Who is the Terrorist? (The horror that air travel in the U.S. is becoming)

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ^ | July 1, 2003 | Mike Masterson

[quidnunc]

MineralMan wrote: ("more correctly, Bush 'caved' in a compromise with the Dems to force the security agents to be govt employees") Hello. Bush had a GOP Congress, not a Dem Congress. He didn't cave. He was behind the TSA stuff all the way.

Bush never expresses an opinion either way on this.

This bill was passed so overwhelmingly that a veto would have been over-ridden rapidly and by a wide margin.

The same situation applied to the farm bill which was enacted into law at about the same time.

[MineralMan]

"Gimme a wig a thriftstore dress and some foam prosthetics and I can be an old lady too. It's not that hard to look like somebody you're not.
"

True, and there are some nasty old ladies, too, out there. Since the security folks don't know just how nice everyone's mother-in-law _really_ is, I guess they'll have to treat everyone the same, eh?

[demsux]

I drive anywhere that takes 1 1/2 day or less.

Bad experience with the morons at Logan...

[MineralMan]

"This bill was passed so overwhelmingly that a veto would have been over-ridden rapidly and by a wide margin.

"

That's true, and it was passed by both parties, almost unanimously. I don't remember Bush fighting it, either. Not a word. You can't blame the Dems for this, no matter how lousy they are. Everyone did this TSA thing.

[spald]

I too want to know just how many Americans HAVE hijacked airplanes.

[HairOfTheDog]

I mean, many of us run across a jerk, but some people just draw them like flies.

Exactly.

[two23]

Wait till they start taking the diapers off babies to check their bottoms...FoxNewsChannel mentioned this the other day before they ran the report of all persons having to walk through "security" barefoot.
Anyone parents out there want the airport carnival workers looking at their babies bottoms??? I sure as H--ll wouldn't.

By the way...we all may want to buy stock in foot fungus cream & spray companies. In the FNC report the whole line of people were shoe and sock-less all tramping on the same floor. YUK.
We have already delcared that flying ANYWHERE is no longer an option for us.

[MineralMan]

"Well, it's not just being pulled aside. It's the wait, the security, cancelled flights, the lack of leg room, the lost/damaged luggage, the squirrely rules you have to follow to get a cheap flight, the byzantine scheduling...Flying is a pain in general. Why pay for pain?"

Hmm. Sounds like poor planning to me. The wait? Sure, you have to arrive early, but that's been smart for a long time. Me? I have a drink in the bar or a snack in one of the restaurants, read the paper and relax.

Security is a breeze, as long as you follow the rules about what you can't carry on.

I haven't had a flight cancelled on me for years, so I can't address that. Leg room isn't a problem. I book in advance, and ask for an emergency exit seat. Funny, I always get one.

Cheap flights? Again, book early, and you'll have no problem. I fly American exclusively, and book on their web site exclusively. I put in the dates, the airports, and they show me the best fares first. Takes 5 minutes.

Scheduling? I don't see a problem there, unless you're flying to Podunk International. Seems to me there are plenty of flights going where you need to go.

But, that's OK. You don't have to fly if you don't want to. There's no law forcing you to fly. I just don't have time to drive coast-to-coast both ways. I have work to do.

[Malsua]

A vendor I deal with closely had his digital camera and a tool pouch lifted from his CHECKED luggage.

My wife and I had a 10 pack of batteries stolen from our checked bag (Duracell Ultras are costly) and upon arrival in Vegas, all of our clothes had been dumped and hastily stuffed back into the bag in wads. Thankfully the room had an Iron and Ironing board.

My rules as I travel frequently.

1. Wear no belt.
2. Put all valuables, like Camera, GPS, and the batteries in your checked bag.
3. Put keys, watch, spare change, smokes/lighter and cellphone in checked bag before entering security area.
4. Wear sneakers, pack your workshoes or boots. Every time I wear my New Balance sneakers, I don't have to take them off.
5. Have ticket and passport in hand thru the screening process.
6. Do no put locks on bags, they will be cut off.
7. Make sure any battery operated item has good batteries in it. I've had to demonstrate every electronic item I've had at one point or another.
8. Be kind, be courteous and follow direction. Do not mention bombs, explosives, weapons, terrorists or any such thing. Keep your yap shut.
9. Oh and they break the file off of nail clippers. They made me open my carry-on for a rifling thru and without a beat, he opened the clippers, and snapped it off. I had a zillion things I wanted to say to this douchebag, but I just acted like I didn't care. He even looked at me while he did it. I suspect to get a rise out of me.

I'm going to Mainland China at the end of July. I'm curious as to how the Chinese will treat me this trip. Should be interesting.

[MineralMan]

"I too want to know just how many Americans HAVE hijacked airplanes."

Hijackings are really, really rare events, but US Citizens have hijacked planes. One happened right here in CA a few years ago. A disgruntled airline employee hijacked a commuter plane, killed the cockpit crew and crashed the plane, killing everyone on board. You don't remember that happening?

The last hijacking in the US was 9/11. None since then.

[Alberta's Child]

The TSA has nothing to do with improving airline security, or with adding a bunch of morons to the Federal payroll to generate Democratic votes. It was simply a means of protecting the airline industry from lawsuits by having the Federal government assume responsibility for airline security.

[Malsua]

>>2. Put all valuables, like Camera, GPS, and the batteries in your checked bag.
3. Put keys, watch, spare change, smokes/lighter and cellphone in checked bag before entering security area. <<

Urk, I meant carry-on

[MineralMan]

"I fly at least twice as much as if for nothing else, not having to fight my way through 500 relatives at the gate is worth the hassle of the new security.
"

Good point! I used to hate deplaning, for just that reason. It seemed like all the reunions just _had_ to take place 6 feet from the exit door. Sheesh!

[quidnunc]

Two23 wrote: Wait till they start taking the diapers off babies to check their bottoms...FoxNewsChannel mentioned this the other day before they ran the report of all persons having to walk through "security" barefoot. Anyone parents out there want the airport carnival workers looking at their babies bottoms??? I sure as H--ll wouldn't.

My neighbor's daughter-in-law is of Irish descent, red-headed and light complected.

A few months ago she and her husband were flying to Florida with their five mubth-old baby.

Even though they didn't set of the alarm, security took her and the baby aside for body searches during which hey made her remove the baby's diaper.

[NittanyLion]

One other lesson: avoid air travel if humanly possible. I used to enjoy business travel; now I'll drive anything under 8 hours. The hassle just isn't worth it to me.

[LibWhacker]

Are you sure about that? The 9/11 hijackers didn't dress like this on their last mission, but Richard Reid looked like he had just stepped out of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

[Alberta's Child]

When I travel for business, I drive to any destination that I can get to within a day (about 18 hours for me).

When I travel for pleasure, I drive to any destination that has any kind of road going to it from my house.

[spald]

I just ran a Google on 'hijacked +commuter' and got no reference to a California hijacking. If one has happened, perhaps you could provide a link to the story/

Oddly, a casual inspection of the google output (from above) shows scads of hijacked commuter buses and commuter trains.