The American homeland security folks (National Bouncers, if you will) are a mite testy (and understandably so) after the schmo with the exploding underpants failed to keep his drawers dry enough to *use* his Go-Go-Gadget-Gotch. There are increased screenings, reductions in permissable carry-on items (books are no longer banned from flights, apparently), and mandatory pat-downs for anyone who may have at one time thought about reading the Qur'An.
AND, on top of all of this, border security folks and agencies have instituted the use of X-Ray Goggles at security gates. They get a discount if they order them in bulk or if they sell 50 magazine subscriptions.
What I find interesting is that in a country whose people value their personal freedoms so much (not that there's anything wrong with that*), the American people are sure comfortable giving up those freedoms. It's a strange dichotomy with how much many of them also hate the idea of socialised medicine with a hot hot heat. What do I mean?
The right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" only goes so far, now, as the speed of convenient travel. If you want to take an airplane, you give up your right to privacy, your right to liberty, and, ultimately now, your right to not be detained without being charged with a crime, and your right be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Because what's happening with airport and border security is that you're being presumed guilty until proved otherwise.
I could go on about this and how interesting it is that folks are willing to give up their rights to privacy and such just to sit in a confined, pressurised tube with damp seats and screaming children for hours at a time. But I won't. Because I want to make a point. And my point is this:
It would be a *much better* plan to simply insist that all passengers fly nude. It would certainly make ME much happier, and it would also shorten the amount of time required for a) a pat-down and b) a body cavity search.
This post has been brought to you by the Society of People Prefering to do things Nekkit Most Of The Time (SoPPNMOTT - pronounced "sopp en mott"), of which cenobyte is the founding, and to date, only, member.
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*Except when personal freedom interferes with the Good of the People; the Good of the Society at large.
AND, on top of all of this, border security folks and agencies have instituted the use of X-Ray Goggles at security gates. They get a discount if they order them in bulk or if they sell 50 magazine subscriptions.
What I find interesting is that in a country whose people value their personal freedoms so much (not that there's anything wrong with that*), the American people are sure comfortable giving up those freedoms. It's a strange dichotomy with how much many of them also hate the idea of socialised medicine with a hot hot heat. What do I mean?
The right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" only goes so far, now, as the speed of convenient travel. If you want to take an airplane, you give up your right to privacy, your right to liberty, and, ultimately now, your right to not be detained without being charged with a crime, and your right be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Because what's happening with airport and border security is that you're being presumed guilty until proved otherwise.
I could go on about this and how interesting it is that folks are willing to give up their rights to privacy and such just to sit in a confined, pressurised tube with damp seats and screaming children for hours at a time. But I won't. Because I want to make a point. And my point is this:
It would be a *much better* plan to simply insist that all passengers fly nude. It would certainly make ME much happier, and it would also shorten the amount of time required for a) a pat-down and b) a body cavity search.
This post has been brought to you by the Society of People Prefering to do things Nekkit Most Of The Time (SoPPNMOTT - pronounced "sopp en mott"), of which cenobyte is the founding, and to date, only, member.
--
*Except when personal freedom interferes with the Good of the People; the Good of the Society at large.
Labels: crossing the line, SoPPNMOTT, World Trade Centre
