Salon's Ask the Pilot for 12/22/2006

[link|http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/12/22/askthepilot214/print.html|Ask the Pilot] for December 22:

Speaking of things that never happened, how could we forget last summer's liquid-bomb terror scare. In case you were living on Neptune at the time and missed the news, British police broke up an alleged London-based scheme to bring down several U.S. airliners using hard-to-detect liquid explosives. The public continues to believe that authorities rushed in and saved thousands of lives in the nick of time. Quite the contrary. What makes the story so special is how much of an overblown ruse the whole thing was, and just how preposterous our reaction to it has been. The fact that both alleged ringleaders of the plot have been released without charge has gone scarcely noticed by the press. Meanwhile, despite assertions by experts that the types of bombs alleged in the scheme are all but impossible to brew, millions of travelers remain subject to absurd prohibitions of liquids, gels and aerosols from their carry-on bags. (Lithium-ion computer batteries pose a more [link|http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/09/22/askthepilot202/|serious threat] to that five-year safety streak than liquid explosives.) But you knew all that. Several weeks of this column were devoted to this infuriating cock-and-bull opera. The most salient of them (in my opinion) are viewable [link|http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/10/bomb/|here,] [link|http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/09/08/askthepilot200/|here] and [link|http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/09/15/askthepilot201/|here.]

On that note, next time you're in the security line and the guard makes off with your illegal can of shaving cream, see if you can't grab it back for a moment. Raise the can skyward and, in the most booming voice you can muster, proclaim a toast -- a toast to the Transportation Security Administration, recipient of Ask the Pilot's first annual Hook, Line and Sinker Award, honoring the agency's shameless gullibility and abuse of the flying public.

[Round of applause]

Cheers,
Scott.
(Who thinks he may have beat Ashton in pointing out this article!)

Post #276,873 by Another Scott 12/28/06 3:41:32 PM Reply	Salon's Ask the Pilot for 12/22/2006 [link\|http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/12/22/askthepilot214/print.html\|Ask the Pilot] for December 22: Speaking of things that never happened, how could we forget last summer's liquid-bomb terror scare. In case you were living on Neptune at the time and missed the news, British police broke up an alleged London-based scheme to bring down several U.S. airliners using hard-to-detect liquid explosives. The public continues to believe that authorities rushed in and saved thousands of lives in the nick of time. Quite the contrary. What makes the story so special is how much of an overblown ruse the whole thing was, and just how preposterous our reaction to it has been. The fact that both alleged ringleaders of the plot have been released without charge has gone scarcely noticed by the press. Meanwhile, despite assertions by experts that the types of bombs alleged in the scheme are all but impossible to brew, millions of travelers remain subject to absurd prohibitions of liquids, gels and aerosols from their carry-on bags. (Lithium-ion computer batteries pose a more [link\|http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/09/22/askthepilot202/\|serious threat] to that five-year safety streak than liquid explosives.) But you knew all that. Several weeks of this column were devoted to this infuriating cock-and-bull opera. The most salient of them (in my opinion) are viewable [link\|http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/10/bomb/\|here,] [link\|http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/09/08/askthepilot200/\|here] and [link\|http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2006/09/15/askthepilot201/\|here.] On that note, next time you're in the security line and the guard makes off with your illegal can of shaving cream, see if you can't grab it back for a moment. Raise the can skyward and, in the most booming voice you can muster, proclaim a toast -- a toast to the Transportation Security Administration, recipient of Ask the Pilot's first annual Hook, Line and Sinker Award, honoring the agency's shameless gullibility and abuse of the flying public. [Round of applause] Cheers, Scott. (Who thinks he may have beat Ashton in pointing out this article!)
Post #276,890 by jb4 12/28/06 9:33:49 PM Reply	Congratulations (on both counts): Beating Ashton, and finding this "but you already knew that, but here's some confirmation for when you run into the inevitable brain-dead neocon sympathizer who says, 'Prove it!'" article! jb4 "When the final history is written in Iraq, [link\|http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmate/2006/tmate060926.gif\|it'll look just like a comma.]" — George W. Bush, 24 Sep 06
Post #276,919 by dmcarls 12/29/06 10:54:33 AM Reply	Re: Salon's Ask the Pilot for 12/22/2006 "What can they do to you? Whatever they want. [...] They can do anything you can't stop them from doing." Who knows what security measures are next? If they want you to take one shoe off until you're in your seat (to keep you off-balance), they will do it. If they want to install carnival-ride seat bars across the seats to keep you from 'congregating', they will do it. They will do anything, no matter how prepostorous, for the safety of the flying public. All the articles in the world aren't going to let you carry 4 ounces of gel on-board. The falcon cannot hear the falconer. Things fall apart. 9/11 changed everything.

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