times, and a few of the faithful will definitely get through the checkpoint. 
Security measures might stop a lone crazy, but the odds don't stand up if 
they send dozens of people into airports all around the country. And Iraq II 
is promising us a bumper crop of new 'terrorists'.

Seems to me it's going to be much easier for the US to stop fucking around 
over there. Oh wait, we can't do that because "then the terrorists have 
won". Waitaminute...doesn't Algeria prove that terrorism wins, eventually?

-TD



>From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
>To: cypherpunks at al-qaeda.net, cryptography at metzdowd.com
>Subject: Airport insanity
>Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2004 19:08:59 -0400
>
><http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/printct20041013.shtml>
>
>Townhall.com
>
>Airport insanity
>Cal Thomas (back to web version) | Send
>
>October 13, 2004
>
>Ted Kennedy and I have something in common. We are both on airline lists as
>potential terror suspects.
>
>Kennedy was recently denied access to a US Airways flight out of
>Washington, one he has taken for 40 years.
>
>I am on a US Airways list of some type that apparently requires airline
>employees to take my driver's license behind closed doors, have a
>conference and then stamp my ticket with a code that mandates my person and
>my carry-on bag be searched. Every time I fly, which is sometimes several
>times a week. I especially appreciate the crotch grab to make sure I'm not
>hiding any weapons of mass destruction. How would you like to be the
>trainer for this procedure?
>
>The idiocy virus is now spreading to other airlines. It seems someone who
>shares my name is wanted by authorities. I hope he is getting some of my
>hate mail. Logic should dictate that once I prove I am not the guy they are
>looking for, they would take me off the suspect list. But, no, our misnamed
>Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is anything but logical.
>
>US Airways gives me a TSA phone number to call. I am not surprised when a
>machine answers. The machine promises a "prompt" response. I leave a
>message. There is no response. A few days later, I call again. Same
>recording, same message, same non-response. I send an e-mail to TSA. This
>time I receive an "automated reply," assuring me of a prompt response. Two
>days later, I receive another e-mail informing me I will have to fill out a
>form to prove I am not a terrorist. This is an interesting twist on the
>"innocent until proven guilty" standard in law.
>
>The confusion plot thickens. Two weeks ago, TSA approved my application for
>"registered traveler" status as part of an experimental program at some
>airports for frequent travelers. I recorded my "eye print" and fingerprint,
>and now a machine can identify me and allow me to go to the head of the
>security line, but only at the airport where I applied.
>
>Other participating airports require applications to be made at each of
>those airports, even though the paperwork presumably goes to TSA
>headquarters. Why can't TSA look at that one application that has been
>approved and take me off their "watch list," or whatever they call it? Is
>"logic" not in government dictionaries?
>
>Things have become so ridiculous on the road that a TSA screener in Duluth,
>Minn., last week required me to open my computer bag, whereupon she used
>one of those devices that resemble a deodorant pad and wiped every
>electrical cord. When I asked why, she responded, "The downed Russian
>airliners." When I noted that Duluth was the only airport in the country
>where my electrical cords had been wiped, she replied, "Everyone is
>supposed to."
>
>The arbitrariness of all of this makes me think the "security" system isn't
>very secure and that it is all a sham created by politicians to fool the
>public into believing they are protecting us. Meanwhile, millions cross our
>borders illegally, including untold numbers from countries that hate us.
>
>Why isn't the Bush administration doing something about illegal immigration
>instead of pretending these people are coming here solely to do manual
>labor we native Americans don't want to do? Wouldn't we be safer if we
>prevented those who wish us harm from getting into the country?
>
>Thanks to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta's misguided policy of
>refusing to profile travelers, we get equal opportunity inconvenience and
>stupidity. Imagine if cops were prohibited from describing gender, race or
>other physical characteristics when broadcasting an all-points bulletin for
>a suspect.
>
>My profile is radically different from all those who killed nearly 3,000 of
>my countrymen on September 11, 2001. My "holy book" of choice is the Bible.
>My race is Caucasian. I am a loyal, taxpaying, patriotic, evil-hating,
>English-as-first-language, natural-born American. If profiling were
>allowed, I wouldn't be the one filling out government forms to prove I'm
>not a terrorist. The other guys would.
>
>This is an outrage! The form will soon be in the mail. They'll probably
>send me a note assuring me of a prompt reply, before misplacing the
>application. Senator Kennedy, can you help?
>
>
>--
>-----------------
>R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
>The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
>44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
>"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
>[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
>experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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