stop worrying and love some bombs
By Thoreau
The checkpoint had special express service for military personnel. So, if you are planning to set off a bomb at a wedding reception in Waziristan you are given special treatment. OTOH, if you aren’t planning to hurt anybody, wait in line.
This is what we call “perverse incentives.”
For the record, I was polite until they pulled my wife aside for extra screening. Then I made a wise crack about living in a free country. If you want me to be nice, leave my wife alone.
And, since everyone thinks I’m a jerk to low wage workers, let the record show that I didn’t gripe t the check-in clerk when the family in front of me took forever. I didn’t gripe at the newstand clerk who needed time to straighten something out before ringing up my purchase. And I didn’t get mad when the guy messed up .y coffee order. They were all people trying to do valuable things with short staff. I only got mad at the people who messed with my wife for no good reason.
UPDATE: I don’t think all service members are indifferent to civilian casualties. I was angry after a run-in with the security apparatus of the state, and I made an unfair generalization for which I apologize. I do, however, think that it is a bad idea to accord special privileges or status to members of the military, a point that even some veterans agree with.
Comment by whatevz —
December 27, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
I was pulled over too!
The feller puts on his gloves and gently unzipped… my carry-on. Praise Jesus.
Anyhow things didn’t appear to be getting better from that point being as the item at the very top of my carry-on was a book called, “The New Fascist State”. Happily the colored epsilon was illiterate because I think I would have had a very hard time explaining that the book (published in 1928) was actually about Italy and that fascism was a form of government and not necessary a call to revolution via shoe-bombs, etc.
Anyhow, under the book he removes a small shopping bag containing, what else? Shaving cream and multiple razors.
Well, dumb though he might be, the guy recognized a threat THIS obvious and promptly confiscated the shaving cream. He repacked the razors and the book and wished me a safe flight.
Put THAT in your government issued security blanket and hump it!
Mnuez
Comment by Cocktailhag —
December 27, 2009 @ 9:04 pm
This would be one of the few times it would be appropriate to haul out my favorite rejoinder, h/t (NEA) Karen Finley, “No wonder you have such a crappy job.” Had your (or her) underpants suddenly burst into flame, they might have had a point.
Comment by max —
December 27, 2009 @ 11:42 pm
I only got mad at the people who messed with my wife for no good reason.
I agree. There’s something TSa should be doing; this ain’t it.
I also hate coaches that keep running it up the middle on 4th and inches, thus refusing to put the game away.
max
['The conservative play is workable when no one sees it coming.']
Comment by Sarah O'Neil —
December 28, 2009 @ 5:51 am
http://webdesignledger.com/resources/20-excellent-blogs-for-those-who-love-design
Comment by Uncle Kvetch —
December 28, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
So, if you are planning to set off a bomb at a wedding reception in Waziristan you are given special treatment. OTOH, if you aren’t planning to hurt anybody, wait in line.
You’re gettin’ feisty, Dude. I like it.
Comment by The Angry Optimist —
December 28, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
Clearly they should have left her alone. Nice white lady and all that, doncha know.
Comment by joe from Lowell —
December 28, 2009 @ 5:13 pm
See, he only kicks down when he feels like kicking.
So, that means he’s not really kicking down.
Comment by y81 —
December 28, 2009 @ 6:25 pm
A libertarian thought experiment is in order. Imagine that there are two airlines, Thoreau Airlines which has minimal security and Y81 Airlines which has more or less the current system. Which airline will attract more customers? Which one will have lower insurance costs? Which one will put the other out of business?
Having shown that we arrive, by Nozick-approved steps, at the current situation, we cannot criticize the justice of that situation. We might wish that our fellow citizen/consumers were a little more devil-may-care, a little more willing to take risky flights in return for shorter lines, etc., but we know that they are not. Just as I don’t like point-and-click computer interfaces, but I don’t get to complain about what the market delivers.
Comment by VikingMoose —
December 28, 2009 @ 6:54 pm
“Just as I don’t like point-and-click computer interfaces”
ah yes – SAS 1, SPSS 0. (actually, Stata beats ‘em both, natch)
Comment by ajay —
December 28, 2009 @ 7:45 pm
8: I think that
a) the difference in insurance costs would be minimal, as the frequency of terrorist attacks destroying aircraft is so tiny, and furthermore the frequency of attacks which would have been stopped by security on y81 Air but not by Thoreau Air is even smaller;
b) given the unpleasantness of airport screening and the time it takes, I reckon Thoreau would attract significantly more passengers – are Americans, for example, observably less willing to fly in Ireland, which does not scan shoes for bombs, than they are in the US, which does? I doubt it;
c) the existence of ClearPass services shows that people are willing to pay a premium to avoid security delays; Thoreau Air would be able to charge higher prices than y81 Air;
d) all this is moot anyway because Thoreau Air wouldn’t be allowed to fly to the US because it would be viewed as unsafe.
Comment by Thoreau —
December 28, 2009 @ 9:16 pm
What ajay said.
I’ll have more to say later.
Comment by dhex —
December 29, 2009 @ 10:15 am
“Just as I don’t like point-and-click computer interfaces”
and don’t even get me started on running water.
Comment by The Sanity Inspector —
December 29, 2009 @ 12:18 pm
The TSA who confiscated my shaving cream at least took some time to commiserate with me. He regretted that he couldn’t even donate it to needy somebodies, but was constrained by regulations to simply pitch it.
Comment by marcel —
December 29, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
VikingMoose said:
Actually depends on what you want to do. For high tech statistical procedures as well as graphics, but for general manipulation and massaging of data, and for dealing with large datasets, SAS beats Stata hands down. There’s a similar relationship with MATLAB too.
Comment by VikingMoose —
December 30, 2009 @ 12:16 pm
marcel – HUMOR!!!!!